Romancing the Tarot

By Phyllis Vega

Everyone, from teens to seniors, whether gay or straight, black or white, is looking for guidance when it comes to affairs of the heart. Much of the time, it seems that we grope in the dark for answers to the problems caused by the presence or absence of love, sex, and intimacy in our lives. What if there was a tool that could provide some of those answers?

The tarot is that kind of tool. It is an intuitive device that can be used for insight into virtually every aspect of life, especially one's love life. It can pinpoint the life patterns that hold you back, and light the path that will lead you to romantic fulfillment. It can provide a glimpse into a possible future that you and your significant other might share, or give you some indication of when you’ll find the new love you’ve been seeking.

Written in plain English, Romancing the Tarot demystifies the tarot and offers answers to every conceivable relationship question. In this book each card in the tarot deck is defined generally, according to its traditional meaning, and in seven categories specifically geared to romantic relationships: Expectations -- what each of you wants/gets from the union. Emotional Potential -- how you really feel about each other. Sexual Potential -- issues related to physical intimacy in the relationship. Material Potential -- issues related to your careers and finances. Spiritual Potential -- how you grow spiritually in the relationship. Challenges -- difficulties that you may encounter. Outcome – what may happen in the relationship. Also included are Keywords and Phrases that serve as triggers to help you to remember the card meanings.

In addition to the card definitions there are forty original layouts and sample readings done for real people using the spreads in this book. Taken together the card meanings, spreads, and readings address a spectrum of possible relationship situations and questions. All you need to add is a deck of tarot cards, an open mind, and a willingness to explore.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Phyllis Vega
• Release date: Apr 6, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476042626

Phyllis Vega

Phyllis Vega, a practicing astrologer, tarot reader, writer, and teacher, has been a New Age counselor for more than three decades. She is the author of numerous books including What Your Birthday Reveals About Your Sex Life; Erotic Astrology; Lovestrology; What Your Birthday Reveals About You; Sydney Omarr’s Sun, Moon, and You; Sydney Omarr's Astrology, Love, Sex, and You; Your Magickal Name (with Debra Vega); Celtic Astrology; Numerology for Baby Names; Romancing the Tarot; and Power Tarot (with Trish MacGregor). Phyllis resides in Miami, Florida and can be contacted through her website at http://www.phyllisvega.com.

Book preview

From teens to seniors, rich or poor, straight or gay, we are all looking for guidance when it comes to affairs of the heart. Sometimes we drive ourselves half crazy in our search for answers, only to find that we don’t even know which questions to ask.

Let’s say you’ve just met the man you’re sure is Mr. Right. Does he feel the same way? Will you ever hear from him again? How can you get his attention without seeming pushy?

Perhaps you and your spouse are a typical married couple. You both work full-time, you’ve got two kids, a dog, a cat, a house with a mortgage, and a mountain of bills. You seem to spend your days racing from place to place. You never have any time left for each other. Can you put romance (and sex} back into your lives?

Maybe you’ve lived happily (or so you thought) with your significant other for three years. Last week she told you she’d found someone else. Then she packed all her belongings and moved out. What do you do now? Can you go on without her? Will you ever get past the pain? Is there someone else out there who is right for you?

Possibly you’re a woman living alone. You’ve always hoped that someday you’d get married and have a family. You have no trouble attracting a man. However, sooner or later something goes wrong, and the relationship ends badly. When will you find the love and intimacy you seek?

Maybe you are sixty years old, and ready to retire. Your plans for your golden years include moving to Florida, buying a boat, snorkeling, swimming, fishing, and relaxing in the sunshine. However, your wife of thirty-two years loves her job in New York City. She doesn’t share your vision of the future, and has told you that she has no intention of retiring and moving to Florida. Is there anything you can do to mediate your differences, and get your marriage back on track?

Much of the time, it seems that we grope in the dark for insight into the problems caused by the presence or absence of love, sex, and intimacy in our lives. Suppose you had a tool that could provide that insight?

The tarot is that kind of tool.

