What I have learned

It has been a year since I picked up my first Tarot deck. What a wild year. I don't think any other year in my life can be compared to this year since the year I was born. I picked up a deck of cards, just paper and ink, and a world of magic, mystery, and insanity exploded into view and imploded my old rational, logical, mundane perspective. These cards are certainly not just paper and ink. The people that say that have absolutely no idea what they hold in their hands. That is because they are missing the third component, possibly the most important component, imagination.

Just because something cannot be seen, does not mean it isn't just as real and tangible as that which can be seen. Are possibilities real? Is peace of mind real? Is love and devotion real? The case can be made that the only things that are truly real are those things that cannot be seen. However, that statement could also be interpreted as only a personal perspective and thus even possibly disingenuous. That is because it is statement about what is important, not about what is tangible, and importance is quite relative. So I will ask the authority in our scientific, rational world the question, what is truly real?

Real (from www.encarta.com)
1. physically existing: having actual physical existence.
2. verifiable: verifiable as actual fact, e.g. legally or scientifically.
3. not imaginary: existing as fact, rather than as a product of dreams or the imagination.
4. not artificial: genuine and original, not artificial or synthetic.
5. traditional and authentic: prepared or made in a traditional or authentic way, rather than being mass-produced or artificial.
6. undisputed: based on fact, observation, or experience and so undisputed.
7. essential: of basic, essential, or critical importance.
8. emphasizing truth: used to emphasize the accuracy or appropriateness of a particular thing.
9. sincere: honest or sincere, not feigned or affected.

Well, it appears that our rational, scientific authority is just as confused about what is real as we are. That reminds me of the similarly defined and thus similarly confusing, seemingly contradictory, and slightly disingenuous definition of the word random. I have learned that the Tarot is real as well as magical, and those two things are not as contradictory as we have been lead to believe.

However, that is not what I have really learned, I have simply described the method with which I have learned what I have learned. So what have I learned? Well, you will just have to employ this method, start flipping over Tarot cards, and learn that for yourself. What I have learned cannot be told or explained, it can't be defined like a word in a dictionary. That is what I have learned, the Hindus would say I have learned that. Curly, from the movie City Slickers would say it is the one thing. Neo, from the movie The Matrix might say it is the underlying truth. Whatever that means, it is as different and varied as the people that learn it, and thus we all must learn that for ourselves. That may be the only real, universal truth, the one thing common to every human being. But the real problem with that is that it can't really be learned or taught, it can only be... sought.

I have found that drawing Tarot spreads and seeking, truly seeking, can change your life, or at the very least it can change your perspective on life, but is there really any difference? Of course, I am just another nitwit with an opinion, so no one should take my word for it...

“Know ye not that ye are gods?”

Jung knew that.

P.S. I repeatedly used the word "learned", but that is not accurate. I have learned (past tense) nothing, I have only realized the need to learn (future tense) that. I would also be remiss if I didn't mention that when I picked up the Tarot I was 36. Jung would say that was ideal. Thus I don't think the Tarot was the cause, I am not even sure it was the catalyst, however, it has certainly been an indispensable guide and teacher on this journey and thus will remain a part of my life forever. The magic of the Tarot is certainly real, and no one can convince me otherwise.

As for the question for the thread, how would you (attempt to) describe the magic of the Tarot, or how did the Tarot become real for you?

JSNYC said:

As for the question for the thread, how would you (attempt to) describe the magic of the Tarot, or how did the Tarot become real for you?

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I can't describe the magic of the Tarot. All I can say is, for me- it is just paper and ink. The cards are tools that help access and streamline information that has always come to me- the cards give me something to focus on instead of being scattered and all over the place with my readings. The Tarot has always been real for me, just as anything else in the metaphysical realm- I may not have understood it at first, but it was always real.

Great post, JSNYC! I picked up my first deck of cards in October 2009, because a beloved diary I have used for years (The Sacred Journey Journal) had spaces for a spiral spread at the soltices and equinoxes, and I finally decided to get a deck and try them. A little over a year later, I've accumulated 19 decks, two shelves of books, been to a tarot conference where I met Mary K Greer and Hermann Haindl, and I have completely changed the nature of my spirituality because of the study kicked off by that first deck of cards.

To say they are more than paper and ink is an understatement. In themselves they hold no power, but if you make a study of them, you can hardly fail to come away unchanged.

For me the magic of tarot is that it is has been a gateway to the occult and esoteric, and I cannot imagine I will ever look back. I use them as an introspective tool, and have read for others...someday I'd like to read for pay, why not? But on a small scale...and all this because of 8 blank pages in a journal.

The tarot became real for me when I started accurately reading for strangers and the tool ceased to exist as merely paper and ink but instead became an extension of myself into "somewhere" and everything became nothing, and nothing... everything.

Carla said:

...and all this because of 8 blank pages in a journal.

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Beautiful! And I can certainly relate! Meaning can absolutely be found in the most unexpected and seemingly mundane places. That is also something I learned. Reminds me of a little girl named Dorothy… Thanx for your post.

Thank you Amanda and Disa for your posts. I completely agree with you, Disa, except I would just say that I believe imagination to be our connection to the "metaphysical realm" (as you called it, Jung would call it the "collective unconscious"). The Tarot doesn't exist in that realm, it is our connection to it.