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