Mojo's Tarot for Skeptics

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 24 Sep 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Mojo	24 Sep 2002
Sparrowspirit brought up a question for me in another thread, but rather than change the direction of that thread, I thought I would answer in a new thread: Quote: Originally posted by sparrowspirit There is much talk about synchronicity, which is where I currently am in my understanding. I also believe that certain people have more developed "psychic" gifts, and therefore could use the cards as a jump-off point. But I am not sure that I understand what you are saying about your philosophy of reading. Do you use the cards for readings? If so, what is your theory about how it works? How do you approach a reading? Yes, I most definitely use cards and only the cards. I am not the least bit psychic (perhaps psychotic, but that’s another story). I am a total skeptic. I am not one who can operate on blind faith. I have no religious beliefs and no metaphysical ones either. I can no more believe in the healing power of crystals than I can the virgin birth. Sorry if that offends anyone else’s belief system, but that’s just the way I have always been. Yet, despite skepticism that borders on cynicism, I am a great Tarot reader. It dazzles everyone who knows me. Can I explain how it works? Yes, but I’m afraid most people on Aeclectic won’t like my explanation. But this is what I teach, and my students leave my class being able to read with confidence. Do I believe in synchronicity? Not really. I think it is an interesting concept and it probably has a lot of substance to it. I like the idea of a collective unconscious and this, more than anything else, can provide a reasonably believable explanation for the mechanics of how the cards end up in the positions they pop up in within a spread. However, I think it’s much simpler than that. My approach is that the cards are completely random and it is a combination of my intuition and my reading of the querent and not my reading of the cards that give me the insight I need to do an effective reading. I tell stories from the cards and I watch and listen for physical and verbal cues which help me weave my story into something meaningful for my client. GASP! Sounds like fraud, huh? Shades of Miss Cleo. But I disagree. It’s a game. And that is precisely what Tarot is. It was invented as a game and it has been played as a game for more than 500 years. In the last two centuries, some groups came along and gave some mystical meanings to the Tarot, but I’m afraid that doesn’t really change the fact that it’s a game. If I got together a secret society and we determined somehow that the Monopoly board contained all the secrets of the universe, we might be able to get a few thousand followers to believe that, but it still wouldn’t mean that Monopoly was anything more than a game. The cards are just tools. I lay the cards in a spread that I feel will help me tell the story. Then I begin to weave together a story from the cards. I look at the pictures and I focus on whatever individual symbol on each card catches my eye. This is the intuition part. As I think about the querent’s question and any of the background information they have provided, the story starts coming together. Then I just start talking. I start telling the story as it comes together moving from card to card. The positions are important only in that they help you frame the story. As the story unfolds, the querent will react. Sometimes they will nod, or they will get a certain look in their eyes that convey an emotion or two, and sometimes they will verbally respond to what I am saying. I incorporate all of these reactions into my story. The key is to keep talking and not be afraid to go back and reconsider a card later if it makes more sense another way. I use a lot of fairly neutral phrases when telling a story. I say “perhaps” a lot. And “this feels like” and I ask a lot of open ended questions. I also ask the querent to tell me what they see in certain cards. This helps me really start to fill in the detail. For example, if the 5 of Swords comes up, I want to know which figure stands out to them. Another example, on the 3 of Wands, I want to know if they see the ships as coming in, going out, or passing by. By creating this kind of interactivity in a reading, I can really bring it all home for the querent. If it is the kind of reading that calls for some fortune telling (yup, I’ll tell fortunes if that’s what they pay me to do!), then I get creative based on the cards and what I’ve garnered from my intuition and the feedback I’ve received. If you’ve read any of my reading interpretations here on Aeclectic, you’ll know that I can be quite outrageous at times. But it usually hits home on some level because I incorporate the themes I have gleaned from the querent and the cards. If it looks like bad news, I share that without sugar-coating it. However, in order to have a satisfied customer, I will always point out the tendency of the cards to provide a roadmap rather than a declaration of what will absolutely be. On a roadmap, you can see where the detours are and make some changes which can change the outcome. I always provide these. It makes for some more interesting storytelling. So you see, as far as I am concerned, you don’t have to understand how Tarot works or memorize any detailed formulas or keywords. You don’t have to study numerology, or astrology, or astrophysics, or witchcraft or anything else. All you need is a good imagination, a sharpened intuition, and a keen sense of observation. And you have to love telling stories!

