Self-help "gurus" and Tarot?

In the past few years the world has seen many a worldwide phenomena of people purporting the know "the secret" of who moved my cheese and what happened to my Ferrari and all the rest.

I dislike these kinds of things for several reasons. Firstly, I think that it is sheer hypocrisy even to publish such a book and then make millions off it. You can bet the monk bought a lot more Ferraris with his book earnings. I have no objection to people making money, but I recall the great sages of the past such as Moses, Elijah, Jesus, Mohamed and really, a host of others who wanted to better the human condition, thought they had the solution and gave it freely to anyone who wanted it, asking for nothing in return. Now, if you're so enlightened and ask people to shed their materialistic chains, how can you ask for money for it?

The second reason is that these "false prophets" offer something akin to instant gratification as in "ask the universe for something, keep happy thoughts, pet a dog a day" and your life will be changed forever."

Tarot on the other hand is decentralized; there is no one body that governs the Tarot world (not even US Games). It is not instant and to glean any wisdom from it, you have to study the cards and yourself, they don't always give you the answers you're looking for and for many other reasons, Tarot as a "self-help" tool is far superior to anything written in "The Secret."

Now, after the long preamble, my question is do you think Tarot is somewhat cheapened by these instant enlightenment fads and also what made the people we respect as the Tarot community (Crowley, Waite) so different from them? Of course, they had lifetimes of learning and study into the occult but even they erred in many ways. Modern chemistry has disproved alchemy, so how seriously should I take it when seeing alchemical ideas put forth in a card? Jesus was ridiculed, could Robin S Sharma be the next messiah but we're too blind to see it?

I personally think Tarot is more cheapened by close-minded logic-only individuals who refuse to believe the Tarot (and other more divinition/mythical related things) are real despite what proof exists (and with Tarot... I'm sorry, but there is A LOT of proof to support it!) and by stereotypical Tarot scenes in movies where someone pulls out the Death card and is like: "OH MY GOD YOU ARE GOING TO DIE!!" I don't even pay attention to these "self-help" books, or movies, or whatever.

Is Tarot a good self-help tool? Sure is! Is it the best self-help tool? I'm going to say no. The best tool to help yourself is, well, yourself. You're not going to accept any of the help, no matter how good and true the advice is, until you decide that you need the help and put forth the determination to actually take the advice.

MissJo said:

Is Tarot a good self-help tool? Sure is! Is it the best self-help tool? I'm going to say no. The best tool to help yourself is, well, yourself.

Click to expand...

<applause>

The thing about self-help: there's really three options. Someone else helps you, you help yourself, or there's no help and you're doomed.

It seems to me that one difference between the earlier tarot gurus and much current self-help is that the contemporary self-help movement isn't elitist. The secretive approach of guys like Crowley and Waite--guys who believed in secret societies and protecting the sacred secrets of those groups--basically dooms everyone who can't be part of their organization. The contemporary self-help movement doesn't characterize other people as herd animals, it doesn't insist that having a fulfilled life requires special intelligence or talents, it reassures people that true happiness is within reach, it aims to empower without implying that one person's strength requires another to be weak.

To me, what cheapens tarot is not that it's got a commercial angle. The problem is when commercial motives are exploited to trivialize the whole enterprise. I feel like it's ok to have decks that are really cheap toys, or even expensive toys masquerading as profundities. I've got bunches that I like for the fun of them. But when most decks are cheap toys or fake profundities and most readers use them as if they have true depth, yeah I think tarot is cheapened.


PS: I don't think it's hypocrisy to publish a book that people pay to own. That's how book publishing works. Hypocrisy is when you deliberately mislead someone to believe that you have certain virtues that you know you don't have. It would be hypocrisy to deliberately amass wealth while advocating that everyone else should give up all their material possessions. The great sages of the past lived in communities that fed them. The great sages of today have grocery bills.

closrapexa said:

Now, after the long preamble, my question is do you think Tarot is somewhat cheapened by these instant enlightenment fads and also what made the people we respect as the Tarot community (Crowley, Waite) so different from them?

Click to expand...

I'm not sure how I see tarot as being affected by these fads. Unless there's some gimmicky blockbuster book I've missed out on. Tarot seems to be largely ignored nowadays in the self help market. I certainly see tarot as very distinct from all that stuff like The Secret and the whole "how to be happy" movement. I don't think it has been tainted by it, has it? Or am I missing something?

Oh and to be honest, I don't really see A.E Waite as being much respected round here. He's like the fuddy duddy grandad who everyone likes to humour and boast about how they've never read the Key to the Tarot. More and more, Pixie is becoming the star of the deck. And as regards Crowley, his writings on the Thoth tarot deck are what really interest me and yes I think Crowley the man had the authority to spout ideas about the Crowley deck. That doesn't mean I (or anyone else) take everything else he wrote as gospel. I don't. Guruism has that implication for me. That you'd set fire to yourself because the guru said so.

