The aim of this course is to acquaint you with the system of Tarot,

uses, the background behind it, and hopefully you will finish the
course with a deep understanding of the cards and the knowledge
needed to interpret them. Throughout the course we will cover
diverse topics ranging from the history of the Tarot to intuition, how to
read for others, and Tarot spreads you can use. After some of the
lessons there will be extra 'tasks' for you to do. These are optional,
and are aimed at those who wish to study Tarot a little deeper. After
the lessons there will also be a Further Reading list if applicable, for
those who wish to expand their knowledge of specific areas of the
course. There will also be a list of Key Terms arising from each
lesson at the end of the lesson, so you can re-cap on what you
learned and turn to if you are not sure what a term means.

You may notice as we progress through the course, that we do not

touch upon the actual meanings of the cards themselves until quite
late into the course. This is for a specific reason, and is not just
because of incompetence on my part! Tarot essentially, is an art form
which employs the intuition, imagination, and a deep understanding
of 'the way things are', and as such, it is a very personal art form,
which differs from person to person. The traditional meanings of the
cards, whilst being useful, are only a rough guideline as to what the
cards mean: Ultimately, it is your intuition and understanding which
tells you the meanings, which can change from reading to reading
depending on the question or person you are reading for. This course
therefore, aims to help you develop the understanding needed, and
guide you to ways in which you can cultivate your own approach to
the Tarot, which will provide you with a platform from which to leap
into a system of divination which can become a lifelong study!

You will need a Tarot deck for this course, though it is not essential
until we reach Lesson 3, and Lesson 4 will provide you with
information on how to choose a Tarot deck. This course does not
require you to own a specific deck, though there are
recommendations of decks in Lesson 1. These recommendations are
not set in stone however, as personal taste, religion, and interests will
affect which decks you find most suitable.

For your benefit, here is a brief outline of the course, so you can see
what topics we will be covering.
Lesson 1:

What is Tarot?
What are its uses?
Tarot myths and superstitions
Book and Tarot deck recommendations

Lesson 2:

Does Tarot work?

How?
Why should you care?

Lesson 3:

History of the Tarot: Where does the Tarot as we know it come from?
What are the implications of this?

Lesson 4:

Choosing the right Tarot deck

Caring for your deck
Shuffling the deck
Getting in the mood for a Tarot reading

Lesson 5:

Methods of learning the meanings of the cards and getting

acquainted with them
Different methods of interpreting the cards, and their advantages and
disadvantages
Keeping a Tarot journal

Lesson 6:

Getting practice at interpreting the cards in different ways

Tarot spreads: An introduction
Making up your own spreads
Symbolic systems associated with Tarot: A quick introduction
Lesson 7:

A word about the previous 'extra' task

Developing your intuition and ability to interpret the cards intuitively
Reading for yourself vs. Reading for others
Types of questions: Most commonly asked questions, yes/no
questions, general questions, questions which are too specific

Lesson 8:

The meanings of the cards: Introduction

The Fool's Journey, both Kabalistic and modern version
Questions to ask when studying the Major Arcana

Lesson 9:

Symbolic systems and their relevance:

Numbers
Astrological signs
Hebrew letters
Runes
Personal correspondences

Lesson 10:

The Fool
The Magician
The High Priestess
The 'What if I do/What if I don't?' spread

Lesson 11:

The Empress
The Emperor
The High Priest
Three Card spread and its variations

Lesson 12:
The Lovers
The Chariot
Strength
Four Card spread and Elemental spread

Lesson 13:

The Hermit
The Wheel of Fortune
Justice
Five Card spreads

Lesson 14:

The Hanged Man

Death
Temperance
The Horseshoe spread

Lesson 15:

The Devil
The Tower
The Star
The Celtic Cross spread
Zodiac spread

Lesson 16:

The Moon
The Sun
Judgment
The World
Tree of Life spread

Lesson 17:

Types of questions requiring only Major Arcana

What does it mean if I get all Major Arcana in a reading?
Always looking on the bright side: More words on Death, the Devil,
and the Tower

Lesson 18:

Introduction to the Minor Arcana

Numerical associations
Questions to ask when approaching the Minor Arcana
The elements and the Minor Arcana, and a word from Carl Jung
Is there a basic theme in each suit?
The Court Cards

Lesson 19:

The suit of Cups

The Court cards of Cups
Spreads for matters of the Heart

Lesson 20:

The suit of Wands

The Court card of Wands
Spreads for the Spiritual side of life

Lesson 21:

The suit of Pentacles

The Court cards of Pentacles
Material spreads, for work, money, and family

Lesson 22:

The suit of Swords

The Court cards of Swords
Using 'Keys': The Missing Card in a 'split run' of cards

Lesson 23:

Dealing with difficult questioners/questions

Laws on Tarot: Is it legal in your state/country?
Setting the atmosphere for a reading
Chatting isn't cheating: Interactive readings

Lesson 24:

Ethics
The Happy Squirrel: Telling the questioner bad news
Creating your own Tarot deck
Looking at why people go to Tarot readers: Mental health and our
responsibility to the questioner

Lesson 25:

The next step:

Coming out of the 'Tarot closet'
How to further your study:
Deck collecting
Teaching others
Places for fellow Tarot Lovers
Groups and Societies

There will also be periodical tests for you to complete. The tests are
designed simply for you to gauge your progress and understanding,
and pinpoint your strengths and weaknesses. With that all said, I
think the only thing left to do is dive straight in!

Some have declared that the Tarot is a map of the Universe, some
that it is an ancient initiatory procession. Others say that the Tarot is
a method of fortune-telling, a way to solve your problems and explore
possibilities, and a means of counseling and advice-giving. Another
theory is that the Tarot is the esoteric wisdom of the ancients, hidden
in an innocent-looking card pack, and others say it is merely a game.
Whatever the theory one uses to describe the Tarot depends on your
personal feelings about it, and I will not say that any of the above
theories are more trueR than others, for this very reason. What I can
tell you is that in this course we will be exploring Tarot as a map of
the Universe, a method of fortune telling, problem solving, and
counseling, and a game.

The Tarot deck itself is a 78-card pack, consisting of two parts: The
Major Arcana and Minor Arcana. The Major Arcana (Otherwise
known as Trumps, Triumphs and Majors) has 22 cards: The Fool,
The Magician, The High Priestess, The Empress, The Emperor, The
High Priest, The Lovers, The Chariot, Strength, The Hermit, The
Wheel of Fortune, Justice, The Hanged Man, Death, Temperance,
The Devil, The Tower, The Star, The Moon, The Sun, Judgment, and
The World. The Fool is the only un-numbered card, with The
Magician bearing the number 1, The High Priestess the number 2,
and so on until we reach The World with number 21. The Fool has no
number, and instead bears a '0', because of the nature of the card
itself, and because it is widely held that this card is separate from the
other Majors: Instead of being part of the 'journey' of the Majors, it is
the actual traveler which has to face that journey! These Major
Arcana represent archetypes such as the Mother, Father, and
Wounded Healer.

The Minor Arcana are very much like our modern day playing card
pack, with four suits. The names of the suits are different to a playing
card pack however: Cups, Swords, Wands, and Pentacles. These
suits roughly correspond to Hearts, Spades, Clubs, and Diamonds
respectively in playing card packs. In each suit there are 10 pip cards
known as Minors, which are numbered from 1-10, and 4 picture
cards, known as Court Cards, which are similar to the King, Queen,
and Jack of a playing card deck. The Tarot deck's Courts are known
as King, Queen, Knight, and Page, and they often refer to people,
emotions, or characteristics.

Most people, when they think of Tarot, immediately assume that it is

merely a fortune telling tool which tells you who you're going to marry
or how many children you're going to have. In truth however, the
Tarot is not as limited as this, and it has many more uses besides the
usual fortune telling (Or divination as it is often called, and as it will be
called through this course). Since the modern revival of Tarot in the
19th century, it has been widely used as a method of problem-solving
and counseling, much as a session with a psychotherapist is. With
this application, the cards are used as a focus for exploring the
questioner's feelings about a situation, person, or event, and from this
the reading aims to guide the questioner to a discovery of the solution
to their problem, or to the deeper insight they are searching for. Later
on in the course, we will look at how to conduct this kind of reading.
The Tarot can also be used for gaming purposes. As you will see in
Lesson 3, Tarot originated as a game much like Whist, in
Renaissance Italy, and today you can still play the original games, or
games which are geared more towards the modern day
interpretations of the cards and their meanings. Games such as Tarot
Charades can be played to acquaint people with the meanings of
symbols of the cards, and you can use games which focus on certain
aspects of the cards (Such as Court cards or animals in the cards) in
order to help children understand Tarot a little deeper. Of course, it
also serves as a very fun way of spending a boring Sunday
afternoon!

In the nine years I have been studying Tarot, I have also come across
a use for the Tarot known as character creation, where you use the
cards to invent characters for stories you wish to tell, or role-playing
games you wish to play. In this application, the cards tell you the
personality of your new character, their background, their likes and
dislikes, possibly what they look like, and their actions in the story.

One final use of the Tarot which is very popular, is magic. The cards
can be used in spells and rituals just like candles, incense, and
talismans would be, and the images in the cards act as a focus for
the mind during the spell. For instance, if you were considering
performing a healing ritual for a friend, you may wish to use the Star
card or Temperance card, or even both, to focus on and meditate on,
just as you might concentrate on a candle flame when trying to
contemplate or scry.

