The Tarot

So yesterday I did a Tarot card workshop. I now know how to do a basic tarot reading. I need to memorise alot of the card meanings and practice alot on other people to get my skill going. I found the course really enjoyable. A lady called Nanette who lives quite close to me ran it at her house. Her house was amazing. Nanette is a white witch - So what I saw of her house was full of pagan decorations and herbs. She was a lovely lady - very welcoming, very beautful both on the outside and the in. I found her to be a very good teacher, to the point where I am already wanting to do her psychic development course next and excellent baker. (Nanette put on some lovely food for us and allowed me to bring home some banana bread) I must learn how to make Banana bread.

For anyone who has not heard of the Tarot heres a little back ground from the stuff I got in my pack yesterday.

History
While many clain that the Tarot has an ancient beginning, the cards as we recognise them today have their roots in medieval Italy. One of the oldest surviving tarot decks is the Visconti -Sforza, designed and painted for the influential Italian novle familites of the same name. These hand painted cards were fundamentally playing cards and comprised of four suits, one set of trumps, with a special trump card called the fool. The fact that the modern pack owes much of its development over the centuaries to the humble playing card is a subtle fact that should not be forgotten. While it is not unreasonable to assume that the "tarocchi" as it came to be known was used to some extent for divination purposes, it wasn't until the work of French occultist Antoin Court de Geblin tha the Tarot become known for its esoteric content. Without any historical  research, Court asserted that the Tarot was a vessel in which ancient Egyptian widsom had survived over centuaries, waiting to be decoded by those willin and able enough to do so. To Court, the Tarot was nothing less than the fabled book of Thoth. Whatever one thinks of Court's thoughts they represent the basis for the mystery and percieved wisdom of the Tarot that we know today.

About the Tarot
A standard modern Tarot pack comprises of 78 cards, split into two interconnecting realms known as the Major and Minor Arcana. The Major Arcana comprises of 22 Trump cards. All of which are strikingly illustrated. Depending on the particular deck, the order in which the Trump cards appear can vary. However while the order may change the basic symbolism of the card names will be simular. Having said this, there are some notable exceptions as certain Tarot decks are designed primarily for meditation purposes, not for divination. Alongside the 22 Trump cards you have the 56 cards of the Minor Arcana, commonly known as PIP Cards, these cards are split into four suits: Wands, Swords, Coins and Cups, each ahrking back to the Tarot card game past. You can clearly relate the Minor Arcana to any standard pack of playing cards, Clubs relate to Wands, Diamonds relate to coins or pentacles, spades to swords and Hearts to Cups. Each suit has four Court Cards: Page, Knight, Queen and Kind.

Yesterday I found I seemed to be pulling our swords cards pretty heavily. Im still working on a bigger understand of the Swords suit but Nanettes notes indicate they are Air Element and cover Matters of idea and intelligence. All things of a logical, intellectual nature. A little further reading I did seems to pit them as covering conflict. Swords is supposably the most negative suit. What that says about me pulling them heavy who knows.

However - I left the workshop, making a new friend Suzy who is moving back to Wales on monday. We added each other on facebook with a view of seeing how both our spiritual journeys develop. Next I was picked up by my friend Yvonne and we went and watched some movies with Helen - a new friend I have met through Yvonne. I did a celtic cross reading for both of them and they said I got it bang on. So good stuff!