Dictionary of 'Tarot Terms' We Use

Hello!

GoldenVI started a thread about 'What is the Base Card?' and it got me thinking that sometimes Tarotists drop these terms in discussion and not everyone knows (or agrees) with what the term means.

Perhaps we should start a thread where people can post a working definition of a Tarot Term - with an explanation, or a cross reference to another term that means the same thing. Also - perhaps somewhere down the line we can get the posts alphabetized and made into a sticky at the top of the forum? Put the term you are asking about or explaining in the Title box.

Anyone interested? It has book potential ....

Base card
Quint (quintessential) card
Shadow card
Life card
Year card
Significator card
Elements
Elemental Dignities
Clarification cards
Positional Meanings
Timing/Seasons
and many more .....

Spread crafting
permutations
clones
lwb (in another life a lwb is a lazy wrap bun hairstyle...)
affirmation
entering a card

Can't think of anything else just now...

LWB - the 'Little White Book'

Although many decks come boxed as a deck & book set, most commercial decks come packaged with a little white pamphlet - loving referred to as the 'Little White Book' or 'LWB' for short.

LWBs have a reputation for being generic; unfortunately for many new Readers they mistake the generic explanations of the LWB as a distillation of centuries of Tarot knowledge, or believe that whatever is stated in their particular LWB is the only correct interpretation for ALL Tarot cards. Although many LWBs may have been written either by the deck artist or their collaborator, a large number of LWBs have been created by the publisher of the deck - based on generic Tarot knowledge - and may not actually reflect the cards they are attempting to describe. Some LWBs have perhaps a one-sentence explanation for the upright card and a one-sentence explanation of the reversed card. Many LWBs list only 3 or 4 keywords.

Many LWBs may not even contain more than one basic layout or spread for doing readings, and usually the only spread they give is the 10-card Celtic Cross - which is overwhelming for any new Reader to try to understand or use.

A majority of seasoned card readers will tell you that although you should read through the LWB at least once - that there are many books on Tarot card interpretation out there which can provide a more complete or in-depth explanation of a Tarot card that an LWB simply does not have room for.

Life Cards - How to Determine Yours

Many times we talk about our Life Cards (which are different from our 'Year Cards' - covered in another thread). If you have never done this process there is a forum and discussion: click Here.

Remember: these calculations are based on TB's method, so if you were told something else along the way there is nothing wrong with checking out other systems and seeing how they compare.

Enjoy!

Year Cards - How to Determine Yours

Unlike Life Cards which never change (they are based on your birth date) your Year Card changes at least once a year - usually 2-3 months before and/or after your birthdate. They are not cut-and-dried that at midnight on such-and-such date This or That will happen; sometimes the end of one card year overlaps the start of the next card year.

The thread on how to calculate your Year card is Here.

Be it known - I have calculated my own Year cards to 100 years since my birthdate - some cards NEVER EVER change no matter how many times you cycle through them, and you will never get all the Majors EVER in your lifetime. Some cards you may receive only once or twice.

Enjoy!

*** ETA ***

Attached - a scan of what my Year Cards spreadsheet looks like ...

I, for one, would like to see a definitive explanation of the Celtic Cross. We all think we know what it's supposed to be, but so many of us put different numbers and names to different positions that I'm beginning to wonder. A.E. Waite had one version (debatably used first in the Golden Dawn by Florence Farr, according to mkg) and Eden Gray had another (picture attached). In use, Waite's functions more like a "cross" (and a Christian "sign of the Cross" one at that) while Gray's has more of a circular flow. Neither one had psychological factors like "conscious" and "unconscious" in the "cross" portion; to the extent those appeared at all, they were in the "staff." I've seen so many other takes on it in the last few years that I'm left scratching my head. Personally, I've stuck with Gray's for four decades now (although I've tweaked it a fair amount).

Wow~! That looks nothing like the Celtic Cross spread I use - which I adapted to make it make more sense to the Querent.

Perhaps there should be a separate thread of nothing but ATer's various takes on what 'version' of the CC they use - and why ... ? Call it the 'Celtic Cross Comparison Thread' or something like that, Barleywine?

"Knowledge is Power!"

Clone Decks - What Does That Mean?

In the wide world of Tarot with it's hundreds - if not thousands of decks out there you may hear someone say 'That's a Thoth Clone' or 'That's a RWS Clone.'

No expert here - but in all those 1,000s of decks there are probably only 6 or 7 different styles of decks - and everything else is 'a clone.' Tarot follows such a narrow definition - 78 cards - 22 Majors numbered Zero to 21; 4 Suits of 10 Pip cards 1-10 and 4 Court cards (these can vary but they are a member of a Court) - that many artists wittingly or unwittingly base their deck off of an existing one - some as homage and others as a definite copyright violation.

Although some deck artists can get VERY creative - many are still using someone else's imagery - and the 'Most-Cloned Deck Award' has to go to the Rider-Waite-Smith (RWS) deck. The images of Pamela Colman Smith are so iconic that no matter how you may change clothes, colors, or styles and accoutrements - when you look at a card and it screams 'This is the RWS Magician image' - you have a 'clone deck' in your hand.

BTW - being called 'a clone' is not necessarily derogatory.

tarotbear said:

Perhaps there should be a separate thread of nothing but ATer's various takes on what 'version' of the CC they use - and why ... ? Call it the 'Celtic Cross Comparison Thread' or something like that, Barleywine?

"Knowledge is Power!"

Click to expand...

Done!

Barleywine said:

Done!

Click to expand...

PS - Dear Readers - Barleywine started it in the Tarot Spreads Forum - link Here.