Jewellery, Candles & Tarot

These are some of the most common questions we are asked.

Tarot in its basic form is just a series of 78 picture cards. Broken into two parts, the Major Arcana and the Minor Arcana: Arcana meaning secrets, so on that basis we are looking into hidden knowledge that the cards with their imagery give us.

Most of today’s decks are based on Rider Waites deck and ideas, these are formed from various backgrounds, if you look at the cards, there isn’t just one mythology,There is astrology, kabala, to name a few.So for me this is what makes the cards interesting.

Todays decks have a lot going on in them, if you compare them to the older style of tarot cards, you will notice the older decks have minimal colour and images. Today’s cards are filled with symbols and imagery set to open up your intuition, get you thinking.

The question for me is: are today’s cards better than previous cards with their imagery, or is simplicity best? I feel this question may be better answered by the reader, it’s a personal choice. A few don’t like today’s high quality high coloured images. Feeling them to be over printed and mass produced, Preferring the less coloured images. With basic primary colouring in some ways giving them a more old world feeling. Maybe this helps with connections? You decide.

I do enjoy looking at older styles of cards, seeing how they have changed and grown over the centuries, as the tarot is the baby of the divination skill, Astrology dating back to Eygptians, I Ching dating back over two and half millennia! Even palmistry is older than the Tarot. So the tarot has room to grow still and change further.

The Rider Waite Smith deck was created back in 1909/10  named for the publisher William Rider, the mystic A.E Waite and the illustrator Pamela Coleman Smith. Waite helped bring the Tarot into the 20 th century, with a fresh look at the cards. A few of the cards were changed in the process. Pip cards also under went a huge change , they became highly illustrated for the first time. Previously they were just very simple in their designs,   In the Waite deck the Pope became the heirophant and the Poppess became the high priestess, therefore taking Christian symbolic meanings out of the cards or at least watering it down a little.

Thoth tarot cards 

The minor arcana are formed of four elements, Earth ,air, fire and water. They are in suits like a regular deck of playing cards, you will have your King, Queen, knight, and page, (although the queen was introduced later) , followed by the ten pip cards. From the ace all the way through to number 10. This will happen in all four elements.

The major arcana are the ones that are most represented on T.V or in films. These were the first to appear in the forms of cards for playing card games with, not really for divination. In Italy around  1500 the aristocracy were enjoying a  game called, ” Tarocchi appropriati,”  players were dealt random cards, and were expected to make stories or poems about the card they had been dealt. This does go on to explain a lot of who tarot start in its modern form. Although it would be a few more centuries before tarot would be used for true divination. The majors are made of 22 cards, some decks start with the Fool being zero , some do have him as the last card. The first card is the Magician, he is always the first card. Even the though the Fool is zero. The last card is the World.

The majors do have a story that goes with them. It starts with the fool and his quest for knowledge and insight, so therefore he is zero. He starts with the magician and ends with the world, his completion of that journey preparing him for the next journey. He travels through many lands and sees many things. Some of them terrifying others pleasurable. None the less this fool learns all he needs at this point in time. He won’t stop learning. He just will take a new course once he can go no further on his present road.

The basis for tarot has for many years been under debate, some say the Egyptians others say a Gypsie tradition. For me I do feel they started of as a simple set of playing cards that grew over the centuries in to what we see now. The cards have changed as ideas have taken hold by different people. We have the very simple older cards. Then we have the intricate and sometimes confusing Thoth, derived from the Egypitan God Thoth God of wisdom. So  the tarot are ever changing and  a very personal choice for the readers

The cards have been influenced by which ever culture came upon them, so this makes them very flexible open for interpretation. The meanings of the cards have changed over the years.  As we grow and our cultures change, so do the tarot.

