This document tells you everything you need to know to get up and running with TarotWorks quickly.
Topics
Working with Layouts and Reading
Entering Cards by Hand
Interpreting Readings
Personalizing TarotWorks
Troubleshooting
Further Reading
Acknowledgements
To view information on a layout:
1. Choose Layout Info… from the View menu.
A dialog box appears where you can choose a layout
from the pop-up menu.
2. Click “OK.”
The information for the selected window appears.
3. Click “OK.”
You return to the Choose Layout dialog box, where you can
either choose another layout or click “Done.”
Note: If a single layout is installed, you will not see the Choose Layout dialog box.
To begin a new reading:
1. Choose New… from the File menu.
If you have more than one layout installed, a dialog box
appears where you can choose which type of layout to use.
2. Choose a layout from the pop-up menu, then click “OK.”
If the layout you chose supports queries, TarotWorks asks if
you would like to enter the query now. If you’d prefer to enter the
query later, click “OK” without typing anything, and choose
Query… from the Edit menu after the reading is complete.
Can’t choose a layout? If TarotWorks is unregistered, all layouts except the Celtic layout will appear greyed out when creating a new reading.
You can create four different types of reading in TarotWorks, depending on how the Shuffle Automatically and Show Focus Steps options are set in the Tarot menu.
To save, open, or close a reading:
These functions work just the same as any Macintosh application.
To recover unsaved readings:
1. Open TarotWorks.
After the program starts up, a dialog box appears asking
if you want to recover however many readings it auto-saved.
2. Click “Yes.”
A dialog box shows the progress of the Recover procedure.
Then TarotWorks tells you how many readings it was able
to recover, and displays the readings.
Once recovery is complete, be sure to save each reading you want to keep.
To shuffle your own (real) Tarot cards by hand, make sure that the Shuffle Automatically option in the Tarot menu is turned off before creating a new reading. If the Show Focus Steps option is turned on, you are then guided through shuffling and placing your own Tarot cards by hand, then you can enter the cards you chose into a blank reading window.
To choose a card from the menu:
1. Click on any card’s small pop-up menu.
2. Choose the suite from the pop-up menu.
Another pop-up menu of individual cards appears.
3. Choose the card name.
TarotWorks dims out any existing cards from a reading’s pop-up menus.
To correct mistakes:
1. Select the card you want to change.
2. Choose Clear Card from the Edit menu, or press the Delete, Clear, or Backspace key on your keyboard.
3. Enter the card again.
Inverted cards
If, during a manual shuffle, you inadvertently placed a card upside down, this may have some significance (it reverses the card’s interpretation when using the Standard Text).
To enter an inverted card:
1. Choose Invert from a card’s pop-up menu.
The empty card shows the other way up.
2. Choose the actual card name.
If you choose Invert by mistake, just choose it again.
TarotWorks is not intended to replace a qualified Tarot reader. However, it can greatly ease the task of interpreting readings, particularly if you’re just starting out with the Tarot for the first time.
One of TarotWorks’ features is the automatic summary. Really, all this does (at least in this version) is combine each card’s position and description, to create a meaning for the whole reading. Although elementary, it does mean that you get to see the “big picture” quickly, without having to view each card in turn, and try and remember how it all fits together.
The automatic summary also reveals any assistance cards for negative cards within a reading. In the Standard Text, assistance cards are numerologically-related Trumps or Major Arcana cards.
To see an automatic summary for a reading:
1. Choose Summary… from the View menu.
After a few moments, the summary appears in a new window.
This summary can be exported to a text-only file by choosing Export… from the File menu when the summary window is open.
Using the Layout and Text Windows
TarotWorks provides a multi-leveled approach to interpreting a reading “manually.” When a card is selected, the Layout window shows the meaning of that particular position within the current layout. Use this meaning to “color” the meaning of the card itself, which appears in the Text window.
If you’re having problems with this, try looking at a reading’s automatic summary first, and then comparing it to the Layout and Text windows (by selecting each card in order).
