Tarot card meanings

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

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

1) the chalice of the last supper,
2) the wooden spear that Saint Longinus used to pierce the side of Jesus,
3) the round platter from which the disciples ate the Passover lamb and
4) The “Sword of the Spirit” of King David.

The meaning of the Tarot cards is universally consistent and lends credence to this ancient oracle. The soul lives in images. The soul feeds on images. A picture is worth a thousand words. The cards represent the levels of human consciousness, the first awakening, until the divine Omniconsciousness, until the union with the Spirit. The tarot includes seventy-eight cards. Of these 56 are the minor or lesser trumps, keys or arcana.

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

ROTE TARO ORAT TORA ATOR

The Tarot Wheel speaks of the Law of Life. Tarot cards can be interchanged to create various meanings. “Torah” means Law in Hebrew, “Rota” means Wheel in Latin; “Ator” is a form of Hathor, an Egyptian goddess swapped 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 the sensual and known as “AsTAROth”.

The Egyptian god “Thoth” (hence the Tarot’s name as The Book of Thoth) may have given us the Tarot. Within the Egyptian language; “tar” means path or path and “Ro” means king or royal, so the Tarot translates as the royal path.

The word Truth, Terra (meaning earth), Tantra and even The Tao are suggested deviations from the 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, the ring and the sword. The symbols of the Greek goddess of Fate, Nemesis, included a cup, an applewood wand, a wheel, and a sword. The letters may have been the original “elf books” that fairies gave to humans to people they loved, allowing them to predict the future.

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