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As a tarot card reader, part of your job is to read the card of a person in a manner that inspires trust and satisfaction in your client. You must read the combination of cards of your client in a fashion that is true to the cards but realistic and positive at the same time.

With that in mind, there is no card that inspires more dread and misunderstanding in clients than Death. For people that are unfamiliar with Death, they will naturally assume the worst when they draw this card. After all, the grim, skeletal figure of this card naturally conjures up thoughts of death, suffering and our own mortality.

Many clients will assume that either they, or someone they know is about to meet their maker, if they draw this ominous card!

In fact, the card Death has absolutely nothing to do with actual death. But it is your job to allay in your client their natural fears, and point out the true meaning of the card. Actually, interpreting the card Death and explaining its true relevance to a client, is something that I regard as a rite of passage for all new tarot card readers.

It tests your ability to calmly connect with your client, meaningfully unpack the true meaning of the cards and inspire in them trust and understanding. If you cannot do this with success, then you might need to practice more before you take you divining skills to the world!

1) What does Death stand for?

As I said, the first thing you need to explain to your client is that drawing the card death should not be taken literally. It does not stand for physical death at all, despite its frightening natural implications. It is, however, a very powerful card with serious connotations.

The best way to introduce the death tarot card is to ask your client - What does death stand for?

The first thing your client is likely to say is actual physical death, dying and absence. After they have made the obvious literal connections, ask them to offer non-literal meanings. No doubt they will start to think more creatively by giving more abstract meanings, like 'the end of something', 'the finishing of a journey', 'ending one chapter of your life, and embarking on another'.

Indeed these secondary understanding of the card Death are more accurate. After all, Death is merely a symbolic card that represents the end of one thing, and the beginning of something new and unknown.

So, in a sense, Death certainly does imply that something in the life of your client is dying or coming to an end, but with that death there will come rebirth and new life.

2) Interpreting Death for your client

The card Death is a very important card because it foreshadows that your client is about to experience a significant change in their life. It is a card the signals the end of one stage in the life of your client, and the beginning of an entirely new phase.

This process of ending and beginning should not be a frightening thing at all, but rather an opportunity for your client to overhaul their life.

Like when we experience a death in real life, your client should expect to feel a mixture of emotions when they end this era. Like when we say goodbye to a loved one, your client may not want to let go of the phase that is ending. They may feel unprepared, sad and want to cling to a particular situation despite the fact that it is naturally dying.

Explain to you client that when the experience the end of this era, they may feel all the emotions that accompany grief, like disbelief, anger and finally acceptance. This is all normal, and is part of the process.

Encourage your client to reflect on their past, understanding that each phase in our life has a mortality of its own. As with our physical existences, we cannot always control our destiny. Drawing the card Death means you client should be ready for major change, but it is your job as their reader to encourage them to embrace change philosophically, as we accept physical death philosophically.

3) Last points

Explaining the card Death to a client is a challenge but it is an important step in becoming a competent, inspiring reader. As a general point to people who want to start reading cards, there is no greater piece of advice than to first teach yourself how to be an effective communicator.

The death tarot card shows us that no matter how intuitive we are, no reader is worth their salt if they cannot communicate effectively. After all, your clients are relying on you and expect a faithful but positive explanation of their cards. You need to allay their fears when they draw Death, reminding them it is only symbolic not literal.

More and more people these days are using tarot card readings to help predict their futures and guide their decision-making.

It is estimated that Indeed, most people that routinely read or have their tarot cards read to them will tell you that tarot cards are an extremely powerful source of information and, when interpreted correctly, can allow people to accurately predict the future and therefore make extremely good choices before life-changing events take place.

As with any alternative spiritual practice, there are sadly are plenty of skeptics that criticize or belittle mystical practices like Tarot reading.

Ordinarily these people are simply afraid of the power of the spiritual arts, and find non-conventional forms of knowledge confronting or disturbing.

If you are serious about learning Tarot card divination, or are simply curious about what you might gain from having your cards read yourself, you should not let skeptics dissuade you.

