The True Nature of Tarot by Diane Wing, M.A.

• Tweet
• Sharebar

I have been a long time student of divination.  Free will has a strong role in our destiny but I believe there are ways to understand what is happening energetically regarding situations we encounter.  Sort of like, everything happens for a reason.  Divination can help to understand the purpose of the events we experience and help us to learn from them.

In my experience, everything that has ever happened in my life has, in hindsight, created opportunities I didn’t expect or even know I wanted.  In the end they were for the best and helped me to become the person I am today.

My initial fascination with divination began with Tarot in high school.  My best friend’s sister read tarot cards and I was curious.  The more I learned about it, the more intrigued I became with the idea of using symbols to understand situations in our lives.

Tarot is essentially based on a Jungian type philosophy, that symbols hold meanings for us to understand life. The ideas of Carl Jung, an early father of psychology, are commonly used to understand human nature.

Tarot is the interpretation of the energies surrounding a situation.  These interpretations can have positive or negative meanings depending on the intentions of the reader and the inquirer (person asking the question) of the cards. If there is positive intent, the information provided can become an opportunity for growth and awareness on the part of the inquirer.

Diane Wing, M.A. has provided us with an important and useful tool for growth and awareness using Tarot.

The True Nature of Tarot: Your Path to Personal Empowerment

In this book, Wing provides a basic understanding of the details of a tarot reading.  She looks at the current possible uses of tarot in our culture and provides a coherent understanding of the energies involved in practicing and interpreting the tarot cards.

The first section of the book is written for a new practitioner learning about tarot from using intuition and grounding to picking a deck and learning layouts.  Their are sections in the beginning about understanding what tarot is and how to read a tarot spread to specific details on each card in a tarot deck.

An important message she provides is about the use of intuition in performing a tarot reading.  We are all born with the gift of intuition.  Some call it gut instincts, others have more developed gifts that can be considered psychic.  Many people don’t choose to develop their gift of intuition but this doesn’t mean we don’t all share it.  It is based on being sensitive to the energies that are proven to exist between all living things, sentient and non-sentient.

She covers not only the use of intuition but how to ground yourself and what factors will influence a tarot reading from the health and lifestyle of the reader, to external influences of the environment and surrounding distractions.  Even the inquirer influences the reading based on their clarity or willingness to hear the answers provided.

In the second part of the book, Wing covers the symbolism of the different cards.

Major Arcana

There is the major arcana which provides information about the larger issues around a situation such as lessons to be learned or influencing factors. They are numbered from 0 to 21 and represents different places a person might be in their journey.

For example, 0 is represented by a card called the fool.  The person depicted is someone newly venturing out on a journey with all the hope and naivete of one who doesn’t know the challenges that lie ahead.  The World is the 21st card in the major arcana and represents the person who has control over the self and their environment.  This card depicts success and mastery in the situation.

Minor Arcana

The minor arcana is broken down into four suits (much like playing cards): wands, swords, cups and pentacles each with cards from 1-10 and a Page/Princess, Knight, Queen and King known as the court cards. The numbers indicate the progress the inquirer is making through their journey. A person at a one is a the beginning, moving through stages to 10 which is completion or mastery.

The court cards represent influencing people on the situation which can be the inquirer or another person involved. Their suit indicates their personal features such as coloring, ethnicity, or personality.

Each suit represents a different element and aspect of a person’s life.

• Wands are represented by Fire and signify creativity, career, action, progress and the masculine.  This card shows us when looking at the person’s place in their world and their influence on it.
• Swords represented by Air refers to challenges, pain, suffering or obstacles that the inquirer faces in the past, present or future. These are the things that can provide a place for growth and change within the situation
• Cups is the symbol for Water and represents relationships, love, pleasure and the feminine. This card shows up to represent a person in relationship to other people and/or the feminine or gentler side of the situation.
• Pentacles is Earth and represents material concerns such as money, prosperity, status and security.  It can also be related to spiritual ties or motivations.  This card shows up when there is an issue around security, either good or bad or our interaction with our spiritual side.

All of the cards tell a story for the reader.  They point out areas that need to be addressed for the success or forward momentum of the situation.  In some instances there are cards that look ominous such as the Death card.  This is merely a change from a current situation to a new one.  The positive or negative connotation rests entirely on the interpretation and willingness of the inquirer to accept that change.  It doesn’t necessarily mean death of a physical being.

In My Opinion

The True Nature of Tarot is a comprehensive starting point for the beginner in tarot reading.  The book provides a complete overview of not only the elements of a tarot reading but an understanding of the symbolism within the decks.

For the advance practitioner her card interpretations provide new insight and interesting descriptions that helped me to gain further knowledge into their meanings.  I don’t practice tarot readings professionally but I value to the clarity these provide from a psychological perspective.

If you are looking for a good book to start reading tarot or further advance your skills you will find that and more in this guide.

About the Author

Diane Wing has been in the business of guiding people to reach their full potential for over two decades.  She is an intuitive tarot reader, Reiki master, and a lifetime student of metaphysics, mysticism, and spirituality.  With a Master’s degree in psychology, Diane uses the tarot as a tool to perform insightful readings intended to produce growth and harmony in the lives of her clients.

Diane is dedicated to the practical application of metaphysical concepts to help her clients understand and trust themselves, make better decisions, an be more resilient in the face of change.  She inspires and transforms others to feel their best and work to fulfill their potential as they strive toward self-mastery.  Diane helps them to realize their greatness and to come to terms with their truth, remove delusion and clear away misconceptions of the self to reveal their true nature at a core level.

She and her husband live in Southwestern Pennsylvania.  Diane can be contacted via her websites at www.ForestWitch.com and www.VibrantConcepts.com

Buy your copy of The True Nature of Tarot: Your Path to Personal Empowerment today.