What is Divination, and why Tarot?
Divination is a cornerstone of many a witch’s practice. It is the art of looking into the future to see what outcomes are possible. I say “what outcomes are possible” because nothing is set in stone. Our actions and choices are constantly tweaking our future outcomes. Throughout the ages people have used various tools to divine future information; from palmistry to scrying, the throwing of the bones and runes, to astrology, numerology, and tarot, we have looked to the future for answers.
Tarot began as a simple card game, played in royal courts in Europe for entertainment. Some early decks include the Marseille Deck and Sforza-Visconti deck. At some point in time, no one is sure exactly when, people began to use the imagery on the cards to conjure up divinatory information. The imagery spoke to people’s subconscious and archetypes began to emerge. This is why to this day, a regular standard playing card deck can be utilized to read someone’s cards.
The Tarot deck many are most familiar with today is the Rider-Waite-Smith Deck (sometimes referred to as just the Rider-Waite deck). Most modern decks today are based on the Rider-Waite imagery and meanings. The Rider-Waite deck was created in 1909 as a collaboration between two members of the Golden Dawn, Pamela Coleman Smith and Arthur Edward Waite. The Golden Dawn was a “secret” society of likeminded individuals seeking gnosis (greater knowledge) of the unseen world. They studied hermeticism, the Qabalah, and other metaphysical and esoteric topics. Among their more famous members were author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, poet W.B. Yeats, the infamous Aleister Crowley, and even possibly Bram Stoker (although no hard proof of his actual membership exists).
Pamela Coleman Smith was an artist, and along with A.E. Waite’s descriptions of the cards, she created the 78-card deck. The deck is divided into the Major Arcana or “mysteries” which consists of 22 cards, and the Minor Arcana. The Minor Arcana is 56 cards and is most identifiable with the 52-card playing deck many are familiar with, as they are both divided into four “suits” among which are the face cards Ace, King, Queen, Knight (Jack), and Page (no correlation in the playing deck). Both Coleman- Smith and Waite leaned heavily into Qabalah when creating the imagery and meanings behind the cards, along with astrology (each card having an association with the planets and/or zodiacs). It is this imagery, that so accurately calls out common archetypes and life situations and lessons, that allows us to so readily identify with the deck. I believe this is why the Rider-Waite deck has endured so long, and is a favorite for beginner readers.
There is another popular offshoot of the Rider-Waite deck called the Thoth deck, and this was created by the infamous Aleister Crowley when he branched off from the Golden Dawn, to create his own group, Thelema. There are some similarities, but the structure and some cards differ. Often times you will find modern decks that say they are “Rider-Waite” or “Crowley” based in their systems.
So, given that bit of knowledge, the question still stands, why Tarot? I am a firm believer that we are all “psychic” to a degree. Some of us are naturally more attuned to these abilities, and with conscious effort and work, we can further develop these natural talents. For me, Tarot has helped me unlock my latent psychic abilities. The cards help to conjure up information and images that apply to whatever situation or person I am asking about. I have always said, the cards never lie. Often times, it is as if the cards have a life of their own! I am also learning that Spirit seems to communicate most easily through the cards. Spirit tends to communicate via images, and so Tarot, being the visual medium that it is, makes a perfect conduit.
If you are wanting to further explore your own psychic abilities, or connect with Spirit and your spirit guides, I cannot recommend the Tarot enough! I would certainly recommend starting with the Rider-Waite-Smith deck. Once you become familiar with its cards, structure, and meaning, it makes most of the other decks really easy to read and understand (unless you’re dealing with a Crowley based deck)! Over time you will begin to find decks that you love, that you feel comfortable with, and that give accurate readings. There is a myth that you cannot purchase your own Tarot, it must be gifted to you, and while receiving your first deck as a gift is lovely, it’s not a prerequisite to beginning your journey. I would; however, recommend sleeping with your deck under your pillow for the first few nights you own it. This helps your subconscious and your cards to connect, you may even find yourself having prophetic dreams. Once you become comfortable with Tarot you can even branch out into the world of Oracle cards!
As always, I am happy to help you on this journey, or to just read your cards for you! I don’t sell decks yet on my site, but I will link below my favorite decks which you can find on Amazon. I think in another blog I’ll talk about the books that helped me develop my skill with tarot and my psychic abilities. As a side note, I’m a busy mom, so I listen to a lot of my Tarot and esoteric books on Audible, this allows me to get on with the house work while still learning! If you are interested in Audible, I cannot recommend it enough, it has allowed me to read so much more than I would have been able to do with traditional reading of paperbacks (although I do still adore a real-life book, nothing compares)! If you’re interested in trying here’s the link below:
If you click the links and purchase from them, I may receive some compensation from Amazon. It helps me continue to put out this content and be available for readings, so I really appreciate it if you feel called to purchase this way.
