ravenest
Yes to your question, tarot has been made more complex than is has to be.
No ... that was not the question ... thats a fudge. The question is; has it been made more complex than it NEEDS to be. This is not quibbling, it is an important point.
As Einstein said, if your can't explain something simply, you do not understand it well enough. Not just in tarot, but everything in life.
So he came up with very simple things like E=MC2 ... I wonder how many , out of the vast majority know what those letters even stand for or mean ... yet they can rattle off the formula .
We are dealing with different cultures, beliefs, and traditions trying to understand the meaning of life, the whys and hows through tarot.
And one doesn't need a complex understanding for that ? I can sum it up in a brief statement ... that would make as much sense to most as E=MC2 ... most would nod and say; yes, that's it ... but there is a LOT of understanding and complexity behind it.
We are also dealing with the egos of all these readers responding and defending their positions.
Uh hu ! <nods>
We as humans are going through the same emotional, psychological problems as our ancestors, the only thing that is different is our access to information, we are constantly being bombarded with data of all kinds.
Well, before our 'access to information' and before 'us' the Australian Aboriginal ( the oldest culture still extant on the planet today) has the most complex kinship system of anyone .... I was warned about that when I started Anthropology at Sydney Uni ... the lecturer actually warned me ' Well, their moiety system is the most complex one in the world ... some find that part hard to get through.' - I didnt have a chance - fail. And that was even when broken down into its simplest components and represented with diagrams and symbols - even back then, before this modern age of info tech ... things were as complex as they were needed to be for the people and the situation at hand.
Who is right? No one, everyone? A combination? You must find your own way, what makes sense to you, keep an open and flexable mind.
Don't get caught up in information over load.
I agree, If one doesnt need all the extra info, just dont use it. But that doesnt mean that the system itself is overloaded or more complex than it needs to be, it can means it is more complex than someones usage might require .
If I want to use my deck to make a house of cards, t he deck contains much more info than I need ... it doesnt mean that the deck is more complex than IT needs to be.