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Tarot in popular culture : A really brief introduction to Alejandro Jodorowsky’s ‘The Holy Mountain’

Happy Autumn, and now that the autumn equinox has passed, it’s all downhill from here! I’m only joking. Autumn is a time to calm down and start finishing the things you started earlier in the year. In this case, I wanted to write about tarot in popular culture months ago, and I’ve only really just gotten around to it.  To start with, we’ll briefly discuss the tarot symbolism of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s ‘The Holy Mountain’.

If you are one for spotting hidden symbolism and meanings, the Alejandro Jodorowsky’s ‘The Holy Mountain’ is a brilliant film to watch. Tarot plays a prominent role in the film both as an element of the story as well as clearly inspiring the designs of the characters. To try and actually describe The Holy Mountain is difficult; as a surrealist film the narrative is rather disjointed and sometimes difficult to watch, but it’s sprinkled with extremely memorable scenes which you’ll think about for days.

In the above scene, The Alchemist character uses the tarot deck as an allegorical tool of transformation for the story of the fool figure, whom eventually grows into a Christ-like figure, following the journey of the fool. The meaning of the Magician card and Hermetic concepts are described effortlessly in one line, with the bull and the vulture. This is one of the earlier scenes in the film, and forms a basis for the following story, introducing ten characters that are all essentially aspects of the whole main character.

Alejandro Jodorowsky still studies the tarot; he wrote a book on it and saw it differently to how it is usually portrayed. Not happy with the tarots use as a divination tool, he treated it more as a psychological aid. Interestingly, he combine cards in order to better understand them. Jodorowsky considers only one deck to be pure, the Tarot de Marseille, and all others to be derivative, each new tarot deck release losing the original meaning of the cards, until you end up with something like a tarot deck based off a TV show. It’s true that this opinion is shared by many, but as with many aspects of tarot, there is no objective truth.

In future we’ll be looking at more tarot inspired films, music and books!  Have you read a book or seen a good film that features Tarot symbology? Comment below!

 

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Should I consult the Tarot for finance?

Tarot card - The Ace of Pentacles

I recently read an article on the telegraph about the financial situation in Italy, and how many are now consulting the tarot to get a glimpse of their potential financial future. In this case, the situation has gotten so bad that people are turning to Tarot and other divinationary methods to try and find hope in what looks like a bleak future. It seems around a quarter of Italians re now using the services of Tarot readers and other similar practitioners. For any country, that’s quite a lot! Is this a good idea though?

When should you use Tarot to predict your finances?

You should treat the Tarot as a message form something greater than you; the Universe. You don’t necessarily have to bend to the will of the messages presented, they are just given as a potential outcome if you continue what you are doing. If you draw a good card in relation to finances, say, The Ace of Pentacles, you should always analyse it yourself rather than take it at face value. You may very likely have to put some action in place to make this eventuality come around. Have you been losing money hand over fist recently? Don’t expect this to change if you don’t change.

The important part here is the free will you possess. Even though it might feel like it, life isn’t a roller-coaster than you are strapped into. You are driving, and you can choose to go the wrong direction that your sat-nav takes you. Take the advice of the tarot cards and use them if they feel they will help you, and this applies to any aspect of your life.

If you are having trouble with your finances; Money is mundane, so a more mundane approach is likely going to be more useful than a spiritual one. Divide your expenses into wants and needs and then analyse it. Are your needs actually needs, or are they just disguised wants? You’ll be surprised how easy it is to save money and fix financial problems if you can see the benefit and overall positive impact that comes from sacrifice.

For some further information on using tarot for finances, check out Ten tips for Interpreting the Tarot and the ‘Life Aspects‘ spread :)

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Stichomancy – Enhance your tarot reading

Stichomancy divination method

Stichomancy

Tarot is a great divinatory tool as we all know. What you may not know is that it can be combined with so many other magical and divination methods and techniques.  Stichomancy is the art of divination through interpreting seemingly randomly chosen words.

Can I perform Stichomancy?

Yes, anyone can do it, and it makes a great addition to any tarot reading! You simply think of a question, open a book at random , close your eyes and put your finger down on the page. The sentence you put your finger on should answer your question! Let’s look into how to perform a Stichomancy reading in depth.

 

How do I perform a Stichomancy reading?