The tarot are a very misunderstood form of divination.seeking the truth in the cards and their history is interesting for me. I hope I have given you a little more insight into the Tarot

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Tarot cards choosing you

      Tarot and finding the right cards What do you feel when you think about the Tarot? Fear? Wonder? A connection to a long and distant past? Maybe a little bit of the fantasy medieval world we seem to be drawn to. Whatever it is, you were drawn to the cards. You may have put them down and picked them up over the years. Or you may have been the person who has always done them. Whatever way we…

Well, if you want to believe they are then that’s up to you. But it’s time to get educated! Tarot cards are not evil, they are misused and used to promote the evil side of life by film makers and people who want to cast doubt over the cards. Sadly, a lot of people don’t understand the Tarot, so fear and ignorance takes a hold of people’s minds. The most popular card to be misunderstood is the DEATH card! The cards imagery is of a skeleton-like figure riding a horse that is normally black and heavy set. He is cloaked and to be honest looks forbidding and fearsome. But let’s face it, to do the job Death does, there’s no point in wearing white, is there? So he wears a cloak of black and carries his scythe with him. The sky is normally dark and often changeable, he is sometimes pictured walking over the skulls of the dead. Agreed, the picture is menacing. To look at the picture, you will normally see in the distance a sun rise, this will signify that a new dawn is approaching. That you are going through a bad time. And yes this moment you are going through is bad, but it’s what’s needed to clear away the old dead debris that is in your life. It clears away the old to make way for the new. In the same manner as winter and spring, winter needs to happen to let everything die back. But under the surface, life is budding again. It’s preparing itself for a long journey of rebirth to see the sun again. It’s going through darkness to get to the light. This is what happens in life: we go through bad patches that seem like they will never end, only to find they do and things are 100% better. We can start again. For me, Death is my favourite card. I know things will be bad, but I’m also safe within the knowledge that they won’t last forever as change and endings always need to happen. The other card is the DEVIL card: this is portrayed as evil as it has a Satan like figure on it. This figure is you, you are the one sitting in the chair. I don’t find the devil card a bad card. I see it as more of a card of warning to let you know that you’re holding on too tightly to your fears. That you’re creating a tight bond between fears and negative feelings. This won’t help you and you will be stuck in a rut because of this. Let go. Loosen the ties and you can free yourself. You are the one that is in control, but for some reason you have simply forgotten it, or lost sight of this. It’s a card of seeing common sense and will really help you through this situation. Don’t let emotions overrun your mind and rational thought. We sometimes get lost in our own personal battles that we forget who we are and get lost. So I simply find its easier to see the devil as you or one of the slaves he has entrapped. It really depends on surrounding cards. But it is a card of being trapped and letting old fear and insecurities run amok. Control these emotions and thoughts, even the environment, and you will soon see light at the end of the tunnel. The TOWER is one of the few cards I don’t like to see in a reading – well most of the time. This card is a card of life changing events that cannot be undone. In the images you see, you have a simple tower. The foundations which were once safe and secure have been significantly rocked. The question is: can the shock of the lightening bolt that hit the top of the tower, leave the foundations in place? Everything is falling down around your ears and simply you are out of control of the situation. There is nothing you can do but let it happen and go through the damaged remains to see what is left. It’s up to whether to rebuild or just move on. You have that choice. This time like death won’t be easy, but in some ways again like death it was needed. I just find the Tower a little more brutal. Like Death it doesn’t discriminate, every one is equal. We all suffer at some point in our lives. It’s how we pick up the pieces and carry on is who we are, that’s what makes us different . Death doesn’t mean death, it means ending of the old ways. Clearing way for something new to grow. In the same way as the Tower, the Devil is your own worst enemy. Take care not to become something you’re not.

I have been reading the Tarot for over 20 years, in this time I have seen different ways of reading the Tarot. When I first started, it was about divination for me. Seeing the future to know your fate! How you can change it. What new love are you going to have. Will I come into money? Well these are still asked. But along with the divination comes guidance. It isn’t just about seeing the future anymore , it’s asking the client to look into their own lives to see how they can make changes, helping them to be in the best place possible for their future happiness. I have a lot of people who are blinded by a situation simply by being so close to it, they can’t find their way out. So you become their light, their beacon of hope. You guide them over their choppy waters and deliver them to a place where they can understand again. When I had my first reading, it was about the future, what was to come. I don’t recall much else from that reading. As I recall it, it was spot on. I was happy with that, I got what I wanted at the time, it suited my needs. Now with the Internet, we have grown accustomed to asking for more. We find the Tarot less mystical in some ways, as there a thousands of meaning pages out there, so anyone with a curiosity can look at the cards you have drawn. I feel it’s a shame that it has lost some of the mystery I was drawn to. It felt like an exclusive club. A few clients of mine have gotten themselves in a right mess, after they have had a reading, went to look online for the cards I have drawn for them, finding so many different and contradictory meanings, and of course picking up on the bad meanings of the cards, causing them to have more questions and feeling low about an upcoming event.. So now I don’t give the cards I have read for them, unless asked. It causes to much trauma for the clients. That’s not what I’m here for.