The wonderful thing about Tarot is that it always offers the student
opportunities to find new ways of using it and understanding it. As
such, there are more applications of Tarot than I have listed which
individuals have discovered, and as we progress with our study of
Tarot, it is obvious that we can find more!
Even in this modern age of science and technology, those who know
little about Tarot, and even those who know a lot about it, hold
superstitions which have no basis in fact, and which are dangerous
not only for the public face of Tarot, but for the person who believes
them. I know of people who have become overly anxious and afraid
to be alone at home because they think that their Tarot deck had evil
instilled in it, and brought demons into their house.
There are two types of people who believe such superstitions. The
first is the general public, and people who know hardly anything about
the Tarot. Such peoples' fears and superstitions are fuelled by
movies and the media, hell-bent on making things sensationalist: You
can't have a decent occult/spooky movie without a Tarot reading
which portends sure doom, or depicts Tarot in the hands of the bad-
guys. We have seen an example of this recently in the news, when
the Washington Sniper in the USA apparently left a 'Death' Tarot card
at one his killings. The fact that the police department in charge said
that this was a false claim did nothing to stop the media
sensationalizing the story, and fuelling the belief that Tarot is evil.

The second type of person to believe superstitions such as 'Tarot

controls demons' are the Tarot readers who desire nothing but to
seem more powerful than other people, and to scare people into
feeling smaller than them. These people are very bad adverts for
Tarot, and make other Tarot readers look bad. In an effort to maybe
open peoples' minds to the Tarot, I have put together a list of the
most common superstitions and myths spread about the Tarot, and
an explanation as to why they are not true.

1)Tarot tells you what will definitely happen, and you can't change the
future that has been foretold

One of the things I hear most from people who are not used to Tarot
is that they would rather not know what's going to happen to them:
They’d rather it was a surprise and they wouldn't want to know if
something bad is going to happen. They assume that you cannot
change the future, but the truth is that you can, and therein lays the
whole point of Tarot! The future is wholly dependent upon the
present, and by choosing to do something different to what you were
going to do in the present, you are changing the outcome. For
instance, on a very mundane level: You are considering making the
final commitment to your partner and you want to ask them to marry
you. Given that if you ask, he/she will say yes, the most likely future
for you is marriage. But if you go against what you were considering,
and don't ask, then the most likely future is that you won't get
married. It really is up to you which to choose. The Tarot tells you the
future you will have if you carry on the way you are going. It will tell
you what will happen if you do ask your partner to marry you. If the
future looks good, then you can be content in the knowledge that you
are going the right way. If however, it is bad, you now have the
knowledge that you are probably going the wrong way, and you can
start changing things so that you take a different, better route in life.
In this way, Tarot does tell the future, but as a tool for making the
most of life. Incidentally, the Tarot can also be used for many other
things instead of 'fortune-telling', such as problem solving and
counseling, the former being the use of the cards to get some idea of
what is going on in a situation, and how to solve it, and the latter
being the use of the cards to get some idea of what is going on inside
the person, relating to the situation. Counseling with the Tarot is
basically the same as normal counseling, where the person tries to
come to terms with their feelings and the cause of such feelings.
2)The Tarot is evil/has evil spirits in it/will corrupt all who go near it

This is a view most usually held by those who know little or nothing
about Tarot. For some reason, Tarot has had a severely bad rep.
ever since Victorian times, when its use for divination was
widespread. It was first persecuted however between 1450 and 1480
by a now anonymous friar, whose sermon against it called it a tool of
the devil, saying that the cards were:

"Given their names by the Devil himself, who invented them." This
was not, however, because the Tarot was used for divination - At the
time, its only use was for gaming and gambling, hence the
anonymous friar's hatred of it. Victorian Catholicism and Christianity
branded the Tarot as evil, based on the aforementioned sermon, and
the fact that it was used for fortune-telling, divination, etc which they
claimed was incompatible with the Christian faith. This again, is a
fairly common assumption amongst the general public, who are
largely what we may call 'token Christians': They celebrate Christmas
and Easter, and maybe go to church once a year, and adhere to
Christianity's general rules, but are not devout. Usually, the quote
'suffer not a witch to live' is used to prove that Tarot is against
Christianity, but it is easy to see where this claim falls down. For a
start, not all who read Tarot are witches. The second quote used
against Tarot is in Leviticus 19:26, where it says: 'do not practice
divination or sorcery.' This is blatantly a law against any kind of
divination, and on it's own it does justify the claim that Tarot is
incompatible with Christianity. Yet when we read the two verses
which follow that quote, we get a law against cutting hair and
trimming beards, and another one against tattoos and piercing... Next
time somebody uses Lev.19:26 against Tarot, ask them if they have
their ears pierced! Of course, there is also plenty of divination,
prophesy, and fortune-telling in the Bible, for instance Joseph, son of
Jacob foretells the future by interpreting dreams in Genesis 37:1-
45:28, and a man called Balaam utters five oracles in the name of
God in Numbers 23:1-24:25. And of course we have the book of
Revelations at the end of the Bible, which itself is pure prophesy.
Despite all these things though, the view that Tarot is incompatible
with Christianity has been passed on and fuelled by fundamentalist
Christians to this day.

For those who are Christian, it is often difficult to convince them that
the Tarot isn't evil. For those who aren't Christian, it is usually very
easy. Most see the Tarot as just a pack of cardboard pictures,
incapable of being evil. After all, how can inanimate objects be evil? It
is true however, that the use that the object is put to can be classed
as evil, but this is very rare with the Tarot. What possible evil uses
can it have? So far, my experience with it has been one of immense
good in fact: I know of many Tarot readers who use the Tarot as
another counseling tool and this way they do good with it, helping
people understand themselves and the situations they are in.
3)If you buy the deck yourself, it is bad luck and you won't be able to
use it: The deck must be a gift/stolen

This is a surprisingly pervasive myth, which says that you won't be

able to read with any deck you buy for yourself, and if you do buy the
deck, you will have immense bad luck. According to this superstition,
you must have a deck given to you as a gift to be able to use it
properly. Indeed, it is amazing how many Tarot readers are told off by
shop- workers at tills who, when they are handed the Tarot deck by
the purchaser, ask in a very low and menacing voice, 'I hope you're
not buying these for yourself...??!!' as if it is company policy or
something!

It is of course, a fallacy, and quite a laughable one. Let's be down-to-

earth here folks: How could the way you get a deck affect the
usability and your ability to read with it? I'm sure most scientists will
agree with me that it's pretty unlikely that the method of obtaining a
tool will not affect its usage. For instance, one doesn't bother
worrying about how one should purchase a saw or drill, just in case
they purchase it incorrectly, maybe using the wrong hand to give the
money, maybe forgetting to twirl around thrice, recite an occult chant,
and jump up and down on one leg whilst handing over the money...
Because heaven forbid, doing it wrong could mean you can't saw a
piece of wood in half with your newly purchased saw! So, you get the
picture here. The only way the acquisition of a deck could affect your
ability to read it, is if you did steal it, and were so racked with guilt that
you couldn't bring yourself to use the deck. This is one of the reasons
why the myth that you should not exchange money for a deck (Steal
it) is exactly that: A myth. There are also practical implications of you
stealing a deck: Each deck has a creator, an artist who spent
sometimes as much as 20 years of their life slaving over the deck,
writing the book for it, publishing it... More than likely they had to
spend lots of money to get it published and pay for the original
materials as well. They deserve (And sometimes need) the money
from the deck when people buy it. By stealing a deck, you are
denying that artist the payment they deserve/need.

Back to being given a deck as a gift... Whilst it is very nice for people
to give you a deck as a present, it is highly unlikely they will. If all the
Tarot readers I know waited until they were given a deck before
beginning, most of them would still be waiting! You will also find that
the person who gives you a deck will not have got you the one that is
'right for you'. Only you can know which deck is the one you are most
attracted/called to, and it's important that you do get such a deck
because it is almost impossible to read with a deck you don't like.
There are literally thousands of decks available, believe it or not, and
each is different. Some may have different artwork, approaches,
designs, symbols, themes, etc... Out of the thousands around, what
are the chances you will be given the one right for you as a gift...?

The actual origins of the myth can be found in the modern revival of
the interest in Tarot in the 1960's, when decks were virtually
impossible to buy. You couldn't just walk into a shop and see Tarot
decks on the shelves. They were sold 'under-the-counter', and you
had to know someone who knew someone who knew someone else
who could obtain you such an item. Tarot back then was still highly
taboo, and there were, in the USA, still laws against it in most states,
so unless you were given a deck perhaps from your mother who was
given it by her mother, or through contacts, you could not get one.
Buying one was absolutely unheard of and highly dangerous.

4)You must never let anybody else touch your cards

This is only a half-myth. There are many valid reasons why you may
not want others to touch your cards. Some readers believe that their
'energies' are stored in the cards and they don't want anybody else’s
energies 'contaminating' the cards. Personally, I don't hold with this:
Logically, if you are worried about others contaminating your cards
with their energies by touching them, surely you should also not let
anybody touch you ever, as you have energies inside yourself which
somebody else's touch may contaminate. And of course, living life
like that is downright stupid and impossible...

As far as I'm concerned, a Tarot pack is nothing special. It is a deck

of 78 pretty pictures on bits of cardboard you will find pretty much
anywhere. Putting 'energy' into the cards isn't going to make them
any more magical or effective than they already are: It’s you that does
that with your interpretation of the cards that come up. Ultimately,
nobody is going to die by touching somebody else's cards. Unless of
course the owner of that deck has been watching 'The Name of the
Rose' and has poisoned the cards...

