Where the information is from?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 19 Jun 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

jumptothemoonyea	19 Jun 2005
How to discern in a reading from where the information is coming? From our emotions? From our unconscious mind? From spiritual guides? Or other spiritual beings? Or from querent's emotions....mind....? How to recognize the source?

tarotbear	19 Jun 2005
This thread is similar to the one about 'where does tarot get it's power from?' Tarot cards are paper with an inked design, sometimes a thin plastic coating. Tarot is a tool, nothing more. There are no guides, angels, or demons that come with your deck and 'make' the cards tell you things. There is nothing hidden within the cards themselves; a reading that says things are going to suck for you today DOES NOT make that prediction happen, nor can it. Tarot cards DO NOT have magickal powers nor are they under any kind of otherworldly control. The 'information' that Tarot gives you is all within your ability to work with symbols and symbology and how you 'put' that particular grouping of symbols together. It's like a pack of dominoes; there are a finite number of dominoes in a pack, but the combinations they can create when put together are infinite. There are 78 cards in Tarot, but I can do readings for the next 200 years and never get the same reading twice. The information is right in front of you; it's what you make of it.

Fulgour	20 Jun 2005
One way to get a good feel of the "source" is to ask a question that you (think) you know the answer to. The cards will appear much clearer ~ just like magic.

NightWing	20 Jun 2005
I agree with the previous two postings (sort of). Tarot cards are simply a tool, albeit a fairly old and complex one. What we "read" in them comes from within ourselves, not the cards. In my particular case, I believe in the influence of the "Holy Spirit" in my life, and therefore ask to be guided in my reading by that "Spirit" or "Sophia", as in many other aspects of my life. But I am the one being guided, not the tarot deck. Other readers, with other beliefs, I'm sure rely upon their own guides, spirits, gods, angels, forces, inspirations, synapses, brain lobes, or whatever. But that is about each of US as a reading, individual person, and not about some "power" in a deck of cards. What the cards MAY have is appealing art depicting some archetypes and symbols wisely chosen to assist us in bringing our natural intuition into focus. Whatever rituals we might use are for us, not for the cards. I see Tarot cards as having quite naturally developed, and not being supernaturally empowered.

Astra	20 Jun 2005
jumptothemoonyea wrote: How to discern in a reading from where the information is coming? From our emotions? From our unconscious mind? From spiritual guides? Or other spiritual beings? Or from querent's emotions....mind....? How to recognize the source? Gotta disagree with most of the previous posts - well, mildly, at least. When you're doing a reading you can pick up from all of the sources mentioned, as well as the Akhasic (okay, it may not be the correct spelling, but...) Records, and pickup from the querent's body state. I'm not sure about spiritual beings, except, re Yoda, that we are "all luminous beings". After a while (a long while, usually), you start to get a feel, after the fact, for what types of information you picked up during a reading. You can't tell during the reading because you're too busy with the reading, but if you look back it can be done reasonably well. The problem, for me, is that the strongest and easiest information to read is the querent's emotions and thoughts. And I find that if I let myself pick up on those, I'm likely to get a worse reading than if I consciously try (pre-reading setup) for information that isn't directly available. After all, if they knew the answer, would they be coming to me? Okay, the exception to that is that someone may subconsciously know the direction they need to go but need to hear it from an "outside" source for it to seem valid. There are always exceptions. But in general, these days, I ask for information from outside the box - data that isn't tangled up in the querent's own emotional perceptions.

Milamber	20 Jun 2005
It's very possible that any two given people may draw their readings from different parts of themselves as well, I believe. If you think of the tarot cards as the hammer in your hand, then one would have to have a force with which to swing the hammer. For most people, that's formed of mostly their intuition, with other factors mixed in depending on the person. Spirituality, conscious thought, logic, emotion, meditiation, and ESP are all possible examples of these other factors. So the only way for you to know upon what you are drawing when using the cards is for you to take a long, hard look at yourself. ;) Whatever you draw upon, you are the one best able to recognize it. Tarotbear's line, "Tarot cards are paper with an inked design, sometimes a thin plastic coating," really sums up my thoughts on the cards power as well. I actually came to pretty much the same conclusion on my own, what seems like a long time ago (but honestly couldn't be more than about 6 months past).

tarotbear	20 Jun 2005
Milamber wrote: Tarotbear's line, "Tarot cards are paper with an inked design, sometimes a thin plastic coating," really sums up my thoughts on the cards power as well. I actually came to pretty much the same conclusion on my own, what seems like a long time ago (but honestly couldn't be more than about 6 months past). I like to remnd people of this every now and then. We are all so very interested and 'caught up' in our love for Tarot, even people who have been doing Tarot for years and years. On it's own, tarot is nothing but a bunch of cards ~ pictures on paper. They could just as well be matchbook covers, breakfast cereal boxtops, or coupons from the supermarket. WE are the 'stuff' of Tarot.

