I first discovered tarot cards when I was thirteen years old. Actually that’s not entirely true, I had seen them, and been fascinated by them several years earlier, but I was thirteen before I held a deck in my hand and really discovered what they were.

When you are thirteen, you are still a kid. You don’t believe in Santa Claus anymore, but you aren’t quite ready to give up on the idea of magic. Back then, tarot cards were as magic to me as you could get.

It was actually my mom who first brought home a deck of tarot cards. She had chosen a Connolly deck, and I remember being sucked in by the beautiful artwork, and unusual symbols, and even the small silk bag she kept them in.

I immediately began lusting after a deck of my own, and my mom, with only slight hesitation said she would get a deck for me. At the store I was overwhelmed by the choices, but I eventually settled on the Rider-Waite Tarot deck after someone told me it was “the original”. I know much better now, but I was entirely pleased at the time to be holding in my hands and authentic, original deck of tarot cards.

And so began my tarot journey.

Within a few months I had acquired another deck, The Robin Wood Tarot, and a good thing too as it so happened I had become the proud owner of an Australian Shepherd puppy at around the same time, and he took it upon himself one day to add some much needed tooth marks to my Waite deck.

At Christmastime I received two more decks, a Hanson-Roberts deck, and a Universal Waite deck to replace my dearly departed original. I read book after book on tarot, learning as much as a could, never getting bored. My mom and I used to sit together and give each other readings, which might seem odd to some, but I look back on it fondly as some of the best times I had with my mom as a kid. My readings back then were surprisingly accurate, I think because my analytical adult nature had not yet fully manifested itself. If Harry Potter had been around in that time, I dare say I may have believed it could be real, instead of just wishing it were.

I joined tarot groups on the internet, including the mailing list, tarot-l, which I believe is still in existence in some form, and the USENET group, alt.tarot, which is likely a shadow of its former self these days, as I don’t think anyone goes on USENET anymore. I learned a lot from these groups, and also made a major nuisance of myself, being that I was a fourteen year old kid that knew everything.

For several years, my cards were my constant companion. I slept with a deck under my pillow every night. I found, and still do find that doing so triggered very elaborate, and sometimes lucid dreams. Why this is so I can’t fully explain, but I know it was and is true, because I experienced it. As time went on I did readings less and less, and began to use tarot in a more meditative way.

What tarot is not:

Tarot is not any deck of divination cards with pretty pictures on them. Plenty of liberties have been taken with the word tarot of the years, and a great deal of what is called “tarot” today is nothing of the sort, and a great deal more is borderline, to say the least.

Tarot is:

Tarot is a deck of 78 cards divided into two groups. The first group of 56 cards contains four suits, usually cups, wands, swords and pentacles or discs, and is known as the minor arcana. Each suit has numbered cards from Ace to Ten, and four courts cards, of which are normally made up of a Page, Knight, Queen and King, or a variation of this theme. The minor arcana closely resemble, and are related to modern playing cards.

The remaining cards, the major arcana are 22 face cards starting with 0, The Fool, and ending with The World.

Arcana, by the way, means secrets.

That is the basic criteria for a tarot deck and any deviation from this is not tarot anymore.

How I use tarot:

These days I rarely do readings. I just don’t feel drawn to do so very often anymore. I prefer to use tarot in a more meditative way. I find it relaxing to study the cards, take in the symbols, and even just appreciate the artwork.

I believe tarot works as a mirror of what we already know in our subconscious. It isn’t magic, at least not Harry Potter style, it simply provides a way for us to focus our minds and reveal to our conscious selves what our subconscious mind was already aware of. In this capacity, I can think of few greater, and more interesting tools.