Another valid reason why people may not want others touching their
cards is because they don't want the deck damaged or stained. This
is fine, but again, personally, I don't hold with it. If you asked me
which deck I would prefer to use more: The deck which is kept
wrapped in black silk, in a special box, and only bought out once a
year within a cast circle after being purified with incense and
chanting, or the deck which lives in a smoky pub, is used for gaming
by day, and by night by the landlord's daughter to find out who she
will marry... I'd choose the old and tattered one from the pub, simply
because I know that people I am reading for have more trust in me if I
have a worn, old deck, because they can then tell how long I have
been studying and using Tarot... They can tell I have some decent
knowledge of it, and that I will most likely give them an honest
reading. If you have a brand new shiny deck, the questioner will feel
as though you are still new at all this, and may not give a reliable
reading.

5)You cannot read for yourself

This myth stems from the fact that most readers find it difficult to read
for themselves usually because they don't remain objective: They
only see what they want to see in the cards!! Nearly all readers are
like this, no matter how long they have been studying Tarot.
Personally, if I read for myself, instead of being able to formulate
words and sentences to convey the meaning of the cards, I just get a
general sense of what the cards are saying, and thud have a
tendency to bypass important details! However, this can be overcome
by forcing me to write down the reading: I have to create the details in
sentences if I'm writing it down.

Despite this, the way most readers practice and learn Tarot to the
level where they feel confident enough to read for others, is to read
for themselves all the time. So, in that way, reading for you, whilst
difficult, isn't impossible.

)You must be psychic to read the cards

If you have to be psychic to read the Tarot, why are there thousands
of books dedicated purely to the study of how to memorize the
meanings of the cards? Whilst it is obvious that a little intuition would
not go amiss (And there are very simple ways that you can improve
the natural intuition that everybody has!) you will find that most good
Tarot readers are as psychic as a piece of toast. There are
exceptions however, but psychic Tarot readers don't actually 'read'
the cards as such, but use the cards more as a foothold into a trance-
like predictive state, or to open themselves up to psychism. Non-
psychic readers actually interpret the cards based on the given
meanings, or, depending which approach they take, by just saying
what they think the pictures on the cards mean to the person who is
having the reading.

7)Tarot is difficult to learn

It can be, but only if you try and do it the hard way by attempting to
memorize all the meanings for the cards. If this is the approach you
take, it can take around 4 years to become confident enough to read
for others without having to look the meanings up in a book.

However, if you forget trying to memorize the meanings, and quite

literally just 'say what you see' the pictures on the cards, you can pick
it all up in a week. A week does sound as though you won't be doing
it in depth, but in the end, this form of reading is just a small part of
studying Tarot. It merely gives you the idea of how to read, and
means you aren't solely dependent on book meanings and
memorized lists of keywords for a reading. After you have learned to
read with the 'say what you see' method, you can always go and read
the meanings from books, and you will be shocked to see how close
to those meanings your own ones are! You can if you wish, use both
the book meanings and your own intuitive meanings, but using just
the book meanings is going to leave you with 4 years of pure hell, as
readings will be more about you trying to guess which card means
which, and giving yourself a pat on the back each time you 'get a card
right', than they will about helping the questioner and working out
what the cards mean for that individual.

As you study Tarot for longer, you will find a whole host of personal
and private beliefs and superstitions that are held by readers. Do not
be put off by this: In the end, the study and use of Tarot is a very
personal thing and you cannot expect all readers to do things exactly
the same as each other. I have, in this article, tried to break down the
myths that cause people to be wary of studying Tarot, even though
they may want to, and the superstitions that have a tendency to
hinder the Tarot student's learning.

Before we progress further into the course, it may be useful for you to
take a look at some of the books and Tarot decks available to you.
There are no specific books that are essential for this course, though
there are some which will be useful. The Tarot decks I recommend
are those which are best used when reading intuitively, which is the
method of reading we shall be focusing on in this course.

In the last lesson we briefly looked at what Tarot is and what it can be used
for, so in this lesson we shall be trying to answer some of the most
commonly asked questions about Tarot:
Does Tarot Work?
How?
Why Should I Care?

When reading for other people, especially people you don't know very well
or have just met, you may find they ask you the question, 'So, you believe in
all this stuff then?' The question on closer analysis does seem like a silly
one: You're using Tarot after all, so the chances are you do believe in it! But
the reason the question is asked isn't to find out about your beliefs at all, but
to gain assurance that the method they are looking to for answers is going to
be helpful and trustworthy. This is why, if you are looking to make the
person you are reading for (The querent) feel comfortable, you should be
able to give them some idea of how you think Tarot works. After all, if you
asked a brain surgeon how a scalpel worked and he couldn't tell you, you
wouldn't want him performing any brain surgery on anybody, would you?
The same is true of Tarot: If you are using a tool, yet you have no idea at all
how it works, you look as though you don't know what you're doing, and
this is not a good way to begin a Tarot reading!

So, does Tarot work? Personally, I would answer 'yes', simply because I
have had experience of it and have seen it work with my own eyes. Some
people may say 'no', but this is usually based only on a single visit to a very
bad Tarot reader, and is not based on years of experience at all. There is also
another reason why I always answer 'yes', and it links into the next question:

How does Tarot work? Many Tarot readers dread this question, because
there is no cut-and-dried explanation as there is for 'how does a scalpel
work?' One way out of it is to simply say, ‘I don’t know, it just does,’ but
this can hardly be said to be satisfactory. In the age of science, we can at
least try to hypothesize about how the Tarot works, even if our theory turns
out to be incorrect.

There are many such theories as to how Tarot works, the simplest being the
idea that there is some divine force, be it God, the Goddess, angels, or spirits
moving the cards or your hands to produce the cards which will answer the
question best. It is a very nice theory, but it does involve personal belief, and
trying to explain it to a skeptic or somebody who doesn’t hold a similar
viewpoint about the Divine is very tricky, especially considering such a
theory will not hold with a skeptical scientist or complete atheist! After all,
they may say, how can God be bothered to move around these cards, when
he can’t even be bothered to save starving people in the Developing World?
This theory is also a difficult one to believe, since there are plenty of Tarot
readers around who are complete atheists.

The second theory is what I will title the Energy-Influence theory, where is
it believed that the deck ‘tunes in’ with the reader and querent’s unique,
personal energy, and this somehow causes the most helpful cards to come
up. People using this theory believe it is important to create a close bond
with their deck, through practices such as sleeping with them under their
pillow or ritually consecrating them. Again, it is a very nice theory to hold,
and fits in with quite a few superstitions and myths surrounding the Tarot
(As seen in Lesson 1), but it is significantly weakened by the fact that I can
give you a perfectly good and accurate reading with a deck of cards I have
only just purchased.

A third theory is a Higher Self theory, which is very similar to the divine
intervention theory (The first one), in that instead of a divine being
influencing the cards or the shuffler’s hands, it is the reader and querent’s
higher self doing the influencing. Either the higher self influences the actual
order of the cards, or the thoughts and interpretations of the cards’ images by
the reader. This theory is slightly stronger against the skeptic than the
previous two, but some people feel a bit wary of the idea that there is
something ‘out there’ influencing our hands and thoughts!

Fourthly, we have the Collective Unconscious theory, which is based on the

psychologist Carl Jung’s view of the human mind. In his view, the mind was
split into four sections: The conscious, subconscious, unconscious, and
collective unconscious. This collective unconscious refers to the minds of all
the people who have ever lived and will ever live, in a collection, which the
Tarot reader ‘taps into’ to get answers from when they interpret the cards.
The idea is that the collective unconscious, because of the number of minds
it encompasses, has the answer to everything, and the Tarot merely acts as a
tool to find the right answer. It would be wonderful if we could verify such a
great theory, but unfortunately, due to its nature, we cannot. Whilst Jung has
given us a very good way of explaining a plethora of spiritual phenomena,
we cannot prove that he was right. But then again, we cannot prove that he
wasn’t either!

A fifth theory is based around the view of Tarot not as the answer in itself,
but as the tool, or key, to the answers, which are hidden deep within our
unconscious mind, which knows everything. This theory (Which I shall call
the Key to the Unconscious theory) says that our unconscious already knows
the answers to any questions we may ask, and the Tarot simply acts as a
mirror and reflects the answers to our conscious mind so that we are aware
of them. A bit like Vipassana meditation or contemplation might do. With
this theory, it is not the Tarot that has the answers, but our own minds,
which is a theory many people in today’s society favor simply due to the fact
that it gives them more perceived control over their lives. I think I would
agree that it is a very good and strong theory, not because it can be proven
true in any way, but because of the effects it has on people: In this day and
age, we see all around us people with horribly low self-esteem, who consider
themselves as worthless, and who believe that life is controlling them, not
the other way round. It is such a shame that so many people feel this way,
and this theory of how Tarot works seems to go some way to encouraging
the reader with low self-esteem to start once again believing in their own
capabilities and to begin grabbing the reins of life and steering it where they
wish it to go.

