My "proof" that Tarot is special

[Padma]

I had no idea I was going to cause such a stir by saying that lol!

OP DID ask, what proof? And that was one of my proofs, that's all! I don't deliberately go around looking for non-believers to shock, in order to prove they work ;p

Of course I also use my Tarot for many other things - finding lost objects, exploring deeper spiritual questions with my sitters, helping people find a good course of action in a difficult situation...the Tarot is very flexible, I find, and can be applied in so many ways. It can be a meditation tool as well as a dispenser of advice, or explorer of uncharted waters; it is a mirror as much as a truth teller and sooth-sayer. It connects me to the Universe as much as to tell me I might have a rough day...

CN, that was funny about the new car!

LRichard, how elegantly and deeply put

 

[celticnoodle]

I had no idea I was going to cause such a stir by saying that lol!

OP DID ask, what proof? And that was one of my proofs, that's all! I don't deliberately go around looking for non-believers to shock, in order to prove they work ;p

nor do I! but, its funny to see their faces WHEN it happens, isn't it LP?

Of course I also use my Tarot for many other things - finding lost objects, exploring deeper spiritual questions with my sitters, helping people find a good course of action in a difficult situation...the Tarot is very flexible, I find, and can be applied in so many ways. It can be a meditation tool as well as a dispenser of advice, or explorer of uncharted waters; it is a mirror as much as a truth teller and sooth-sayer. It connects me to the Universe as much as to tell me I might have a rough day...

CN, that was funny about the new car!

LRichard, how elegantly and deeply put

yes, though my friend was not that happy w/her husband. first of all - buying a new car when there really was nothing wrong with the current cars (he traded his in) and secondly--the NOT discussing it with her to begin with! He won't do THAT again! And, now, she is a regular for me, as is her husband and daughter! Her husband actually was from the get go--even before she got a reading from me. he is a believer, especially as he has had psychic medium experiences himself and knows he is not nuts. he is one of my BIGGEST supporters and loves it that I also predicted the car before he could surprise her.

I have many stories like this too. there are those people out there who just do not believe in it at all. then when they receive a reading that proves something to them, they are so amazed! and finally become believers. sometimes.

there are those who rely on tarot way too much and won't make a decision w/o seeking a tarot card reader. tbh--I dread THOSE customers most of all.

then, there are those who enjoy tarot card readings and find it really cool when it does hit home for them. they won't DEPEND upon tarot card readings before making any decisions, but they enjoy it when tarot can steer them in the right direction and also when it can prove to be right.

 

[The Kiwi]

My 'proof' comes from decades of accuracy, both for myself & others. If I got a headache when I read, I would have quit decades ago.

I'm not talking about head splitting headaches, I'm just simply stating that how can looking at (more or less) flashcards given me such a sense of exhaustion or overwhelming sense of completion? On occasion, such intimate connections with *something more*, has given me that slight headache where your brain is telling you, "Okay that's enough for tonight".

The Kiwi, If you research the fact that many psychologists are now using tarot in their counseling sessions, that may help your step-father to accept it. Maybe scientific research would reach him. Why does it work? I dunno. No one does. But I certainly don't think it uses the same brain cells as playing poker.

This is very interesting, I did not know this. I'll have to do some research.

My proof is that it is too bloody accurate to be written off as mere coincidence I have seen so many "non-believers" have all the colour drain from their faces when I read for them...and it has always been exceptionally on point for me as well. I find other systems hit and miss - not the Tarot. It works!

I have yet to experience this *joy*, as when I do read for others it's via email. So, they're usually asking me for the reading as opposed to seeing me read and starting the "hogwash!" convos.

Of course I also use my Tarot for many other things - finding lost objects, exploring deeper spiritual questions with my sitters, helping people find a good course of action in a difficult situation...the Tarot is very flexible, I find, and can be applied in so many ways. It can be a meditation tool as well as a dispenser of advice, or explorer of uncharted waters; it is a mirror as much as a truth teller and sooth-sayer. It connects me to the Universe as much as to tell me I might have a rough day...

