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Table of Contents
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Introduction
/
AboutThis Book 2
MyAssumptions about You 2
HowThis BookIs Organized 3
Part I: It's AH in HowYou See It 4
Part II: ATourthrough theTarot Deckandthe
Spread ofthe Cards 4
Part III: The Part ofTens 4
Icons Used intheBook 5
Whereto Go from Here 5
Part 1: It's A(( in How l/ou See It 7
Chapter 1: Making Friends with the Tarot 9
IntroducingtheTarot 10
Harnessingthe PowerofSymbols 11
Becomingawareofarchetypes 11
Picturinganewperspective 14
Tarot,What Does theName Mean? 18
Lookingup the definition oftarot 19
Creatinganagrams 19
Puttingit alltogether 21
Chapter2: Who Uses the Tarot and Why? 23
GypsyFortune-Tellers, Psychics, and Mystics 24
Gypsies: Beatingabad rap 25
Psychics: Gettingspecific aboutthe future 25
Mystics: Communicatingwith divinespirits 26
UsingtheTarot in the Health Professions 27
Therapists: Tappingintothe unconscious mind 27
Substanceabuse counselors: Connectingtarot
with the 12 steps 28
TakingTarot into the Fortune500 29
TouchingStudents with theTarot 30
Improving readingskills 30
Helpingyoungsters express theirfeelings 31
AppealingtoAll 32
Chapter3: Let's Go Shopping! 33
Strollingthrough Tarot CandyLand 33
Decks, decks, and more decks 34
HablaEspanol? ParlezVous Francais?SprechenSie
Deutsch? ParlaItaliano? 38
!(/ Tarot For Dummies, U.S. Games Systems, Inc. Edition
Decidingon YourFirst Deck 39
Choosingaclassic 40
Followingyoureyes, hands, and heart 41
ShoppingforYour Deck 41
Hittingthe bookstores 41
Cataloging 42
Surfingthe Net 42
Chapter4: History and Mystery: Where Does the
Tarot Come From? 43
Place byPlace 44
StringingtheTheories Together 48
Tarotingthrough Time 49
Decks ofantiquity 50
Lookingatthetarot today 51
Chapter 5: The Tarot and the Mystery
School Tradition 53
Demystifyingthe MysterySchool 54
The mysteryschool experience 54
Open and closed mysteryschools 55
Mysteryschool guidelines 55
LookingforaMysterySchool? 56
Connectingwith Qabalah 57
LinkingtheTarot and the MysterySchool 58
Makingthe Historical Connection 59
Thetarot's tie to the mysteries 60
Thetarot and the Qabalah 61
Part 11: A Tour through the Tarot Deck and the
Spread of the Cards 63
Chapter 6: A Magic Mirror: Preparing forthe
Tarot's Possibilities 65
GettingReadyto Read 66
Reconciling positives and negatives 66
Amber's approach to interpreting 67
Recognizingtherole ofmemory 68
Wrestlingwiththe MeaningofReversals 69
Interpretingin blackand white 70
Shifting into neutral 71
Guidelines for interpretingreversals ....72
Differences betweenTarot Decks 73
Justice beforeStrength 74
Strength beforeJustice 74
Limbo land 75
Table of Contents
Chapter 7: Hitting the Big Time: The 22 Major
Arcana Cards 77
Definingthe MajorArcana 78
Preparingto read majorarcanacards 79
Pullingthe racecard 80
TouringtheCards 81
Chapters: Certainly Notthe Minor Leagues:
The MinorArcana Number Cards 105
Suit Yourself 106
PlaceYourOrder Here! 107
Orderingthe minorarcana bydensity 107
Orderingthe minor arcana bydirection 108
ConnectingtheSuits with Four Magic Letters 108
Amber's NewCar: The FourSuits in Action! 110
HaHaHaHa! Linkingthe Humors and Suits Ill
PuttingEverythingTogether 112
Interpretingthe MinorArcana 114
Chapter9: A Magic Kingdom: The 16 Court or
Royalty Cards 155
Namingthe Court Cards 155
BringingtheCourt Cards to Life 156
Royal occupations 157
Stages oflife 158
Abalancingact 158
Fillingin theGaps 159
IntroducingtheCourt 160
Chapter 10: Tarot Spreads Aren'tfor Sandwiches! 177
. .
