on a break....

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 11 Feb 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Ursula	11 Feb 2003
anyone ever get so inundated with tarot that they just needed to pull back and not do them much for awhile? i did my first reading in over a week a couple of days ago & haven't done another since. i just felt the need to put it down for awhile. anyone else ever get to that point? just curious... thanks, ~Urs :OL

scheherazade	11 Feb 2003
Although I'm quite new in reading them, I do sometimes find that the truths of Tarot overwhelm me, and I'm almost afraid to pick them up sometimes.

Phoenix	11 Feb 2003
Yup. My longest stretch started about a year ago, and is just beginning to come to an end. I could pick them up, shuffle them, but they just wouldn't speak to me. They are starting to again, though.

Logiatrix	11 Feb 2003
yes, i have gotten "tarot burn-out"...or even bored of it! :O *gasp* i've realized that these times are actually indicative of overload in OTHER areas of my life, and i respond by giving myself a little more breathing room...lo, and behold (!), all the things i love, like tarot, come back to me. :)

jema	12 Feb 2003
i had them. i was "gone" from all tarot things for more then a year. when i came back i had grown a lot as a reader. it is like with all growing - we do it in the rest periods. just look at a child growing, it takes place during the night. same with a body-builder - their muscles grow not until the day they rest them. for some these periods are just a few days but more often, for others it is months at a time or even years. also there may be times when we study the tarot a lot but don't really do readings with it. but all in all - i think a total rest from tarot can in many cases be healthy. it will open us up for new things and when we come back to it it will be with a whole new passion for the cards.

sagitarian	12 Feb 2003
I used to read for others by the dozens, nightly I would go out to a denny's and open up shop. No sooner then I took my deck out of it's binds then did people start approaching and asking for readings. Finally, at one point, at the height of my tarot reading, I saw a death, A TRUE death, one in the clients past. When I covered that card (two souls involved, but only one person passed) he started crying and crying. I couldn't even finish the reading it was so intense. He told me that he used to be married and his wife who was pregnant with his child was killed in a car wreck. The other driver was under the influence of alcohol. I won't go any further, but the reading was intense and I will NEVER forget it. After that, I put down my cards. It scared me to death to pick them up again. After some time went by, I read for family and close friends, but not to the general public. After a while, I stopped doing that. Soon after that, my cards left me. About a yr. later, due to the influence of my sister (alissa) I came here and decided to pick up reading again. She got me another deck for my bday last december. It's only been recent that I realized how much I've "grown" up. I'm taking my time to relearn tarot all over again from the start. Using a different deck has really helped me to truly relearn tarot. It feels as though I'm starting from the beginning all over again. It's a good feeling. Eventually, I want to return to reading for the general public again, but first I want to feel comfortable with my new decks that I've acquired.

Trogon	12 Feb 2003
Howdy Ursula (btw, I love that name ;) ), Yes... actually, I'm coming off a hiatus of about 2 years away from Tarot. Shortly after I first started learning Tarot, several years ago, the woman who began teaching me, got transferred to Tucson, AZ. So for a long time I was journeying through the Tarot on my own... it can be tough to learn without a teacher. Well... to put it in a nutshell, I ended up blocked and felt I was unable to really read very well. Several months ago I started picking the Tarot up again and shortly after that I discovered the Aeclectic Tarot forums! As others have said, you grow while resting... but you can also grow in Tarot by connecting with others. The connection with A.T. has done wonders for me. I'll take this opportunity to say a big "Thank You" to everyone here. But yes, taking breaks from away from work, studies, hobbies, etc... is definitely a good thing. It's why schools have breaks, work has vacations (many workplaces anyway), and government takes holidays. We need rest, even from the things we love sometimes. Quote: originally posted by sagitarian Finally, at one point, at the height of my tarot reading, I saw a death, A TRUE death, one in the clients past. This can definitely be a difficult thing. I have had similar experiences with Tarot readings and yes, they are intense and can be hard to cope with. But I feel that to a great extent the Tarot reflects life, and death is a part of life. I also feel that the Tarot usually provides what is needed and it is possible that at that point in that person's life, he needed to have that brought out. He may have been holding much of his grief inside and you may have provided an outlet for his tears... gave him a chance to let it out and start the healing which he needed.

Ursula	16 Feb 2003
hey, see i'm taking such a break that i haven't been on here for a few days ;) i appreciate everyone's validation & thoughts. i think as one person said, i have had a lot to process in my life & need to take time to do that. i think i got overloaded on input. i was pushing myself in every possible area of my life, including learning the tarot, and i think i just needed time to back off from a lot of things and sort it all out. i think that when i return to the tarot it will be with new wisdom and perspective. thanks again all! ~Urs :OL (and glad you like my name, Trogon ;))

The on a break.... thread was originally posted on 11 Feb 2003 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.