Tarot Uses

Over the years, Tarot has gained a reputation as a means of fortune telling. Many people, including me, are uncomfortable with this role of Tarot. Many readers are trying to 'educate' that the Tarot can and should be viewed in a better, less old fashioned light.

Tarot can be used effectively for many things other than fortune telling.

Learning About The Past And Present – To avoid the fortune telling side of Tarot – which implies the foretelling of future events - it can be used to understand the events of the past, and situations you are facing at present.

Through this, you gain insight into your thinking of the past events, and this may help you find out ways to improve your relationships in the future.

Study The Symbols – Tarot is full of archetypal symbols. Archetypal symbols are those symbols that are embedded in our mind, in our psyche, from the time of our birth. These are symbols that we just instinctively recognize for what they stand for, when we just look at them. By studying these symbols, we learn a lot about how the mind works, and what goes through it. Many symbols used in Tarot are based on religion, astrology, alchemy, psychology, numerology, color and other systems. When we start using Tarot cards, we learn a lot about them.

Developing Spirituality And Philosophy – Tarot is not just a group of unrelated cards. The 22 cards of the Major Arcana represent the journey of the Fool through its life, and the various things he learns and picks up along the way. The cards tell of the challenges he has faced and how he has learned to overcome them. Through Tarot, you learn the tools to understand life, its patterns, and ways of dealing with situations that are difficult. The understanding of life through Tarot can be integrated into an individual’s religious, spiritual, and philosophical beliefs, and help develop them.

Use For Meditation – Through meditation, you can bring the positive qualities represented by the various cards into your life. For this to happen, you need to select a card that stands for the qualities to wish to increase in your life, or the card whose actions you want to emulate – and meditate on it. Place the chosen card in a place where you can see it, and think about it all day long. Let the image of the card be in your mind always. This will help trigger the thoughts and behavior represented by the card, in you.

A Source For Counselling – Tarot has been known to be used for counselling. It helps draw out whatever is going on in an individual’s mind, not necessarily in the conscious mind, but much deeper, where it is not easy to access the thoughts. The card that appears in a reading is full of rich archetypal symbols and meaning, and this reflects how the individual responds, to a given situation, in his mind. Tarot counselors are known to draw these ideas out, which help them understand the underlying thought and feelings of the individual.

Tarot counselling is very helpful where children are involved. It helps extract stories from children, stories of difficult situations that children find difficult to tell directly.