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History and mystery of Tarot!

Tarot is an ancient tool for divination and self-discovery. The ritual of shuffling the cards and concentrating on your question creates a meditative state for your brain so that intuition can flow through giving you insight into a situation or and answer to a question. Churches now are making mazes on their grounds to achieve the same altered state of consciousness. It's uncanny how the cards "come to you" and mirror your query.

Tarot is a western civilization occult (the word means hidden) science that has its roots in ancient Egypt. One theory on the origin is that it was from the great library of Alexandria in Egypt. The female librarian Hypatia was world renowned for her wisdom and learning. The scrolls contained the wisdom of the ancient world. One of the scrolls was based on the legendary book of Toth which was derived from the mystery schools of Egypt. The Tarot is said to contain these secret teachings ancient beliefs, mythological archetypes, and religious systems such as the Hebrew Kabbalah.

There is also a correlation to astrology and numerology. Pythagoras thought that numbers and letters are in and of themselves divine entities possessing extraordinary powers. You might take a moment to reflect on the names and numbers that seem to follow you in your life. There is certainly much significance given to a number in the Bible. The seven rungs of Jacobs Ladder, the seventh day being the Sabbath, God created the world in seven days. Seven charkas or spiritual centers are in the body. Four is also important in spiritual teachings; it's a number of foundations. Forty days and forty nights refers to trials and tribulation. The numbered cards of the Tarot teach their meaning by the symbols you see and also by their number alone. Ace is an opportunity, the symbols will tell what sort of opportunity.

Tar is the Egyptian word for road and Ro is their word for King or Royal. Rota is Latin for wheel it also means progressing on the road. The Chinese word is Tao, "the way". The Tarot is a book of Torah a book of law based on intuition and life experience. Some think the Gypsies (a slang word for Egyptian) brought the Tarot to Europe in the 1400's, but there are legal documents dating back to 1367 forbidding their use in Switzerland and also in 1376 in Florence Italy. The High Priestess holds the Torah on her lap and wears the symbol of the moon on her head she is said to have been modeled after the high priestess Ator the Egyptian Earth Goddess that pre-dates Isis. The High Priestess is the number II card of the Major Arcana.

The Major Arcana consists of 22 Main cards symbolizing states of consciousness and station in life. The other 56 numbered cards or Minor Arcana were said to come later, derived from an Italian card game Tarrochi. Our common playing cards are based on these numbered cards ace to ten per suit, and also contain 16 court cards King, Queen, Knight, and page. They consist of four suits Wands (clubs, spiritual development.), Cups (hearts, love emotion relationships), Pentacles (diamonds, career, money, and status), Swords (spades, mental processing, making plans, taking action). Playing cards have been traced back to China in the 10th and 12th centuries. Charles VI of France commissioned Jacquemin Gringonneur to paint three decks for the Royal Court.

There are recommended rituals for the Tarot cards. When you first purchase a deck slip them under your pillow at night and keep them near you to help them absorb your vibrational energy.

Purify your deck to shed bad energy. You can do this by merely shuffling them or
burn dried sage or cedar in an abalone shell, then pass the cards through the smoke to cleanse them. The ritualistic symbology here relates to the four basic elements used in astrology, water (the shell) earth (the plant) smoke (air) and fire is its own element.

The cards should be stored in black silk which is a good psychic insulator. Cotton or wool can be used to. It's okay to use an antique beaded evening bag or Chinese bag. Imported hand carved white pine boxes can be used as well.

Have fun with the Tarot, you might just learn a lot about yourself and other people in your life. If a Tarot reading is ignored or you just don't seem to get the message, rest assured the same cards will show up in the next spread no matter how much you shuffle. You will know when to stop shuffling, a card will jump out and get your attention, then you know its time to stop and cut the deck to start the reading.