Can 'Holistic Tarot' Help You?
Perhaps.
You may feel like drifting away, but it doesn't have to be that way.
John Everett Millais. Detail of ‘Ophelia’. 1851-52.
As people are becoming more open minded and aware of natural therapies and spiritual practices, they are turning to nature and oracles, such as Tarot, for answers to their health concerns and personal needs.
I have dabbled with Tarot for many years and have been a student of Tarot since 2000. I wrote a book on the complete history and meanings of Tarot, which took me nearly 5 years to compile. I was considering having it published, when I was overcome with a deep dissatisfaction of repeating what was already wrote. I felt there had to be something more I could discover, and share, other than standard, traditional upright and reversed meanings. I threw away my book (well over 300 pages!), all the disks and any notes I had on the subject, thinking I would never return to writing on Tarot ever again.
A couple of months later, I was doing a personal health reading and something clicked in my mind about the possibility of creating Tarot information for others regarding health and well being. After all, Tarot is, and always has been about energy, both positive and negative. What if I could narrow it down to the body parts each card represented, which might be affected by attitudes, relationships and environmental negatives? Slowly I began to recall and recapture those significant meanings related to health and wellness.
Now you have these meanings at your disposal in
'Holistic Tarot Energy Wellness Advice'!
How Does Holistic Tarot Work?
To everything in life there is a cause and effect. When you shuffle the cards, you cause them to move amongst themselves according to your particular energy patterns. The way they are shuffled, cut, lain and interpreted are the effect.
Each card holds picture symbols and numbers and are of a particular Suit. These symbols are universally understood and interpreted much the same way among all peoples and cultures.
For every card you choose, there will be a revealing of some aspect in your life that is either life sustaining or life draining.
Pictures & Colors
The Moon (card number 18), for example, contains a picture of the Moon. The Moon appears at night, in the darkness. It is hard to see at night, which may mean that there is confusion in your situation and you are having a hard time seeing what to do. The Moon also represents cycles, which could represent having to wait 28 days (a Moon's phase) for things to become clearer. Every color has it's own meaning, or associated feeling. The Swords cards have many Grays and Blues, the Cups almost always contain Yellow. The Coins show Browns and Reds, and the Wands display much Green.
Numbers
Each card in the Tarot has an assigned numerical meaning. For example, the number two denotes a happy joining or union. If the number two appears in your reading, it may mean you have recently become involved in a new relationship or negotiations. It could mean you are juggling two aspects, such as home and career. Two's imply a certain amount of attraction and harmony. Numbers also relate to certain colors. I am getting off track here, but the following numerical exercise is just one example of how numbers and color tie together.
Color & Number Associations
Just for Fun!
Taking the name you were born with, find out what numerical color you are! Use the chart and the example below. This reflects aspects of your personality!
#1 - A, J, S - Strength, Health, Life-force and Passion.
#2 - B, K, T - Encouragement, Creativity, Kindness & Attraction
#3 - C, L, U - Charm, Joy, Confidence & Comfort
#4 - D, M, V - Growth, Fertility, Empathy (Insight) & Love
#5 - E, N, W - Compassion, Truth, Helpfulness, Sentimentality and Patience
#6 - F, O, X - Dignity, Independence, Intuition & Changeability
#7 - G, P, Y - Endurance, Vision, Wisdom, Protection and Morality.
#8 - H, Q, Z - Leadership, Activity, Respect and Arbitration.
#9 - I, R - Hopeful, Emotional (sometimes ruled by), Joy & Godly
Example!
Marie = M4, A-1, R-9, I-9, E-5 = 28
Joanne' = J-1, O-6, A-1, N-5, N-5, E-5 = 23
Dionne = D-4, I-9, O-6, N-5, N-5, E-5 = 34
28+23+34 = 85 (8+5) = 13
13 (1+3) = 4
The number 4 (Green) is my Birth Color! What's yours? For more information about your birth color, visit 'Aura Color Personalities'.
The Suits - The Four Elements
There are 78 cards in a Tarot deck. The cards are divided between the Major and Minor Arcanas. The Major Arcana is comprised of 22 cards. These are the Tarot cards of most significance and represent the stages and spiritual lessons of our lives. In fact, originally, there was no Minor Arcana. The remaining 56 are divided even further into 4 Suits and 16 Court Cards. Cards numbered from Ace-10 in each Suit of Wands, Swords, Cups and Pentacles are commonly called 'Pip' cards. The Court Cards include the Pages, Knights, Queens and Kings who are the families belonging to each Suit. I include the Aces as part of the Court family. Aces are the 'idea' cards. Each Suit holds it's own meaning.
