What is Tarot?

Tarot is a divination tool based on playing cards. Beautiful playing first came into style of in the late 14th century, most likely created in Egypt then spread to other regions. A traditional tarot deck has the major arcana, which are 22 cards representing overarching themes, and and the minor arcana, 56 cards, representing more day to day themes. The minor arcana are the basis for the playing cards we use today.

The traditional Smith-Rider-Waite at its core utilizes numerology and the elements to give your intuition a jumping off point. To build on top of that, most decks have imagery on each card to help invoke more guidance for your intuition to use for inspiration ( heads up: Some decks do not illustrate the minor arcana). If you're into astrology and looking to deepen your understanding further, each card also has a connection to a heavenly body.

How to “do” Tarot?

The way I like to approach tarot is to use it as a guide to tap into your intuition. Approaching tarot this way means the cards you pull are a way to explore the situation at this given moment from a different viewpoint. This is especially useful when you're feeling stuck or unsure, the cards are a way to dip into your truth that may just be out of reach, like a nagging itch you just can't seem to scratch. With any divination practice it's important to remember that free will is always at play, so what you do with the information or guidance gained from the cards is up to you.

 When it boils down to it there really isn't a right or wrong way to "do" tarot. You can pull a card and look up the meaning in your guide book or online. You can pull a card and just see what feelings, words, or images spring forth for you. You can pull just one card or keep pulling cards until you feel compelled to stop. You can pull using a spread where each card is in relation to a question or keyword or you can just freeform it. You can shuffle and cut your cards like you would a playing card deck pulling your cards from the top, or you can spread all of the cards out face down in a pile and pick randomly. All methods have value, it's figuring out what presents the most value to you at the moment you are sitting with your cards.