CHAPTER 2

It’s All about Tarot

If you found the previous chapter a little too lacking in concrete factual information, you may enjoy this one a bit more. We’ll talk about the structure of a tarot deck, which is one of the things that make it a tarot deck. It is also one of the things that makes it easier to learn and to interpret readings. The structure is also part of the beautifully balanced tool that tarot is.

A tarot deck is a perfectly balanced oracle because its design involves both the left and the right sides of the brain. I know, I know … current research shows that the brain isn’t actually divided into two halves. However, we still see that different systems or networks in the brain activate together in ways that reflect our old school left-brain/right-brain model. Perhaps we’d do better to say our “intuitive” and our “analytical” parts. Or we could say our head and our heart.

The images on the cards spark our intuition, fire up the right side of the brain, and speak the language of our heart. People who feel more intuitive often like to focus mostly on the images.

The structure of the deck, which we’ll explore in a moment, engages the left side of the brain, makes our analytical side jump for joy, and allows our heads to feel very useful. People who like analyzing data and looking for patterns are usually happiest when working with the structural elements of the deck.

People are often more one or the other, intuitive or analytical. This is wonderful and viva the differences! But I think that when we involve all our parts, we create this space where things can happen … amazing, magical things … things that are much more than the sum of the two parts. When I teach workshops, I laughingly call this space the place where oracular brilliance occurs. I think it is similar to the way really creative people work. Not only does allowing both sides of the brain to play make excellent divination possible, it also makes it easier.

In our society, we value the left brain and sometimes denigrate the right brain (although that is changing). We become left-brain heavy, like someone with huge biceps and such but teeny, tiny underdeveloped legs. Then those of us who are interested in the intuitive arts often swing too far in the other direction. Our intuitive self (the right brain), which has been bottled up for so long, is so happy to finally be validated and feeling free that it kind of wants to run the show. Our left brain becomes denigrated and cast in shadow, no longer valued. Whenever anything is in shadow, it becomes problematic, popping out in inappropriate ways or at inappropriate times. Our brains are designed to work as a whole integrated organ. Both ways of looking at and thinking about the world are valuable and both actually support each other, if we allow them to.

You probably already know what side of the brain you are most comfortable working with. In your early readings, you will probably lead with your strength and that’s okay! As you continue practicing with your cards, you can develop your other skills until you are nearly perfectly balanced. This evening out of your ways of viewing and thinking about the world will probably even spread into other parts of your life. Tarot has lots of benefits!

Finding Your Own Connections

Tarot is great, it’s true. But what makes a tarot deck a tarot deck? You’ve probably seen many different kinds of decks on bookstore shelves. There are many different kinds of oracle decks, but to properly be called a tarot deck, the deck must have a specific structure. Have your deck handy, because you’re going to use it soon. I know, I made you shuffle it earlier to do that reading and now I’m going to make you put it in order. Sorting cards is satisfying and relaxing, so just enjoy the experience. The first sorting you’ll do is to separate the Major Arcana from the Minor Arcana. The Major Arcana are the ones with a Roman numeral on them and a name; there are twenty-two of them (the numbers only go up to XXI because the Fool is numbered 0). The remaining cards (there will be fifty-six) are the Minor Arcana. Arcana is a fancy word (if you consider Latin fancy) for “secrets.” The Major Arcana represent important life experiences, archetypal energies at play, and sometimes forces that are outside of our control. The Minor Arcana show us everyday life situations and the various people in our lives.

Once your cards are in two piles, look at the Major Arcana cards. You don’t have to put them in order at this point, but you can if you like. Flip through them, look at the images, note some of the names, and just say hello to this collection of archetypal energy. You’ll get to know them all a whole lot better very soon.

Now take your pile of Minor Arcana cards and divide them into four piles: Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles. You can see the names written on the cards and the suit designators worked into the images. Now take your four piles and separate each of those into two piles. In one pile are the cards with numbers (ace through ten) and the other pile has the cards with ranks on them (the ranks are Page, Knight, Queen, and King).

