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Tarot
& Fortune Telling
by: Vineet S
Since
ancient times man has strived to search out the
unknown. His pursuit of knowledge of the future
has led to the creation of many different methods
of fortune telling such as astrology, numerology,
palmistry etc. Card Reading or ¡éCartomancy¡¦,
as it is also known, is one such method that can
also claim to have helped penetrate into the mysteries
of fate from ancient times to the modern day.
It is impossible to trace the prehistoric beginnings
of cardlore, as divination by the cards is of
great antiquity. One theory holds that Europe
obtained the cards from the East, notably India
and China. Another theory separates the cards
of the West entirely from those of the East and
holds that Western cards were originally made
in Europe around the fourteenth century.
The
earliest cards found in Europe were the ¡éTarot¡¦.
These symbolical, numerical cards, forming a pack
of 78 cards are the immediate predecessors of
our own modern day playing cards. Divination by
these cards is credited mainly to the Jewish astrologer
and cabbalist, Jacque Gringonneur. The Tarots
helped the earliest catromancers develop their
art, later on in Spain, Italy and France methods
of cartomancy requiring only 32 and 52 cards were
developed, while the remaining cards were discarded.
The
word Tarot is believed to have been derived from
tarotee, meaning cross, in reference to the diagonally
crossed lines on the rear of the cards. The advent
of numerical representation saw the evolution
of card games such as ¡éTarochi¡¦ or ¡éTriumphs
¡é as it is also known. Just like contemporary
playing cards the Tarot pack also consists of
four suits, namely Cups, Wands, Swords and Pentacles.
Today there are many variants of the Tarot pack,
some with upto 97 cards. Though one does suspect
that some may also be the invention of today¡¦s
marketing geniuses, trying to satisfy the ever
growing demands of the consumer, not to mention
profit hungry corporate bosses.
Divination
by the 32 card pack is just as accurate as the
Tarot Pack, owing to their common ancestry, though
Tarot readings maybe somewhat more detailed. There
are many methods of divination using the 32 card
pack, however they are mostly similar in character.
Though their layouts are easier to learn than
those of the Tarots, the 32 card pack never gained
mass appeal. As up till now ordinary numerical
cards had been used for this purpose and as one
card can have up to eight different meanings depending
on its position, deciphering readings was a tedious
and difficult business. Thus this method only
remained the preserve of accomplished Cartomancers.
However, today modern printing allows not only
the meanings of the cards to be printed on the
card face, but also pictorial descriptions. This
makes the cards easy to read and self explanatory.
The pack of 32 has three simple layouts, well
suited to those untrained in the art of Cartomancy.
For instance, a sample pack may use the following
procedure:
In
the first layout the enquirer¡¦s question
is answered by randomly selecting 13 cards from
the pack. The enquirer can solicit more information
on any five of the 13 selected cards by choosing
five more cards from the remaining pile. This
form of divination is carried one step further
and the thoughts and desires, the household and
the fate in general of the enquirer are read from
the eighteen selected cards. The third layout
is perhaps the most interesting and allows the
enquirer to know if a particular wish or desire
will be realised in the future, simply by shuffling
the cards and laying out nine cards in a particular
spread.
Now
to practical experiences: Mrs.G has been using
the Power Fortunes¡¦ pack for sometime now
and reads the cards frequently. Recently, for
example, she kept getting ¡éMan in Uniform¡¦
and at the time there was no connection, but much
to her surprise an old acquaintance from the armed
forces, who she had not been in contact with for
sometime, called to see her, quite unexpectedly.
Although this person lived more than 1500 miles
away.
Ms
Haindl in London, England has also been using
the Power Fortunes¡¦ Pack for sometime. In
the spring of this year the cards repeatedly predicted
upheavals along with the Ten of Clubs, meaning
¡éChange of Occupation¡¦. Sometime later,
she left her job under trying circumstances, but
almost immediately found a more prestigious and
lucrative position elsewhere.
Mrs.G
did a reading for a friend, who picked up 4 Kings,
which represents, ¡éHonors, Promotions and
Wealth¡¦. Such a condition seemed too remote
for friend or family, but suddenly there was an
upheaval in her friend¡¦s husband¡¦s job
and much to their surprise this is exactly what
happened.
Reason
tell us that cards are merely printed pieces of
cardboard. It would be quite absurd for us to
expect them to convey anything intelligible, let
alone the future. However, all those who come
into contact with the cards discover an inexplicable
pattern, relevant to their lives. In fact, so
uncanny are these revelations, that their accuracy
cannot be explained away as a matter of sheer
chance. It is for this reason that people have
consulted the cards since ancient times, while
the cards have in turn faithfully guided their
masters through life¡¦s uncertainties. Considering
one doesn¡¦t have to rely on anybody else¡¦s
fortune telling talents except one¡¦s own,
it would seem like a good choice.
Contributing
Author
Vineet
is a cpywritter and consultant for
Tarot
Readings. More
details on the Tarot and fortune telling can be
found at, Tarot
Cards.
Discover
your future, Life Reading Destiny Fortune Telling
Taking control of one's destiny and discover one's
future. Understanding of one's destiny code.
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