I live in Toronto, Canada’s largest and most culturally diverse city. One would guess, since the population is so varied, that this would be a very tolerant city. I would say it is. However, in turns out that it isn’t as tolerant as I thought. Ms. Stephanie Conover, winner of the Miss Canada Plus Pageant, had been asked to be one of the judges for the Miss Toronto Tourism Pageant (not affiliated with Toronto’s tourism branch). When she submitted her bio, she mentioned her hobbies: knitting, dancing, reiki and Tarot reading. Well, hold the phone! Miss Toronto Tourism doesn’t want…
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In Tarot the archetypal Mother card is the Empress. She is nearly always represented as a heavily pregnant woman reclining in a fertile field. She represents fertility, marriage, motherhood, and creativity. She is the embodiment of what it means to be a mother. Now that I am a mother, I find myself reexamining the meaning of this card in light of my (limited) experience with motherhood. As any mother will tell you, even a brand new mother like me, being pregnant is the easiest part of motherhood. The job doesn’t really become difficult until the baby is born. Being a…
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There are many myths that surround the use of the Tarot. Some of the most common include: Your first deck must be given to you as a gift–if this were true, I’d never have started reading Tarot Your deck must be wrapped in black silk to keep out any “bad vibes”–I’ve never done this, although I did wrap one deck in faux-silk, and still do. It seemed to suit the deck’s temperament. No one should ever touch you deck–While I do keep a few decks just for my use, when I read for another person, I feel the reading works…
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When I first discovered the Tarot it seemed like a mysterious tool just waiting to have its secrets unlocked by me, a slightly nerdy young teenage girl with a passion for video games. Truly, I knew that the secrets of the Ancient Egyptians were locked in those cards just waiting for me. Never mind, of course, that my first deck was the Aquarian Tarot, a psychedelic mix of art deco style and the 1970s, with nary a Pharaoh in sight. Back then, somewhere around 18 years ago(!), Tarot decks and books were still relatively rare. I struggled along with Eden…
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I have to admit that I am, generally, from the school of thought that believes a Tarot deck should only have 78 cards. In cases where there are extra Major Arcana cards, like the Daughters of the Moon (extra Lovers and Pan) or the Osho Zen (the Master), I remove them from the deck. I think, though, that the extra Major Arcana cards in the Steele Wizard Tarot are exceptionally well thought out and add a great deal to the standard Tarot archetypes. I laid out all the Major Arcana and arranged them in four rows of seven cards, placing…
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About a month ago, I began offering free Tarot readings through my website. About two weeks after that, I started doing free readings for the Free Tarot Network. The questions I have received range from someone asked advice on how to handle a difficult situation in her life, to a woman wondering if her lover will leave his wife, to someone wondering if they will win the lottery. Each of these, in their own way, are all difficult questions. I’m not a stranger to doing reading for others. When I first began reading Tarot, back in middle school, I read…
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I’ve been reading Tarot cards off and on since middle school. For the first little while I was more then happy to do readings for other people, but as I got older I got shyer, and now I never read for anyone other then myself with a few rare exceptions. So, I won’t read for my mom, but I will do distance readings for members of the Aeclectic Tarot Forum. Funny, I know, but I am what I am. Anyway, in an attempt to get a little more practice with Tarot reading (and hopefully increase my confidence), I have decided…
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As any Tarotist will tell you, the search for the perfect deck is endless. I’ve gone through over thirty different decks since I started reading Tarot over fourteen years ago. Some decks have stayed with me for a long time, while others were passed on almost as soon as I had bought them. It can be hard to say what is wrong with a deck; it may have a different set of correspondences then what I am used to, or the illustrations aren’t to my taste, or it just doesn’t feel right. One day, I’d like to create my own…
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Going through my Tarot deck yesterday, I got to thinking about the change that occurs as we move from The Chariot (7) to Strength (8). It is like a point of no return; we have left our innocence behind for good. With the Chariot we first discover our dark, or shadow, side, but it is a mild encounter and we are easily able to restore the balance using what we have learned previously (The Magician through The Lovers). But when we reach Strength, our self confidence has been shaken. We need to learn to trust ourselves again. We can still…
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I have been neglecting my Tarot studies almost completely over the past several months. One project that I was very excited about hasn’t progressed beyond the first page, and even that is still undone. Two weeks ago, though, I picked up the Medieval Enchantment Tarot (previously The Nigel Jackson Tarot) and it has rekindled my interest in the esoteric aspects of the Tarot. I find myself being seduced by the Tarot’s mystery all over again. This deck seems very ethereal to me, making me want to learn all of its secrets. In some respects I feel a little silly falling…