Major Tom	24 Sep 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Mojo I tell stories from the cards and I watch and listen for physical and verbal cues which help me weave my story into something meaningful for my client. Thanks for this Mojo - This certainly describes what I do when I have the querent sitting in front of me and I'll even go as far as to say most of us do the same whether we realise it or not. }) However, this doesn't explain readings from a distance - when you don't have the querent physically in front of you. I've seen your interpretations posted here and they almost always strike a chord. So, how does that work then?

Mojo	24 Sep 2002
Tom When responding to distance readings via e-mail or online on Aeclectic, I think the wording of the question pretty much always gives hints as to what is going on. Again, the subconscious comes into play. When someone is posting a question, the way they phrase their sentences can definitely convey a sense of emotion. Before I respond to a non-live reading, I read the question aloud (this is very important to me... I have to hear what it sounds like in conversation) several times while envisioning the cards and the spread (I seldom re-create a spread, I rely on my mind's eye). I actually feel that this gives me as good, if not better, insight into the reading than if I had a querent with me. And you're right, I very often hit the mark with these interpretations. I think part of it is that I'm not afraid to venture into the less-than-ideal meanings of the cards. I think the negatives in life are far more common and global in their application than the positives. They're usually easier to identify as well. The key is to apply your intuition and almost always go with your initial "gut" feeling. More important than being a student of the Tarot is being a student of life. I pay attention to people and how they express themselves. This is actually easier to do in writing than it is in person. The longer you do this, the better you get at it. The hardest part is learning how to trust your own intuition and not to be afraid to fail miserably! Yup, every once in awhile, I am completely off the mark. And when I am, I'm usually WAY off! But the odds usually work in my favor, so I don't fret the flubs. Like I said, to me it's a game: you win some and you lose some. If you have a love of the game, you will eventually get to a point where you win more than you lose, just like with any other game.

Mojo	24 Sep 2002
Oh... one more thing... anyone who would like to sharpen their skills at reading people using verbal and non-verbal cues should spend some time reading about and learning a pseudo-science called "neurolinguistic programming" or NLP. It is a fantastic discipline for understanding (and being able to influence) all of your interpersonal relationships. If you have other questions for me, please be patient with me this week. I am on the road and will only have limited access to the internet the next couple of weeks. I will answer your questions as I have the time.

fairyhedgehog	24 Sep 2002
Mojo, I read the cards in much the same way as you do. I would give a more detailed psychological explanation for what is going on, but basically I have a non-supernatural understanding. What I can't do is to bring myself to read for other people. I'm sure they'd take it much more seriously than I do, and I am concerned that it would be dishonest or harmful. I certainly wouldn't take money from people or claim to tell the future in any way. How do you get round this? Do you tell people it is only a game, or what?

aeonx	24 Sep 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Mojo Oh... one more thing... anyone who would like to sharpen their skills at reading people using verbal and non-verbal cues should spend some time reading about and learning a pseudo-science called "neurolinguistic programming" or NLP. It is a fantastic discipline for understanding (and being able to influence) all of your interpersonal relationships. Mojo, I am very interested in learning this programme. *running off to check the web* Please enlighten me. :) ~aeonx~