The truth is that many forms of knowledge derive from unexplainable sources that resist conventional strictures like science and medicine. The secrets of the magical arts will only be revealed to those who come them with open minds and hearts.

Indeed tarot card reading is a complicated and deeply spiritual art form that draws on the inherent wisdom of the cards, as well as your own intuitive divination powers.

Any person can learn to read tarot cards, but only a handful of individuals will truly master the process because there are only few amongst us that will be able to combine the ancient and magical authority of the cards with their own insightful capabilities.

For example, when I first had my tarot cards read when I was only eighteen years old, I was lucky enough to see a very experienced reader. She told me then that she saw that I had deeply intuitive powers and that I would eventually begin to use these powers myself. Her prediction was correct, and some years later I began learning tarot card reading myself. I have been doing so for the past twelve years and now have a small but thriving business in my own community.

Like all skills, before you can start reading tarot cards with any level of accuracy and confidence, you need to learn the origins and implications of each card. This requires you to learn about every individual card, then the interrelationships between one card and all the other cards in the deck.

In this article, I want to discuss the very important card of The Fool.

1) The History of the Fool

In order to grasp the meaning of The Fool in tarot, you first need to obtain an understanding of the Fool in history. In medieval times, the Fool played a very unique role in the royal medieval court.

His sole job was to amuse the King and the court, and he was not bound by the same rules of social propriety or order that bound his peers. In fact, the Fool was actually expected to break with social convention in order to provide comic relief and amusement to the monarch.

He was allowed to be outspoken, and was known to ridicule and tease other people who would otherwise be above reproach.

The Fool was also sometimes a very trusted consort of the King. Unlike the other advisors of other monarch, the Fool could be quite open in his opinions and views. His candid observations and analysis made him an invaluable ally to the monarch. The Fool was, in short, a welcome breath of fresh air in a society bound by strict rules.

2) What does the Fool mean?

Understanding the special social place of the Fool helps us to crack open the role of the Fool in the tarot deck. Like his actual historical counterpart, the card of The Fool forewarns of something unexpected. It is a card that represents spontaneity, unpredictability, the inconsistency of human life and the need to adopt an innocent, trusting belief in your own destiny.

When a client draws The Fool this is an indication that their future will not travel with the consistency and predictability they would like. You should warn them that despite their best laid plans, they must be prepared for surprises.

They must expect the unexpected. Be aware that the mere fact that your client draws the Fool does not mean that they should stop making plans for the future altogether. Rather it is a quiet reminder that they should ride the uncertainties of life with faith and humor, trusting that new unanticipated forks in the road and the overall ebbs and flows of life are leading to the place where they should naturally be.

In tarot, the Fool also suggests that your client should adopt an approach to life that is innocent and trusting. Like the Fool in medieval times, it is a childlike, carefree and trusting card that implies that life can be inherently good and uncomplicated. When a person draws the Fool it suggests they should trust that their life will unfold for them naturally, irrespective of unforeseen upsets and changes.

Thus advise your client to simply live their life with the innocence and ingenuousness of the Fool. By surrendering to changes with innocence, they will nourish their own joy and fulfillment.

Whether we admit or not, most of us have quaint notions of what tarot cards are.

On the surface, they are merely a deck of illustrated cards used in predictions, while the tarot.php>tarot card reader is an eccentric person dressed in robes seated behind the fortune-telling booth in the town fair. This image of tarot cards is, of course, clichéd, and yet we'd rather feel comfortable with its familiarity than dig deeper. We resort to the more convenient explanation rather than actually investigate the sometimes unpleasant yet gratifying truth of tarot cards.

Perhaps, the most famous among the tarot.php>tarot cards is the Death Card, a card quite unfairly invested with too much negative meanings and energies behind it, so much so that we usually think of tarot cards as tools of the occult, vehicles of evil even. While we can't deny the fact that indeed tarot can be used for such purposes, tarot.php>tarot cards can also be perfectly well-intentioned and can be actually used for good causes.

As a matter of fact, the earliest use of tarot cards in fifteenth century Italy was as a game, much like a deck of regular playing cards but with the addition of trump cards. It wasn't until late 17th or 18th century that tarot cards began to take on a more serious role in divination.

