The World
General Meaning: What has traditionally been known as the World card points to the presiding intelligence, called "Sophia," or Wisdom, which upholds life on this and all worlds. A more precise title for this card might be "the Soul of the World," also applicable as a symbol of personal empowerment and freedom. In most Tarot decks it is a female figure that has become our standard World image. She originates in Hebrew, Gnostic and Alchemical lore, and stands between heaven and earth as the Cosmic Mother of Souls, the Wife of God and our protector from the karmic forces we have set loose upon the Earth in our immaturity and ignorance.
(https://www.acumind.com/Joe/tarot/world.gif)
Where the Empress energy secures and fertilizes our terrestrial lives, the goddess of The World invites us into cosmic citizenship -- once we come to realize our soul's potential for it. Just as the Chariot stands for success in achieving a separate Self, and Temperance represents achievement of mental and moral health, the World card announces the awakening of the soul's Immortal Being, accomplished without the necessity of dying.
This card, like the Sun, is reputed to have no negative meaning no matter where or how it appears. If the Hermetic axiom is "Know Thyself", this image represents what becomes known when the true nature of Self is followed to creative freedom and its ultimate realization.
Fast Facts
About The World
Theme: You are in a timeless state of grace where there is no doubt, shame or grief.
Astro Association: Saturn
Element: Earth
Number: 21
Alias: Universe, Triumph
Judgment
General Meaning: What has traditionally been known as the Judgement card, sometimes entitled Resurrection, represents the great reunion that the ancients believed would happen once in every age. This was the time when souls are harvested and taken Home to their place of origin, outside the solar system. Then the World is seeded with a batch of new souls and the process starts over.
From a modern point of view, this great reunion -- which includes every personality that you have ever been and every soul that you have done deep work with -- reunites to consciously complete the process. In a way, we symbolically celebrate this returning to center every year on our birthday.
In personal terms, the Judgment cards points to freedom from inner conflicts, and so clear a channel, that the buried talents and gifts of past incarnations can come through an individual in this lifetime. This card counsels you to trust the process of opening yourself, because what emerges is of consistently high quality. You can effortlessly manifest as a multi-dimensional being, and assist in evoking that response from others.
Fast Facts
About Judgment
Theme: A gathering of lost fragments allows you to connect to your Higher Self.
Astro Association: Pluto
Element: Fire
Number: 20
Alias: Aeon
(https://www.learntarot.com/bigjpgs/maj20.jpg)
The Emperor
General Meaning: In the most practical terms, what has traditionally been called the Emperor card represents the highest leadership, a head of state or the most exemplary and powerful person in the realm. This archetypal ruler is responsible for the positive working out of affairs of a society or community, which are directly proportional to his well being and happiness.
The more enlightenment and cosmic perspective this energy brings, the better life is for all. The Emperor archetype masters the world of matter and physical manifestation. When you apply this card to your situation, acknowledge your potentials for mastery. Reinforce a sense of sovereignty within yourself, despite any self-limiting beliefs, habits or appearances to the contrary.
Fast Facts
About The Emperor
Theme: You have the wisdom and authority to achieve your goals.
Astro Association: Aries
Element: Fire
Number: 4
Alias: Power
(https://www.sacred-texts.com/tarot/pkt/img/ar04.jpg)
The Fool
This Deck: Chinese
General Meaning: Pamela Coleman-Smith\'s artful rendition of an \"innocent Fool\" archetype (Rider-Waite deck) is often used to represent Tarot in general. Early classical versions of the Fool card, however, portray quite a different character -- a person driven by base needs and urges, who has fallen into a state of poverty and deprivation.
In some instances, he is made out to be a carnival entertainer or a huckster. In others, he is portrayed as decrepit and vulnerable -- as the cumulative result of his delusions and failures. Not until the 20th century do you see the popular Rider-Waite image of the Fool arise -- that of an innocent Soul before its Fall into Matter, as yet untainted by contact with society and all its ills.
Modern decks usually borrow from the Rider-Waite imagery. Most Fool cards copy the bucolic mountainside scene, the butterfly, the potential misplaced step that will send the Fool tumbling into the unknown. Don\'t forget, however, that the earlier versions of this card represented already-fallen humanity, over-identified with the material plane of existence, and beginning a pilgrimage towards self-knowledge, and eventually, wisdom. The Fool reminds us to recognize the path of personal development within ourselves -- and the stage upon that path where we find ourselves -- in order to energize our movement toward deeper self-realization.