It can pinpoint the life patterns that hold you back, and light the path that will lead you to romantic fulfillment. It can provide a glimpse into a possible future that you and your significant other might share, or can give you some indication of when you’ll find the new love you’ve been seeking.

In this book, each card in the tarot deck is defined generally, according to its traditional meaning, and in seven categories specifically geared to romantic relationships: expectations— what each of you wants/gets from the union; emotional potential—how you really feel about each other; sexual potential—issues related to physical intimacy in the relationship; Material Potential—issues related to your careers and finances; spiritual potential—how you grow spiritually in the relationship; challenges—difficulties that you may encounter; and outcome— what may happen in the relationship. Also included are key words and phrases that serve as triggers to help you remember the card meanings.

In addition to the card definitions, there are forty original layouts and four sample readings—done for real people using the spreads in this book. Taken together, the card meanings, spreads, exercises, and readings address a spectrum of possible relationship situations and questions. All you need to add is a deck of tarot cards, an open mind, and a willingness to explore.

I was not convinced that the cards actually worked. I mean, how could they? It went against all rules of logic to think that a few cards selected at random could possibly relate to a person’s life and foretell the future with any degree of accuracy.

~ Sandor Konraad, Classic Tarot Spreads

Where did tarot cards originate? Sirius? Atlantis? Ancient Egypt? Renaissance Italy? The Gypsies? The Kabhala? The collective unconscious? Were they designed for divination, game playing, or as a system for keeping secret esoteric truths from all but the initiated few? Actually, no one knows for sure when, where, or with whom the tarot originated. Even its primary purpose has been obscured by the passage of time.

What we do know about the tarot is that the visual symbols on the cards awaken and trigger intuition and connect us with our inner knowledge. When cards are pulled, synchronicity springs into action. We suddenly find ourselves in a world where the seemingly random isn’t random at all; it possesses an order that applies directly and intimately to the issues we’re dealing with.

How do the tarot cards manage to fall in just the right order? The answer seems to lie with the reader, not with the cards. The pattern formed by the cards, like that of a horoscope chart in astrology, or the lines of the hand in palmistry, acts as a point of focus for the unconscious mind. Through the ritual of shuffling and laying out the cards we relax our outer senses just enough to allow us to tune in to the hidden knowledge of the personal and collective unconscious. The reader receives images and translates them into words that the conscious mind can understand.

The artwork on the seventy-eight cards of the tarot deck is rich in archetypal symbols that convey information. These symbols, which are universal in scope, help to activate the inner senses, allowing us to tap into a nonintellectual form of knowledge. You read the cards by relating a scenario based on the information that you receive from both your conscious and unconscious minds. Sometimes, you examine the cards in a spread, and all at once you know their meanings in relation to the question. At other times, you analyze the layout, and then relate what you have learned about the cards to events and conflicts in the life of the questioner.

There is no right or wrong way to read tarot; no system has a lock on the perfect method for interpreting the cards. The most any book can do is pass along some tips as to how the author does it. The best way to learn is through trial and error, and the best procedure for reading the tarot is the one that works for you.

TAROT BASICS

Some theorize chat the Tarot is the ancestor of the modern deck of fifty-two playing cards, but it is likely that the Tarot and playing cards evolved independently of one another and converged.

~ Rosemary Ellen Guiley, The Mystical Tarot

The standard tarot deck consists of seventy-eight cards. The cards are divided into two groups, the major arcana (greater mysteries) and the minor arcana (lesser mysteries). The twenty- two trump or key cards constitute the major arcana. The remaining fifty-six cards belong to the minor arcana, which are divided into four suits: wands, cups, pentacles, and swords. Each suit contains four picture, or court, cards, and ten pip, or numbered, cards.

THE MAJOR ARCANA: GREATER MYSTERIES

The twenty-two trump or key cards of the major arcana correlate to principal events in our lives, and to the social and cultural forces that mold character and destiny. They depict the same archetypal images that exist everywhere in mythology, folklore, legends, and dreams. Taken together, as a group they form a story of human growth and evolution. In her book Seventy-eight Degrees of Wisdom, Rachel Pollack refers to the majors as A psychological process, one chat shows us passing through different stages of existence to reach a state of full development.