Over the years, the pictures in the tarot cards, their rich symbolisms, procedures, purposes, and meanings evolved in such a way that the characters portrayed in them have come to mirror all our follies, fears, strengths, and hopes. By stringing them together into a tale, we are able to retell and uncover the past as we would have liked it unfold, as well as get a sense of a manageable future we can feel safe with.

A radical and inevitable shift indeed for tarot cards from a simple game to life-changing therapy.

Carl Jung, a world renowned psychologist has always considered tarot as an alternative psychotherapy. By utilising the rich imagery encapsulated in every tarot card, we are able to voice out our concerns, look into our past, and prepare for the future. In some cases, children who don't yet know how to speak can use the images and characters in the tarot deck to piece together their thoughts and tell their story. Tarot cards then offer an alternative language system through which we can bring our Unconscious up to the light.

Jung explains that tarot cards represent different archetypes of human personality and situations. The Death Card then is not just simplistically a dreary card foretelling iretractable death to the querent (person who asks questions in a tarot card reading). Rather, the death card can be seen as the death, an end of something inside us: a vice, long standing pain, bad habits, sorrow, signaling rebirth.
We do not just blindly pick out cards from the tarot deck. Every moment of our lives we are armed with choices, choices that spell out and define our fate. It's not just what you keep out from your life that matters; it's also what you allow to make a difference. Even if they're just a deck of tarot cards.

Just by its name, you would think that the Lovers card in a Tarot deck would signify romance, love and marriage. Good guess. The Lovers card has a lot to do with relationships, sexuality, personal beliefs, and values.

Has the Lovers card ever come up when you are reading Tarot cards? The Lovers card speaks for itself. The Lovers card is number 6 on the list of Tarot cards.

For most people, when they are looking for advice from either a fortune teller or a psychic, they want the Lovers card to appear.

Why is this?

The Lovers card deals with forming bonds, feeling loved, creating a loving union, acknowledging a relationship bond, having sympathy of another person, becoming closer, establishing a connection, and being intimate.

The Lovers card signifies a world where there are no boundaries to intimacy, romance flourishes, and sex is passionate, but gentle. At the same time the Lovers card represents life-long partnerships, companionship, and trusting another person that you are in love with.

Given that love is such a universal need, it is little wonder that most individuals feel the need for it somewhere in their Tarot reading

1) Breaking Down The Lovers Card

The Lovers card is part of the major arcana. Love is one of the many stages of life, and that means it is a fairly important card in a reading.

The Lovers card represents that an individual is looking for a union, experiencing desire, making love, being open to love, responding with passion, feeling a physical attraction, or tapping into the energy within them.

When this card is turned, predominately, the person who is having their Tarot cards read is in a committed relationship or is looking for attention from the opposite sex.

Because of the personal beliefs of the individual, they are questioning who they are, trying to find where they stand, being true to themselves, walking their on path in life, abiding by their own principles, or making up their own mind.

Overwhelmingly, though, the Lovers card does not represent being a loner. In dealing with the values of the person, they may be deciding what their values are at that time, struggling with temptation, choosing between what is right and wrong, refusing to let the ends justify the means, or discovering what is truly important to them.

2) The Two Types of Lovers Cards

a. The Upright Lovers Card

This card represents being in tune with others and an improvement in the relationships you have, especially ones that are romantic in nature. This card carries a clear message that we should all develop a deep connection with the others that share our lives.

b. The Reversed Lovers card

This card is a warning not to make hasty decisions as you may regret them in the future. You have to be careful with the decisions you make and make sure they feel like the right decisions in your gut. The reversed Lovers also symbolizes bad timing and frustration in relationships

3) Cards That May Reinforce The Lovers Card

There are a few cards in the tarot deck that mean similar things to The Lovers card including such cards as:

a) The Empress

This card represents sexual fulfillment and feeling pleasure in your relationship as well as being very sexually active.

b) Two of Cups

This card symbolizes a union, marriage, or some type of connection. It also stands for happiness of the person that is in that relationship.

c) Nine of Cups

This card stands for outright sexual pleasure. The person is promiscuous and has no qualms about their body.

d) Ten of Cups

This card stands for solid permanent unions and family ties.

e) Ten of Pentacles

This card stands for a person that has been in a long marriage and has full grown children, who they are still close to.

f) Can The Lovers Tarot Card Help your Relationship?

