Nevada
I love that answer.lark said:
Tarotphobia: How do we feel about it, what do we do about it
Nevada
As for answering the third question, I'd like to see it become as widespread as beer and pizza. It even has fewer calories, as a selling point.214red said:
I indicatd earlier I'm not very brave about talking Tarot to other people when I'm not sure how it will be received. Half the problem is bringing up the subject. But I would wear clothing with a Tarot theme. (I don't wear much jewelry or I'd say the same for that.)
I used to like to embroider. Maybe a vest embroidered with a Tarot theme -- the Marseille Trumps wouldn't offend any copyright holders. I'll have to give that some thought.
I'm a little surprised some of the publishers haven't tried to market Tarot T-shirts or ball caps to help promote decks. You can find a T-shirt or cap sporting almost anything else in the world. Why not Tarot? Does this stuff exist already? Am I just out of the loop?lark
Thank you...I really say that too...Nevada said:I love that answer.
I to had a friend I dearly loved who rejected me because I read tarot....we still talk occasionally, but it is not the same and never will be...religious reasons on her side...It kind of made me tough instead of leary, made me want to protect the innerself that tarot has been the perfect medium to help me develope,
why would I abandon such a wonderful tool?...
when I say the above they either realise one of two things...this chick is serious deep crazy... OR boy am I acting like a jerk...I've had both responses.
Sophie
You mentioned shoving enlightenment down people's throat - I was replying to your post. In the same way that it's disrespectful and counterproductive to do that (and I agree it is), it is also wrong to shove intolerance and ignorance down people's throat. Tarotphobia, involving drama and a campaign against someone use of the tarot, especially in someone's own intimate circle, is a far cry from quiet disapproval or bemusement.Seafra said:
I don't agree with that. Respect is owed to everybody and every living thing on this planet. Nobody has the right to attack or diss someone else. Whether they agree with your views or not is another matter. If they don't, that's their right, of course - but their not agreeing is no excuse for them to attack, denigrate, debase, mock or otherwise make the other feel small, wrong, evil or stupid.Seafra said:
It comes down to the old battle-cry of tolerance, written long ago by one of my heroes, Voltaire: I do not agree with what you say, but I shall fight to the death for your right to say it.
That's the kind of respect I'm talking about - and it's not earned, it is a due, like food or clean air. I have friends and family who don't think very highly of tarot, but none of them have ever had a go at me for it, or showed me anything but respect, regardless of what they think of my choice of interests. And that's normal. I treat them with respect, though I might not find all of their interests that productive, worthwhile or even right (what do I say to friends that hunt? I don't agree with hunting wild animals in a dwindling wilderness - but I don't hector them and call them murderers).
As for rejecting someone for their beliefs - I agree it's painful like all forms of rejection; but it's also a form of intolerance and phobia. Of course, when it happens, we let go, and we move on in the best way we can, with love; but it leaves a greater scar, I think, than when the rejection is due to something less profound in us.
Morwenna
Nevada said:I used to like to embroider. Maybe a vest embroidered with a Tarot theme -- the Marseille Trumps wouldn't offend any copyright holders. I'll have to give that some thought.
I know some of it exists, but mainly for the small markets: science fiction conventions, pagan festivals, and the like. It's the only places I've seen such wares. Once I had a couple of Ts with the RWS Sun on them--gorgeous. But that was decades ago. I also have a few shirts done by artists for the small market: a QC, a 3C, a Temperance; none of them represent full decks. And the annual theme for the annual Ecumenicon conference in Maryland has been using Tarot majors as a focus for the year's programming for over a decade now, and the annual T-shirt is done each by a different artist using the card of the year.
But I do have to say I seldom wear any of them in public. It depends, of course, on where I'm going. My husband wears his Ecumenicon Ts a lot more often than I do, and he's not even really into Tarot! Well, not yet...
Sophie
I hope they appreciate the humour too, as much as I dolark said:when I say the above they either realise one of two things...this chick is serious deep crazy... OR boy am I acting like a jerk...I've had both responses.
