Why got hooked?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 30 Apr 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

carolliketarot	30 Apr 2002
Want to get a general idea, how did people start learning tarot? Or should I phrase it as what causes you got hooked by tarot? Someone in this forum may have asked this question before. I just curious, if you don't feel like it is a proper question, ignore it. In my place, tarot is not a very popular, it is treated as a fortune telling tool only and fault impression is common, such as it is something evil. Last year I was depressed, so I checked on all sorts of fortune-telling tools (shamed) to look for a definite answer. Tarot was on the list. At first, I checked the tarot free reading sites (in Chinese). Though the sites were not really informative, but tarot sort of hooked me. Then I started to think of getting a tarot deck, but still had no idea where to get it. Shortly after this though, there was a woman magazine giving free tarot deck. I got the deck still did not know what to do with it, I searched the web, then I found Joan Bunningsˇ¦ site. After that, a whole new world has opened up before my eyes, and I have met wonderful people on the net, including this forum. The story ends with Carol becomes a tarot addict. :D Always look for more money to buy wonderful decks and great books. :P Hope to hear your story. :) Tarot Addict Carol

Liliana	30 Apr 2002
well, I just always like little fortune telling thingies. My grandparents (who raised me) are professional yard sale buyers (buying stuff then selling it higherin their own yard sales) andI went often, and would find neat little things sometimes. I had some divining game, a little fortune telling thing called fantell, ouiji oards, and various other things. I naturally progressed from those to a set of Ralph Blum Runes I found for sale at a booth in our towns biggest carnval of the year. I never really got interestedin Tarot til I met my now husband, nothing is sexier than a man doing a reading for someone using the big Thoth deck hehehe, anyway I wasntinterested in Tarot because Ive only ever seen the Waite deck, which I hated, and I didnt like the Thoth much either (it scared me). I didnt realize there were hundreds, and them my husband bought me a Wonderland deck,which I loved but it was too silly for me to read with. Awhile passed, and some of my other friends had these lovely decks, prompting me to get one. I went searching for a deck online and ended up with the Spiral. But now Ive out grown it, and it never really was MY deck, so I find myself collecting various decks trying to find one I truly click with. Until then Ive joined various tarot places and am learning what I can. :THP

destinyawaitsme	30 Apr 2002
I basically got hooked the same was carol did. I was very very depressed and I couldn't find a way out...not direction, no hope. I wanted guidance and I started going to those computer automated websites..getting free readings all the time...till finally I just figured I could get a deck and do it myself. A year and a half, and 5 decks later...here I am! I've really come a long way as a person and I owe it a lot to tarot. :) *feels all warm and tingly*

wavebreaker	30 Apr 2002
Same story for me as carol and destiny: started with the online Glastonbury tarot and got curious, so I got my own deck (Rider Waite). Learned the basics through Joan Bunning's website and only want to learn more... (just ordered some more books and two decks from Amazon, can't wait for them to arrive!)

Umbrae	30 Apr 2002
OMG, I have never told the story to the forum, so here goes. I started Tarot back in 1972, because it was a great way to pick up girls. It has remained an on again off again affair ever since. Whenever I put them down, they call me back. My first deck was a RW that I had for many years. My wife of 17 years never knew of my interest until lately (she is just so danged pragmatic, and I just never found the right way to break the subject). Somewhere along the way, I picked up a set of runes. Well, spring I was laid off. The cards and runes were giving me strange dire readings. At the end of August, I got a new job, working for one of the largest financial services firms in the world. I left for NYC on September 9, 2001. My training class was on the 61st floor of WCT2. Class took a break. I was involved with this discussion with the voices in my head about what I should take with me when I went outside for a cigarette. “Just go now!” “Okay fine…” I walked out of the door at the same time the first plane hit. Under the pile of rubble of tower two amongst all else, are a 30-year-old RW, and a set of Runes. It was 5 hours before I could tell my wife I was alive. I am now teaching my wife to read. I had to buy new decks (plural) and a new set of stones. Then I discovered you guys, and am very glad that I can share and learn with all of you…

Dragonfly	30 Apr 2002
I got my fist deck when I was ten. Try to do readings on my own did o.k.. Then from time to time pick it up now in my late 30's I found the time to take a class and read all the books I've gotten through the years. I was so happy to find this forum so I could learn more. :)

