The tarot card reading consists of three major elements. The first element of the tarot is the Major Arcana. The meaning of the word arcana is “profound secret”. It was derived from the ancients to mean the secret of nature. Therefore tarot cards are a collection of the secrets that underlie and explain our universe. The second element of a tarot card reading is the Minor Arcana, followed by ‘the Spread’.

The Major Arcana is comprised of 22 cards.

This is known as the heart of the deck. Each card symbolizes some universal aspect of human experience. They represent the archetypes which are the consistent directing patterns of influence that are an inherent part of human nature. These 22 cards used in a tarot card reading are markers on the path of inner development leading from earliest awareness to integration and fulfillment in ones life. The Major Arcana contains many levels and models of experience in the various patterns of ones growth. It is the expressions of universal themes.

The Minor Arcana brings these universal themes down into the practical arena to show how they operate in daily events. These represent concerns, activities and emotions that make up the dramas of our every day lives. There are 56 cards used within the Minor Arcana, which are thus divided into 4 suits with each suit having 10 PIP cards and 4 Court cards. The suit cards are likened to the standard set of playing cards that we are all familiar with. The suit cards fall into the following categories:

Wands, rods or batons- much like the clubs cards in a regular deck of cards

Cups- like the hearts in a deck of cards

Swords-like the spades in a deck of cards

Coins, pentacles or discs- like the diamonds in a regular deck of cards

The basic idea for creating a tarot card reading is to shuffle the cards and create a “spread”. A Spread is where you place the shuffled cards one by one from the top of the pile to lay face up in a certain pattern. The position of a card in the spread will signify a particular subject such as the past or future of the person consulting the cards.

Although there are many people who have a misconception of how the science of tarot cards work, the basis of the science lies in combining numerology with the development of your own intuition. There is no black magic or witchery involved with the reading of tarot cards as some may have been lead to believe.

The tarot is a deck of 78 picture cards that has been used for centuries to reveal hidden truths. In the past few years, interest in tarot cards has grown tremendously. The tarot cards are used to blend inner and outer realities to live life more creatively. Tarot cards are known to be a powerful tool for growth and insight. One can learn how to read tarot cards for their own purpose or in the aid of others who are looking for ways to gain more control of the future. Tarot cards can be used to teach you how to tap into your inner resources more confidently and help you in understanding yourself better. As long as you have the willingness to honor and develop your natural intuition, you need no psychic powers to learn to apply the science of tarot cards.

The Rider-Waite deck is the best to use when first learning how to read tarot cards due to the great illustrations one can easily comprehend. If you need to purchase your own tarot cards deck, you can buy them online, or in a select number of bookstores.

There are many aspects to the understanding of tarot cards, how they are placed in a spread, how each card can be interpreted and applied to ones own circumstances to form the potential outcome of the future. It relies on aspects of the past, numerology and the ability to apply positive influences to mold the outcome of the future. It provides possible scenarios for the future with past experiences, present circumstances, and mental attitude. One must remember that your future is not set in stone. It is all about growth and change for the most complete existence one can create with the power deep in themselves.