Fast Facts
About The Fool
Theme: Let go of expectations and trust your instincts.
Astro Association: Uranus
Element: Air
Number: 0
Alias: The Madman, Innocence
(https://www.yhwh.com/images/Tarot0.jpg)
The Moon
General Meaning: What has traditionally been known as the Moon card refers to a deep state of sensitivity and imaginative impressionability, developed within a womb of deep relaxation. Here we dream and go into trance, have visions and receive insights, wash in and out with the psychic tides, and experience deep mystical and/or terrifying realities beyond our ordinary senses. The full moon and/or eclipse cycle charted by the Magi (as in some of the earliest Moon card images) exemplify this as a mechanism that Nature uses to expand consciousness.
The variants of the courtly lovers (representing skillful use of the sex force) or the man sleeping it off under the tree (use of drugs to alter consciousness) are also traditional avenues for tapping this primal force. Human interest in higher states propels us to the frontiers of consciousness, where we cannot always control what happens. The Moon card represents the ultimate test of a soul\'s integrity, where the membrane between self and the Unknown is removed, and the drop of individuality reenters the Ocean of Being. What transpires next is between a soul and its Maker.
Fast Facts
About The Moon
Theme: This is an opportunity to penetrate your inner life.
Astro Association: Pisces
Element: Water
Number: 19
Alias: Illusion
(https://www.tarot-card.net/tarot-cards/images/moon.jpg)
The Sun
General Meaning: What has traditionally been known as the Sun card is about the self -- who you are and how you cultivate your personality and character. The earth revolves around the sun to make up one year of a person\'s life, a fact we celebrate on our birthday.
The Sun card could also be titled \"Back to Eden.\" The Sun\'s radiance is where one\'s original nature or unconditioned Being can be encountered in health and safety. The limitations of time and space are stripped away; the soul is refreshed and temporarily protected from the chaos outside the garden walls.
Under the light of the Sun, Life reclaims its primordial goodness, truth and beauty. If one person is shown on this card, it is usually signifying a human incarnation of the Divine. When two humans are shown, the image is portraying a resolution of the tension between opposites at all levels. It\'s as if this card is saying \"You can do no wrong -- it\'s all to the good!\"
Fast Facts
About The Sun
Theme: You are in the right place at the right time.
Astro Association: Sun
Element: Fire
Number: 18
Alias: Awakening
(https://www.starbridge.com.au/images/opt/big/Le-Solei-The-Sun.jpg)
The Star
General Meaning: What has traditionally been known as the Star card is about reconnecting one\'s Soul with the Divine -- the transcending of personality, family, community and reputation. It has to do ultimately with the freedom to be one\'s Self. The Soul is responding to celestial influences -- forces that can provide the personality with a stronger sense of purpose. The Star card helps us to remember our exalted origins and our attraction to a Higher Union.
This card could also be called the \"Celestial Mandate\" -- that which refers us back to our reason for being, our mission in this lifetime. The Star reminds us that, in a sense, we are agents of Divine Will in our day-to-day lives. If we let go of the idea that we are supposed to be in control, we can more easily notice and appreciate the synchronicities that are nudging us along. In this way, we become more conscious of the invisible Helping Hand, and we better understand our place within -- and value to -- the larger Cosmos.
Fast Facts
About The Star
Theme: You are consciously on the way home in a spiritual sense.
Astro Association: Aquarius
Element: Air
Number: 17
Alias: Grace
(https://www.greatdreams.com/constellations/17-tarot.jpg)
The Devil
General Meaning: What has traditionally been known as the Devil card expresses the realm of the Taboo, the culturally rejected wildness and undigested shadow side that each of us carries in our subconscious. This shadow is actually at the core of our being, which we cannot get rid of and will never succeed in taming. From its earliest versions, which portrayed a vampire-demon, this card evoked the Church-fueled fear that a person could \"lose their soul\" to wild and passionate forces.
The image which emerged in the mid-1700\'s gives us a more sophisticated rendition -- that of the \"scapegoated Goddess,\" whose esoteric name is Baphomet. Volcanic reserves of passion and primal desire empower her efforts to overcome the pressure of stereotyped roles and experience true freedom of soul. Tavaglione\'s highly evolved image (Stella deck) portrays the magical formula for harnessing and transmuting primal and obsessive emotions into transformative energies. As a part of the Gnostic message of Tarot, this fearsome passion and power must be reintegrated into the personality, to fuel the soul\'s passage from mortal to immortal.
