"A Wicked Pack of Cards..."

SuperBall

So wrote Eliot in "The Waste Land" about Madame Sosotris, the wisest woman in Europe. I have another issue for the community. I was reading someone yesterday, A knock at the door came during my reading and the Querent's first impulse was to look at me and say, "Quick! Cover it up!" before answering the door. A grown, taxpaying adult person. I did as they asked me out of respect for them, and I didn't really mind doing it. I don't venerate them, they are after all, a pack of cards.

I admit that I used to be wierd about them. I still haven't told my family back home that I read cards. I don't feel like its their business, and I don't want the drama that goes with a religious family 'birthing a sorcerous devil-worshipper' (don't even act like you don't know people like that!) I learned a lot from my teacher about this, and now I just do what she does. I'd sit across from her and read her cards, and someone would happen by and comment. She'd just smile up at them and say, "Yes, he's turning my Tarot cards, and he's very good at it, too!" I felt great, and she happily and politely told off a scoffer. She's not always near by to protect me, though.

Has anybody else in the community ever taken or currently take flak for their Tarot cards? What do you do? I love mine, I'm proud of my gift, and my deck and book go everywhere with me. I'm not ashamed, but I never quite have the right words to say. Should you say anything? I've only been reading a year, I'm not necessarily new to my gift, but I'm new to explaining it to people. Any tips on dealing with the sometimes-friendly curious???
 

firemaiden

Hi Superball, welcome to Aeclectic. Quite a number of us have taken and or continue to take flak for consorting with demons and such in the cards. Some take flack from the religious freaks; I on the other hand take flack from the scientific side: my father is horrified by anything smacking of religion or superstition which to him is synonymous with insanity. Me using cards leads him to question my reason, and "cancel my vote" so to speak.

To these sorts I say reassuringly, they are just cards: You just shuffle them, look at the pretty pictures, and say the first thing that comes into your head... no devil required.

If on the other hand, you have to deal with Christian fundie types who would like to burn you for witchcraft, -- if only that weren't inconveniently against the law -- I would suggest to you that our reading tarot cards is the least of their issues with us... Judging by their interventions in the world of science education, I would say that not only reading tarot cards, but also having a thinking brain are forbidden, as well as learning any factual information about the natural world, or asking "why". As long as they don't have the legal power to burn us for witches, I think they can be safely ignored, although since they do actually believe in the devil, as well as angels, and possibly other things that say "boo" in the sky, it could be fun to taunt them a little with some dire predictions about when the world will end.
 

Jyscal

firemaiden said:
You just shuffle them, look at the pretty pictures, and say the first thing that comes into your head... no devil required.
This was so well said, it nearly had me jumping up and down shouting encore. It really can become quite annoying when people jump to their own conclusions based on what they've heard, rather than the facts that are in plain view for those who wish to see them. Most of us go through something along these lines sometime in our lives Superball, and i can only agree with Firemaiden, and advise you to keep doing what you believe and makes you a better person, as i strongly feel the last thing you want is to wake up one day 30 years from now, having not lived for yourself.
 

allecto

Hi,

My boyfriend is a total sceptic and called me a flake for reading the cards. I told him that laying things out in images and taking a non-verbal approach helps me see connections and approach problems differently, which he seems to accept. I think you have to be prepared to be light-hearted about it. I've had some fairly mixed reactions from friends and family; a lot of the time I think people are pretty intrigued and just want to know what you're doing. That said, one of my best friends refuses to let me read for her (even though she's quite passionate about astrology) but I think she's a bit afraid of what I might turn up.
 

nisaba

Superball, what I'd say to people depends entirely on what they say to me.

If someone calls me a flake, I tell them "Well, at least I'm not harming anyone." If someone calls me a devil-worshipper, I give them a look of deep amazement and ask them to explain how someone who definitely does not believe in something can worship it. If, as I was most recently asked, they say "You don't really believe in that stuff, do you?" I say "I don't have to. Do you have to believe in tin-openers?" If someone badgers me, I tell them "Well, at least I don't force my opinions on people who believe differently, like some others do".

It really depends. But generally it isn't an issue. I find most people, even skeptics, when they know it is my career, treat me like any other professional whose services they have no use for - with acceptance of my existence, if not with whether it works." I'm happy enough with that. I'd probably have to deal with hostility less than once a year.
 

Dusk Till Dawn

When People ask me about my Cards, and especially my Daughter having her own, I just say that it's my Hobby. They don't need to know anything else. It's my business ( i spelled that wrong, I know it..) I don't judge people by their hobbies etc. I am proud of my cards, I wouldn't hide a reading. If people ask stupid questions, let them know you are just looking at pictures, and admire the Art. That's what I did with my Aunt, she doesn't like Tarot cards at all, but when I showed her the Klimt, she was impressed. I even got some cards from her for my Birthday..
 

Major Tom

There's newspaper accounts of what happened to me: www.majortom.biz/newspaper.htm

Fortunately, religious discrimination is illegal here. :rolleyes:

Firemaiden - Mary Greer views those from the scientific view to be believers with a stong 'mechanistic world view'.
 

Major Tom

off topic alert

nisaba said:
Out of interest, what's the deck in the photo?

That's my deck Major Tom's Tarot of Marseilles. ;)
 

Seafra

Like Firemaiden I also get it from my own family. Son calls it "Mom's never-ending card game" but does have respect for it as he sees people tromp in and out to consult them.

Daughter -- ah, that's another story. She's totally against them. Crazy thing is when she DOES consult them every 10th blue moon the reading flows so swift and easy. Drove her nuts when she was a teen and all her friends would ask for readings. Have told her that when I die she is to take my favorite deck about with her and when the spirit moves her -- AND IT WILL -- she is to give it away to the right person. She thinks they are 'bad' for me but I'm not really sure what that means.

I've been called a Devil worshipper a few times when I've read in public. I flash those people a peace sign and a smile. Hasn't happened in a long time though. I've never gotten to the point where I'd yell "Lot's daughters got him drunk and seduced him!" (Genesis 19:23-25, 30-36) but that's simply because it's not my style.