Brief Background of the Tarot

You do not have to remember all of the facts below. Just read the information and know that we will move through everything in more depth later in the book. This part of the book gives you the basics around how the tarot was created.

I am talking about tarot cards throughout this book, not oracle cards. There is a difference.

Tarot decks always have seventy-eight cards, and all seventy-eight have the exact same meaning, just interpreted in different ways. The basic principles are always the same. Oracle decks are different from deck to deck. Some oracle decks are about animals, or fairies, or dolphins, for instance, whereas all tarot decks are related to humans and human existence and growth.

Occasionally an author will create a seventy-eight card tarot deck and then add an extra card as a wild card – an unlimited potential card. For instance, I own a deck which has a seventy-ninth card called the unlimited potential card.

This is a tarot deck that doesn't have seventy-eight cards in it:

This probably looks very familiar to most people.

Lots of people use tarot cards without realizing it, and I have met many people that say that they've never been brave enough to use tarot cards, and yet they play poker with friends. The fifty-two card playing deck is actually a tarot deck.

Now we consider the five elements split up against the fifty-two playing card deck. (You don't need to remember this now; just read on.)

• Earth: diamonds, the precious gem we find in the earth. Everything that feeds us comes from the earth.

• Air: Spade comes from the Italian word for sword, which cuts through the air.

• Fire: A Club is wood, and wood burns.

• Water: The heart holds the emotions; tears of joy and sadness.

• There is no Spirit suit in the fifty-two-card playing deck.

The fifty-two-card playing deck has the above four suits of cards. Each suit has thirteen cards, from one (ace) to ten and jack, queen, and king.

The jack, queen, and king were added around the 15th century, as royalty didn't appreciate having a reading when there were cards that were appropriate for every man. Royalty wanted their own cards, and this was at a time when the boy in the family was the prince and girls were considered less important. Therefore, the jack, was added to indicate the child of royalty – jack (child), queen, and king.

As time went on, it became important for the royals to show a difference between their sons and daughters, and the prince card was born - the jack becoming the princess. The court cards becoming the princess (jack), the prince (new), and the queen and king.

The major change to the tarot deck was the inclusion of the Spirit suit. Awareness of spirituality meant that people wanted to describe our soul's journey in this lifetime and beyond, and therefore the twenty-two cards were created to describe the soul's journey on earth.

The spirit suit, or Major Arcana, major secrets, or soul secrets suit was added as people developed spiritually. People wanted to understand where they were on their soul's journey, rather than their physical journey, and that's why this suit was added.

So if you add the cards above (fifty-two) plus the four new princes (fifty-six) plus the twenty-two Major Arcana cards then you will get seventy-eight cards for the now standard tarot deck.

The fifty-six cards are called the Minor Arcana, and the twenty-two spirit cards are called the Major Arcana - minor secrets and major secrets.

The word arcana is the plural of arcanum, which means profound secret.

The Minor Arcana in the tarot are a collection of basic secrets, and the Major Arcana are a collection of soul secrets. Together the full set of tarot cards explains the secrets within our lives.

Below is a picture of the spirit suit, which is also known as the Major Arcana:

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

You can create your own tarot deck if you purchase a fifty-two card playing deck, add in four prince cards, and then add twenty-two Major Arcana cards. The result is a full set of current tarot cards.

I hope this helps you understand how tarot decks have evolved over the centuries.

Finding a Tarot Deck that Suits You

There are so many tarot decks on the market that it can make you dizzy trying to find one, so don't look yet. Consider your life and what is important to you. Ask yourself questions like;

• Do I prefer being outside more during the day or night? Would I resonate more with pictures of daytime or night-time?

• Do I prefer looking at pictures of elves, forests, or stars, or do I even care about those things?

• Would I like a tarot deck that's specific to a healing modality; e.g., tarot cards with herbs on them?

• Do I want pictures that are close to the original tarot, or am I happy to go with something more creative and artistic?

• Do I want pictures with lots of color or just simple drawings and/or numbers?

• Do I want a tarot deck with writing on the card to remind me what the meaning is?

If you would like a deck that has meanings written on it, then please try my deck: http:// www.eleanorhammond.com.au/index.php/store/tarot-cards

There are many tarot decks available and it's worth understanding what you want first before browsing the Internet or stores, as you may be tempted to purchase a deck that doesn't suit you, just because it's on special, or looks pretty.

