What does it really mean, to be a Reader?

gregory

You know - debra's right - and that holds even though I would have known what she meant anyway.

how ODD.....
 

214red

i have been thinking what to put on my business cards, and part of me whats to put 'receptive' 'intermediate' or something vague like that
 

.traveller.

Onyx said:
The question wasn't about labels it was about definitions. Though labels may or may not put people in boxes, accurate definitions allow for meaningful conversation and clear understanding of terms.

Yes! Without understanding, without meaning, there is no conversation no dialog and by extension, no reading.

I'm rather surprised that people have gone off on a "label" tangent, and appear offended that someone would ask them to think and look within themselves.
Would a baseball player describe themselves merely as an athlete or would they say "I'm a baseball player" because that is what they excel at?

We spend countless hours, effort, and resources learning to do what we do. I dare say some of us rival brain surgeons in the amount of time spent dedicated to the perfection of our craft.

How can we hope to excel, to surpass our limitations if we never define anything? Without definition, we doom ourselves to wallow in mediocrity. By defining what being a reader means to us, we determine what is important to us. That meaning is not set in stone, no one will chase you down and tattoo it on your a$$. The meaning should evolve as you grow as a reader, as you set your sights higher and higher.



Onyx said:
For me the question lies in not what is means to be a reader but what does it mean to read. (A reader is simply one who reads.) It is very, possibly painfully simply the act of interpreting signs or symbols in the attempt to discern meaning. A tarot reading then is the process of examining tarot cards symbolically looking for meaning, normally in response to a question but not necessarily. I would say that one is a reader if they partake in this activity.

I believe that this activity is different from the other listed in a variety of ways.

An artist is one who looks to communicate through a creative process using a medium and that is normally but not always has symbolic features. Musicians I would place in the category of artist but in a specific medium of sound.

Stockbrokers are in a sense sign readers as they analyze data in order to predict trends and growth in particular economic activities for the purpose of profit.

Mathematics is a scientific study of signs which it me seems to pursue the understanding of the universe within the definitions of numbers and their relationship to the physical world.

A Philosopher is not a sign reader but rather almost a professional thought thinker. They are set about the task to examine knowledge, ideas and approaches to obtaining both in a critical manner.

Finally, I think that a historian is possibly the closet to my idea of reader on the list. They examine events, documents and testimonies to determine what is true and what connects cause and effect in events of the past. Those events, documents and testimonies can be considered as symbols and therefore may properly be an idea that historians are sign interpreters in the pursuit of meaning and/or truth.

Onyx.

Thank you for your thoughtful response, Onyx, as well as to the others who have also given thought to the question.

:)
 

tigerlily

moderndayruth said:
... alas, the term we use in Serbian (and Montenegrin too) is not "reading", but "opening"...
So, we "open" Tarot,
Why "alas"? *Puzzled* I think it's actually a great way to look at the reading process. Also, it reminds me of "opening a book" (and I see the Tarot as a book of life, the universe, and everything ;), not as "the devil's picturebook").

A reader to me is a translator or interpreter for the soul, much like a dream interpreter.
 

Taamar

Debra said:
When I was hoping to read at the local metaphysical shop, I went in and introduced myself by saying "I'm a tarot card reader."

A lot of people read cards. Saying "I read tarot cards" just doesn't sound the same.

ETA: I got the nerve to do this partly because of the AT forum, and I have been reading at the shop! So ... I blame you all :heart: :p


Hmm... I wonder is this the same as the difference between "I have epilepsy" and "I am epileptic"?
 

moderndayruth

.traveller. said:
We spend countless hours, effort, and resources learning to do what we do. I dare say some of us rival brain surgeons in the amount of time spent dedicated to the perfection of our craft.
:)


:shhh: I know couple of surgeons- not brain surgeuns though, but anyway- and i am certain that some of the long-term posters here spent more time dedicated to the perfection of our craft... We have people here who've been studyng and practicing etc. for decades. (Not me though, i am only at the end of my first decade! :D)
 

moderndayruth

tigerlily said:
Why "alas"? *Puzzled* I think it's actually a great way to look at the reading process. Also, it reminds me of "opening a book" (and I see the Tarot as a book of life, the universe, and everything ;), not as "the devil's picturebook").

A reader to me is a translator or interpreter for the soul, much like a dream interpreter.

*Alas*, in terms that i am even more confused inbetween "reading", "opening" and other ways of naming the "transmission" at hand! :D
I love your take - "interpreting" is probably the closest to what i'd say i'm doing!
( Btw, I am a trained interpreter, among else, - not for English though - and long time ago when i started my career i worked as one. ;))
So, right, i could say to a hypothetical sitter "Ok, the Universe/G-d/Godess/ Angels and/or Demons (insert which apllies) have a messge for you, in a language you don't speak, its encrypted in this pack of cards; now i am going to dechipher... that's - interprete it for you... :D
 

ideely

What does it really mean?

This is a very thoughtful discussion. When I first read the opening post I immediately reacted to my own rephrasing of the question, "What does reading the Tarot mean in my life?" As I read further, I must say that a more difficult question is what the word "reader" means and whether it is the appropriate title to what we do.

Do we need titles? I hate labels and badges as much as anyone. Unhappily, most people like to define and categorize. The Yellow Pages would be impossible without titles. When I print business cards, I have to provide a title of some kind.

I read Tarot cards. I am a student of literature and I treat a Tarot spread the way I treat a poem, I read, I explicate and I interpret. Thus, the word reader works for me. Many of my friends, however, find that the word "reader" doesn't acknowledge the intuition they bring to their work. Psychic is used by most of the professionals I know as a part of their self-description.

One of my friends from the deep South of the US calls me a "turner" of the cards. I don't recommend it, but it's an interesting idiom.
 

ideely

What does it really mean?

This is a very thoughtful discussion. When I first read the opening post I immediately reacted to my own rephrasing of the question, "What does reading the Tarot mean in my life?" As I read further, I must say that a more difficult question is what the word "reader" means and whether it is the appropriate title to what we do.

Do we need titles? I hate labels and badges as much as anyone. Unhappily, most people like to define and categorize. The Yellow Pages would be impossible without titles. When I print business cards, I have to provide a title of some kind.

I read Tarot cards. I am a student of literature and I treat a Tarot spread the way I treat a poem, I read, I explicate and I interpret. Thus, the word reader works for me. Many of my friends, however, find that the word "reader" doesn't acknowledge the intuition they bring to their work. Psychic is used by most of the professionals I know as a part of their self-description.

One of my friends from the deep South of the US calls me a "turner" of the cards. I don't recommend it, but it's an interesting idiom.