Archive for the ‘Tarot Books’ Category

The Tarot has been around for hundreds of years. During that time it’s been used for teaching, playing games and meditation.
Its most famous use, of course, has been for divination. Today there are hundreds of Tarot decks available. Most people use them for giving readings, but some people simply collect them for their artistic value.The archetypal images on the cards are highly evocative. They bring out feelings, emotions, and energies that might be long hidden. The Tarot contains 78 images of power. The question is, “How can you tap into that power?”
The answer can be found in Tarot Spells by Janina Renee. In this book you’ll learn the basics of casting spells with the help of the Tarot cards. The techniques are powerful yet easy. Here is an example: Lay out an incense burner, a candle to either side of the incense burner, your Tarot deck, and Tarot Spells on a table. Light the candles and incense, then read the opening which calls forth the can you tap into that power?”

The answer can be found in Tarot Spells by Janina Renee. In this book you’ll learn the basics of casting spells with the help of the Tarot cards. The techniques are powerful yet easy. Here is an example:

Lay out an incense burner, a candle to either side of the incense burner, your Tarot deck, and Tarot Spells on a table. Light the candles and incense, then read the opening which calls forth the powers of the magical elements: Air, Earth, Fire and Water. You’ve begun this simple ritual!

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In this groundbreaking book, Ly de Angeles shares her own original ideas on the nature of prophecy and using tarot to predict the future.

Exploring quantum physics, free will, and fate, de Angeles poses a bold new theory, suggesting tarot can impact your reality . . . and your future. She also introduces Time, the god of tarot, and reveals insightful correlations between tarot and the Kabbalah Tree of Life, astrology, and the four elements. Sprinkled throughout are exercises and personal case histories that illuminate these complex ideas.

Ly de Angeles also offers guidance for putting theory into practice, along with card interpretations and sample spreads. Theres advice for handling the deck, timing events, and giving accurate readings. Also included are tips for going professional: setting up a space, maintaining confidentiality, reading objectively and responsibly, communicating bad news, staying safe, avoiding burnout, and much more.

Or: The Twenty-two Trumps of the Tarot

(from “The Book of Thoth” by Aleister Crowley)

[Atu: House or Key, in Ancient Egyptian. Tahuti: Egyptian God of Wisdom, magick, Science, also Illusion. In Coptic, Thoth: in Greek, Hermes: in Latin, Mercury. The Hindu and Scandinavian Gods corresponding are debased forms.] Twenty-two is the number of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. It is the number of the Paths of the Sepher Yetzirah. These paths are the paths which join the ten numbers on the figure called the Tree of Life.

Why are there twenty-two of them? Because that is the number of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and one letter goes to each path.

Why should this be so? Why should these paths be arranged on the Tree in the way that the diagram shows? Why should there not be paths connecting the numbers 2 and 5 and the numbers 3 and 4?

One cannot answer any of these questions.

Who knows “How A got leave an ox to be, No camel, quoth the Jews, like G”. (Browning)? One knows only that this was the conventional arrangement adopted by whoever it was that devised the Tarot.

What is worse, it seems very confusing, very annoying; it shakes one’s faith in these great sages. But at least there is no doubt that this is so.

The letters of the Hebrew alphabet are twenty-two. There are three ” Mother” Letters for the Elements, seven “Double Letters” for the Planets, and twelve “Single” Letters for the Signs of the Zodiac.

But there are four Elements, not three. Or, including the element of Spirit (an important matter to initiates), there are five.

There are therefore two letters of the alphabet which have to do double duty. The element of Fire is very close kin to the idea of Spirit; so the letter Shin, belonging to Fire, may be taken to mean Spirit as well. There is a special reason why this should be so, although it only applies in later ages, since the introduction of the dogma that Spirit rules the four elements, and the formation of the “Pentagram of Salvation” connected with the Hebrew word IHShVH, Yeheshuah.

With regard to Earth, it was considered adequate to make the letter Tau, belonging to Saturn, correspond also to Earth.

These additions are clear evidence that the Tarot took definite and arbitrary steps to assert the new discovery in Magick some two thousand years ago; for no system is more rigid than a Hebrew system. And the system of the Sepher Yetzirah is the deepest rooted of all the elements of the Hebrew system, the most dogmatic of them all.

