Word on a Whim

Tarot Card key meanings

Since my first Tarot reading as a teenager, I’ve had a fascination for the mysticism and artwork of the Tarot.  I am not an intuitive Tarot reader – I simply interpret the meanings from traditional definitions, yet I am convinced that each deck of cards has its own energy.  For example, if I draw the cards for myself but don’t like what I see, I might take a frivolous ‘best of three’ attitude, shuffle them thoroughly then try again and it’s uncanny how many of the same cards reappear – sometimes even in the same position in the spread.

Normally I do a Celtic Cross spread – just for an overview of past, present and future in general and the cards tend to reflect my mood.  If I’m feeling low I draw cards associated with separation and misery – but this has happened often enough for me to realise nothing bad is about to happen and the spread is simply a manifestation of my own fears and negativity.  I guess it must be similar for dowsers trying to remain objective to get a yes/no answer from the pendulum when the outcome is important to them. 

Occasionally I ask a specific question of the cards and the answer can be surprising. For example, last weekend my son had arranged to go and look at a car advertised for sale.  I was particularly hoping it would go well and he would buy the car because I worry about him riding a motorbike on country lanes in the dark when you can’t see debris on the road until the last minute – and for all the other reasons why mothers worry about sons on motorbikes.  This car was more or less what he’s looking for and close to where he lives.  Whilst waiting to hear how he got on, I drew the cards asking specifically how this viewing would go and got the ten of swords at the root of it and swords generally everywhere except for a couple of knights or kings.  None of it made sense.  I put the cards away and decided to do something useful with my time – then when I messaged to see how he got on my son said the guy had cancelled because he’d had a busy day and wanted to watch the footy so please could they rearrange for another day.  So the reading did make sense after all.  Whilst the cards appeared overly dramatic for something as minor as a car viewing, they were responding to my question. Whether I’m asking a trivial question or looking for guidance on a life-changing matter, it’s the same seventy-eight cards I’m playing with!

In my list of key meanings I have included the reverse meanings (i.e. if the card is drawn upside down).  Personally, I don’t use reverse meanings and keep my cards all the same way up – there are enough interpretations already for my mind to handle, without the added complexity of reverse meanings.  These key meanings are the ones that have grown on me over many years of shuffling and spreading.  I have kept them as brief as possible for ease of reference as there are many books available that go into the meaning of each card in great depth.

If you click on the link “Tarot card meanings” on the site menu (also up above “Word on a Whim” if you’re on a computer) you will see my list of key interpretations.

Apologies for presenting the list in this weird way but I only have so many spare hours to spend trying to coax WordPress into loading a PDF document from a simple link within this post.  I get the impression they want me to upgrade to the paid version that allows use of  “plug-in” tools that appear to be available in this version until I click and get invited to upgrade.  I’m not convinced upgrading would be the answer.  Even with a fancy button to click I suspect if browsers are set to download PDFs there will be a conflict if WordPress tries to open them first.  Sorry to digress, just venting my frustration 😉