Tarot Card Meanings

Tarot card meanings and interpretations are based on numerology, the elements; spiritual, emotional, mental and physical processes and of course the drawing and placement of the cards. The elements or suits within the tarot still exist in modern playing cards. The pips of diamonds, spades, clubs and hearts can be expressed as earth, air, fire and water. Or to bring it into our modern worlds, money, mind, intent and emotion. This then can be related to business, thoughts, transformations and love.

In an older world and another time, these four elements also contained wisdom of disposing the dead, the seasons, times of day and life ages. Christian orthodoxy also incorporated this with

1)the chalice of the last supper, 2)the wooden lance St. Longinus used to pierce Jesus' side, 3)the round platter from which the disciples ate the paschal lamb and 4)King David's "Sword of the Spirit."

The meaning of Tarot cards is universally consistent and lends credibility to this ancient oracle. The soul lives in images. The soul nourishes itself on images. A picture speaks a thousand words. The cards depict the levels of human consciousness, the first awakening, up to divine All-consciousness, to union with Spirit. The tarot comprises seventy-eight cards. Of these 56 are the lesser or minor trumps, keys or arcarna.

The origin of the word "Tarot" remains unknown and so does the origin of the cards themselves. The first documentary evidence of Tarot is 1442. A reference to "trump" cards is made in an account book from the court at Ferrara, in Italy. But they are much older. It is impossible to find a period in time when these images were not known. Sometimes they were found as murals, sometimes as sculptures of stone or as terracotta tablets. Wherever they have been discovered, their resemblance is so striking; a common source seeding global knowledge is indisputable.

ROTE TARO ORAT TORA ATOR

The Wheel of Tarot, speaks the Law of Life. The letters of Tarot can be interchanged to create several meanings. "Tora" is Hebrew for Law, "Rota" is Latin for Wheel; "Ator" is a form of Hathor, an Egyptian goddess interchanged with Isis. Another connection is the sacred mound of "Tara" in Ireland. Also "Tara" is the mother of Buddha. The great fertility goddess of Syria and Persia is one of sensuality and known as "AsTAROTh".

The Egyptian god "Thoth" (thus the Tarot's name as The Book of Thoth) may have given us the Tarot. Within the Egyptian language; "tar" means road or way and "Ro", king or royal, thus the Tarot translates as the royal road.

The word Truth, Terra (meaning earth), Tantra and even The Tao are suggested deviations of word TAROT. In Ireland, the legendary "people of the goddess DANA",(Tuatha De Danann) spoke of four magical treasures; a cauldron, spear, stone and sword. Similar symbols are found in Hindu art; the cup, the scepter, ring and sword. The Greek goddess of Fate herself, Nemesis, symbols included a cup, a wand of apple-wood, a wheel and a sword. The cards may have been the original "elf books" given to humans by fairies to people they loved, which enabled them to foretell the future.

From ancient times to the present; people have sought to understand the present and foresee the future. It is clear, people continue to feel the need for supernatural guidance and seek out those with true vision and good counseling skills.

Shannon Holloway-Esmeralda (SHE) is a renown Tarot Reader from Australia. SHE comes from a long line of Tarot Readers who received her first Tarot Deck at 16 and has been reading cards ever since. SHE keeps her powers strong and pure by eliminating any interferance such as TV, newspapers and unnatural foods from her life. Check out the extend of her powers with a free introductory reading at The Tarot Priestess [http://www.thetarotpriestess.com].

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