Zedrex
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.
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.