Many people want to know if the Lovers card will be the remedy for their problems in relationships.

It is often the case that people feel that Tarot cards will enlighten them so that they will be able to read their partner. They have the belief that these cards can give them information about relationships they are currently in, as well as past ones.

So can your relationship questions be answered by the Lovers card?

It has been said that that cards reveal secrets in your relationship, which then will reveal other aspects of your life, and then it snowballs. Finally, everything you wanted to know about is exposed to you. The Lovers card may just hold your relationship secrets.

Who has not had a situation occur that they wished they could change? Every once in awhile, something in life hits you, and you cannot help but think - I wish I could go back in time and change what just happened.

Unfortunately, time machines only exist in fictional movies and books. But what if you could change the future? What if you could make sure that something coming that would change your life for the worse did not happen?

That is one of the main reasons people seek fortune tellers. Most are trying to discover what the future is, especially the bad future, and how they can cheat it.

1) Knowing changes things

If you have never had a tarot reading, you may not understand how it works. Even if you have had a good tarot reading, you may still not understand exactly what a tarot reading is for.

A tarot reading is not like looking into a crystal ball. It is not the myth of the old gypsy woman sitting in front of you, with a scarf wrapped around her head and a crystal ball on the table, telling you exactly what will happen every second of every day of your life.

Tarot is, instead, a way to see into yourself, and a way to get a glimpse past the veil that is the difference between the present and the future. It is like a child who walks back stage and pulls the curtain aside for only a moment, just getting a glimpse of what is on stage.

This is why some people have a very hard time getting a tarot reading done. Most people head to a tarot reader, believing that they are going to come out with a map of their future, and leave, instead, with the knowledge that the reader has just looked deeply into their soul.

2) To know where you have been

A wise man once said - Only after knowing where you have been, can you tell where you are going.

Only by knowing what type of a person you are, can you recognize what type of decisions you would make when a situation occurs. This is often the hardest for people getting a tarot reading to hear.

We usually put blinders on when it comes to recognizing the type of person we are. I know that when I hear something about myself, something that I did not want to hear, I tend to deny it.

This is the reason that some people come away from tarot readings upset and in denial.

It is true, though, that before we can change the future, we need to know what type of a person we are. If you are an impulsive person, with a bit of a free spirit in you, you will make a completely different decision about a situation than you would if you were an obsessive person who loved things orderly and neat.

One of the things that you need to know is that, according to the tarot, things are not set in stone. Things can change as long as you keep your eyes, and your heart, open.

3) The Wheel Of Fortune

In order to understand the wheel of fortune, you have to think about the carnival. It never fails: in almost every carnival, there is a man or woman with a large wheel that is marked with prizes or money denominations. The carnie will say - Round and round she goes, where she stops, nobody knows.

Eventually the wheel slows and the spinner lands on something. This is what The Wheel of Fortune is all about. It is meant to show that no matter wherever the person is in life, they can change their situation with a little knowledge and a little effort.

If you are reading the cards, it can signify a change of fortune for the person, or it could represent an opportunity that will soon become available. This opportunity may be difficult to see, or may be available for only a short time, so the seeker needs to understand that they have to jump on the opportunity when it arises, or risk losing the chance for forever.

If The Wheel of Fortune pops up in response to a specific question, the card means that the person should take a few steps back and look into themselves, and at the bigger picture.

The Wheel of Fortune is definitely one of the better cards to get during a tarot reading, but remember, it should not take seeing The Wheel of Fortune in order for you to change your life. Little changes can happen every day.

The Hanged Man features one of the most fascinating and poetic images of the whole tarot card deck: a man hanging upside down from a tao cross (sometimes a tree or bar) by one foot, his hands bound or tucked behind his back. He is suspended in mid air, his free leg forming the number 4 with his other leg.