I too feel as if Tarot can be used for so many different aspects and not just "fortune telling" as someone else put. I too have said it's a way to connect to the universe on a more intimate level & why on occasion a headache of prolonged exposure to such things is my "proof"

my "proof" is my uncontrollable burst of laughter that comes when I am reading for myself.

I pull out cards so accurate and bizaare that it's like my deck is an old friend telling me things that i know, just don't yet want to admit, thus, i laugh, thank my deck (which is pretty much my best friend) and then ask another question. (i was in Phnom Penh in Cambodia alone for a few days and spent an entire evening with a beer in one hand, tarot deck in the other having long conversations like this with my tarot deck. i honestly feel like we speak to eachother...)

also, as mentioned above, reading for tarot skeptics and watching them be absolutely baffled when it's painfully accurate.

Just reading "uncontrollable bursts of laughter" made my chuckle to myself because I have only to often experienced this. I consider my RWD deck an old friend, where my Morgan-Greer deck is my new bestfriend. I too have conversations and truly enjoy reading with either deck.

 

[momentarylight]

This weekend I had a conversation about Tarot with my step-father, which was along the lines of "they're just cards" and "whats the difference between that and poker" and "you actually believe that something is placing those cards?" So it got me thinking:

You know those moments when the cards connect every dot so perfectly to someone's life that it could never just be coincidence? For some, that's their "proof" that something more than cards is at play.

My "proof", is simply that I get a headache when I'm working with my cards for too long.
I've played poker for hours before with friends, I don't get a headache and I think playing poker requires the same amount of brain power than Tarot. I believe that those times when we get tarot burn out, it's because we are working with a tool that connects to something higher. That puts our brains, our spirit, our body in direct contact with something powerful. I'm not surprised that has some kind of side effect, however minor.

Just my two cents. What's your "proof" that Tarot is more?

It's concerning that you think that developing a head-ache when you read the cards is proof that tarot is special. It could just as much mean that you're trying too hard, dehydrated or anxious

When I first began to use tarot, being able to tap into another way of seeing the world did seem quite special. It was a little like when you discover that you have a natural gift for sport or cooking or writing or whatever.

Now, using the cards in the way that I do is part of my life and simply seems natural and good.

 

[Grizabella]

Getting a headache when reading the cards seems to be more common in readers who aren't used to using the cards, so I attribute it just to the stress of trying so hard to "be right" about what the reading says. It's just stress. Poker is just a game so it's easier to just relax and have fun with it.

 

[canid]

No, no, Canid - I simply meant people who have volunteered for free readings at dinner parties - who are all "that's horsefluff!" and make a big loud show of how dumb the Tarot is...and stalk into the reading all defensive and puffed up...and then I tell them about their mistress, marriage problems, new job application, whatever. In a private room, of course. They tend to go very white when they find the Tarot really is true, and that it works. It (forgive me) always gives me a kick to see non-believing scoffers eat their hat. Sorry. I guess enjoying their shock is a hanging (Hanged man...?) offense. lol!

ETA and to them, it is not a sharing thing - they say nothing at all till the end, if that, and *want* to see me fail. Forgive me if it is a secret pleasure when Tarot beats them at their own game. Sorry if I gave you the wrong impression, no "woowoos" here. And my clients are caring, compassionate people with a desire to know. And I truly care about them, and with them, it IS an exchange...

Been there! With the scoffers, I mean. And it IS a bit fulfilling when they're stopped in their tracks. I get it now, sorry.

The best scenario is a querant who sits patiently while you speak, then voices their own thoughts; & it's back & forth. Awesome! The worst are the ones who, before you're done even laying the cards out, are fearfully asking, WOT does that mean?! I patiently look at them & ask that they let me look at their cards first. Sometimes it works, sometimes not.