About The Devil
Theme: Put convention aside and be empowered by revealing your passionate nature.
Astro Association: Capricorn
Element: Earth
Number: 15
Alias: Tempation
(https://imagecache.allposters.com/images/pic/MEPOD/10007324~Tarot-15-Le-Diable-The-Devil-Posters.jpg)
Temperance
General Meaning: What is traditionally known as the Temperance card is a reference to the Soul. Classically female, she is mixing up a blend of subtle energies for the evolution of the personality. One key to interpreting this card can be found in its title, a play on the process of tempering metals in a forge.
Metals must undergo extremes of temperature, folding and pounding, but the end product is infinitely superior to impure ore mined from the earth. In this image, the soul volunteers the ego for a cleansing and healing experience which may turn the personality inside-out, but which brings out the gold hidden within the heart. (This card is entitled \"Art\" in the Crowley deck.)
Fast Facts
About Temperance
Theme: The time is now for self-healing.
Astro Association: Sagittarius
Element: Fire
Number: 14
Alias: Alchemy, Art, Balance
(https://www.sacred-texts.com/tarot/pkt/img/ar14.jpg)
The Hanged Man
General Meaning: Traditionally, the card known as the Hanged Man usually indicates a lack of ability to help oneself through independent action. This energy is arrested and awaiting judgment. With this card, there is no avenue for the will to regain control until the situation has passed.
This represents a good time to be philosophical, to study and meditate upon the position you find yourself in, and form resolutions for the moment you become free again. Only those who possess wisdom, patience and optimism will be able to see through limitations, including possible humiliation, to grasp the inspiring lesson one can gain from such an experience.
Fast Facts
About The Hanged Man
Theme: Issues some to a head, making it possible to clear the slate and start over.
Astro Association: Neptune
Element: Water
Number: 12
Alias: Sacrifice
(https://luthar.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/le-pendu-the-hanged-man.jpg)
Justice
General Meaning: Traditionally, what has been known as the Justice card has to do with moral sensitivity and that which gives rise to empathy, compassion and a sense of fairness. Since the time of Solomon, this image has represented a standard for the humane and fair-minded treatment of other beings.
Often including the image of a fulcrum which helps to balance competing needs against the greater good, and a two-edged sword to symbolize the precision needed to make clear judgments, this card reminds us to be careful to attend to important details. It\'s a mistake to overlook or minimize anything where this card is concerned. The law of Karma is represented here -- what goes around comes around.
Fast Facts
About Justice
Theme: Balances the scales to serve the greater good.
Astro Association: Justice
Element: Air
Number: 11
Alias: Karma, Adjustment
(https://www.starbridge.com.au/images/opt/big/Justice.jpg)
Wheel of Fortune
General Meaning: The central theme of what is traditionally called the Wheel of Fortune card is cyclical change. The Wheel keeps on rolling, churning events in a ceaseless progression of ups and downs, either way freeing us from the past. No one can escape its cyclical action, which can feel somewhat terrifying -- no matter whether we are rising or falling. When one is balanced on top there is a moment of crystal clarity, but the only part of the Wheel not going up and down is the hub, which is your eternal Self, the Source of Freedom.
Every one of us will occupy all the points on the wheel at some time or another. The cycle of the wheel is its lesson -- and we can learn to take comfort in it (as we do when we celebrate our birthday). If you don\'t like the look of things right now, just wait -- things will change. Of course, if you do like the look of things right now, enjoy it while it lasts, because that will change too!
Fast Facts
About Wheel of Fortune
Theme: Learn to go with the flow without resisting its ups and downs.
Astro Association: Jupiter
Element: Fire
Number: 10
Alias: Fortune
(https://www.tarot-card.net/tarot-cards/images/wheeloffortune.jpg)
The Hermit
General Meaning: The challenge of what has traditionally been known as the Hermit card is to be able to recognize a teacher in a humble disguise. This font of mysterious knowledge will not make it easy for the student to acquire his wisdom, as it takes time and long contemplation to fathom what he knows. He often speaks wordlessly, or in ancient and barbaric tongues, communicating with the elements, animals and Nature herself.
While the hourglass was an identifying feature on the earliest Hermit cards, more modern ones have shifted the metaphor, showing more or less light released from his lantern. In either case, the Hermit card reminds us of the value of time away from the hubbub of civic life, to relax the ego in communion with Nature.
