treatise Monde Primitif (1781) in which he claimed tarot cards were in effect an

ancient Egyptian book of wisdom; he named the tarot The Book of Thoth, after
the Egyptian god of healing, wisdom, and the occult. De Gébelin’s beliefs
emerged as a part of the occult revival of the late 1800s, when ancient
knowledge was popularized by Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt in 1798 and tomb
artifacts made their way to the West. De Gébelin’s work was continued by a
Parisian barber, Jean-Baptiste Alliette (know by his pseudonym Etteilla), who
developed the tarot’s possible links with Kabbala, the esoteric belief system
based in Hebrew tradition. The story continues with the French Rosicrucian
Eliphas Levi, who made the connection between the twenty-two cards of the
major arcana and the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, which
correspond to pathways on the Tree of Life.
Levi’s research influenced A. E. Waite, the creator of the Rider-Waite cards,
who was a leading light of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a British
occult society founded in 1888 by freemasons William Wynn Westcott, William
Robert Woodman, and Samuel Liddell Mathers. The order brought together
kabbalistic, astrological, and Egyptian wisdom, creating a theory of tarot
associations that have become generally accepted today (see the Appendicies for
a list of these associations for the major and minor arcanas).
While tarot has collected many occult associations over the years, essentially,
these magical cards reflect the beliefs of their creators. Tarot’s ability to adapt
and survive has lead to a plethora of decks, from Wiccan tarots to Steampunk,
angel tarots to vampires, and fairies to Da Vinci. While these may be
contemporary tastes, tarot ultimately speaks to us through its archetypes, the
infinite mirrors of the self.

EXPLORING THE DECK: THE MAJOR AND MINOR

ARCANA
A standard tarot deck has seventy-eight cards, divided into two groups: twenty-
two major arcana cards and fifty-six minor arcana cards. The word arcana
means secret. The major arcana denote important life events or shifts, while the
minor arcana cards reflect day-to-day events. The minor arcana cards can be
seen as being more detailed aspects of the major arcana cards.

The Major Arcana Cards

Numbered from 0 (The Fool) to XXI (The World), the twenty-two major arcana
cards can be referred to singularly as arcanum and collectively as keys or
trumps. Although no one knows the provenance of the tarot’s major arcana cards
for sure, some suspect the word trump derives from triumphs, from the old card
game Trionfi, popular initially in Italy and France. In the game, trump cards
approximating the major arcana outranked other cards in the deck. For example,
the Fool is trumped by the clever Magician, who is trumped by the wisdom of
the High Priestess. Well-known librarian Gertrude Moakley also suggested that
the major arcana characters and symbols derived from a Milanese carnival based
on the Roman festival of Saturnalia: Cityfolk dressed as tarot trumps and
processed in chariots throughout the city. As the Duke of Milan is believed to
have commissioned some of the first tarot cards in the fifteenth century (the
Visconti-Sforza tarots, some of which survive today), the festival explanation
may be plausible.
The Minor Arcana Cards
The remaining fifty-six cards are known collectively as the minor arcana, and
they are arranged into four suits: Wands, Pentacles, Cups, and Swords. Each suit
has fourteen cards, from Ace to Ten, plus four court cards: Page, Knight, Queen,
and King.
The four suits each have a ruling element, and each corresponds to specific
areas of life:

Cups: the element of Water; emotions and relationships

 Pentacles: the element of Earth; property, money, and achievement
Swords: the element of Air; the intellect and decisions
Wands: the element of Fire; instinct, travel, and communication
Psychologist Carl Jung famously distilled humankind’s mental processes into
his theory of four functions, and it sums up the suit meanings neatly:

Swords/Air: I think
Wands/Fire: I desire
Pentacles/Earth: I possess
Cups/Water: I feel
Another way of remembering the suits’ elements is as follows:

Swords/Air: I think—the mind

Wands/Fire: I desire—the soul
Pentacles/Earth: I possess—the body
Cups/Water: I feel—the heart
The court, or people, cards of the minor arcana bring an additional element:

Knights: Fire
Queens: Water
Kings: Air
Pages: Earth
So, for example, the Knight of Wands is Fire of the suit of Fire, while the
Queen of Wands is Water of the suit of Fire.
Understanding the basic concepts of the elements offers a meaning for the
card. So, the Queen of Wands, combining Water and Fire, suggests emotions and
intuition (Water) with communication and energy (Fire).
 2
HOW TO BEGIN

YOUR CARDS, YOUR ENERGIES: CARD ATTUNEMENT,

CLEANSING, AND PROTECTION
Tarot cards, like people, draw in energy. During readings, tarot cards absorb your
energies and those of anyone else who touches them. For this reason, it’s
important not to let other people touch your cards casually; the cards hold your
energies and intentions, and are personal to you. Here are tried-and-tested ways
to attune to your new deck, cleanse the cards before a reading session, and
protect them when you are not using them.

