The meaning of each tarot card - The High Priestess

The High Priestess card is number 2 in the tarot deck. It is a wonderful card of mystery, hidden depths and intrigue. When this card shows for you then you can expect to find that there is more to the situation than you thought! It is also a card of psychic abilities and instinct is strong around you at this time. If your senses are telling you something, then it is imperative that you listen to them. 

If you are feeling confused about your life and this card comes up, it is perfectly natural to want to dig deeper to find out what these secrets are. You may want to probe the people around you, or in the case of relationship problems, push your partner to find out their true feelings. Difficult though it may be, this card also shows the need for patience. Have faith in the natural order and all will be revealed to you in time. 

(For beginners or anyone looking for an easy to read tarot set, you can't beat the traditional Rider Waite Tarot Deck)

What Is Fate?

I did a tarot reading today that meant having to explain some of the ways in which fate works for us and why this meant that the tarot cards were offering different paths and choices rather than definite outcomes. I thought it was worth including here also as it is a very important part of all psychic and mystic matters and central to our beliefs. It can be a little confusing at first but I actually feel it is incredibly liberating and enriches our lives when we come to understand it.

What Is Fate?
The concept of fate is potentially thousands of years old. It was discussed by the ancient Chinese civilisations and Nordic traditions also, both of which are huge influences on current thinking. To say the word ‘fate’ or ‘destiny’ to many conjures up the idea of something static, fixed and unchanging, that it contains a map your life’s path.

However, fate has always been believed to be something that flows and changes in line with your actions, your circumstances and the choices you make as well as the people you meet and opportunities that arise. We are not puppets on strings, being controlled by the higher powers, but rather masters of our own destinies to a very large degree. We have free will.

Core areas of our lives and events may be shown by psychic energies. It is then up to us to make wise decisions based on this information.

Why Have a Tarot Reading?
Using psychic energies, the tarot cards will show you these events and also possible events coming up or those that are around you now. They can also help you with guidance on how to deal with them. For example, the cards may show an upcoming romantic connection with someone that you may be very drawn to but that there are reasons to be cautious. They can help to prepare you to look out for danger signs or to turn the situation around to your benefit.

What they can’t do is carry out these decisions and actions for you. If the cards show a potential love connection coming up around a social event, but you decide not to go, the tarot cannot make this happen for you! So you can see how you play a central role.

Psychic energies and tarot cards also bring the wisdom of the universe to you and the reason this can be so invaluable is because as human beings we are flawed. We are emotional creatures and they have a powerful hold over us. We can get ourselves into some very tricky situations! There are times when the truth is too much to bear and the tarot will sooth you because it gives you alternatives. A relationship may be going through a difficult patch and the tarot can help you to see where your behaviour is contributing to the problems and what you can do to change and get everything back on track.

What Outcomes Can I See In the Tarot?
Because fate is so flexible, in consulting the tarot you can explore different outcomes around different actions. What can happen if I call him? What can happen if I don’t call him? What will happen if I step back and give this time? It provides a wealth of information that we can take away and think about, even using our own instincts to help us determine the best way of moving forwards.

What I feel I must add, as I see this all too often, is that fate, the tarot cards and psychic energies cannot merely provide you with what you want to hear. What we want to see in our futures may not be what is right for us. I see many people in desperate situations such as unhappy marriages and relationships. They are being treated badly and want nothing more than the person they love to change. If the cards shows this will not happen, this may be one of your life’s core events. Sometimes, your actions will simply not be enough to change the other person.

It is at this point that you have to realise that fate is going to remain static and until you can find the strength to admit this to yourself then you will remain unhappy. Accept that fate would not match you with someone who would leave you permanently unhappy. Don’t feel that the cards are against you, they will always be acting in your interests.

Major Arcana

Hello, Happy New Year and I hope you had a great Christmas! I’ve been rushed off my feet with all the New Year readings and I have to say I have a GREAT feeling about this year - I’m really buoyed up!!

I wanted to kick off 2010 with a few words on the major arcana cards as I have seen a much higher incidence of them in my readings of the last week due to this being a time of change, emotional ups and downs and new beginnings.

Major Arcana
There are no real hard and fast rules to the tarot but it is generally accepted that the major arcana cards are the big ones, the heavy weights of the pack (click here to see a list of what the cards are). The first thing I do when I lay out a spread is take a quick look to see the what major arcana cards feature and where they are placed as it will often feed me the ‘mood’ of the reading. They’re fundamentally important!

What are Major Arcana cards?
A tarot pack will have 2 main types of cards - the major and minor arcana. The minors are the 4 suits of cups, swords, wands and pentacles and show more every day concerns.