The difficulty with purchasing a deck online is that you can't hold them in your hands first. The cards may feel too thin or be of poor quality - perhaps printed on cardboard that isn't gloss laminated. Cardboard tarot cards look authentic but age quickly and need replacing regularly. If you're like me, you prefer a long-term relationship with the cards and will be upset if the special cards you purchased show signs of age not long after starting using them.

Tip: Really consider the box that the deck comes in. The soft boxes have a flap on the inside, which makes it hard to push the cards down and can damage the cards over time, and the softer boxes tend to break very quickly. If you have a wooden box and some soft material (most people use silk) to store your new cards in, it doesn't matter what box they come in. If you like to carry your cards around with you, then the box that the cards come in needs to be sturdy to protect them.

Blessing Your Cards

The easiest way of cleansing your cards is to have the intention of clearing old energy off of them as you pick up each card. The power of your intention is all that is really required to ensure your cards stay clean.

Sit quietly and open your deck. Realize that these cards are just a tool for you to use to access your intuitive ability. Obviously it's not the card that assists in any way; it's you accessing your intuition when using the cards. The card is a vehicle for your intuitive ability to unfold, so have gratitude for the tools you use.

Really look at each card and say, "thank you for helping me."

Go through each card in this way. You do not need to know what the cards mean. Just look at the pictures and place the card back in the deck when you feel ready.

Keep your cards wrapped in something that feels beautiful and special to you. Most tarot readers wrap their cards in silk; however, I find that the type of material depends on the climate you live within. Generally, silk will ensure that your cards stand the test of time in most climates.

Putting a crystal like selenite or citrine on top of your deck when you're not using the deck works amazingly well and allows you to cleanse and charge your cards overnight.

I bless my cards by asking for Archangel Michael, or another high vibration and protective energy; dependent on your personal beliefs, to please protect the cards and ensure that any messages coming from the cards are for my highest good.

Creating Safe Space

When you conduct a tarot reading for yourself or others, you cannot access higher guidance if you feel unsafe. We are human, and we have human desires and weaknesses. The biggest one is that we can become closed-minded and only hear what we want to hear when it comes to a reading.

If you, or the person you are reading for, is after a thrill when doing the cards, then you may get one. Likewise, if you say you are open to hearing bad news, then you'll likely get bad news - not necessarily the truth.

If you are after guidance and have a completely open and accepting mind, then you will get guidance. A lot of people want the cards to give them a specific result.

If a person is unhappy in a relationship, then of course they'll want the cards to say that they should leave the relationship and not to try and work things out. If someone really loves a person, then they'll want the cards to show love coming back from the other person. This is the trap that most readers fall into - trying to project what it is that spirit is saying via the cards.

The cards neither love you nor hate you. The cards are a tool for accessing spiritual and higher consciousness guidance.

The steps I use when preparing myself for a reading;

• Clear the room: I conduct readings at the dinner table - the heart of the house to me. I vacuum the room, and clear anything off the table that isn't one of my reading tools - removing clutter that might distract me.

• Create space: I put on a special table cloth, some crystals, a candle, and then play easy listening or meditation music.

• Meditate: The room might be clear, but my mind might be full of clutter. I sit still in silence for at least ten minutes before I do any readings. If any thoughts come up, I simply let them go and sit in silence.

• Raise the vibration: I then say a small prayer to myself. When I conduct readings for other people I say the prayer out loud in front of them so that they can feel assured. The prayer can be anything that makes you feel safe and secure. I always say "I ask for higher protective energy to surround me, and higher healing energy to come through me, and I request a reading for my (or the person's) highest good."

Then I begin.

The Five Elements and the Five Suits

We are at the beginning now. Please remember: You do not need to remember each word as it's written in this book, as the information will be re-written in different ways to assist in your learning process.

Allow yourself time to relax and enjoy, and I will take you on a learning voyage.

As I wrote already at the beginning of this book - everyone that opens this book will be at various stages with their knowledge of the tarot. This book is designed for anyone as it will give the fundamental teachings to those people who don't know anything about tarot, and it will deepen the knowledge of anyone that does.

The teaching will be the same for every tarot deck.

Water: Our emotions, from sorrow to happiness.

This suit is all about how we feel. We may feel emotionally stable, or unstable. Think about water and how we use water to describe emotions. Someone in a peaceful mood might be considered as calm as a deep pool of water, or an angry person might be considered stormy. We could be in love with a beautiful person one day, and then have turbulent emotions about them the next day. Relationships can make us happy or sad. We can be content with life or feel resolved to make changes.

The water suit might be called chalices, cups, hearts, or anything else that pertains to the water element.

