Zephyros
Good post. Unfortunately, wrong thread, or right thread in the wrong place. We aren't talking about a definition for intuition, the topic is decks that are considered masculine. The question itself does assume that traits such as masculine exist in the first place, and that they can be transposed onto Tarot decks. One can have different views about the word and concept, but perhaps that's what should be defined in the first place.
What I meant by informed intuition wasn't quite what you said, but since I said it I might as well explain myself. Whatever you call it, you can train yourself to take a card, analyze and look at every symbol theoretically (sometimes over many months), take every aspect of the card into account (for me that's the deck's esoteric structure), and really work on transforming the card into what mystics would call an "ecstatic" experience. All the symbols on a card are thoroughly processed, until they are completely understood, and the card becomes second nature. You go through a mini-process of self-initiation, "living" the card until you understand its essential energy. Longest I worked on a card in this fashion was six months, shortest was three. Add to that assorted Golden Dawn rituals pertaining to a card, some understood theoretically (or at least tried to be) and some actually carried out, and you have quite a rounded understanding of the card and its ideas.
There is a huge difference between that and what most Tarot students call the "flash of intuition," that is in most cases comparable to a simple inkblot test. I may sound like a Tarot snob, but there it is. Kabbalah is something to be felt, to be tasted, otherwise the student is wasting their time. Every idea, every symbol, must be thoroughly assimilated, understood and distilled into an abstract feeling. Once that is done, one can practice "informed intuition."
What I don't understand about your story is whether you are saying that she wasn't good because she didn't know you were gay (I'm assuming?)? There have been many threads about this issue, and that seems to be falling prey to those same gender stereotypes you eschew. A card does not necessarily mean any gender, and male Courts can, of course, point to females and vice versa. On the contrary, even when reading in LGBT-heavy environments, I would never assume anyone was anything, using gender-neutral terms like "special someone." But that's neither here nor there, and the reading you're describing does not necessarily point to any gendered relationship, but perhaps a relationship in general, so I am at a loss to understand why the reading she gave you would disqualify her (especially if, as you say, she comes from an older generation). Whatever else it may be, intuition certainly isn't all-knowing omnipotence.
As for gender stereotypes, ironically I feel they are actually quite useful sometimes, but you have to understand where I'm coming from. I study Tarot from the outside in, being interested more in structure and significance than doing readings (which I do very rarely, and only under duress). In esoteric studies there is in fact a tendency to separate male and female, active and passive energies in ways that would no doubt enrage the modern mind. They are, however, abstractions, that don't pertain to real-world gender divisions. When you're talking about symbols, they are by necessity somewhat veiled. The idea that the Empress is pregnant has nothing to do with real pregnant women, but with the idea of incubation. Plus, as a general rule, I find sexual identity far more complicated than blanket PC statements. It certainly was for me coming out.
What I meant by informed intuition wasn't quite what you said, but since I said it I might as well explain myself. Whatever you call it, you can train yourself to take a card, analyze and look at every symbol theoretically (sometimes over many months), take every aspect of the card into account (for me that's the deck's esoteric structure), and really work on transforming the card into what mystics would call an "ecstatic" experience. All the symbols on a card are thoroughly processed, until they are completely understood, and the card becomes second nature. You go through a mini-process of self-initiation, "living" the card until you understand its essential energy. Longest I worked on a card in this fashion was six months, shortest was three. Add to that assorted Golden Dawn rituals pertaining to a card, some understood theoretically (or at least tried to be) and some actually carried out, and you have quite a rounded understanding of the card and its ideas.
There is a huge difference between that and what most Tarot students call the "flash of intuition," that is in most cases comparable to a simple inkblot test. I may sound like a Tarot snob, but there it is. Kabbalah is something to be felt, to be tasted, otherwise the student is wasting their time. Every idea, every symbol, must be thoroughly assimilated, understood and distilled into an abstract feeling. Once that is done, one can practice "informed intuition."
What I don't understand about your story is whether you are saying that she wasn't good because she didn't know you were gay (I'm assuming?)? There have been many threads about this issue, and that seems to be falling prey to those same gender stereotypes you eschew. A card does not necessarily mean any gender, and male Courts can, of course, point to females and vice versa. On the contrary, even when reading in LGBT-heavy environments, I would never assume anyone was anything, using gender-neutral terms like "special someone." But that's neither here nor there, and the reading you're describing does not necessarily point to any gendered relationship, but perhaps a relationship in general, so I am at a loss to understand why the reading she gave you would disqualify her (especially if, as you say, she comes from an older generation). Whatever else it may be, intuition certainly isn't all-knowing omnipotence.
As for gender stereotypes, ironically I feel they are actually quite useful sometimes, but you have to understand where I'm coming from. I study Tarot from the outside in, being interested more in structure and significance than doing readings (which I do very rarely, and only under duress). In esoteric studies there is in fact a tendency to separate male and female, active and passive energies in ways that would no doubt enrage the modern mind. They are, however, abstractions, that don't pertain to real-world gender divisions. When you're talking about symbols, they are by necessity somewhat veiled. The idea that the Empress is pregnant has nothing to do with real pregnant women, but with the idea of incubation. Plus, as a general rule, I find sexual identity far more complicated than blanket PC statements. It certainly was for me coming out.
To me it looks like a pinup calender, quite objectifying. But even that could be construed as generalizing and offensive, because women like sex, too, and the idea of a gorgeous, big-breasted goddess as a symbol of strength doesn't have to be offensive to women. A feminine deck need not be prudish, nor does it have to follow the trend of showing "real" people. Humans have been portraying romanticized ideals in art since the first cave art, and it isn't necessarily a sign of the prevalence of the patriarchy. Plus, Vesta need not have been necessarily homelike, Wikipedia identifies her with fire, and suggests more going on there. Venus, too, is not the lovey-dovey goddess of modern times, but a warlike, fierce goddess, not to be trifled with (like love itself). Kali is the goddess of love and death.
But that goes to show how intuition can be colored by biases and first impressions, and its fallibility. Now, personally I think that a divination serves to try to take the process out of yourself and into the real world (in which the chance ordering of a Tarot deck is a part of). If it's all happening in your head, then you can just try to do that (and there are forms of that form of divination, I just don't see the use of that with Tarot). She saw the way you looked, and made snap judgements. Perhaps if she had used a little less intuition, she would have done things differently. Or not. 