How does the tarot card system work? Is it accurate?

Answer 1

Tarot cards are usually read by a fortune-teller, though in these days of New Age Enterprise, anyone can buy a deck with instructions on how to discover your real self and actualize your true potential. Why anyone's fate would be mysteriously contained in playing cards is a mystery; although, sympathetic magic seems to play a role.

For use as a divinatory device, the Tarot deck is dealt out in various patterns and interpreted by a gifted “reader.” The fact that the deck is not dealt out into the same pattern fifteen minutes later is rationalized by the occultists by claiming that in that short span of time, a person's fortune can change, too. That would seem to call for rather frequent readings if the system is to be of any use whatsoever.

There is a romantic irresistibility to the notion of shuffling the cards and casting one's fate, to putting one's cards on the table for all to see, to drawing into the unknown, to having one's life laid out and explained by strangers who have the gift of clairvoyance, to gamble on the future, and so on. The idea of staring at a picture card and letting it reveal the future or mirror the soul is not one that austere critics are likely to find tantalizing, but the thought of such visionary mysticism obviously has its attraction. Centuries of scientific advancement and learning have not diminished the popularity of occult guidance systems such as the tarot, Ouija boards, astrology, I Ching, palmistry, iridology, reflexology, ink blots, graphology, enneagrams, crystal balls, tea leaves, and the like.

Answer 2

Ideally it is to show you through the symbolism on the cards the different things that are going on in your life (usually internally rather than externally). Each card is different and has a different meaning. Many of the meanings change slightly from deck to deck as the symbolism and imagery changes from deck to deck. As far as accuracy goes? Who's to say? The tarot can only show you one path; the one that you're walking at that moment. Every decision you make every day changes the path you follow. Some will bring you closer to the outcome you read within the cards, some will take you further away. Life is full of infinite choices and therefore infinite paths. What might be a completely accurate reading one day may not be the next. Or what might not be accurate one day might be right on target the next, depending on where your choices are leading you. Personally, I use the tarot for a look into my own subconscious rather than something upon which to base my daily decisions. It helps me bring out all the things I don't really want to deal with but know I need to. It helps me deal with them and it's cheaper than a shrink (since I can read my own cards so I don't have to pay someone else to do it for me).

Answer 3

I do not read for myself but I have read for others and found it quite accurate. And so did those I read for.

It works because it uses symbols to tap into your higher self, Intuition so to speak, some believe it is picking up from a higher source such as guides, or Psychic ability.

But I have never known the cards to be wrong. And they do tell you things about what is going on in your life and gives you ideas you can work on to help effect change if that is your desire at the time.

If a person has too many readings in a short period of time you will find that the cards do not change since the situation has not significantly changed.
A reading twice a year is really all that is appropriate if you enjoy that sort of thing.

It can help steer you in the right direction. But no matter what your life is your own, and you can't let the cards or a reader tell you how to live. They are to help with insight. Not to tell you how to live your life.

And remember nothing is written stone. Life changes so what ever the cards say. You can always change, by making changes yourself.

Peace to all.

Answer 4

Tarot cards originated in Italy during the 13th or 14 centuries. They were used for a parlour game similar to the card game Bridge. The significance of the imagery of the upper arcana (the 22 "trump" cards) have been questioned and studied by very many scholars and esotericists. The original meaning of the cards may have been lost over time, but the cards might have had cultural or philosophical meaning for the people of 14th century Italy (for example, thieves were hung upside down by their feet in the square as punishment, which is depicted in the card named The Hanged Man. The Priestess card refers to the existence of a heretical female Pope, etc.) The game of Tarot lost its popularity by the 17th or 18th century. By the late 18th century, esotericism became popular in Europe. French esotericists took an interest in Tarot decks and saw all kinds of mystical meanings in them and created lore about them, saying that they originated with the Egyptians and were brought to Europe by "gypsies" and were full of secret mystical knowledge.

Presently, tarot cards are used for meditation, personal insight, and also fortune telling. The trumps cards are interpreted as telling a story about the archetypical "hero's journey" from a state of innocence and ignorance to knowledge about the world to catharsis and transformation to enlightenment.

For as long as any type of playing cards were around, people used them for the purposes of fortune telling (Everthing and anything has been used as some time in some culture as a tool for fortune telling ). They are used as tools that help the mind relax and possibly become more open and intuitive. That is, if there is an ability to forsee the future or be claivoyant, it is in the mind, not in the cards or the tools used to help the mind get into a state where it might able to experience so-called extrasensory perception.

Answer 5

Well as far as how it works... I suppose you want basics. There are two sections to the deck: major and minor arcana. Major arcana is non-suit cards, ie the magician or the tower. Minor arcana cards are the suit cards. The suits are swords, wands, pentacles, and chalices. Basically you shuffle them, the querient cuts the deck, and you lay the top cards in a pattern called a spread. Each card in the spread signifies a certain thing. By knowing the symbolism and meaning of each card and what each position signifies, the reader can make a general statement about the querient's current situation.

As far as accuracy goes, I've found tarot to be very accurate for me.

Answer 6

It works by the energy of the person that shuffles the cards every person has their own energy which can hold the information of their past, present, and even their future
This is the same energy Psychics sense and work with
If you are interested on understanding Tarot Cards the best way is to buy a deck and experiment to see for yourself

Nothing in life is to be feared, It is only to be understood.

Love & Blessings
*^v^*Milly*^v^*

Answer 7

Tarot cards use to be my favorite tool for divination, until I realized that it was all chance and superstition. That explains why they were wrong a good chunk of the time. It was all in my head. Occult systems like this never work like they're advertised to. It's all guess work and imagination. Please, do not waste your time or money with a useless deck of store bought cards made by some occult items producers that can't even use magic to support themselves.

Answer 8

It is cheap low grade psychology. If you think it works , it works. Otherwise Tarot is simply pieces of cardboard with pictures on, your mind does the rest !

Answer 9

I would suggest that you go to Alison Day's site and look around a bit. It lays out quite a bit.

I've found it to be very accurate for me.

Answer 10

Yes it is accurate and it works...