Thoughts On Tarot Addiction

For as long as I have participated in this forum there has been an ongoing preoccupation with tarot addiction. I've noticed many people feel uneasy about letting others know they enjoy collecting, almost like reading is "good" but collecting is "evil." It makes me wonder sometimes why this is. Maybe collecting is just another mindless form of consumerism, but actual study of the cards - and reading with them - brings enlightenment. Consumerism=bad, Enlightenment=good.

I like that scene in The Razor's Edge when Bill Murray's character, upon reaching enlightenment on the mountaintop, starts burning his books for warmth.

It makes me wonder. What is wisdom, and what is enlightenment?

Perhaps the folks who are embarassed to say they collect tarot decks have been told for years that excess is bad.

I say if you aren't taking food out of your kids' mouths to buy decks or robbing banks to get the money, whose business is it? Only yours.

Last count, I have 18 tarot decks, 5 oracle decks and yesterday I ordered the Llewellyn Tarot. There would be no way I'd even try to count the number of books I have - I am a voracious reader and read many of my books over and over, while others are used as reference. To each his/her own.

Abrac said:

I've noticed many people feel uneasy about letting others know they enjoy collecting...

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I've noticed pretty much the opposite - people seem to take pride in their addiction (hence the stickied 'what are you waiting for in the mail' topic).

Oooh I LOVE getting goodies in the mail If I know something is coming, I swear I stand at the living room window in anticipation of that mail truck and run to the mail box as soon as the mailman closes my box. LOL! I also love reading and my collection of books is starting to get bigger and bigger.

I'm waiting on a couple of decks at the moment and the wait is about making me go batty LOL Now to get my hands on 2 other decks and my little collection will be complete... maybe..... I think.... no, there aren't any other decks out there that I want. Right? Hehehehe

Umm- I think mine started as a joke I called "Online tarot card purchasing addicition" It really isn't just cards, it stones, runes, other things metaphysical. Not that I actually have an addiction. It's just this past year I have really tried to embrace my spiritual side as it has been pushed away for so long, and as I investigated, I felt compelled to aquire new things, causing me to have a "collection". These things I can use throughout the rest of my life long spiritual journey. To me, it isn't money wasted. These things, books, meditation cd's etc. can be referred to for many years to come. I really find nothing wrong with surrounding myself with things that speak to my soul.

Disa said:

I really find nothing wrong with surrounding myself with things that speak to my soul.

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Agree. I also count other things than tarot decks among those objects, too.

I agree too Marion..I love my decks, my books, my tarot artwork, my tarot boxes, my crystals, my oil burners, my tarot journal...it's my hobby, my passion, my talent, my religion, my friend...my addiction. It's fun, fufilling and a spiritual, mental, physical, and emotional pleasure that I love and share with people the closest to me. If you have the extra money to spend on it after all the bills are paid, etc...how can it be wrong?

Collecting stamps is never questioned.
It may be great to do for the history of the stamps, the art, the travels the stamps have made, it can be a valuable property or savings, it is fun to have a lot of something, etc.
I never understood why these or any other reasons would not be good enough for tarot deck collectors. Collect as much as you want (and can afford). It is nobody's business but your own.

I think when it started out here on AT, people were just saying they were "addicted" in fun.

On the other hand, if it starts overlapping into taking bill money or money for other necessities away or a person spends every last cent and then some on it, then it truly does become something looking, waddling and quacking like an addiction.

Do we need an 'tarotholic anonymous' thread? I doubt it...I really can't imagine anyone needing a new deck so bad they let their kids go hungry...we're a circle of people who love, hope, trust, and help. That's why I love this AT forum.