Celtic Cross - A useless random bit of info

Hi everyone.

Not sure if someone's beat me to this - I went down 4 pages and found nothing so here goes.

Do you ever, when you mention you're a Tarot reader, get sceptical people saying stuff along the lines of, "There are only {however many} cards so how can those few cards come up with the answer to whatever question you ask?" IE how can all the possibilities be covered in 78 pictures?

Silence them with this -

The Celtic Cross Spread, assuming you pick one of 16 court cards as a Significator and admit reversals for the remaining 10 cards, has 65,220,930,207,671,648,256,000 possible layouts.

Or in simpler terms, over 65 thousand million million million.

Now there's something for when you're next down the pub!

HA! That's great. I'll have to remember that. Not that that's an issue for me. The people I run into that are skeptics it's because tarot is devil worship not because there's only 78 cards.

Oh dear, I feel your pain!

I've never had that issue personally. I once offered my services on a non-Tarot forum and got one facetious reply ("Hey DA! How good are you at lucky guesses?") which I didn't dignify with an answer. I am also Pagan and mentioning that - especially this time of year when yet AGAIN I coincidentally have 31st October off work! - has sometimes got me some old-fashioned looks though...

Dave's Angel said:

IE how can all the possibilities be covered in 78 pictures?

Click to expand...

Gee, I don't know.. how can all words in the English Language be written with 26 letters?
Sometimes I wonder why people who claim they are sceptics bother asking for readings. They're not going to listen anyway, and they're going to pick holes in it.

Dave's Angel said:

Now there's something for when you're next down the pub!

Click to expand...

And funnily enough, this is where I've done the few readings I've done with/for other people - Our pagan group meets at the pub!

I like that '65,220,930,207,671,648,256,000 possible layouts'. Very cool.
I always ask the skeptic and people who believe Tarot is a tool of the devil if they play the lottery. That usually get's them thinking...and now I think I will add the number of possibilities to that and see what kind of reaction I get.

In addition to asking them that..I first explain the cards are physical material and should not be feared...it they want to fear something...fear God, he is the only entity with the power to predict and fully control the future.

Then I explain the Tarot is nothing more than a tool to help us look at life from a different perspective. The spread, escpecially the CC, is simply a way to lay your problem out on the table and look at it from the top down. Leading to clarity, understanding and options and/or choices.

I face opposition all the time regarding my study of the Tarot...friends have even disowned me and I have people telling me they are praying for me and I am dabbling in something very dangerous....

I say, how can something so beautiful, spiritual, emotional, and intellectually stimulating be dangerous?

alphamatrix said:

Sometimes I wonder why people who claim they are sceptics bother asking for readings. They're not going to listen anyway, and they're going to pick holes in it.

Click to expand...

And yes Alphamatrix...why do sceptics even bother asking for a reading. When a sceptic says to me.."Tell me something only I would know"..I say.."Why do you want to know something about yourself that you already know......"I said I'm a tarot reader...not a prophet?"

I think skeptics ask for reading because deep down they really want something reavealed to them from a different perpective. And maybe they feel they are doing something rebellious or daring...really taking a chance. What they don't even realize is by agreeing to a reading, they have already made their first choice in the matter.

Ahahaha,thats a nice one
Have to have or have to gain an artisits perspective for reading,being able to interepret in many diffrent ways etc
I havn't done any professional reading yet,but if i do ever come across sceptics like that when I do,bang something like that on them

Ha ha! Glad that tickled a few people.

I'm keeping quiet about just how long it took me to work that out (calculators don't have enough room on screen so it was pen and paper) and just how sad I must have been to do it.....

People of a certain religious persuasion often warn about "underestimating" what's behind the Tarot. I'd warn against OVERestimating. Such people often think we make out what the cards say is doomed to happen and that some sort of awesome spooky forces must be behind that. The minute someone thinks like that, it's never going to work as a tool for them as they're not seeing their own involvement - they're putting themselves out of the frame deliberately. That's overestimating. Coming at it from the view of "Well, they are a pack of cards, and at the end of the day I'm the reader" has the danger of being overly reductive and underestimating them - but I think I know which is the safer side to err on.

'People of a certain religious persuasion often warn about "underestimating" what's behind the Tarot'...amen to that...you couldn't be more right!! I'v had people tell me demonic forces can enter our realm through the cards...okay, as they can also enter our realm through the TV, front door, window, etc. and so forth...my response to those people are...'Yes, demonic forces can enter through the cards...IF YOU INVITE THEM AND LET THEM IN!!!'

What's behind the Tarot?...well, let's see...I'm not picky, but I prefer to see some really nice artwork on the backing to compliment the theme of the deck.

And exactly...just as you said Dave's A...at the end of the day it is a pack of cards...nothing more...and the reader ultimately controls and drives the pack of cards and the reading. Which leads me to another point... I hold the right to choose not to give a reading to someone very sacred. If I do not want to do it...I simply don't do it. I have yet to do a reading on someone who I am sure is not fully committed to the exercise. I have turned down more than a few folks because I did not think they were ready or in the right frame of mind for it. It's serious business to me and I truly believe a reading is three way affair...first the seeker, then the cards, then the reader.

Anyway...I'll get off my soapbox...unless...you'll want to continue this discussion. I am simply fascinated by the way some people so strongly believe the tarot is a tool of the devil..it just amazes me.

And, I feel one of the most important parts of the reading is getting it started off in a positive, sesitive, serious manner. When I do a reading in person, it takes me a good 10 minutes before I even start laying the cards. I want to make sure the seeker fully understands what we are doing and what my abilities really are...and to ensure we begin and end with the truth, clarity and understanding.

how can all words in the English Language be written with 26 letters?

Click to expand...

oooh. I like that too.