The Tarot is justified not by faith, but by works. The departures from the original bone-dry Qabalah have been justified by experience. The point (raised above) about the way in which the paths are selected to join certain numbers and not others, is found to express important doctrines connected with the facts of initiation. It must always be borne in mind that the Tarot is not only an atlas for recording facts, but a guide-book showing one how to travel through these countries previously unknown.

Travellers in China are somewhat bewildered at first when they are told that it is 100 li from Yung Chang to Pu Peng, but only 40 li from Pu Peng to Yung Chang. The answer is that the li is a measure of the time of marching, not of miles. The difference of calculation informs one that Pu Peng is a long way up the hill.

It is very much the same with the Tarot. The 6 of Wands is referred to Jupiter in Leo, and called the Lord of Victory. This dictates not only what victory is like, but also the conditions to be fulfilled in order to obtain victory. There is need of the fiery energy of the suit of Wands, the balance of the number 6, the stubborn courage of Leo, and also the influence of Jupiter, the little bit of luck that tips the scale.

These considerations are particularly important in dealing with the Atu, or Trumps. The Planets are already represented in the numbers or Sephiroth of the Tree of Life. But they have also attributions to certain of the Paths.

Some etymologists of a singularly idle disposition have tried to derive the French word “atout” from the ATU meaning House. It may seem simpler to suggest that “atout” is short for “bon atout”, meaning “good for anything”, because a Trump will take any card of any suit.

The Atu of Tahuti, who is the Lord of Wisdom, are also called Keys. They are guides to conduct. They give you the map of the Kingdom of Heaven, and also the best way to take it by force. A complete understanding of any magical problem is necessary before it can be solved. Study from outside, and action from outside, are ways abortive.

It is of the utmost importance to understand this extremely specialised character of the Trumps.

To say that the Trump numbered III, called The Empress, represents Venus, means something much less and also much more ‘than appears if Venus be studied from a strictly astrological standpoint. One abandons the contemplation of the whole in order to take practical advantage of a part. Just so Tactics differs from Strategy. A great general does not think of war in the abstract, but confines his attention to a minute part of his perhaps vast knowledge of the subject by considering the disposition of his forces at a given place and time, and how best to employ them against his adversary. This is of course true not only of the Trumps, but of all the other cards; and it must be true of any specialised studies. If one goes into a shop and asks for a map of a certain country, one cannot get a complete map, because any such map would necessarily merge into the Universe as it approached completeness, for a country’s character is modified by the adjacent countries, and so on for ever. Nor would even any useful map be complete in the most vulgar practical way without leading to confusion. The shopman would want to know whether his customer wanted a geological map, an orographical map, a commercial map, a map showing the distribution of population, or a strategic map; and so on for ever.

The student of the Tarot must not therefore expect to find anything beyond a careful selection of the facts about any given card, a selection made for a quite definite magical purpose.

However, the Tarot does try to resume, in a single pictorial symbol, as many as possible of the useful aspects of the idea. In studying any card, one ought not to neglect any of the attributions, because each class of attribution does modify the form and colour of the card, and its use. This essay will endeavour, in the section describing each card in turn, to include as many of the correspondences as possible.

A trove of tarot information and images. Features over 800 published and unpublished decks from around the globe. Volume IV continues to detail the world of tarot, and further investigates the western esoteric tradition of tarot. Special sections include a presentation of 100 Japanese decks, a pictorial history of ancient Egyptian symbolism, and an extensive annotated bibliography. Additionally, the bibliography contains more than 1,500 books and articles dating from the 18th century to the present. By Stuart R. Kaplan and Jean Huets. Published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.

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Discussions and photographs of 3,600 cards from 300 decks. Traces the development of various styles, focuses on Renaissance and medieval symbolism, and provides methods of dating antique tarot decks. Annotated bibliography of over 1300 entries. By Stuart R. Kaplan. Published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc. 584 pp., b&w illus. w/16 page 4 color insert, hc. Each book in The Encyclopedia of Tarot Volumes I-IV, is complete in itself, and none of the material is duplicated. Autographed copies are provided subject to availability.

