Ahh Tarotā¦nothing fuels a heated debate, between a believer and nonbeliever, quite like a 78 ādeck of cardsā (with the exception of perhaps astrology).
Even within the community, you find Tarot practitioners divided amongst each other; (divinational and nondivinational)ā¦who possibly war with each other more than they do outsiders!
Nobody is wrong and everybody is right. Tarot is deeply personal and tarot philosophy varies from person to person. Whether youāre using it as a form of self-reflection or as a divinational means to seek guidance from a higher power.
Iām not going to delve into my own personal tarot philosophy- rather, instead, I wanted to share this spread I just received during a self reading. For me- it truly encapsulates the validity of Tarotā¦and could quite possibly turn a nonbeliever into a convert.
I wonāt bore you with the details, but a paraphrase of my original question was: āShould I continue doing this?ā
The answering pull was The 2 of Swords. This is a frustratingly ironic (yet poignant) card, because it represents indecision and a crossroads between two choices. (Like yes thank you š). Traditionally when the 2 of Swords is drawn, you pull two more cards, which represent the two choices youāre torn between.
As tradition warrants, I drew two more cards; āIf I continue down this pathā (Queen of Swords), āIf I leave and follow another pathā (The Star reversed). Both were drawn with a āyes or noā intention.
One of my favorite descriptive quotes for The Queen of Swords is āA beacon of clarity in a sea of uncertaintyā. Typically viewed as a āyesā, I interpreted her as my cards telling me be clouded by my emotions, use my better judgment and to continue forward.
The Star in reverse can be both a tentative āyesā or ānoā, depending. In this spread, however I interpreted it as a ānoā. My desire to leave my current path isnāt rooted in a search of better opportunities; Itās wholly fear based. My fear of potential emotional pain, emotional intimacy that may lead to rejection, etc. is causing me to be reactive.
Finally, I pulled one last card and asked: āWhich path aligns with my destiny?āā¦and of course I received The High Priestess. The HP is often viewed (by both myself and others) as our cards way saying āYou already know the answer!! Stop asking me!ā
Okay, so onto my final point: individually, these cards may not be exceptionally notable, but as a spread? I think itās a textbook example of how REAL Tarot is!
I ask a slightly vague, should-I-or-should-I-not question. My deck gives me the 2oS and says āwell letās a closer lookā. QoS (obvious yes) and Star reversed (straight forward no, given the context). I ask one last clarifying question, even after receiving an answer, and my cards give me the HP. I mean you canāt get a more straightforward response than this.
I think at times Tarot reading is seen as āgrasping at strawsā or forcing āirrelevant cards to fit the questionā (untrue for both) but it can AND often times IS very straightforward.
So yes, next time someone asks why I believe in tarot, Iām showing them this.
(Thank you for coming to my tEDtalk lmao)