The final theory, which I will call the Interpretation theory, continues this
train of thought about the Tarot merely being a tool, but takes it one step
further: Instead of our unconscious having all the answers, it is our
conscious and subconscious minds as well that have the answers, and the
Tarot is a platform from which we leap into finding out these answers and
confronting the answers we cannot accept. This theory says that it doesn’t
matter which cards come up, and they could come up purely by chance,
because what matters most is what our minds make us see in those cards. As
we will see later in the course, each card doesn’t just have one single
meaning: It has hundreds of others, and they all depend on factors such as
the querent, the question, the situation surrounding the question… It is the
reader’s job to look at the images in the cards and simply say what they see:
If they see two people staring deeply into each others eyes and sharing cups
in one of the cards, then they will interpret this image in a way that fits the
question and situation. For instance, if the question is about a relationship,
the reader may see these two people in the card, and realize that the
relationship in question is a very happy one, full of trust and friendship. The
reader doesn’t have to know anything about the traditional meanings of the
cards for this to happen, as they are simply saying what the images and
symbols in the cards mean at that time. In this way, because the mind knows
the question, it will apply the apparent meanings of the images and symbols
to that question, and often it will see what it wants to see in the cards, or at
least what it should see. With this theory, the Tarot is used more as a way to
explore situations and questions than give any definite answers. It acts more
as a counseling session would, and often brings out feelings and
understanding of situations which the querent would not otherwise have
been able to accept.

Whichever theory we choose to believe, and even if we find some more, it is

important to remember that they all hold that the same premise is true: That
in a Tarot reading, a meaningful link is made between the images and
symbols in the cards, and the events or situations occurring in the querent’s
life, be they internal or external. There is a problem however with trying to
prove or disprove any theory about how Tarot works in this present day and
age, since we cannot prove whether a card came up by chance or whether it
was influenced by a higher power, and until science has worked out a way to
find this out, we are limited to mere theories and hypotheses, which is better
than nothing, but not as good as the possible best result.

The above theories differ between themselves about what Tarot actually is.
Some see Tarot as a tool or key to the answers that are found elsewhere.
Some see the Tarot as the answer in itself, and others see the Tarot as the on-
switch for the tool that is the mind, so that the mind can then find the
answers. There is no right or wrong way of viewing Tarot, and there is no
right or wrong theories. We have to, however, be careful when choosing
which theory we like best, as some will not be accepted by people around
you.

Why Should I Care?

There is not necessity in knowing how Tarot works, however it is useful,

and, as mentioned above, makes querents feel much comfier coming to you
for a reading, because it seems as though you know what you are doing.

Why should you care? The simple answer is that you don’t need to care, but
it’s nice if you do. After all, we can simply acknowledge the possible
theories of how Tarot works, and simply rest easy in the knowledge that we
know it does work, and leave it at that.

Key Terms
 The questioner; the person asking the Tarot reader a
Querent:
question
The Tarot reader; the person giving the answers to the
Reader:
querent
Collective Jung’s idea of a huge pool filled with the unconscious
Unconscious: minds of everybody who has lived, is living, and will live.
The part of the mind that we never access whilst alive,
Unconscious:
which may contain information which we never retrieve.
The part of the mind that we access in sleep, through
practices such as meditation or alternative states of
Subconscious:
consciousness. It may contain repressed information,
emotions we are not fully aware of, and memories.
Our everyday awake mind, which contains our knowledge,
Conscious:
our awareness of what we are doing, etc.
Vipassana A form of Buddhist meditation that aims to gain insight
Meditation: into life or a part of life.

In the previous lesson we took a look at some possible theories of how Tarot
works, so in this lesson we are going to explore how the Tarot came to us:
Where it came from, who, when, and most importantly, why.

The history of the Tarot is a subject that many people are misinformed
about. Some say it comes from Atlantis, some from Egypt, some from the
Gypsies, and some say it is a Celtic creation. Romantic as these theories are,
they are sadly untrue, and the origins of Tarot are much more down-to-earth
than this. This is important, because I find that when Tarot is blown out of
all proportion, people lose sight of its roots and the ways we can use it in our
everyday lives. The Tarot is, ultimately, a very grounded, very common
sense system of divination, and it is a shame sometimes that the fantastical
myths about its origins turn it into some airy-fairy, unknowable and
mysterious system. To be fair however, it wasn't until very recent years that
we began to uncover the truth of the Tarot's origins, so the old myths still
hang around, and they are quite fun to entertain every now and then!

Where does the Tarot as we know it come from?

As has already been mentioned, the Tarot did not originate in Egypt,
Atlantis, or Britain, and the Gypsies certainly did not bring it with them on
their travels (Though they did adopt it a number of centuries later, along
with the rest of the Western world!). It would be foolhardy to say that it is
beyond all doubt that we know exactly where the Tarot originated, but we
can deduce a major possibility from the facts that we do have. The history of
Tarot is full of assumption and leaps of faith, as we are never given any solid
evidence for where and when and why the Tarot was developed, though we
do have significant clues. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to investigate
these clues, since they are only told to us by other Tarot writers, so in this
lesson, I will only be repeating what dozens of other writers have already
said, though in my own words.

We can be almost certain that the Tarot did not start life as a divinatory
system, or indeed anything esoteric, but as a card game (Though not just one
card game: A series of many different games, known collectively as
‘Trionfi’ in most places.) The earliest mention we have of Tarot differs
however, between 1332AD and 1450AD, depending on which book you are
reading! (It should be mentioned here that it is not unusual for Tarot writers
to re-invent a few facts of the Tarot’s history in order to make the theory
more plausible or exciting, (More on this later.) The 1332 mention is
apparently when King Alfonse XI banned the practice of using cards in
general, and there are many other writers who have different dates but who
all use the banning of the practice as proof. It is not however clear as to
whether the practice banned involved a normal four-suited deck, or a Tarot
deck, so we cannot be certain that any of the dates given in the 14th century
are accurate. What is clear though is that the earliest mention of the Tarot is
found in Italy, and that the first indubitable record we have of it (Which
specifically mentions the Tarot pack, not just card packs in general) is in a
letter from Duke Francesco Sforza to his treasurer, asking him to find a
Tarot deck for him, and if one couldn’t be found, a normal pack of playing
cards. This letter has been dated to 1450, so the Tarot has its first indubitable
record in the Renaissance period. This is why so many Tarot decks still use
Renaissance, Catholic imagery, and also the reason for many of the card
titles such as Pope and Popess (Now called Hierophant/High Priest and High
Priestess.) The fifteenth century references to Tarot only refer to it in a
gaming context however, not a divinatory or occult one, and it does seem
that the evidence is in favor of Tarot being invented as a game. It seems
these games were very popular, and many still survive in Europe today,
mainly in France, Italy, Switzerland and Germany.
So why all these other theories about the beginnings of Tarot? I suppose the
most prevalent theory is that the Tarot comes from Egypt, and this has it’s
origins in the fantasies of a man named Antoine Court de Gebelin, who
some time in the 1770’s first encountered the Tarot being played by his
hostess at a dinner party, and after fifteen minutes of examining the deck,
claimed it to be Egyptian. His ‘observations’ were first published in his book
Le Monde Primitif in 1776, and again in the book Le Jeu de Cartes in 1781.
From Gebelin we get the theory that the Tarot is actually the last pieces of
the libraries of Egypt, which he says were written on plates and later became
cards. He seems to have totally ignored the fact that the Egyptians used
scrolls to record their information! Another reason why the Egyptian theory
is still with us is because of a man named Comte de Mellet, who used the
word Tarot to prove that it is a ‘Book of Thoth’, and thus came originally
from Thrice-Great Hermes, or Hermes Trismegistus. It seems Aleister
Crowley liked this Egyptian theory, since he writes about it in his aptly
entitled ‘Book of Thoth’ (An explanation of his Tarot deck, the Aleister
Crowley-Thoth Tarot). The problem was that the famous occultist Jean-
Baptiste Alliette believed Gebelin, and redesigned the cards to fit the
‘original’ Egyptian cards, which he claimed had been printed incorrectly by
card makers and printers. Alliette, more widely known as Etteilla, seems to
be the person who made divination with the cards popular as well, even
though there are a few records of it being used for such purposes before that.
(These records come from the time when it still wasn’t very popular though.)

The Gypsy theory was expounded originally by a very confused man known
as Jean-Alexandre Vaillant, who said that the Gypsies were not only
responsible for bringing the Tarot with them to Europe, but they were also
responsible for most other things in the world, including various deity cults
which were usually associated with the Greeks, and of course, civilization. It
is also certain that the Gypsies arrived in Europe quite a few years after the
first introduction of the four-suited pack of cards, so they couldn’t have
brought that with them, and the Tarot Trumps (Major Arcana) are full of
Catholic Renaissance imagery. If the Gypsies had brought the Trumps with
them to Europe, we should have at least some evidence for it: After all, we
have plenty of cards from the fifteenth century Renaissance packs, so we can
rightly assume the Gypsy decks may also still be around somewhere. Yet we
have none.

The other theories, such as the Atlantis theory, really have no basis in fact or
believable fiction whatsoever. Atlantis itself cannot yet be fully proven to
have existed, and that is pretty much all we need to say about that theory of
the Tarot’s origins!

One question you may be asking though, is how did the Tarot, which began
as a gaming deck, become a widely used divinatory tool? What changed it
from gaming to occult use? Well it seems the aforementioned Etteilla was
one of the first people to try to mingle the Tarot with other occult practices
such as Astrology, and this marked a very popular trend in Europe. It came
hand in hand with the ‘Occult Revival’ in the late eighteenth to early
nineteenth century, where we see many ‘secret societies’ and occult orders
springing up all over the place. A man called Eliphas Levi (Born Alphonse
Louis Constante) also helped the Tarot to make the switch, by ascribing
Qaballah to it for the first time. Levi felt that the Jews were the originators
of all magical teachings and writings, and that the Tarot and Qaballah were
linked because of this. The fact that there were 22 Trumps and 22 Hebrew
letters in the Qaballah served to give him his ‘proof’, and Levi went on to
create a system of Tarot which has survived to this day and which is still
used widely by Tarot readers and occultists alike. In this way, Levi firmly
established the Tarot as part of the Western magical tradition. When he died
however, there was an apparent lull in occult activity in Europe, until 1888,
when Stanislas de Guaita founded the Cabalistic Order of the Rosy Cross.
This man met another, Oswald Wirth, a Freemason, and together they
designed a new Tarot deck, based on Levi’s work, which was published in
1889. This deck seems to be the forerunner of today’s modern Tarot deck,
with its images and symbols being similar, if not identical.