Unexpectedly, he is not struggling to escape and instead has a look of complete satisfaction on his face. What is the story behind this strangely calm hanged man?

1) The Number Four

Four is the number that rules a person ego, implying that the hanged man is suddenly surrendering his own consciousness and will for a much higher one.

2) The Story

The story is inspired by the Norse god Odin, who hung from the world tree for nine days straight after a spear wounded him. As a result, he was forced into a temporary state of enlightenment. Odin had give up control to gain insight.

Often, change is falling from the hanged man, resembling his loss of worldly possessions and thus worldly desires. Remember how his hands are not free? This shows that he is unable to take action or grab at things he may want. Also, he is not holding onto anything!

As the man hangs between the ground and the cross, he has a moment of absolute clarity, consisting of new insights that render him carefree. His materialistic self is transformed into a spirit that is unconcerned with practical, day-to-day worries.

But the hanged man would not always be in this suspended position; he will eventually return to the earth and become a part of society again. However, even after his epiphany has worn off a bit, he will hopefully be changed forever.

3) Are you hanging upside down?

How might the Hanged Man be a metaphor for your life? Are you going through a big change that is requiring you to sacrifice relationships, money, possessions, financial or emotional security, or even your ideas about how the universe works?

If so, then you have a stunning opportunity to take a glimpse into what a life without earthly wants and needs, unattached and free from all prejudice and judgment, is like. While this state of consciousness is only momentary, it can influence the rest of your life and give you a new, powerful freedom and bravery to pursue hopes and dreams you never even considered before.

The hanged man has to sacrifice previous notions about the way things work, all his belongings, and even health and physical comfort in order to become enlightened. The Hanged Man tarot card is not about life or death or making choices or even predictions about the future. It is simply about viewing all existence with the kind of innocence and openness that only babies have. Hence, the Hanged Man is a symbol for rebirth and transformation.

Those who relate to the hanged man the most have typically suffered a big loss. Divorce, death, a job change, growing old, getting sick - all of these can trigger someone to rethink everything. If we can be like the Hanged Man, at peace with what we have and not sorrowful or angry about what we don't have, then no matter what life throws at us, we will always evolve and become better, happier people in the end.

4) Your Next Step

While we are hanging upside down, we are paused in life, but the stage is now set for us to adapt to new changes and progress. Imagine yourself standing at a crossroads, not ready to pick a path.

First, take a step back and observe what is going on in your life without the intention of making any conclusions or decisions regarding your future. The Hanged Man encourages non-action. Sometimes, it is NOT necessary to do something, and in fact it is foolish and often destructive to act just for the sake of acting.

Patience is the most important virtue for you to practice right now! There are periods in your life where all you can and should do is wait. This may mean a lot to you if you are waiting on your significant other or love interest to make a move or if you are waiting to find out if you got that new job. Just as the hanged man, life might be out of your control right now. The key is to accept this fact and not fight it; fighting will be futile after all.

5) The Reversed Hanged Man

There are two sides to every coin! The conventional Hanged Man encourages tarot card readers to relax, while the reversed Hanged Man encourages action. The man who says he will start up his business tomorrow, not today; the woman who says she will pursue an education tomorrow, not today; the nicotine addict who says he will quit smoking tomorrow, not today... these are all people who might be in need of a good change and should stop waisting their time reflecting on the mysteries of life!

Some people question the legitimacy of the tarot cards. For us to be able to get accurate readings from tarot cards, we will need to understand something. There are 2 ways to understand the meaning of the tarot cards in a reading, and though one is a guide, the other is essential for accurate readings.

When you first begin to read tarot cards, the only way to start understanding the meaning of tarot cards, is by looking at a book, on a website or learning from someone. This is a great way to learn about tarot cards, and begin reading the cards; however it is not the best way.

Yes, you need to learn the meanings. However, these meanings are only a rough guide. Reading tarot cards in the true sense, is to delve into your intuition to find answers. This is not always easy. Some people find they have great skills at finding the answers through intuition, while others simply need the book.