Attuning to a New Deck

The process of connecting with your cards is called attuning. The more
connected you feel to your cards, the more accurate, insightful, and inspiring
your readings can be.
Before you begin reading a new deck of tarot cards, attune to them for exactly
seven days by sleeping with your cards under your pillow. Also, get to know
them by looking at the cards daily, touching them so your energy becomes
imprinted upon them. Some readers attune to their cards through visualization.
Try this:

1. Hold your cards in your right hand. This is known as the giving hand—and
you are about to give the cards your energy.
2. Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and visualize light pouring down through
the crown of your head, your third-eye chakra, throat, and heart (see page
236), then down your right arm, into your right hand, and into the cards.
3. Imagine your cards filling with pure light. If you work with spirit guides or
angels, ask them to come close and to help and protect you during the reading.
4. Open your eyes when you are ready.
Cleansing Your Deck Before a Reading Session
When you take out your cards, clear away any old energy by blowing on and
knocking on your cards as follows:

1. Hold the cards in one hand and fan them out.

2. Gently blow on the card edges. You can do this in one breath.
3. Next, put the cards back in a neat pile, still holding them in one hand, and then
knock firmly once on the top of the deck. Now the deck is cleansed of old
energy and ready to use.

Protecting Your Cards When You’re Not Using Them

Your cards hold your energy imprint. Like people, cards may pick up extraneous
or negative energy from people and spaces, which can affect your readings. So
when you are not using your cards, protect them from the environment, both
physically and energetically. Keep them wrapped in a cloth of a dark color, such
as deep purple cotton or silk, and in a tarot bag or a box. You can also store them
with a favorite crystal—such as a clear quartz (known as the master crystal,
which keeps energies clear) or amethyst (for healing, insight, and protection)—
to keep them energetically cleansed and safe.

Creating a Space for Your Readings

First, find a peaceful space you feel relaxed and comfortable in. Make sure your
space has a flat, clean surface you can lay your cards on. Most readers put down
a reading cloth first to protect the cards both physically, as well as energetically,
from direct contact with the surface you’re working on. The reading cloth is
usually the silk cloth you wrap your cards in when they’re not in use, but any
piece of fabric you like will do.
You might like to perform a short ritual before you lay out the cards to honor
the ancient practice of tarot-reading that you are about to embark upon. Our
thoughts create reality and help manifest a strong connection between our cards,
ourselves, the person you are reading for, and if you are aware of them, your
spiritual guides who may help you during your reading.
Here’s a suggestion to get you started, and you can personalize your own
ritual as you read more:

1. Light a candle in your reading space and place it on a safe surface.

2. Close your eyes and take a few calming breaths.
3. Visualize white light flowing from the crown of your head into your cards, as
described in the attuning exercise, or simply set the intention to enjoy the best
tarot reading you can.
4. When you have finished your reading, affirm in your mind that the reading is
over, feel gratitude for the insights your cards and intuition have given you,
and put your cards away.
5. Blow out the candle.

CHOOSING CARDS FOR A READING

1. Shuffling the Deck

After you’ve cleansed the deck, shuffle the cards for a few moments. Relax and
allow your feelings and questions to surface. To choose the cards for a reading,
you can use either the fan method or cut the deck. The fan method is best when
you want just a few cards for a reading, while cutting the deck suits more
elaborate layouts that need lots of cards, such as the Celtic Cross or Tree of Life.

FAN METHOD
When reading for yourself: Spread all the cards facedown in a fan shape.
Choose the cards one by one with just your left hand (known as the hand of
fate), from anywhere in the fan, and place them in front of you, still facedown,
following the spread layout you have chosen.
When reading for another person: Have the person shuffle the deck. Take
the deck from the recipient and fan out the cards for him or her. Ask the recipient
to choose the cards from the fan with his or her left hand and pass them to you so
you can lay them out, keeping the cards facedown.

CUTTING THE DECK

When reading for yourself: Cut the deck twice with your left hand so you have
three piles facedown on the table. Choose one pile to become the top of the deck
and gather up the other two piles underneath it. Lay out the cards according to
the spread you have chosen (see pages 20–28) by dealing the cards from the top
of the deck and placing them facedown in front of you.
 When reading for another person: Ask the recipient to shuffle the cards.
Have the recipient split the deck into three piles using his or her left hand and
then choose one pile. Gather up the remaining two piles for the person and place
their chosen pile on top. Then you lay out the cards.

2. Turning Over the Cards

When turning over the cards, always flip them sideways—from left to right—not
from top to bottom or vice versa, or you may be turning the card upside down.
Doing so can give it a different meaning (see What About Reversals on page 19).