Runic Divination

The earliest runic inscriptions found on artifacts give the name of either the craftsman or the proprietor, or sometimes, remain a linguistic mystery. Due to this, it is possible that the early runes were not used so much as a simple writing system, but rather as magical signs to be used for charms. Although some say the runes were used for divination, there is no direct evidence to suggest they were ever used in this way. The name rune itself, taken to mean “secret, something hidden”, seems to indicate that knowledge of the runes was originally considered esoteric, or restricted to an elite. 

 

The Tarot

The tarot is a pack of playing cards most commonly numbering 78.  From the late 18th century until the present time the tarot has found use by mystics and occultists in efforts at divination or as a map of mental and spiritual pathways. In keeping with the belief that tarot cards are derived from the Book of Thoth, tarot contains themes related to ancient Egypt.

The 78-card tarot deck used by esotericists has two distinct parts:

• The Major Arcana (greater secrets), or trump cards, consists of 22 cards  The Magician, The High Priestess, The Empress, The Emperor, The Hierophant, The Lovers, The Chariot, Strength, The Hermit, Wheel of Fortune, Justice, The Hanged Man, Death, Temperance, The Devil, The Tower, The Star, The Moon, The Sun, Judgement, The World and The Fool.
• The Minor Arcana (lesser secrets) consists of 56 cards, divided into four suits of 14 cards each; ten numbered cards and four court cards. The court cards are the King, Queen, Knight and Page/Jack, in each of the four tarot suits. The traditional Italian tarot suits are swords, batons/wands, coins and cups; in modern tarot decks, however, the batons suit is often called wands, rods or staves, while the coins suit is often called pentacles or disks.

Tarot is often used in conjunction with the study of the Hermetic Qabalah. In these decks all the cards are illustrated in accordance with Kabbalistic principles, most being under the influence of the Rider-Waite-Smith deck and bearing illustrated scenes on all the suit cards. The “Rider-Waite” deck was originally published by the Rider Company in 1910. This deck is considered a simple, user friendly one but nevertheless its imagery, especially in the Major Arcana, is complex and replete with esoteric symbolism.

Decks we have in stock at Peace of Mind:

Ancestral Path Tarot   Angel Tarot   Aquarian Tarot   Art Nouveau   Archeon Tarot   B.O.T.A.   Celestial Tarot   Celtic Tarot  Connolly Tarot   Cosmic Tarot   Crowley Tarot   Crow’s Magick Tarot   Dark Grimoire Tarot   Deviant Moon Tarot   Dragon Tarot   Dream Enchantress Tarot   Egyptian Tarot   Enchanted Tarot   Fairy Tale Tarot   Fantastical Creatures Tarot Fenestra Tarot   Gilded Tarot   Goddess Tarot   Golden Dawn Tarot   Golden Botticelli Tarot   Gothic Vampire Tarot  Haindl Tarot   Hanson-Roberts Tarot   Herbal Tarot   Hermetic Tarot   Hidden Path Tarot   Jung Tarot   Klimt Tarot   Legend: The Arthurian Tarot   Llewellyn Tarot   Lover’s Path Tarot   Mayan Tarot   Medicine Woman Tarot   Medieval Scapini Tarot   Medieval Cat Tarot   Moon Garden Deck   Morgan-Greer Tarot   Motherpeace Tarot   Mystic Dreamer Tarot   Mystic Faerie Tarot   Native American Tarot   New Century Tarot   New Palladini Tarot   Old English Tarot   Osho Zen Tarot   Pagan Tarot   Pictorial Key to the Tarot   Quest Tarot  Rider Waite Tarot   Renaissance Tarot   Robin Wood Tarot   Russian Tarot of St. Petersburgh   Sacred Circle Tarot   Sacred Path Tarot   Spiral Tarot Deck   Tarot of Eden   Tarot of the Cat People   Tarot of Marseilles   Tarot of the Holy Grail    Tarot of the Spirit Tarot of the Witches   Unicorn Tarot   Universal Waite Tarot   Vikings Tarot   Vampire Tarot   Wolfpack Tarot