I hear you, friend. Let me see if I can clear a few things up.
What’s Tarot?
Tarot cards are a lot like normal playing cards. Instead of 52, there are 78 (22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana). Tarot started out as a game commissioned in the 15th century by Filippo Maria Visconti, ruler of the Duchy of Milan, probably for his daughter Bianca Maria Visconti’s wedding. Tarot was probably a thing before that, but we don’t have any surviving decks to prove it. The cards were used as a card game and weren’t really popular for divination until the 18th century when Napoleon invaded Egypt and stole a bunch of artifacts. The occult craze was on, and that’s why some people think tarot came from ancient Egypt. It didn’t. The tarot cards you see today in movies and TV were illustrated by Pamela Coleman Smith at the behest of A.E. Waite for The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (Hayertz, 2018).
If you want to read more about the history of tarot, check out Tarot for Beginners by Meg Hayertz
How do you do tarot?
Tarot readers use the cards in conjunction with tarot spreads to read for the querent (that’s you). A spread is a card layout where the card’s meaning is applied to its position in the spread (Ex. past, present, future). Good readers use all the cards in their various positions to tell the story of what the cards say about you, the querent.
When we’re together, you’ll shuffle the cards while thinking of your question. You’ll tell me your question, and I’ll look at all the cards and tell you what I see. I might ask you questions during a reading. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, but the more information I have, the more we can dive into your question, and the more you’ll get out of our time together. I hope you’ll ask questions too. This is all a conversation about you!
Can anyone do tarot?
Yes! Anyone can learn to use tarot! I wholeheartedly encourage it. You don’t need to be psychic or a medium to connect with the cards. The best part is that there are so many books at online resources at your disposal. All you need to do is decide you want to learn.
Why do you do it?
I want to use Tarot to help people. I think tarot helps us examine our deeper subconscious motivations and can help us focus our energies toward more positive outcomes in our lives. Have you ever had a moment where you’re kicking yourself because something was just so obvious, but you couldn’t see it, and then your friends or family are like, “Duh!” Tarot can really clear some of that up. Have you ever experienced creative blocks? Tarot can help with that. Have you ever struggled to see the next steps you need to take, or what you should be focusing on? Tarot can help with that. Plus, it can be a lot of fun. I want to learn and grow together. Let’s talk about you!
Is it woo-woo?
Yes? There’s no getting around that. We are using cards to make some deep dives into real issues or situations, and find solutions together. Talking about energies, connections to elements, and diving into card symbols and archetypes is pretty woo-woo, but I assure you I take our conversations seriously, and it’s worth your time to explore you.