Getting Started

Introduction

If you put little to no time into it then you will get little in return.  If on the other hand you devote a small part of your day to it, even ten minutes, you will come away enriched far beyond what you can imagine.

The tarot is learning to use your intuitive nature, your subconscious mind and thoughts rather than your conscious mind.  The tarot can be used for mediation, divination, spiritual growth, and for many other reasons.  This site deals more with the divination aspect than anything else.  That and trying to get you to get into contact with, and to listen to your inner self, that voice in your head that you seldom use or even want to admit exists.  Your sub-conscious remembers everything you have ever learned, seen, smelled or done and it's a library chalked full of information that few people ever make use of.  The tarot will help you open the doors to that library if you let it.

But you need a way for the two, your subconscious and conscious, to communicate so things like keywords have been developed over the years for each of the tarot cards.  And more importantly the imagery (the picture scene) on a card should convey these keyword meanings to you so your outer and inner self have a common language they can speak and understand.

The Tarot Deck

That last paragraph is bat dung folks.  Don't get me wrong I agree with it because I wrote it.  But if you are new to the tarot the line is total bull and here's why.

Go out and purchase a Rider-Waite deck for your first tarot deck!  Period, no hesitation, forget that you hate it, forget that you can't stand the less than fetching art on the cards, and who cares if it talks to you or not.  That isn't important.

What is important is that nearly 90% of the books and information in the tarot world is written on, for, or about the Rider-Waite tarot or one it's many varitions.  The pictures and diagrams used in those books, on the internet and so on are from the Rider-Waite deck.  The deck most often referred to in chat rooms, on lists, on messages boards and what have you is the Rider-Waite deck.

You want a deck that talks to you then fine ... get one after you learn the Rider-Waite deck and all the cards and a few spreads.  Then fetch that special ippsy-pipsy fine deck you choose and go for the gusto.

Don't be a moron at the start of your tarot life and struggle with a deck there might be a single book written on and for, if that.  Go with the Rider-Waite deck and when you are ready ... 'make your move' to the deck that talks to you, that feels right, and that's all yours!

But I know tarot folks and you will probably not listen to my words of wisdom.  And what's even odder is that many of the tarot images and graphics used on this web site are from the Robin Wood deck which is a close variation of the Rider-Waite deck.  Only it's a whole lot prettier, more vivid, and in my opinion a lot better than the Rider-Waite deck.

But I still recommend you start your tarot life with the Rider-Waite deck just to makes things easier on you.  You are going to eventually get one anyway since tarot folks tend to be tarot deck collectors.  So why not get it now and learn on it?

Types of Tarot Decks

More Suggestions

Don't get a cutesy tarot deck.  They are stupid and hard to learn on.  You can usually tell this type of deck because it will have pictures on them that make little or no sense, or have things like ghosts and other things that honestly have nothing to do with the tarot.

Try to stay away from the oriental decks and decks that use images of modern times because of the lack of information on these decks.

Stay away from decks that don't use the conventional names for the Major Arcana and the Court Cards because it will make learning easier.

That's my advice ... take it or leave it!  I can already hear people disagreeing with me now.  They will be the folks that love the kind of decks that I have told you NOT to get to start learning on.  They are entitled to their opinions just like I'm entitled to mine.  But take my advice and don't listen to them and go with a tarot deck that's easier to learn on and that you can find resource materials for.  Don't go with one just because it has Casper the friendly ghost on it, Baldor the Dragon, a picture of a pretty Indian princess, or a bunch of Goddesses on it.  Later you can take your own road but for now you need a guide-map and ways to read that guide-map so go with the Rider-Waite deck to start with.

You can find examples of many decks at the following web addresses.

http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/
http://www.tarot.com/about-tarot/decks/browsedecks.php
http://taroteca.multiply.com/

Don S.