You now have nine piles:

Major Arcana (twenty-two cards)

Numbered Wands (ten cards)

Ranked Wands (four cards)

Numbered Cups (ten cards)

Ranked Cups (four cards)

Numbered Swords (ten cards)

Ranked Swords (four cards)

Numbered Pentacles (ten cards)

Ranked Pentacles (four cards)

Those nine piles illustrate the structure of a tarot deck. To be considered a tarot deck, a deck needs all these sections. Tarot, as I proved so beautifully in CHAPTER 1, is and always has been fluid. Modern decks will play with the structure, seeing how far it can be pushed before it either falls apart or is simply not useful. Some people add entire suits, some add cards here and there. Many change the names of the suits or the Majors. Some tarot purists say this is a Bad Thing. Whether you ever pursue pushing the boundaries of tarot or stay right here, that’s for you to decide. Don’t be afraid of new ideas in tarot, but remember to always come back to your beliefs (and we know that beliefs do change over time).

Everything in tarot is symbolic. Sometimes this makes us nervous, thinking that every symbol has a set meaning and if we haven’t been taught it, we will get it wrong. We don’t want to look or feel stupid, so we hold back. You don’t have to. Especially not here. No one is watching; no one is judging you. Remember that symbols become symbols because “everyone” knows what they mean. Symbols also arise and gain meaning within a cultural context. The current standard in tarot (the earlier-mentioned Waite-Smith deck) was created in the Victorian era by Christian mystics, so the chances are good that you may not apply the same meaning to these symbols that the creators did. But also remember that we now know that many of the meanings we thought were intended actually weren’t. Learning tarot is all about balance. You can trust your own responses to the symbols depicted and at the same time learn about some of the other ways people have interpreted those symbols. Before we talk about what other people think, let’s give you a chance to see what you think.

Before looking at individual symbols in images, we’ll explore the symbols that form the structure of the deck, which means we are going to focus on the Minor Arcana for a while. In the Minors, we have the symbolic systems of numbers, ranks, and suits.

If you develop a relationship with these symbolic aspects, I believe that it will make you a better reader. Part of being a good reader, of being able to combine all the parts of a reading into a coherent whole, means being more than just someone who can interpret a single card out of context. Context and relationship is everything. The cards are read in relation to each other, the spread position, and the question. This is why I think starting with the larger symbolic structures of tarot builds good reading skills.

Minor Arcana: The numbers

Let’s start with numbers. As I mentioned earlier, even if you don’t have (or think you have) a way of looking at numbers symbolically, you probably still have some associations. Lay out each of the suits in order, in four rows like this:

Row 1: Wands, Ace–10

Row 2: Cups, Ace–10

Row 3: Swords, Ace–10

Row 4: Pentacles, Ace–10

Look at the columns and think about the numbers and any associations you may have. Look at how they are expressed in the image. Consider all the aces (which are really like number ones). What kind of energy do you associate with the number one? Notice the similarities and differences in each suit. Without looking ahead or researching, just by spending time with the cards, write out your ideas of what each number could symbolize. Here’s a clue: symbols hardly ever mean just one thing and sometimes they can mean opposite things! Here’s an example: twos can mean union but they can also mean division. Okay, now it’s your turn. Take your time and enjoy the process of exploring.

Minor Arcana: The suits

Now we will look at the suits. Each of the suits is symbolic. The Wands all have an underlying connection, as do the Cups, Swords, and Pentacles. Think about what each word means to you. It is very common to associate the four suits with the four elements. Because these correspondences may be helpful to you, I’ll share them here.

Wands = Fire

Cups = Water

Swords = Air

Pentacles = Earth

It may also be helpful to know that Pentacles are sometimes called Coins and as you look at the images, you may notice a connection between Pentacles and money. I’ll leave it at that so you can be free to find your own associations. Take some time now to write down in your notebook your ideas about what each suit means.

