stories for the cynical

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 01 May 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

lunalafey	01 May 2003
Think of the most moving and profound experience you have had with tarot. What would you tell to someone who was a non-believer? Now I know there are those out there that just don't want to hear it, but for the sake of the thread, let's pretend we can convert any one. What is your tale to enlighten?

divinerguy	01 May 2003
I got my first deck, a pocket Rider Waite, from an occult bookstore in San Diego. Along with it, I bought Eden Gray's Mastering the Tarot book. I was nervous and quite self-conscious about the whole thing. I took the deck home, and took it out to the garage, away from where my wife and son might see me. We have an old chest freezer with a big flat surface. I shuffled the cards and laid out a Celtic Cross. I clumsily read the Gray's book as I turned over each card. The cards cut through the collective fog of years of college education and law school and a lifetime of conditioning that things like Tarot are fake. In a matter of moments, every shred of cynicism was destroyed. The cards peered into my soul and told me exactly who I was. I had been lying to myself, and Tarot caught me. To say the least, I was stunned, and from that day since, the Tarot has never strayed too far from my desk.

Marion	02 May 2003
Please forgive me for not replying right on topic. To me the answer is when you feel that first sense of deep of profound, soul-touching shock of realizing that you are not alone. Since my deepest experiences with the tarot followed my deepest experience with the I Ching, I would have to say that what diverguy experienced that day was what I experienced within a day of buying the grey and yellow Wilhelm/Baynes version of the I Ching. I was out at our summer cottage, my relentlessly negative and science-guy husband was not there. I had gotten the book on the advice of our rather fey neighbour, and I had taken it to bed. I read it for a while, and finally I threw the coins. To this day I recall the profound shock as I looked up the hexagrams (which I can now do without a book anywhere in sight). I literally had tears running down my face, and divinerguy described it perfectly. It tore up my whole life, and over time allowed me to re-build it. I feel the same way about tarot, but maybe now I am used to presence of this guide. On the other hand, when a throw comes together perfectly, and the earth seems to shift slightly beneath my feet, or I find myself laughing quietly and sometimes wryly, I touch that moment again. Marion

rota	02 May 2003
I wish I could contribute a story so wrenching and deep, but so far none of my Tarot experiences have been of that character. What I have found, however, has been consistent. Here's a recent example: months ago I talk with some guy in a coffeeshop. He's concerned about his stalled and balky career, telling me about his plans and hopes, and I suggest we see if the Tarot has anything to say. The reading seems quite clear, so I tell him what I see, explaining that certain aspects of his relationships are in his way: to put it simply without details - once he stops acting the way he's acting, his photography will start to work out for him. Met him again on the street two months later. He's carrying his portfolio, smiling, handing out his business card and talking about his new show. And I know that this sort of thing is similar to stories practically anyone here could tell. For me, this seems to be how Tarot works - not dramatic, but noticeable.

littleneptune	02 May 2003
Sometimes when I'm feeling all rational and cynical about the tarot, it will blow my mind and give me the same cards two readings in a row. Whatever 'logic' I've been clinging to flies out the window and I'm struck with awe at this mysterious power. I STILL get cynical from time to time despite these events, but the cards just repeat and repeat until I get the message.

baba-prague	02 May 2003
Well, my story is so ridiculous in a way that I don't know whether to tell it. I'm living in Prague now partly because of a reading with a rather silly little Oracle deck. I was staying here, trying to finally pluck up the courage to pack up my entire life and come, alone, to live here (the reason I first decided to do this is another story, but having "decided", I found I was pretty scared by the prospect). I laid out the cards and got the clearest possible reading to do with my life and my work (without going into details the gist was - don't worry, it'll be wonderful). But I still wasn't convinced so I shuffled and spread again. Yes, okay, you've all experienced something like this, but I hadn't up until then. More or less the same cards again, three out of five the same and the other two kind of variants on a theme. So I went home, sold my flat and came here - and it's all worked out wonderfully - and exactly in the way predicted (and part of the prediction seemed to me, at the time, very very unlikely). So - after this I can't be cynical can I? Karen

Alex	03 May 2003
I think I've told this story already, but I'll tell it again. I was still in Brazil and married when this girl in a party decided to give us all a gift, read cards for us. So she did several readings. One for my husband. Very boring, full with platitudes. One for me too. But then it was different. She told me another man would enter my life very soon. I would travel abroad. I would have some cash flow. I wasn't in love with my husband and our marriage was going to fall appart. So that month I found out I was pregnant of my boy. A few months after I received an invitation to do my Ph.D. in the US. I had some cash flow. We came over, divorced within a year. Anyway, it was all a surprise to me. I had NO idea of what was in wait for me. Alex.

The stories for the cynical thread was originally posted on 01 May 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.