Dragonfly	30 Apr 2002
Wow Umbrae thank you for shareing your story I'am glad your here with us. Blessings :)

Liliana	30 Apr 2002
Wow Umbrae, thats an amazing story, makes that set of Onyx runes that more special to me. On a lighter note, I TOLD you guys reading tarot was sexy ;) :THP

Mystick Dragon	30 Apr 2002
I was raised a strict Christian, and most Christians believe that Tarot is evil. I went to Magickal Gardaen in the Alderwood mall, and decided to look through their decks. I found the Cletic Dragon and the Dragon Tarot. About a month later I bought the Dragon Tarot. And then, I think it was around X-mas time, I bought the Celtic Dragon set from Wulfshadow. I wouldn't give my cards up for anything. Umbrae, they still haven't gone through all the rubble, wouldn't it be a miracle if your cards and stones survived? --Dragon

Lion-O	30 Apr 2002
Quote: Originally posted by carolliketarot Want to get a general idea, how did people start learning tarot? Or should I phrase it as what causes you got hooked by tarot? Hi! I'm sure thats no trouble/problem at all, at least not for me. Its good that some questions get asked every now and then so that all newcomers can also share their stories with the rest. Anyway; the topic is kinda straight but thats really the case for me. I was interested in the whole Tarot concept for quite some time now and some years ago I found a deck in a games shop which I regulary visit(ed). Later on it turned out to be a 'games' deck (Mage the Ascention) but since it looked and felt like a deck I simply started using it very carefully. In the beginning I didn't really care for it but to my surprise it did work quite well for me. So I simply got hooked automaticly in a way. When I finally discovered these forums I also found out how to grab decks from the Net and although my Mage deck has never failed me I did got myself a Rider Waite deck as well. Both decks 'act' very differently, even to the point of drawing cards; every deck 'needs' its own way to pick them. But thats the story for me in a nutshell. At this moment my readings work out quite well but I'm not ready to do readings for others yet, simply because I don't feel I'm ready for that.

Loki23	30 Apr 2002
Hi. I'm new. *waves* I couldn't help answering this particular topic. My personal use of the tarot is minimal, unfortunately, but it is growing every day. Anyway, my interest in the tarot came from a friend of mine. At the time, I was like most people before they get involved in the cards - skeptical as can be. She offered to read cards for me, to tell me what the next six months would entail. To understand my story, you must know that I was born with a heart defect, because it will play into this fear. Also, I had a totally irrational fear of needles (derived from years of being poked and prodded, etc). Anyway, she told me that three major events would shape the next six months: a). I would fall madly in love with someone b). She'd help me get over a fear and c). the fear would lead to making an operation (regarding my heart) much easier. She predicted that the operation would involve something experimental and mechanical. It stuck in my mind, but I thought that was kind of silly. I didn't think it was quite as silly, a few weeks later, when I fell totally in love with a girl I'd known for years, and she reciprocated my feelings. At about the same time, my heart was going in and out of rythm. The doctors needed blood tests. I was absolutely terrified of needles, hadn't had a test in years, but I decided to face my fears and get one because (seriously) I wanted to impress this girl. *laughs* Anyway, to make a long story short, the doctors determined my heart was totally out of whack, and I'd need a pacemaker. Not only that - the pacemaker was an FDA experiment. She did the reading in late July or early August (can't really recall) and the operation took place in January. 6 months. Wow, that was pretty wordy. Sorry about that, but that's my story. After that (and numerous other things she said that came out very accurate) I decided to get involved in tarot myself. I haven't really been using it very long, but now I am making a serious effort to understand it.

