Tarot: Linking By Numbers Method (Parts I, II and III)

Now that I have covered all of the suits of the minor arcana, I have decided to merge the complete tutorial into one post. I will discuss the court cards separately, as they have no numerical value and are therefore omitted from the number system.

A quick note. If you are struggling to learn all the meanings of the cards, you must persevere. I hold in my brain, nearly 20 years of research, which has enabled me to read the way I do now. I have not just memorized the universal meanings of 78 cards, but 156, as each one has it's own reversed attributes. I must point out that there are no definitive interpretations of the tarot cards, however. The meanings of them should be unique to you, but when training, the universal themes should apply, which you should extend upon or omit what doesn't feel right for you.

Throughout this blog, I wanted to share my own methods which helped me learn how to successfully and accurately read the Tarot. This technique is not new, and I have indeed learnt the foundations of it from brilliant books, but this is my own take on it and how I personally see the cards. Sylvia Abraham devised the brilliant Keyword System in her book of the same name, and although it deals with keywords, the numerology still flows through it. Her book is great starting if you are learning to read the tarot. I was hooked on this book as a kid, and I was surprised how quick it was to pick up. The following is a system I devised myself, inspired by Sylvia's Keyword System literature.

Each card is numbered (with the exception of the court cards. I like to class The Fool as 0). There are 22 major arcana cards and 57 minor, so naturally the cards under the minor banner take more practice to learn than the small in comparison major house. So for now, let's only focus on the first 10 cards of the major arcana (omitting The Fool). I will give each card a simple keyword. This is what the cards means to me, although most of the basic meanings are universal.

1. The Magician - New beginnings

2. The High Priestess - Hidden Knowledge

3. The Empress - Creativity and abundance (mother)

4. The Emperor - Authority, organisation and evaluation (father)

5. The Hierophant - Traditional ways of solving conflict, learning from your mistakes

6. The Lovers - Choices

7. The Chariot - Taking control

8. Strength - Advancement, moving forward

9. The Hermit - Inner wisdom, happy with one's own situation, making the most of it

10. The Wheel of Fortune - Changes, cycles, closure

These are the first 10 higher meanings of the Tarot, which we can also apply to the cards of the minor arcana, in addition to using each suit's theme. This will help you vastly when learning what the cards mean.

The suits of the minor arcana and their theme are as follows:

Wands - Daily life, work, friends community, personal growth and ideas -  Universal Realm

Cups - Love, emotions and people in your heart - Spiritual Realm

Swords - Problems, health, mental thought processes, strife - Mental Realm/Self

Pentacles - Money, material position and growth, financial matters, possessions, jobs - Physical Realm/Earth

So now let us now apply each major card number, and key word to the minor arcana cards:

Wands

1. New beginnings - Ideas, a job, career.

2. Hidden knowledge - Knowing what you want, knowledge is in within you to find the way.

3. Creativity and abundance - Foundations, being creative and content with your ideas. Just so.

4. Authority, organisation and evaluation (father) - Time to assess your ideas, having the authority to take action and make things happen.

5. Traditional ways of solving conflict - An upset within a circle of friends, community or work, the Hierophant teaches us to use be wise and use traditional values. Don't fuel the situation further but be firm, learn from one's mistakes.

6. Choice - Making good choices with work. Your ideas prove to be useful and people recognize it.

7. Taking control - Acting and standing up for what you believe in. Your friends and community may disagree but you are in control of your own life.

8. Advancement - Light the match and watch it go! Ideas take off, good times socially. The community or work place benefits from your intelligence.

9. Inner wisdom, happy with one's own situation, making the most of it - The Hermit teaches us to look within and be content. Accepting the place you live and the friends you have. It could be worse.

10. Changes - The end of a cycle in work or the community. It has become too much and it may be time for you to move to a new town and take the good memories, and the ups and the downs with you to the next community.

Cups

1. New beginnings - A new relationship, that butterfly feeling.

2. Hidden Knowledge - Is the one you love the right one for you? Have you listened to your heart or have you listened to your head? Following your heart to the "perfect" partner.