Can you divine without using your intuition? Yes, it is possible; however, you will only find that you have very general meanings. You won't come to understand the true benefits and insights that the tarot cards can provide you.

Developing intuition takes time. By doing tarot for a number of years, you will find that you can get more of a picture of what the cards are saying. When you first start reading tarot cards, and having a book with you, you may be apt to thinking that you need to memorize the meanings. However, I must stress that those meanings in the tarot book are only a guide.

Understanding the meaning of tarot cards is pretty easy. Either memorize or use intuition. Both work, however, to get a better understanding of tarot cards, you will need to utilize your intuition.

Again, we are trying to divine not read tarot cards, but in the beginning, it can be an exercise which is necessary in the beginning. You have to get used to your tarot cards, and more you use them, more personal they become. Over time, you will find that you and your tarot cards share a bond, and can provide you with the answers you need.

You maybe thinking that you may not be able to utilize your intuition in the beginning, and that is ok. As you continue to do tarot, and do tarot readings for others, you will find whether tarot or more importantly divining is a route you want to go down.

It can be trying times, and tarot is more close to the new age, than the television is! When you first embark on the journey through finding your own spirituality, you will find many options. Tarot is usually one of those options. Some of us find that tarot is a great thing in our lives, and we come to understand the meaning of tarot cards, while others may find other ways of divining, and understanding spirituality, and life.

Tarot cards are used in many European countries in card games but Westerners are more familiar with their usage in divination. A Tarot reader can look to the cards for insight into what is currently happening and what might happen in the future. Every card in the deck has its own symbolic meaning. There are traditional and themed decks available, so the symbolisms (and cards) can vary somewhat depending on what kind of card is being used. The most popular Tarot card deck used in the Western world is the Rider-Waite deck.

The Rider-Waite Tarot deck consists of seventy eight cards with a different image on the face of each one. Twenty two of the cards are the Major Arcana that are numbered from 0 to 21. In a Tarot reading, the Major Arcana cards relate to matters of great importance or significance. The images on these cards are very symbolic to that point that some of the images have entered the public consciousness. The image of The Fool standing on the edge of his summit and the dangling The Hanged Man are familiar images to many who have never had a Tarot reading.

The remaining fifty six cards in the Tarot deck are called the Minor Arcana. In a reading, these cards deal more with the day to day occurrences than the Major Arcana. There are four suits of Minor Arcana cards: Wands (fire), Coins (earth), Cups (water) and Swords (air). Each suit contains fourteen cards that start with Ace (example: Ace of Wands), then continue numerically the way a normal card deck would from two to ten. After the ten there are the Page, Knight, Queen and King. Other than the elements, the suits each also represent a faculty or theme. Wands deals with creativity or energy, Coins with the physical body or possessions, Cups with love or emotions and Swords with will or reason.

The way the cards are laid out (also called a "spread") has an impact on what the reader will be able to deduce about the problem or question at hand. The most common is the Celtic Cross, a pattern that involves ten cards total- five arranged in a cross, four forming a vertical line to the right of the cross and the last laying horizontally over the center card of the cross. The bottom center card represents what is at the core of the problem/question. The Tarot card on top of the center represents what is acting as an obstacle to satisfaction of the problem/question.

The horse shoe pattern has seven cards in a V shape. Reading from left to right, the Tarot cards represent past, present, influences, obstacles, expectations, best course of action and likely outcomes. A three card spread can provide a quick reading where the first Tarot card is the past, the next the present and the last the future. An Astrological pattern features twelve cards in a circle with an additional card in the center. In a Tetractys reading, ten cards are placed in a pyramid with four rows with each row representing an element.

Tarot cards are definitely not your normal deck of cards. For the uninitiated, Tarot is a way to understand what you will be experiencing in the near future, and understanding each card is essential to getting the most from a reading.

1) What to Know about the Hierophant Card

The Hierophant is part of the major arcana. Each card in the major arcana is stronger than any card in the minor arcana, and as a result, it is given more thought at any particular reading.

Visually, The Hierophant, also called The Pope, is a religious official with his hand held high, as if granting a blessing. Two stone pillars appear in the background. He holds a staff in one of his hands, and he is clearly sitting on a throne.

