What is Tarot?

The Wikipedia defines Tarot as: a set of 78 cards with allegorical representations used for divination, that first appeared in Medieval times.

• A typical Tarot deck consists of:
• the major arcana, consisting of 21 trump cards and the Fool card the minor arcana consisting of 56 cards
• ten cards numbered from Ace to 10 in four different suits; traditionally batons (wands), cups, swords and coins (pentacles) (40 cards in total)
• and four court cards, page, knight, queen and king in the same four suits (4 per suit, thus 16 court cards in total).

What is Tarot used for?

Tarot is used for fortune telling or divination. "Spreads" of cards are placed down and an interpreter or reading uses the placement and meanings of the cards to make predicitions, or answer questions for a querent or for themselves. There is a lot of mystery surrounding the origin of the cards and tarot can have a deeply personal significance to each person using them. It is not uncommon for owners to treat their cards with respect and great care, being certain to cleanse them after a reading or store them in special places with herbs or special stones or objects.

How can Tarot be used with characters?

Tarot can be used for character developments in the same way that tarot can be used with real people. In a spread for a real person the person is asked to concentrate on the question they wish to ask as the reading shuffles the cards and sets the spread. In tarot for characters the reader simply concentrates on the character or what they wish to learn or explore about that character.

What types of spreads work best for characters and where do I find these spreads?

I have found that just about any kind of spread works well for a character. I often use a very general or overview themed spread if the character is relatively new or not very defined yet. Some other spreads that I enjoy and use frequently are spreads related to character's fears or hopes. Romance spreads also can yeild some very fascinating results.

You can google for tarot spreads and find many of them through the internet or you can purchase books of tarot spreads from bookstores. I have found the book How to Use Tarot Spreads: answers to every question by Sylvia Abraham (ISBN: 1-56718-002-7) to be an excellent resource with many different spreads and a small interpretation section. I also use Tarot: plain and simple by Anthony Louis.
ISBN: 1-56781-400-6. Buy it from Amazon.com here or at your local bookstore.

What Decks Do You Use?

• The Robin Wood Tarot
• The Revelations Tarot
• Lord of the Rings Tarot

• The Utena Tarot
• The Winged Spirit Tarot