Mind your own tarot business

In many respects, Tarot is similar to any other art/craft/trade... some of us use it as a source of income. This is not new - gypsies did it, people who've used Tarot have done it for as long as it's been around. The notion that anything to do with Tarot being economically rewarded - or that the people who specialise in this field need to be paid just as the butcher or songwriter does - is somehow crass or distasteful is very much a recent "first world" problem.

I am also a musician and face the same thing. There is a romantic notion of the starving artist, and therefore the idea that artist integrity is linked to poverty - that anyone doing anything artistic deserves to live poorly because they chose it.

I hate that notion. As a bit of an armchair Marxist, I'd say that this is a story spread by the rich to keep the poor in their place and make the people with the money feel justified about not sharing it.

And in any case, it's not applied equally to all arts. We have no problem with Tom Cruise raking in millions for reading someone else's lines, even though on Oscar night (and every other night) we allow him to speak of his trade as a creative/artistic pursuit... and we agree with him on that.

Seems like only certain arts should feel ashamed for wanting their work/time/input/creativity recompensed like everyone else. Seems like we expect out readers and artists not to need to eat or pay the bills. Apparently we expect that anyone who provides a Tarot related service (reading, teaching, creating decks etc) to be of service to the community, having to offer their gifts for free and letting angelic benefactors solve their own material problems.

Shaming people out of charging for their services is the right thing to do, and it's only coincidence that it happens to serve us, right?

Like I said, I've faced this as a musician too. The same dilemma - it's a tough gig and you have to actively promote your services, but it's very easy to come off as a crass venal spammer if you do. It's a trap. This is why so many musicians hire agents. It's not just that they don't have the time or resources to promote, it's that they cannot be seen to.

And I get it. Nothing turns me off faster than to see the tacky side of the New Age industry, which looks so much like Televangelism to me sometimes. But I feel that about all industries too. I don't think it's just Tarot practioners who should be ghettoed out of making a living.

Thank you all for such a nice discussion ! Very interesting viewpoints .

I am not against making money or having many different types of metaphysical stuff under one umbrella . Variety is good , you never know what will benefit someone .

Maybe it's necessary at this time in history for tarot and other occult things to be presented as just another self help psychology tool business and nothing more . It's the Something More that makes it numinous and luminous , but maybe for a majority of modern people that would be an automatic turn off . They may need some kind of bridge to get to that next step and they will only tread where angels and magickal creatures do not .

Or, on the other hand they may have no intention, desire, or sufficient belief to encounter such otherly things and that is as far as it will ever go for them . However , even for those who have firmly made up their minds against all foolishness there is still the possibility that out of the blue will come that consensus reality defying experience that changes minds and hearts .

In any event , the course of things tarot cannot be controlled . It has survived the centuries and no doubt mutated its' presentation along the way . We will have to put up with current trends and hope for the best .

The two or three shops that I've been to two are very authentic with the oldest having the most authenticity. I believe the oldest has been around since the late 1800's. The newer shop is basically a book store that sells books on mysticism as well as inspirational self-help meditative books. There are a large variety of cards and oracles as well.

The oldest is my favorite! The store which actually is called a tea room sells tarot and oracle cards, crystals, amulets, books and other things that readers actually use. There is a counter that sells tea and in addition to having one's cards read you are able to have your tea leaves read for an additional fee. My favorite reader left so I don't visit as often but I check in every few years or so.

I live in the south so tarot and the occult are not as commercialized, i.e. spas and such. I bet if I take a trip to LA I'd be able to find something like that. ☺

The thing about the certified readers and psychics who really aren't psychic nor able to read the cards is that those people are soon found out and don't last long unless they have someone like Montel Wilams wlho is contantly force feeding their presence into people's television screens.