 

[Padma]

Been there! With the scoffers, I mean. And it IS a bit fulfilling when they're stopped in their tracks. I get it now, sorry.

The best scenario is a querant who sits patiently while you speak, then voices their own thoughts; & it's back & forth. Awesome! The worst are the ones who, before you're done even laying the cards out, are fearfully asking, WOT does that mean?! I patiently look at them & ask that they let me look at their cards first. Sometimes it works, sometimes not.

Well, I do find the Tarot has a good sense of humour - it seems to enjoy whacking the scoffers, itself - those have been some of my best readings, most detailed/accurate! Lol!

I am glad your fears were put to rest on that score.

It is lovely when people are relaxed and open for a reading, isn't it? Then it becomes an absolute joy to read - treading the light fantastic And the Tarot becomes like a third friend, sitting down at the table and joining the group...I love it when that happens - it makes it all worth it!

 

[The Kiwi]

It's concerning that you think that developing a head-ache when you read the cards is proof that tarot is special. It could just as much mean that you're trying too hard, dehydrated or anxious

When I first began to use tarot, being able to tap into another way of seeing the world did seem quite special. It was a little like when you discover that you have a natural gift for sport or cooking or writing or whatever.

Now, using the cards in the way that I do is part of my life and simply seems natural and good.

I think I've worded my example wrong. I'm not talking about head splitting headaches, I'm just simply stating that looking at (more or less) flashcards give me a sense of completion, or a "headache" in the sense of your leg muscles ache after exercising.

Getting a headache when reading the cards seems to be more common in readers who aren't used to using the cards, so I attribute it just to the stress of trying so hard to "be right" about what the reading says. It's just stress. Poker is just a game so it's easier to just relax and have fun with it.

It is by no means stress. I stress myself out more with poker than reading cards. Nor am I prone to stress headaches, nor am I not use to my cards. I've had my RW since 2009. What I was trying to relate it to is exercising as opposed to playing a card game. I did not word myself correctly, but I am glad to read others views on what their proof is.

 

[greatdane]

What's anyone's proof anything is special? It's special if we consider it special. There will always be detractors about anything where something is unseen, but the proof, as they say, is in the pudding. Religion? Psychology? Philosophy? What makes these things special? Because a lot of people say or believe they are? If we get what we need from tarot, it's "special". You will never, and to be honest, I wouldn't try, to convince those who don't get or don't want to, that it's valid.

 

[Tarot Orat]

I agree with everyone else who's saying 'I know it's special because it works." I don't have any mind-blowing examples like some of you do, but it doesn't have to be mind-blowing to convince me. Greatdane's comment made me look at some of the other things belief/faith applies to and I wanted to tell this story. I am not trying to interject religion into our discussion, just using this as an example of something that people have different beliefs as to whether it "works," and how my beliefs changed.

Many people believe that prayer "works," whatever that exactly means, but many others don't. I was always in the "it doesn't work" category. Then I was in a 12-step program, and you can't get past step 2 without some kind of higher power. At the break during a meeting, I went across the street to the park, knelt down in a patch of clover, and just talked to the God of my understanding. After I'd said "Amen," I added, "And while I'm down here in the clover, I'd like to find a lycaenid caterpillar." (Tiny little clover-eaters; I'd been looking for them for months and never found any.) And then I looked down and....holy moly, a lycaenid caterpillar. At that instant I knew that, for me, at that time, prayer WORKED. The bigger stuff I asked for might or might not manifest, but something had WORKED. I had faith.

I guess I'm telling this story because it's an example of something I'd always been skeptical about, even pooh-poohed, and then I tried it...and I got a sign. I was like the Tarot skeptics who get that first reading and see something meaningful. Even if it's a tiny detail...a tiny event with HUGE implications.

Argh, now I'm second-guessing myself for telling this story. I REALLY don't want to threadjack this into a religious discussion but this is what I thought of when I considered my faith in Tarot.