using tarot - for what?

[fractalgranny]

as i'm delving deeper and deeper into the tarot, a gnawing question comes up for me. it's not fully formed, and that's why i thought i'd start a conversation here. maybe we can start with this:

what do i REALLY want to use the tarot for?
how can i get lots of tarot practice without asking and answering questions i'm not that interested in?
what questions are worth asking?
how do i honour the tarot if i don't follow its advice?

i can't help but delve deeper and deeper into the tarot - it draws me in. i am fascinated by the imagery, by what it evokes in me, by the network of ideas and possibilities that are created every day by the people who create and use it. so i want to use it a lot myself, and il want to practice. forums like these here are great practice grounds. i like the monthly reading circles, to a large degree because they seem to attract serious practitioners.

there is that word: serious. to me, the opposite of serious is not light-hearted or fun, it's superficiality. in fact, as i write this, i realize that the tarot is the opposite of superficial. the cards draw me in and down, into a thousand mysteries.

i'm also considering becoming a bit more public with my tarot use. given that i'm not interested in the superficial or the pointless, how do i fashion my offering? a lot of people ask, "what does joe think about me?" i don't really want to ask the tarot that. the correct entity to direct that question to is joe. hmmm ... maybe what i need to do is practice my "question redirection". i'm sure there is an interesting reason why X wants to know what joe thinks, and it would be worthwhile delving into that. yes, worth MY while. i'm getting too old to bother with things that others want to do or talk about; if we can't agree on something mutually interesting, let's move on.

connected to that is how i personally want to use tarot. some of the good readings i get from others - it feels like it could take a lifetime to just follow part of the path laid out for me there. i want to show gratitude to how the tarot talks to me but - well, right now, i only have one life in front of me. how do i ask questions and react to the answers in a way that honours the tarot but also takes into account that there's only so much i can do? and how do i do that and still get lots of practice in?

lots of stuff coming up here. would be interested in hearing whether others have struggled with it, or are struggling with it. i'm not so much looking for advice, just a conversation ...

 

[Tanga]

how do i ask questions and react to the answers in a way that honours the tarot but also takes into account that there's only so much i can do? and how do i do that and still get lots of practice in?

Such an excellent question because it's one I'm constantly asking myself.
I am not one for doing 3 million readings for myself on a daily basis - this is superfluous and most of the questions I have - I know the answer to if I just think about it.
Interestingly - I've been toying with ideas of using Tarot to "speak to my guides"...
And bizarrely I am finding that "asking them", rather than "'asking the Tarot for myself" - seems to work better. (though one could argue it's one and the same thing).
So I continue to explore this. My questions aren't specific - they're more along the lines of
"what message/comment do you have for me today?".

there is that word: serious. to me, the opposite of serious is not light-hearted or fun, it's superficiality.

Yes I agree.
3 cheers for monthly reading circles and so on.

what do i REALLY want to use the tarot for?

- now - I wanna use it for everything! Bwahaha - because I love to look at those pretty pictures and see how the images engender ideas or memories etc.
Still working on this one.
Have been reading "Tarot Diva" by Sasha Graham which is prompting me to think in more detail about more light-hearted and fun ways to use cards on a daily/weekly basis.
For example choosing one as a talisman for a particular purpose - or perhaps letting them give suggestions on what style of dress to donne for my girls day out... etc.

how can i get lots of tarot practice without asking and answering questions i'm not that interested in?

Practice more here on AT. Be specific about what you will and will-not answer.
I've been finding this very instructive. Wish I could squeeze in more.

I bought a Tarot game once... would be a great way to practice/learn with someone else without actually having to delve into a reading format...
But I've no-one to play with. LOL.... Maybe at some point.

how do i honour the tarot if i don't follow its advice?

I have a Tarot Altar - so I have a shrine to Tarot. Is it necessarily a dishonour to not follow advice given?
There are after-all many roads to damascus, and many paths of experience for us to learn and grow. Many times the lesson is in doing your own thing against advice - isn't it? As who can say what the ultimate truth is for each individual? And what if valuable to learn along the way - even if the outcome appears less than favourable?
I honour the Tarot in my own way every-time I see a life event or hear an expression that I recognise as a perfect Tarot moment. Or that I think - "now what Tarot card would that be or fit?..."
I honour the Tarot by having specific decks for my spiritual practises of ritual and spell-work - and every-time I pull a card representing a "sacred element", a "Deity", a "guide", or a person for whom I am praying (usually in the form of ritual/spell-work).
I honour the Tarot occasionally - by painting a card (or attempting to - haha).
I honour the Tarot by believing that in can be used for just about anything - and for fun and frivolity too, if that fits the moment. It is a key to anything.

i'm also considering becoming a bit more public with my tarot use. given that i'm not interested in the superficial or the pointless, how do i fashion my offering? a lot of people ask, "what does joe think about me?" i don't really want to ask the tarot that. the correct entity to direct that question to is joe.