Sorry about your friend
. And yes - we must become tough about the things we love and that make us who we are. Not to convince others, but to shine ourselves. I'd like to see Tarot become as normal as books. Some people don't read books, and that's fine, but those that don't aren't too bothered about those that do and, apart from in very repressive countries, you don't get religious leaders, scientists or other self-appointed arbiters preaching against books. They are part of the landscape. It wasn't always the case, and not so long ago, many books were banned and there was a long Church index for books Catholics were not supposed to read - books like The Origin of Species or some of the great classic novels.
I think we are moving that way, though like dancing, evolution is never linear.
Seafra
Been years since I dressed in the manner one might specifically associate with tarot cards (means my Stevie Nicks duds don't fit me anymore but they made great quilt sections) but I do try to work a notion expressed by a Major Arcana into conversations when I can. Some open up to it and a wonderful conversation ensues. Others look at me like I am totally out of my ever-loving mind. "What do you mean I have to seek balance in my life?" is a big hint that ... well ...Nevada said:
I use public transportation a lot and I am a very gabby type. Some of my most cherished conversations have been with people I've met in passing on a bus or a brief encounter as I run into them in the course of doing my job. Seriously; I remember a woman in her '70s who was traveling to visit a son dying from brain cancer. She needed to talk and I offered what I had. I spoke 'tarot speak' if you know what I mean. That exchange shines brightly for me and I suspect always will.
Those types of experiences tend to balance things out for me. ("Tarot is all about balance .... ") and I fully appreciate that balance when it can be found.
lark
I would like to see that too Sophie...
Tell you what, because of that negative experience I sure do value and love the people in my life who accept me as I am tarot reading and all.
And humor is a funny thing, no pun intended ...it tends to bring people back to reality..to the present moment... where you're just a person and I'm just a person, and isn't it silly to argue about this... and once we can get to that place maybe we can make some progress in this and dispell some of the fear.
The ego will always want to protect itself from "the other."
Or else it has nothing to make it feel superior.
Tell you what, because of that negative experience I sure do value and love the people in my life who accept me as I am tarot reading and all.
And humor is a funny thing, no pun intended ...it tends to bring people back to reality..to the present moment... where you're just a person and I'm just a person, and isn't it silly to argue about this... and once we can get to that place maybe we can make some progress in this and dispell some of the fear.
The ego will always want to protect itself from "the other."
Or else it has nothing to make it feel superior.
missycab
I haven't found a person with tarotphobia, in the sense of "being scared of tarot", even though this is a Catholic country. Actually, people are curious. Everyone wants to have a reading done sometime.
But what I do find (and this is why I keep my hobbie a secret to some people) is that it is frown upon. I'm a lawyer, and it's not well seen that a professional is involved in that sort of "hocus pocus". I think it's because have a wrong impression of what tarot is. They think the cards will tell you how many kids you'll have, when you'll get married, how will you die... So, a professional who has such a hobby can be in danger... of being badly thought about.
But what I do find (and this is why I keep my hobbie a secret to some people) is that it is frown upon. I'm a lawyer, and it's not well seen that a professional is involved in that sort of "hocus pocus". I think it's because have a wrong impression of what tarot is. They think the cards will tell you how many kids you'll have, when you'll get married, how will you die... So, a professional who has such a hobby can be in danger... of being badly thought about.
Seafra
Fudugazi said:
Yes, a greater scar, yes. I bear such a scar. It involves a golden light shining upon a man across a crowded room so that I could not help but notice him and a love unlike any I've ever had and a coming marriage and an unexpected death and years of learning to cope.
We all have our own, our singular path. I wonder sometimes if these experiences we have are reminders that we ultimately walk our path alone.
That's my truth. The nature of truth is that it isn't the same as the truth of another. I accept that and continue on my path and stumble over MY rocks and twigs, suffer MY dark nights and find MY faith to cope.
OMG that sounds so ... but there you have it. It's mine and I own it.
