Tarot Diva, page 29
This book is a jumping-off point for your journey with the
cards. The meditations, spells, visualizations, exercises, and
meanings of the cards are endless and infinite, just like you.
Your journey with tarot may have begun here with me or it
may have started long ago. Whatever the case, I do hope you
find yourself among the cards. An electric field pulsing full of
synchronicity, coincidence, and magic surrounds us at all times.
It is tickling you even as you read these words. But we won’t
notice and can’t access this field if we aren’t paying attention.
Tarot teaches us to pay attention. It is up to each one of us to
seek, discover, and cultivate the magic of our lives; no one can
do this for us. Tarot by itself won’t help you unless you let it
point you in the right direction.
Remember that divaness, happiness, and joy rest in your
hands alone. It is you, not a tarot book, who fills the cards with
grace, wisdom, and nuance. I may suggest a spell or meditation
into a card, but you are the one who colors it with meaning and
substance. It is you who takes the suggestion of the archetype of
creativity offered by the Empress and brings it into the world in
a way no one else can.
W H E N Y O U K N O W Y O U R S E L F ... W H E N YOU
K N O W W H O YOU ARE ... Y O U 'L L K N O W M O R E
T H A N T H E BEST P S Y C H I C IN T H E W O R L D C O U L D
EVER T E LL YOU.
A popular transformational workshop offers the secret to life.
The secret to life is (insert dmmroll) ... there is no secret. Life itself is meaningless. It is up to you to create meaning in your life. This secret is wise. In essence, life really is what you make
of it. This notion also applies to the art of tarot. Even though
this very book is full of secrets ascribed to the cards, it is really
up to you to create meaning out of the tarot.
You are the secret.
Let tarot guide you.
And remember, if you want to embody the World card, first
you must ask for it.
Now, go have your way with the world, diva!
[contents!
A Diva Dictionary
Adept: A person who has attained a special level of knowledge
or skill within a particular organization.
Arcana: The plural form of the word arcanum, meaning a
deep secret, a mystery. In tarot, the tarot deck is divided into
the Major Arcana (twenty-two cards) and Minor Arcana
(fifty-six cards).
Archetype: An archetype describes a set of personality traits,
an ideal example, or a symbol universally recognized by all
people.
BOTA (Builders of the Adytum): A modern mystery school in
the Western tradition. BOTA’s teachings are based on Qa-
balah and tarot. BOTA offers a tarot correspondence course;
see www.bota.org.
Cartomancy: Fortunetelling using cards. Cards used for fortunetelling could be tarot or any sort of cards, including (but not limited to) regular playing cards, gypsy witch cards,
angel cards, and so on.
Crowley, Aleister: Rogue member of the Golden Dawn and
controversial figure known in the early twentieth century as
“the wickedest man in the world."
Diva: A term describing a successful woman with rare, unusual talent.
Divination: The act of foretelling future events using any
number of means, including (but not limited to) astrology,
tarot reading, palm reading, tea leaf reading, rune casting,
numerology7, crystal ball gazing, and so on.
Elementals: Related to or being an element. It is commonly
understood the world is composed of the four elements of
earth, air, fire, and water.
Earth = Pentacles
Air = Swords
Fire = Wands
Water = Cups
Esoteric: Intended for or understood by a select, small group
of people. Confidential. Private. Secret.
The Golden Dawn: The most influential magical group to
spring from the nineteenth century. The group who has had
the largest impact on modern occultism. Created in England, the Golden Dawn practiced spiritual advancement, magic, and tarot.
Intuition: Quick and ready insight. Instinctive knowledge of
or about something without conscious reasoning. A facility’
available to every single person.
Lemniscate: A symbol meaning infinity and seen as a sideways eight. Pictured in the Magician, Strength, and the Two of Pentacles.
Major Arcana: The Major Arcana is the first twenty-two cards
o f the tarot deck, numbered o through 21. The Major Arcana contains the big archetypes of tarot. The Major Arcana is, in fact, what separates the tarot deck from a normal set of
playing cards.
Minor Arcana: Commonly referred to as the minors, or pip
cards, the Minor Arcana consists of the aces through tens
and court cards of tarot.
Occult: Relating or dealing with supernatural phenomena.
