Tarot: Linking By Numbers

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.

Ok folks, that is as much as I can type on the subject for now :). But in my next blog posts I will cover the Swords and Pentacles suits, the court cards, the remaining Major arcana cards and how to construct a reading using what I call my "Linking by Numbers" method ;)