The Riddle of the Tarot

You may be familiar with the tale of Oedipus who, upon arriving at the gates of the city of Thebes, was challenged by a Sphinx to answer a riddle before he could enter.  Like the sphinx,  the tarot and each of its symbols poses a riddle that the tarot reader must answer to enter the realm of secret knowledge. To everyone who approaches, the tarot poses the same riddle: “What is the passkey?”

For the novice reader, and even for the experienced one, it is a challenge to answer this riddle correctly.  To answer it incorrectly can lead to poor or vague advice for the questioner.  The passkey is the main message, idea, or information that unlocks the truth of each card and the entire reading. It gives the tarot reader a psychic direction and clear insight from which to advise the questioner.  The difficulty in answering the riddle, however, is that every card in the deck has a laundry list of possible passkeys that could apply at any time.  So, which one is the right one? To solve the riddle of the tarot, the reader must have a technique for deciphering which keys are in play at the time of the reading. [Read more]