CC's Thoughts on Tarot
For those of you that are not familiar with the Tarot I will take a moment to explain some basics such as what makes
up a Tarot deck. For those of you who already know this you may want to skip the first 2 paragraphs. A standard
Tarot deck is made up of 78 cards. There are specialty decks that are still considered Tarot decks but have more
cards than the standard 78.
In a standard deck there are 22 Major Arcana Cards. These cards basically represent important events or qualities
in a person's life that impact their spiritual development. Next we have 4 Suits of cards which are Wands, Cups,
Swords and Pentacles. These are the names most commonly used for the four suits but not the only names given
them. For example some decks call Pentacles, Disks. Some other decks call Wands, Staves. Sometimes the book that
comes with the deck will give you a correspondence list so you don't get to confused if they call the suits other than
the usual names I've mentioned here. They are collectively called the Minor Arcana cards. Each suit is made up of 14
cards; Ace through 10 and then Page, Knight, Queen and King. The Page, Knight, Queen and King are called Court
cards. They also can have alternative names but this is what they are most often called. The Aces represent the
purest form of the energy of it's given suit. The Court cards generally represent personality types, a specific person,
or the essence of a particular type of experience. In the case of the Kings it would be the experience of being in
charge. For the Queens it would be the experience of nurturing, support and reflection. The Kings and Queens of a
suit hold the qualities of their suit in abundance but express it differently within the male, female archetype. The cards
2 through 10 represent every day experiences of life.
I think the best deck to start learning tarot with is what is called a Rider - Waite based deck. The deck authored by
Edward Arthur Waite is one of the most commonly found decks and therefore has given birth to many decks that use
his basic symbols as depicted by Pamela Coleman Smith. While these decks give you some of the basic symbology of
the tarot they also have a wide range of illustrative interpretive style that is dependent on the author so that finding
one that suits you should not be difficult. It is certainly not necessary to start with this type of deck if there are others
that get your attention. However at some time because the Rider - Waite decks are a large part of the tarot world you
may want to look into them at some point.
Basically speaking, when it comes to buying a deck, there are collector decks and there are reading decks.
Collector decks can also be reading decks but reading becks are not necessarily collector decks. I often think of what I
call Art decks as my collector decks. I buy these decks because I love the art work but I don't want to use them for
doing readings. There are definitely reading decks that can be limited editions or collector items for other reasons but
you may not want to use these for reading simply because of the ware that will show on them after repeated use.
When searching for decks to buy it may be helpful to think about what type of reader you are if you have already
had some experience. Do you read from an intuitive sense of the picture?. Do you first consider what the meaning of a
card as given in a book or do you get psychic impressions from the cards. If you are an intuitive reader the images on
the cards may influence your ability to read the card differently than a psychic reader looking at the same card. For
example a psychic reader may find Minor Arcana cards (also called Pip cards) that are illustrated not as suitable for
them to read as cards that are not illustrated, for various reasons. When ever possible, look at as much of the deck as
you can before you buy it. Keep in mind that as your ability and familiarity with the cards increase so may your taste in
decks.
Please, when getting a deck, do not give in to the belief that you must be given your first deck, as an
excuse to steal a deck from a store.
As you research which decks to buy you will also notice that they are all different prices. Some are very reasonable
others quite expensive. There are also what are known as theme decks. These generally require specific knowledge
with in the theme or subject of the deck. For example the Arthurian Tarot is based on the Arthurian legend and the
stories of the knights of the round table. If you are not interested in this subject and don't want to learn about it then
this deck would not be what you are looking for. Also keep in mind that some decks come with books written
specifically for that deck, some only with small pamphlets that are included in the box that holds the deck itself.
These are just some of the things to keep in mind as you explore the world of Tarot. There are many avenues of
research available so let your interests, common sense and intuition be your guide. I hope that you will find the tarot
as rewarding as I have. Enjoy.