Later on the Golden Dawn was founded in Britain, and the founder (Samuel
Liddel ‘MacGregor’ Mathers) and his wife became very interested in Tarot,
and so incorporated it into their order. Now, in this order were the three most
well known Tarot deck creators in the world: Aleister Crowley, Paul Foster
Case, and Arthur Edward Waite. At that time it was expected that all
members of the Golden Dawn create their own Tarot deck and these three
particular members were all trying to recreate the ‘true’ Tarot deck. Waite
and Case pretty much followed the same route with their decks, and if you
compare the Rider-Waite deck and BOTA deck, you will see they have
amazing similarities. There is much debate as to whose deck came first,
Waite’s or Case’s, and who copied who, but to me it doesn’t really matter!
Crowley on the other hand (Who seems to have danced to his own tune
anyway!) differed quite radically in his deck, and including more
Hermetic/Golden Dawn philosophy in the deck than the other two. His deck,
the Crowley-Thoth deck, is usually considered the most beautiful and
effective deck out of the three, but all three are referred to as either decks
which can be used very effectively, or decks which should be studied
thoroughly in order to gain an in-depth understanding of the Tarot. Indeed,
nearly all modern day Tarot decks are based on these three decks, though
most are based on the Thoth and Rider-Waite deck, fewer on the BOTA.

Many are saddened by the fact that Tarot seems to have its origins as a game
in Renaissance Italy, and some feel this takes away its mystique and power,
but it doesn’t. Yes, the Tarot may have begun as a game, but now we have
made it much more. We have added so much esoteric and occult symbolism
to it, and we have formed a system of divination out of it. It may not have
been occult back in the fifteenth century, but it certainly is now, and that is
what counts!

A few historical decks from before the Occult Revival:

Marseilles Tarot
IJJ Swiss Tarot
Visconti Sforza Tarot
Minchiate Etruria Tarot
Tarot of Lombardy
Mantegna Tarot
Tarot of the Master
Ancient Tarots of Bologna
Tarocco Soprafino
Tarocco Bolgnese
Sola Busca Tarot
Cary-Yale Visconti Tarot

It is important to remember that most of these decks were created for gaming
purposes, so their images may differ slightly from the more modern decks,
and many may not bear any symbolic significance whatsoever. Many of the
Trumps from these decks have different names, different numbers, and
different images, and some even have extra Trumps and Trumps which are
‘missing’. The Minchiate Etruria for instance, which was created in 1725,
contains 41 Trumps, but does not include the Popess. It does however,
include four virtues typical of eighteenth century Europe (Hope, Prudence,
Faith, and Charity), the four elements, and twelve zodiac signs. All the
above Tarot decks are available to buy, most from the company Lo
Scarabeo, a company that specializes in art decks and historical decks.

Key Terms:

The name used to describe the Major Arcana of the Tarot deck as
Trump:
it was before the Occult Revival.
The umbrella term for a group of card games played using a deck
Tarocchi:
with Trumps in it.
Occult The time when magic, Tarot, Hermetic philosophy, astrology, and
Revival: Qaballah ‘came back into fashion’.
Occult Tarot used for purposes of divination and the like, as opposed to
Tarot: Tarot used for gaming.
A philosophy based around Jewish teachings on the ‘Tree of Life’
Qaballah:
and the Hebrew alphabet.

Choosing the Right Tarot Deck

It is surprising how many people all over the world are attracted to the Tarot:
Some just read about it in books, without ever going any further and using
the knowledge they have; some read a little, get a deck, use it every now and
then, but do not go any deeper into it. Still others read about it, get a deck,
use it frequently, and start studying the Tarot more. The people in this last
group are what we may call 'Tarotholics': They love Tarot, they live Tarot,
and they buy Tarot, in fact, most buy too much Tarot! It is not commonly
known that there are around 1000 Tarot decks available on the market, with
more being created and published every year, and there are thousands of
books dedicated to Tarot as well. So, for the Tarot lover, there is a wide
range of decks and books to buy, and more often than not, they do! The
Tarotholic is somebody who buys lots of decks, even though they do not
need them, and they probably will not use them. Why do they do this?
people ask. It only takes one deck for a Tarot reading, so why buy anymore?

There are two reasons. The first is that some people are in search of the
'perfect deck': The deck that they click with instantly, love the look of, and
can read with very well. Such a deck is, however, hard to find, and it differs
from Tarot reader to Tarot reader, depending on religion, spirituality,
gender, taste in artwork, and how much they know about Tarot.
The second reason is that some people simply want to collect Tarot decks!
We know of people who collect stamps, postcards, thimbles, and other
curious miscellanies, so really Tarot deck collecting is no different to stamp
collecting. Usually the collector wants to collect Tarot decks because of the
varying artwork, the themes of each deck, the associations of the deck with
famous books, films, people, or because the deck is slightly unusual. For the
Tarot collector, a deck is a wealth of knowledge, especially the unusual
ones: Those that have 'themes' such as Arthurian Legend, the Kalevala, or
erotica. With decks such as these, one can learn far more about the subject of
the deck than one expected.

Whatever the reason for buying Tarot decks however, people always face
the same dilemma: How do I know which one to get? This question is more
important to the person searching for the perfect deck than the collector, as
for the collector, any deck is better than no deck, so even if they do not like
the deck they have bought, it is still a valuable part of their ever-growing
collection (More on deck collecting towards the end of the course.) The
person searching for their perfect deck though, often does not want more
than one deck, and does not want to waste money on decks that they will not
be able to use. This is perfectly reasonable, considering the high prices of
decent decks, which range from around £12 to anything around £40 (In the
US prices are slightly lower, since the distributors of the decks are usually
based in the US), with still other decks which are either rare, out of print, or
privately published costing much more than this. (I have seen decks such as
these priced around £150!) So, in this lesson we shall look at some tips on
how to choose the Tarot deck that is right for you, how to avoid buying
decks which are either tragically terrible or more for collecting than using,
and how to find and know a good collector's deck when you see one!

Searching for the Perfect Deck

When I say 'perfect deck' I do not mean that there is one deck out there
which is better than all others. Instead I mean that each person will naturally
be able to use a particular deck more effectively than others, and he or she
will usually be attracted to one deck more than the rest. Sometimes this is
called 'clicking' with the deck, although I prefer not to use that term since it
sounds so wishy-washy! 'Clicking' with a deck usually happens when you
first see pictures of the deck and admire the artwork or the approach it has. It
is just like seeing a beautiful painting which you instantly fall in love with
and wish you could buy it and hang it on your wall. Because this instant
attraction is triggered initially by the artwork of the deck, people will feel
repulsed by some decks yet clamor for others, all depending on their
character and tastes. Not surprisingly then, decks which use fine art, pastels,
oil paints, or bright colors are usually the most common decks people buy,
simply because the artwork appeals to many people. This sounds like a good
way to choose a deck, doesn't it? Just look at some examples of the cards in
a deck on the internet maybe or in a friend's deck, and then go and buy it.
Unfortunately, this is not by any shot the best way to choose the 'perfect
deck'. Just because something looks attractive to you does not mean you will
be able to understand it, get along with it, or use it. Tarot decks are like
lovers: You may see a man or woman who looks very attractive, and start
talking to them, only to find that they are shallow, mean, or hold views
which you find abhorrent. You may buy a deck which looks good, get it
home, start using it, and, no matter how much you already know about
Tarot, and no matter how experienced you are at readings, you cannot read
with the deck. You don't agree with the deck's 'approach' or theme, (e.g.-
You don't agree with radical feminism, so don't agree with a feminist deck)
you find the symbols inaccessible and badly chosen, or you find the
correspondences for the cards do not fit into your way of seeing things. (e.g.-
In Arthurian decks, Guinevere is often chosen to represent the Empress,
which to most readers seems shallow since the Empress means fertility, and
Guinevere was barren.) So, be careful when buying a deck just because of its
artwork! I have done this far too many times, and remember many decks
which looked great, and even seemed easy to read and symbolic, but which
had diverted so drastically from the traditional Tarot deck that they were,
sadly, unreadable. The worst thing you can do when looking for your perfect
deck, is to buy the deck based solely on its box or on one card you have
seen. Here, you may come across the same problems as with buying the deck
because it looks pretty, but there is another added problem: Often, the card
on the box or cover of the deck, or the one card you saw when the deck was
being advertised, is either the only card you like in the whole deck, or the
only card which could be construed as readable! This latter possibility is a
little different to the former, since the former is based solely on personal
taste, but the latter is usually a more universal feeling. This is because of the
harsh truth that there are some really bad decks available, which are so
terrible that nobody can read with them and their only value is for the laugh
factor. I have had the misfortune of buying such a deck a while ago, which I
subsequently reviewed for an online Tarot site, and cannot now believe I
could manage to write such nasty things! Everybody I spoke to about this
deck agreed with me however, proving that some things are universal when
it comes to Tarot: Such as bad decks!

