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Understanding The Tarot
The Tarot archetypes are simply pictorial symbols representing life and the stages and experiences we all go through from birth until death.  They are symbols of all life cycles.  The first 22 cards, called the Major Arcana, are also called the "Fool's Journey."  It is the story of one's journey through life starting as The Fool: The Beginning,  youthful,  pure energy in spirit form.  The journey continues in the symbols, depicting events and cycles in one's life.  Completion is in "The World" archetype, the End, and the Fool has traveled to wholeness and completion of the cycle of life.  The other 56 cards, the Minor Arcana, describe the people, events, feelings, and circumstances we encounter on our personal "Fool's Journey."

As we travel through the cycles of life, we use different parts of our being, the personality or spirit.  Those personality functions are pictured by archetype in the 56 cards in the four suits of the Tarot, (Wands, Swords, Cups, and Pentacles).  We also encounter events and people who fit the symbolic archetypes.  Carl Jung described the archetypes as:
 
Wands - Fire - Intuition
Swords - Air - Thinking     
Cups - Water - Feeling
Pentacles - Earth - Sensing

 

Thus the Tarot simply shows the pictures of ourselves, our journey, the people, the environment, the events of life, and the spirit of the universal energies.
Underlying all of creation are common threads, archetypes, that are part of the study of cycles, wheels, seasons, and rhythms.  Linking these archetypes to the Tarot, Astrology, and Numerology has been done for thousands of years.  We all seek to define our Universe in a language we all understand.
Major Arcana = One's Life Journey
Minor Arcana = People and Events along the way
(Wands, Pentacles, Swords, Cups in the Tarot Cards Decks) 
The cards are laid in a spread to answer a question (a reading) usually on the topics of love, relationships, family, wealth and money, stress, problems, life decisions, health, careers and work, meditation, daily guidance, prayer, and personal growth. 

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