Fire: Our passion and excitement.

Life lessons can be painful and exciting, and occasionally when we are learning our life lessons we metaphorically walk through the fire. We burn ourselves and other people. Passion can be destructive. Passion can give us itchy feet and make us want to travel and experience what life has to offer. Passion pushes the boundaries and lights our internal flame. Without passion we would be bored. A hobby could be a new passion. A person could light our fire. You can have a passionate relationship, or a boring one.

The fire suit might be called wood, clubs, wands, staves, or anything else that pertains to the fire element.

Air: Our thoughts and ability to plan and think ahead.

Do you use your mind to support and help yourself, or do you use your mind to over-think everything and stress yourself? Do you use your thoughts to torture yourself or protect yourself? Do you have clarity of thought? Do you stress other people out?

Are you creating a disaster because you haven't thought anything through? Do you always have a lot of ideas floating around in the air?

The air suit might be called knives, swords, spades, smoke, birds, or anything else that pertains to the air element.

Earth: Our ability to feed and clothe ourselves.

People need food, shelter, and clothing to survive. There may be an abundance of food, or extreme poverty and starvation. There is a difference between someone trying to eke out a living close to a fresh-water stream full of fish, and someone trying to live off the land in the desert.

The person that lives near the stream has an abundance of food to eat, and the person living in the desert is surviving on the small amount of food available to them. Anything that comes from the earth – whether it be a home made of stone or wood, or fruit, vegetables and meats to eat, clothing to wear made of cotton or silk or leather, and the ability to purchase items of the earth, is all related to the earth suit.

Generally we do not need to go fishing to get fish now, we get a job, earn money, and use money to buy items of the earth. We do not cut down trees to build a home, or get rocks to build a wall. We work, earn money and pay for these items.

Therefore the earth suit is all about survival and can relate to how well we are doing and how badly we are doing. The earth suit might be called crystals, diamonds, coins, money, pentacles, abundance, or anything else that pertains to the earth element.

Spirit: Our soul's journey and growth.

The Major Arcana, or soul growth, cards were created to describe the enormous perspective shifts which can happen to people without an external event changing life circumstance. For instance, you could stay where you're living, in a bad relationship, with ten kids, no food, and you could become enlightened and blissfully happy. Other people might stop you in the street and ask you what your secret is and how you're always happy under such terrible circumstances. You might say that you had a soul changing experience. You could have everything in life that is considered by others to be horrible and bad, and you could be exceedingly happy.

Conversely, you could have all the things that money can buy, be in a beautiful relationship, have wonderful children, be supported to live the life that you want, and be depressed. It's true that money can't buy happiness. Regardless of your situation in life, you could feel like you haven't learnt anything and that you're going through the same emotional patterns over and over, picking the same type of person for a relationship, with no spiritual progression. Therefore the Major Arcana, or soul growth suit, explains the soul's journey and is the spirit element.

The spirit suit might be called pilgrimage, spirit, Major Arcana, soul or anything else that pertains to the spirit element.

Exercises

• If your tarot deck isn't already in order from ace to king or zero to twenty-one, then put them into order.

• Place your tarot deck into five piles with the aces, and The Fool (the zero of the spirit suit) on top. If you are learning with the fifty-two card playing deck, then you will not have a spirit suit and there will only be four piles of cards.

• Put your cups suit in the first pile, then your staves deck in the second pile, then the swords suit, pentacles suit, and if you have it – your spirit suit in the order shown in the picture below.

• Now accessing your intuition with the tarot cards will begin. Repeat this phrase, saying out loud the bold text:

• "We need love," and look at your water suit, "passion," and look at your fire suit, "mental stimulation," and look at your air suit, "food, shelter, clothing," and look at your earth suit, "and soul growth," and look at your spirit suit, "to survive and prosper".

• Take your time and do this process repeatedly until you can go through the entire process without referring back to the phrase in the book.

Discovering the elements

In the below exercise you do not have to remember anything about your cards. Just allow yourself to be comfortable and most importantly, take your time. This exercise may take several days to complete properly, which is fine. If you take the time now, then you will do well later.

• As you look at each cups card, say the word "love" to yourself. Take your time.

Pick up each of the cards in the cups suit in turn, repeating the word "love" with each card.

• Look at the way that each cup card was created. What is on the picture for the Ace of Cups card? How is love depicted on this card? What about the Four of Cups card? How about the Seven of Cups card? How is love depicted throughout the suit of cups? It's not always happy or romantic love that is depicted.