Fast Facts
About The Hermit
Theme: Like a child full of wonder, gaze into the mysteries of your inner life.
Astro Association: Virgo
Element: Earth
Number: 9
Alias: Anachoret, Contemplation
(https://www.sacred-texts.com/tarot/pkt/img/ar09.jpg)
lemme continue this ....
Strength
General Meaning: What has traditionally been known as the Strength card represents Nature which, however wild in its primal form, is tamed by our subtler, finer (feminine, interior) self. The will and passion of our instinctive nature does not need to be broken, but refined and brought to consciousness -- so that all levels of Creation, inner and outer, may come into harmony.
The feminine soul-force contains a persuasive power that can nurture and induce cooperation from others, stilling disruptive energies by harmonizing differences in the spirit of collective good will.
Fast Facts
About Strength
Theme: Use your telepathic abilities to encourage harmony and cooperation.
Astro Association: Leo
Element: Fire
Number: 8
Alias: Force, Lust
(https://www.tarot-card.net/tarot-cards/images/strength.jpg)
The Chariot
General Meaning: Traditionally, the card usually entitled the Chariot points to a triumphal feeling of freedom, as if the charioteer is being paraded through the streets as a hero (or heroine). The card reflects congratulations for high achievement, and serves as a sign of empowerment.
Huge wheels and frisky steeds speed the rate at which the driver\'s will power can be realized. This kind of charge makes more of the world accessible to one ambitious enough to seize the Chariot\'s reins. But there is danger in this feeling of freedom, because of the increased rate of change and its power to magnify mistakes in judgment. As a seasoned warrior, the Charioteer is called upon to be extra attentive to the way ahead.
Fast Facts
About The Chariot
Theme: Use the powers of your mind to focus your energy.
Astro Association: Cancer
Element: Water
Number: 7
Alias: Desire
(https://www.sacred-texts.com/tarot/pkt/img/ar07.jpg)
The Lovers
General Meaning: Although it has taken on a strictly romantic revision of meaning in some modern decks, traditionally the Lovers card of Tarot reflected the challenges of choosing a partner. At a crossroads, one cannot take both paths. The images on this card in different decks have varied more than most, because we have had so many ways of looking at sex and relationships across cultures and centuries.
Classically, the energy of this card reminded us of the real challenges posed by romantic relationships, with the protagonist often shown in the act of making an either-or choice. To partake of a higher ideal often requires sacrificing the lesser option. The path of pleasure eventually leads to distraction from spiritual growth. The gratification of the personality eventually gives way to a call from spirit as the soul matures.
Modern decks tend to portray the feeling of romantic love with this card, showing Adam and Eve at the gates of Eden when everything was still perfect. This interpretation portrays humanity before the Fall, and can be thought to imply a different sort of choice -- the choice of evolution over perfection, or the choice of personal growth through relationship -- instead of a fantasy where everything falls into place perfectly and is taken care of without effort.
Fast Facts
About The Lovers
Theme: Integrate two potential realities or let go of one of them.
Astro Association: Gemini
Element: Air
Number: 6
Alias: Love
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/RWS-06-Lovers.jpg)
thanks..Omkaar :)
now next card :
The Hierophant
General Meaning: Traditionally known as the Hierophant, this card refers to a Master and the learning of practical lessons from the study of Natural Law. This energy of this card points to some agent or resource that can reveal the secrets of life, the cycles of the moon and tides, the links between human beings and the heavens.
Because monasteries were the only places a person could learn to read and write in the middle ages, a Hierophant was one to whom a student would petition for entry. He was the one to set the curriculum for the neophyte\'s course of study.
Often pictured with the right hand raised in blessing, the Hierophant is linked with the ancient lineage of Melchezidek, initiator of the Hebrew priestly tradition, the one who passes on the teachings. All shamans of any tradition draw upon this archetype.
Fast Facts
About The Hierophant
Theme: Use your inner knowledge to lead.
Astro Association: Taurus
Element: Earth
Number: 5
Alias: The Pope, Tradition
(https://alchemicaltarot.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/72-5-hierophant.jpg)
The Emperor
General Meaning: In the most practical terms, what has traditionally been called the Emperor card represents the highest leadership, a head of state or the most exemplary and powerful person in the realm. This archetypal ruler is responsible for the positive working out of affairs of a society or community, which are directly proportional to his well being and happiness.