Laurel	24 Sep 2002
The personal irony of this is that is was a "Mystery school" that introduced me to NLP and where I learned a little of its techniques. :) Thank you for sharing your skeptic's tarot, Mojo!!! I appreciate the insight you so often offer within this forum, even though I am a dyed-in-the-wool occultnik and darn proud of it. :P Laurel

faunabay	24 Sep 2002
Mojo, Like most people who responded here I agree with what you say about reading the querent's physical reactions. I do very few readings for others but when I do I definitely watch the person for signals. But when you say you use your intuition as well.....I actually consider using your intuition or going with your "gut" feelings as partial use of psychic abilities! I know it's not anywhere like someone who can just look at you and tell your complete life story with no prompting :D , but I do believe that trusting and using your intuition is using psychic abilities - limited use yes, but using them just the same!! So using my interpreptation of what I consider psychic abilities - I think you do have them and are actually using them to a certain extent. And just something to throw out there :) .....maybe if you stopped discounting them you might find you have more psychic abilities than you think!!! **ROFL** Mojo as a psychic!! Sorry but it just boggles the mind!!!

sparrowspirit	24 Sep 2002
Thanks Mojo, (and all of the others who responded here). This discussion has been very helpful to me. It sounds like doing readings can actually be much like a psychologist's counselling session, (perhaps that is why some psychological counsellor's use the Tarot!). You take a person's question and explore it with the cards, bring out the underlying issues, and help them to delineate a plan of action. Faunabay raised the question of intuition and psychic ability. I do believe this to be a point of crossover energy. My best friend is a psychologist. I have known her for a long time. I have always been amazed at her ability to predict the future events of a situation, given her knowledge of the people in question, her understanding of human nature, and her ability to construct a whole scenario and see it through to the endpoint given the details of the current situation. I have always been amazed at her "insight". She doesn't see it as psychic ability, but just rational thought, however, sometimes she make leaps of judgement that turn out to be true, that I can't see as being the rational next outcome. Maybe that is just my lack of insight into human nature, or perhaps a good counsellor often does have a bit of psychic ability, sort of like the Deanna Troi. Perhaps, Mojo, you are more psychic than you think?

MeeWah	24 Sep 2002
Mojo: Thank you very much for a fascinating & provocative explanation of how Tarot works for you! A razor-sharp intellect, keeness of observation & an understanding of human nature are formidable when combined in reading the cards, but intuition is what ties those elements together. Produces the inspired rather than the ordinary. Your interpretations are definitely of the former variety (& oft entertaining as well)! Whether one chooses to call it intuition or psychic ability, I see it as one & the same. Please do not be offended & forgive the terminology (which I usually avoid), but in my eyes you *are* plenty psychic :)

Mojo	24 Sep 2002
Hey all... thanks for the great comments.... Today I ended up trading a Tarot reading for a wonderful dinner! I was at a restaurant in NY city and I was going through my "purse" (actually a miniature leather backpack) and I took my Tarot deck out and had it on the table. The owner of the restaurant saw them and asked me if I would do a couple of readings for him and his wife... and he offered dinner as compensation! What a wonderful surprise! To Fairyhedgehog: yes, a lot of people take Tarot very seriously. I don't offer any kind of explanation to clients other than a brief description of my "roadmap" theory about forecasting future events, and I only do that to people who have never had a Tarot reading before. When I started charging for readings, I just put out a small dollar-bill-sized box and I told people that after my reading, they could put "a bill" in the box as payment. I didn't define what "a bill" meant, but I fully expected that people would pay $1 or maybe $5 since I gave them such an option. I was amazed at first that most people gave me $20, and quite a few put even more than one bill. I was routinely getting $40 or $50 for a reading doing it this way. A usual reading lasts about an hour or more, and I think I entertain people a great deal with my style. So they paid me I think more for the entertainment value rather than for a particular service. Now I regularly charge about $60 an hour for my regular clients or for referral customers. It was a good way to start getting paid for readings and it helped me determine my "worth" by having the customers pay what they felt was right. To Aeonx: NLP is a fun system to learn and apply to life. There are many books out there on it and an actual foundation which offers classes. I think you can learn it yourself from some of the books. I found one in London entitled "NLP in 21 Days" and it presents the theory in a nicely structured way. I think you will enjoy it, it's not at all like other "scientific" theories of communication, it is completely based on practical observation of people. To Laurel: that's ok, you can be an occultnik and I'll do my best not to snicker and point. To faunabay and sparrowspirit: I wish I could share your convictions about psychic abilities, but as much as I've tried over the years to develop any so-called psychic abilities, I have always failed miserably. When I say that I'm a skeptic, I guess I need to annotate that: I'm what I would call a reluctant skeptic. I would love to believe in more, but I just can't! To Meewah: Thank you so much for your kind words. You are definitely one of my heros here on Aeclectic and I appreciate your support (and your patience!).

