Written By: Grace Mintun
September 6, 2024
Tarot and Oracle, It Is What You Make It
Via UnsplashHigh Priestess (2): Non-action, Unconscious Awareness, Potential, Mystery
There is a lot of stigma around tarot and oracle cards. A lot of that comes from the lack of understanding exactly what tarot and oracle cards are. It’s perpetrated by media (looking at you 2024 horror movie Tarot) and fearmongering of religious groups due to unrealized misinformation. A lot of people think the object is evil, but it is not. It’s just an object. Tarot and oracle decks are both separate tools that come in a pack of cards. There are similarities between them and you can read them in similar ways, but there are differences. For each type of deck, whether oracle or tarot, you just pick one that has art that you like and that resonates with you, then follow this guide. With that in mind, let’s dive into what tarot and oracle really are, the differences between them, and clear up some misinformation.
What is Tarot?
Tarot is a deck of 78 cards, all with meanings that have been defined since the 15th century. It started as a card game and very quickly grew into a fortune telling game as its popularity grew in the 18th century. Nowadays, tarot can be used in introspection, therapy, and creativity, as well as divining the future. Tarot lists what your problems could be, and as you read over and look through them, certain things can resonate with your conscious and subconscious mind. Our minds are programmed to recognize similarities and find things that feel familiar to us to identify with, making tarot a very helpful tool for bringing things to light to address. The phrase, “take what resonates, leave what doesn’t” is used quite heavily, and for good reason. Tarot can be used for spiritual practices, therapy purposes, and creative inspiration—whatever you want to use them for! It’s a spiritual object for most and a tool for others.
Fool (0): Beginning, Spontaneity, Faith, Apparent Folly
Empress (3): Motherhood, Abundance, Senses, Nature
Now, you may be asking, when I read tarot cards, who am I asking for the answer? Well, that’s up to you! Some ask their higher self, spirit, the universe, another being of some kind, ancestors, the earth, or some just ask to talk about it out loud! You can get anything out of a reading or ask anything or anyone; it’s a communication tool for your subconscious and conscious, among other things. Or you could just take the cards as inspiration, or not. Their validity is up to you and whether you want to accept it. They don't hold the power, you do. All answers are still mutable, as the future is not written in stone, but for some, it can help show the path of what may happen if their current course of action is not changed.
The cards generally have similar meanings and keywords across decks but can vary in some minute meanings. The tarot is separated into two sections, or arcana. The major arcana is 22 cards and they represent the bigger picture, life lessons, overall spiritual journey, life cycles, purpose, major archetypes, and cycles and lessons that may repeat over and over in your life. These cards represent a little less mutable future, although you can still choose to react and accept. They go in order from 0-21, and they follow the journey of one from where they have been, where they are, and where they are going. The journey is what we connect ourselves with, and it’s beautiful to see ourselves reflected in the cards as the art and story progresses.
Fablemaker's Animated Tarot Deck
Mystic Cats Tarot DeckEmperor (4): Fatherhood, Structure, Authority, Regulation
The Cosmic Slumber Tarot DeckHierophant (5): Education, Belief Systems, Conformity, Group Identification
Modern Witch Tarot DeckLovers (6): Relationship, Sexuality, Personal Beliefs, Values
Under the Oak TarotChariot (7): Victory, Will, Self-Assertion, Hard Control
Botanica Oculta Tarot Deck
Strength (8): Strength, Patience, Compassion, Soft Control
The Star Spinner TarotHermit (9): Introspection, Searching, Guidance, Solitude
Tarot of a Moon GardenWheel of Fortune (10): Destiny, Turning Point, Movement, Personal Vision
Spiritsong TarotJustice (11): Justice, Responsibility, Decision, Cause and Effect
The Weaver Tarot - Journeyer Edition
The Gendron Tarot
Mystic Mondays Tarot
Japaridze Tarot
Tarot of Mystical Moments
The Luna Sol Tarot
Chrysalis Tarot
The Moonchild Tarot
The New Chapter Tarot
The Zerner Farber Tarot Deck
Lilifer Tarot
Tarot of the Golden Wheel
Shadowscapes Tarot
The second section of the tarot is the minor arcana, which represents daily life and struggles, the near future, and things that are more easily changed. These are things that are smaller battles or life lessons, and just little hills or molehills to conquer rather than large mountains. The minor arcana looks more like a regular deck of playing cards, where there are four suits. The four suits are wands, cups, swords, and pentacles, and each have separate meanings.
