This tutotrial will explore the Tarot and related divination methods in greater detail. If you have not already read the Divination : Overview tutorial, please do so first. 

History and role of Tarot

But, where exactly does Tarot fit into that act of emptying one's mind and allowing, this way, a flow of information from a higher source to a given media? Well, they favor doing just this, Tarots are "helpers" coming from a long legacy of mystics, among which were the "Hermetic orders". One of the most influential of these orders was the "Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn", inventors of the classic Rider-Waite tarot deck.

Basing their researches on some of the most ancient religious texts and traditions known at the time, Hermeticists preserved and explored knowledge from the early Jewish Kabbalah and refined it through, among other things, regular practice of astral travel for over a thousand years.

But more importantly, the Hermeticists, who survived over time as "secret societies" or disguised as religious Catholic orders, and who founded most of what is today wicca and occultism, are named after "Hermes Trismegistus". Hermes the "Thrice-Great", also known as Thoth, and the alleged author of the Emerald Tablets - a very particular document translated by many bright minds throughout history (all the way to Isaac Newton).

I rarely recommend artifacts, and this is particularly important with Tarot, because I believe they create a dependency. However, I often do use Tarot, with respect and care. For it is meant as a tool to assist in getting in touch with one's higher self, and not primarily a "see-through-time" tool.

It is not there to help you "battle destiny", as I will cover in the best practices section. While tarot can be used to divine near-future possibilities and potential outcomes, it is in actuality a tool for co-creation, reminding us that we play a large role in creating reality. It is meant as a handy, safe, and subtle tool to communicate with the spirit world, among other things - and primarily, with your higher self : it is intended to help you raise your consciousness, not "fight the future". And as we will see, this impacts both usage and accuracy of results.

Structure of the Tarot

Most decks contain 78 cards. Each card represents a state of reality or quality of being, and, in and of itself, is defined by a central concept, while containing a collection of associated wisdom and correspondences. Each card is also associated with a definition which elaborates upon the state it represents, and/or a description of its meaning and symbolism, which helps one to expand their consciousness as well as to derive guidance or practical solutions.

The deck is ususally split into two groups: the Major Arcana and Minor Arcana. There are 22 Major Arcanas, representing the major transitions and emotions of life (death, catastrophe, hope, love...). For those with a knowledge of Kabbalah, each Major Arcana card represents a path between the Sephiroth on the Tree of Life. 

The Minor Arcana consists of 56 cards, divided into four Suits of 10, plus the associated Court Cards. Each suit is represented by an element and a "magickal weapon or tool" which symbolizes the power, qualities, and teachings of that element. The four suits are Wands (or Staves), Swords, Cups, and Pentacles (or Coins).

The court cards are represented by four archetypal figures - Page, Knight, Queen, King, or some variant thereof.  All of these Minor Arcana cards represent the elements in a particular state of manifestation.

Wands are Fire, Swords are Air, Cups are Water, and Pentacles are Earth. Kindly note that these terms refer here to spiritual concepts, not the immediate literal application of each word. Fire represents creation, passion, and divine inspiration; Air represents truth, mind, and intellect; Water represents purity, love, and compassion; Earth represents power and material manifestation.  

Tarot, in essence, is closely tied to personal evolution and transformation. There is a story, sometimes called the Fool's Journey, which relates the journey of the individual through each Major Arcana card in a successive progression. Each of these cards is numbered (thereby containing numerological significance as well), and represents the major "events" or rather, "states" of life (hope, death, transformation, catastrophe, etc.), and that story, also, is a very important metaphor of the spiritual progression of an individual. *Follow the fool's journey and find yourself contemplating the same world, with new eyes.*

Each tarot deck comes with its own specific book or booklet, which provides the texts, meanings, and symbolism corresponding to each card. Hermeticists wrote many of these texts and correspondences with the aid of Kabbalistic analysis, as well as through an astral travel technique known as Pathworking. They would explore the astral worlds and realms that corresponded to each card, and interacted with specific entities and energies that were associated with these parts of the universe, thereby deriving information and inspiration for the development and in-depth understanding of the Tarot. As a result of these inherent correspondences, when the deck is selected randomly, as is possible on http://www.facade.com, and certain entities are addressed by name, they will express their preference for the deck that best suits the expression of their personality.

How to use Tarot

First, there are two modes with which to draw cards : with or without reversals.  The former is accomplished by splitting the deck in half and then flipping one half of the deck, so that some cards come up reversed, which changes their meaning. Often to the opposite meaning, but not always. This is the procedure one shoudl follow :

1) Form the question in your head

2) Open the inner eye

3) Create randomness by mixing and shuffling

4) Lay the cards flat before you and pull out the ones which call to you, or feel "warm" or "different";  or, alternatively, cut the deck in the place(s) in which it wants to naturally divide, using the first card(s) that is uncovered by the cut.

5) Arrange the cards, in order, in a selected, predefined layout.

Different layouts serve communication and reveal information about different situations. For example, relationships, closed questions (yes/no), past, present, and near-future... Again, these can be tested using some decks at : http://www.facade.com

Additional tips

• When no entity is specifically addressed (God, Horus, the flying spaghetti monster...) it's first come, first serve. Generally, good entities, but not always. As such, addressing a specific entity of your choice within your query is highly recommended.
• Tarot can be used to communicate with any spirit entity, including one's higher self or other person's higher selves. Or other living beings' higher selves.
• Always be polite. Often times, if I am using Facade, I just say *Thank you*. They reply with a useful tip.
• When beginning, always try to ask for clarifications when a riddle is too hard.
• The more aware you are, the more complex the riddles get.
• Reading the cards itself is a learning experience.
• If you try to live too much in the future, Tarot will insist on bringing you back to the now

And probably the most important one : Tarot gives only a snapshot of what is likely to happen and how likely it is, given the present conditions... NOT an absolute truth or revelation set in stone, and only with 80% accuracy in my case - eight times out of ten when I pull them, the answer is usable, the rest is gibberish. (Higher accuracies may be possible through exploring the vast array of Kabbalistic and magickal correspondences which each card holds - the more you know about each card, the deeper and more complex the information it can speak to you). As always, remember that Tarot offers us an opportunity to co-create reality in partnership with the divine, to shape a future of beauty in accordance with the will of your Higher Self. The best answers come from truly listening to your heart, but Tarot can definitely be a great asset and is also beautiful and colorful. An art in and of itself.

Final word

Many other divination means exist, including, but not limited to : iPod random function (it gives me songs as advices of sorts, which fit a context) or any other media player set to random, such as Winamp; painting, music, I Ching (a classic Chinese text and divination system similar to Tarot); bibliomancy (randomly selected passages from sacred texts such as the Bible); Oracle (such as conventional playing cards used like Tarot), runes, and many others.... Some are usable in virtual form at Facade, and Facade is just as reliable as a real deck. It is US who create the divination act, never the support you use, so find what suits you best among all these possibilities. 

A last note about contacting some divine guides : A couple of them, like Maat or Thoth, should not be contacted directly - ever. They will let you know if you try, but to contact those, you should ask Anubis first, who bridges the worlds of matter and spirit, and will gladly assist you in contacting them if required.