As I mentioned, many people find this connection (between suit and element) to be helpful, including myself. In fact, my understanding of the suits is a combination of the element and suit designator. I am not sure if I would have such a close connection with the suits if I didn’t include the element. This doesn’t mean you have to. What is most important is that you find the connection that most naturally reflects your beliefs. In case you are interested, here is a short synopsis of how I think of the suits:

Wands = the elemental power of fire and how we direct it (or how we don’t direct it); we use wands to direct energy.

Cups = the elemental power of water and how we contain it (or don’t contain it); cups are vessels that hold water.

Swords = the elemental power of air and how we use it (or misuse it); swords express the consequences of air.

Pentacles = the elemental power of earth and how we manage it (or mismanage it); pentacles are the manifestation of all the elements in this physical world.

Minor Arcana: Court Cards

Now take a look at the ranked cards, also known as the Court cards, within each suit. Lay out the sixteen Court cards like you did the numbered cards. Don’t worry about the individual cards yet, just get used to thinking about the ranks. Using what you know (from history, from movies, from books, and from stories or myths) about kings and queens and such, look at your Court cards and write out some ideas about what they symbolize.

Major Arcana

Let’s end with the big cards, the Major Arcana. These cards all have a Roman numeral and a name, as well as an image. While the Majors are part of the structure of tarot, there are no subsections here. As you begin getting acquainted with them, you can think about the numbers and the meanings you’ve already come up with and see how they fit in with the name and image. In addition, you can explore your own connections with the card names. What ideas does the Emperor or the Wheel of Fortune or the Lovers bring to mind? As you will probably notice, some of these cards do have connections to each other. For example, the Empress and the Emperor seem like a natural pair. Visually, the Devil connects with several of the cards, such as the Magician, the Hierophant, and the Lovers.

Lay out the cards and make note of any of these kinds of connections you notice.

What Tradition Teaches Us

Now that you’ve had a chance to make your own connections, let’s look at some common traditional associations. You may discover that you have more in common with tradition than you thought or you may be surprised that you are a more out-of-the-box thinker. Both are great qualities for a reader to have. Being grounded in tradition helps give confidence and direction. There is power in tradition, too, because things (words, associations, symbols, for example) gain strength over time. However, anything used too often without thinking becomes stagnant and possibly irrelevant. A good reading is a combination of traditional ideas and personal insights. Below are lists of commonly used associations for the numbers, the suits, and the Court card ranks.

Numbers	Meaning
1	Seed, opportunity, gift, beginning, self, leadership
2	Balance, choice, partnership, duality
3	Communication, interaction, creation, expression, results, productivity, abundance
4	Stability, order, construction, practicality, protection, stagnation
5	Action, instability, difficulties, change, life experience, resistance, knowledge
6	Harmony, home/family, relationship, adjustment, responsibility
7	Contemplation, spirit, thought, observation, imagination, psychology, philosophy
8	Power, authority, achievement, plans in motion, action, speed
9	Completion, fullness, ripeness, intensity
10	End, finality, depletion, exhaustion, excess

Suits	Meaning
Wands	Fire, will, passion, drive, career, projects, goals, desires, active
Cups	Water, emotions, relationships, creativity, imagination, family and friends, passive/receptive
Swords	Air, intellect, thoughts, communication, truth, problems and solutions, active
Pentacles	Earth, physical world, resources and money, material life and work, health and the body, passive/receptive

In addition to the suits’ meanings, there are important relationships between them. As you may imagine, for example, Wands and Cups (which are also Fire and Water) will react differently than, say, Pentacles and Cups (which are Earth and Water). The first coupling might create steam (great for romance!) or the water could extinguish the fire (too many emotional demands crushes passion). The second one could create a sloppy, muddy mess (too much emotional baggage carried into everyday life) or the water could wash away the earth (possible healing).