Alex	24 Sep 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Mojo Can I explain how it works? Yes, but I’m afraid most people on Aeclectic won’t like my explanation. But this is what I teach, and my students leave my class being able to read with confidence. Mojo I do like it. It's very similar to the explanation I'd formuated for myself. I'm a "trained scientist" however, and that limits my perception of a world I have been educated to ignore. I tend to interpret what I see within that framework: as poor as it might seem, it's all I can see or believe in. For the moment. A good tarot reader, as I see it, is one that can help me connect pieces of my reality and help me to see the little pieces as a "whole", and from a perspecticve different than the one I'm used to see. How it is accomplished, however, does not matter. In a way the work of a Tarot reader is similar to that of a psychologist, and anyone who's seen a therapist will agree with me: it is the client's final job to put the pieces of the puzzle together and give it MEANING. I appreciate your interpretations on my readings and I like to read the ones you make on other people's as well. I think you are gifted. Regards Alex.

MeeWah	25 Sep 2002
Mojo: That is a wonderful exchange of services! I have received similar trade-offs for readings. Alex.: Your second paragraph expresses it very succinctly! To help one "connect [the different] pieces of [one's] reality as a whole" & to make sense of it all is very fitting.

aeonx	29 Sep 2002
I will browse the web a bit more, and hopefully I'll get a job soon so I have money to buy a book. ;) Thanx again for the information Mojo, it was very interesting. :) ~aeonx~

Adjustment	18 May 2005
Mojo wrote: Hey all... thanks for the great comments.... Today I ended up trading a Tarot reading for a wonderful dinner! I was at a restaurant in NY city and I was going through my "purse" (actually a miniature leather backpack) and I took my Tarot deck out and had it on the table. The owner of the restaurant saw them and asked me if I would do a couple of readings for him and his wife... and he offered dinner as compensation! What a wonderful surprise! To Fairyhedgehog: yes, a lot of people take Tarot very seriously. I don't offer any kind of explanation to clients other than a brief description of my "roadmap" theory about forecasting future events, and I only do that to people who have never had a Tarot reading before. When I started charging for readings, I just put out a small dollar-bill-sized box and I told people that after my reading, they could put "a bill" in the box as payment. I didn't define what "a bill" meant, but I fully expected that people would pay $1 or maybe $5 since I gave them such an option. I was amazed at first that most people gave me $20, and quite a few put even more than one bill. I was routinely getting $40 or $50 for a reading doing it this way. A usual reading lasts about an hour or more, and I think I entertain people a great deal with my style. So they paid me I think more for the entertainment value rather than for a particular service. Now I regularly charge about $60 an hour for my regular clients or for referral customers. It was a good way to start getting paid for readings and it helped me determine my "worth" by having the customers pay what they felt was right. To Aeonx: NLP is a fun system to learn and apply to life. There are many books out there on it and an actual foundation which offers classes. I think you can learn it yourself from some of the books. I found one in London entitled "NLP in 21 Days" and it presents the theory in a nicely structured way. I think you will enjoy it, it's not at all like other "scientific" theories of communication, it is completely based on practical observation of people. To Laurel: that's ok, you can be an occultnik and I'll do my best not to snicker and point. To faunabay and sparrowspirit: I wish I could share your convictions about psychic abilities, but as much as I've tried over the years to develop any so-called psychic abilities, I have always failed miserably. When I say that I'm a skeptic, I guess I need to annotate that: I'm what I would call a reluctant skeptic. I would love to believe in more, but I just can't! To Meewah: Thank you so much for your kind words. You are definitely one of my heros here on Aeclectic and I appreciate your support (and your patience!). Thanks for shearing this inside with us Mojo.:D

