Ten Things I Used to Believe about Tarot

All I've got to say about a ‘pivotal realisation’ in my tarot life can be summed up as this: Don't believe everything you read.

When I started out with tarot, like most people, I started by reading books. Then I discovered a certain purple website where certain folk dispensed certain advice with great certainty. Being a bit of a swot, I wanted to get everything right, and so I followed all instructions carefully. Here I unveil for you: 

Things I Used to Believe Before I Stopped Believing 
Everything I Read

Ten Non-Negotiables

I hadn't heard of the 10 Non-Negotiables, but I spotted a post about it on New Age Hipster's blog, so I thought I'd have a go. ...Then I got stuck. What are my non-negotiables? Hmm.

Maybe I'm too old for a non-negotiable list that includes items about footwear and hair colour, because all of mine are pretty serious. But they are certainly non-negotiable.

5 Reasons to Read Tarot

Last week in 5 Reasons to Study Tarot I wrote about tarot history, occult symbolism, traditions, spiritual practice and entertainment. I said that 'reading' is just one aspect of tarot. But you know what -- it's a very good aspect!

5 Reasons to Read Tarot

5 Reasons to Study Tarot

Tarot for me started as a spiritual quest. I never set out to be a reader; that just happened. In fact, I believe that fortune telling is actually only one small facet of the cards, and probably the most superficial use of them (I know Edward Arthur Waite certainly thought so.) That is not to say tarot readings are superficial -- we all would agree that some readings can be profoundly deep and life-changing. But if reading is only scratching the surface, what else is there to tarot? I love doing readings, but let me tell you why I truly, madly, deeply love tarot and will study it for the rest of my life.

Bridgett at Facebook challenged us bloggers to answer 30 questions. These answers may be short and sweet but here goes:

1. Who or what introduced you to Tarot? 
I had a friend who hid a tarot deck at my house when we were about 19. Her parents didn't want them in the house. I didn't know a thing about it, but using the little white book, tried a draw about myself. The answers were uncanny so I told her to come get it -- I didn't want it in my house either! Many years later, I bought my first deck after being inspired to by a journal called the Sacred Journey.

2. What was your first deck and how did you get it?
Osho Zen. I bought it myself from Amazon. I wanted something sort of Buddhist and it had 'zen' in the name. What did I know?

3. What is your favorite deck?
I don't have a favourite deck and as someone with a relatively big collection, I don't think it's a fair question! :)

4. How long have you been reading Tarot?
Long time.

5. When & where did you perform your first reading?
My first reading was for myself and it was conducted here in the living room floor.

6. What was the first spread you learned? Do you still use it?
The Celtic Cross, of course. You'd think there was no other spread in existence based on the books. No, I don't still use it. It's clunky.

7. What is your favorite card? Why?
I don't think I have a favourite card. I am fond of 9 of Pentacles. I've written about it many times. Look over in the right column and click '9 of Pentacles'.

8. Which card do you dread pulling? Why?
I don't dread any card.

9. What card comes up for you most in personal readings? Why do you think this is so?
That fluctuates over time. I don't think there is a card that comes up 'most'. It is statistically improbable any card will come up a meaningful number of times more than any other.

10. What card best represents your personality? Why?
My knee-jerk reaction is Queen of Swords. I have identified with her for a long time. I have been through some things, and I have a skeptical and analytical way of looking at things.

If I were to choose a major, it would be Hermit. I do love solitude, and even with others, I enjoy a companionable silence in beautiful natural surroundings--it's my preferred way of spending time with others.

11. Which spread do you use most? Why?
The 3-card draw. It's powerful, versatile, and gives you all you could want.

12. Have you created your own spreads before? Share one?
I create spreads all the time and share them here often. Just look to the right and click on the word 'Spreads'. I am sharing a spread here tomorrow. Tune in! :)

13. Is there a card that always stumps you when you draw it? 
No. A lot of people say courts, but I relate the all to movie, TV or book characters and that method works a treat for me. I do sometimes get a bit flummoxed by what I call the 'planet cards' - Moon, Sun, Star, World.

14. What is your most frequent purpose for using Tarot?
I use it as a way of looking at circumstances and issues from a different angle, try to find a new way of looking at things.

15. Do you prefer reading with "text book meanings" or "with your intuition?"
This is a silly debate that goes on amongst newbies. There is no such thing as one or the other, if you are really reading the cards.

16. Do you ever just use the Major Arcana? If so ... when?
Yes, when I feel that it is called for. It's no more complicated than that.

17. Do you do readings using reversals? Why or Why not?
No, the sight of an upside down card offends my sensibilities, and I don't believe any image was ever intended to be viewed on its head. (Except the Hanged Man). I always consider shadow meanings, in relation to question, card position, and surrounding cards.