But, yes, Crowley has enormous authority to talk about the Crowley deck. I don't doubt that for a minute.

I feel enormous relief over the fact that nobody has ever written a best-selling book like "How Tarot can Make you Thin" or something and cashed in and made millions and made everyone laugh at how ridiculous tarot is etc etc. I still fear something like this happening in my lifetime.

Le Fanu said:

I feel enormous relief over the fact that nobody has ever written a best-selling book like "How Tarot can Make you Thin" or something and cashed in and made millions and made everyone laugh at how ridiculous tarot is etc etc. I still fear something like this happening in my lifetime.

Click to expand...

My fiance and I were talking about this earlier today, how Tarot hasn't really been embraced by the mainstream"new age spiritual" crowd like say, Astrology or crystals. My guess was that because for that crowd, they like to divorce everything from its roots/traditions and espouse it as a Universal Form and while Tarot is comprised of universal forms, it has a rich history and tradition that can't be as easily cut off.

Personally I am trying to focus on my experience rather than worry about what other people's practice is doing to "cheapen" mine. The only person who can cheapen my experience with Tarot is myself!

What I have always enjoyed about being in our AT forum is that we are free to express our ideas, our creativity about Tarot, Divination, Crystals and other topics that we share together as kindred spirits. Although we do have moderators that help align our thoughts together, we don't have screening committees and barriers to entry unlike those I observe in other fields.

I guess the price we need to pay is also the fact that there are those who may exploit or cheapen what many of us revere and consider sacred and they remain unchecked and unstopped. I wouldn't be surprised if someone may have already picked up on "How Tarot can Make you Thin" as mentioned by Le Fanu, considering that there are those who are looking for ways to make a buck under the cloak of creative freedom and declare themselves the title of "self-help gurus", with matching credentials of being certified by someone or something.

I quite agree with Debra -- "The great sages of the past lived in communities that fed them. The great sages of today have grocery bills." And I agree with Vee - "The only person who can cheapen my experience with Tarot is myself!"

In the long run, we are still the best judge of what we would consider "sacred". The Tarot has its own timeless principles that all of us who are in to it know we respect and revere. We do have our own sages (Crowley, A.E. White, Greer, etc.) who have disciples and yet also have their critics.

I guess that's what's wonderful about the Tarot - it has a world of its own that we all live in in AT and enjoy. It is creative, intuitive and insightful. I've always have my way own belief system about creativity, intuition and insight-- they need time, they need space, they need inspiration, and they need freedom.

Probably the reason tarot hasn't been jumped on as the latest way to a good life is because it is just not that easy to grasp...it has taken me years to get a basic understanding of the cards, and there is still so much to learn - maybe most of those who would take advantage realize that they would need years of study just to keep from looking like a fool who has no idea what he (or she) is talking about.

I watched The Secret when it came out and thought "This could be a useful tool." Changing one's mood and thought patterns to be in alignment with their goals adds up. What I didn't like from that movement was the "blame the victim" mentality that followed in which everyone somehow secretly wanted everything that happens to them. That's right Tsunami victims this was YOUR idea.

I tried to think of a current Tarot guru and James Wanless comes to mind. I saw a video of him recently in which he talks about how we should move our focus off of "fortune telling" and toward "fortune creation." Now me personally I like prediction but I think a large portion of this forum is more interested in fortune creation with the cards.

Here are the descriptions of a few classes he has given (adding these because I think they add to the discussion).

***
Tarot for Business & Creative Projects with James Wanless
Hero’s Journey Layout M.Y.T.H. Make Yourself The Hero of your life. A proactive reading which shows how to create the future of our choice.

Become Your Own Oracle with James Wanless
Intuition, symbols, synchronicities and tarot to create your future. Experience modern, progressive tarot with tarot master, James Wanless, Ph.D. No longer a medieval fortune telling game, tarot is a spiritual and psychological tool that gives you a holistic map for how to create...

***

Self-helpy? Yes, totally. A little over the top? Oh maybe. For profit? Well yes this is his career. I understand that for some there is a disconnect for a lot of folks between living spiritually and making money but folks have to make a living. Is there a dollar amount at which you are now a sell-out? What's the amount?

Yeah, I agree with the criticism of the Secret. I think the problem with the commercialization of self-help is that it makes way more money to sell a "lifestyle" instead of a philosophy that can be incorporated into your lifestyle. People will latch on those, hoping it will improve their life. While I don't think it's wrong to make money off of your teachings, I do think one should always be reevaluating to make sure that one's path is noble and true.

As much I use the Tarot for self-reflection, I don't like the idea of using it for "self-help." I like ideas and stories, not affirmations and steps. Not that I don't sometimes extrapolate affirmations and steps from them, but I'd rather find them myself.