  1. Find a book which you believe to contain truth. Traditionally religious texts were used but you can choose a book that you feel drawn to or have a connection with
  2. Clear your mind and think of a question you wish to ask, focus on the question
  3. Close your eyes and hold the book by it’s spine
  4. Allow the book to fall open on any page
  5. With your eyes still closed, place your finger on the page
  6. Open your eyes and read the sentence that your finger has fallen on
  7. Understand the sentence and interpret it in relation to your question

Stichomancy is a lesser known divination technique but has actually been in use for over 3000 years. Sometimes it is called Bibliomancy. There are many methods of performing a reading but the steps above are a good place to start from. You can use it in a reading in many ways. For yourself, Stichomancy can give you another valuable insight into your initial question in a wider way than a single card or spread of cards can. For others, Stichomancy is a fun and easy to understand technique. It almost turns divination into a fun game!

Give Stichomancy a try in your next reading and let us know how you got on. Comment below or visit out Facebook page to discuss Stichomancy along with Tarot!

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Redbubble price cut

tarot stickers redbubble

tarot stickers

For a limited time, prices on our Redbubble store have been cut. We have designs for all the Major Arcana tarot cards available for sticker,s phone cases and more. Click or tap the image above to visit the store!

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Popular Tarot cards – The Lovers

Tarot card - The Lovers

Tarot lovers

There are quite a few cards that are the most searched for on Tarot-Explained.com. This can’t be a chance thing, surely all the cards would appear equally? The Lovers is one of the most searched for cards on Tarot-Explained, and has been for over two years now, but what is it about this card that remains so popular? What is it about this specific card that makes it one of the most iconic and well known tarot cards?

Why is The Lovers such a popular tarot card?

One of the biggest aspects of our lives are our relationships; romantic, platonic and familial. Love plays an important aspect in our lives, especially when considering our desires. Many people wish to be loved when they aren’t, and many wish to see where their current relationships will go. The Lovers is probably the most obvious and striking tarot card when it comes to Love, so it isn’t surprising that we all want to know the best definition of The Lovers to get an accurate tarot card reading.

What can we learn from The Lovers?

A very important aspect of all our lives should be healthy balance. The Lovers stresses this duality; woman and man, left and right, tree of knowledge and tree of life. An unhealthy life is one which is too far gone in one direction. This may be why in some decks ‘The Lovers’ is called ‘The Twins’. If you are seeing a particular aspect of your life which you are unhappy with, try to see things from a different perspective; is there imbalance in any way? Are you spending too much time on others and not yourself, or vice versa?

To read more about The Lovers tarot card, click here. If you have any experience with The Lovers tarot card that you would like to share, post in the comments below!

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Weekly Tarot Card – 24th July – Page of Cups

Page of Cups

Welcome to the Tarot-Explained ‘weekly card’. Each Monday, we will feature a card and how it may affect you in the coming week. A weekly card is a general reading for all and in short it means; How will this week be? A weekly card reminds us to be mindful of the particular aspect of the card and how it manifests in our lives. Can a ‘one card for all’ approach truly work? Yes, of course, as long as you interpret it in a certain way; be mindful of the ‘things to look out for’ below. If you’d like to let us know if this card had an effect on your week, please let us know!

 

Page of Cups
Page of Cups

Things to look out for this week:

Number : 11

Person : Someone from your childhood, someone from your past you haven’t seen for a while

Activity : Anything you enjoy. Try to dedicate a day to yourself this coming week.

Be Mindful of : Making things too complex. Don’t overthink, things are simpler if you look at them form a distance.

Other : Try to reconnect with your inner child. Do you have a lost passion from years ago? Look into trying it again this week.

 

For more information, check out The Five of Wands card meaning here

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Weekly Tarot Card – 17th July

Tarot card - The Five of Wands

Welcome to the Tarot-Explained ‘weekly card’. Each Monday, we will feature a card and how it may affect you in the coming week. A weekly card is a general reading for all and in short it means; How will this week be? A weekly card reminds us to be mindful of the particular aspect of the card and how it manifests in our lives. Can a ‘one card for all’ approach truly work? Yes, of course, as long as you interpret it in a certain way; be mindful of the ‘things to look out for’ below. If you’d like to let us know if this card had an effect on your week, please let us know!