18. Which deck do you feel most drawn to & why?
I don't have a favourite deck. I have decks I quite like, but I couldn't pick a favourite.

19. Do you feel that the cards have their own consciousness?
No, I absolutely do not believe this.

20. Do you read for others?
Yes, that's why I'm here on this blog. :)

21. How do you feel when you do readings?
I feel honoured and a tremendous sense of responsibility. I do my utmost to uphold my personal reading ethics and communicate my reading approach and what a customer can expect from my readings. (See 'Book a Reading' for a full explanation.)

22. Do you charge money? Why or why not?
Yes. Readings take a lot of energy and time.

23. What question do you most ask the Tarot?
What does the universe ask of me today?

24. How accurate have your readings been?
I've never predicted an earthquake or won the lottery. But my customers report that they relate deeply to my card interpretations and that they have made positive life changes as a result, and that makes me feel fantastic. It's why I do it!

25. What was the most dramatic or meaningful reading you have ever done?
I have one particular customer who has had several very powerful readings that I found quite draining but that she reports have been very valuable to her. Confidentiality prevents me saying anything much here.

26. Have you ever done a reading you regretted doing? Why?
Yes. It was a live reading at a pamper night. A teenage girl came in and she had negative energy all over her. She had clearly come in just so she could be difficult with me and then go out have a funny story to tell. It was a most unpleasant experience. I should have followed my instinct and declined to read.

27. Do you have a special time or place that you use your Tarot?
No.

28. Does anyone you know not agree with your use of Tarot? 
There may be a few but I pay no attention them. They are not ill-bred enough to say anything to me about it, anyway.

29. Have you had a Tarot Mentor? Who?
I have had many mentors, if you count reading of books. Rachel Pollack is astonishing. I also admire Mary K Greer. Kim Huggens is a shining new(ish) star in tarot writing. I had a mentor at TABI when I was going through my endorsement process, 'Ribbitcat'.

30. Do you practice any other form of divination? What?
To be honest, not really. I own runes and Story Cubes but I honestly prefer tarot and oracles. I do Lenormand readings, but Lenormand is not even a favourite oracle. It's just trendy at the moment and I can read it quite easily. No, tarot is my number one. :)

Divination vs Devotion

I've noticed for the last several months that I get out a tarot deck, look through it, put it away and pull out one of my 'real' tarot decks. For months and months it was a Rider Waite Smith. I have collected several over the years: Original Rider Waite-Smith, the yellow boxed Rider Deck, the Giant RWS, the Pamela Colman Smith Commemorative. Then I have those that deviate a bit more: Universal Waite (my first tarot deck--I don't count the debacle with Osho Zen!), Radiant Rider, Diamond Tarot. Beyond that I have all those RWS-based decks: Druidcraft, Morgan Greer...but for the last year or so, I tend to get out an old favourite like Druidcraft, look through it, throw it back in the box and use a 'real' RWS to do the actual reading. Perhaps it's because I have been reading so much Rachel Pollack, and she refers so much to RWS decks. But also, I found myself getting more and more interested in the esoteric and occult symbolism inherent in the RWS, which is often lacking in RWS-based decks, and sometimes purposely removed (such as in the Anna K Tarot).

Let's see if I can get this straight

I've been trying to get some things straight in my head for the last few days because I think it's 

important. Why do we read cards a certain way and who were the first people to do things the way we do? Why did they make those choices? Who says we have to keep doing it that way? Stuff like that. 

I'm no tarot historian and most likely never will be. My eyes glaze over when I try to read theories about the Astro-Alpha-Numeric correspondences of pre-de Gebelin cartomancy...and stuff like that. But several comments read in rapid succession at Aeclectic Tarot which made a strong implication that the Thoth Tarot was somehow superior to the Rider Waite Smith deck made me start to squint and wonder. And it's so rare lately that my cerebral gears try to kick into motion, I had to follow up on it. 

Okay, I know both Uncle Al and dear old Arthur were Golden Dawn. The thinking is, if I've got it right, that Waite illustrated Golden Dawn meanings, but did so in an obscure way because of his vows of secrecy, whereas Crowley put it all out there on the deck, trusting that we were all big boys and girls enough to learn the system and could handle it. Right, okay, I'm fine with that. But where, I suddenly began to wonder, did these Golden Dawn meanings come from? It sounded to me like they'd 'always' been the tarot meanings, and that only a few people knew them, that the meanings were closely guarded esoteric secrets that had only been released to us, the great unwashed, sometime near the turn of the 19th century. Could that be right? I had a few questions that needed answering.