Emeraldgirl	18 May 2005
What a great down to earth explanation. I have to agree that most people do look for some kind of reaction from the querent not so much to pounce on it but sometimes just to see how they are digesting everything and if they made need a break especially when dealing with the heavy issues that a lot of people use tarot to help with.

hannahma	19 May 2005
[quote=Mojo]I am a total skeptic. I am not one who can operate on blind faith. I have no religious beliefs and no metaphysical ones either. I can no more believe in the healing power of crystals than I can the virgin birth. Sorry if that offends anyone else’s belief system, but that’s just the way I have always been. Yet, despite skepticism that borders on cynicism, I am a great Tarot reader. It dazzles everyone who knows me.> It's good to see another skeptic materialist in the group...you and I both appear to be good at "cold readings". This is a skill that can be learned. Good family doctors do a lot of it. So do fraudulent 'mediums". Using the cards and one's intuition in a benevolent way is clearly a method of understanding a querent.

jumptothemoonyea	20 May 2005
this is very interesting - Mojo wrote: My approach is that the cards are completely random and it is a combination of my intuition and my reading of the querent and not my reading of the cards that give me the insight I need to do an effective reading. if Mojo is right, first reading is done outside the tarot cards, on some invisible plane of reader-querent connection, then translated into cards symbols. Wow, this means, without this connection, cards are dead pieces of paper...?

fourwinds	27 May 2005
I understand where you're coming from, since I have no religious beliefs either. (Actually, I'm at a spiritual crossroads, so maybe I'm agnostic? I might be moving towards Wicca...Whatever, I get where you're coming from, since I used to believe in absolutely nothing.) I still haven't decided where I am on the whole "psychic" thing, but I had figured "psychic" people were those who were really good at picking up on signals that others miss and coupling that with intuition/past experiences to figure out what was statistically most likely to happen. I guess my thought at this point is that being psychic isn't supernatural at all--it's all about paying attention. My feeling about Tarot so far (I'm very new to all of this, Tarot and the whole New Age scene) is that while you're making up that story, you're allowing the stuff that you know deep down to come to surface. My opinion, however, is subject to change...daily. :D

Fudugazi	27 May 2005
jumptothemoonyea wrote: if Mojo is right, first reading is done outside the tarot cards, on some invisible plane of reader-querent connection, then translated into cards symbols. Wow, this means, without this connection, cards are dead pieces of paper...? Probably, for those who do not imbue their cards with magic. I do not think there is any intrinsic magic in cards, only projected. But remember that - especially with old and "universal" decks (e.g. Marseille, RWS, Thoth, Etteilla) - the sum of knowledge and magical or mystical projection by all users past and present is very high, which probably acts on the unconscious in some way. Nor does it mean that mystical beliefs cannot be embedded in the symbolism - it is, of course. But not in any magical way - symbols represent something, are aids to meditation, divination, etc. - they are not the thing.

Asenath	27 May 2005
I was/am having my doubts about how really to use the cards. I really enjoyed your post. Currently, I use the cards for myself, but even before I started I could say that I was pretty aware of why I do what I do when I do it. And I could say that I'm alright at figuring out people's "habits" just from watching, listening and learning. I guess my question is, do you find that people would rather pay attention to cards (and I guess the rituals that go along with it) rather than people who have "sense"?

The Mojo's Tarot for Skeptics thread was originally posted on 24 Sep 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.