What is a Tarot Cards Signifier

Tarot cards date back to 1390 in France and ause differing systems. Some use only physical
tarot deck has 78 cards. There are 22 cards incharacteristics, some only age and hair color and
the major arcana and 56 cards in the minorsome have their own systems altogether. The
arcana. The minor arcana consists of four suitstarot is a very personal thing so whatever card a
which are the pentacles, wands, cups and swords.tarot reader chooses to be your signifier, that is
There are various spreads and many ways oftheir choice and will produce the best reading
reading the cards. Each tarot reader is slightlyfrom them. There is a lot of intuition involved in
different. Some use their psychic abilities whenselecting signifiers. Sometimes one just feels right
doing a reading and others merely look at theeven if it has the wrong color of hair or is in the
cards and let the thoughts and imagery flow. Thewrong age bracket. You should always go with
cards can usually convey their messages well.hunches when it comes to reading the cards.
Many readers do not use a signifier but othersThe good thing about using a signifier is that it
prefer to. It is a matter of personal choice andguarantees the reading will be only about the
you might prefer to try reading both with andperson asking for it, as you focus on the signifier
without, to see which method suits you the best.whilst performing the tarot reading. However, it
A tarot Card signifier, also known as a significator,does take one card from the tarot pack, which
is one card chosen from the pack to representmight otherwise have been in a key position with
the querent (person you are reading for). Aa message. For example, if in a reading you get
signifier is almost always a court card (king,the Page of Wands in a spread, that card can
queen, knight or page) and represents themean that there is a creative restlessness within
temperament, age and coloring of the person thethe querent and it is time to begin a project. If
reading is for.you are using the Page of Wands as a signifier,
Kings and queens are usually people over 36 whothat card will not be able to appear in the spread.
are, or have been, married. Knights are youngerOther cards can convey similar messages but
and Pages can represent children of either gender.that is one thing to bear in mind (unless you use a
Another way of choosing a signifier is to matchsecond tarot deck for the signifier cards).
only the physical characteristics of the querent so,There are reasons for and against the use of a
for example, the King of Pentacles couldsignifier and it does very much depend on the
represent an older, dark-haired male. You couldreader and what he or she is comfortable with.
match the personality too. The Queen of SwordsBeing comfortable and happy with the manner of
perhaps could represent an older female who isthe reading usually ensures the best results.
stubborn and has strong beliefs. Different readers