Storm’s Blog

Did you know that the first explosion of spirituality beyond the “one world religion” occurred in the 15^th century?
That’s right!  The invention of the printing press allowed people who could afford to purchase books the ability to read texts and manuscripts that were only available to the affluent.  This miraculous invention of the printing press was the beginning of the historical period known as the Renaissance.

Since the Renaissance alternative forms of spirituality have slowly grown.  Moreover, during the 1980’s the birth of the New Age movement created a pop culture surge between the arcane sciences and spirituality.   Metaphysical bookstores began to open in growing number throughout the world, and for the first time in history interest in the unseen world and psychic phenomena became part of mainstream life and has grown ever since.  In the 21^st century, we are experiencing a new Renaissance as technology and distribution of information have reached a point that people are questioning what they believed to be true, and are utilizing alternative tools to understand true spirituality.

One of the most popular tools for spiritual self-discovery is the mystical tarot.  Many believe that the tarot is only a tool used for predictions, but the tarot is much more than that!  If you have a question about anything; the tarot has an answer!  You can utilize tarot to ask questions about yourself, get insight into others, ask worldly questions, or simply get additional information about anything.

Here are 22 Different Ways to Use Your Tarot Deck

The Fool:  Have you taken a risk lately?  Discovering the general energies around you is a great way to use the tarot.   The cards can give you a great description of what you have to work with at this point.  This can provide you with insight and options of the path of least resistance you can take.

The Magician:  The Magician in the tarot has to do with communication and our ability to understand life.   This is why the Magician is associated with the planet Mercury in astrology.   If you need to understand the underlying energies of an area of life that concerns you, tarot can provide you with these answers.

The High Priestess:  Would you like to develop your intuition?  The tarot is a great visual map for you to tap into the deepest parts of your soul and understanding the feelings within.

The Empress:  Everything is cyclical.  One day we are up and the next day we are down!   The Empress in the tarot deals with fertility and our ability to birth things.  If you are starting a new project understanding how to utilize the energies for your best possible benefit is a great way to use tarot.   You can use a card to represent every single aspect of the business, and even use additional cards for things you should avoid and details you should concentrate on.  You could also use this concept for dealing with children or anything that needs to be nurtured.

The Emperor:  Sometimes you can get very caught up in the need to control a situation that you forget that creating more structure around you can be of benefit.   If you experience difficulties in your life; whether these are romantic, career, or financial – you can ask tarot how to bring more structure and foundation in your life.

The Hierophant:  Events often occur in our lives that are difficult to understand.  The tarot can be used to see the larger spiritual purpose for an experience or an event.

The Lovers:  Do you need insight into a relationship?  The tarot can allow you to explore all the dimensions of your relationship and can give insight into how to manage it in the future.

The Chariot:  Being stuck in a situation or feeling you have no choices or options can be very difficult.   The tarot can give insight into how you can move forward.  You can ask the tarot what would be the best path for you at this time.

Strength:  Understanding our urges is profound spiritual insight.   You can use the tarot to understand why you do the things that you do.   Getting a bit of insight into our selves can provide us with the power to make changes to ourselves and make our lives more manageable.

The Hermit:  Tarot is a powerful tool for meditation and reflection.  Simply pull a card out of a deck and see what message it gives you.

Wheel of Fortune:  Need a glimpse into the future?  You can ask a simple (or complex) question to the tarot and it will reveal to you the answer.

Justice:   Often our emotions take control of us and we have a hard time looking at our circumstances from a rational perspective.  The tarot gives us the tools to look at things detached from our emotional expectations.

The Hanged Man:  Life is about sacrifices.   Often we come to a cross road that requires us to let something go.   The tarot can be used to help you understand the best thing to let go of at this time.

Death:  Have you experienced a loss of a relationship, loved one, or career?   Death is a very liminal place and it can be very terrifying.   You can use the tarot to help you let go and begin to move forward.

Temperance:  One of the best attributes to living a healthy life is to live in a balanced way.  If you are feeling out of balance, you can use the tarot to help you understand your situation and bring your life into balance.

The Devil:   Do you need to understand self-defeating behaviors?  Need to let go of a bad habit?   The tarot can help you understand why you have this habit and help you resolve your issues.

The Tower:  There are times in our life when we feel that things are falling apart.  The tarot can provide us with insight to begin again.

The Star:   The Star card in the tarot is a card of hope.  We can use its energy to give us hope into our own lives.

The Moon:  Did you have a disturbing dream that you need insight into.   Use the tarot to help access your unconscious and provide you with deeper understanding of your night life.

The Sun:  The tarot is a great way to understand our purpose and inner destiny.

Judgement:  Understanding our karmic patterns is very important. We can use the tarot to access our past lives and how they are influencing us now.

