-Introduction
Hello! My name is Tyler, and I'll be teaching you about Tarot. I assume that you already know what Tarot is, or at least the very basic idea. You probably know that Tarot is a deck of beautiful cards, sometimes used for divining purposes and spells. But what are they? That's what you're here for!
Tarot (pronounced tare-oh) are a set of 78 cards that are used to tell the future, what we in Paganism call divining. Each card has two sets of meanings: one for the upright, and one for the upside down (or reversed). Most of the images on the cards have some sort of symbolic meaning...right down to the color shoes they wear. Very seldom is something seen that's not there for a reason.
The Tarot is separated into the Major Arcana and Minor Arcana. The Major Arcana are the most famous cards. They are ones like the Fool, Magician, or Death. The Minor Arcana are less portrayed in pop culture, and are divided into five categories: Swords, Cups, Disks (Pentacles), and Wands (or Staffs). Each one of these has a Page, Knight, King, Queen, and Ace, along with the numbers 1-10.
The 22 Major Arcana are lain out according to their numbers, everything from the Fool (0) to the World (22). This is called the Tableau from the French word for 'table'. The Tableau details the Fool's journey down the Major Arcana to find the greater mystery: the secret of life.
Thanks for joining me for this lesson! It was wonderful having you! Join me next time for Lesson 2: Choosing a Deck.