Kissa	01 May 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Umbrae I left for NYC on September 9, 2001. My training class was on the 61st floor of WCT2. Class took a break. I was involved with this discussion with the voices in my head about what I should take with me when I went outside for a cigarette. “Just go now!” “Okay fine…” Do u think that your deck and your runes somehow sacrified themselves ? They gave up on their existence to make sure you go asap out of there ? Do you think your travel with this deck and rune set was at its end ? that they pushed you to something new by sacrifying themselves ? (My intuition answers YES to all the questions...) Love and respect to you, Umbrae, I am glad you got out of there. Love too to all who died, suffered, lost their loved ones there. In Europe too you will always be remembered. Karen/Kissa

Jenny-Li	01 May 2002
My story: I was in Madrid, and had ended up in a department stor where I was bored to death (I'm not much for shopping...!) while my colleagues were having a feast with slingback shoes and handbags and whatever...! Anyway, right then and there I got this urge to get a Tarot deck. I have no idea how I knew what a Tarot deck was, as far as I know I'd never even seen one (part from the one in the James Bond-movie, but I don't think I knew that was a Tarot-deck...!), or how I figured I'd be able to find one there. But I did, not a fancy one, but a Tarot deck. The week after I was in London (did a lot of travelling back then) and had a lot of time to spare, so I got my first Tarot book and started to study to try and get an idea what this was that I'd got myself into. I realized the deck I got in Madrid wouldn't do me any good for readings, so a week later I got the Universal Waite, and I've been learning ever since. I've always been a very impatient person, unable to stick with anything because I get bored so fast. }) But not the Tarot. It feels like this is the one thing I'll never get tired of. Not to mention how much I've changed since I started using the cards - geez...! I don't know exactly what in the Tarot it is that have made me grow, all I know is I have, and that has got me wanting more, and also perhaps, in time, it's got me wanting to be able to help others find their way. Anyway, I wasn't terribly depressed when I got that urge out of the blue to get me a Tarot deck, but I was insecure, afraid not to fit in and therefore always trying to be someone else, always putting other people's interest before my own (in the negative way, making myself practically disappear). Sometimes I think maybe my "real" soul, who is a person who takes up a whole lot more space than I ever allowed myself before, got fed up of always being minimized into practically nothing, and threw me the Tarot in order to get me to wake up! Well, what can I say? It worked...! :D Thanks Carol for posting this interesting thread, I love to read everybody's stories! And Umbrae - really glad you're still around...! :) Light and love, Jenny :)

Logiatrix	02 May 2002
goodness gracious, umbrae...i'm feeling quite gifted that you are here with us, and your bride of many years, as well. thank you for sharing...

Kiama	03 May 2002
Umbrae, your story was all snuggly, but also very chilling... Thank goodness though! Wow! Anyway, my story isn't quite as exciting as all that. I was 9 when I first stumbled across a book at a Welcome Break shop. It was called 'Fortune Telling With Tarot Cards' by Sturt Kaplan, and it cost me 99p. I read it in the car on the family holiday to Devon, and read it all the time in the caravan in Devon, and on the beach in Devon... You get the picture. I read that book over and over, but didn't get a deck of cards until I was 12, and then, that deck was free with Sugar magazine... And they can't really be classed a Tarot deck, cuz there were 26 cards, all based loosely on the Major Arcana, and, some people think, the four Aces... I used them until I was about 14, when I bought another really cheap and tacky deck. (I hardly had any money, that's my excuse!) Then, I bought the Shakespearean deck, and I proved myself worthy at a school fair, when I amazed the organiser of it with my reading for him... >) Iraised quite alot of money for the school too! Suddenly, I found that a bookshop near me sold Tarot decks, and by this time, I was working as a Chalet Maid at the local holiday park... So, I bought a Tarot deck by Sasha Fenton. Then, I was 16, and found myself doing A-levels at the local sixth form. That was where I met Luke, my Wiccan friend. He had a catalogue which sold Tarot decks, and there was the Tarot of the Moon Garden, so I gave him the money and he ordered it for me. I didn't like it very much, so I bought Witches Tarot aswell... I used that for awhile, but grew bored of it, and bought the Celtic Dragon... And thus, my collection started. Now, I no longer buy decks in the hope that the next one I get will be 'the one', because I already have 'my one': The Robin Wood. I buy decks because I love the artwork, all the different themes, the different approaches to Tarot and the meaning of each card.... Now I'm practisng my reading skills ready for when I move away to University in September... I'd love to read for money, instead of just having a pitiful job as a waitress for 24 hours a week... I'd rather be dong something I enjoy... And of course, if it doesn't work, I can fall back on a waitressing job. *Sigh* Kiama

The Why got hooked? thread was originally posted on 30 Apr 2002 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.