Tarot FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Who are you?
Lori Bogren has been reading Tarot cards privately for 15 years, mostly for friends and professionally since 2001. A native of Minnesota she is available for private readings and parties throughout the Twin Cities metro area. Her background is a unique mix of Christian upbringing and eclectic independent studies in Native American, European and Asian Spiritualism studying under the likes of under Carol J. Hyder (Feng Shui); Karl Schlotterbeck (a student of Michael Harner's Shamanic work); Echo Bodine (Psychic Development and Hands on Healing) in addition to studying Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy with Calvin Banyan where she has opted to go the more esoteric route of Past Life Regression and Future Life Progression.
How long have you, been reading Tarot?
Off and on for 20 years. Initially I, like many beginners who didn’t have someone to teach them, went strictly by the LWB (Little White Book) that comes with each deck. Over the years I have learned to let go of that restriction and listen to what my intuition or the "little voices" (well they don’t like being called "little") in my ear whisper to provide more accurate and informative readings.
Are you going to hell?
First I don’t believe in hell. I can not believe that a Spiritual Being capable of all the wonderful creation we see, hear, taste, smell and touch around us would decide that a particular part (individual) was only worthy of eternal torment. After all, since it is a we are all part of, or if you prefer, the creation of "The Great Creator" however you title it, that would mean the Creator was capable of substandard work.
Do you use the standard card meanings?
What is Divination?
Divination goes back to ancient times when it was a given fact that Gods and Goddess controlled the fates of man. Every ancient religion has at least one—and many had more then one—Divine Being who represented Destiny, Fate, Fortune or Luck. In fact those images still carry over today, in our more scientific geared, in the form of the Gambler’s Lady Luck.
Back then there were four ways of addressing survival:
Certainly all of these were tried with varying degrees of success.
Divination means to Divine information, to seek Divine (Godly, Spiritual) advice about matters relating to an individual or nation.
What is Cartomancy?
Cartomancy is the ancient art of using cards as a divinatory tool, as one means to predict future influences, or reveal information previously unknown, or not understood to a person by more obvious means.
It is an art and not a science because while certain cards do indicate specific situations or meanings, these are open to interpretation.
What is Tarot?
Tarot is a subset of Cartomancy, using a designed deck containing 78 cards. These cards are made of a Major Arcana and Minor Arcana. The Major Arcana are 22 cards numbered from 0 to 21 and relate to the grander picture, or higher influences, while the Minor Arcana are made of four suits with ten numbered, or pip, cards and four court cards each that relate to more terrestrial, or common issues and influences.
These cards have highly detailed to fairly simple iconography; with the mythical and symbolic creatures, Archetypes, even the colors of clothes, and plants reflecting more then artistic flair.
For example in the Rider-Waite deck, The Hanged Man (12) wears red leggings and a blue tunic. Red suggesting desire, blue spirituality. This cards falls roughly in the half-way point of "The Fool’s Journey" through the Major Arcana.
In the case of the Hanged Man we have symbolic figure who is beginning to understanding his past mistakes has lead to the revelation that the Fool has not always seen things correctly. Desire can only carry (indicated by red leggings) one so far, there has to be something more—indicated by the blue tunic. The Fool now makes a conscious effort to see a new perspective.
Another example is the Salamander that first appears on the clothing of the Page of Wand in the same deck. Salamanders are symbols of fire, as are Wands also associated with the element of fire. Today it seems weird that an reptile would represent fire, however in older times it was not uncommon to toss a log on the hearth fire only to have a Salamander scurry from the flames a few minutes later. There are species that excrete an enzyme the temporarily protects the sleeping/hibernating critter from the flames while it wakes up and runs for it’s life. Here, then, we have the Page "heralds" the "survival of trial by fire" of the previous 10 cards and hearkens other’s to the good reputation of the next three stages being Knight, Queen and King.
What is "The Fool’s Journey?"
The 22 cards of the Major Arcana relate the progress of The Fool (Key 0)—guileless, undirected, and unfettered—through adventures of knowledge, understanding and wisdom to spiritual enlightenment culminating open-hearted, knowledgeable, and liberation of The World (Key 21).
These are the various stages of development reflected in the growth process of an infant to adulthood and old age. Including, innocence lost, mistakes, passion, learning, acceptance, self-understanding.
At any given moment and individual can be represented by one of these cards, and while they follow a specific order, any given individual’s life does not. Sometimes we skate easily through one card, yet find our self repeating another over and over.
<How does the Tarot work? Where does the information come from?
The cards are shuffled and laid out in one of numerous spreads. Depending on where a card "falls" in the pattern it represents a certain aspect of the situation: past, present, future; hopes, fears; attitudes or tendencies of key personalities…
Beyond that "how does it work?" really depends on one’s spiritual beliefs.
Some will say the earthly soul of the Reader, communicates with the earthly soul of the Querent (or petitioner) seeking insight, information, guidance; together these souls communicate with their Higher versions, or the Divine in some form. Or some combination there of. These Higher versions, in turn guide the hands while shuffling and cutting the deck to arrange the cards so they fall in the proscribed location for the information to be relayed.
Others will say, the cards are randomly shuffled and it is the Readers connection with Divine through the cards (specifically the symbolic and/or divinatory meanings,) and presumably with the purity of spirit or intent, that provides an interpretation.
The remainder will say it’s actually a mixture of the two previous theory.
What are the divinatory meanings?
What are the symbolic meanings?
The overall card tells a story (the divinatory meaning) while the symbols provide depth, understand and intrigue to the tale.
