I read Tarot

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 04 Aug 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Osher	04 Aug 2004
Being a contractor I'm often in interviews. Sometimes people scan my CV (resume), and occasionally ask me about hobbies. I've taken out the bit about Tarot, and keep it quiet until I get to know people well. How do you react?

laura_borealis	04 Aug 2004
Tarot hasn't anything to do with my job, but people at work know I'm interested in it. So is one another member of the team. I have the Osho Zen punch-out cards from the back of the Tarot in the Spirit of Zen book on my work desk, and my screen saver is set to randomly pull images from a file full of tarot card scans. :)

Simone	04 Aug 2004
You forgot the "Other" button ;) I will talk about Tarot with everyone, but I differentiate: those of whom I know they are interested in it get the details, to the others I just mention it. In fact, I am testing out their reactions by mentioning it: to see if I can find those who I can talk with I need to talk about it in the first place! Love Simone

WolfSpirit	04 Aug 2004
I voted "I might discuss it later". If you tell your colleagues before you know them well enough, they may look at you as a weirdo or not take you seriously anymore, and you would still have to work with them. So I would be very careful with that.

Little Baron	04 Aug 2004
Quote: Originally posted by WolfSpirit they may look at you as a weirdo In the fashion industry, I don't think that really matters, lol. I have worked on tarot imagery in my work before so if I choose to put that in my portfolio, it's pretty much out there as part of an interview discussion from the start. I think that in something like fashion, using the tarot as an example as some kind of research for a future collection is something a lot of employers would find interesting - especially, as we have discussed in other threads, that things such as tarot have recently become popular and fashionable. Having said that, in another kind of job, I agree with you WolfSpirit; it would be good to get to know people a bit first. Not everybody is as open minded and forward thinking and it may give you a bit of a label out of ignorance. It is the same wit sexuality. When I worked in a (horrible) office a number of years ago, I didn't feel comfortable being openly gay. The guys in the office always made comments about gay people or anything that they didn't understand and I didn't want to be a target for that. I never laughed along with them; I just never said anything. After two years, when we all were made redundant and I knew that I was leaving to go to college, I let my sexuality be known. The response was not what I expected. So many of the guys spoke to me about it afterwards. One apologised and said that he felt really silly for what he had said; he said that he had not met many gay men before and hoped that the stupid banter had not offended me. Quite a few of the other guys said the same thing. In an ideal world, I shouldn't have had to cover up those elements of my life, but in that instance, I am glad I did. Those people got to know me for who I was, rather than labelling me and then never bothering to find out what I was like. They befriended me. I think that in the end, it taught them something. A bit off topic, but your post reminded me of that situation. Yaboot

tao51	04 Aug 2004
those people are open minded. I will talk to them when not teaching. There are still some misconceptions about Tarot. My reasons for not talking about Tarot at work is simple--it does not relate to everyone's interests.--Tao

WolfSpirit	04 Aug 2004
Quote: Having said that, in another kind of job, I agree with you WolfSpirit; it would be good to get to know people a bit first. Not everybody is as open minded and forward thinking and it may give you a bit of a label out of ignorance. I work from home at the moment, so it is not an issue. Before that I worked in an office where I did not feel comfortable telling people about tarot. But then I already knew I did not want to work there forever anyway - I would not want to work somewhere for a very long time where I felt I did not fit in, but unfortunately we cannot always choose. I studied languages, and there are lots of different environments where you can end up. If I had a job in, say, a publishing house tarot would be more easily accepted I guess.

tabbycat	04 Aug 2004
I'm an 'Other' too! My colleagues know that I'm a weirdo (in the UK, a kinder description is 'eccentric'!) who reads and collects tarot, knows about all kinds of occult stuff and writes S-F, although none of that appears on my CV. I do readings for some of the staff, show off my new decks in the coffee-room and refrain from discussing it in front of those who disapprove. Jilly

Chronata	04 Aug 2004
My only resume is actually my theatrical one...so of course I list tarot/fortune telling/psychic reader as a special skill. I don't always include it when I'm filling out an application for a job...but I will bring up the subject of tarot right away after I am hired! Yep. I read tarot. And I have no trouble talking about it!

LadyMedusa	04 Aug 2004
I chose... "I might discuss it a long time later, but only once I know my new colleagues". With very heavy emphasis on the "MIGHT". I work around some very... umm to put it nicely "too christian" people. It's one less thing for them to sermonize about. LadyMedusa

Osher	04 Aug 2004
At place I worked my line manageress wanted her cards read. However, another manager said he didn't believe in Tarot, but still banned me from reading for her (I did anyway, in a spare office). Interesting how people who claim not to believe in them are also afraid of them.

ros	04 Aug 2004
When people first found out I read Tarot they distance themselves from me. "I'm the weirdo" until they need someone to talk to and then I'm the one they call. I would put it on a resume as a hobbie, and at work I don't talk about it unless someone else brings up the subject. It makes some people feel funny when they don't have common knowledge or on the same level as someone else, at first. When they know you it's all together different.

