© 1998 Clive Richard Weeks
Unlike astrology, where meaning is extracted from the many, complex relationships between the major archetypes as represented by the planets, Tarot uses many cards to represent archetypes and combinations of archetypes that are usually laid out in fairly straight-forward patterns.
A standard Tarot deck consists of 78 cards: the Major Arcana of 22 cards represents the major archetypes, while the Minor Arcana of 56 cards represents many subtle combinations of the archetypal energies.
The history of the Tarot deck is somewhat vague.
Some would claim that the Tarot can be traced back to ancient Egypt, but evidence for this is not reliable. Decks began appearing publicly only from the Middle ages on. The then existing decks were modified and refined by many people and used by the Gypsies for fortune telling - although that was never in fact their primary function. Modern playing cards appear to be derived from the same source as the Tarot, and some practitioners even use these for readings.
When a client comes for a reading, they are asked to shuffle the deck. Usually they do this while quietly contemplating the issues at hand, talking about them, or even engaging in idle chit-chat, depending upon what will put them most at ease. The cards are then dealt out in one of a number of 'layouts', and interpreted by the practitioner. In this way the sequence of the cards is totally determined by the client's subconscious mind. The shuffling process allows the client to tap into the common unconscious, and access information that is not normally available.
It is then up to the skilled practitioner to interpret the resulting layout. This is inevitably a combination of many hours of study and practice, as well as the operation of intuition. Tarot cards can be interpreted in a totally intellectual way using both logic and a knowledge of the archetypes as to extract meaning. They can also be read purely on intuition - trusting one's instincts and hunches. I would think that all readers use a mixture of both methods. Intuitive insights are a little less reliable than pure logic, but can reveal startlingly detailed information.
When reading cards, the whole process involving deeply shared psychological archetypes can often invoke a state of mind where the intuition flows more freely. It is this state that a proficient reader will seek to achieve.
As with astrology, the layout can be used as the basis for counselling.
