An Introduction to the Tarot
The history of the Tarot is something that deserves its own article and fortunately for you the reader there are many good articles out there 1. The Tarot what ever the origins seem to have come into common awareness in the 15th and 16th centuries in Europe. However, my purpose in writing this article is to look to how the Tarot is used now by Pagan culture and how it can be used as a tool to both understand ourselves and others. On the market today you will find many types of card decks that are meant for use in divination. Some of these cards stay with the “classic” theme of historical Tarot and others wide vary as individuals have been inspired to try different paths and symbolism as their tools. If you own one of these decks of newer design I encourage you not to put them aside but to develop your personal usage of your chosen deck with the background I present here.
Divination
The word divination comes loaded with its own personal history that you bring with you as you read this. It is an evocative word that brings on its own images of various ways of seeking that which is unknown. One definition of the word states “successful conjecture by unusual insight or good luck”2, but what is conjecture? “A conjecture is a statement which, although much evidence can be found to support it, has not been proved to be either true or false,”3 this concept is one we need to take in as we ponder the how divination applies to us. The path of divination takes us on is both an internal quest and a quest to understand the greater world and what truths experiencing it may reveal.
Understanding Yourself
When you start to work with divination you are opening the door to your own soul and your point in reality as you perceive it. This is an important point that many people miss or misunderstand because they are looking to hurriedly open the door for others. If you take this approach you miss one of the joys and ethical necessities of divination, self-control. How often do you see someone just get into a race car and be an expert driver? It’s pretty rare and divination when done properly requires all the focus and skill of the expert race car driver. Hopefully you now understand that it is critical to crawl before you walk.
So how do you start to use the Tarot to understand yourself? The Tarot is the mirror of the human life and within it are the elements, images, and symbols you need to bond with to understand the forces at play in your life. Contained in the Tarot is the eternal story of discovery and transcendence, so let us together look at what this story is before we try to use it as a tool to reveal the story of your inner path and the paths of people you will read in the future.
Using Tarot as a Tool Part 1
Because we use the Tarot for spiritual exploration it is relevant both to the Now and to any of the possible futures that it charts for us. Depending on whether you are a person that believes in Fate or one that believes the future is but a dance in which the steps can be varied by the force of will you will find with time that the Tarot when used without ego will show you what you need to know, not what you wish to know. This distinction I believe is core to the understanding of your individuality. How often has anyone of us looked into the mirror and seen someone they find full of flaws and on the same day with a different glance find something that is attractive? Facing both of these sets of truths is what will lead you to be a successful reader of the Tarot. 
Most of us spend a good portion of the day in judgment. We declare to ourselves that I like this food, I dislike that person’s hat or shirt, wow dogs are noisy and annoying, I am so not in the hot persons “class”. This “I” centric view is one that is with us from our earliest days of childhood when our life focused on “feed me”, “hold me”, “love me” parts of survival so that the rest of the time we could drink in reality and begin to make story for ourselves on how it will play out. But now as adults (young or old) we have settled into certain patterns of judgment, which some call taste, which put us on autopilot for much of the day and make us involuntarily miss many important truths.
When coming to the Tarot and choosing to use it as a tool the good and the bad of judgment needs to be tempered
by achieving an inner stillness of your mind and body. To use the Tarot when you are angry, upset, worried, or ecstatic will change both the cards that appear and how you interrupt the story they are showing you. Working in divination no matter what the tool is should be a meditative act, one in which you leave as much of life’s distractions aside as you can. To be an honest conduit I really recommend practicing detachment and awareness as part of your learning process with your deck.
Just Let Go (Practice Detachment)
As you can see I am stressing what may seem like many background things that you many not agree apply to reading Tarot cards. Indeed you can ignore what I have said so far and find a how-to website and lay your cards out for your first reading. However, I will ask you this, how satisfying was that reading? Or how satisfying do you think it will be? When we rush forward with something, eager to delve into the mystery and power we anticipate most often we find confusion, disappointment, and maybe a little anger. I know I did when I got my first deck long ago. I actually walked away for a long time before I felt I was ready and could take a deep breath learn how to read. So “play” if you must, certainly read as many sources of information as you
can but always take what you see with a grain of salt until you have achieved the above. I invite questions on Part 1, please leave a comment here or you can go to my social section and use the forums there.
In Part 2 of Working with the Tarot I will attempt to retell the story of the Major Arcana and lay the setting from which your understand and skill with the cards will grow.