For my clients they expect more nowadays. When I first started to read for people, they wanted what was going to happen,you know it by now. The next six months looking ahead. You will move house! You will come into money, but it will be through hard work, that kind of reading. It isn’t how I read now. I have grown within my craft. I have learnt a lot along the way. Maybe I attract the clients who like to be guided, who want to listen to what I have to tell them. Instead of a reader who just gives them the what can happening what they want to hear. I like to help them over their hurdles. Guide them past the big bad wolf who is blocking their exit from a world they have outgrown. This is my way of reading the Tarot, I am no longer happy with fortune telling. For me it has to be depth and healing. If we can’t heal from our current traumas, then how can we move on to our predicted future? That’s the way I see it. You can have it all, but be more secure in yourself. Most people come to a reader because they are in a bad place. This is where I feel healing is a good thing in Tarot, as the cards can be used as this tool as well. They are versatile like that! I feel a lot of readers have become counsellors, I feel you have to have a good degree of understanding, as we do get a few people who are so frustrated at their situation they take it out on you. Whilst you don’t have to take their behaviour and I never condone such attitude, it is understandable. No one likes to be told something they don’t want to hear, even if it is the truth. For me Tarot reading has changed, it’s not just about predictions, it’s about the guidance and patience you give to each client that comes to you. For me saying goodbye to a client who is now on the right path, knowing you have helped them on their journey is the best it can get

The first two books that I used as a bible I guess, I read them so much that the spine of the books all but disintegrated! They were read that much! But I learnt a lot from them, my friend and me would sit on her kitchen floor just practicing all hours. Reading the cards, doing readings, reading the books. It was invaluable. I do recommend practice practice practice, you cannot go wrong with that.

The books I read and re read were Tarot plain and simple, by Anthony Lewis, illustrated by Robin Wood. This book I brought with her cards. It was great for a beginner, getting into a light knowledge, I think that’s all a beginner needs. Is the the surface,once they have learnt a bit more then they are free to look deeper. Or continue on the pathway they are on already, I also read till its death ( literally fell apart in my hands !) Tarot for beginners an easy guide, by P.Scott Hollander. This was full of slightly different information than the previous book, but it backed the other up. They were and are very good reference books. After a while you stop reading them from cover to cover , you just quick flip through them to the section you want. Both books have card spreads in the back.

They are both really useful to the beginner. I don’t feel that an experienced reader will find anything useful in them, but sometimes it’s nice to go back and refresh the mind of the simple meanings. I still have my books, although though nowadays they look like relics! They are very old now. They were brought at the turn of the century! Sounds so long ago now. I can’t recall the last time I looked into these books. Which in some ways is a shame. But in others it means I no longer need the crutch they offer when you first start. I don’t believe new readers should have very complicated books, this will just confuse people and more than likely turn them off tarot reading,which is not what the craft needs. These two books are very good at explaining what you need to know at your stage in learning.

As you progress through tarot you will naturally find other books and internet sources that are more to your level. When I first started reading for real, as mentioned I would sit all night with my friend just reading the cards and books. Coffee in one hand deck on another, looking at images, questioning what each other got from the cards, it’s important to look at them, see what you see then look deeper. They offer so much than what you initially think! I was lucky I had a partner in crime so to speak. It was both our passions for many years.

I moved on with the cards she left hers behind.i always felt her loss and to this day I still do. But separate ways we went. I went onto read for others for more or less full time. She pursued another path. I do recall our evenings with love and warm memories. I do think it’s important to gain another perspective on the cards, as we do tend to limit ourselves in our thinking, so gaining a new idea will give you another dimension for a reading. So if you do have a good friend use their Ideas and feelings as well as your own. I found this invaluable, I still ask others what their take is on a particular card, it’s always surprising and almost always useful to you. They may share your basic view. But their life experience will be different from yours. So their point of view on things will be unique.

5 of wands

Meaning….