In the back corner of the Russian Tea Room in downtown Edmonton is a space filled with bright cloth and psychic trinkets. This space is tarot card reader Terri Sherwood's domain.
People visit Sherwood for advice on career, health, relationships and every once in awhile some spiritual guidance or information about their own perceived psychic abilities. “They wonder if what they have is real and how to develop it,” she explains.
Tarot Card Facts
The origins of tarot cards are largely a mystery but there are some points of agreement. They surfaced in the 15th century in Spain and then spread throughout Europe. The tarot cards went through many changes in appearance and to this day have many variations. The most commonly used deck with the most available resources for learning is the Rider-Waite tarot.
The seventy-eight cards of the Rider-Waite tarot deck are rich with symbolism and their derivations can be traced to Kabbalah and medieval alchemy. Twenty-two of these cards comprise the major arcana and are regarded as having meanings of higher purpose or deep significance. The remaining fifty-six cards comprise the minor arcana and resemble modern playing cards. The four suits of the minor arcana are commonly labeled wands, coins, swords and cups.
For divinatory purposes, people select cards and arrange them in a specific pattern known as a tarot spread. Reading the spread can help people gain insight into the their past, present, or future. It can take years to become familiar with all the symbolic meanings, combinations of cards, and spread variations.
Learning to Read the Tarot
Sherwood can offer some valuable advice on how to become more comfortable with reading the tarot, but history was not always so permissive. The history of the tarot is filled with religious persecution of those that practice it, especially women. “It is taboo from way back, the cards are definitely not evil, they are a tool that you can use to…see what you see for people.” As for persecution, Sherwood sums it up by saying that it is fear of the unknown.
For people looking to learn to read tarot cards, she advises the following:
- Become comfortable with the cards by reading, taking courses on subjects like meditation, and practicing with friends;
- Put self-doubts aside when interpreting the tarot to improve intuition;
- Buy a deck of tarot cards, the most common being the Rider-Waite tarot deck. Some superstitions imply that the cards must be a gifted to a reader, but this is simply untrue.
At the end of the day, practice, practice, practice is the best advice when it comes to mastering tarot.
For people looking to become professional tarot card readers, Sherwood has some warnings: “It can be very draining, anybody who gets started in this needs to have really good boundaries so that you don't take stuff home with you…and don’t overdo it because you will burn out. But it is exciting …you get to help people.”
The Tarot Cards' Impact on Peoples' Lives
One client that Sherwood remembers well insisted there was no need to go back for further medical testing to identify a cyst. “She argued with me because she had just had a medical and they didn’t find anything…she came back two weeks later and said she did have a cyst.”
Other stories that stick out in her mind are women that are in abusive relationships. Some of the cards identify violent men and with her background in counseling and referral services Sherwood knows well enough to approach the subject carefully. “I have saved peoples lives by them moving out, not that I tell them to move out, but I give them the warning signs…I can't change their journey, I can tell them what I see, but they make the ultimate decision.”
As for you skeptics out there, she has a message, “Ive read some of those, and they change their minds pretty quick. That is fun.”
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