TemperanceAngel	04 Aug 2004
There was nothing there for me to vote on, that's only because my job is reading Tarot :D

Osher	04 Aug 2004
Quote: Originally posted by TemperanceAngel There was nothing there for me to vote on, that's only because my job is reading Tarot :D One thinks of the probable answers, but someone still manages to surprise!

TemperanceAngel	04 Aug 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Tarotaus One thinks of the probable answers, but someone still manages to surprise! There's always one, isn't there....

lark	04 Aug 2004
Quote: Originally posted by TemperanceAngel There was nothing there for me to vote on, that's only because my job is reading Tarot :D Me too... It's my only job too. So actually it's the only thing I talk about it at work...:D

Kiama	05 Aug 2004
I put Tarot on my CV in the fact that I give talks and workshops on Tarot, and write articles on the subject/deck reviews. Jobs I am looking in to involve teaching, communication, writing, etc, so I feel it is pertinent to my CV. Kiama

rota	05 Aug 2004
If I were to make it clear to everyone I met at work that I'm into tarot before anything else, I run a risk of alienating them before we even get a chance to know each other. Then I would probably be a bit like the people you occasionally meet who want to evangelize everyone: annoying at best. Tarot and Work, to me, is analogous to the division between Church and State. They both function best when kept separate.

Centaur	05 Aug 2004
I mentioned it at my last interview (for PhD studentship) when asked what I liked to do in my spare time. The three people interviewing me were very interested. Oh, and I got the studentship. :D

juju	05 Aug 2004
I guess I am the few that would never mention it unless I became VERY close to my coworkers - like good friends. I work in healthcare and things are extremely scientific and professional around here so I know the tarot would be seen negatively.

ambermoon	05 Aug 2004
I voted that I might talk about it. In fact, I do mention when discussing interests and activities with my peers. I don't list outside interests on my resume, so it doesn't come up in that context. But it does come up in passing, among all my interests. I have very diverse interests so tarot is probably less off-putting in that context than if it were my sole passion. I guess I'm not worried about discrimination. Being accepting of diversity is a big thing where I work, and this falls in line with it. I've learned that saying calmly to someone that we have differeing viewpoints and suggesting that we "agree to disagree" pretty well stops a discussion before it becomes too intense.

Aun	05 Aug 2004
I think it depends on the Industry you work on... specially for male readers... we all know how narrow-minded some people can be when it comes to esoteric stuff!

Flavio	05 Aug 2004
I voted fully kept separated because my workmates "pentacles and wands" people are very good at their job but narrow minded and skeptical regarding anything which does not seem like a profitable bussiness.

Shalott	06 Aug 2004
It's not on my resume as I hadn't picked the cards back up yet when I originally did my broadcast resume, but as Yaboot's and Chronata's posts reminded me that in my (current) industry, radio broadcasting, being the entertainment field, they LOVE anything off-the-beaten-path about ppl. But in any other situation, I will only tell someone once I have a pretty good idea that they won't shun me for it. One day I hope to be able to answer the same as lark and TA!!!

acolyte	06 Aug 2004
Well I on the other hand work in a christian organisation that fires people who even so much as disagree with their opinions.so as for tarot I can't mention it at all.But as a starter I carry a tarot book with me everyday and i read it in the staf bus when I am alone.One of my workmates knows i read but he associates it with astrology.My workmates know that I am different and I have no fear in letting them know about my divergent points of view on faith but I feel most of them are not ready for tarot so i keep em in the closet : (

Nevada	06 Aug 2004
Two years ago my answer would've been, "Tarot and work are fully kept separate," but today my response is, "It's on my CV, and I will talk about it with impunity." But that's not as much due to a change in my boldness as the change in my external circumstances. I don't work as a manager in an office anymore. When I did, I kept Tarot strictly out of my work life. I worked in an environment where I didn't think it fit at all. Now I'm not in that job, and the novel I'm working on involves Tarot. Nevada

VGimlet	06 Aug 2004
For me it's "other" too. Although I don't have a current resume (bad me) I might put it on if I was applying for a job in the library system where I currently work. If I was going outside the system - I might not. Depending. I will talk about it to whomever. At my work, I have requested they buy several tarot titles for the library system, with notes explaining why. They've always purchased my suggestions. :) We actually have a few kits (combinations of books and other stuff) runes, and I Ching, and I think a few divination decks.

Khatruman	07 Aug 2004
I had to categorize myself in the "nearly always kept separate" category. I am a public school teacher, so I have to walk a fine line. As a representative of education, I cannot promote beliefs to my students, and an open endorsement of tarot may be construed as my influencing other beliefs, especially for young people whom I help in shaping their understandings of the world. That isn't to say that I will deny studying them if the subject is to come up. I must be careful in noting that these are my understandings and that I hold nothing against others, and also to point out that it has nothing to do with devil worship or anything anti-Christian. I used to do a unit on tarot cards in my multicultural folklore class when I taught adult high school, a program which was nixed thanks to the fund-cutting with the profound wisdom of our great governor of New Jersey, Jim McGreevy (said with the utmost sarcasm).

The I read Tarot thread was originally posted on 04 Aug 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.