The Wild Unknown Tarot
Earth Woman Tarot
The Goddess TarotSeven: reflection, knowing, inquiry
Ethereal Visions Deck
Pages: messages, students, youth, learning, play, freshness
Fantastical Creatures TarotTen: completion, cycles ending, revival
Each of the four suits has its own numbers ace to ten, plus 4 court cards in each suit. The numbers show a journey from beginning to end in each category: aces (beginning) through ten (conclusion). The number’s meanings are as follows:
Crystal Visions Tarot
Once Upon a Time Tarot
The Dreamkeepers Tarot
The Dark Exact TarotEight: achievement, expertise, changes
The Crowley Thoth TarotNine: fulfillment, nearing completion, actualization
Wild Lands Tarot
Bumbleberry Hollows Tarot
Heart & Hands TarotKnights: a new quest, adventure, or test is about to begin, rescue is on the way, intense, erratic, action-oriented
Universal Waite Tarot
White Numen DeckQueen: safeguard, nurture, protect your realm, creative, supportive, working behind the scenes
Sefirot - The Spheres of Heaven Tarot
Folklore Tarot
Tarot of the DivineKing: protectors, providers, mature, leaders, defense or attack on your behalf
Depending on how you read tarot, some people read cards only as upright. This is when the card is facing the onlooker’s point of view and the art and words are right side up. Some people also read reversed cards, which are when the card is upside down (not face-side down), but rather the words and art are facing the other direction and backward to the reader. Reversals can mean different things from card to card, but generally, they can be read one of a few ways. Sometimes it means getting at the root of the issue or the shadow side, something more subconscious that you may not know about or recognize yet, or have been putting off. However, most often it either has the opposite meaning, something is being blocked, it represents something more internal vs something external, or the “darker side or shadow” of the meaning of the card. Occasionally, you just want a yes or no answer! It is important to recognize reversals when asking, and I recommend googling them as it’s a lot to remember.
There are different ways to shuffle and lay out the cards to read them. People can shuffle and read the cards that “jump”, while others may shuffle and stop when it feels right. There are also those that splay out the cards and hover their hands over them to feel for a hot, cold, or electric feeling. There are also a myriad of other ways to shuffle, but all are valid. Do what feels right for you. As for laying them out, you can choose a specific spread from Google, Instagram, Pinterest, or another site, or from a tarot book. You can also just read them in the order they came out in the orientation they face. Spreads can help you remember specific questions and how all the parts interact with each other. Another large part of reading is seeing how the cards interact with one another and how the different elements carry from one card to another to show an overarching story. Another type of particular spreads are called “interview spreads,” and these help you get to know particular decks, how different decks will interact with you, and how you will know which kinds of decks will give what kind of reading.
What is Oracle?
As with tarot, oracle decks can be used for pretty much the same reasons and the same ways. You can shuffle, pick, and read them in a similar fashion. However, they are different from tarot. Whereas tarot has the same 78 cards with the same meanings across decks no matter which artist portrays them, oracle decks vary widely. Every deck is different in every way–a different number of cards, different meanings, and no set rules or definitions from deck to deck.
As with tarot, you pick any deck that calls to you in an art style you like. There are oracle decks with five cards and oracle decks with hundreds. Some oracle decks have no words, and there are others that come printed with affirmations on them. There are also a few that don’t even have objects depicted and are instead just abstract colors on a card. Oracle decks normally come with guidebooks describing what the cards mean and how the artist interpreted them as there are no widely known suits or archetypes that stay the same from deck to deck.
How an artist interprets things or how history dictates the meanings isn’t everything, though. There is something to be said for intuition. Intuition is a gut feeling, or just a “knowing”. Sometimes it will feel like the meaning just jumps out at you, and sometimes it feels like a still, small voice deep inside. It takes a while to hone your intuition, and figure out how to discern it from anxiety, but it is a highly useful tool in tarot, oracle, and life in general. It really makes you take a second glance and take a look at your whole situation laid out before you to get perspective on both the situation and yourself. Most readings are a mix of reading the book, what you’ve learned previously, and intuition.
Always remember to cleanse your decks in your preferred method when you read or make them if you’re so inclined. Now that you know what tarot and oracle are and how to read them, now it’s time to learn to make your own! Here are some simple steps to try at home:
How to make Oracle and Tarot Cards:
Do a little bit of meditation to find the word and image you want to portray. Visualize what it's trying to communicate. Ask yourself: what’s its energy (is it surface level or a deep dive into the soul and psyche), and what’s its traits (emotional, healing, educating, gentle, blunt)?
Pick your intention for making a card/deck.
Pick a category of things that are easy to find multiple iterations of like different types of plants, animals, mythology, etc (a concept or theme).
Pick an art style.
Be joyful when creating them! They absorb the energy you put in! It shouldn’t feel like a chore. If it feels like a chore, take a break and come back.
For tarot you start with a card meaning or tarot card to design and go from there, with oracle you pick a meaning, word, or affirmation that means a lot to you and paint/draw something that symbolizes that either after you design a card or during.
I hope you can use this guide to have fun learning how to read tarot and oracle cards, and that it helps to combat some misinformation you may have heard about the cards themselves. Remember, the cards have the power you put in. It’s just an object. So have fun, and use them in a way that feels most helpful and most right for you.
Written by: Grace Mintun
A writer and Twitch streamer dedicated to promoting kindness and breaking down stigma around mental health and disabilities!
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Sources
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14088510/
https://www.metmuseum.org/articles/tarot
https://www.geocities.ws/mbs730/tarot.html
https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/how-to-cleanse-tarot-cards
Number 4 card is from the Goddess Tarot
Tarot, Oracle, Spirituality
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