I have mentioned reviews of Tarot decks. Here is another way to choose a

deck, which is slightly better than choosing based solely on the artwork. Due
to the wonders of modern day technology, we have the opportunity of using
the internet, which serves as a resource for all things Tarot. On the internet
are dozens of sites with hundreds and hundreds of reviews of Tarot decks,
written by people from all around the world. These reviews tell the reader
about the artwork of the deck, its theme or approach, any symbolic systems
it uses, e.g. -Qabbalah, numerology, Runes, astrology, and whether or not it
is easy to read with. This last one will depend upon whether the symbols the
deck uses are ascribed effectively to each card (There's no point, after all, of
having a symbol of a skull and cross bones on a card which represents peace
and love!), whether the images are too cluttered or easy on the eye, and who
the deck would appeal to, e.g.- Advanced readers or beginners, children,
sensitive people, erotica fans, Pagans, Christians, Buddhists... The list goes
on, and not surprisingly since there are decks out there which cater for all
kinds of people! Often, the reviews also include images of the cards, and a
description and further review of any accompanying book which may come
with the deck as well as the author's personal reaction to the deck, and how
they found it when using it. As I said previously, this is a better way of
choosing a Tarot deck than the first way, but it still isn't perfect. This is
because the reviewer of the deck may be totally different to you, and thus
have a different opinion of the deck's theme, artwork, and readability,
causing you to possibly bypass a deck which you probably would have liked
were it not for the review you read about it. When looking at reviews of
decks, make sure you read at least three of each deck you are considering
buying: That way you get a wider view of the deck, and the problem of the
reviewer being different to you is somewhat alleviated. It also happens
sometimes that some reviewers pick up on aspects of the deck that other
reviewers missed, so by reading multiple reviews of the same deck, you are
alleviating yet another potential problem!

Along the same lines as reviews are word-of-mouth recommendations or

recommendations from books written about Tarot. The most common of
these is when you have a friend who is also studying Tarot, and recommends
you get a deck she thinks is better than most others. Usually this deck is one
the friend him/herself uses, and this fact gives you a hint as to the problem
with this method of choosing a deck. Just like the reviews, a friend is often
quite different to you when it comes to tastes in art and symbolic system:
You may be almost identical to each other in ways such as dress, speech,
beliefs and hobbies, but when it comes to symbolic systems, it is often the
case that the two of you will prefer totally different ones, for instance, you
may find numerology the easiest to use, whilst your friend may find
Qabbalah the most effective. Nobody is quite sure why we prefer certain
symbolic systems over others, but certainly background and religion do
help: For instance, Christians are less likely to use a deck which has
Goddesses as it's symbolic system than a Pagan is, and those who detest
mathematics probably will prefer all other systems except numerology.

There is one other way in which people choose a deck, which I would not
recommend to anybody. This method usually occurs with the person's first
deck, where they go around all the bookshops and New Age shops in their
town, and buy the first deck they see which is the cheapest. Only last week I
saw this happening in Waterstones, and because the Cardiff Waterstones has
little by way of decent Tarot decks, the poor girl concerned, who looked
only about 15, bought one of the 'bad decks' which do exist but shouldn't be
allowed to, and which bookshops who generally know little about Tarot
decks tend to stock. No matter how desperate you are to get a deck, please
do not put yourself through the un-necessary search and waste of money by
doing what this girl did. There are much easier ways of choosing and buying
the right deck, and sometimes you don't even have to leave the house!

Most methods involve the internet. The first step in any search for the
perfect deck is usually to look at reviews and images of decks on websites
such as:

www.aeclectic.net
www.wicce.com
www.tarotpassages.com

and decide on a top twenty list from those that take your fancy. At this stage,
it doesn't matter if you are only attracted by the name or the artwork,
because usually you will find something that speaks to you through more
than just these shallow features. When you have your top twenty list, read
the reviews: On the three above sites there are usually two or three reviews
for each deck anyway, but you may have to try a search engine and type in
the name of the deck to search for other reviews of it. Eventually, you will
have scaled your deck list down to around five, and at this point it's time to
get on some message boards and ask other peoples' opinions.
www.aeclectic.net, as well as having loads of brilliant reviews written by a
wide range of people, has a wonderful message board, full of Tarot lovers.
On this board there is a forum entitled 'Tarot Decks' where you can ask
questions about any deck you wish in order to get more information about it,
opinions on it, and possibly links to other reviews of it. www.aeclectic.net is
also a great place to talk about all other Tarot related subjects and subjects
such as spirituality, and divination, and it also has forums on which you can
buy or trade Tarot decks with other members around the world.

But what criteria to use to get your list scaled down to five? Some important
questions to ask, or things to look out for are:

- Artwork. I know I said it was a bad thing to choose a deck solely for the
art, but in the overall choice, it is better that you choose based on the artwork
and many other things. The artwork will obviously play a big part in whether
or not you can use a deck, so if you don't like oil paintings, don't choose a
deck that is painted that way. And if you don't subscribe to Salvador Dali's
work, or William Blake's art, don't get the William Blake or Salvador Dali
deck! On the other hand, if you have a penchant for Blake or Dali, you may
want to check out these decks (Though they're both nearing the £80 mark
price-wise!)

- Theme. Tarot decks tend to have a theme, and this theme can be practically
anything, from baseball, to Hello Kitty, to Arthurian Legend. Some themed
decks are very serious decks, and these themes are usually mythological,
although other themes such as the aforementioned Hello Kitty are more for
show or the comic value than anything else. When you come across a Tarot
deck, check to see what theme it has: Is it feminist? About animals? Based
on Arthurian legends or Norse deities? Is it erotic, comical, or deadly
serious? Is it based on any books, films, or comics you particularly enjoy?
Do you have a hobby which ties in with a theme nicely? These are all
questions you need to ask yourself, and ultimately, if you are not familiar
with, or do not like, the theme the deck has, there is probably no point in
getting that deck!

- Religion. When I say this, I refer to both your religion and beliefs, and the
deck's religion, for want of a better word! The earliest Tarot decks, as we
found out in the previous lesson, came about in Renaissance Italy, and so
were instilled with Christian symbolism such as the Devil and Pope (Cards
XV and V), but in modern times the Tarot deck has been changed and
altered, and decks are created all the time which take a different approach to
things, and which are aimed at different people. This is of course a good
thing, since in Renaissance Italy, circumstances, religion and variation of
people was totally different to the 21st century west. It is, therefore, possible
to find Pagan decks, Wiccan decks, Shamanic decks, Asatru decks, and
Hermetic decks, not to mention evangelical Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, and
Catholic decks. It is a good idea to find out what 'religion' the deck is before
you buy it, since you probably will not find a Christian or Catholic deck
usable if you are Pagan, nor will you enjoy using a Shamanic deck if you are
Catholic. Most importantly, when a deck has a 'religion' it tends to use that
religion's symbols in its cards in order to convey meaning. So, if you do get
a deck whose religion is not similar to your own, you may find yourself
unable to understand the symbolism, or that you disagree with the meanings
of some symbols. A very common example here would be the difference
between Christians and Hindus when faced with the symbol of a snake: The
Christian would ascribe evil to the snake, whilst the Hindu would ascribe
sexuality and 'kundalini'.

In many Pagan decks, you will find that the Devil card has been changed
into the 'Horned One', or maybe something like 'Chains', which also serves
to illustrate the difficulties which could be faced when using a deck which
your belief system is alien to. The images themselves may also differ
depending on the religious content, with some intensely Christian decks
bearing images of Jesus, and some Pagan decks decorated with pentagrams,
triskeles, the Horned God, and magical tools.

- Nudity. There are a couple of cards in the Tarot deck which, in the
traditional Rider Waite and Thoth, have more nudity than other cards, these
cards being the Star, Sun, Judgment and in the Rider Waite, the Lovers. Due
to the fact that nearly all Tarot decks today are based on one of these two
decks, most decks have nudity on the aforementioned cards. Some however
have much more, and the amount of nudity depends largely upon whom the
deck is aimed at, and the theme of the deck. Decks such as the Hanson
Roberts and Whimsical Tarot, both drawn by Mary Hanson-Roberts, the
latter in partnership with Dorothy Morrison, are aimed at children and
people who are more sensitive to issues such as nudity. However, there are
decks which have nudity in nearly every single card, these decks being those
more for collecting purposes and those whose theme is erotica: Decks such
as the Black Tarot by Luis Royo and the Manara Erotic by the Spanish
pornographic comic artist Milo Manara fall into this category, and both
heavily feature sexual activity and very realistic nudity. These decks
however, are only painted, not photographic, whereas the Cosmic Tribe
Tarot has a naked person in every single card where this is a person, except
for the Moon, and they are all photographed! If you find that nudity throws
your mind off-course or distracts you (And one can see why it would!) or
even repulses you, then the simple answer is to steer clear of decks with lots
of naked people! After all, if all you can do during a reading is giggle and
point at the images, you aren't going to be a very effective reader.

