American Tarot Association

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 22 Aug 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Laurel	22 Aug 2002
I was thinking of joining the ATA next time I had a little money to spare and wanted to save myself rushing into a used book store :) A friend commented that the ATA is in financial trouble and now might not be the best time to join. It occurred to me that if there was trouble, maybe now ~was~ the right time to pay annual dues- every little bit helped. In any event, does anyone here recommend ATA membership or have an opinion like my friends, that I should wait and see what happens in the next few months? Laurel

Pollux	22 Aug 2002
I know an old friend of the boards had quite a "peculiar" experience with it. I'll try to find the thread. And put you off it! *LOL* BTW, I am not Italian, I don't care about this ATA, and I dislike any academical association of this sort, regarding tarot, reiki or whatever. They often are only ways to make money. At least here in the Country of Mozzarella.

Keslynn	22 Aug 2002
Laurel, I had been thinking about joining as well, but then I saw several notices on tarot webpages that it should be avoided. As I recall, there is one such notice on Amber Jayanti's webpage and one on James Revak's (http://jwrevak.tripod.com). After reading the explanations for these people eschewing their membership and rankings, I'm not so sure I'm interested anymore. Apparently other things have been going on above and beyond just financial troubles. In fact, there has been some sketchy activity that might be the cause of those troubles. You should check out the statements on those webpages, and hopefully some people here can give some good input. :) Kes

Lee	22 Aug 2002
There's been a lot of stuff written about the ATA lately on the Tarot-l and Comparative Tarot e-lists which I've been reading, but not very carefully, so the following paraphrase isn't guaranteed to be 100% accurate. :) There's been a great controversy and upheaval with the ATA recently, with questionable and unethical behavior being alleged. There is now a new board and they are trying to reorganize the group, and the final structure that the group will take is, I believe, yet to be determined. The new board is actively encouraging participation and opinions about how they should proceed, so, Laurel, now might actually be a good time to join. One thing about which there's a lot of ongoing discussion is what had been their system for awarding Tarot Certification. Apparently the value of this certification is being questioned by many. Also, the certification process seems to have been a somewhat arbitrary process, with many people being frustrated. So I would also recommend being very careful about what money you turn over to them in any certification-related activities unless they get their program together so that they're offering something which makes sense to you. I should note that I'm not and have never been a member, so all of this is just from what I've read about what's going on. Hope this helps -- Lee

Pollux	22 Aug 2002
The thread was by our very own member divinerguy - before he understood that is true mission was the Tarot Sex Coven Legal Advisor... ;) http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=600 Enjoy.

Umbrae	22 Aug 2002
A question. Why would one join the ATA? What are the benefits?

Lee	22 Aug 2002
Just to add, I'm not really convinced that the ATA would be all that valuable. They have teaching materials, but I'm not at all sure that they're better than what you could find elsewhere. If it's personal interaction you're looking for, that can be found right here on Aeclectic. If you're the type of person that likes to join organizations, or if you would like to have an "official" certification to hang on the wall, then it might be a good thing, but other than that... I always get nervous about organizations when money is changing hands. In the case of Aeclectic subscriptions, it's a very straightforward thing -- the money we send for subscriptions goes to help maintain the Forums. But in an organization like the ATA, you pay your money, you get certain benefits, but it's hard to pin down exactly what your money is going for and whether it's being spent in a way which is truly beneficial for the members, which I think accounts for some of their recent problems. -- Lee

Pollux	22 Aug 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Umbrae A question. Why would one join the ATA? What are the benefits? Here he comes, the Spiritual Counsellor... *LOL* *puts on his glasses too* :cool:

The American Tarot Association thread was originally posted on 22 Aug 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.