Fear, uncertainty in studying/starting tarot?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 06 Sep 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Cerulean	06 Sep 2004
Ninja Vixen's Query: It's only recently that I'm beginning to think about using the deck. The hard times in my life to date have made me think that I don't want to know the future! So I don't know where I'll go with this yet. Have other people been apprehensive about studying and using tarot initially? ------------------------------------------------------------------- Cerulean's answer: Do other people want to share their 'fear and uncertainty" memories and also on a positive note-- what they now typically use tarot for in their studies? I'll start: Yes, I now remember that for years the memory of a friendly but slightly-whacky-sort of coworker made me say, "No." She was kind and funny and we had dinner once--then she said she wanted to show me her place and art projects. She turned out to want to sell me her beading projects--I admired her work, but asked instead where she got her beads so I could do my own. When it was clear I wasn't going to buy jewelry, she suggested a tarot reading for free as a 'friendly' gesture. I explained it too much a graven image from my upbringing--my excuse, because it came from a source that I didn't feel knew me or I wanted to hear anything personal from. I also remember now a young man who was interested in me and a night student had dinner with her once. He also initially thought she was sisterly and kind, but remembered she tried to sell him some things--he decided not to do dinner with her again. Years later, when the suggestion came from my sister to obtain some tarot cards that were prettier, I leaped at the suggestion! I had somehow saved this experience to share with her and I am delighted to remember it...the source and sharing point made all the difference in the world to me. Hope this sparks some discussion, as my memory may not address your question. I am thinking how to reply, as I do not try to divine the future. Instead with tarot, I try to figure out small things that I can change, little by little, to improve my situations and outlook. Regards, Cerulean

blackroseivy	06 Sep 2004
I *do* tend to prognosticate, & often do it very well. I was in a situation for quite a number of years where, when the question of having, or even doing my own, reading, I would answer "NO!" becasue it seemed better not to know. Well, that was just a life-damaging situation all around, so it was actually, in retrospect, wise of me not to want to know too much more! It all depends on how you are feeling about what's on your mind. If it seems disastrous, maybe waiting until the dust clears would be the best thing, after all! ;)

Leleii	06 Sep 2004
I do not use the tarot for knowing the future. I use the tarot to communicate with my higher self. The tarot doesn't tell you the future, it helps you to communicate with your higher self, your spirit helper or your guardian angel. It shows you what you have to work with and what you can do to change or accept what is there in front of you. I feel it is better to know what is happening or where you are at; then not to know. When I was going through really bad times, the cards gave me hope even when I did not have the hope or faith to know that this will pass. Usually when you are going through bad times, there is a lesson somewhere in there that you have to learn before you get through it. I hope this is making sense and helps you decide what to do.

Kiama	07 Sep 2004
People have expressed the above worry- about knowing their future- to me many times in the past. My answer is usually something similar to what follows: But if we know our future, no matter how bad, we can use that knowledge to change it and bring about a better future. Example: if we knew that there was a car hurtling towards us on the road, we could run to the other side before it got the chance to hit us. If we watch the Weather on TV, and we know it's going to rain, we can take an umbrella out so we don't get wet. Same with Tarot: If we have a Tower and 10 of Swords in the reading, we can also ask 'how do I avoid these?' and if that is not possible (because there have to be some bad times in our lives) we can ask the all-important question 'how do I cope with these?' (This question can bring about just as much positive change as the previous.) And, as Leleii said, Tarot isn't just a fortune-telling tool, but a spiritual tool that you can use for other purposes. Blessings, Kiama

blackroseivy	07 Sep 2004
So "Let the Tarot be... Your umbrella!!" :D (musical interlude) I *know* that I have been able to see future trends with the cards; but they are only TRENDS - things can change!! To anyone who doesn't want to, or doesn't believe in, seeing ahead with the cards, I can only say that when I have known more about the way things are headed, I have been more prepared to handle it. I told CharmingPixie about 6 weeks ago to "look out for one who might not wish you well"; this was what the cards just seemed to say, honest!! She wrote back recently to tell me that someone came along *out of the blue* who wanted to backstab her. She said that if she hadn't been warned, she would not have handled the situation as "calmly & rationally" as she did. I also advised her to slow down, & this she took & said it was a good idea, as she was taking decisions more slowly & not rushing ahead. So, the cards can do either thing; I believe *strongly* that it depends entirely on the reader him/herself, & what they bring to the reading, what they ask of it, how they ask, etc. This is just how I read! :D

celeste	08 Sep 2004
I know why I read (and meditate and study) the tarot. I don't feel anymore that I have to justify and explain to others why I do it. And I don't get into long debates anymore with people who want to know thier future and don't understand that it is a spiritual tool. I'm wasting my breath on most of them. Also, those who think what I do is evil really amuse me now too. I had an interesting experience at a Street Fair I was reading at recently. A woman I used to know a long time ago (from another life really) walked by my booth. I don't know if she remembered me from then but I was begginning to read tarot at that time too-and actually stopped for a long period of time because I was worried by all the dire warnings religious people were giving me. She was one of them-though I don't recall exactly what was said anymore. Anyway, you should have seen the "evil eye" she gave to me that day. And she stared at me for a long, long time as if she were seeing the Devil himself as she walked slowly by. And I met her gaze, not defiantly, but proudly and unashamed of who I am and what I do. No explanations. No apologies.