- Illustrated Minor Arcana. The first Tarot decks were used for gaming, and
as such, only the Major Arcana, or Trumps, had images on them: The Minor
Arcana merely had, like our modern day playing cards, the number of
objects they represented, without any other imagery at all. It wasn't until
Tarot started being used by occultists in the 18th century that the Minor
Arcana were given anything resembling images, and it wasn't until Arthur
Waite and his contemporaries that we saw Minor Arcana like the ones we
see in modern day decks. There are some modern day decks which take their
cues from these pre-18th century decks however, and so we see many decks
having beautiful and meaningful Majors, but we are then disappointed by the
Minors which are, because of their lack of pictures or symbols, much harder
to read and a lot less attractive. One is almost tempted with such decks to
look at the Four of Wands and say to the querent: 'I see.... I see.... Four
wands in the very near future...’ The disadvantage of non-illustrated Minors
is that as the reader we have to literally memorize the meanings of each
Minor Arcana card, and we get no help or hints as to what this meaning is
from the cards! Tarot reading should not be about trying to memorize long
lists of keywords for 56 cards, and instead it should be about gaining insight
from the images you see in the cards. Non-illustrated Minors do not give the
reader this latter opportunity. This is only my personal opinion however, and
there are Tarot readers out there who are strongly attracted to pre-18th
century decks, and so prefer non-illustrated Minors. So, when choosing a
deck, it is always advisable to know which type of Minor Arcana you prefer,
and to find out whether or not the deck you want has the Minors you want.
Unfortunately, this is not always easy, as books and reviews tend to only
show examples of the Major Arcana cards, but if you are lucky they may
show Minors. This is sadly out of my, and your, hands however, and all we
can do is attempt to find out as much information as possible. If you are at
all concerned or confused as to which type of Minor Arcana a deck has, you
could try finding out a contact for either the creator of the deck or the
publisher and find out that way.

- Size. There are an increasing number of young people attracted to Tarot,

and these young people usually have smaller hands than the average person.
Many adult Tarot readers also have very small hands, and as such, find it
difficult to shuffle and handle Tarot decks of the normal size, since Tarot
decks are larger than playing cards, and some decks are even bigger than
normal Tarot decks! It is useful then, if size is a concern because you have
very small hands, for you to find out the size of the cards. This is something
most reviews fail to mention unless the size is a striking feature of the deck.
Most of the time, decks which are normal size have reviews which do not
mention size, whilst decks such as the Rohrig which is actually longer in
length than my hand, or the Smallest Tarot in the World which is around
2.5cm long, have reviews which will probably mention their size. Again,
looking at multiple reviews of the same deck helps, as whilst one review
may miss this important feature, another will probably pick up on it.

- Tradition. As I have mentioned previously, many decks are based on the

Rider Waite and Thoth, and it has become common in the Tarot world to call
the Rider Waite and Thoth decks 'traditional', despite their being around 500
years later than the first decks, and very much changed! The title of
'traditional' given to these decks is mainly due to the fact that they were
amongst the first modern day Tarot decks to be published for the public to
own, as most other publicly published decks tended to have different
ordering to the Major Arcana or did not have illustrated Minors. The Rider
Waite and Thoth were also the first decks published publicly which were
intended for magical and occult use instead of just gaming, as previous
decks were. These two decks give us our 'stock symbols' for modern day
decks, and we use them as a measuring post to decide how traditional a deck
is. There are so many decks now available which divert drastically from the
traditional Tarot deck, some adding new Major Arcana, some taking away
Major Arcana, adding an extra Minor Arcana suit, changing the titles of the
cards, changing the images, meanings, and numbering of the Majors... The
most common change that decks make, which is not usually seen as
anything but good, is a change to the images in the cards. The image used to
replace the traditional one largely depends on much of what I have said in
the previous sections: Religion, gender, theme, etc. Often these changes are
not so drastic that the new card is unrecognizable as what it is supposed to
be, which is always helpful for beginners, though some decks do change
things to such an extent that there is discussion as to whether or not they can
be classed as Tarot decks at all! This is the same for decks such as the Deva
Tarot, by Herta Drnec and Roberta Lanphere, which adds a fifth Minor
Arcana suit: It has been hotly debated whether or not a 93 card deck
qualifies as a Tarot deck, which traditionally only has 78 cards. Decks such
as the Sacred Circle Tarot not only change the titles of the Majors, but also
change the ordering of them, which can be confusing for a beginner, and
using such a deck can subsequently make it more difficult to use a more
traditional deck.

How traditional you like your decks to be depends on personal taste. If you
feel you would feel comfier with a deck which changes the titles of the
Majors, then that is perfectly reasonable, as is if you decide you would rather
keep Tarot how it is.

- Accompanying Book. This is only a minor consideration, and does not

affect the deck itself. The only reason I have chosen to mention it is that
often decks are published in two formats: Deck only, or deck with an
accompanying book, usually A4 size or larger, with lots of information
about the deck, the cards in the deck, and in-depth guidelines on Tarot
spreads and things such as caring for the deck and interpreting the cards.
Nearly all single decks come with a very small white pamphlet explaining
quickly the simple meanings of the cards, but not going beyond this. If you
have the option of getting the deck you want with an accompanying book, it
is usually preferable to do so, since the book, whilst costing around £12-£15
extra, does go into great detail what each card from that specific deck means,
what each symbol from that specific card means, and often it tells you the
reasons for the creation of the deck and some of the philosophy behind it.
The publishing company Llewellyn prefers to publish decks with
accompanying books, though if the book written for a deck is published by a
different company they won't include it in a deck and book set, as with the
Robin Wood Tarot. (Llewellyn published the deck, Living Tree the book.)
US Games also do this, though not as much as Llewellyn, and LoScarabeo
unfortunately do not publish accompanying books at all. Often, reviews of
decks will tell you if there are any accompanying books to go with a deck,
and they will tell you what the book is like as well.

These are just a few suggestions, and there may be many more things you
would like to take into consideration based on more personal preferences. Of
course, sometimes the only way to know the answers to all your deck
questions is to actually handle the deck itself, which is not always possible
considering nearly all shops which sell decks do not permit them to be
opened at all before purchasing, for safety reasons and for more spiritual
reasons. Some shops do not even let you return the deck after you have
opened it, even if it is in perfect condition with the receipt, for the latter
reason. As long as they have some form of sign saying this which is in full
view in the shop, this is their prerogative.

If you wish to buy decks online, after you have decided which deck could be
your 'perfect deck', then I strongly recommend www.tarotgarden.com, which
is run by two very friendly Tarotholics, Jeanette and Lori. Service is quick,
reliable, and honest. You could also try amazon.com, which has always been
known for its excellent service, or if you are looking for a bargain, you could
try your luck with ebay.co.uk at the auctions. Just type in the word 'Tarot' in
the search box, and you will be presented with a list of around 30 pages
worth of Tarot auctions! This is very much luck-related though, and you
have to be careful you don't spend more than you mean to. It is also
advisable for you check the prices of the deck you are bidding on elsewhere,
at Amazon, Tarotgarden, or if you know any, at bargain sites. A useful one if
you are in the US is buy.com, but it only ships internationally if the order is
over $500. If you do not own a credit card, buying from the internet can be a
little tricky, especially with the non-auction sites, which usually do not
accept payment in any other form. If you use eBay, you need to check what
payment options the seller prefers: Some will not accept certain types of
payment. Most accept Paypal, but this requires a credit card or a bank
account.

Alternatively, if you feel a little concerned about buying anything online, the
easy option would be to go to any local bookshop, and ask them to order the
deck you want for you. They will usually ask for your name, address,
telephone number, and quite a few ask for a deposit on the deck, which
comes out of the total price of the deck. They will then order the deck from
the publishing company, and it will usually get to the shop in 7-10 days,
ready for you to pick up. This method does not, however, give you any leigh
way to bargain hunt as you can do on the internet, so expect to pay the full
price for decks! (Around £25-35 for deck and book sets, £15-20 for decks)

Hopefully, this has given you some advice on how to find the Tarot deck
that is right for you. Don't worry however, if you don't find the perfect deck
first time round: You can always try again, and you'll find you have more
fun trying to find the perfect deck than actually finding it!
Caring for Your Deck

Many people feel the need to keep their deck protected and cared for, and
this is understandable. However, as I mentioned in Lesson 1, there is no
necessity to do this and it is entirely up to you as an individual as to how you
store and care for your deck. Most Tarot readers will try and keep their cards
clean and unbent, simply because they can become difficult to shuffle or
unsightly, though it is generally agreed that a little accidental wear simply
looks as though the Tarot reader is experienced!

There are a few approaches to caring for your deck. One involves keeping
the deck in some sort of special box, bag or cloth, sometimes even all three
or a mixture of them, and cleansing them regularly with sunlight, moonlight,
or crystals. Many Tarot readers suggest placing your deck in the light of the
full moon once a month to give it extra power and to push any negative
energy from the deck. Many cleanse their deck after every reading they do,
for the same reasons. To do this they may meditate with the cards, sending
their own positive energy back into them, and visualizing the negative
energy, or the energy of the person they were reading for, leaving the deck.
Some people keep a quartz crystal with their deck for the same purposes.

Then there is the more practical approach to caring for your deck. This
involves a few simple rules:

1) Keep the deck away from toddlers (Especially when they have crayons in
their hands!)
2) Keep the deck away from pets who feel hungry or playful (Dogs have a
nasty habit of eating Tarot decks!)
3) If at all possible, try not to deface the cards (It just makes them look
ugly!)
4) Keep the deck away from spillages. (A friend of mine spilled lager all
over my main reading deck, and it still smells quite heavily of the lager to
this day! There is the possibility with spillages that they may discolor your
cards or bend them out of shape, making them more fragile and more
difficult to handle.)
5) When carrying a deck with you, make sure it is protected from damage.
Keep it in its box to prevent bending, or in some sort of wrap.

Basically, respect the deck. Just as you would respect a watch, or your CD’s,
and try not to do anything to it which will cause it to bend, discolor, etc.
Shuffling the Deck

It may surprise you to know that there are many different ways of shuffling,
and all have there own technical names. It is all a matter of preference as to
which way you shuffle your cards, but you must bear in mind that Tarot
cards are much larger than playing cards, and usually of better card stock, so
you may find it more difficult to shuffle them than the usual playing cards.
Some types of shuffle may also cause a little damage to the deck if done
irresponsibly.

