The Truth About Tarot

When I was gifted my first tarot deck last Christmas, I honestly didn’t know what to do with it. I felt like there was something powerful lying inside that box of cards, but I didn’t understand why. As any avid reader does, I quickly started reading the guidebook that came with the deck and it wasn’t too long before I became fascinated. At the time, I didn’t know there was proper etiquette for welcoming a new deck into the world. I didn’t clear my deck with sage or set it up for “the right reading”. I just started reading. Bit by bit I began to understand more and more about myself, my husband, and even the world around me. But what is tarot exactly and why are people so fascinated (and terrified) by it? As a humble child of the cosmos, I’d like to take a sec to enlighten you about what the tarot has to offer and how anyone can use it to connect with their truest self.

What is Tarot?

Dating back to Italy in the 1440s, these cards are thought to originate from a party game whose brightly colored pictures were inspired by a local festival. Tarot has also been known as the “cards of the devil” or the infamous deck of the “evil occult”. No one knows the definitive answer as to where tarot came from, but the fascination has never wavered. Though centuries old, the negative and guarded stigma of the cards seems to hold strong in modern society. They have withstood time itself, but what are they, really?

Tarot is simply a tool that anyone can use to connect with the truth through symbols. A classic deck of 78 cards that was popularized by the well-known trio of Rider-Waite-Smith in 1909. Most tarot deck creators today use these depictions to create their own interpretations of the cards. There’s no secret sauce or sorcery around the cards themselves, although shuffling them can sometimes be a challenge if you have small hands. But tarot is way more than just a fancy deck of cards. Tarot is a way for us to connect to the Divine and seek answers to the problems we can’t clearly see from our earthly perspectives. It can be used for things as simple as daily advice to as complex as spiritual work. Let’s break down the cards further to get a better understanding of the deck itself and all it has to offer.

Major and Minor Arcana

Every deck should have 22 Major Arcana cards and 56 Minor Arcana cards. Every deck comes with its own unique guidebook to help you interoperate the card's meanings. Depending on the creator of the deck, the names that are written on the cards may be different from the traditional names of the Rider-Wait-Smith deck. Regardless of what deck you get, each one should have 22 Major Arcana cards that tell a story about an individual (The Fool) who goes on a journey and ends with a sense of wholeness and complete connection to the Universe (The World). These cards deal with understanding the larger aspects of our lives and some are depicted as familiar archetypes such as magicians, the grim reaper, and that wise old person who lives in the woods. Then you have the other 56 Minor Arcana that are broken up into four groups: Wands, Cups, Pentacles, and Swords. Each group has court cards: Kings, Queens, Knights, and Pages, as well as cards Ace through Ten. Each group is related to an element: Earth, Water, Fire, and Air. These cards are used to depict more day-to-day aspects of life and complement the Major Arcana cards. Most of these concepts are broken down the same way from deck to deck, but there are some people that completely break the mold. I just attended a weeklong masterclass where one presenter flipped the elements of Swords and Wands (with good reason), and now I can’t unsee this concept when I look at my own deck (if anyone has more thoughts about this, please let me know in the comments).

Why Are There So Many Different Decks?

If you’ve decided to drift off to Amazon and gander at the Tarot section, you will notice there are A LOT of variations of tarot decks. I’ve noticed that many seasoned tarot readers have created their own decks, and I believe that there’s a simple reason why. If you start handling the cards every day, you become a master at understanding the symbols and meanings provided for you. But after a while, you start to get deeper and find that the deck you’ve been working with is limited in its visuals. There are things you feel that are missing and you want to express them in a different way. I’ve only been working with the tarot for five months and I’m already thinking about making my own deck so I can gain a better connection and understanding from my readings. While it is a fun DIY, you don’t have to make your own deck from scratch to find a deck you connect with. The beauty of having so many decks to choose from is that now there’s a little something for everybody. No longer are we confined to the traditional pictorials from a time that we can’t fully understand. The cards themselves may not hold power, but the power of connection gives us a deeper understanding of the message they are trying to tell.

Numerology, Elements, Zodiac Signs, Colors, & Symbols

On the surface, the tarot can just look like any old deck of cards that people shuffle around. If you take a deeper look and start dividing it up by Arcana’s and Courts, you’ll notice that whoever made this deck is a genius. We already know that the four groups of Court cards each have their own elements, but what about the Court members themselves? For example, Cups are thought to be the element of Water and a symbol of emotion. Kings are thought to be the element of Air and have a great wisdom about them. So, if you combine the two, you get the King of Cups who can be interpreted as a guy who has strong wisdom about emotions. You can get an even deeper understanding if you start adding numerology to the Ace through Ten cards and deciphering what the colors mean on each individual card. There are even connections between cards that lay next to each other in a reading and what that interpretation means. Add in Zodiac signs, hidden symbols, and the reversed meanings of cards and you’ll have your hands full for weeks trying to understand it all. There’s more to the cards than meets the eye. You just have to know what you’re looking for.

Conclusion

I don’t believe in coincidence, and I believe that if you somehow found this article in the sea of the internet, then the tarot is calling your name. Until December 2022, being a tarot reader was not on my list of career goals. Yet I’m left unsurprised that the deck I was gifted by my fairy godmother was inspired by Anime, the very heart, and soul of what started my spiritual journey in the first place. If you find yourself interested in this kind of witchy-woo and are looking for a sign to dip a toe in the kiddie pool, here it is. Buy a deck that speaks to you and see what it has to offer. You’ll never know unless you try. And for those that try, welcome.

I hope to see you soon in whatever form I appear. Until next time!

About the Author

Crystal Cabrae is a storyteller who specializes in writing dystopian, romantic, and adventurous worlds for animation and fantastical fiction. She is a proud graduate of Full Sail University, AMDA, and New World School of the Arts. Her six years of acting training in both New York and Miami gives her a unique perspective when approaching her characters. She has a passion for sharing how to create stories with the world and inspiring the storyteller that lives within all of us. Follow her on IG or Pinterest to know the latest.