blackroseivy	08 Sep 2004
I can certainly see myself in that role! :P You showed her! I'm not arguing against the spirituality of the Tarot, either - you *have* to have that, without it the rest counts as for nothing.

punchinella	08 Sep 2004
If the fear, as stated, is of seeing what the future holds . . . not of 'evil', or dark, influence--then I want to add that I've finally come to accept the fact that cards read by me, for me (& for other people too) simply do not predict anything. Maybe they do for some people, although my guess is that most people are less naturally psychic, rather than more. I used to believe that the cards I pulled predicted, until so many times the 'predictions' turned out to be dead-wrong. Now, I feel that these predictions were simply gut-level expectations, reflected in tarot. Remember that bowl full of long stringy 'spaghetti', which Albus Dumbledore sits & stirs with his finger when he's thinking real hard? Are the long stringy things thoughts, or memories? I can't seem to remember now . . . Anyway, if they're thoughts (not memories): then his bowl is exactly cognate to tarot, as I now understand it. When I sit, of an evening, over cards & notebook . . . I consider myself to be 'stirring thoughts', nothing more. (Well, no, that's not true, there is more, a certain undefineable . . . spiritual . . . essence . . . but aah, how to verbalize this?) Sorry Cerulean for having no story (I know stories are what you meant to elicit from us :) )

Cerulean	08 Sep 2004
that might be based on experience or what others thought, or have learned-- so yes, my thanks at any response! I was hoping Ninja Vixen's question would be addressed, however people felt they could respond...sometimes we have memories and experiences to share, sometimes we just have ideas that work for us. Thanks much for responses and hope this was a helpful thread to someone... Regards, Cerulean

ninja_vixen	09 Sep 2004
Yes thanks all, and thanks Cerulean for prompting the discussion. I'm at a stage where I may or may not pursue using tarot cards. My apprehension is personal, I certainly wouldn't condemn anyone for their beliefs - to each their own would be my ethos. It's based on who I am. I don't want to be led and said by anything, but I'm very open and that can make me impressionable. I would also prefer not to be heavily influenced or reliant on anything. Another reasoning is that I feel I'd need guidance if I was trying to connect to anything in a spiritual realm - I feel ill qualified to know what I'd be experiencing, and defining good from evil, and I do believe both exist side by side. So I'd be nervous of my naivety. Has anyone else had to work out these thoughts before embarking on working with tarot?

SongDeva	09 Sep 2004
Ninja, Everyone perhaps should work these things out before they start. Perhaps where you want to start is a good book on psychic protection and/or channeling. Work with this kind of tome will set you up and boost your confidence...teach you what to look for and how to protect yourself, so that you have no doubts going in.

punchinella	09 Sep 2004
Quote: Originally posted by ninja_vixen Another reasoning is that I feel I'd need guidance if I was trying to connect to anything in a spiritual realm - I feel ill qualified to know what I'd be experiencing, and defining good from evil, and I do believe both exist side by side. So I'd be nervous of my naivety. Ninja, this is a concern that many people seem to have about tarot, before working with it extensively. I too, actually, remember being afraid of so much as bringing the cards into my house! This fear was based on--well, a media/urban myth image of tarot as 'dark'. --Which, in retrospect, couldn't be farther from my ensuing experience. There has, simply, been nothing dark about it. Regarding 'naivete' & issues of discernment (good from evil, etc.)--SongDeva's suggestion is probably a very good one, that, since you're concerned, you might want to work on protection before beginning work with tarot. My feeling is that tarot (like practically every other aspect of one's life) does function as a bridge between consciousness & the spiritual, whatever 'spiritual' might be or mean for you. That is to say, whatever your relationship is now with the divine, with 'higher self', or with other (than oneself) . . . That relationship is what you would be tapping, through tarot. If your home feels warm & safe now . . . then, when you bring tarot into it, warm & safe is what you will continue to have. If, on the other hand, your home is not warm & safe now--then protective measures are probably in order, whether or not you follow up with tarot! Another thing I might suggest, should you decide to work with tarot, would be a pro-active approach to this issue. That is, for example--if you're a religious person--starting with a prayer for guidance . . . If you call on, for lack of a better term, forces of light to be with you as you read, then forces of darkness can have no entry into your communication, since light & darkness cannot, by nature, occupy the same space at the same time. I was brought up by very literalistic/fundamentalist Christians, & this was a basic principle of their belief, that if the 'holy spirit' is in a place, for example a house, then nothing incompatible can be there alongside. Come to think of it, this idea is supported in legend--for example, the myth of the vampire, who must be invited in before s/he can enter a home . . . I guess the crucial thing here is how one views tarot. Is it, like a ouiji board, an invitation in & of itself? I would argue NO. Unlike a ouiji board, it is not designed for the express purpose of communicating with the discarnate. Imo, tarot is more like a wooden spoon, or ball of yarn, than a ouiji board :D (That is, it is what you make of it, nothing more . . . :) )

DesertHowler	11 Sep 2004
I've been working in a semi-casual manner for about 4 years now. I don't see the tarot as predicting anything, really, that you don't already know. I think tarot points out things that are already known, things that we don't admit to ourselves for some reason. It points out what the situation is, what caused it, and where you will be in the future if things don't change. It plays on probablilites and in that way, tarot is a science/mathematical way of looking at things. It's more like an equation than anything else to me... So, with tarot, I feel I am looking at the facts and where they will lead me. DesertHowler

The Fear, uncertainty in studying/starting tarot? thread was originally posted on 06 Sep 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.