On a practical level, the archetypes of the major arcana correspond to the attributes of universal personality types and represent aspects of ourselves. Each card relates to emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual qualities. Everyone is a composite of the primal energies, personalities, and subtypes symbolized by these cards.

THE MINOR ARCANA: OTHER MYSTERIES

The fifty-six cards that make up the minor arcana in the tarot are known as the lesser mysteries, but that’s misleading. It would be better to think of them as other mysteries, because they are the building blocks of the tarot, its DNA. We need the minors to direct us toward the path that is best for us, to tell us about the people we might meet along the way, and to illuminate the situations we may experience.

Whereas the trumps of the major arcana reflect larger matters and important turning points, the court and pip cards of the minor arcana generally refer to the different aspects and events of everyday life.

THE FOUR SUITS: BASIC ELEMENTS OF LIFE

The four suits of the standard tarot deck are: wands, cups, pentacles, and swords. They correspond to the four basic elements: fire, water, earth, and air, and to the four seasons of the year: spring, summer, autumn, and winter.

* Wands: creativity, ideas, conception, beginnings

* Cups: feelings, love, romance, desire, inner experience

* Pentacles: physicality, manifestation, practicality, finance

* Swords: action, the intellect, communication, struggle

THE COURT CARDS: PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE

There are sixteen court cards in a typical tarot deck, tour of each suit. Most often they are called kings, queens, knights, and pages. In some nontraditional decks they go by different names — daughter, son, priestess, shaman, child, man, woman, sage, speaker. No matter what they are called, the court cards usually represent people. However, they may also symbolize qualities that we possess, or actual events and activities that take place in our lives.

Kings: mature men, fatherhood, the yang, the ego, closure, completion

Queens: women, motherhood, the yin, the receptive qualities of the inner self

Knights: young men, energy, drive, change

Pages: adolescents or children, youthful innocence, messages, communications, new beginnings

THE PIP CARDS: DAY-TO-DAY IMAGES

Because they relate to the major issues in our lives, the trump cards are generally thought of as the most powerful in the deck. However, that does not mean that they are actually more important than the other cards. On a daily basis, the court and the pip cards are at least as important, precisely because they pertain to the people and events of everyday life.

With the exception of the court cards, every card in the tarot is linked to a number. The pip cards are numbered ace through ten.

Ace: beginnings, new ideas, potential, promise

Two: partnership, relations’ p, polarities, balancing

Three: synthesis, growth, creativity, unity

Four: foundations, discipline, work, stability

Five: change, shifts, adjustments, challenge

Six: balance, health, harmony, equilibrium

Seven: spirituality, wisdom, insight, complex choices

Eight: setting priorities, reevaluating, regeneration

Nine: integration, fulfillment, attainment, conclusion

Ten: wholeness, completion, transition to a new cycle

The Tarot should be approached seriously, with humility, just as you would approach a wise teacher or counselor for advice about a problem in your life.

~ Laura E. Clarson, Tarot Unveiled: The Method to Its Magic

CHOOSING A TAROT DECK

There are hundreds of superb tarot decks now on the market. They can be found in most bookstores, and through a variety of mail-order and on-line catalogs. If you’re a novice reader, and not sure which deck to buy, consider starting with the Rider Waite tarot deck, or one of its many clones.

It requires very little effort to establish a successful relationship with your cards. Although there are no specific rules for handling and storing your decks, you should treat them with respect, and treasure them as something special.

When you get a new tarot deck, infuse the cards with your own particular energy vibrations. Shuffle and mix the pack over and over until you feel that it is ready to use.

DECK CARE

Many tarot readers wrap their decks in cloth and store them in bags or boxes. Silk or other natural fibers are the traditional wraps, although any fabric may be used. If you use a reading cloth for your layouts, it can do double duty as a storage cloth. Tarot bags are often made of velvet, satin, or some other luxurious material, and may be embroidered or hand-painted. Boxes can be made of any material, including wood, ceramic, metal, or plastic.

You may also store your decks in the boxes in which they came. If you collect and trade decks, it’s important to keep the packaging because the value of any deck decreases when the original box or booklet is missing.

