Tarot Card Meanings and Interpretations
To help understand Tarot card Meanings and Interpretations I quote author of many books, Elisabeth Haich whom writes of the Tarot, "For the person who understands them, these cards are a wonderful means of acquiring self-knowledge." They are like a spiritual mirror in which we can not only recognize but also thoroughly examine and study ourselves. By understanding tarot symbols and how they represent different aspects of ourselves; we realize in a strange way, certain cards correspond exactly to our inner state and at the same time also our state in relation to the world. By understanding tarot card meanings "We suddenly understand ourselves and our destiny....."
Tarot is a rich set of symbols that allows us room for thinking about our lives in creative ways.” Allen Stairs, Department of Philosophy, Maryland University. Methods of Reading Tarot Cards Analytic: Analysis of correspondences between symbols and tarot card meanings determine relevancy.
“The essential point in science is not complicated mathematical formalism or ritualized experimentation. Rather the heart of science is a kind of shrewd honesty that springs from really wanting to know what the hell is going on!” Saul-Paul Sirag
The Tarot card meanings remain consistent even with Tarot interpretations on many levels. The Trumps or major arcana form a symbolic ladder which leaps up the good, the True and the Noble, and the human being whom makes the arduous climb comes closer to God, in the Christian occult systems or in the Hermetic systems eventually becomes God. The 22 Major, Trump or Greater arcana cards represent the consciousness principles. The whole universe can be seen as formed by this same consciousness and creative powers. A book from the 4th century; attributed to Iamblichus; describes how the initiate of the Osirian mysteries was led through a long gallery which contained 22 pictures, eleven on each side. These may have been the original Tarot trumps. The word “trump” came from “trionfi” or “triumph”, the old Latin word for a religious procession, in which the very sequence costume, and masks of the marches stood for doctrinal teachings the initiates could understand. The leader of the procession was called the “truimphator”, a magistrate in charge of Rome’s sacred games. At the end of the drama or the parade, celebrants raised the cry of the “Triumpe”, announcing the immanence of divine spirit in the symbols and images shown. Trump then originally meant “that which is divine”, and like everything divine it was credited with the power of divination.
Enter the magician and we have learnt to use our words. Crying and babbling become very powerful in accessing what we want. The Priestess is the first awareness of stillness within self – it is the development of you/me concept. Next we learn from the great mother, the Empress – our feminine archetype. Then is the learning from the father, Emperor and the masculine archetype. By five we usually begin school and the role of the hierophant, or higher authority / traditional learning comes into play. By six, we may be making our own decisions, just like the lovers and by the seven catching the bus by ourselves, in the teenage years; maybe our first cars or in relation to the tarot, loading up the Chariot to define our parameters and perhaps take on a battle we will win.
The second lot of seven Tarot cards concerns our spiritual journey within the world. It is the expression of our spiritual journey, what we have learned from the previous seven cards and how we use our own magick. Strength is our definition of our will. By controlling our animal natures, our wild spirit, we can harness their strength to define our reality. The Hermit sees us go into ourselves to find more of this higher power. Learning self-sufficiency and that all is within is the teaching of the Hermit. The wheel of fortune is always present, learning to be the center of your own universe is its teachings – or you can be at the mercy of the wheel. Learning Balance is the key and the next step. It is also the lower and higher laws of the universe. Some call it Justice or Karma. When you are off-balance, you may be upside down, heading towards re-birth, unable to act. You have to just hang in there! Do you live or die? Does the old self live or are you reborn with different views, values and ideas. Death may lead to destruction but it also breeds creation. Life?/Death? – same coin – different sides. Ah! Mercy, from our holy higher guardian angel – ourselves. She renews us giving us the water of life and the fire of creation. This is the rebuilding of ourselves. This is the journey back to the middle pillar where we find our balance again and access to higher abilities.
The third group of seven Tarot cards concerns all the magnificent larger forces that contribute to our spiritual journey.These are the vast moving bodies that we are in motion with and are affected by their motions and cycles. These are the larger forces at work that surround us in the natural world. The Devil is whatever we see in our own lives as the ‘evil’ controlling forces of our life. He comes in all forms. He is winged, clawed, horned and hairy and yet points to the heavens and earth. On earth as it is in heaven. He is the necessary evil, without His darkness the Light could not shine. This is when higher knowledge may become ‘enlightening’. The fall from the Tower may shatter the soul, yet is part of the learning. To welcome shattering of illusions, breaking down walls and barriers is to be like the Stars. Move with the cycle, we are always blessed and nourished not only by Moon and Sun but stars and planets. Freedom from judgment and releasing aspects of self, to dare to dance to a different drum or hear the call of your own trumpet leads you to the rebirth and resurrection. Protected, nourished and empowered within the four great guardians and archetypes that lead to all worlds within all worlds; you are the creator of the World.
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