This card represents a person such as a spokesman, especially one that speaks in front of or to a large group of people. A Hierophant is a person that represents much knowledge that is hidden of various aspects that the everyday person is not aware of. It is the number 5 on the list of Tarot cards.

When you see this card and know how to read it you will, right off the bat, see the presence of a religious figure that is in a formal church setting.

The card can represent an individual that may be part of a religious group or they hand out responsibilities in their local church. Schools, clubs, teams, companies, and societies can be the groups as well, as it does not have to be religious in nature.

The Hierophant card in the Tarot deck represents all of these things since that person has to feel like they belong to a group that has some sort of structure.

They have to feel like they belong and are not an outsider.

In some readings, the Hierophant often will represent an intelligent teacher or a person that studies with other experts that are in their field. This card symbolizes the need to follow the rules at all times.

The card does not represent a free spirit or someone that goes against the rules. A person like this does not change their ways and because of this they stay within the restrictions of their comfort zone.

The Hierophant card also represents education. In this capacity, the card stands for looking for new knowledge, becoming well-spoken, increasing the ability to understand things, studying, learning, looking for a deeper connotation, and discovering things in general.

The card also shows that an individual likes to share cultural customs, learn spiritual traditions, honors rituals and ceremonies, follows regimens, and is aware of where to put your faith.

Very similar to the Emperor card, this card will symbolize the following of rules, taking traditional approaches, staying within boundaries, adapting to new systems, fitting in, staying with an agenda, doing what is expected of them, and being in the norm.

Further, the card also represents being dedicated to a cause, devoting energy to the group, being part of a club, working as a team, being loyal to others, and being in a setting that is institutional.

There are several cards that might reinforce these ideas in a reading. The Emperor, the Three of Cups, the Three of Pentacles, the Eight of Pentacles, and the Ten of Pentacles may all lead you to similar conclusions.

2) Cards that Mean the Opposite of the Hierophant

As we have already talked about, the Hierophant card represents a person who has traditional values and does things by the book. In no way does this card represent a person that is carefree and against the norm.

There are some Tarot cards that mean the opposite of what the Hierophant card means. They are the:

a) Fool card

This card represents a person that is very foolish in several ways. This person does not have boundaries and does things in a different way.

b) Lovers card

This card has to do with personal beliefs, which means that this type of person will do as they please.

c) Two of Wands card

This card represents a person who likes to be alone and would rather be alone than part of a group or crowd.

d) Seven of Swords card

This card is very similar to the Two of Wands card.

e) Two of Pentacles card

This card signifies flexibility and at times irresponsibility. This person may be late much of the time and at the last minute change appointments that were scheduled.

Tarot cards have for centuries allowed people to peer into the past, present, and future and gain understanding. They have allowed people to get advice about there pressing problems and find solutions.

We start life and all seems less complicated, life has a happy tinge to it, a carefree attitude and one that serves us at that time. However, as we get older, things seem to become more complicated. Instead of looking to now, we start looking further out into the future. I get paid at the end of the month, what am I doing for Christmas, etc.

We need answers. After all we can only look at our past, and present consciously. Though there is a way where we can delve forward and look at what is coming next. Thanks to tarot cards, and a tarot card reader, we are enabled to peer into the future and find what is likely to happen.

Tarot cards can help us find potential obstacles, problems, and also solutions to problems in our lives. Some people who have not got a tarot card reading before may think that the reading a simply general readings. A kind of fortune teller image comes to mind. I used to think of the readings in such way before I started reading cards for myself. What I realized is that the tarot cards can be used whether for specific or general questions you may have.

* Tarot Cards For Love
Readings can be done for your questions and issues with love. You can find out about the next man or woman in your life or more information about your current relationship. The reading can be as specific as telling you some physical aspects of the person you will meet!

* Tarot Cards For Wealth
The tarot cards can be a great way to learn about potential opportunities in business and wealth creation. The cards can tell you whether you will be successful in a business or not. Though remember it is easy to end up in a self fulfilling prophecy with tarot cards. A better approach is that of an advisor giving you advice. It is then down to you to decide what course of action you want to take. Never give the tarot cards power over your decision making or you may not get accurate results (for your own benefit).