You will notice, also, that Wands and Swords share a common quality: active. This means that the energy of the suits is, well, active. They move faster than Cups and Pentacles, which are passive or receptive. Don’t worry about understanding this completely right now. Just let the ideas sink into your mind, take root, and grow. It is enough right now to just be aware of these qualities because they will come in handy later.

Court Card Ranks	Meaning
Pages	Youth, enthusiasm, confidence issues (over or under), support, students, curiosity, skepticism, courage, fear, loyalty
Knights	Single-minded, quest-driven, focused, unpredictable, extreme, chaotic, action, power, ability, lack of deep experience or authority, energetic
Queens	Nurturer, helpful, wisdom, experience, power, deeply hidden influence, intimate connections, interested in individuals
Kings	Authority, power, responsibility, groups/organizations, mastery, expertise, accomplishment, stability

As you learn the traditional meanings, using these charts is a great way to start creating your mental map of the cards. By combining the suit with the number or rank, you can get a basic idea of the card meaning even without the image. Think about the energy of a suit and then add to that the energy of the rank or number and imagine how they work together to create a more specific meaning. For example, the Ace of Pentacles could be a well-paying job opportunity. The Two of Cups could be a decision about a relationship. The Page of Wands might be starting a new career-training course. The King of Swords could be a lawyer.

Now that you have a little more information, go through all the Minors again and combine these charts with your observations and expand your ideas. Here is something else to work on. Remember how tarot explores dualities? Part of your role as a human and as a reader is to understand these dual relationships and how they shape our experience and define our reality. Explore some of the dualities presented here and try to work out their connections. For example, how can Pages be both fear and courage? How are fives both problems and truth? Also, begin thinking about how, for example, the wild, fiery energy of Wands looks when it is in the controlled environment of the four. Recognizing and understanding these relationships are important keys to not only understanding the individual cards but also to interpreting a spread. Human brains are designed to recognize patterns and in tarot, there are plenty of patterns to see. The more you see, the more insight you will uncover in each reading.

Let’s not forget the Majors. These cards are super dense with meaning, which is great and lots of fun to explore. This does, though, make it more challenging to come up with quick key phrases about their meanings. In fact, some teachers avoid doing so because they don’t want their students to get stuck on these keywords. I trust that you understand that they are a beginning point only. They are useful for getting started but will be expanded upon, not only later in this book but also in your own mind. You will find that once you begin studying the cards, you will also be experiencing them in your life. You will meet them in the dreamscape of your soul. You will develop your relationship with them. Until then, allow me to share a few ideas to play with. You will notice that the keywords will include both positive and negative energies. This is because the cards don’t just have one meaning but a spectrum of meanings. Some readers reserve the negative meanings for when the cards turn up in a reading reversed. Don’t worry about reversed cards yet, though. We’ll talk about them in the next chapter.

The Majors

The Fool: Beginnings, innocence, freedom, spontaneity, adventure, youth, idealism, faith, purity, fearlessness, carelessness, eccentricity, folly, foolishness, stupidity, negligence, distraction, naivety, recklessness, risk-taking

The Magician: Will, talent, skill, creativity, manifestation, communication, magic, action, awareness, power, resourcefulness, concentration, eloquence, trickery, manipulation, deceit, con, liar, misuse of gifts

The High Priestess: Secrets, initiation, mystery, silence, wisdom, understanding, intuition, insight, subconscious, unrevealed future, shallow knowledge, hidden agendas, inappropriate passion, conceit

The Empress: Abundance, fertility, creativity, pleasure, beauty, happiness, comfort, nature, motherhood, mother, nurturing, love, pregnancy, generosity, dependence, codependence, laziness, stagnation, smothering, stubbornness, creative block, gluttony

The Emperor: Stability, structure, power, authority, leadership, control, protection, stewardship, order, boss, fatherhood, father, ambition, reason, logic, confidence, tyranny, rigidity, inflexibility, controlling, cruelty, abuse of power, poor leadership, undisciplined

