With their antique illustrations, ancient icons, and religious and historical allegories, tarot cards may seem deliberately cryptic to some. The purpose and meaning of the cards also vary over time, influenced by the society of each period and the needs of individual users. For beginners, these are perhaps why the decks can be so obscure, since most of them reference stories or events known among audiences several centuries ago. So what really is tarology, what is its importance, and where does it come from?
Tarot card reading has been around for quite a while (from the late 13th to 14th century). Possibly inspired by Mamluk game cards brought to Western Europe from Turkey, the earliest known tarot decks weren’t designed for fortune-telling, but they actually were meant to be played as a game. Each and every time the game was played, the random selection of the cards created a new, original plot, and the choices players
made affected the development of that storyline; the card game let the players choose their own adventure. By the 1500s, rich households in Italy started to create their own expensively designed decks known as “carte da trionfi” or “cards of triumph.” These cards are what started and developed into the modern-day fortune-telling tarot cards. The early 70s is when the cards really started gaining more attention from media and people, and since then, we've started reading about them in books, seeing them in movies and shows, and even hearing about them in songs. But, in recent years, in the world of social media and the need for hope, they have become more popular than ever.
A tarot deck consists of 78 cards. It's divided into Major and Minor Arcana. Major
Arcana consists of 22 cards without suits (The Magician, The High Priestess, The Sun, and so on). Minor Arcana consists of four suits - Cups, Swords, Pentacles, and Wands (Clubs), with 14 cards in each.
The Cups are associated with love, emotions, and fantasy. The Swords are centered around the mind, intellect, and beliefs. Pentacles are connected to finances, health, and self-image, while Wands represent spirituality, energy, strength, intuition, and more. Tarot is usually used to help one understand the past, interpret the present, and discover the future. In other words, It is used for guidance. There are several books and websites, full with the detailed description and meaning of individual cards, that will help one to interpret them for the most accurate reading. Over the years, it has acquired many fans and many opposers. But what do GZAAT students think? I decided to send out a survey to the freshmen class, asking various questions regarding the topic. The answers varied.
The most voted answer on the question "Do you believe in tarot reading ?" was yes, yet the reason why they believed in varied. Some said that they believed in spirituality and the power of the universe, and as tarology is a big part of it: they were interested in it too. Some said it always got everything right for them. Others said that it resonated with them and helped them learn more about themselves. The second most voted answer was no. When asked why, most said that it sounded either absurd, or they just didn't believe in it because they had no reason or proof to do so. Some examples of other answers were: "I don't really know what it is," "somewhat," or "I haven't had any experience with it."
As it turned out, a lot of people are interested in tarology, but due to not knowing where to begin, they haven't been able to start exploring it yet. Because of this, I asked Anastasia Khachidze, a student in GZAAT, to share her experience: "I discovered tarot a couple of years ago when my grandma was doing a reading for my sister (jokingly). She was using playing cards at the time but after seeing the whole process, I got consumed by spirituality and such things. I got my first tarot shortly but didn’t hurry to use it. I took my time to examine cards before using them in practice. I’m currently learning about crystals, cleansing, manifesting, moon phases, and how the aforementioned can affect a person's spirituality. My advice for the people who want to learn about tarot/spirituality would be to take their time and not hurry. Using tarot or performing any kind of act that concerns this topic without knowledge might cause serious harm to a person. Lastly, make sure to surround yourself with the positive mindset and energy before doing a reading."
Hearing Anastasia's experience, the tarology is a serious topic, and one should not hurry until she or he feels ready enough to explore the depth of it. So if you’ll decide to explore it more, keep a positive mindset and surround yourself with positive energies. Such attitude will not only help you in tarology, but in life as well!
Edited by Mariam Khaduri
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