Tarot        There are 78 cards in a Tarot deck, which is divided into two groups, the Minor Arcana which has 56 cards and the Major Arcana which has 22 cards. The word "Arcana" is derived from a Latin word meaning " secret or hidden knowledge ".   The Major Arcana has illustrated cards representing the archetypes of - The Fool, The Magician, The High Priestess, The Empress, The Emperor, The Hierophant, The Lovers, The Chariot, Strength, The Hermit, The Wheel of Fortune, Justice, The Hanged Man, Death, Temperance, The Devil, The Tower, Star, Moon, Sun, Judgement and The World.   The Minor Arcana are suit cards - Wands, Pentacles, Swords and Cups. Each suit contains 10 related image cards, plus - The Page, The Knight, The Queen and the King. So say the card was the 3 of wands, there in the picture would be 3 wands. These cards are known as the Pip cards and are numbered one ( Ace ) to ten in each of the four suits. Each suit also represents one of the four traditional elements: Pentacles for Earth, Cups for Water, Wands for Fire and Swords for Air. Earth represents personalities that are Practical and Sensuous, Water, those who are Sensitive and Emotional, Air, those who are Analytical and Logical and Fire those who are Intuitve and Dynamic.   Cards are laid out in " Spreads."Each position indicates a specific type of event and each card has its own meanings and is read and interpreted in connection with where it lies in the spread.   There are over 200 Tarot Decks available, in different shapes, sizes and ranging in price. So sometimes the archetypes and the suits differ in some decks, though their meanings are the same. The deck I have used here is my own deck, which is the Druid Tarot. This deck combines Wicca and Druidry. In this deck The Empress and The Emperor are replaced by The Lady and The Lord, The Hierophant by The High Preist, Temperance by The Ferrylylt, The Devil by Cernnunos and Judgement by Rebirth. In the suits The Page is replaced by The Princess and The Knight by The Prince.    Getting to know your cards   First you must get to know your cards, so examine them, shuffle and familiarize yourself with them. When you feel that you are ready, then you can start to use them. To begin with you might want to do a "next day" reading for yourself, for this it is handy to have a note book. Each evening shuffle the deck while focusing on the day ahead. Take 3 cards and place them face down in front of you. Turn over the first card, this is the morning. Make a note in your note book and write down any thoughts or feelings about the card. Repeat with the 2nd card for the afternoon and then with the 3rd card for the evening. Then place the 3 cards inside your note book untill the end of the next day. That next evening you can look at the cards and your notes and see if the cards related to the days events and if the notes you made, made sense of this. Once you start to know and understand your cards well, you can move on to spreads.   On the following pages are the cards and their meanings, these are not indepth meanings, but more Keywords or Pointers. Click here for the cards and their meanings.

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