others' opinions of our tarot adventures

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 03 Jan 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

snuffy	03 Jan 2004
yesterday, my house was the only one on the block to be blessed with a power outage. not only did this mean no aeclectic for twenty four hours (*GASP* NOO! ANYTHING BUT THAT! ;)), but it was a perfect time to just sit in the darkness and attempt some taroting on my own. during my marathon, every member in my family managed to put in their two cents about tarot-- my mother is fairly unopinionated, moreso just glad that i have a budding passion with some depth to it. my younger brother was ignorant; he continues to ask me the all-too-familiar questions, "can you tell me my future? are you psychic?". in the past few months, i've talked to friends who are amazed by its "mystery" and others who totally denounce the idea of playing with "witch toys". a former friend was downright scared for my well being and would get incredibly irritable at its mere mention :laugh: ! what about you guys? i'm curious, what do your friends/families think about tarot and your involvement with it? i've had some pretty positive reinforcement myself... hopefully it's the case for everyone else, too?

Kachua	03 Jan 2004
My friends are the most supportive (granted I only have two), my family is not. My mother and grandmother are highly skeptical and think that it's stupid, which is ironic considering how much my grandfather was also into divination. They're always like, "You don't expect those silly pictures to tell you anything, do you." I'm like "..............yes.." My best friend also does Tarot herself, so naturally there's no problems there, and my other friend is amicable towards me doing readings for him. I remember the first time I did a reading for him, I hadn't even finished and he was like, "Cool, let's do another!!" So I'm just happy that at least one person understands it.

galadrielsphial	04 Jan 2004
My really good friend is the one who made my budding interest in tarot blossom, so naturally she is supportive. My mother isn't against it, but just sees it as a phase I think. The result is that I don't discuss it with her much, but once I get more confident I'll probably do a reading for her. Hopefully we'll both get something positive out of it. I haven't told anyone else in my family because I know they'd just think I'm nuts, or worse. (One of my aunts said that the goth/punk store at a local mall is "evil", and that they have some cute fluffy things by the entrance to lure kids in and get them hooked. I've been in there several times and have yet to be corrupted. ;) The staff is really nice too.) My dad isn't religious by any means but gets creeped out by the fact that I've liked vampires since the age of six, so I don't even want to go down the tarot road.

MeeWah	04 Jan 2004
I have experienced different reactions from long-time friends. Whence younger, they all seemed fairly accepting of my card readings & reading spontaneously. Over the years, some of them have continued to be supportive & they also come to me as clients. The others apparently do not wish to remain in contact--& 'tis not as if I have not been accurate in reading for them, either. Perhaps too accurate. My birth family is totally against what I do, which is odd since I was brought up in a culture that recognizes divination. We learned early to discuss our dreams since dreams can represent messages. Reading cards is something I began as a pre-teen on my own. Over time, I have learned this is an area of my life I canna share with them. I think fear is the basis for their aversion. My own family does not understand my interest & are not nterested but are supportive. My kids do not want me to read for them as they think I know too much about them already; only one of them has asked me for readings on occasion. They have have sent friends as clients. Other relatives have also been clients or have referred people to me for readings. I do not publicize what I do, but some co-workers have come to know me & have been clients also.

Kiama	04 Jan 2004
I've had quite a fair mixture of reactions to my passion for Tarot. When I first started studying it, I was quite young, so my parents thought it was a phase I'd come out of soon, and didn't say anything. My friends didn't really know what Tarot was, so weren't interested. As I got older, alot of my friends began to become very interested in Tarot: I remember registration at school was mostly taken up by me doing 3-card readings for curious friends and class-mates. (And once or twice, a teacher.) When I became a deck collector, my Mum (I was 17 at this time) would just watch my collection become bigger, and would sigh whenever I came home from shopping with yet another Tarot deck. But she never said anything against it: I guess she just knew it was the same as stamp collecting, and it was my money I was spending on it, so she didn't mind. Until the age of around 18 my Dad didn't really bother saying anything at all about my interest in Tarot. He just knew it was my passion, and left me to it, pretty much as he would if my passion had been writing, painting, or horse-riding. Then at 18 I started putting writing and Tarot (my two passions) together... deck reviews, a few articles here and there... And because I was achieving something through Tarot, both my parents opened up about it. They began to see it as a good thing. My Dad said he didn't have an interest in it himself, but he was glad I was doing so well with it. My Mother is a bit superstitious, and she was a bit unhappy when I gave my 12 year-old sister a Hanson-Roberts deck for Christmas, because she thought I was 'forcing my religion on others'. (In my family, that's a big no-no. You can believe whatever you like and worship whatever God you like, as long as you don't force it upon others. Unfortunately, my Mum hasn't fully made the distinction between explaining what you believe to somebody, and forcing them to believe it to.) We had a long conversation about this on the phone, and whilst she still wasn't entirely happy, she realised that my sister already wanted a Tarot deck (so I wasn't forcing her to do anything) and that if she didn't enjoy it, she'd just give it up. To this day though, Mum is adamant she will never ask for a reading. (I don't know where her feelings about this stem from: she's not Christian or religious. But I've never had a chance to explain to her what Tarot is, how it works, etc...) Now I'm at University, most of my closest friends and my housemates are all members of the Pagan Society, and so they either study Tarot themselves, or understand it and have experienced it before. (Every single person in my house owns at least one Tarot deck :D) So I can usually have really excellent discussions with my friends about Tarot, and we often swap readings, use each other as guinea-pigs for spreads we've created, or just get each other's feedback on readings. :D I have never had anybody object to my passion for Tarot on the grounds that it is 'evil'. Some people are a bit skeptical, others superstitious, but mostly the people in my life are very interested and open to it. I guess I'm lucky. :D Kiama

