the truth of tarot cards

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 26 Mar 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

psy_nuhri07	26 Mar 2004
hey guyz out there... h0pe you'll read my opinion, though i only started few months ago... tarot cards,, i guess, tells us the most possible outcome of a certain situation, as we ask the future. well, we are still the ones who can control our fate. only that the cards would serve as warnings. it is not that i don't believe in them that much but, like i said, we can still control our fate. what do you think? >psy_nuhri07

miss_apples	26 Mar 2004
I have never thought of tarot cards as tools to predict the future. I more/less see them as a tool that can make me see a certain situation in a clearer light....they help to open up my intuition. I believe that even in the few times that they do predict the future, that is not set in stone because as you said, we control our fate. Just knowing that outcome changes the outcome.

Ilithiya	26 Mar 2004
I'm with Miss Apples on this one... I use my tarot for all sorts of different things... advice, insight, bringing certain issues or details to light... I don't use mine as a prediction tool. They don't work that way for me. I mean, it's like asking for a prediction on if you're going to die (to use a morbid example). Everyone does. Nobody knows when, and what's the point in knowing when anyway? Doesn't make a lot of sense to me, personally. I like to think of my cards as I would a friend that you can talk to and gain insight into things just by hearing yourself talk. *shrugs* As my fiance says, the cards aren't going to tell you anything that you don't already know. Just my $0.02... Illy

smleite	26 Mar 2004
In http://www.krishadar.com/A/Index1A.asp, there is a very clear explanation of destiny and the tarot; click on “Destiny” (under the section “Tarology”).

CreativeFire	26 Mar 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Ilithiya I like to think of my cards as I would a friend that you can talk to and gain insight into things just by hearing yourself talk. Illy A good way of putting it Ilithiya. Like a good friend, you can usually count on the tarot to give you honest and insightful advice - or help you be honest with yourself ;). I find they are really good for looking at things from a different perspective that you may not have thought of and approaching things from another direction. CreativeFire

yve	26 Mar 2004
I like to think of using tarot cards for future predictions/outcomes in the same manner as the story A Christmas Carol with Alastair Sim by Charles Dickens in which the ghost of the future ( 'I am in the presence of the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come.' ) visits Scrooge.....Scrooge asks the silent onminous ghost near the end of his journey with this spirit whether these things he's been shown will happen and he pleads with the spirit for the chance to change the future....I think that the cards are able to show us possible outcomes/futures if things continue as they are, but we always have the ability to change those outcomes. We live in a dynamic world and everything we do has a rippling effect on us and others around us...even the slightest deviation between behaviours/actions will have dramatic impact on outcomes for us....nothing is static and written in stone, and the cards should only be taken as a guide, and not as an indication of absolute fate/destiny.....

Imagemaker	26 Mar 2004
I think Tarot shows you things from a higher perspective, like the difference in seeing the traffic jam from inside your car or up in the traffic helicopter. From the car, you can only see the slow creep, feel the frustration, wonder about why? From the helicopter you can see way down the road and around the curve to the accident, and know that beyond it is clear road. Or not. From the helicopter, you can also see that if people in the right lane would only take the turnoff, they'd get out of the mess quicker. I try to get in my tarot helicopter at regular intervals, even when traffic is flowing smoothly :)

CreativeFire	26 Mar 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Imagemaker I try to get in my tarot helicopter at regular intervals, even when traffic is flowing smoothly :) Chuckle ... Imagemaker, this makes me think of the "Eye in the Sky", that gives the traffic report for radio. :D CreativeFire