CLEARING AND CLEANSING

When you’re doing one reading after another, the cards sometimes lose their strength and become unresponsive. It’s a good idea to clear or cleanse them from time to time. The classic way to clear a deck is to reorder the cards. In new decks, the cards are in a particular sequence that begins with the major arcana in numerical order, followed by each suit arranged from ace to king. After restoring the cards to their original order, shuffle the deck thoroughly, as you would a brand-new deck.

You may use quartz crystals to clear your cards. Place a crystal on top of the deck between readings. The crystal will absorb whatever vibrations remain from the prior reading. Crystals used for this purpose should be cleansed periodically in sea salt and warm water, then dried and placed outside or on a windowsill where they can be recharged by the sun’s rays.

You can purify both decks and crystals by smudging them, American Indian style, in the smoke of sage or cedar. If smudge sticks are not available, burn some dried herbs such as rosemary or sage in a fireproof dish. Pass the deck or the crystal through the smoke several times.

If you don’t want to bother with clearing or cleansing, just use a different deck for each reading. Store your cards carefully when not in use, and they will be naturally restored and energized for future readings.

SHUFFLING THE CARDS

Shuffle and cut the tarot deck as you would ordinary playing cards. When they are well mixed, you are ready to deal the cards off the top of the deck. If you prefer, you may fan the cards out in front of you, facedown. Move your right hand slowly back and forth above the row of cards. Following your impulses, pick out the number of cards you need for the chosen spread. It doesn’t matter which method you use to shuffle and deal the cards. The important thing is that you are consistent, and use the same method each time.

Sometimes while you’re dealing or shuffling, one or more cards will accidentally fall out of the deck. Cards that call attention to themselves in this manner are trying to tell you something important. They should never be ignored. Study them carefully and interpret them before proceeding with the intended spread.

PHRASING THE QUESTION

Although sometimes difficult to avoid, yes or no questions are probably the least effective means of querying the cards. It isn’t a good idea to ask a question such as, Will John leave me for someone else? Instead you might try, What do I need to know about the future of my relationship with John? This type of question allows the cards to describe the complete situation without being confined to a yes or a no answer.

CHOOSING A SIGNIFICATOR

A significator card is one that is chosen to represent either the questioner or someone/something in the questioner’s life. Any of the seventy-eight cards can serve as the significator. The court cards generally stand for individuals, while the other cards in the deck may represent either individuals or situations. After you’ve picked a significator, you should return it to the deck. If it appears during the reading, you will know that it relates to the individual or the situation in question.

READING THE CARDS IN COMBINATION

The difference between the accomplished reader and the novice is often nothing more than the ability to synthesize the card meanings into a comprehensive whole. Although spreads form the framework of your readings, to weave the spreads into complete stories you need to be able to read the cards in combination. While the meanings of some card combinations will be obvious to you, others may require some study. The easiest way to learn how to combine card meanings is through practice.

During the course of a reading, new definitions for single cards or combinations may come to mind. Don’t be afraid to use them. At some point, you will find that you no longer need to read either individual or combined meanings. The answers will jump out at you before you can even consider the card meanings. When this happens, it’s as if an inner channel opens up and detailed pictures or words form in your mind. Trust your impulses and the images you receive. At this point, the tool becomes incidental to the process and intuition takes over. Just follow wherever it leads you.

REVERSED CARDS

Reversed cards are cards that are upside down. Some experts favor reading reversed cards, and others do not. You will find strong pros and cons on both sides of this issue. Reversed meanings are not included in this book because the author has never used them. However, you can arrive at the reversed meaning of any card by reversing the positive and negative definitions. Some readers refer to upright cards as external manifestations of energy (events) and reversed cards as internal manifestations of the same energy (feelings). Another way to read reversed cards is to keep the same basic meaning, but to consider the situation blocked or delayed.

If you’re a beginner, it makes more sense to start with upright meanings only. Seventy-eight card meanings are a lot easier to learn than one hundred and fifty-six.

CLARIFICATION CARDS

Sometimes the cards do not give a clear and concise