Tarot Cards: The Many Ways You Can Use the Tarot

Using the Tarot takes many different forms. Some of these resemble counseling sessions, others are more like the traditional divination you see in movies. Tarot can be used for meditation, ritual, or even for games. Using the Tarot can allow you to gain appropriate insights into situations or your own self, and even encourages taking responsibility for yourself and your actions. Groups can also use the Tarot for similar purposes.

Tarot Counseling

The idea of Tarot counseling is becoming more popular. Tarot counseling can be understood, at least on a basic level, to refer to the act of giving counsel or advice utilizing the Tarot as a tool. This is usually done by a professional Tarot reader, hopefully someone who has experience in counseling. The reader has to be cautious, however, of administrating advice derived from a deck of cards, no matter how insightful that advice might be. The Tarot should not be used independently, but as a part of a greater counseling program. As a general rule, Tarot counseling should be only as a used by a professional.

Tarot as a Divinatory Tool

Divination is considered by many to be the primary purpose of the Tarot. Today, Tarot is used around the world to receive guidance and spiritual insight. Most experienced readers will tell you that the information received from the Tarot is not ‘otherworldly’ or ‘supernatural’ in any way. The information comes from within the reader and the querent (the person for whom the cards are being read). That information is from the ‘universal subconscious’ that everyone is connected to. The information was already available. The Tarot simply opens a channel through which that information can be revealed.

Tarot for Meditation and Ritual

The archetypal symbolism of the Tarot can connect on an inner level to the subconscious mind. This means that these symbols can be used in the practice of meditation. Successful meditation usually requires a degree of visualization, and the cards of the Tarot can provide the essence of that visualization. With a little practice, anyone can learn to entwine their own meditations with the powerful images of the Tarot.

In the same way, an individual card or a group of cards can be used as the visual and energetic focus of a ritual. The Tarot can be integrated into rituals from many different traditions. Take a look at your own rituals and look for ways to make the Tarot a part of your ceremonies. Perhaps use them during a meditation. Or select four cards to represent the four Quarters, if your ritual invokes them. You might also choose two cards, usually the Empress and the Emperor, to represent the Goddess and the God. Study the essence of your rituals for appropriate places to integrate the symbols of the Tarot.

The More Frivolous Uses of the Tarot

The Tarot doesn’t have to be used for anything as serious as counseling, divination, mediation, or ritual. The Tarot, with its vivid imagery, can be used as a source of inspiration. If you ever find yourself searching for your inner muse, pull out your favorite Tarot deck. Randomly select a small group of cards, perhaps laying them out in a spread. Study the cards before you and see if you can find a common theme that gives you a burst of inspiration.

Games are always popular, and the Tarot can be used for trick-taking games, just as it has been for centuries. Games using the Tarot are wide spread, especially in Europe, where the game tarot is quite popular in England and France. Also called Tarocchi in Italy and Tarock in Germany, this game is quite traditional, based upon rules established throughout the centuries. There are more modern games as well. Some of these are played with the divinatory usage of the Tarot in mind. Many are played purely for entertainment, others are used as team-building exercises or even spiritual development.

There are many different ways in which you might choose to use the Tarot. They don’t only have to be used for divination. You can choose to use the Tarot and their psychology in whatever way feels right to you.

Tarot Cards: The Psychology of the Tarot

Carl Jung was the first psychologist to attach any real importance to the Tarot. He may have regarded Tarot cards as representing certain archetypal symbols. These archetypes are fundamental to the human psyche and embedded in the subconscious of all human beings. The Emperor, for example, represents the father figure. The Empress might represent the mother. The Magician represents a spiritual guide, and on and on.

The Tarot as Archetypal Symbols

The assumption of Tarot as representing archetypes leaves the door open to explore several psychological uses. Some modern psychologists use Tarot to identify how a client views himself by asking him to select a card that he identifies with. Others might try to get the client to clarify his ideas by imagining important things in his life in terms of the images seen in certain Tarot cards.

A professional might ask many different questions to aid the client in selection this card. The Tarot can be seen as a kind of map of the subconscious, allowing a seasoned professional to interpret this map on a conscious level. Some of these questions might include:

• Do you see yourself as blissfully ignorant, like the Fool?
• Are you perhaps rushing heedlessly into something, such as the Knight of Swords?
• Which card do you think is most like you?

Older Decks vs. More Modern Decks

You might think that the older deck such as the Visconti-Sforza and Marseille would offer more insight into the human psyche. However, the reverse seems to be true. Most psychologists and Tarot experts view those older decks as crude and limited when compared to some modern ones, such as the ever-popular Rider-Waite deck. This is probably a reflection of the common belief that Tarot symbolism has evolved, especially since A.E. Waite created the deck that has influenced almost all Tarot decks produced in the 20th century. In essence, the Tarot became more universal in the latter half of the 20th century, so the newer decks may be seen as applicable to all people in all places.

There might be some validity in this claim. Waite definitely had the largest influence on Tarot as a whole, at least in the modern era. He expanded the symbolism of the Tarot in a way that allowed it to connect to more people from more walks of life. Most decks created even today follow the Rider-Waite system, at least to some extent, and this symbolism was probably given a more universal feel on purpose; it is unlikely that Waite would have created such a highly symbolic yet applicable deck by accident.

With this is mind, it is probably accurate to state that modern Tarot decks are less limited and more applicable. They have the ability to connect more freely to the universal subconscious, and so to connect with everyone, everywhere.