To select cards in order:
— Press the Tab key to advance through the cards in order.
— Press Shift-Tab to step backwards.
To select adjacent cards with the keyboard:
— Use the Arrow keys on your keyboard.
To select a card by name:
— Type the first letter(s) of the card’s name.
If more than one card of that name is in the reading,
type the first letter of the card’s suite as well.
— To choose the Six of Wands, type “6W”
— To choose the Knight of Pentacles, type “KP”
Many aspect of the way that TarotWorks functions can be changed to suit your personal tastes.
Tree of Life
TarotWorks can display a diagram of the placement of a reading’s cards within the Kabala structure called the Tree of Life. This display may provide useful extra information for an experienced Tarot reader which they can use to better interpret the reading. Within the display, the points represent the Minor Arcana (Wands, Swords, Cups, and Disks) and the connecting lines represent the Major Arcana (Trumps). Sections highlighted in pink represent all cards within the reading. The red section represents the current card’s position in te Tree of Life. Bear in mind that a reading will take a little longer to display if this option is checked.
To display or hide the Tree of Life:
— Choose Tree of Life from the View menu.
Many of TarotWorks’ features can be changed in the Preferences dialog box.
To change TarotWorks’ preferences:
— Choose Preferences… from the Edit menu.
To see more information on each item in this dialog box, choose Show Balloons from the Help (or Guide) menu.
TarotWorks Plug-Ins
TarotWorks employs a plug-in technique to add extra capabilities to the software, much like control panels and system extensions can customize the way your Macintosh works.
TarotWorks plug-ins come in four “flavors:” card decks, large decks, Tarot texts, and extensions. Card decks contain the miniature “thumbnail” card images that TarotWorks uses to display the cards in a reading window. Large decks are life-size, high-quality images of the actual Tarot cards themselves, and appear in a separate floating window. Tarot texts contain the actual text that describes each card in a Tarot deck, and also affect automatic summaries. Extensions (such as the “Speech” plug-in) extend the capabilities of TarotWorks by adding extra features and/or commands.
By default, TarotWorks uses the Standard Deck and Standard Text plug-ins, but many Tarot card packs are available (purchased separately for a nominal fee) which include a card deck, large deck, and Tarot text for a particular deck of Tarot cards. When you switch to a different Tarot deck, TarotWorks switches the Large Deck and Tarot text to match the deck you chose.
For more information on TarotWorks Deck Packs, see the document “TarotWorks Decks FAQ,” or check the documentation that came with your TarotWorks Deck.
Some minor sections of TarotWorks’ programming perform unreliably in some circumstances when 32-bit addressing (or the Modern Memory Manager on Power Macintoshes) is turned on in the Memory control panel. If you are experiencing system errors or “unexpected quits” in TarotWorks, try turning this feature off and restarting your Macintosh.
If this does not work, try restarting your Macintosh with the Shift key down (which temporarily disables any extensions and control panels), and then try recreating the problem. If the problem vanishes, then TarotWorks may be incompatible with one of the extensions or control panels on your Macintosh.
If problems persist, please check the document “TarotWorks FAQ” for a solution. This document contains answers to some common problems that may occur with TarotWorks, and has been collated from valuable feedback from TarotWorks’ usres.
If the TarotWorks FAQ doesn’t help, please then send me email at <poisson@kagi.com> for assistance. In your message, please describe
• just what happened (or didn’t happen)
• what you were doing (or trying to do) when the problem occurred
• any error message you may have seen
• which version of the System Software is installed
• the model of Macintosh that TarotWorks was running on
• how much RAM memory is installed
• any non-Apple system extensions or control panels
Please try to be as accurate as you can. (For example, the error number, or the exact wording, if you saw an error message.)
We recommend that you have a look in the Spiritual section of bookstores for books on the Tarot. Be wary, though; be sure to choose a book that you feel you can relate to, as many Tarot-related material is steeped in archaic language and obtuse symbolism. If you can’t find a suitable book, look somewhere else.
