The Secrets Of The Tarot Part 1 - Introduction To The Tarot Cards And The Realm

Regardless of how the many soothsayers and those that would give tarot a bad name, a ridiculous precursor, or that would pull the very methodology, the meaning, the reality, of tarot cards away from its true core. The tarot cards are a magical (in the intriguing sense not that they in any way perform any real magic, unless you define magic as “Technology sufficiently advanced is indistinguishable from magic!” but more so magical in the sense that they allow you access to untapped (consciously) potential and information) tool.

The Tarot is, in it's most basic form, a symbolic mirror through which the super-conscious communicates to the conscious through the subconscious. In other words, any “magic” actually happening here is in your head. Literally.

Not in your head as in not valid, not useful, or not real, but literally- in your head like that great invention that could make you rich, that recipe that everyone will want if you actually can extract it, and so on. We have a lot of great stuff “in our head” but tapping into it in a useful way where we can see past the clutter of our daily mental fatigue and our own “getting in our own way”- that’s the magic.

Our minds can do incredible and perceptively intangible things (intangible until they manifest and evolve through action and reaction) that we simply don’t let it express on a daily basis. We find ourselves having “Lucky” breaks, or experiencing moments that feel sublime and unusual, but realistically they are nothing short of accidentally letting your subconscious mind form an expression into the physical plane through you! (or purposefully without your conscious insight of what you were doing)

Once that expression happens the body can intuitively react to it causing actions in the persons environment that create a chain reaction of events that we sometimes see pretty quickly, (then the law of attraction can take over) and thus without comprehending how we did it, that we did it, or what information we accessed that made it possible, we neglect to even take credit for our own doing, our own manifestation, and call it “magic” or “luck” or anything but what it really is - “accomplishment”.

We can actually do what the tarot cards are said to do (without them).

We can tell the future (purposeful reasoning mixed with awareness and cognitive thinking, in other words not magically seeing it but being able to logically predict it by clearing your head and thinking better).

The cards can give us advice when we tend to have no idea what to do. We do this by tapping into the all knowing subconscious and reasoning mind to get the high quality information we receive but often ignore due to our conscious filters or disbelief!

We can help our friends with their concerns or questions. The subconscious is connected to the super-conscious or subconscious of all that is, with the right thinking, and awareness, clutterless mind, you can tap into that “stream” of consciousness and can make a cognitive decision, conclusion, or idea based on what you see intuitively, and feel through the body, as well as the reactions of the person being “read”.

But...

With imagery that connects concepts together like a puzzle for your mental state. The only difference is the puzzle changes/dynamic and the actual puzzle is put together in your head- the cards on the table to any on looker mean nothing (even if they read cards the meaning they build from YOUR reading is not going to be valid to YOU)... when the puzzle is complete you see "the big picture" the reading is clarifying (not creating) in your mind!

When you blend perception of the cards pictures, the intuitive mind, subconscious mind, and simple reasoning skills, you get aha moments (lack of understanding how you did it makes it seem magical), and these moments become streams of awareness your simply not accustomed to accessing concisely.

Pictures have a way of extracting them and displaying them in front of our eyes much like how we "project" onto others due to our perception of imagery- to use a psychology term. With practice reading tarot these will become clearer and less aha, more “oh yea!” or “duh” moments.

The pictures on the cards do have meanings, but as you learn to work with your intuition, your subconscious mind, and change how you see things, you will start to realize that one tarot reader from another, the cards mean different things, both stand alone (each card) and collectively (in a reading one cards meaning can influence the meaning of another card, just like in conversation a comma can change the entire meaning of a sentence!).

In this series we’re going to give you some free information on “Learning Tarot From The Ground Up”. We’re going to go over many different aspects of this ambition, and will reveal the reality of tarot readings and there is nothing evil about it any more than taking an IQ test is evil.

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Side Bar:

“You have to learn how to interpret the cards, they don’t do much for the unaware, or untrained, thus they are just tools - Magic not included.” 