 

The Five of Wandsfive of wands tarot card

Things to look out for this week:

Number : 5

Person : Your enemy, or someone you don’t get along with

Activity : Any competitive sport may be good this week, to channel out the negative energy

Be Mindful of : Causing or participating in arguments that don’t go anywhere

Other : Try not to take sides this week

 

For more information, check out The Five of Wands card meaning here

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Tarot reading for yourself

magic tarot cards

tarot reading for yourself

Doing a tarot reading for yourself can seem quite daunting; how do you know you aren’t going to be biased and interpret the cards wrong, especially if you’re considering a reading for the future. There are a few things to keep in mind when doing a tarot reading for yourself to ensure that you take the most unbiased answer that the cards are giving you. In the following post I’m going to detail some ways you can use tarot alone, as well as some mistakes to avoid!

Starting out tarot reading for yourself

It’s best to start simple when you read tarot cards for yourself. A single card spread can be an exciting new addition to your daily life when you are unsure what to do for example. Just draw a card and treat it as a friend giving you advice. You don’t even have to take the advice if you don’t want to, just consider the possibility and go with it if it sounds good. There, you’ve successfully performed a tarot reading alone. Well done!

Moving on, you can start to perform a more complex reading for yourself as you would for somebody else. This is where things can get difficult, so watch out for the following mistakes!

Mistakes

Doing more than one reading for the same question

I think we’re all guilty of this, you keep dealing a new spread until you get the answer that you want. This isn’t going to work at all! You may as well choose the cards yourself if this is what you do. Remember to be strict with yourself here, it’s only the first spread that will work as it should, any others will have too much of your personal influence.

Bending the meanings of the cards

It’s no use to just interpret the cards in a whole new way just because you want them to. This ties in with the above. Don’t ignore the reading if it isn’t the result you want. Use the spread to understand why it isn’t giving you the right answer. The results of the tarot spread are just symptoms, but the actual worldly events occurring in the background are the cause. Changing the meanings of the cards will not change anything!

Performing a reading in the wrong state of mind

You have to be clear and level headed when you perform a tarot reading. It’s tempting to perform a tarot reading for yourself when you’re in a very low state in order to see a good potential outcome in the future but I wouldn’t advise this at all. If you don’t get the answer you seek it could push you even lower. Perform tarot readings only when you can deal with a bad outcome.

Final thoughts

Tarot reading for yourself is as good a skill to learn as reading for others, and is good practice when you have nobody else to read for. Performing a daily or weekly reading will help you learn the card meanings if you’re still in the process of learning. If you’re a more advanced student, then it’ll keep you fresh and you’ll learn how the cards connect. The more readings you perform, the more connections and relations you’ll see between the cards.

If you’ve performed a tarot card reading for yourself recently, leave a comment below and tell us what happened!

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Weekly Tarot card – 10th July

eight of pentacles

Welcome to the Tarot-Explained ‘weekly card’. Each Monday, we will feature a card and how it may affect you in the coming week. A weekly card is a general reading for all and in short it means; How will this week be? A weekly card reminds us to be mindful of the particular aspect of the card and how it manifests in our lives. Can a ‘one card for all’ approach truly work? Yes, of course, as long as you interpret it in a certain way; be mindful of the ‘things to look out for’ below. If you’d like to let us know if this card had an effect on your week, please let us know!

Eight of Pentacleseight of pentacles

The Eight of pentacles reminds you to stick to your hobbies and passions and continually improve them. Maybe you’d like to pick up a new hobby? It’s always a great time. Just remember that you should always practice to get better! Find out more at the Eight of Pentacles card meaning page.

Things to look out for this week:

Number : 8

Person : Someone skilled in their craft

Activity : Pick up that hobby that you’ve been putting off! Commit some hours this week to getting better!

Be Mindful of : New potential interests that you think you might enjoy. Just say yes this week!

Other : Be sure you don’t get tunnel vision. Your passions are important but be sure not to neglect other areas of your life!

 

For more information, check out The Eight of pentacles card meaning here

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Tarot Explained updates, comments and much more!

tarot logo large

You can now comment on any tarot card meaning, or any post on Tarot-Explained! We’d love to hear your views or experiences so feel free to comment wherever you like. There have been a number of exciting updates to Tarot-Explained recently, and there are plenty more coming soon, like the following;

and likely much much more! Thanks so much for being a part of Tarot-Explained