Tarot goes respectable, but Opera?

There was a discussion in yesterday's Oregonian about a new opera written by a local man. Evidently it's received high praise from national opera lovers. Then someone asked him about writing it.

"I just kept pulling tarot cards and wrote the story they gave me."

I'd intended to give his name, the name of the opera, etc., but some helpful person threw out the old newspapers. Still, it's a remarkable story. Especially since a well-known writer (still can't remember his name) has talked about using tarot in a national news story.

Face it, guys. We're getting respectable.

Red Emma

Yay!!! I've sure been working hard enough here for years now on my end to try to convince people that Tarot is respectable and I am sure others at AT and elsewhere have been too. Yay, we're winning.

Babs

Red Emma said:

Face it, guys. We're getting respectable.

Click to expand...

I don't want to be respectable!

I want to be wicked and disreputable.

Lillie, unless you're joking, .....why?

Babs

No, I'm not joking!

Why?

Cos that's what Tarot is supposed to be.
It's supposed to be dodgy fortune tellers wearing head scarves and earrings. Like the people that work on travelling fairs?
Interesting, and a bit scary.
A bit witchy and a bit wicked.

I didn't get into Tarot to be respectable.
I don't have 20 earrings hanging from my ears and another from my nose to be respectable!

I got into Tarot because it was wicked and naughty and if my parents found out they would have had fits.
I got the Crowley deck because he was the 'wickedest man in the world'.
Cos if I am getting a wicked pack of cards I want the wickedest.

Tarot should be 'out there', beyond the norm, outside conventional society.

It's not meant to be respectable.

After a bit of searching I found a link for the article online:

http://www.oregonlive.com/performance/index.ssf/2010/05/portlands_vagabond_operas_quee.html

It is "Queen of Knives," the first opera by Portland's Vagabond Opera in collaboration with Wanderlust Circus. Eric Stern wrote both music and libretto.

With all due respect and I have deep deep respect for everyone here of course and I always have had and always will, that is not my belief.

I believe Tarot ought to become more and more mainstream and in my opinion it ought to even be taught in schools. It is simply the greatest life tool I know of, why should anyone be deprived of having it? It a much more important life skill in my view than much of what we do learn in school. Tarot sure helps me solve my life issues better than History or Geography ever did. It is a much more needed skill in my life.

I think Tarot ought to be respectable and respected just as therapy is. It also is a valuable tool to help solve life problems. Obviously there are some problems that need a therapist and Tarot won't do, just as there are some situations that require a phychologist and a mere guidance counselor in school is not sufficient. But to me they all ought to be accepted and respected ways of healing, Tarot included.

To me if it is not respectable that could scare away some people who could truly benefit from a reading. And then they might never have one of reap the benefits of having it.

Those are just my views of course.



Babs

IMO there's a fine line involved.
It is better if Tarot is acceptable enough that readers don't have to keep their activity a secret or risk having their children shunned and other nasty things that have happened.
But Tarot also needs to be mysterious. If it's perfectly mainstream, well, frankly, who's going to come and pay a reader? It's not like hairdressing, which is mainstream but requires training which not everyone can commit to. If Tarot was all acceptable and normal, anyone who wants readings can buy a Tarot book or borrow it from the library, and either read for themselves or swap readings with a friend. Just like we all do now... but we are a limited number. I think it would not be the same if the greater public all decided they could read Tarot.
And although that sounds like I'm bemoaning lost income, it isn't just that. I don't read professionally anyway. It's just the most obvious example of how the atmosphere might change.

Um, and I like that people are surprised by Tarot. I like knowing that, had the question been addressed in a highschool yearbook, I would have been labeled 'girl least likely to read Tarot cards' and yet here I am.

I see what you mean. I sure don't want to be shunned by anyone or have to hide that I am a reader.

But Tarot, by it's very nature, will always be mysterious. Just because no one can ever understand how it works or where the answers come from for sure. There will always be that mystery to it becuase it works but no one knows how. And of course that ti does not work the same way for everyone. That part will always be a mystery , a beautiful one. There will always be a surprising element to it becuase that is the very nature of Tarot.


But I see your point, I do want to be paid for my skills and I am a professional reader. Even thuogh of course there are many questions that you are better addressing to another reading than reading on for yourself, especially the emotional ones.

Babs

Babs, I hadn't seen you first post before mine, I must have been writing mine for too long LOL. But I must say you make an interesting point.