Tarot and human nature . . .

Tarot can actually help you to see the spiritual in the mundane. And it can help you apply spiritual principles in everyday life.

<smile> So can just generally being mindful. If Tarot helps you with that, great!

nord_drache said:

For the last while I have to admit I have been busy enough to not sit down and pursue our shared discipline.
I don't know if it makes me a fair weather tarot reader or its just part and parcel of human nature.
...
Would anyone like to share their opinions / experiences please.
Thanks,
Jim

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I think it's just human nature, and can SO relate. But I've done it to the Nth degree: for 25 years I've put it aside, tarot and spirituality in general, and I don't feel like I ever really learned the best parts, ever really studied or read enough to get deep enough to actually experience them.

A while back I decided to fix that. I'm entering year two of a mid-life crisis, but instead of buying a sports car and dating a twenty year old, I've turned my life upside down, shaken it, and watched what bubbled to the top: leading a less "stuff-centered" life, putting more effort into cultivating fewer-yet-closer friendships, navel-gazing-centered spirituality, and tarot.

It's nice to see a year in how the four are working together. The first two are helping me free up so much time and energy (and money!) to devote to the last two, and those two are feeding each other. I'm LOVING it.

I still sometimes feel guilty for not spending more time with tarot, so I try to force it, sitting down and reading a tarot book or the cards themselves. But that never works - I find myself daydreaming, my mind wandering without focus, or worse, resenting it. Instead, at those times I look back and compare where I was a few years ago with now and give myself a break. I can see that it's been building, like a snowball, to where I actually do spend a good bit of time with it currently and will spend even more time on it in the future. I realize that it's happened organically, without me forcing it, my desire for it growing more and more all on it's own. And that makes me happy, and usually makes me want to pick up a deck right then. Go figure.

Often we ignore the spiritual - which I believe the tarot is part of - until we have something that scares us or makes us pause and think and maybe pay attention to the spiritual for a while.
Maybe it has to do with us living is a technological age where we tend to have such great confidence in the power of man and therefore our selves . . .

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That probably has something to do with it for some. I'm sure it makes it easier to believe we don't need any spirituality, and surely makes it easier to ignore it when there are so many Facebook notifications to look at, emails to answer, and cat videos to watch. For others, and I lump myself into this category, it's probably just being too wrapped up in mundane life, too busy with what's presenting itself at the moment as so important, and letting that hide what's *really* important, what's deeper down inside you. For me, and maybe for others, what's deeper down is painful to look at too closely, so the desire to put off looking at it 'til later is strong. I think that helped me avoid tarot - didn't want it to point out these things I was trying to ignore, didn't want it to make me face them.

Man, I'm glad I gave that shit up. I've rooted out a lot of crap this past year, and am looking forward to getting rid of more. Life is so much easier now, and a LOT more fun, and fulfilling.

I had something like this happen recently... I had been taking a hiatus from tarot for several monthd, but got into a situation where I was feeling suuuper stressed worried. So for some reason one day, I picked up my Fantastical Creatures abd just felt...better. It was so relaxing and calming, and that spirituality was just what I needed. I feel much more balanced now that I'm studying and reading tarot again.

So I think that it's definitely human nature to take breaks or just drift away from tarot, but I feel like we always come back eventually. c:

Thank you one and all for your replies. It is in their depth, wisdom and thoughtful nature sprinkled with the humour that keeps us from getting too full of ourselves - that epitomizes the true nature of this community that I am new to.

Tanga said:

That's just human Jim.
<oops - I'm hearing an echoe of 'Bones' voice - from Star Trek... Lol>

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Thanks and no oops required LOL!!

I can say with surety that I am far from burned out from the tarot. During my initial time here I lacked centering and the cards gave me a better sense of control. At that time it helped as a compass to maintain a direction. Maybe during my journey I am gaining confidence in my path and ability to travel it.

In this journey I think I am blessed - which is pointed out to me by your replies - the reason I say this is that as an artisan when I am in the zone or when a design is realized I see the spiritual in the day to day.

Jim