The major arcana stand alone and are depictions of scenes and people. They are more symbolic and their presence in a reading will show you that significant changes will occur, or special attention should be given to this aspect of the querant’s life.
How to Read the Major Arcana
This all depends on what tarot spread you are using and what position the card falls in. For example, using the Celtic Cross spread, position 4 will show you what has occurred in the very recent past and indicates what has led them to the position they are in now.

So if the Judgement card is drawn here, we can see that decisions and hopes to improve his or her life have been influential. Because this is a major arcana card, we will be aware that the past needs particular focus, recommending ways to come to terms with it or turn it around.

If you read for yourself or are just starting out, it can be really helpful to pay particular attention to these cards when you lay out any spread. Tarot readings are very complex beasts! Simplifying the process by concentrating on the majors can be very enlightening as it will help you to tune into the major themes before you get overly confused by all of the other messages. As you develop your expertise, you will start to be able to cope with more layered interpretations, but most likely you’ll never drop the habit of honing straight in on these principal keynotes!

Tarot Readings, Not Fairy Tales

Just wanted to share a tarot reading story with you from yesterday. I did a reading for an absolutely lovely lady that I’ve actually done a number of tarot readings for before and I find her warm, caring and engaging - in short I really like talking to her. However, I’m not always comfortable reading for her!

How come? Much as I like her, there are times when she is not after a tarot reading, she is after a fairy tale. I have to work hard to get across the true meanings of the cards to her as she prefers to interpret them her own way, seeing only what she wants. I totally understand why she’s doing this. She is vulnerable in many ways and life is not going well for her. She wants the cards to sooth her worries and show her that things are going to be ok.

She’s not alone, I am always having to remind people that the wisdom of the cards is what you should put your faith in, not your imagination. Ultimately of course, you will benefit so much more from following the divine guidance even if it shows you that you have tough decisions to make or hard work is needed. And gaining insight in order to benefit your future is the great gift that the tarot has to offer.

Learning to Read Tarot Cards

Further to yesterday’s blog on interpreting tarot cards, I’m going to take this a little wider and look at learning to read tarot cards in general. This is because there is much more to it than just what you make of the imagery on the cards.

Learning to read tarot cards will challenge you on many levels. It should bring out psychic abilities and open your mind up to the mysteries of life. But also you need to work on acceptance and tolerance if you are wanting to read for other people, to learn to be understanding but also to avoid falling into the trap of giving too much advice. Here’s a brief look at some of these points:

Psychic Abilities
You do not need to have training or experience in psychic abilities in order to read the cards, but you will find that some work on what learning the tarot cards will bring out in you is necessary. Many thoughts and images will flood into your mind as you progress and it can be a little scary at first. You will grow in confidence and will start to have the confidence to go with these messages, but it can take time to recognise them.

Life’s Mysteries
If your learning to read tarot cards, chances are you are also interested in other mystical aspects of life! Take this as far as you can. Combining your reading with astrology, or pendulum work will bring extra energy and dynamism to your reading and open up insights that you may have otherwise missed.

Acceptance of Other’s Ways
When learning to read tarot cards, you may start to come across aspects of other people’s lives that you have not yet encountered and you may be a little shocked! You have personal reasons for not liking their behaviour or choices that they have made. But it is NOT your role as a tarot reader to judge. Leave this behind and focus on what the cards are giving you.

Be Understanding But Impartial
Sometimes, the querant can be vulnerable and in a state of emotional distress. Of course you will want to show them some kindness and offer comfort if you can, and this is fine. It is part of giving them the opportunity to trust in you. Sometimes you may find that people are vulnerable when they don’t appear to be, for example if they are aggressive, but they still deserve your understanding.

What you must be careful of however, is offering your personal opinion. They have come to you for a tarot reading and are looking for the guidance that the cards are offering. Even if you have been through something similar, stick to what the cards are showing them is the right course of action. It can be hard to detach yourself at first, but in my experience the tarot cards are always right in the long run so you can put your total faith in them!

Interpreting Tarot Cards

Interpreting tarot cards can be very difficult for the beginner. The artwork on the cards looks almost designed to confuse you! It also doesn’t help that most experienced readers will tell you that personal meaning is as important as the standard meanings. But interpreting tarot cards is an art and not something you should hope to master in one day. It takes time and it takes dedication and it takes faith. However, in order to try to make it easier for you if you are just starting out, here are some suggestions:

1) The obvious one first. Start with a good book and do readings for yourself or close friends and family with the book to hand. You may not be able to go as quickly as you think you should and it will also hinder your ability to see how the cards fit together but on the plus side, it will get you familiarised with the cards.

