Symbols: definition

Symbols are the visual, gestural, chromatic or formal elements that carry a meaning surpassing their immediate appearance. They are the raw material of tarot reading.

In tarot, symbols do not decorate the card: they structure it. A sceptre, a crown, a sword, a colour or a posture have a real symbolic function within the image.

Reading the symbols demands method: it is not about attributing automatic keywords, but about understanding a logic of meaning in which each element dialogues with the others.

The same symbol can have several layers of meaning —psychological, spiritual, social— and its concrete value depends on context: the card, the position and the neighbouring cards.

The symbols of tarot come from diverse traditions, settled over the centuries; knowing their origin helps read them with more depth and less arbitrariness.

Learning to see the symbols is learning to read tarot: the better the function of each element is recognised, the richer and more precise the interpretation of the whole becomes.

It is also best to distinguish universal symbols, present in many cultures, from the codes proper to each deck or tradition: the same figure can have different nuances in the Marseille, the Rider-Waite-Smith or the Thoth. That is why the study of symbols accompanies the whole practice of tarot and is never quite finished.