SunChariot	20 Jun 2005
jumptothemoonyea wrote: How to discern in a reading from where the information is coming? From our emotions? From our unconscious mind? From spiritual guides? Or other spiritual beings? Or from querent's emotions....mind....? How to recognize the source? IMHO, when you are in the middle of a reading is not the time to try and work it out. I think it is something you need to figure out for yourself (and different people have different answers to that) at other times, quiet contemplative times, meditations...prayer if you beleive in it...The answer to that question has a lot to do with our place in the universe and why we are here. The only way I can see to figure it out in the middle if the reading is if that were the topic of the reading. I.e. if you did a reading asking where your Tarot answers come from. But I think it is better to figure it out in other ways and to have faith. Tarot takes trust in the process and in your intuitions. Use them to find the answer. Of course it does not have to be one or the other, it can well be a combination of several. Personally, I think it does come from the unconscious mind, which is the seat of unrecognized emotions (that drags the emotions part into it and they do play a part)...and that our unconscious is able to (through the cards and other mediums) access the universal intelligence/connection to the all (which one could call G-d/bringing the "spiritual beings" part in)...and yes your mind plays a big part in analysing the data you get and making sense of it. Without it your could not make sense of a reading. I would say maybe all of them play a part. As for the querent's mind....couldn't tell you about that, as I only read for myself, but I am sure many others hear can answer that. Although when I use my Faeries' Oracle I consider that the answers do come from real faeries, and I think those who own the deck will know what I mean. :-) Bar

Umbrae	24 Jun 2005
Yup – Tarot is a tool. Paper, ink, yada yada yada… But it’s a tool. And as such, it can open doors. And as Tarotbear once said, “Do not open doors you don't know how to close.” Where do you want the information to come from? That’s the key, your intention, and your desire…what do you ‘plug into’? It’s not Tarot – it’s you.

Moonchild1721	24 Jun 2005
I have always thought of tarot as a 'problem solving tool' of sorts. You pull cards, see a series of images in front of you, and use those images to organize your thoughts. I also think seeing the various images of the cards also sparks something you knew but had forgotten, or something your subconscious has been hiding away from you. I do think of Tarot as 'mystical' in the sense that it allows you to tap into a wealth of information and knowledge that had been laying dormant. Samantha

elysgrl	25 Jun 2005
Am I the only one who believes the cards tap into Divine Consciousness (aka God, Goddess, etc.)?? I strongly believe that when I use my cards, I'm communicating with Spirit--something that resides within all of us, and yet is so much bigger than any one of us. Of course I don't believe the cards themselves have power; I'm beginning to understand that the tool of divination doesn't really matter. What matters is that there is information to be divined--and that the information comes from a Source much larger and wiser than myself. Blessings, Denise

SunChariot	25 Jun 2005
elysgrl wrote: Am I the only one who believes the cards tap into Divine Consciousness (aka God, Goddess, etc.)?? I strongly believe that when I use my cards, I'm communicating with Spirit--something that resides within all of us, and yet is so much bigger than any one of us. Of course I don't believe the cards themselves have power; I'm beginning to understand that the tool of divination doesn't really matter. What matters is that there is information to be divined--and that the information comes from a Source much larger and wiser than myself. Blessings, Denise Not at all, I feel the same way. When I do a Tarot reading, in my mind I am asking G-d for the answers I need to solve or understand a problem. I tend to do a little prayer first and ask him to send me the help I need. I think it is one of the clearest forms of communication with the Divine Consciousness. Although I have said here that I think the answers come from my unconscious (parts of me I am not consciously aware of), I think they are put there by a Divine Consciousness. Or put another way, Tarot lets you connect through your unconscioius to the universal wisdom...another way of saying G-d. I can also say that the Divine Consciousness has also been guiding me in my choice of decks. Once I saw one I liked and tried for over two hours to buy it online. None of the links would work on their web page. It was late at night so I had to give up in frustration. The next morning I tried again, but instead found a new one that I ordered instead, which was a highly spiritual and healing deck (SoulCards). And had no trouble buying it. And to me that was how G-d showed me he did not think the first deck was as suitable for me and for what he wanted to teach me.:-) Bar

The Where the information is from? thread was originally posted on 19 Jun 2005 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.