3. Creativity and abundance - Wonderfully happy times with loved ones. A celebration, wedding, birth announcement, being a mother.

4. Authority, organisation and evaluation (father) - Time to evaluate things. Your father could offer good advice in matters of the heart right now. Don't be afraid to ask for help when making decisions in love.

5. Traditional ways of solving conflict - Upsetting the balance in love. Remember, traditional ways fix it better. Do not make it worse, move on and learn from it.

6. Choices - Making positive choices and stimulating your emotional needs well.

7. Taking control - A need to take control and stop living in the clouds. You are victim to your heart and you are being lead astray. You need to listen to your inner voice and do the logical thing on this occasion.

8. Advancement, moving forward - Moving on in love. You finally brushed yourself down and have decided to move to pastures new. A clearance of emotional baggage.

9. Inner wisdom, happy with one's own situation, making the most of it - Happy with yourself and your loved ones. My family ins't perfect but they are mine, and I am happy.

10. Changes, cycles, closure - Closure on the past and new beginnings and happiness. Having learned from the past you made it to where you are now.

Swords
A note: The suit of Swords are my favourite cards in the whole of the tarot. They are a very complex set, dealing with the negative aspects in life, and how we cope with them. The suit of Swords, shows us the harsh reality, and flips over the meanings in the numerical system, and can represent delays. For example, the number eight symbolizes strength, advancement and moving forward, Sword VIII however, tells us that the those advancements are being prevented right now, because we are trapped in the problems that seem to slipping out of our control.

1. New beginnings - New strength to deal with strife or health issues. Current problems ending, new ones beginning.

2. Hidden Knowledge - Using inner knowledge to overcome problems or make a decision. You can't see the bigger picture, so seeking wisdom within is the only way.

3. Creativity and abundance - An abundance of heartache. Confidence issues and a lack of creativitys.

4. Authority, organisation and evaluation (father) - Time to evaluate things and rest.
5. Traditional ways of solving conflict - Upsetting the balance. Remember, traditional ways fix it better. Do not make it worse, move on and learn from it.

6. Choices - Making positive choices and moving away from a negative situation.

7. Taking control - A need to take control! You are following a bad path and may be deceiving people. You are being a negative person and wallowing in self pitty. You need to take hold of the reins. Alternatively, someone could be using you, and you are letting it happen, only you can stop this.

8. Advancement, moving forward - Problems are coming in thick and fast, you have got yourself tangled in a web. You can see the way out, but prefer to stay where you are, because it has become comfortable. A delay.

9. Inner wisdom, happy with one's own situation, making the most of it - Feeling alone, isolation. Not happy with the situation and not making the most of it, instead you are worrying. Woe and misery.

10. Changes, cycles, closure - All the problems have come crashing down but the storm has passed and now the only way is up. Changes are coming, and you can climb out of rock bottom.

Pentacles

1. New beginnings - New beginnings in financial matters, a debt cleared, an inheritance, cash windfall.

2. Hidden Knowledge - Using one's own knowledge and experience to juggle financial matters.

3. Creativity and abundance - Using your creativity to make a living. Monetary gain from your art.

4. Authority, organisation and evaluation (father) - Evaluating your finances and keeping a close eye on them, perhaps too much. Greed and possessiveness.
5. Traditional ways of solving conflict - Upsetting the balance. Poverty. Financial hardship. Learn from the mistakes you made getting to this point.

6. Choices - Making positive choices with money lead to success. You are able to share your prosperity. Charity.

7. Taking control - Taking control of your finances and watching money grow. Enjoying the fruit of your labor.
8. Advancement, moving forward - Making good advancements with money. Getting stuck into a project that rewards your financially.

9. Inner wisdom, happy with one's own situation, making the most of it - Content with your financial situation and living a materialist life. No monetary worries.

10. Changes, cycles, closure - Enjoying the rewards you gain through your hard. A project is coming to an end and it is paying off. Retirement.