2) Do some readings for yourself and keep notes of what comes up. This way you’ll be able to see how accurate you are becoming at interpreting the tarot cards and also you may pick up on some common associations. This will mean you are forming a personal attachment to the tarot and developing special signs that will mean certain events or happenings to you. For example, certain cards may often represent someone older.

3) It is important however that you do learn to piece together readings and look at how the cards are relating to one another. Otherwise it will simply be a lot of random and disparate events! And this doesn’t reflect life, ergo it isn’t the best way to go about interpreting tarot cards which after all, all about life! This is quite a complex area and I will cover this in more depth another time. But look for a lot of major arcana cards to signify significant events coming up, or a high number of a particular suit. A high number of cups will mean emotional matters are central.

4) Learn to trust the psychic ’voice’ that you will be channelling. This is something deep inside you, a facet of you that you may not have encountered before. At first you will not know what to do with the sudden rush of thoughts or images coming to you but this will become familiar and more manageable.

5) Interpreting tarot cards is a craft and so this is something you will always be working on. I still like to read about the experiences of others and to continue to broaden my knowledge. So don’t feel that you need to get to a certain level of expertise. Tarot reading is a life time practise.

Best of luck!

Elizabeth xx

Readings of Inner Strength

I did an absolute wonderful reading yesterday! By which I mean that I thoroughly enjoyed it and really connected with this lovely, warm young woman. It was an absolute pleasure. The reason for this was because she was someone who had frankly had more than her fair share of problems in life (and the cards hinted at much more than she was going to let on) but she had such energy, such a go-getting attitude it was clear that she was going to be ok in the end. This girl had real mettle!

And the cards that came up around this were ones of turning life around. Tarot cards such as the magician which indicates a need to start taking control, grabbing the reigns of her own life. The reason that this was such an exciting reading to do was because she was so truly open to this and deep down had an unshakeable faith that she could do it.

I so often read for people that have been through tough times and sadly have no fight left. It is so heartbreaking to see cards coming up, revealing an inner strength and capability that they just don’t realise is there. The cards show the potential but you have a saddening feeling throughout the reading that the querant is just not going to see this. And self belief is totally paramount.

So if you are feeling down or despairing and choose to go for a reading, firstly be assured that is your time and not a place where you will be judged. But don’t dismiss the cards that show you have power and strength. You may not feel like it now and it may be too early for you to start to access these abilities. But be open to them - the cards are showing you that YOU are the real key to your future.

Mind Reading Vs Tarot Reading

I was talking to a fellow tarot reader last week and she said something that I thought was really spot on. She said that she often felt it necessary to inform people when she was giving a reading that she was a tarot reader, not a mind reader! This is actually a really important distinction and is a lot more helpful to the querant than it may at first appear. So here’s how this will help you…

I will go more into detail on how the tarot cards work as I update my blog but in order to see the reason that my friend was so right it is necessary to briefly look at what the tarot cards offer. They will give you guidance and help through emotional times, look at various outcomes for different actions taken and can help you see the way forward through difficult circumstances. They are an aid to help navigate your way through the more tricky patches in life, to throw you a life line!

Tarot readers may also possess psychic skills, or be clairvoyant or clairsentient - these abilities can help them gain a more in depth look at the details of your situation. Such details may come to the reader in a flash/thought, an image or a symbol. But beware someone who claims to be able to look inside of the heads of those you are interested in, to give you specifics on timings. The cards do not work with such guarantees as free will and choices always play a part along with actions (both yours and others.)

The brilliance of the tarot falls in the divine wisdom that it gives you access to and not everything is revealed at once if it is felt you need to unfold the situation, to understand the complexities of it. To be honest, understanding this is much more likely to help you in the long run than the simple facts of what someone else is doing, thinking or feeling at that precise moment.

LnL

Elizabeth x

Hello From the Other Side of the Deck!

If you’ve ever had a tarot reading, you may well have wondered what is happening from the reader’s side. What are they doing, what are they picking up on and how are they doing it?! Obviously knowing nothing about this does not prevent you from getting a good reading. But I’ve always believed, as a tarot reader, that the querant can actually gain a better reading from understanding the process - knowing what to contribute and what to keep back. In other words, how to combine energies with your reader as well as the reading.

So in order to help you gain insight, I’ve decided to keep a blog :) I’ll be sharing and informing (I hope!) along the way, but am also more than happy to answer any questions you may have. I’ll also be posting thoughts and observations from readings that I may have done throughout the week (totally anonymously of course) in order to illustrate what can come through and the best way to use these messages.

I hope you enjoy my thoughts and ramblings and - you never know - find them enlightening!

Love and light
Elizabeth Ansell
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