Tarot and Culture

i was wondering about the experiences of the community here in contemporary culture. I find that even studying and reading about certain topics causes a lot of people to frown upon others. When I got my deck over the weekend my buddy immediately mentioned to me that I shouldn't tell a lot of people about my interest. In the past I have read stuff like The Satanist Bible, Tao Te Ching, Art of War, even The New Testament in The Bible and I have only gotten certain responses from a few topics. I tend to get frowns, snickers, or curiosity when I mention I read about paganism and satanism, and even tho I have similar reactions among a certain demographic about eastern religion, meditation, etc. I wanted to know what is your guys experience dealing with like the collective attitude towards Tarot and other such topics?

duhhhhhderek said:

I wanted to know what is your guys experience dealing with like the collective attitude towards Tarot and other such topics?

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well, for the most part people I tell think its pretty cool. sometimes, having people know even works to my advantage. I am a cocktail server and I get guys constantly asking me what I like to do for fun. When I tell them I'm really into reading tarot and playing cards, it piques their interest. They think its a joke until I tell them to meet me during my break and I pull out the cards.

I have read for a few customers after my shift (on the premises, of course). They enjoy it so much they actually ask for more readings. I have a few who tip me really well with the understanding that the tip is for the drinks and maybe a reading after I get off of work. It is a lot of fun. My managers know what I do and they are amused by it.

I live in a small, very conservative, very Christian town in South Dakota; my interest in Tarot, Eastern philosophies and alternative faiths is generally not appreciated.

For a short while, I edited a very small magazine dedicated to such topics. Our office was in an apartment in a renovated house; when the neighbors found out that we published writings about religions that weren't necessarily Christian, they began harassing us -- calling the police to come investigate, egging our cars, graffiti, etc. I had a man follow me from the door of the house to my car, screaming at me that I was going to burn in Hell.

That's supposed to make me convert?

It got so bad that our publisher couldn't deal with it anymore, and closed the magazine down.

Another time, I was giving a friend a reading in an all-night diner. The night manager asked me to please come and put the cards away. Nobody had complained -- there was almost nobody there at 3 a.m.--but he was afraid I'd scare away the customers.

On the other hand, I've used the cards with no problem as a teaching tool in my ESL classroom; the students are fascinated by them, and they make a great springboard for conversation and writing.

cheers,
pyrogyne

I don't subscribe to any sort of organized system of beliefs, not that I frown on it, I am just a leaner, i love reading, i love knowing about things im interested in, i even take notes on some books i read if i intend to use the information and store it away. Just being curious in certain topics seems taboo and hush hush. On the flipside a lot of people will react positively to an interest in Tarot, etc. I told one friend that I was interested she immediately volunteered to look for her mothers old set, my other friend had a book laying around hed never used, and those are like 2 out of 3 people I have told. It just seems u must be selective with who knows, but it doesn't make sense to me this lynch mob mentality about paganism, alternative religions, and even some occult isn't terrible (philosophically not ritualistically). Satanism is more human than christianity for instance. i understand it at the same time, personally, the fear appears to be irrational.

The last time I brought it up in public, I was very surprised. I knew the other person would be into it, but a third person I never would have suspected also told us about the deck he owns.

...and now I really want a Hanson-Roberts.

Even though I try to be choosy about who I tell, it can be doubly awkward at times due to the way I view and use the cards.

I am a very open minded person. I respect everyone's religious views and views on life and all of that. I like to learn, about Tarot, supernatural,spiritual,etc things, and I am open to new ideas and views.

I've told my mom that I do tarot, she is very open minded, and even gave me a tarot deck she had,which was waaay cool lol.My hubby is open to it, and I've shown him some readings, I know he believes in the "power" of the Tarot though. He's into the supernatural and spiritual things too.

My in-laws, I have not told, I don't know how they would react, so I leave it at that, and if the time comes, I will be open with it. Mom in law is Catholic and dad in law is Baptist. They love me, and I think they're open to some things, but not so much pagan things or the Tarot...And my hubby's family in general is kind of the baptist southern people. So I just won't tell them for now...lol. Although I don't think my bro in law would care.

Other than that,most of my friends know, and they are open minded.

I am very lucky... even in the small city I live in, in NZ ......we don't have much trouble when you work with tarot... only once i was told by some youths, guys that were from a Youth Christian group that I worked with the Devil and God was not happy....... I told them to leave and not be so bloody stupid (excuse the language...) as I work with loving Goddess energy......

The only other time is when I am at my Mother's and someone asks me what I do... I go to tell them about it and My Mother gives me a filthy look as if it say "Don't tell them." She is supportive now I have my store in town but still doesn't want me to talk about it with visitors.....a bit wierd lol .....

Rev_Vesta said:

I am very lucky... even in the small city I live in, in NZ ......we don't have much trouble when you work with tarot...

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I think Rev_Vesta we do not know how lucky we are here.
I do not have trouble either.
Not even from Christian folk.
I think it is something in our psyche about being open to the outside world- after all there is a huge sea around us and we draw it all in to our shores.
Something like that.
~Rosanne

There's something very closed-off, uptight, and generally frightened about the area of S.D. where I currently live. Most of the people who are here have been here for generations, and don't quite trust anything that comes from the "outside." Bookstores, for instance, don't tend to fare well here. Too many new ideas, I guess. And while there is something of a pagan community, they're mostly what I call rebel-pagans; they're not into the faith for its grace, beauty or truth, but because people around them find it shocking. So they don't do much to help the problem.

My mother and one of my sisters know that I like Tarot cards; my sister thinks I'm deluded and my mother thinks I'm in danger of losing my soul. My other two sisters I won't tell, because they're the ones who, when I was fifteen, told my mother I was reading Satanic materials. They had found my Dragonlance books. :0

cheers,
pyrogyne

The usual reaction I get when I mention tarot is 'What, you actually believe in all of that nonsense? I thought you seemed quite intelligent and well educated but hmmm.....'
I've never had anyone telling me that I'm going to hell or that my soul will be doomed but I have had loads of people assuming that I must be some sort of New Age nutter or just a silly, gullible person who'll believe in anything.

Another reaction I've had is one of fear. People have looked worried and said something like 'Oh I don't like all that sort of stuff and it's probably not something that should be played with'.

Each to their own is what I think. I never try to persuade people that tarot's OK. If they're not into it then they're not into it.