Insight or New Age Woo-Woo and Unicorns?

"A ritual is the enactment of a myth. And, by participating in the ritual, you are participating in the myth. And since myth is a projection of the depth wisdom of the psyche, by participating in a ritual, participating in the myth, you are being, as it were, put in accord with that wisdom"
~ Joseph Campbell

Over the years I've come to love Tarot more deeply and it fits very well with my creative personality as a visual artist and because I also love to write. Tarot  lends itself to story telling or myth which directly relates to the subject matter of my art work.

There isn't anything I dislike about tarot. I do however find that the misconceptions, skepticism, and deception that surrounds Tarot very frustrating. The Major and Minor Arcana cards of the Tarot are not responsible for this but is attributed to those individuals doing the reading.

I sometimes find myself having to explain just what Tarot reading is, because generally speaking I don't think the average person understands Tarot and what to expect from a reader. I certainly don't mind providing a clear explanation. However it is disconcerting when I meet those who've had negative experiences after having had a reading done.

I've met people that have had unscrupulous readers tell them untruths, half truths or out and out lies. This is both disturbing and hurtful to those entrusting a stranger to supposedly give them some insight,clarity and guidance.

First and foremost a reader's responsibility and the foundation principle of a Tarot reader's philosophy, and what is paramount is to do no harm. For example, to tell someone there is going to be a death, or some other kind of foreboding bad news is not kosher, period! The individual having a reading done should be left with a positive feeling with some insight and clarification of whatever issue they have relating to the question they've asked.

Yes their are those who will present themselves and Tarot as some kind of what I call magical New Age Woo-Woo. But their are those Tarot readers who are principled with great integrity, who hold the Tarot reading as a kind of sacred covenant of ancient wisdom, much like a ritual and consider it a privilege to read the Tarot cards.

Tarot readers with integrity, are very grateful to be given the gift and the opportunity to read for others. They are perceptive and intuitive em-paths, not so-called fortune tellers, and do no harm.

I'm no fan of the description "New Age", because as a Tarot reader, what I do is not new, but very old, very ancient, dating back to the 11th century. I also tend to think the concept of New Age is more confusing than clarifying to the average person.

I'm not implying that there aren't those who have psychic abilities or who are even visionaries, or mystics. What I'm saying is that it's not a prerequisite to being a Tarot reader, but a sense of humour is, along with intuition, perception, having a love and appreciation of humanity, with a good supply of humility are all essential, minus all the Woo-Woo and the unicorns!


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The Hanged Man - A Broken Spirit and Contrite Heart

Any of us who have an interest or a passion for Tarot, remembers our first reading. It seems to leave an indelible impression on us either positive or negative or both.  This certainly was very true for me,

When I was first introduced to Tarot, many years ago, the reasons I had for wanting to a reading were pretty serious in retrospect. I was keeping a secret from people and somehow knew in the very marrow of my bones, this situation I found myself in was not going to end well. I was in denial, refused to trust my intuition, and pushed through to it's conclusion , which shook the very foundations of my confidence in the belief my ability to make good choices and right decisions. I no longer believed in myself and felt happiness was forever going to elude me.

My reading did not indicate specifically the answers I was looking for, but not being completely open, and honest with my question, I now see  this was the reason I did not get a lot of specifics.

The one card I remember in my reading that really bothered me at the time, was The Hanged Man. I thought it was ominous and full of dread. However the answer I was looking for was to be found within this card, which urged me to take a step back and distance myself from everyday concerns. Little did I realize at the time how much I needed to do this because my vision was completed obstructed in so many ways.

The most significant message I took away from this reading was from The Hanged Man. The long and the short of it was I was so broken from my circumstance, and in the long run it became my most important life lesson. I had sacrificed so much in just about every way and thought I'd gained nothing, however I was very wrong. I learned so much about myself, how to give of myself but not loose parts of my my soul in the process. My spirit was broken and my heart contrite for the things that I had done, or failed to do. My sacrifice became a gift of strength and insight over time, and I am very grateful.

Many of us don't realized the significance of a reading until weeks months or perhaps even years later. There are answers to our questions in our readings but they may not be clearly visible to us at the time due to our present state of mind. We may be myopic, and lacking insight, because we are so wrapped up in our situational events. This is why it is important to take that step back to do an inventory of the ourselves and what is really going on in our lives.

This card does not turn up for me often in my daily draw, or in readings that I do for others, but when it does, I pay close attention to decipher the meaning and message found within the most paradoxical and mysterious of cards.