The Hierophant: Education, teaching, learning, knowledge, conformity, tradition, institutions, group identity, values, guidance, orthodoxy, rites, blessing, status quo, social conventions, fundamentalism, repression, intolerance, fear, guilt, extremism, restriction, cults, abuse of position

The Lovers: Choices, crossroads, trust, communication, relationships, partnerships, togetherness, love, affection, sexuality, harmony, engagement, attraction, duality, separation, disharmony, suspicion, jealousy, obsession, infidelity, fear of commitment, loss of love

The Chariot: Drive, ambition, control, direction, determination, success, triumph, victory, will, movement, progress, speed, travel, conquest, battle, lack of control, delay, opposition, stagnation, no direction, aggression, canceled trip, car trouble

Strength: Strength, gentleness, patience, compassion, healing, integration, courage, heart, control, discipline, fortitude, assurance, potency, virility, lust, instinct, ability, mastery, weakness, lack of discipline, control, or patience; overbearing, force, cowardice, fear, shyness

The Hermit: Solitude, introspection, philosophy, meditation, withdrawal, contemplation, wisdom, guidance, seeking, mysticism, privacy, prudence, introversion, agoraphobia, ostracism, exile, paranoia, loneliness, isolation, extreme withdrawal, self-absorption, social misfit

Wheel of Fortune: Fortune, chance, cycle of life, opportunity, destiny, fate, good luck, movement, turning point, annual event, bad luck, out of control, misfortune, failure, unexpected setback, reversal, delay

Justice: Justice, karma, cause and effect, equality, truth, responsibility, integrity, fairness, judgment, contract, legal action, lawsuit, trial, injustice, imbalance, dishonesty, hypocrisy, complications, abuse of power, red tape, bad decision

The Hanged Man: Reversal, letting go, sacrifice, suspension, surrender, withdrawal, restriction, crisis, delay, restraint, detachment, enlightenment, transformation, initiation, limbo, martyrdom, indecision, self-sabotage, narrow-minded, punishment, imprisonment, treason

Death: Death, rebirth, endings, mortality, loss, change, failure, destruction, severing ties, transitions, transformation, inexorable force, elimination, loss of hope, decay, corruption, depression, despair, inertia, holding on

Temperance: Temperance, self-control, balance, moderation, harmony, synthesis, patience, health, combination, blending, management, unification, synergy, guides, angels, imbalance, excess, temper, one-sided relationship, irreconcilable differences, short-term focus

The Devil: Bondage, obsession, materialism, temptation, shadow, fear, doubt, lies, deviancy, ignorance, sexuality, hopelessness, lack of options, trapped, scapegoat, abuse, addiction, violence, evil, weakness, detachment, breaking free, reclaiming power

The Tower: Sudden change, upheaval, adversity, downfall, destruction, catastrophe, misery, disaster, ruin, chaos, release, awakening, freedom, escape, fear of change, prolonged upheaval, obstacles, difficulties, losses, oppression, imprisonment, tyranny

The Star: Hope, faith, healing, cleansing, renewal, guidance, peace, blessing, tranquility, serenity, inspiration, optimism, happiness, promises, wishes, lack of faith, hopelessness, discouragement, feeling lost, broken dreams, dashed hopes, unfulfilled wishes, missed opportunities

The Moon: Secrets, illusion, deception, imagination, mystery, subconscious, confusion, falsehoods, cycles, bewilderment, anxiety, insecurity, dreams, nightmares, visions, psychic ability, secrets revealed, mysteries unveiled, insomnia, trouble sleeping, irrationality, shadows, danger

The Sun: Happiness, joy, fun, optimism, enthusiasm, glory, clarity, consciousness, success, celebration, energy, vitality, good fortune, greatness, life, ego, false impressions, delayed happiness, depression, burnt out, over exposure, drought, partial success, incomplete victory

