We apologize for not posting on time due to us having taken some time off.

Today is about Oracles and Tarot

Apollo

Title

Greek God of knowledge, oracles, healing, music and arts, archery, herds and flocks, sunlight, and dance

Tarot

Let me start by laying down some basic terminology. You will hear the person who is asking the question being called the Querent or Questioner. Likewise you will hear the terms Teller or Reader for the person who is doing the reading. A spread is a format that the cards are laid down in in order to make sense of the question. How the cards relate to each position is how the interpretation then relates back to the Querent’s question. Now that we have that out of the way let's begin.

Tarot History of Rider-Waite Decks (with smatterings of two other styles)

First show up in Europe in the 15th century (in the 1430’s) mostly in Italy when they were still being painted by hand, for lack of printing presses.

1700’s Frenchman Jean-Baptise Alliette published the 1st guide for tarot using a pseudonym (Etteilla) he not only published the guide but also a deck of his own.

Jean-Baptiste became the first professional card reader after he published a revised version in 1791.

Jump forward to 1909 when cards were majorly revised by William Rider, a publicist and tarot reader.

Let’s jump forward now to the 1970’s with the latest revival of the tarot revised yet again.

In the beginning

The Major Arcana are the ‘trump’ cards that have depictions of various virtues, villany, and characters.

Next are the 56 cards of the minor arcana which are made up of four suits of fourteen cards each.

When fortune telling came around in France in 1780, the cards were ascribed meanings.

Today

We still have the major arcana and it is pretty much the same as it was then with just a few minor name changes. The court cards and minor arcana deal with the more day to day goings on.

The How To

Ok one more time for the crowds! Currently the cards haven’t changed in meaning or style. However, there are now more ways than I can count in how to go about shuffling, pulling and doing spreads. Ultimately it comes down to what feels right to you intuitively.

A slightly old fashioned modern day version is that only the Teller touches the cards and shuffles them and then lays them out in the spread all the while the Questioner is concentrating on their question.

Things to consider.

Does your first deck need to be gifted to you?

Now look at your environment and setting the scene.

Knowing the cards

I won’t go deep here because this is just something that takes a lot of time to do. I’d like to say that you DON’T need to have all of the cards memorized before you do a reading EVEN when it’s for another person!

And Still More

Although we mostly see the Rider-Waite style there are still the Thoth and Marseilles versions.

The Tarot de Marseilles deck was printed up by Pierre Madenie of Dijon in 1709 as best is known.

The Thoth deck was devised by Aleister Crowley over a five year span (1938- 1943) and the artwork was illustrated by LadyFrieda Harris according to Crowley’s direction.

Tarot

The Forge

Please rate us on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever else you’ve found us. Also come join us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. We’d love to have you!

Bicyclecards.com A Brief History of Tarot Cards

Britannica.com Tarot

Tarot-heritage.com Tarot de Marseille

En.wikipedia.org Thoth tarot deck

Fatecaster.com Comprehensive review of the Thoth Tarot deck by Aleister Crowley

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo#Niobe