The World:  Need to move to the next level and leave the past behind?  The tarot will give you a road map to move f

The world of tarot is a fascinating and exciting discovery.   The tarot can answer virtually any of your questions about life.  Our advisors have come across a resistance to tarot, and mainly because it is deeply misunderstood, yet the tarot is probably one of the best psychic tools on the market.  In fact, many psychics will use the images of the tarot to jump start their intuitive feelings and use it was a doorway to psychically connect with their clients.

Our advisors believe that the problem with tarot resides in the fact that those that become interested in tarot are overwhelmed by the number of decks on the market.  Some of them are very hard to understand are best for advanced readings.

We have compiled a list of the Top 10 Tarot Decks for Beginners:

1. Rider Waite Smith – The Rider Waite Smith deck is the most popular tarot deck in the world.  Designed during the earth 20^th century by Pamela Colman Smith under the direction of occultist Arthur E. Waite, the RWS deck is the father of all beginner tarot decks and the inspiration for hundreds of new decks called “RWS clones”.   Many of the beginner books on tarot use some derivation of the RWS decks in their illustrations.   This is an incredible beginner’s deck for someone who wishes to seriously study tarot.
2. Gaian Tarot – The Gaian Tarot was released in 2011 by Joanna Powell Colbert, and is very popular with the bulk of the tarot community.   Although the Gaian Tarot follows a numerical sequence consistent with most tarot decks, it diverts from traditional scenery in favor of a more nature oriented deck.   Although you could successfully use this deck to predict, the primary tone of this deck lends itself more towards healing and introspection.  The Gaian Tarot is an incredible deck for those that want to use tarot for journaling work.
3. Legacy of the Divine Tarot – The Legacy of the Divine Tarot was created by award winning graphic artist Ciro Marchetti.  Although Mr. Marchetti claims that he is not a tarot reader, his understanding of tarot’s depth and nuance are noticeable and leads one to believe that he is just being humble.   The images (for the most part) follows an RWS format, yet are created with stunning imagery and colorful hues.   If you are interested in beautiful tarot cards this is a highly recommended deck.
4. The Gilded Tarot – The Gileded Tarot (like the Legacy of the Divine Tarot) is designed by Ciro Marchetti and was his first leap into the artist world of tarot.  The Gilded Tarot is a traditional RWS clone with stunning CGI graphics.  The text for the Gilded Tarot was written by accomplished tarotist and author Barbara Moore.  The companion book describes the cards and provides significant information for interpretation.
5. Tarot of Ascension – The Tarot of Ascension is a deck released in 2010 by Lo Scarabeo.  This deck focuses around the ever popular Mayan Calendar lore, and the belief that the world will enter into a spiritual enlightenment in 2012.   If you are interested in what spiritual ascension and enlightenment then this deck is the one for you.   This deck is great for predictive work or self-discovery readings.
6. Wheel of the Year Tarot – If you are attracted to Pagan or Wiccan themes this deck by Lo Scarabeo is a great tarot beginner’s deck.  The deck created in vibrant watercolors reveals our yearly passage of the seasons and what seasonal symbolism means on an inner level.  This deck is great for predictive work or those experiencing health or aging related issues.
7. The Wizard’s Tarot – This deck was designed by prolific tarot author Corrine Kenner.  If you are a fan of the Harry Potter series the themes within the Wizard’s Tarot may speak to the adventurer or the hero in you.   The cards are done in beautiful CGI graphics and the book penned by Kenner is one of the best books packaged with a tarot deck.  The Wizard’s Tarot is excellent for any type of tarot work.
8. The Fairy Tale Tarot – Are you one of the 10 million fans of ABC’s “Once Upon a Time?”  If you are, you will surely enjoy this deck!   The Fairy Tale Tarot was designed by one of the best tarot artists of our time – Lisa Hunt.   The deck takes you through the world of Fairy Tales, and introduces you to the inner meaning of these timeless stories.  This is an incredible deck for children or those interested in self-discovery.  The book included with the Fairy Tale Tarot is a must for any tarot library.
9. The Mythic Tarot – Originally published in the 80’s, the Mythic Tarot was re-illustrated as the New Mythic Tarot and released again in 2011.   The images now in CGI graphic (the most popular new medium of tarot) are vivid and colorful.  The Mythic Tarot explores the world of Greek Mythology, and is one of the best decks for predictive and psychological work.   The deck includes (probably) the best book written on tarot penned by Liz Greene and Juliet Sharman Burke.
10. The Sharman Casseli Deck – This is the most recent deck designed by Juliet Sharman Burke (co-creator of the Mythic Tarot) and illustrated by Gionnani Casseli.   This deck is a very close Rider Waite Smith clone stripped of its excessive religious symbolism.  For those that are interested in studying tarot and NOT esoterica this is an incredible all-purpose tarot deck.

These are our picks for the Top 10 Tarot Decks for Beginners.  If you have one of your own – feel free to post in the comments below.