The more enlightenment and cosmic perspective this energy brings, the better life is for all. The Emperor archetype masters the world of matter and physical manifestation. When you apply this card to your situation, acknowledge your potentials for mastery. Reinforce a sense of sovereignty within yourself, despite any self-limiting beliefs, habits or appearances to the contrary.
Fast Facts
About The Emperor
Theme: You have the wisdom and authority to achieve your goals.
Astro Association: Aries
Element: Fire
Number: 4
Alias: Power
(https://www.tarot-card.net/tarot-cards/images/emperor.jpg)
The Empress
General Meaning: Traditionally entitled "Empress," this major arcana or "trump" card portrays the energy of the Great Mother. She is Nature, around us but also within us, the ever-unfolding Source of life-giving power. She is often pictured as a pre-Christian Goddess, as the one whom the High Priestess is channeling down to earth for the rest of us.
In medieval Europe, the Empress card was painted to represent whatever Queen currently ruled the land, probably to satisfy the Inquisitors. But the scholars of the Renaissance and beyond had no doubt of her true identity, although she could not be fully revealed on Tarot cards as the \"woman clothed with the sun\" until after the French Revolution.
This supreme archetype of femininity also symbolizes fertility. It is She who provides us nourishment and security. She is also sometimes seen as delighting us with flowers and fruit. A potentially terrifying aspect of this archetype manifests itself whenever karmic mood swings wipe out our plans, like a storm that has come upon us. Whatever happens, the Empress is the Source of our Embodiment and of Natural Law. She might even be called \"the Great Recycler.\"
Fast Facts
About The Empress
Theme: Look for opportunities to be generous, warm and nurturing.
Astro Association: Venus
Element: Earth
Number: 3
Alias: Fertility
(https://www.tarot-card.net/tarot-cards/images/empress.jpg)
The High Priestess
General Meaning: Traditionally called the High Priestess, this major arcana, or trump, card represents human wisdom. She can be viewed as a kind of female Pope, the ancient Egyptian Priestess of Isis, the even older snake and bird Goddesses, the Greek Goddess Persephone, or the Eve of Genesis before the Fall.
For the accused heretics who were burnt at the stake for revering her in the 14th and 15th century, she symbolized the prophecy of the return of the Holy Spirit, which was perceived as the female aspect of the Holy Trinity.
In the sequence of cards in the major arcana, the High Priestess appears as soon as the Fool decides he wants to develop his innate powers, making a move toward becoming a Magus. The High Priestess is his first teacher, representing the Inner Life and the method for contacting it, as well as the contemplative study of Nature and the Holy Mysteries.
Fast Facts
About The High Priestess
Theme: Get your ego out of the way and become attuned to a more spiritual view.
Astro Association: Moon
Element: Water
Number: 2
Alias: The Popess, Wisdom
(https://www.tarot-card.net/tarot-cards/images/highpriestess.jpg)
The Magician
General Meaning: Traditionally, the Magus is one who can demonstrate hands-on magic -- as in healing, transformative rituals, alchemical transmutations, charging of talismans and the like. A modern Magus is any person who completes the circuit between heaven and Earth, one who seeks to bring forth the divine \'gold\' within her or himself.
At the birth of Tarot, even a gifted healer who was not an ordained clergyman was considered to be in league with the Devil! For obvious reasons, the line between fooling the eye with sleight of hand, and charging the world with magical will was not clearly differentiated in the early Tarot cards.
Waite\'s image of the Magus as the solitary ritualist communing with the spirits of the elements -- with its formal arrangement of symbols and postures -- is a token of the freedom we have in modern times to declare our spiritual politics without fear of reprisal. The older cards were never so explicit about what the Magus was doing. It\'s best to keep your imagination open with this card. Visualize yourself manifesting something unique, guided by evolutionary forces that emerge spontaneously from within your soul.
Fast Facts
About The Magician
Theme: Be playful and stay open -- the possibilities are endless.
Astro Association: Mercury
Element: Air
Number: 1
Alias: Magic
(https://www.yhwh.com/images/Tarot1.jpg)
wow ! i never understood tarot.
i used to wonder how people can read you from a pack of cards
thanks for the post star dust :starhit:
great info there star dust :blush:
this thread/topic explain everything a tarot reader needs to know in begining
One reads from cards ..and some read from the warmth the card provides. some get a color or a feeling from the card .. just depends on the reader.
This document is pretty helpful and now got some idea over the tarot cards
nice .. and informativ ...