What are the psychic meanings?
Another way to interpret the cards is to forget looking in the LWB (Little White Book) that comes with the deck and don’t purchase the Big Book for that deck and trust what your intuition (that little voice inside) says.
For example, very few decks display any specific images of airplanes, they can be found in the symbol of flying birds, but smaller symbols are easily overlooked by Readers of all skill levels. However while doing a reading the 6 of Swords appeared, normally a card of sad departures or journeys across water, I kept hearing my little voice say "airplane". In this case I simply told the woman, "I get the impression that airplanes are going to be important." She then told me her husband and her were traveling to a reunion of his Vietnam buddies, most of whom were pilots and he was one of their mechanics.
But that is psychic. A message so incredibly, intangibly linked to a card as to have nothing to do with the divinatory (pat) meaning or any symbol displayed on the card.
The "psychic" meaning of the card can clarify "dual meaning" cards such as the 4 of Pentacles. One interpretation is material comfort, gain or security as in the ability to acquire and manage funds sensibly; but driven to the far extreme it can indicate hoarding, or a tightwad. While in the Reversed form it could mean loss of funds, there’s no indication whether it a "few" dollars, or big bucks; this is where the psychic interpretation comes in, is it the loss of simply one coin or all four?
What are "reversed" or "Ill Dignified" cards?
A dignified card is one which is upright, dignified stance, the archetypes heads are at the top their feet at their bottom. During the normal shuffling of cards (though some people have a difficult time getting them) some of the cards get twisted, inverted and when laid are upside down, reversed—ill dignified.
This process turns the meaning of the card, typically to the opposite meaning. Happy cards become sad, terrible becomes hopeful, bounty fails and the ugly becomes beautiful. In other cases it merely lessens the effect, for example the 10 of Cups is the happiest card for the home life, reversed it means a happy home, just not the ideal of it’s dignified state.
There are some very heated conversations about this. Reversal Readers say it add more flavor, color and variety to be interpreted, while Non-reversal Readers insist it is not only disrespectful but there are sufficient cards in their dignified position to cover the ills one encounters in life.
Which ever way you choose, stick to it and don’t go back and forth. Should you choose to not read reversals if they appear in the spread, simply turn them upright.
What are "elemental dignities?"
What does the "Death" card mean, is someone going to die?
What does the "Devil" card mean, if YOU don’t believe in hell why is there a devil?
Why are the "Strength" and "Justice" cards being numbered different in different decks?
What are the ethics when reading cards?
Will my deepest, darkest secrets be revealed?
What about reading for/on third parties, or people not present?
Will events happen as the cards predict, does it reveal fate?
Some readers I’ve met have said so. I prefer to believe the future is always in motion, that forewarned is forearmed so to say. Still a Tarot Reading does not absolve a Querent (client) of the responsibility.
If the cards predict a flat tire, you can change that by examining your tire tread before it goes flat at an inopportune moment. By the same token, if the cards predicate a new romantic relationship, sitting in your home and waiting for the knock on the door could prevent that relationship from happening. One has to get out in the world for the world to meet them.
What about relaying of bad news, such as deaths, major illness, bankruptcy?
deck evolution/timeline
Is there an original, or "True" Tarot deck?
Why does everyone refer to the Rider-Waite deck?
Why are there so many different decks?
Why do people own, or collect so many?
Can normal playing cards be used?
What a Zener cards and can they be used?
Why are there so many spreads?
Why is the Celtic Cross so popular, and so "cursed?"
Who are the important people in the Tarot community?
What are the best books to learn more about Tarot?
What are other resources to learn more about Tarot?
How is Tarot related to other forms of divination?
Runes, Ouija, I-Ching
How do online Tarot readings work? Are they accurate?
Why should I see (and pay) for a human reader when there are so many FREE online sites?
What are the various Mythos used in the deck?
What is Astrology and why does it show up in Tarot Books?
Why do Egyptian icons show up so frequently?
What is the "Book of Thoth" and why does it show up in Tarot Books?
What is the Kabalah, the Tree of life, and Hebrew Mysticism and why does it show up in Tarot Books?
What is Numerology and why does it show up in Tarot Books?
What type of people asks for readings?
Querents, ask Questions
What kind of questions should I ask?
What kind of people are read the Cards?
How can you to tell Good readers from Bad readers?
Do you have to be psychic to read Tarot?
Where can I learn to read tarot?
Do I have to be given a Tarot deck to be able to use it?
How do I use a Tarot deck for contemplation?
Why are my readings always "dark"?
How should I care for deck(s)?
Can I play games with my Tarot deck?
Symbols are specific images in the cards. Take the Moon (Key 18) a card full of symbols. The pool in the foreground is a symbol of the sub-conscious mind, the crayfish a representation of the early development of consciousness, ready to emerge. The path from the water’s edge leads to a distant unknown land, a journey that requires spiritual faith. First it must encounter another evolutionary symbol in the form of the wild wolf and the tame dog; as Eden Grey so aptly states, "the wolf is natures untamed creation, the dog is the result of adaptation to life with man." Still before the path reaches that far distant it must pass between the towers erected by man marking the known from the unknown the wilds beyond the safety of the known village. High a above the Moon, another symbol of the subconscious. So in effect the subconscious Moon provides illumination to the barely conscious Crayfish, beckoning it forth to seek enlightenment.
Created: 30-January-2004, Last updated:
© Lori Bogren 2000 text and graphics.
Tarot since 30-January-2004:
camilian since 1-May-1998
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