Tarot
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| The Fool, The Magician, The High Priestess, The Empress, The Emperor, The Hierophant, The Lovers, The Chariot, Strength, The Hermit, The Wheel of Fortune, Justice, The Hanged Man, Death, Temperance, The Devil, The Tower, The Star, The Moon, The Sun, Judgement, The World. | |
| Wands | Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Page, Knight, Queen, King. |
| Cups | Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Page, Knight, Queen, King. |
| Swords | Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Page, Knight, Queen, King. |
| Pentacles | Ace 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Page, Knight, Queen, King. |
| Aces, Twos, Threes, Fours, Fives, Sixes, Sevens, Eights, Nines, Tens, Pages, Knights, Queens, Kings | |
A deck of (usually) 78 cards. Something like oversized playing cards. Used for Meditation and Divination.
The most common set is the Rider Waite Deck.
The Major Arcana consist of 22 cards. Often numbered zero to 21.
The Minor Arcana are split into four suits, similar to a normal deck of cards. Usually Wands, Cups, Swords and Pentacles although many variations exist. Each suit has 14 cards.
The 14 cards in each suit are Aces, Twos, Threes, Fours, Fives, Sixes, Sevens, Eights, Nines, Tens, Pages, Knights, Queens, Kings. (The Thoth Deck created by Crowley has different Royalty Cards.)
(these pages discuss properties of that number in general, not specific cards.)
The Tarot has also been related to the kabalah and the Tree of Life.
Contents |
Decks
File:M18.jpg
main article: Tarot decks
These days there are hundreds of different deck designs, with many variations on symbology and meaning. The Rider Waite Deck is often considered the "classic" deck, but there are many older designs. Here, only a few influential decks can be mentioned; most of them have inspired numerous more recent decks.
- Rider Waite Deck; See RWS clones
- Thoth Deck; See Toth Deck clones
- Marseilles Decks
- "cousins" of the tarot proper
History of the Tarot
Invented in the fifteenth century, the Tarot gained its connection to esotericism by Antoine Court de Gebelin's assertion that it contained mystical secrets. This was further elaborated by generations of people since then.
Numerology and tarot
The structure and number of cards in tarot has puzzled many magickians and gave rise to much speculation. Especially the uncanny syncronicity 22 major arcana (trumps) -> 22 hebrew letters has given rise to much speculation about (mostly really improbable) possible origins of the tarot. But most scholars hold that this is indeed only a syncronicity, because other facts made clear that it had little or no connection to Kabbalah or magick when it was created.
The Minor arcana were largely derrived from playing cards, which preceded tarot and originally had a 13 * 4 structure. To that, a fourth rojalty card, the queen, was added, may be to avoid the number 13, may be to introduce a female figure.
Discordians were really displeased because they had trouble finding their usual 23 or 5 mysteries in the tarot structure. consequently, the Discordian Tarot is not a real tarot, but follows structures more to their liking. (5 suits, each with 5 pip cards and 5 rojalty cards, 23 Major arcana].
Personalities
Rachael Pollack, Arthur Edward Waite, Pamela Colman Smith, Papus, Antoine Court de Gebelin, Aleister Crowley, Eliphas Levi, Eteilla
Related Pages
- Tarot Frequently Asked Questions
- Tarot Reading - Using tarot cards for divination (or to examine a problem)
- Polaroid Tarot
- Tarot Gizmo - This sites own tarot reading tool
