I'm not familiarized with the tarot cards, do not know how many tarot cards types there are, how many they are... the hermit... i have heard about that card some times, so i want to learn about them!
aand i now want to ask for you to introduce us into your tarot card interpretations or what each of them mean (oh, and if you have observed some interpretations of each one that you haven't seen other mentions, if they aren't in a absolute definition), if they have a separated meaning from them interpretation into web wyrd
what is tarot? a crash course to the tarot deck.
hello, hello. i am gonna answer this one, manon, it will cover both questions.
it's all good that you don't know much about tarot. as i said in my about me post, i have been practicing tarot for nine years now! so it takes time to build up confidence and knowledge when it comes to reading! so a mini break down of tarot:
history: today's tarot appear most similarly to a 15th century italian game - it spread all over europe quite quickly. by the 18th century (shoutout to the enlightenment era for having nothing better to do than to make tools to help people better reflect on their life situation (yay printing press as well) AND boo to the puritans for demonizing the practice of any divination), french subcultures better developed meanings of the cards and began using it as a means of divination. this makes sense for european history because the great plague of 1738 occurred and people had already been turning to occultism for divination purposes (this is even remarked upon in journal of the plague year daniel defoe's book from 1722 regarding an outbreak in london 1665). while tarot is connected to / is credited to ancient egyptians, i ching, kabbalah, and many other older practices, the modern recognizable tarot deck originates in the 17th century.
so a tarot deck eventually came to contain 78 cards total. this deck can be split into the categories of major arcana (trionfi - triumphs or trump cards as they were known as in their early existence. arcanus - secret.) and the minor arcana.
major arcana (what is used in the matrix, or wyrd web as i have taken to calling it) are 22 cards. each card follows was was the typically hero's journey at the time (15th - 18th century hero's journey). the major arcana were meant to better form a storyline meaning to represent some higher power, a character, morals, and/or immoral feats. each card has a internal and external aspect as well as a individual and collective meaning.
while the minor arcana are a set of 56 cards that were originally your everyday pack of cards at the time. the minor arcana consisted then and now of four suits - fourteen cards each. four court cards per suit: king, queen (back then sometimes it was two kings as queens were often removed from "men's games"), knight, and page (at the time it was a jack). then cards ace to ten in each suit! like a modern deck of playing cards, the suits have four differing symbols - cups (hearts way back), wands (club or baton), pentacles (the diamond), and swords (the spade).
so now that that is cleared up - the rider waite smith version of the deck tends to be closest to original imagery, and is often a great starter deck as all the images, if looked at carefully, can provide insight to there meaning.
the magician is the 1 (manon ;)) card of the major arcana. take a good look at this guy.
the magician stands before a table in which all four elemental suits (wand, cup, pentacle, and sword - likely the the objects from the fool's (22's) bundle) are present. flowers bloom abundantly before the table. an ouroboros (the snake that swallows it's tail) and a infinity floats over his head - he burns a candle at both ends towards the heavens and points to the earth showing his connection to both the physical (pointing down and ouroboros) and the spiritual (the candle towards the heavens and the infinity sign over his head). this symbolizes balance similar to how his outfit is both red (passion) and white (purity).
the magician essence of the card claims abundance and having everything one could possibly need. the magician can connect to both the spiritual and physical realm - this is a power card (all the elements are in front of him to do as he pleases in the image on the card). a magician can do what they want and create whatever they wish to. but the reverse of a magician shows the misuse of power (suddenly the magician is "unnatural"; he wills the objects to stay on the table). the reversed image of the magician is manipulating you into believing up is down and down is up. they also distractingly point to the bush of flowers and not the table. hence a reversed magician struggles to see their ability to create - they block themselves from identifying who they are and what they want.
most every tarot reader will agree to individual card meanings, but a spread is often up for debate as multiple cards often interact with each other differently (that's an opinion of mine). the question(s) asked to a deck often hold some sway to card meaning as well - they often carry a different message based on the question.
the magician when asking about romance can indicate rekindling or entering a relationship. it may ask that you mind your emotions (cup on table) and thoughts (sword) while being grounded (pointing to earth) and passionate (red cloak and candle in the sky). meanwhile in a career or money reading, the magician indicates new opportunities that will lead to abundance. it could mean starting your own business or negotiating a raise. meanwhile in a relationship spread when i see the 3 of cups and the magician reversed (i denote that as rx), i know that one person is up to no good and is likely gaslighting / using the other person.
i promise that all/every major arcana will eventually be discussed as we continue down the road to discovering more about the wyrd web! every minor arcana is definitely up for grabs though as they will not be touched upon when examining the web.
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