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The Tarot Set includes 22 cards of the Major Arcana and 56 cards of the Minor Arcana featuring the rich symbolism of Medieval Europe, along with a purple reading cloth to preserve the energy of the cards. The Illustrated Book of the Tarot offers a clear and comprehensive guide to Tarot, explaining the theories behind the practice and a step-by-step guide to reading the cards. Over 100 color illustrations are also provided…. More >>

The Tarot Set: The Illustrated Book of Tarot

A modern approach to the magical Old Path, and an inspiring interpretation of how to stimulate and utilize inner intuitive forces. Packaged in plastic bookcase box. 160 pages, illustrated. Spread sheet not included. … More >>

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• HIGH PRIESTESS & MAJOR ARCANA OF THE MATRIX
• Tarot
• How To Get Tarot Card Readings
• Full Deck Spread
• The Qabalistic Tarot A Textbook of Mystical Philosophy – PalDDL™

Most Tarot instruction books require readers to memorize the keywords of each card-quite a challenge for those who’ve never held a Tarot deck before. Donald Tyson takes the burden off beginners by providing a whole new approach to Tarot that’s easy and effective.

A card’s complex significance is boiled down to three elements: identity, action, and result/quality. When these elements are matched respectively with a subject, verb, object, they form a simple sentence and give succinct meaning to the card. Donald Tyson teaches how to interpret the collective meaning of three-card sets within a variety of spreads. Flexible, fast, and fun, this foolproof system can be applied to all decks.

The Basics
You’re probably anxious to get to know your new deck. In this section you’ll find a brief introduction to the structure of the deck. This will help you understand the meanings of the cards in general terms.
The later sections will help you provide more in-depth interpretation. Think of this as the outline for the card meanings. The details and nuances will come in time.

The Cards
Remember that the tarot is very personal and that the cards are packed with many meanings. Use this text as a guidebook, but let your own intuition be the final word. If something here does not make sense, discard it. Divination is not a hard science. Use the exercises provided to help flesh out the meanings that you’ll use for your own readings. A journal or notebook will be especially handy in keeping all your notes and observations in order. Throughout this book, there will be exercises to help you solidify your understanding of the cards.

Seventy-eight cards may seem like a lot to learn. Dividing the deck into sections makes it easier. The first main division is in two parts: the Major Arcana (twenty-two cards) and the Minor Arcana (fifty-six cards). Arcana means “secrets”-so the Major Arcana are the “big secrets.” In practical terms, these are the cards that represent important milestones, major changes, events beyond our control, and spiritual growth. The Minor Arcana, “lesser secrets,” generally depict events, situations, or people related to everyday life. An important characteristic of the Minor Arcana is personal control-that is, they represent aspects of your life over which you have the control.

The Minor Arcana
The Minor Arcana are usually very simple to understand because most people are familiar with the structure already. Think of a pack of playing cards: four suits (clubs, hearts, spades, and diamonds), with each suit having ten pip cards numbered ace through ten and three court cards (King, Queen, Jack). The Minor Arcana is just like that, with the addition of one court card for each suit. The court cards of the tarot reflect their medieval roots: King, Queen, Knight, and Page.
The suits have different names and symbols but still relate directly to the suits of playing cards [alternative names are in brackets]:

WANDS [Rods, Batons, or Staves] = Clubs

CUPS [Chalices] = Hearts

SWORDS = Spades

PENTACLES [Coins, Disks, or Stones] = Diamonds

In addition to relating to playing-card deck suits, the tarot suits are associated with the four elements.
This helps define the suit’s relation to our daily lives.
The illustration below shows the four suits, and the list below it reveals each suit’s elemental association and the aspects of life it represents.

WANDS (left). Fire or Air. Career, projects, inspiration.

CUPS (top). Water. Emotions, relationships, creativity.

SWORDS (right). Air or Fire. Challenges, intellect, ways of thinking.

PENTACLES (bottom). Earth. Physical world, money, resources.

Each Minor Arcana suit is associated with an area of life. All the cards are numbered as well; each of these numbers has meanings.