Wands - Element of Fire - Intuition/Spirit - Above & Up
Wands are the energy, fire and passion of our ideas and inspirations. They are the creative entrepreneurs, the charming, seductive and eager beginners, with a new plan behind every old one. They are most willing to share information with you about their particular expertise, are often called upon for just this and do not feel thwarted unless deprived of money or resources. They love adventures and travel! Movement is key for them. They are constantly taunted between Will and Pleasure! Boredom is their ruin. So is lack of sexual expression.
If you have many Wands in your reading, it may mean that your passions are clouding your ability to reason.
Swords - Element of Air - Thought - Above/Left and Right
Swords get a bad rap in Tarot. See a Sword and you are often dealing with conflict and mental intrigues of the negative kind. But, they are the brain-stormers, decision makers, often in military, law or government and are analyzing the next appropriate (or inappropriate) move. Swords often reveal some type of a need 'breaking away' from restrictive attitudes, behaviors or confining situations. This can be a good thing and much needed. It is for this reason that Swords represent action. Our thoughts hold power and are the precursors of manifestation. However, Swords 'personalities' sometimes act without considering the feelings of others and can even be quite bullying in clearing the path to their destination. With swords raised and slashing through the air, although fair-minded, they can be quite intimidating unless they are on your side!
If you have many Swords in your reading, it implies conflicted thoughts or actions. Indecision will be your downfall.
Cups - Element of Water - Emotion - Below/Down
Cups represent our emotions and are the sweethearts of the Tarot. At least, as much as they can be, given our situations. Our emotions are reactions to thought and action (ours and others) and pave the way to more action, or inaction, and, as such, we can we can rush forward enthusiastically going with the flow or drift around in our muck until we are sucked down! Cups are the caretaker personalities, the ministers, the mothers and fathers, the missionaries and the peacemakers. When you see a cup in your reading, you are dealing with emotional issues, whether you are drowning in your sorrows, completely and enthusiastically overboard, or swimming happily somewhere in between!
If you have many Cups in your reading, you are dealing primarily with emotions, either positive or negative.
Coins - Element of Earth - Physicality - Below/Around
Coins are all about the material aspect of life, our bodies, homes, environments and our universe. Therefore if you see a Coin (Pentacle) in your card layout, you are most often dealing with a physical aspect of life. You had an inspiration (Wands), thought about it (Swords), determined how you felt (Cups) and decided on making things happen (Coins). You might be starting a new diet, joining a health club, keeping one eye open for a better job with better pay and more security. Coins represent that which we have manifested (made physically happen) in the world. Therefore a Coin may represent concerns of abundance or poverty in any area of your world whether money, materialism or health, which affects everything spiritually.
If you have many Coins in your reading, you are dealing primarily with the material world and physical body you live in.
The Aces
Aces represent new beginnings according to the suits they belong to.
Ace of Wands... is the sudden rush of new insight at the very moment you get it, that passion you have not experienced in awhile, that sudden urge to carry out some project or thrill seeking event! This intuitive insight gives rise to emotions.
Ace of Cups...is that overwhelming force of pleasure that bubbles up and out of you. There's that beginning of something wonderful that you feel very confident about. You may even be swept off your feet with your head left spinning in the clouds! These feelings definitely make you think!
Ace of Swords...is a recognition of a thought, perhaps more than one, or realization that finally clicks everything else into place so that you can move decisively forward! It represents that unseen side of life...the mental, and sometimes spiritual, space inside of yourself that leads you to take action!
Ace of Coins...appears when you are on your way to seeing your visions manifest physically! You are beginning to make money with that business idea, not just thinking about it. You went after and received that promotion you deserved, moved to a better neighborhood. You have entered a relationship and are enjoying the comforts of companionship.
Having many Aces in your reading may imply that you are being offered many options and are chosing none. The Aces are saying, "Hey! Do something!" It may be time to take some risk. However, if they are all reversed, it could mean that you are to wait, or back off completely, from some aspect of the situation.
The Court Cards
The Court Cards most often represent attitudes, beliefs and behaviors of the person the reading is being done for the querent (person inquiring), or other people in the querent's life that influence the situation. These people could be someone the querent knows, or not. They are family, friends, co-workers, acquaintances or people the querent would be wise in seeking help from. Court Cards also relate to Astrology and, as such, each correspond to a particular sign of the Zodiac. This makes them very interesting folk!
If your reading is predominated with Court cards, it may imply there are too many cooks stirring the pot! Some get-away time and reflection may be in order.
The Major Arcana
The Major Arcana reveals the spiritual lessons that we are learning or need to learn. They show us the path we are on, both in the present and in the past that led us to where we are and give reflection to where we might choose to go from here to rectify karma.
