Buying Your First
Set of Tarot Cards
By Claire Coleman Ator Tarot Cards by Robin Ator
Now that we've looked at the meanings of the cards of the Major Arcana, it's time to learn how to read those cards--but the first important step is buying the right deck of cards for you. Some people say that Tarot cards should always be a gift and never something you buy for yourself. Personally, I think that's nonsense. Tarot cards are not mystical things in and of themselves. It is the READER who makes the cards mystical (although it is nice to get them as a present)!
When Tarot cards were invented they were used to play a card game. They were not seen as supernatural in any way until people started to realise that they could use them to tell fortunes. Tarot cards show people’s lives, in all their complications, which is why they lend themselves so well to clairvoyance ("clear vision" --the ability to "see" using means other than the known human senses).
In the past, people used lots of different ways to tell the future. The ancients used the beating hearts of sacrificial victims, the entrails of animals, or dancing flames to find out what lay ahead. Today, the Tarot is a popular tool for telling the future (maybe because it involves a lot less mess!).
Before you buy your cards or have them bought for you, realise that the magical thing that will see the future is YOU--not your cards. However, it is still nice to have cards you like and that resonate with you. There are many, many, many different types of tarot cards but they split into two different types; pictorial and non-pictorial. Pictorial cards have a picture on each card illustrating what it means. Non-pictorial don’t have a picture on every card.
I recommend buying pictorial cards because it’s much easier to read with them. If you use non-pictorial you'll have to remember what every card means rather than just looking at a picture. Most pictorial Tarot decks are based on the Rider-Waite tarot set (the one I use!). Over the years many people have created their own cards with all sorts of themes, but based on that set.
Have a look at an online catalogue of tarot cards and see which ones you are drawn to. You might be drawn to images based on Egyptian, Greek or Celtic mythology, or something more supernatural like fairies or witches. Just make sure they are pictorial before you buy unless you want to study hard before you start reading.
Tarot cards are tools we can use to open our minds, and it's worth giving it a bit of thought before you get your first pack. Hopefully they'll be the ones you'll use for the rest of your life. Next time, we’ll start looking at how to use them.