ACES: New beginnings, opportunity.
TWOS: Balance, duality, a crossroads or choice.
THREES: The full expression of the suit, achievement.
FOURS: Structure, stability, stagnation.
FIVES: Instability, conflict, loss, opportunity for change.
SIXES: Communication, problem-solving, cooperation.
SEVENS: Reflection, assessment, motives.
EIGHTS: Movement, action, change, power.
NINES: Fruition, attainment.
TENS: Completion, end of a cycle.

Using this information, you can already get a sense for a card’s meaning. For example, the Seven of Pentacles could represent an assessment of resources or property. This card shows a woman looking at the fruit on a tree. She might be contemplating the work invested and comparing it to the harvest gained by that investment. The Three of Cups could indicate the achievement of relationships. This image shows three woman celebrating the joy of their friendship.

While the numbered cards show different situations of everyday life, the court cards bring personality to these situations. They can represent other people or the querent (the person asking the question). Because real people are complex, the court cards usually represent just a facet of a person-the part of the person engaged in the particular situation being inquired about.

PAGES: Novices, eager and enthusiastic but sometimes shallow; can indicate a message that the querent will receive.
KNIGHTS: Extremists, very focused (like a knight on a quest); can be unbalanced or fanatical; may represent a fast-moving situation.
QUEENS: Mature and reflective; one who nurtures others; can be prone to obsession.
KINGS: Mature and expressive; one who organizes and controls external matters, sometimes at the expense of internal or personal matters.

Exercise 1
Put your Minor Arcana cards in numerical order. Look at each one and connect the image on the card to the associations of the suit and the number as described above. Write your observations in a notebook. Note whether the connections were obvious or subtle. Also note whatever details grab your attention. Write down why a particular image intrigued you and how it affects the meaning of the card for you.

Exercise 2
Lay out your court cards. Think about the personality represented on each card. Match that card with someone in your life, noting the particular behaviors, characteristics, or habits that caused the connection in your mind.

The Major Arcana
The Major Arcana are made up of twenty-two cards, numbered zero through twenty-one. Just as the minor suits have an elemental association, so does the Major Arcana; it is connected with the element of Spirit. In addition to being numbered, the Majors are also named as follows:

0 The Fool
I The Magician
II The High Priestess
III The Empress
IV The Emperor
V The Hierophant
VI The Lovers
VII The Chariot
VIII Strength
IX The Hermit
X Wheel of Fortune
XI Justice
XII The Hanging Man
XIII Death
XIV Temperance
XV The Devil
XVI The Tower
XVII The Star
XVIII The Moon
XIX The Sun
XX Judgement
XXI The World

The names give some indication of the meaning. For example, the Hermit means taking time to retreat from the world and look inward. The Star brings hope and guidance, a light to follow through otherwise dark times.

Exercise 3
List the meanings or associations that come to mind simply based on the name of each Major Arcana card.

The Fool’s Journey
Just as dividing the Minor Arcana into suits and learning about the suit and numerological associations provide a brief overview and introduction to these cards’ meanings, learning the Fool’s journey helps introduce us to the Major Arcana. The twenty-two Major Arcana cards depict a journey through life, a journey of self-development and spiritual growth. We all start as the Fool, the first card of the Major Arcana, though all our journeys are different.

To visualize the Fool’s journey, lay out the cards, placing the Fool alone at the top. Then lay out the rest of the cards, in numerical order, underneath the Fool in three rows of seven (1-7, 8-14, and 15-21).

1. The first row shows the steps we go through in our basic development from birth to young adult and in learning how to live in society.

2. The second row illustrates the universal laws or rules of society that we must confront, question, and come to terms with; it also is about discovering who we are.

3. The final row is our spiritual development.

THE FOOL: The Fool marks the beginning of the journey as an archetypal child, unformed and unlearned, innocent and eager.

THE MAGICIAN: The Magician represents the male principal or animus. This is our active or outgoing energy, our skills and abilities in terms of the outer world. In basic terms, it is how we do things and how we learn.