The first type of shuffle is called the Riffle Shuffle. To do this, you split the
deck into two piles, one in each hand, and gently bend the corner edges up,
and riffle the cards into each other, interlocking them all. This shuffle gives
you the most effective mix of cards, but it can damage the deck by bending
it. If you want to try this method, you may like to practice on a normal deck
of playing cards first until you get the hang of it.

The second kind, and possibly the most popular of all the methods, is the
Hand-over-hand Shuffle, where you hold the deck in the hand you don’t
write with, and pick up a small stack of the deck with your other hand,
placing that stack, bit by bit, elsewhere in the deck. This method is easy to
use and gentle on the cards, but it may take a while for the cards to be
thoroughly mixed.

The third kind of shuffle is one which will suit people with small hands, but
it won’t suit people who don’t use reversals. (More on reversals later in the
course) It is called the Mixing Shuffle where you place the cards on the table
or a flat surface, in a ‘pool’, and simply mix them around with your hands.
This can be damaging if you do it roughly, but it does ensure a thorough
mixing of the cards. However, if you do not use reversals it would be an
unsuitable method, since it does cause reversed cards to appear in the deck.

The shuffling method you choose depends on factors such as hand size,
whether or not you wish to use reversals, etc. Really, there is no right or
wrong way to shuffle a Tarot deck, so it is entirely up to you which method
you use!

Getting in the Mood for a Tarot Reading

Some people call them Tarot reading ‘rituals’. Others call it ‘getting in the
mood’. There are as many ways to get in the mood for a Tarot reading as
there are Tarot readers, and, like the shuffling methods, it is entirely up to
you what you do to prepare yourself for a Tarot reading: There is no right or
wrong ways to do it! In this lesson we will look at just a few ways of getting
in the mood, and the purposes of it.

So why use a ‘ritual’? Why prepare yourself for a reading? There are many
reasons, on two different levels: The internal and the external. Internally,
any ritual or practice you do before a Tarot reading signals to your mind
what you are going to be doing. It says to your subconscious: ‘Time to stop
worrying about the daily grind, and start focusing on this Tarot reading’. On
a more conscious level, you become more aware of what it is you will be
doing, and you can focus yourself on the task in hand. You can get rid of all
the daily clutter from your mind and open yourself to the images in the
cards. You can also begin to work out what question you will ask, and how
you will spread the cards (More on this later in the course.) Externally, you
can prevent circumstances around you interfering with the reading, and you
can make yourself and the person you are reading for (If indeed there is
another person!) feel comfortable, happy, and prepared. So, let’s look at
some ways of getting in the mood for a Tarot reading.

1) Meditation, Relaxation

Many people I know take some time before a Tarot reading to just sit down
in a comfortable spot and meditate or relax. The meditation doesn’t have to
be heavy or serious, as its only purpose is to relax and open your mind.
Many people assume that during a meditation you must push everything
from your mind and focus on nothingness, and this certainly is true of
certain kinds of meditation techniques used in Buddhism, but for our
purposes this will not help. Instead, when you meditate before a reading, you
should let any thoughts that come into your head stay there until they go
away of their own accord: Forcing them away will just cause them to come
back later and interrupt your reading. The main focus of this kind of
meditation is to just let yourself relax, switch off any niggling worries you
have, and sort out any annoyances from the day which could affect the
reading. To relax in this way, simply find yourself a comfortable spot to sit
in, close your eyes, and breathe deeply and regularly, letting your mind
wander until it has finished wandering. Alternatively, you could try a
counting meditation to help you relax: When you have found your
comfortable spot, simply count as you breathe, counting to eight when you
breathe out, and counting to four when you breathe in. This serves to
regulate your breathing, and also lower your intake of oxygen, which is itself
relaxing. It won’t harm you, since this is how your body breathes naturally
when you are asleep, and it just relaxes your body, and provides you with a
focus for the meditation if you feel uncomfortable to just let your mind
wander.

Alternatively, if you feel uncomfortable with those methods of meditation,

you could try a visualizsation to help yourself relax and focus. A
visualisztion is where you basically imagine things during the meditation.
For instance, you may want to imagine yourself lying down on a lawn in the
summer, with the sun beating down on your face, or you may wish to
imagine yourself as a tree, with your legs becoming roots and rooting
themselves firmly to the ground. You may wish to visualize a protective
sphere of light around you, or you may wish to imagine the four elements of
Earth, Air, Fire, and Water surrounding you and strengthening you. I know
of a few people who find that a chakra opening visualization works very
well, where they imagine each of their chakras opening like flowers. In the
end though, it is up to you to decide what kind of meditation or visualization
you wish to use, if you do choose to use them at all!

2) Ritual

For those who are used to casting a circle and creating sacred space, a ritual
may be useful for you to get in the mood for a Tarot reading. With the ritual,
you are signaling to yourself that during the Tarot reading you wish to leave
behind the hustle and bustle of everyday life, and focus on something higher.
Creating sacred space serves to place you in a state where you feel closer to
the Divine, or closer to your higher self and intuition, which is always useful
in a Tarot reading. To create sacred space, you may use the method used in
neo-Paganism of casting a circle, calling the quarters, and invoking the
Gods. Or you may use a simple affirmation that the space you will be doing
the Tarot reading in is set apart from everyday life. There are many ways to
cast a circle and create sacred space, so I won’t go into that. If you do not
know how to do either of these things, you can find excellent information
about them on the internet by browsing through websites dedicated to neo-
Paganism and Witchcraft.

3) Creating Ambience
For those who wish to feel more comfortable and ‘mystical’ during a Tarot
reading, creating the right atmosphere is the key. You may wish to burn
some incense, dim the lights, light a few candles, put on some quiet, relaxing
music, and tidy the room. When you tidy a room, you feel more organized,
happy with the place you are in, and less likely to worry about it. There are
also fewer objects around you to distract you, and the place you are in will
feel a lot more comfortable than if it was messy. Lighting candles and
incense, and putting on music are simply outward signs to yourself of what
you will be doing, and they are aimed at keeping you relaxed during the
reading.

4) Chanting

Anybody who loves to sing will benefit from a simple chant to get you in the
mood for a Tarot reading. Sounds, especially when they come from us, are
powerful and very effective in any kind of ritual, which is why the Druids
chant the ‘Awen’ at every ritual, and why so many Hermetic rituals included
some form of chanting or intonation. The chant, when repeated enough, can
also send us into a form of altered consciousness, or at least a very relaxed
state of consciousness that is perfect for Tarot reading. You can pick any
chant you like, as long as you like it. My personal favorite is one I first heard
at a netball match when I was 15, which I changed slightly over the years
without realizing it, but which I then found out is a variation of ‘We are one
with the infinite sun’, quite a popular chant amongst Pagans.

5) Prayer

For those of you who wish to gain some form of divine guidance during the
Tarot reading, prayer may serve a dual purpose. Firstly, you can try to gain
that help from the Divine, and secondly, prayer, like chanting, is a very
powerful way of relaxing and getting into an altered state of consciousness
ready for the Tarot reading. Many people I know have a specific prayer they
use before every Tarot reading, which states what they are going to do, and
asks for guidance from whatever Gods they believe in, and help in opening
up to be able to interpret the cards accurately.

6) More Practical Matters

On a more practical note, you may wish to prevent external circumstances

from interrupting your Tarot reading. As such, disconnecting the telephone,
or at least switching on the answer phone is a good idea, and if you live in a
house with other people who are likely to disturb you, try putting a ‘do not
disturb’ sign on your door, and telling them that you don’t want to be
disturbed for the next hour/half hour. Also make sure you have everything
you need for the reading, as you don’t want to interrupt yourself by having
to go and fetch something you forgot! If you have kids, you might also be
best waiting until they are fast asleep in bed!

7) Alternatively…

Or alternatively, you do not have to do any of the above things. You can do
a mixture of them, or you can try some methods you have thought of
yourself which I have not mentioned here. Personally, I only do something
like mentioned above if the Tarot reading is very important for somebody
else, otherwise I just pick up the cards and start shuffling! Sometimes it is
not always convenient to cast a circle and start meditating, as you may not
always be in your own home when you do the Tarot reading. The only tools
you need for a Tarot reading are the cards themselves and yourself. As long
as you are focused, the reading will be good, and whilst some people need to
do some of the above things in order to focus themselves, many people do
not, and can instantly focus on the task at hand, no matter where they are.

Once again, it is up to you what you do!

Key Terms:

Sacred space: A space which you will be using for some sort of non-
everyday activity, such as magic or Tarot reading, which is set apart from
the hustle and bustle of everyday life, and which is closer to the Divine.
Tarotholic: A person ‘addicted’ to Tarot, somebody who collects Tarot
decks and anything to do with Tarot.
Themed decks: Tarot decks with a theme, just like a party which has a
theme! The themes can be anything from Celtic mythology to erotica to Art
Nouveau.

Extra Task:

This is the first ‘Extra Task’ you can do after you have done the lesson. The
Extra Tasks are not regular, and are optional, simply because they are there
only for those who really want to delve into the study of Tarot deeper. They
encourage you to begin study on your own, away from the lessons, which
you will need to get used to if you wish to continue studying Tarot after the
course is finished!

The first Extra Task is very simple: Get a Tarot deck! This is extremely
useful since from this point onwards in the course you will need a Tarot
deck in order to understand the course properly. It does not matter what deck
you get, as long as you can read with it and feel comfortable with it. The
guidelines given at the beginning of this lesson will help you choose your
deck.