What Is The Tarot Card’S Scientific Basis?

Tarot cards are a powerful tool for personal growth and divination, with their origins dating back to medieval Europe. These cards use symbolic language to convey complex ideas and emotions, and their use is based on the idea that they can activate certain patterns of thinking and response within us.

The Tarot is a deck of 78 cards, each with its own imagery, symbolism, and story. The 22 Major Arcana cards represent life’s karmic and spiritual lessons, while the 56 Minor Arcana cards reflect trials and tribulations. Tarot card reading is a form of cartomancy where practitioners use tarot cards to gain insight into the past, present, or future.

Psychological research suggests that these archetypal symbols can activate certain patterns of thinking and responding within us. However, there is no scientific explanation for the benefits of Tarot cards, as they cannot predict the future, mine the past, or indicate anything about our worldly reality or personal lives.

A science-inspired deck of tarot cards has been created, using images ranging from bacteria to black. The Cups, associated with water and the emotional self, and the Pentacles, linked to earth and the physical self, are used in Tarot readings.

Tarot reading is based on the idea that an individual’s subconscious thoughts and emotions can guide them to their true purpose in life. Tarot cards, like quantum particles, can be seen as symbols of potential outcomes or messages open to interpretation.

What is the psychology behind tarot cards?

Tarot readings involve the use of symbolism, intuition, and the human psyche to access the collective unconscious and deeper layers of awareness. This process aligns with psychological concepts like archetypes, symbolism, and narrative therapy, emphasizing the importance of storytelling and symbolism in shaping our understanding of ourselves and the world. Three factors contributing to transformation following a tarot session include positive expectations, the placebo effect, and the belief in the effectiveness of the treatment. This optimistic outlook can lead to real improvements in well-being.

Do tarot cards really work?

Tarot readings can be an empowering and insightful tool for self-discovery and future direction. A professional tarot reader can help you understand your goals and desires, providing insight into your situation and guiding you towards the best actions for your love life, career, or other questions. They can also reveal the motivations of others and predict potential outcomes of decisions. A good tarot reading can provide clarity and help heal anxiety.

However, it is crucial to prepare thoroughly for your first reading to fully benefit from the experience. A good tarot reading can provide valuable insights into your future and help you make informed decisions.

Can any person read tarot cards?

Tarot is a popular and accessible tool for anyone, according to author Michelle Tea. She believes that learning tarot involves becoming comfortable with the imagery, learning them by heart, and understanding how the cards interact. Tea’s book, Modern Tarot: Connecting with Your Higher Self through the Wisdom of the Cards, provides a beginner’s guide to tarot, guiding readers through each card in a deck, sharing reading tips, and ways to incorporate tarot into self-care practices. Tea emphasizes that anyone can learn tarot, as long as they are comfortable with the imagery and understand how they flow into a story.

Do tarot cards predict the future?

Tarot can help make big decisions, but it cannot predict the future. Michelle Tea suggests beginners start with a three-card reading from the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck. Growing up, her family often relied on tarot for tough decisions, such as discussing a brother’s breakup or deciding whether to drop out of school. The deck’s iconic Rider-Waite-Smith cards can be used to guide readers through these situations.

What is the reason for tarot card reading?

Tarot cards have gained a significant following, particularly among younger women, as they offer a sense of community and empower individuals to consider their problems and work through them. The art of tarot cards has evolved over the years, with some seeking certainty in uncertain times and others seeking new ways to self-reflect. Fiona and Jen, authors of Wild Card: Let The Tarot Tell Your Story, provide a comprehensive guide to the art, covering topics such as how to start reading cards and which deck to buy. The collective interest in tarot cards has grown over the past four years.

Why don’t tarot cards work?

The interpretation of a tarot card depends on the questions asked, card combinations used, and spreads used. Standard card meanings may not be suitable for a specific context. It’s important to ask “How can I interpret this card in this specific reading?” instead of “What does this card mean?” This approach is not taught in courses like my Tarot Foundations program, which covers all 78 tarot cards.

What is the science of tarot card reading?

Tarot card reading is a form of cartomancy where practitioners use tarot cards to gain insight into the past, present, or future. A traditional tarot deck consists of 78 cards, divided into the Major Arcana and Minor Arcana. French-suited playing cards and any card system with suits assigned to identifiable elements can also be used. The first written references to tarot packs occurred between 1440 and 1450 in northern Italy, where additional cards with allegorical illustrations were added to the common four-suit pack.

These new packs were called carte da trionfi, triumph packs, and the additional cards known simply as trionfi, which became “trumps” in English. References to tarot triumphs continue throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, but there are no indications that the cards were used for anything but games. It was only in the 1780s, when fortune-telling with regular playing cards had been well established for at least two decades, that anyone began to use the tarot pack for cartomancy.

What exactly do tarot cards do?

Tarot readings can be divided into two types: question readings and open readings. In question readings, the questions are addressed specifically, not as a guide to make decisions but as a tool for self-guided decision-making. The way a question is stated is crucial, as it should keep options open, find the best level of detail, focus on oneself, stay neutral, and be positive.

Keep your options open by not having the answer before the reading, as this narrows the scope of the true question. Focus on yourself by asking how you can balance family schedules and still have family time, rather than asking why your teenager is experimenting with drugs. Stay neutral by not conveying a preconceived notion that your view is necessarily the right one. Be positive by asking what you can do to help make a specific event happen instead of asking why it hasn’t happened.

Open readings address larger aspects of life, such as entering a new phase of life like getting married, graduating from college, or starting a family. You can direct the reading if you have a general area you want to cover, such as your career or health, but that’s as specific as the direction gets. By following these tips, you can better utilize Tarot readings to guide your decisions and improve your life.

Is tarot a form of therapy?

Tarot cards may not be a viable alternative for those seeking therapy for specific mental illness and trauma due to lack of research into their therapeutic potential. While they offer self-reflection and new perspectives, they lack the scientific foundation, professional guidance, and empirical evidence to be considered an alternative to therapy. Additionally, many Tarot readers lack qualifications or training, leaving more room for malpractice and potential bias.

As a self-taught Tarot reader, some people bring up emotions and issues that might require a more traditional medical approach, such as a clinical psychologist. Instead, they offer a community-based warm space to air out emotions, rather than diagnosing or providing medication.

Is tarot good for mental health?

Tarot readings have been demonstrated to be beneficial for some individuals, as they encourage intentional reflection on life themes, circumstances, and self-perception, which may in turn lead to improvements in mental health.

What religion do tarot cards come from?

This literature review examines the relationship between Tarot cards and New Age religion, emphasizing their function in the contemporary study of the New Age movement.