Judgement: Rebirth, renewal, rite of passage, calling, vocation, awakening, change, decision, forgiveness, redemption, absolution, judgment, doubt, forsaking vocation, ignoring a calling, avoiding change, unhealed wounds, lack of forgiveness, delay

The World: Completion, success, perfection, achievement, accomplishment, victory, reward, unity, wholeness, fulfillment, endings and beginnings, celebration, center of attention, travel, delays, hesitations, false starts, stagnation, rut, incomplete work, lack of closure

Playtime

Noting your own ideas and reading about the traditional meanings is one way of getting to know the cards. This kind of introduction is a little like meeting someone online or via a résumé … you can gain a lot of information but nothing is a substitute for bona fide, one-on-one, up-close-and-personal interaction. Eventually you will spend time with each and every card. But I won’t ask you to do that now (unless you want to!) because it might be too much. I don’t want you to get bogged down with any one area of this book. Instead, I’ll ask you to just do a few activities.

Love, Hate, Neutral

Go through your Major Arcana cards and divide them into three piles: ones you love, ones you hate, and ones you are neutral toward. Do this quickly and without a lot of analysis; just go with your first reaction. Keeping the piles separate, shuffle each one and randomly draw one card. So now you have one card from each pile. Get out your notebook, so you can write about each card. You don’t have to write a lot, unless you want to, but try to write at least one paragraph. For the card you love, why do you love it? What does it seem to promise? For the card you hate, why do you hate it? Does it evoke fear or anger or something else? For the card you are neutral about, why does it seem to bore you? For all the cards, find connections in your life, past or present.

Creating Stories

One of the pitfalls of being a reader is the desire to spin the cards to mean what you want them to mean. This is easy to do because the cards do have a range of meanings and you can probably justify almost any interpretation even if deep in your gut you know you are spin doctoring. One way to guard against that is to think about cards that might show up in your reading before you do the reading. For example, if you are reading about a first date, think about what cards you would like to come up. You want them to come up for a reason … because they would represent the outcome you’d prefer. Think about cards that would be like deal-breakers. These represent things that you wouldn’t like in a potential partner. If you think about them ahead of time, it’s harder to twist what the cards are saying into what you want them to say. For example, if you want someone to have fun with, you might want things like the Sun (joyful) or the Three of Cups (fun loving). You would not like, for example, the Four of Cups (bored with life) or the Nine of Wands (defensive).

To practice getting used to thinking like that, think about a situation you might do a reading about. Instead of doing an actual reading, go through the cards and pick ones that you think would make an ideal answer. Then go through the cards and select ones that would be a not so ideal answer. This is a good practice to do before all your readings, at least for a while. After you’ve developed the habit, you will do it automatically in your head before you even lay out the cards.

Looking for Patterns

You get to do another reading for yourself! This one will use a spread with assigned positional meanings. Don’t worry about “getting it right.” This is not about being a smooth reader. This is exploration time. Shuffle all your cards together and ask a question about something in your life, something that is not too huge or emotionally wrought, just something that you’d like some insight about (you could use the question from the previous activity, for a nice sense of completion). Lay out six cards in the order shown below. Look for repeating patterns, symbols, and themes. You are not so much looking to interpret each card (although you certainly can), but rather to get an understanding of the energies present in the situation. Think of this as an information-gathering expedition. Don’t worry about trying to figure out solutions or advice for yourself right now.

1: You.

2: The challenge in this situation.

3: The energy from the past that is affecting the present.

4: The energy in the future that can be put to use.

5: The root of the situation.

6: Your best hopes or goal in this situation.

You will look for repeating numbers, suits, symbols, and themes. You will also make connections between various positions in the spread. For example, look at the relationship between cards 1 and 2 to see how you are feeling in this situation. Look at cards 3 and 5 together to identify a fuller understanding of how the situation came to be. Look at cards 4 and 6 to see how your goals and the energy of the future align or work against each other. Try to put equal emphasis on the number and suit and rank meanings as on the images. Practice balance whether you are more naturally intuitive or analytical.

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