Hidden from view, or secret.
Pip Cards: Pip cards are the aces through tens within the four
suits of Minor Arcana cards.
Psychic: Sensitive to nonphysical or supernatural forces and
influences, marked by extraordinary7 or mysterious sensitivity, perception, or understanding.
Qabalah: Ancient Jewish mysticism that describes how the
universe works. Many tarot scholars apply tarot to Qabalah,
as there are twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet and
twenty-two Major Arcana cards.
Querent: An old-fashioned term for the person who comes to
you for a tarot reading. These days, the querent is almost always referred to as the client.
Reversal: The term used to describe a card that is drawn upside down.
Smith, Pamela Colman: The painter who created the images
found on the Rider-Waite deck. She was a member of the
Golden Dawn.
Supernatural: Of or relating to an order of existence beyond
the visible universe, especially if relating to a god, demigod,
spirit, or devil.
Synchronicity: The experience of two or more events having
nothing to do with each other yet supposedly meaningful. A
coincidence of events that seem to be meaningfully related.
Tree o f Life: A mystical concept that explains the universe as
described by Jewish mysticism.
Trump Cards: The Major Arcana. The tarot cards numbering
o to 21. Called trumps because each card is more powerful,
or “trumps,” the previous.
Waite, Arthur Edward: A member of the Golden Dawn and
creator of the famous Rider-Waite deck.
IM P O RTA N T D ECKS EVERY DIVA S H O U L D KN O W
Rider-Waite Deck: The most popular tarot deck in English-
speaking countries. The cards were illustrated by Pamela
Colman Smith. Ms. Smith took her instructions from
Arthur Edward Waite. Originally published in December
1909 by the Rider Company.
Visconti-Sforza Deck: The oldest tarot deck in existence. Italian in origin. Thirty-five cards are in the holdings of the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York City; 26 cards reside
at Accademia Carrara, Bergamo, Italy. Check with the institutions before visiting, as the cards are in rotating collections and may not be available for public viewing.
Tarot o f Marseille: Marseille tarot refers to decks patterned
after French decks created in the eighteenth century. The
pip cards are abstract and do not contain pictures like the
Rider-Waite but are images of the numbered suit.
Thoth Deck: A tarot deck painted by Lady Frieda Harris. She
took her instructions from Aleister Crowley. Neither would
live to see this deck published in 1969.
[contents]
A Diva Bibliography
Amberstone, Wald, and Ruth Ann Amberstone. The Secret Language of Tarot. San Francisco, CA: Red Wheel/Weiser, 2008.
Bach. David. Smart Women Finish Rich. New York: Broadway
Books, 1999.
Cameron, Julia. The Artist's Way. New York: Penguin Putnam,
1992.
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. Flow. New York: Harper and Row,
1990.
Fifield, Kathleen. Instant Style. New York: InStyle, 2006.
Gettings, Fred. The Book of Tarot. London: Triune Books, 1973.
Gladwell, Malcolm. Blink. New York: Little, Brown, and Company, 2005.
Gray, Eden. A Complete Guide to the Tarot. New York: Bantam
Books, 1970.
Greer, Mary K., and Tom Little. Understanding the Tarot Court.
St. Paul. MN: Llewellyn, 2004.
Hurley, Judith Benn. The Good Herb. New York; Morrow, 1995.
Illes, Judika. The Element Encyclopedia of Witchcraft. London:
Harper Element, 2005.
Kenner, Corrine. Tarot Journaling. Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn,
2006.
-------- . Tarot for Writers. Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn, 2009.
Pajeon, Kala, and Ketz Pajeon. The Candle Magick Workbook.
New York; Carol Publishing Group. 1997.
Pollack, Rachel. Complete Illustrated Guide to Tarot. New York:
Gramercy Books, 1999.
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Maya Angelou
-------- . Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom. London: Element,
1980.
Powell, Robert (trails.). Meditations on the Tarot. New York: Penguin Putnam. 1985.
Renee, Janina. Tarot Spells. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn, 2004.
Roseau, Lexa. The Supermarket Sorceress. New York: St. Martin’s
Press, 1996.
Telesco, Patricia. A Victorian Grimoire. St. Paul. MN: Llewellyn,
1998.
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