WolfSpirit	04 Jan 2004
I don't tell everybody how much I am into tarot - some people see me more as a collector (as I am a collector too that is not too difficult) but when I notice they show an interest I will tell them more. I have one friend who uses tarot a lot herself and a good friend who is convinced it is very much a psychological thing, although he thinks it is "good" for me. I very much appreciate his sceptical view of tarot, it keeps me on my toes :) My family is not ready for it, they think it is just a collection. Hm, and maybe I am not ready either to explain it to them ;)

Majecot	04 Jan 2004
I used to be very secretive about it.. for one, I did not like reading for other people ( I am starting to get over that finally) and my friends always wanted a reading.. some people think I am kinda witchy.. I don't really care, cuz sometimes that keeps a certain type of person away from you, one you don't want to have around. I am not even sure why they think that... maybe I am and don't know it. My s/o, long before he ever new about my cards, used to tell his friends that I levitate when I sleep.. I wish, then maybe my back would not ache so much..:joke: When I finally came out of the "tarot closet" no one was really surprised, and most are very excited about it.. and a couple of the close members of the family are curious as to why I kept it from them. I guess that has to do with my own insecurities.. I am a more confident person now, and I think I care less about what other people think of me, and more about what I think of myself.

Marion	04 Jan 2004
My ex certainly was not supportive, just the opposite. I never mentioned it to my family until the last couple of years. They don't say much, the odd negative comment and don't ask for readings but it's okay I guess. I don't think Tarot is all that well thought of in the general population.

Kiama	04 Jan 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Marion I don't think Tarot is all that well thought of in the general population. Marion's comment above made me think about this... And I realised it is very very true! One of the things that annoys me most in the reactions of some people, that I forgot to mention earlier, is that sometimes when people find out I am a Tarot reader, they suddenly view me as some silly nitpick with cotton-wool for brains, who wouldn't understand the concept of common-sense if it hit her on the head! Many also view me as superstitious because I use Tarot, when I am not. *Sigh* Oh well... Kiama

WolfSpirit	04 Jan 2004
Around here it's just like that :( I don't think people here regard it as "evil" or "the devil's cards" - they may just think you are silly and don't take you very seriously.

cjtarot	04 Jan 2004
Hi, My hubby doesnt care that I read it's just that he can't stand the sound of shuffling cards and the fact that I have ummm 25+ decks and can only use 1 at a time..BUT HONEY.. My Mother and my side of the family has never said anything against Tarot . Occasionally they will tell me i'm the "Family Witch"..lol. But I have been VERRRY POLITELY asked not to bring the cards to my Brother-in-Laws house (hubby side of the family) - No problem, I understand completely. Now the story, knowing I have "Ski Bunny" syndrom (now if only I looked the part..lol), ski a bit then head right to the lodge , I brought my Osho Zen Deck skiing (and guess who we met up with..The in-laws..lol). So, I ski a few runs, and then head strait to the lodge with deck in hand. Not knowing how people would react, I sat down at a long table with a lone women at the other end and kinda tried to be discrete. Sure enough she spotted the cards, we talked and she immediatly fell in love with them for the art, the wisdom and the accurate (very short) reading...what a great experience, meet a wonderful person and do my "year" reading while looking out over the beautiful mountains. I guess I'm lucky. I hope all of you have the same acceptance and a bit of support. Blessings, CJ

Star Spirit	04 Jan 2004
Alright, let's go down the list. Family. My mom knew when I ordered my first deck, she doesn't seem to mind. I've been sort of a closet tarotist though, so I never work around my family, never talk to them about it, and therefore they never talk to me about it. Mom doesn't seem to mind, although who knows what she really thinks. I don't have a clue about my dad. He never says anything to me either, in fact he probably doesn't even remember that I work with tarot. My brother teases me from time to time, but he does that with everything and he doesn't really know anything about it. My grandmother knows about it, I consider her my psychic link in this family (I think my dad has some of it, which is odd considering he's never talked about it). She thinks it's neat as far as I know, she's into numerology and astrology but that's about it. None of them pronounce it correctly though. My friends never really knew about it. I did sort of leave it for a couple years before coming back strong really recently, so it's not like I ever mentioned it. All my old friends are graduated and off to school and moved now so I don't see them much. One of my better old friends did know about it and thought it was very cool (she's Wiccan and very open minded, and her mother had the Rider-Waite, although she never used it). I've never given her a reading though, now that I'm confident enough to read, I find it easier with strangers. My boyfriend is the biggest person in my life. He is very supportive of my tarotholism, he doesn't seem to mind at all. He helped me choose one of my decks, he is always in awe of the cards, but at the same time he sometimes seems a little skeptic. He doesn't know much about it, me not being able to teach him or prove its worth since he lives quite far away. He was just here for a couple weeks and I gave him a few readings, he wanted to shuffle and even offered some interpretations of the cards. On some of them I could tell he was being silly and made me laugh, on others he actually saw some plausible things, not bad for someone who knows nothing about the cards. I can tell he's quite curious (although not as much as me, lol) but he's still a little skeptic because I haven't had the time to explain things to him or show him how it's done and the results it yields (aside from e-mailing him Seeker readings and feedback which he didn't quite understand). Once he understands it I'm sure he'll be a big part in my tarot journey. He does really seem to love my pendulum!

The others' opinions of our tarot adventures thread was originally posted on 03 Jan 2004 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.