HowTarot Spreads Work 178
Startingsmall 178
Preparingyour intention 179
Seeingintothe magic mirrors 180
Interpretingaspread's meaning 181
Spreadingthe cards: FromAtoZ 182
Taking Precautions When You Read forOthers 184
TheTouchstoneSpread 185
PullingaTouchstonecard 186
Sample spread 186
Amber'sAll-PurposeTarot Spread 187
Layingout thecards 187
Sample spread 191
Between Extremes Spread 194
Layingout thecards 194
Samplespread 196
(/f Tarot For Dummies, U.S. Games Systems, Inc. Edition
Psychological Spread 197
Laying out thecards 198
Sample spread 199
RelationshipSpread 201
Layingout the cards 201
Sample spread 203
The ChakraSpread 206
Thechakras 206
Layingoutthe cards 208
Samplespread 209
Tarot Games 213
Foryou 213
Fortwo 213
Foranynumberofyou 214
Gettinga Professional Tarot Reading 214
Findingareader 214
Interviewing 215
Showmethemoney! 216
Pan 111: The Part of Tens 217
Chapter 11: Top Ten Tarot Misconceptions 219
TheTarot is a Form ofDevilWorship 219
TheTarot Is a Religion 220
You Must Be PsychictoWorkwiththeTarot 220
Tarot Readings HelpYou Find Out aboutYourFuture 220
The Future Is Set in Stone 221
DearTarot Reader, PleaseFixMe! 221
YourWife's HavinganAffair 221
Curses and LoveSpells 222
Reversed Means the Opposite 222
MyLife's This WayBecause 222
Chapter 12: Ten (Or So) Cards Likely to Cause
a Freak-Out 223
TheTower 223
Death 224
Three ofSwords 224
TheDevi! 225
Five ofPentacles 225
The Eight ofSwords 225
The Hanged Man 226
TheHierophant 226
Index 227
Introduction
a M/elcometo thewide and wonderful world oftarot! Life
Ir is a set of picture symbols, and so is the tarot. Ifyou
thinkabout it, you've been interpreting picture symbols all
your life. For example, whenyou see asix-sided red sign
posted on astreet cornerwhile driving, you interpret it as a
signal to stop, no matterwhat language the word is written in.
Or, saythat one ofyour bosses smiles atyou, and another
frowns. You're likelyto see the "happyface" as friendlyand
communicatingthatyou're liked, and the "unhappyface" as
unfriendlyand communicatingthat you're disliked. Also,
there's an excellent chanceyou'd see danger and devastation
in a house fire, yet feel reliefand recovery as the fire truck
pulled up.
Thetarot is abonafide form of do-it-yourselfspirituality
that's been misused, misunderstood, and disgraced for gener-
ations. Because of human development, modern technology,
and worldwide communications spreading formerly inaccessi-
bleteachings, people likeyou are realizing it's unnecessaryto
have a middle person between themselves and divinity.
Ifyou're readingthesewords, you probablybelievethat all
knowledge, wisdom, and truth lie within. You're also probably
awarethat the true role of spiritual teachings and teachers is
to remind you about and put you in touch with the source of
knowledge, wisdom, and truth. Thetarot is asymbolic system
through which hundreds ofthousands of people, if not more,
accomplish this. It's myhonor, privilege, and delight to guide
youthrough thetarot.
Myjob is to helpyou make friends with the tarot byoffering
you suggestions, wisdom teachings, personal and student
experiences, and common-sense information that's sprinkled
with as manychuckles as possible. In this book, 1 showyou as
much ofthis marvelous system as I think needs presentingfor
aworthwhile introduction. Afteryou finish this book, you'll
knowwhetherthe tarot is atool you want to know even
better. You'll also have some clear ideas about howyou can
gain more knowledge about the tarot.
2
Tarot For Dummies, U.S. Games Systems, Inc. Edition
About This Book
TarotForDummies, U.S. GAMES SYSTEMS, INC. Edition, offers
the basics of tarot from my point ofview. Please be aware that
you mayencountervery different approaches to the tarot in
other books. Whatyou find in this book has been taken from
myyears ofstudying, teaching, consulting, and "living" the
tarot. This book is also spiced with comments and experi-
ences from mystudents and from other people I've met along
theway.
For centuries, the tarot has been forthe few, not the many. My
six primarygoals for this bookare
*> To make the tarot accessible and comprehensibleto
people from all walks oflife and backgrounds.
1/^ To provideyou with aclear and simple reference book
that can answeryour questions about the tarot and
demonstrate some ofthe wonderful things that you can
dowith thetarot.
1^ To alterthetarot's long-standing image as aworthless
fortune-telling device employed for extracting large sums
of moneyfrom hapless people.
1^ To showthat newspaper, TV, and movie accounts ofthe
tarot as a murderer's calling card and tool for practicing
blackmagic are inaccurate.
i^ To present thetarot as a nonsexist, nonracist, nonhomo-
phobic, nondogmatic, and multi-denominational system
of bona fide spiritual teachings and practices.
1^ To demonstrate howthetarot can bringyou adeeper
and clearer understandingofyourself, others, and the
world around you through the universal language of
picture symbols.
Mif Assumptions about \lou
I make the assumption thatyou are interested in, if not
fascinated with, the tarot. You probably have had your
tarot cards read or have been wantingto havethem read
forquite some time.