The Tree of Life - The Jewish Kabbalah
Tarot is often related to the Kabbalah (or Cabbalah). The numbered branches of The Tree of Life seem to correspond to the numbered Tarot. The 10 major branches of The Tree of Life are called Sephiroth. They are connected by a myriad of paths, upon which the Major Arcana sits perfectly as if pieces of some ancient puzzle, leaving The Fool (Card #0) to travel his or her path of choice through life, or through The Tree of Life. Each path offers a lesson to be learned or denied. Indeed, the Four Worlds of the Kabbalah relate well to the four suits.
The Four Worlds
Atziluth - The World of Emanation - Soul, Fire, Wands
Briah - The World of Creation - Thought, Air, Swords
Yetzirah - The World of Formation - Emotions, Water, Cups
Assiah (Asiyah) - The World of Action - Physicality, Earth, Coins
The Four Worlds spell the holy name of God, with Spirit (Wands/Fire) being in the most high branches, Thought (Swords/Air) and Emotion (Cups/Water) in the middle branches, and Physicality, sometimes called Action (Coins/Earth), manifesting from thought and emotion, at the foot of the tree. We are inspired by spirit, think with our minds, discern and visualize through emotion and willfully create our worlds on earth according to what gives us pleasure.
It is this choice between Will and Pleasure that God gave us all. Our joy and our pain hangs in the balance between these two. Through learning how to truly love others, and ourselves, while we are here, we journey back through the four worlds to Spirit from whence we came. Hence, finding heaven on earth.
I do not intend to oversimplify the Kabbalah, which represents worlds inside of worlds, inside of worlds, inside of even more worlds. It is inspirational, to say the least, to even begin to grasp the teachings of the Kabbalah. It would take a life time to understand it completely, if then, as those infinite worlds are inside of us, as well as out.
So, Where Did Tarot Come From? It is believed that tarot cards, which were witnessed in use in the late 1300's, are symbolic picture cards that represent the beliefs of a people (and there are mixed ideas on exactly who these people were) who would have otherwise been persecuted for using the written word. Its symbols are universal keys to right living and are said to hold every answer to every question for all time. The Conservative Christian church outlawed them as tools of Satan.
Satan is a Hebrew word, which means 'opposition'.
A Little on Wiccan vs. Tarotian Philosophies
Wiccans, for the most part, agree that Wands represent South/Fire, Swords represent East/Air, Cups represent West/Water and Coins represent North/Earth. Wiccans do not always agree, even amongst themselves, with these aspects, but these seem to be the most commonly agreed upon.
Tarotians are those who follow Tarot philosophy. Tarotians and Wiccans rarely agree on the directions that the cards imply. The directions listed in the previous paragraphs above are Tarotian.
When it comes to seasons no one seems to agree, even among students of the same groups.
My thought is that Wands represent Spring (brand new inspiration and new beginnings), Cups represent Summer (playful get togethers outside and summer romances), Swords represent Fall (when relationships are up in the air and skies are gray) and Coins represent Winter (they are always storing up and worrying about having enough), but it is up to you to decide.
It is generally agreed among Tarotians that Wands represent 'Weeks', Swords represent 'Days', Cups represent 'Months' and Coins represent 'Years'.
How Does Holistic Tarot Relate to Energy Issues?
Each card in Tarot, has something to tell us about the situation at hand. That is to say, each card holds a part of the answer to our question at the moment of our reading. The effect of 'that part' toward our well-being is either positive or negative. It is up to us, then, to make any changes we deem necessary to live a more positive and radiant life, or not. It is our choice.
We may get stuck on, or even fall off of, our life's path, but through Tarot we may find our way back again by offering insights that can help us to intuitively make decisions. And this is how Tarot should be viewed. As a tool to lend insight when we are stumped.
Tarot lends information pertaining to 2-3 weeks into the past, or the future, unless asked about a specific time frame.
But Wait! What If Your Card Is Upside-Down?
If you deal your cards and one appears reversed, it means that there is an element (some thing, attitude, behavior, person or situation) affecting the normal energy of the card, or situation the card concerns.
Therefore, reversed cards may be either weaker, more extreme or suggest an influence (see above) has more control over the situation than you do.
For example, the Two of Cups normally implies a happy union of sorts. When reversed, it may still denote a happy union, but not without sadness, incompatibility or an element of negativity. There may even be a reason for keeping this union a secret, at least for now.
On the other hand, especially where the Court Cards (people) are concerned, normal thoughts, attitudes and behaviors may be more pronounced or exaggerated. The Knight of Swords, already borderline rambunctious, may become a bully, cruel and uncaring, in his determination to rush in and vex his enemies!
Use your intuition.
It is the sound of the soul leading the way.
- Mari
Would you like to do your own reading now?
Visit the Holistic Tarot 'Five Card Advice Layout!
Visit the Holistic Tarot 'Energy Wellness' & 'Chakra' Layouts!
Then visit 'Holistic Tarot Energy Wellness Advice'
for your card meanings!
May Love & Energy be Yours!
