Tarot cards
“In essence, there are not really twenty-two trumps, there is only one - the Fool. All the other trumps live inside (and issue from) the Fool.”
- Lon Milo DuQuette aka Rabbi Lamed Ben Clifford, author, musician, occultist and ‘western hermeticist’.
What is tarot?
Tarot cards are arguably the most popular portal to divination that exists accessibly in the modern era that maintains an ever growing hold on our universal consciousness today. One that would be hard to believe the earliest tarot users (as far back as the middle ages!) could conceive possible. As discussed in the tarot FAQs at the bottom of this page, tarot cards and other forms of divination can easily conjur up dismissive imagery like that of Hogwart’s very own Professor Trelawney predicting the future, but as with most dismissive imagery - dismiss them and dive deeper!
With tarot, it’s far too easy to pull a tarot card such as Death and allow the left hemisphere of your brain to rally your inner-self-saboteur and trick your entire being into believing “that’s it - my end is nigh!”. Hence the need to understand tarot as a mere portal to utilising the intuitive powers of the right hemisphere of your brain for self reflection and improving your art of contemplation on whatever matter you are wanting to meditate on.
At Philomath, in this tarot school, we unpack for you what we believe is the most typical and traditional modern tarot deck in the Rider-Waite Smith deck; which, to date, has amassed over 100 million copies sold in over 20 countries. This tarot deck, which you may even be familiar with already, totals 78 cards in its entirety. All of which you can understand in its individual essence here at Philomath. The tarot deck consists firstly of the 22 major arcana cards that represent the different archetypal stages along the Fool’s journey that we all must contend with in our physical and spiritual lives. Secondly, the 56 minor arcana cards that are divided into the four elemental suits of pentacles (earth), cups (water), wands (fire) and swords (air). The minor arcana provide the details and nuances to our everyday life that flesh out the broader themes represented in the major arcana cards. Each 14 card suit is numbered from the ace to ten with four court cards - Page, Knight, King and Queen.
Everything else you want to discover about the tarot can be discovered within the Philomath tarot school below!
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Frequently asked questions about tarot
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It's impossible to answer with a specific number, so let's just say there are many tarot decks being used in the world right now.
Although there is no definite 'main tarot deck', it is probably safe to say that there are three popular and widely known tarot decks which are, in no particular order:
The Rider-Waite Smith tarot deck. First published by the Rider Company in 1909 amassing over 100 million copies sold in over 20 countries to date. Originally illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith based on instructions from Arthur Edward Waite; both of whom were initiates into the not-so-secret-society Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. The Rider-Waite Smith tarot deck is our personal favourite at Philomath and the tarot deck that we mainly discuss here on the Tarot section of the website.
The Thoth Tarot deck. This esoteric tarot deck was designed by Lady Frieda Harris by instructions from Aleister Crowley based on Crowley's 1944 book The Book of Thoth. Crowley rearranged several cards in the Thoth Tarot to be more in accordance with the Tarot of Marseilles by shifting the numerical, hebrew alphabet and astrological correspondences of four trump cards.
The Tarot of Marseilles (Tarot de Marseille) tarot deck. Popular in France in the 17th and 18th centuries but believed to have been created in Milan before spreading through Italy to France, Switzerland and elsewhere in Europe. The Tarot of Marseilles tarot deck, originally used for playing tarot card games, is largely believed to be the tarot deck which led to the occult use of tarot cards for acts of divination that we know tarot for today.
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Both tarot card decks and oracle card decks are used for acts of divination; though there are key seperators between the two. Mainly that there is a set structure to tarot card decks and oracle card decks can be -- and almost always are -- more 'freestyled' divination cards. Oracle cards have no set structure, can have any number of cards in its deck and there are not neccesarily any established suits or categories to them. In short, oracle cards and everything about each individual deck is entirely up to the creator's discernment and creativity - which is why they are so popular!
On the contrary, tarot card decks have a much more rigid structure with pre-established meanings and intepretations to each card in the deck akin to a book with a set storyline. The 'book' itself made up of 78 cards in total divided into 22 major arcana (trump cards in a traditional playing card deck) and 56 minor arcana divided into the four suits of wands, pentacles, cups and swords; with 14 cards per suit from the ace to ten plus the four court cards of Page, Knight, King and Queen. Thus making tarot cards perhaps more complex to learn and use due to the set structure and meanings. However, at the same time, this rigidity in its expanse can allow for a fantastic famework for interpretation.
Tarot card readings can offer intuitive guidance on specific questions or life situations whereas oracle card readings are moreoften utilised for general guidance, inspiration and a connection to the unique artwork used in the unique deck itself.
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Acts of divination have existed in our known history for tens of thousands of years. Not to say that the early Pharaohs were sat around playing with tarot card decks, though. But who would need them when you could build and utilise the pyramids themselves, anyway?
Although any ideas of divination may conjur up imagery of Professor Trelawney, the Hogwards Divination Professor herself, predicting the future in tea leaves - remember that's not exactly what divination is. It's not merely looking into a crystal ball and *poof* seeing the future, unfortunately. Though acts of divination would indeed be quite divine if they were!
Instead, divination is simply a way of acquiring insight (usually through intuitive senses) into a question, situation or circumstance at hand through utilising a form of act or ritual that aims to transcend the material world and its boundaries.
So, are tarot cards an act of divination? They most certainly are. In fact, they're one of, if not the most popular modern act of divination.
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If there's anyone out there telling you that there is one direct answer to this question - run for the hills... Joking aside, the best way to learn tarot is probably cliche and similar to the best way to learn anything. If your curiosity compass has driven you to tarot cards - follow that damn thing!
You don't need to feel pressured into buying a tarot card deck right away. If anything, that might be the quickest way to feel overwhelmed with tarot instead of the best way to learn tarot. So, start with learning the meanings behind the tarot cards themselves through an online modern mystery school like us, of course! Here at Philomath we aim to disseminate the wisdom that's already spread thinly across society in a pallatable format for beginners and advanced esoteric initiates alike. So, learn the meanings behind tarot and the tarot cards and when you feel called to grab a tarot deck of your own - treat yourself. Then, you only need to continue indulging in your intuitive practices and furthering your tarot learnings through different tarot spreads and learning off the cards themselves. Soon you won't even need Philomath!