The problem sets in when people assign esoterical values to things that aren't at all esoteric. I tend to think the traditions being passed off as hard rules or "belief" systems started out as a way to create a common ground among the first readers or across the many as an evolutionary step as a form of discipline training but in the end the cards contain no magic, burying your deck in salt will not remove any "energies" the cards have collected, and any form of Tarot spells are not magic but rather again, discipline in action. 

The idea behind the salt and various traditions for "keeping the deck pure" and "cleansing the deck" are rooted more in convincing the mind and bypassing hard core filters/beliefs that may be hindering your ability to fully "believe" in your ability to activate your intuition and read the cards then to articulate what happens in your thought process. It's about convincing you that your mind is clear so you stop holding on to thoughts that may be counter productive.

Think about it, if you truly believe that by burying your deck in salt for a few days would cleanse them, wouldn't you be more apt to believe they are, and thus YOU are, not encumbered by anyone else's or even negative energies?

It's about cleansing the thought stream and actually feeling clarity of thought. Belief is a very powerful medicine and it can even cure foggy thought syndrome. If you believe you can, you simply can. The inscents, lowered lights, and candles are all part of utilizing the environment externally to calm the environment internally- it's also about "getting into character"- putting your mind and focus in the right place to accomplish the task. It's also about generating the magic- ambition and focus of thought.

Think about this as a Karate Expert breaking a 6" thick board perched between two stacks of bricks with his forehead- sheer strength and thrust alone will only give the guy a concussion  but focus and a SPECIFIC state of mind, clear of thought, razor sharp focus and of course practice learning how the body moves, the laws of physics.

That there is a very specific way you have to hit that board, a specific amount and control of thrust (i.e. hitting the board with the fibers), and a specific amount of counter balancing, and retraction of your body parts is required so you hit the board hard enough but don't reverberate that energy back into your scull causing a concussion

This is not an easy skill set to learn but once learned and practiced, completely understood and executed with precision- it can appear to the uninformed as a "magic" feat, or an "impossible" feat- but it's just physics and the mind working in synergy!

Luckily, the Tarot skill set is much easier to learn and develop and much safer during the development period- worse case scenario, you get it wrong but can later see (you should always record your reading on paper or video so you can review after the period you asked the question for i.e. "next week" "this month" etc...) and crystallize what the reading really was telling you. It's a great way to learn actually as you start to develop this way and it feels like a chain reaction of beautiful aha moments!

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The beauty of "using" Tarot spells is that it teaches you self discipline, focus, and a lot of other things. It's like it magically (with practice of course) turns you into a better tarot reader! Spells are a more advanced form of "play" with the cards. You should definitely learn and master the cards before you try the spells- they are fun and a great deal of fascination, but don't think they are some form of magic. It's all psychology and physics in motion! I think that makes this more practical and to me, more magical than not knowing and just having faith in magic- it's like magic but your a wizard (or wizard-ess).

So we've sufficiently cracked open the realm to the point where you likely have all kinds of questions. Don't worry, the answers are coming. By the time you finish the entire series all your questions should be answered, and the ones that aren't will be your fuel to continue deeper down the rabbit hole.

My mission with this series is not to take the magic away from the craft, as perceived by those who don’t know much about it, or at least don’t understand the core reality of tarot card reading, but rather to define the “magic” in a way that is rational, reasonable, and real.

This is not magic in the form of fantasy or “powers” but rather reality, psychology, technology, awareness, discipline, visualization (and strengthening), defining intuition and subconscious thinking - a skill set that beats all others.

In fact one that can define all others! Perhaps “magic” is not the right word to give to the tarot- aware is a word I'd use and it's more powerful than many think- awareness is like being given the golden keys to the universe and knowing how to use them for prosperity and well being.

"Magic" is the one word that many perceive when they think of the sometimes tingling aha moments shared in a reading, so I started there to help you relate from there backwards to the true meaning of a tarot reading, and the awareness it can extract from you. That said, please enjoy the series and comment anytime you have a question or just want to comment (I love hearing from my readers!). 

What Are Tarot Cards Exactly - Dissolving the Myths