All posts tagged: Tarot

Understanding Tarot – The Swords

Published by Oranum Team

Written By: Dr. Nikki Arguably, the most standard of the representations from deck to deck in the Tarot, you can find Swords are in nearly every deck. For example, the suit of Cups can be represented as Bowls or Chalices in different decks; Pentacles can become Coins or Disks; and the Wands can become Staves or Rods. However, the Swords – the suit that responsible for the hidden motivations and thought processes – are nearly universal and seen in almost all decks. Even in the standard playing card deck, the Swords are very easy to identify. The Italian word for sword is “spada.” It is not difficult to see how the suit of “Spades” got its name. Aligned with the element of Air, the Swords are the cards that speak to the internal intellect. Air as an element is associated with the spiritual realm and relates to things such as thought, speech, communication, your connection with your Higher Power and your own decisions. This element is associated with the head and thinking. It is said …

Understanding Tarot – The Wands

Published by Oranum Team

Written By: Dr. Nikki Known by several different names, the suit of Wands covers physical passion, struggle, personal spiritual life force and more. In a normal deck of playing cards (and in some tarot decks) the suit of Wands is represented by the suit of clubs. Depicted as Wands with new growth, Staffs, Rods, and, of course, Clubs, this suit is normally shown as something that feeds fire. Whatever their depiction, the suit of Wands speaks of passion in all its guises. Aligned with the element of Fire (a rod or staff can burn), the Wands speak to that elemental part of us. Fire can be a fantastic tool, when controlled and used properly it can create rebirth and regeneration. Fire warms us, helps cook our food, and lights our way. When not controlled however, fire can burn uncontrollably and destructively, devouring all that is in its path. Many of the attributes of fire are represented in the suit of Wands. Fire is transformative. When you see a Wand in your spread be sure to …

Understanding Tarot – The Major Arcana

Published by Oranum Team

Written By: Dr. Nikki The Major Arcana is comprised of the cards that have no equivalent in a standard playing card deck. Each of the Major Arcana cards is named as well as numbered normally by Roman numerals. Beginning with The Fool, card 0, the Major Arcana traverse through the cards to end at card 21, The World. The journey through the Major Arcana is often referred to as “The Journey of the Soul”. One of the first things that I look for in reading tarot is how many, if any, of the Major Arcana appear in the spread. If I am doing a three card spread and all three cards are Major Arcana, I know that this reading will be intense for the person I am reading for. If there are no Major Arcana it does not mean that the reading has no value, it just means that the context of the reading is more outside the individual than inside. What is the big deal about these cards anyway? Signifying its importance, the Major …

Understanding Tarot – The Overall Basics

Published by Oranum Team

Written By: Dr. Nikki You may have heard a lot about tarot. Maybe you heard that it was invented by the ancient Egyptians, or that it was developed by the Romany as they moved into northern Europe. In reality, Tarot dates back to 15th Century Italy where it was developed as a card game of entertainment for the nobility as they escaped the plague-ridden cities for summers in their country villas. The deck for the card game, tarrochi, consisted of four suits – Wands, Pentacles, Cups, and Swords (which have fourteen cards each) and another grouping called the Major Arcana (which is composed of twenty-two cards). A full deck of tarot includes a total of 78 cards. The deck has been revamped and some cards renamed by different artisans through the years, but the basic deck of 78 cards remains the same today as it was when first created. Each card in the tarot deck is assigned specific meanings or concepts. For example, the Cups are aligned with the element of water; the element responsible …