Can anyone read tarot?

I tried searching for a thread along these lines, but hav not found anything... please point me in the right direction if such a thread exists.

So- can anyone read tarot given the right circumstances- the right instruction, open mind, and so on? Is reading tarot a gift- given by the gods to those blessed individuals? Does one have to be descended from a long line of card readers? Does intuition vary between people, or is it just untapped in certain individuals? Are we all equally "special" or is does shear talent come into the mix? Can anyone learn to become a very, very good tarot reader?

What do you think?

I'd think anyone with an open mind could.

That excludes a bunch of people though.

I think there is quite a stretch between learning to read tarot for yourself, your friends and possibly others on here and being an amazing reader. And the whole range in between.

It is like any skill, some folks are just going to have a gift for it, and no matter how much the rest of us practice, in the end we will be very good but maybe never 'excellent'.

Tarot does take a reasonable memory, an ability to see a larger pictures from smaller elements and a certain desire, so maybe everyone can't do it. That I don't know, but I am guessing that while it is a pretty open skill, there will be some who cannot even get to a moderate level.

I think it's a little bit like asking if anyone can sing? The answer is yes, anyone can... but that all depends on what your terms are. Can anyone try to sing? Can anyone sing well? Can anyone sing virtuosically?

As Kaufman and Hart once said of the creative process, "Art is achieved through perspiration... of course having some talent helps."

That's not to say that anyone on earth shouldn't sing in their cars on the way to work, or that people shouldn't join in singing anthems or at birthdays. But do I want to listen to a CD of everyone on earth singing Puccini or Duke Ellington? Categorically, obviously, emphatically NO. Talent is not distributed equally; if it was, it wouldn't be talent. I hold no truck with the modern myth that everyone is secretly an artistic genius from the moment of conception and that Art is somehow "purer" if it isn't "tainted" by something as bourgeois as training or experience. Dabbling is one of the curses of modern technology.

Art comes from the word artifice, which in its original usage meant skill... and all skills are a fine blend of aptitude and training. This is where the old Medieval guilds followed an impeccable logic: apprentice, journeyman, Master. You trained for the right to practice a trade and for a title that let people know you had earned the right to their custom. Trouble is: there IS no guild for something as subjective as Tarot reading, nor (IMO) should there be. In my experience, talent will out. People seek and find it like a light in a catacomb.

Still, why shouldn't everyone try? There's no reason why it's all or nothing. I can't sing at the Met, but that doesn't mean I need to take a vow of silence. Ditto reading... not everyone will make stunning specific predictions and charge $1000 a spread reading for royalty. But even Tarot celebs start with a pack and curiosity. No one can know the truth unless they pick up a deck to see in directions which their talents lie.

Scion

Ah, I'm grinning over here!

I love your answers, because there is not really a yes or no answer to it, is there?

Scion, I find your comparison to singing very meaningful- being that I am a singer myself, it hits home. As Marion said, there are gradations of talent, and corresponding levels of involvement- in singing, there is singing in the shower, karaoke, choir as hobby, teaching students, teaching professionals, being a professional (and all of the other levels of expertise fit in somewhere)- and tarot is much the same- the curious newbie, the moderate hobbyist, the passionate hobbyist, the reader just for fun, the reader for a career, the teacher, the reader for royalty. And of course, not everyone has the desire to be a tarot reader for royalty, just as not everyone wants to sing Wagner! So like anything, it seems to be a mixture of talent and desire- because desire to excel is what motivates the study, the practice, the time spent, the money spent...

So what do you think of people who claim to be "natural readers"- either they're psychic, or they come from a 6 generation line of readers, or what-have-you? Do they exist? Or is work always necessary?

By the way, I'm not asking these questions to be troublesome, I am just curious, and adore reading all of your answers, you geniuses, you!

autumnsdaughter said:

So what do you think of people who claim to be "natural readers"- either they're psychic, or they come from a 6 generation line of readers, or what-have-you? Do they exist? Or is work always necessary?

Click to expand...

A very, very valid question that I'd love to hone in on. I think a lot of people hear someone say "I'm a natural reader" and we take a little offense because we think "Oh so you're a natural reader therefore a better reader than I am.... well that's a load of crap."

But the marketer in me thinks that maybe these folks are onto something. What kind of reader are you, what sets you apart from the crowd as a tarot reader?

When I had advised people who are putting together a flier or brochure for their practice I have always stressed that people choose words and symbols that reflect their particular gifts, talents, and interests and incorporate that into their collateral.

Visualize yourself for a sec as the powerful, talented, tarot reader of your dreams. Some will see themselves in a library crowded with esoteric books on high concept occult philosophy, ruminating over a spread that uses sacred geometry and an understanding of the Sephiroth to help them come into communication with their Holy Guardian Angel. Others may visualize themselves in comfortable room draped with fabrics and lit by flickering tea light candles reading a deck circled by various crystals chosen for their energetic properties as they consult the cards on how to bring healing and peace to a client. Others may picture themselves in their own living room setting the cards down on their own coffee table.

I say define yourself as a tarot reader and take the steps to make that definition more real and more vivid.

Hmm, that's a very interesting point of view- so someone will prefer to be labeled as a "fortune teller", another as an "occult reader", another as a "mystic guide", another as a "business motivator"- this is really interesting! So then, does how we see ourselves matter more than talent and work (study, practice) combined? I've seen this in singing, actually. Take two singers- 1 has an exceptional voice, has worked very hard, but sees themselves as being less than an exceptional singer; the other has a great but not exceptional voice, has worked not quite so hard (perhaps diction is dodgy) but see themselves as being fantastic, wonderful, perfect- or at least is not concerned with "what do they think of me? oh, I'm sure they hate me!" Get each to sing an audition for the same people, same piece, same everything, and the slightly less talented, but more confidant one will win the role.

So does this happen with tarot as well? Can a switch of attitude actually make a person a better reader?

You just answered your own question: not a better reader, but a better reading, right?

Going back to the original question. I say yes, anyone can read it with enough study and practice.

I don't believe anyone who says they can read the cards without any study.

Even with psychic ability and mediumship, some study and practice is required before it really blossoms. Even if you have the "talent" you still need to figure out how to use it.

Or put that to singing. How could you sing if you don't know the words to any songs?

Scion said:

You just answered your own question: not a better reader, but a better reading, right?

Click to expand...

Are they not one and the same?

A reader who has incredible talent (psychic, intuitive, whatever) and has amassed enormous knowledge of tarot- the astrology, the Kabbalah, all of that- and gets "stage fright" -thus unable to communicate well- is not as good a reader as one of average talent, average knowledge, who is able to communicate beautifully, with clarity and sensitivity, who is able to let that insight pour out of them- not get in the way.

Of course it all varies- it isn't either/or- and I envy those who are both fantastically gifted and amazing communicators... but it is interesting to consider.