THE HIGH PRIESTESS: The High Priestess embodies the female principal or anima. This is our passive or introspective energy, our skills as they relate to our inner world and self-reflection. In short, this is how we think or feel about things and what we know intuitively.

THE EMPRESS: The Empress represents the Mother archetype and our experience with mothering, nurturing, emotions, and our creative impulse.

THE EMPEROR: The Emperor represents the Father archetype and our experience with authority, reason, and logic.

THE HIEROPHANT: The Hierophant is our formal education within our society, including school, religious training, and cultural traditions.

THE LOVERS: In a word, adolescence-our experience of hormones, sex, and our sense of self.

THE CHARIOT: The Chariot illustrates the ability to see both sides of an issue; it marks the ending of the “but that’s not fair!” stage.
Once we have synthesized these archetypes into our sense of self, we are usually pretty well prepared to participate in society. Sometimes we incorporate some of these elements better than others. For example, if someone “has issues with her mother,” she may not have dealt very effectively with the Empress.

STRENGTH: Strength is where we learn to control our instincts and impulses, where we master ourselves and develop self-control. We may want to party all night, eat the entire buffet, or shop until our credit card reaches its limit, but we realize that it is probably best if we do not indulge all these desires.

THE HERMIT: This is us feeling the need to “find ourselves.” We turn inward, questioning all we’ve learned, and try to find a sense of inner peace.

WHEEL OF FORTUNE: Just when we feel centered and balanced, our resolve is tested by a spin of fate. Something happens beyond our control or our ability to foresee.

JUSTICE: In the aftermath of the spin of fate, we find out how we fared, and realize that we reap what we sow. If we were well prepared, we come out perhaps shaken but okay. If not, we may need to revisit the Hermit phase of the journey-or move on to…

THE HANGING MAN: The Hanging Man shows us the strength and power of letting go and enjoying the view from a different perspective. This card also shows us the importance of sacrifice. Some things are worth sacrificing for and maybe we really can’t have it all-at least not the way we planned.

DEATH: Just when we get comfortable hanging on by a thread, we are faced with a major change in our lives. This can be any major change, positive or negative: an unexpected promotion, the ending of a relationship, moving to a new place.

TEMPERANCE: After coming through a transformational experience, we learn graceful balance and tolerance.
We learn to adapt to changes in circumstance while maintaining our center, our sense of self.
We have come through a very difficult phase of our development.
We have faced Death in some guise. We’ve learned to maintain ourselves, to adapt to circumstances, to not rail against the seeming unfairness of the universe. What more could we possibly have to do?

THE DEVIL: Balanced, strong, and confident, now we are asked to confront our shadow selves, the dark aspects of ourselves that we fear and that may control us in subtle ways. These may be aspects that we learned to control or repress in the Strength card.
This worked well for a while, before we had the knowledge and experience not just to ignore and repress these aspects. Now we need to revisit them, learn to appreciate the positive qualities they can bring to our lives, and synthesize them appropriately.

THE TOWER: Although we feel we’ve got ourselves under reasonable control by now, the universe reminds us that we are not in control of everything.
The Tower gives us a bolt from the blue that shakes our very foundation. This may differ from the Wheel or Death in that rather than disrupting the external circumstances of our lives, the Tower shakes the foundations of our belief systems.

THE STAR: The Star provides us guidance, hope, and optimism after cataclysmic events, giving us the strength we need to rebuild our crumbled foundations.

THE MOON: While the Star guides us on our way, the Moon teaches us to question everything and to realize that things are not always what they seem.
By the light of the Moon, we can lose our way or be distracted by enticing shadows. We can also have inspiring dreams. We must learn to tell the difference.

THE SUN: After wandering in the Moon, we emerge into the Sun with increased strength and self-awareness, with the certainty that we know ourselves, what we believe in, and what is real.

JUDGEMENT: The Judgement card calls us to a deeper spiritual realization. Often it is a call to action, to share your knowledge or experience with others.

THE WORLD: This is the end of the cycle; we have learned all of our lessons and have achieved integration, balance, and spiritual awareness.

Exercise 4
Look at each Major Arcana card. Write down a situation or experience from your own life that reminds you of each step of the Fool’s journey.