Learn to Read Tarot Cards

Crystal balls, Gypsy women, beads, and hocus pocus this comes to mind when you hear of Tarot. Television and movies invariably show a overdressed woman shuffling through her cards with her client gazing intently with wide open eyes and alert ears for her every word and action. The origin of tarot card is not clearly traceable, however it has been used from the mid fifteenth century in various parts of Europe.
Tarot readers call the trump cards and the Fool "the major arcana" while the ten pip and four court cards in each suit are called minor arcana.

Tarot is a tool used much in the same way to solve problems and gain insight as hypnosis or meditation. Tarot is Simply put, just a tool for allowing your intuition to guide you towards solutions and possibilities, so that you can take the best possible action. When a Tarot master gazes upon the cards, the symbols on them bringing forth buried thoughts, feelings and intuitions from the inner recesses of the mind.

The truth is that Tarot cards hold no inherent power of their own, yet they are far more than a worthless parlor game.

Modern tarot cards consists of 78 cards, 22 cards are called as Major Arcana and the remaining minor arcana. Arcana means "hidden" aspects which need to be unraveled, whilst the minor Arcana points to the minor aspects. The major arcana are considered to be the most influential cards in the deck, these are usually beautifully illustrated compared to the rest. Their influence is more superior over any other card and each card has a large number of symbols.

The major arcana cards represent the time frames and seasons in life also called as Fools journey. The ups and downs and rhythm of an individuals journey in life, successes and testing periods are represented within the symbol of the cards. Events, influences and personality profiles are indicated by Major arcana. These can be things that we already know and understand in yourself or among the people who are close to you. They can give you an overview of you and what circumstances or enegy surrounds you.

Here is a brief overview of what the 22 major arcana cards and what they represent:
1. Fool : The human soul
2. Magician : The conscious part of the mind where reason and rationality dominate
3. High Priestess : The subconscious part of the mind where creativity and intuition dominate
4. Empress : The union of the conscious and the subconscious mind and usually represent abundance as well
5. Emperor : The power and leadership
6. Hierophant : The spiritual aspects of life
7. Lovers : The free will or choices
8. Chariot : The success through learning from the past
9. Strength : The spiritual strength controlling desires and lower forces
10. Hermit : The guide that leads people in the path of spiritual truth
11. X Wheel of Fortune : The completed cycle
12. Justice : The Balance and the need to get rid of the thins that are no longer needed
13. Hanged Man : The surrendering to the Spirit or sacrificing of small desires for greater ones.
14. Death : Rebirth or start of something new.
15. Temperance : The creation of power.
16. Devil : The revelation of the secrets of life and dark forces would attempt to use these secrets for selfish desires.
17. Tower : The giving in to temptation.
18. Star : The destruction is not permanent and that there is still hope.
19. Moon : The hidden temptation and perils.
20. Sun : The lessons learned.
21. Judgment : The beckoning to the spiritual life.
22. World : The celebration of life.

The minor arcana or pip cards as they are often called have four sets of 14 cards ie 56 cards in total. Each suit is made up of four court cards ie king, queen, knight and page (which represents people) and 10 numbered cards which represents situations. Below we have the "Cups suit". The cups denotes desires, creativity, emotions and feelings .