Mojo	26 Mar 2004
I haven't burst any bubbles in a long time, so why not? Tarot is a novelty. Period. It's a card trick. It cannot and does not predict the future. It cannot and does not reveal hidden truths. It cannot and does not illuminate any paths, roadmaps or lifeplans. The cards are not guided by gods or goddessess, nor any of their little godettes. There are no angels involved. Nor are there any hidden forces, collective unconsciousnesses, quantum mechanics, psychic entities, metaphysics, or little green men. Tarot readers, on the other hand, can do lots of amazing and wonderful things. But there ain't nothing magical or mystical to it. It's a combination of intuition, chutzpah, tale-telling, interpretation of inflection and body language, and gift of gab. Tarot readers (notice I say readers and not "enthusiasts," "taroholics," "tarot students," or any of the other myriad of terms people use to describe their obsession, um, I mean hobby) get a little thrill out of the fact that someone will actually pay them, or otherwise give over control to them because of this uncanny ability to look at pictures on pieces of cardboard and tell them things that should be pretty obvious to them anyway. Every Tarot reader knows this, whether they'll admit it or not. Tarot "purists" will decry the blatant charlatans like Miss Cleo, saying that they cast Tarot in a negative light. But in truth, people like Miss Cleo are the very essence of Tarot. They represent the true origins of the art. The so-called "mystical" aspects of Tarot came along centuries after roaming gypsies decided to take a card game and use it to trick people into parting with their gold dust to hear about the future. The same can be said about the throwing and reading of bones, tea leaves, ashes, runes, and so on and so forth. Does this make Tarot, as an art, any less valuable? No. Does this diminish the Tarot reader into some sub-class or fringe element? No (although, I prefer hanging out with the fringe, it's much more interesting out there) Does this mean that studying Tarot is a waste of time? No. I believe that knowledge is always a good thing. Understanding history, superstition, belief-systems, symbology, the significance of colors, the magic of numbers and mathematics, mythology, and mysticism will not only make you a better Tarot reader, but a better person overall. Does this mean that people who put their money on the table are basically throwing it away? Well, sort of... if they think they're getting the "inside track" then they're fooling themselves. If they just enjoy the experience and are entertained by the process, then it's worth their investment. Fortunately, people will always continue to put their money on the table. Who am I to tell them to stop... especially when some of it goes into my pockets?

Imagemaker	26 Mar 2004
Who is this Miss Cleo that people on AT mention? Never heard of her.

firemaiden	26 Mar 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Mojo I haven't burst any bubbles in a long time, so why not? Tarot is a novelty. Period. It's a card trick. It cannot and does not predict the future. It cannot and does not reveal hidden truths. It cannot and does not illuminate any paths, roadmaps or lifeplans. It cannot, I will concede. What about the reader?

miss_apples	26 Mar 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Imagemaker Who is this Miss Cleo that people on AT mention? Never heard of her. She ran a psychic telephone line. She had tons of commercials on TV where she would speak in a what sounded like a "fake" jamaican accent and read the cards for people. She was shut down for scamming people out of money because her line would put people on hold and still charge them for those minutes.

Imagemaker	26 Mar 2004
Ah, someone who never advertised on CNN :-) I used to watch Spanish News out of Worcester, MA (trying to improve my comprehension) and the station had *as a part of the news* a guy who gave the horoscope for the next day for each sign. He looked like a Hispanic Liberace--all robed and beringed, sitting on a fancy throne-ish chair. This was not a commercial or a joke, it was part of the regular serious news every evening.

firemaiden	26 Mar 2004
That's right Imagemaker! my ex-BF was hispanic, we watched the news in Spanish all the time. That be-robed be-turbaned (man?) (woman?) was the person I thought of too, when people mentioned Ms. Cleo. LOL

Imagemaker	26 Mar 2004
As someone on AT has in their signature, we all want to turn to the last page of our life story and see how it turns out. Slogging through the drama day by day just takes so long :) Sigh, but I guess there's just no other way to learn all the lessons (groan).

mj07	26 Mar 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Imagemaker As someone on AT has in their signature, we all want to turn to the last page of our life story and see how it turns out. Slogging through the drama day by day just takes so long :) Sigh, but I guess there's just no other way to learn all the lessons (groan). Tell me about it! :D

Imagemaker	26 Mar 2004
Hey, it's you! Such a true statement!

The the truth of tarot cards thread was originally posted on 26 Mar 2004 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.