The Origins of Tarot Card Reading

The exact origin of the tarot remains unknown until today but there are many theories that help in the understanding of the tarot cards.

Tarot cards started in Italy, around the fifteenth century, as a popular card game. The tarot is composed of 78 cards with an extra card for each four suits. This extra card is known as a wild card or most commonly as the fool.

Later on during the eighteenth until the nineteenth century, the tarot was discovered by some scholars who recognized that the tarot held more power than just a simple card game would suggest. The images on the tarot cards amazed the scholars and it was they who revealed its true history. The images on the tarot cards were connected to the mysteries of Egypt, the Kabbalah, Hermetic philosophy and alchemy among others.

Now, the tarot is commonly seen as a tool for divination. In order for tarot cards to be used for divination, there has to be two key players, known as the seeker and the reader. The seeker is the one who presents a question that needs answering. The reader is someone who knows how to interpret the cards. The cards are laid out in different patterns, known as a spread. Each type of spread has a different meaning, and so does the card. Together, these two meanings are interpreted and the question of the seeker is answered.

Many doubt the capability of a tarot reading and present its image in a darker fashion. However, this isn’t the case. The tarot taps into the power of the unconscious mind. Many famous theorists have already presented the immense power the unconscious mind possesses. Among these theorists are Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung.

Many have even tried to explore the capabilities of the unconscious mind. These are often found in the field of psychology such as psychotherapy, dream psychoanalysis, meditation, and visualization or imagery. The tarot card is one of these means.

The tarot cards work through the process of projection. When a reader takes out a card, the reader forms a story based on the card drawn. There could be many interpretations of a card that is drawn. But out of all the possible stories, the reader chooses one that immediately dominates his or her unconscious. The inkblot test works in the same way.

Another great way a tarot card works is through its collective component. Many people react the same way to certain cards. Over the years the tarot was developed to represent some of the most basic human emotions and thoughts.
The tarot works by combining both the personal and the universal component. When a card is drawn, the reader is aided by what his or her unconscious says about the card but at the same time, guided by the seeker’s emotions and thoughts.

But many still doubt what the tarot says. It is because of the randomness of the cards that can be drawn. However, there could be a deeper meaning beyond this randomness. It might be the power of the unconscious that holds a deeper understanding of the divine.