* Tarot Cards For Health
Tarot cards can help you find information about your current and future health. You can use this information to make necessary adjustments if need be, to be able to curb any problems with health, and heal yourself.

I have gone through the important topics that most people need an answer to. Tarot cards are great tools to find great insight into all and any questions you may have. Do tarot cards work all the time? I have found not always. The reason this happens is due to information which your soul, higher power, God, angels, etc deem necessary that you do not know at this time.

Consulting the tarot however, is a great way to learn more about your life. It breaks down boundaries, and allows us to peer into a potential future of our lives. We then can decide whether that is a good or bad direction to follow. Tarot readings truly can help you through the journey of your life. Perhaps one subject we missed out on was the spiritual. Tarot is a great way to guide you on your spiritual quest and development.

The origins of the Tarot deck and its associated interpretive meanings may never be known with empirical certainty. However, one school of thought subscribed to by Kabbalistic occultists is that the Tarot deck stems from Jewish mysticism.

Some occultists even go as far as to say it was an abstract code developed by Kabbalah masters to embody their thoughts and ideas, in an allegorical format. But before we delve into the nuances of the relationship between tarot cards and Jewish mysticism we must first answer a fundamental question. What exactly is the Kabballah?

Jewish mysticism and the Kabbalah have roots that date back to the third to sixth century A.D. during this period a book called the "Book of Creation" was written, in anonymity, and contained meditations based on the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. This book is believed to be the foundation of modern day Jewish mysticism and the Kabbalah. However, it would be many centuries before this seedling of ideas would grow into the tree of life we know today as the Kabbalah.

In fact it would not be until the twelfth and thirteenth centuries A.D. that the ideas and concepts, in this book, would be expanded and built upon significantly.

During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries A.D. the writing and publication of the Zohar or "Book of Splendor" contributed greatly to the ideas and concepts of the modern Kabbalah. One of the major underlying principles of the Kabbalah was that the universe consisted of four worlds. These four worlds were created in order the highest world belonging to God and the lowest world belonging to man.

In addition these four worlds consisted of emanations called sephiroth. The four worlds were each separated into identical sets of ten sephiroth. The only difference being the energy associated with them. This energy is defined by the world that the sephiroth resides in.

Visual aids were constructed from the sephiroth. The focus of meditation was now on these geometric structures the most popular being the tree of life. It consisted of ten sephiroth connected by twenty-two pathways corresponding to the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

With this in mind a correlation between the tarot deck and the tree of life may be formed. The first correlation is between the four worlds of the Kabbalah and the four suits of the tarot deck. The next correlation that may be formed is between the ten sephiroth and the minor arcana numbered ace through ten. The final relationship that may be formed is between the twenty-two cards of the major arcana, twenty-two pathways, at twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

The major debate among occultist is the placement of the cards on the twenty-two pathways. A common practice would be to start with the first card of the Major Arcana and proceed arithmetically to the world card number twenty-two. However, there is a wrench in the works. The fool card's number zero of the major arcana defies placement on the pathways as it would skew the other twenty-two cards to non-corresponding numerical pathways.

So, there in lies the rump of the problem. The placement of the fool card on the pathways has been the subject of much debate. Almost as if the fool cards true nature has disrupted the correlation of the tarot cards and the pathways. However, Court de Gebelin wrote an essay in the late 1700's defining a correlation between the cards and the Hebrew alphabet. In addition another author published in "The Primitive World" Comte de Mellet proposed the linking structure between the tarot cards and the twenty-two pathways marked by the Hebrew alphabet.

Whether you subscribe to the Kabbalistic school of thought regarding the tarot cards or not it is very interesting to note the many similarities between the Jewish mysticism and the tarot deck. It is hard to deny that such a correlation exists but never the less one must keep an open mind without irrefutable historical evidence.

Although, we may never know the exact origins, nature, or purpose of these mystical cards one thing is certain we will continue to enjoy these aesthetically pleasing mystical cards for ages to come.