Hey this is Cindy Murray and I wanted to pop on here for a minute to tell you about a little segment that we will do from time to time that we call “Excuse Me While I Read My Tarot.” This series is a fun excursion into the art of tarot reading and the many ways we use it to look deeper inside ourselves and enhance our daily lives. But before we get started, let’s take a look at some common misconceptions about tarot cards and how they are used.
Reading tarot cards is a popular practice and different people use Tarot readings in different ways. Some historians speculate that tarot cards may have started in ancient Egypt, but in the strictest sense, tarot originated as playing cards in 15th century Italy, and were used to play games not unlike the traditional playing cards many people use today. In fact, the original cards are still used today in many parts of Europe to play various card games without occult associations, and other than a 15th century sermon by a Dominican preacher who condemned them for their use in gambling, they were not really censured at all until more modern times.
Fortune-telling with cards, called cartomancy, began some time in the 14th century and eventually found its way to the Tarot and other decks of cards, including the common playing cards used in America today. Sometime around the 18th century, Tarot decks began to be produced specifically for these card-reading purposes. One of these, the Rider-Waite tarot deck, is quite famous and is often the one that comes to mind for people here in the U.S. This deck was first published in 1909 and contains a bounty of religious symbolism, including Judeo-Christian icons, as did many of the preceding decks. Imagery includes the Pope (later renamed the Heirophant), the Papess (renamed the High Priestess), Adam and Eve, the Devil, angels, and crosses. The cards are really just a very elaborate “symbol code that depicts universal and natural laws and principles that are shared by all the world’s great religio-spiritual traditions.”
So enough of all that history! Let’s talk about what’s going on with tarot cards today! While many practitioners interpret the cards as a form of divination, or fortune-telling, just as many (or more) use the cards as a sort of cue or prompt for daily insight and enlightenment. Much in the same way a therapist might use a Rorschach ink blot, the interpretation of the symbolism on the cards can be a useful tool to examine the beliefs, behaviors, and thought patterns of the individual. As stated by the tarot for dummies website (cited below), “The purpose of a tarot reading is to help you see your past and present thoughts, words, and behaviors more objectively.”
For me, personally, I like to look at the cards as a good way to start my day with a little mindfulness and reflection. I certainly don’t see them as anything at odds with my Christian beliefs, and I know a good number of Christian faithful who use tarot cards. However you want to interpret the cards, we hope you will enjoy what we have to share and will accept our readings with the spirit in which they are given.
Information in this article came in part from:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarot
https://www.dummies.com/religion/paganism/correcting-major-misconceptions-about-tarot/
https://tiffanyleebrown.com/tarot-religion
If you would like to learn tarot, this is a great website:
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