A Little Lesson in Tarot: The Basics

by guest blogger: Mónica Laura

What is tarot?

Tarot is a tool that can be used for self-empowerment. As the 78 (or so) cards are shuffled, cut and drawn, you are opening portals to the past, present and future. As you begin reading the tarot, you will associate influences from the past as they come into your present circumstances and influence the future. There are not sparks or ‘real’ magic in the act of shuffling laminated paper and dealing it as an expert would. The real magic is in drawing the connections that are present amongst the cards. You really need to understand the manner in which the cards are talking to themselves to understand what they are trying to say to you. In a tarot reading, a dialogue is established between the reader and the cards, and later on with the reader and the querent. It is both an honor and a great responsibility because someone is entrusting you with their deepest concerns and allowing you to draw solutions.

I say that tarot is a self-empowering tool because it allows for someone with an outside perspective to understand what is going on in a more specific scope. It will tell you about the past as it comes into the present, and then which direction you’re going in based off the past. It tells you about influences from the divine and mundane world, with keywords to follow and symbols to look out for. Reading tarot for yourself is a gratifying experience, but you will find it most rewarding when you place your gift of foresight and skills acquired to help others. It is a great icebreaker for getting to know someone and it cleans some karma. Doing a good deed while nurturing the soul sounds great!

Different Cards

& Styles Available

It is no surprise that there are thousands of tarot of decks readily available on the internet. Prices can generally fluctuate from $15 to $1,000 for the rare, out of print decks. You don’t need a pricey deck to draw valuable insight from a deck of cards, and I encourage you to say within the $15 — $30 mark at first. Find a beautiful deck that resonates with your personality. Look for images that get stories started in your head, and before you know it, you will be reading tarot like a pro!

The question is: which one is meant for you?

Break the possible decks down into categories of your preference. Mine are sweet / whimsical / colorful vs. dark / introspective. It depends on what you like! Find the polarities in your personality that are worthy representations of you and compose a list to compare. Read blog or Amazon reviews, look through card scans online and decide which one speaks the most to you. Once you weed out the less appropriate decks, you should be left with a list of about 5-10 decks that you really like the idea of studying. Next it is up to you to decide which deck will be the first to enter your life. Once it arrives, all you need to do is connect with it. Study it, learn to understand the way in which the cards interact with themselves, and then how they speak to you.

* Keep a tarot diary or blog about it. Write down your first impressions of each card and leave some space to write for when you’re better acquainted with your deck.
* Don’t choose the same deck a friend of yours has. They chose a deck that spoke to them personally. Chances are you won’t have the same results with it.
* Record your spreads along with card observations and symbols. You will be surprised at how versatile they can be!
* Revisit your card meanings from time to time. Stay fresh!

Aeclectic.net offer hundreds of tarot decks for your perusal, and they even list the decks by theme! Aeclectic is the leading community of tarot enthusiasts coming together to share their impressions about tarot decks, from beginner to advanced levels. Additionally, you can see tarot decks in action at blogs like Samhain Moon, The Lost Journal of Prince Lenormand, My Curious Cabinet, and 78 Whispers. All are great resources for tarot knowledge.

*Note that lenormands, oracles and angel cards are not the same system as the tarot. They are cards used for divination, but they don’t follow the 78 layers of life. They cover other areas of interest.

About the author:

Monica Laura

I am a clairvoyant, clairsentient empath with a special focus on the tarot. I come from a line of psychics with the ability to medium channel. My journey in the tarot started at 12 and remains a very important aspect at my life, just short of 24. Now I blog actively about it at http://blog.monicalaura.com/ , where I also blog about other areas of spiritual awakening and self-empowerment. I consider myself a perpetual student of metaphysics and spiritual development. I have a life calling to help people though my psychic gifts, and I do so with a lot of love.

You can book tarot readings with me after looking through http://tarot.monicalaura.com/ for rates; I offer tarot readings for 15, 30 and 60 minutes depending on what you need. My focal areas of expertise are in love, finance and interpersonal connections. Interpersonal connections define how somebody else — not the Querent — feels or thinks about the Querent or another person.

Alli here: FYI – there is a zombie tarot deck. Yeah. You heard me. Zombie tarot. That popping sound you heard was my head exploding. And make sure to come back Wednesday to read Part II of Monica’s guest post where she’ll tell you how to choose a tarot reader that’s right for you.

As a token of love for Kisses & Chaos readers, Monica is offering her 60 minute tarot readings (normally $65) for a rockin’ $45! Just mention K&CTAROT when you schedule your reading.