Yes. This is mostly me. I am working currently on an email Tarot service and have been reading from lots of different sources on how to present clearly the types of Tarot readings that I do - so I have an explanation there with examples - underlining that questions with self-reflective elements are best and that I will suggest a re-phrase of the question if I feel that this would much better serve the seeker. And also - I am practicing reading here on AT (which is of-course email reading) - Doing this, I have been getting some view into how to present re-phrasing and also how to deal with varying issues that come up whilst reading.
(Then ofcourse there will be those who's present path it is to just want to read into Joe's mind and not see any use in making the question more therapeutic - or asking Joe themselves. Sometimes - I may take a stab at answering this, depending on circumstances and hoping that I get my interpretation right - if I can do it in a way that I consider is constructive. Fingers crossed. Lol.)

...Hmm...

 

[Mystica7]

I use tarot to help me get on with life... To me, any question which (the answer to it) will help you to do better with your life/relationships etc. is worth asking. But if you aren't going to ponder on the advice, then what's the point of asking it...

You can devise a simple ritual to honour a tarot deck, like passing it through incense smoke etc. I sometimes sleep with my tarot decks or with particular cards beside my pillow. Even if the cards may get a bit weary, I don't care because it shows how much I love them.

Any questions by the way is worth asking *on the querant's part*, haha, so it may be dangerous to brush off some questions as silly or useless. You'll get a reaction... And worse still, every one of us can be silly at times, so it's best to claim the right to it for yourself as well.

Also, you can have fun with tarot, there is nothing wrong with that. It depends on your understanding of what fun is though... To me, it's not superficiality but rather dealing with the mundane matters using the tarot. For example, rather than trying to save the world or make a serious relationship work out, or to trouble myself further with a dilemmatic situation delving in the tarot; I happened to ask the cards which one of my perfumes would a love interest like the best on me. I work with many decks and the answer (imagery on the card) was so spot on, on which bottle to choose, I actually gasped... And when it turned out that he really likes that perfume, I was amazed... The same goes for outfits too, since I like dressing up for the occassion. His favourite colors which get me the most positive reactions are also verified by the cards. Now this is fun, and at the same time serious... Tarot can actually help you get a guy, or a woman, but that totally depends on the person you are and what you are doing with what you have.

Maybe some people will hate me for saying these, but you asked a question and am giving you an answer that's it...

Ok, in short, you can use tarot for *whatever* you want, as long as you take the responsibility for it. Tarot will not punish you or something if you are in the wrong, but you account to yourself.

By the way, I don't see tarot as mumbo jumbo, it took me *years* to incorporate tarot's wisdom into the 3D (which we actually live and operate in) to work. There must be an end to sitting in your corner like The Hermit reading the cards for hours, futilely, or merely for the sake of philosophical/existential contemplation; but the tarot should serve you to be, do or have in the NOW. That's what a serious practitioner does with it and it's been my biggest struggle to get it done and right.

 

[Zephyros]

Basically everything. I even worked out a way for Tarot to help me with my weight-lifting program, what areas to concentrate on, how heavy, etc. Tarot is infinitely versatile.

I think it is safe to say I'm the only person in my gym who's training program is based on Kabbalistic principles.

 

[dancing_moon]

Good questions, fractalgranny. I've been wondering on and off about the same things at different points of my Tarot journey, and I'm not sure I've figured it out completely for myself.

The way I see it at the moment, I'd like to use Tarot as a source of alternative POVs on my life and development, the kind of alternative POVs you get from a bunch of trusted friends. I don't necessarily see not following Tarot's advice to a T as 'lack of respect' or 'not honouring it'. I do take what Tarot says into account, but the ultimate decision (and the responsibility for its consequences) is totally mine.

When I consider what question to ask, I try to avoid useless questions, but not strictly. Sometimes it's only after getting the answer do I realize how unhelpful the question was. When I read for others, my standards are much looser than that because I realize that everyone is on a different page of their journey, and what seems pointless, dull, and useless to me is probably highly relevant to my sitters. There are a lot of ways of limiting the questions you take from others, e.g. by using only certain kinds of spreads or not reading on certain kinds of questions. I, personally, don't think in terms of some questions being 'worthier' or 'wiser' to ask than others, but rather in terms of some questions being more helpful/useful to ask. Some questions indeed have the potential to move the querent forward, while other ones can hold them back almost indefinitely. This is the distinction that matters to me the most at the moment, in my readings both for myself and for others.

 

[Tanga]

Basically everything. I even worked out a way for Tarot to help me with my weight-lifting program, what areas to concentrate on, how heavy, etc. Tarot is infinitely versatile.

I think it is safe to say I'm the only person in my gym who's training program is based on Kabbalistic principles.

Huh - now I hadn't thought of that...

Hey - this could be great fun!
Thanks!

 

[fractalgranny]

most of the questions I have - I know the answer to if I just think about it.

exactly. it's a bit like magick: "i need a spell to get the dishes done!" here it is: "i am now getting up to do the dishes"

Interestingly - I've been toying with ideas of using Tarot to "speak to my guides"...
And bizarrely I am finding that "asking them", rather than "'asking the Tarot for myself" - seems to work better.

that's a very interesting perspective. there are, after all, always so many more entities in a conversation than meets the eye from the one that i call my higher power to my inner critic to my dead grandmother ...

I wanna use it for everything! Bwahaha - because I love to look at those pretty pictures and see how the images engender ideas or memories etc.

similar here. i just love those images. which is why, i guess, most of my decks are done by illustrators who i respect as artists (e.g. shadowscapes). and like you i am entranced by how they stir my non/sub/unconscious into speaking up.

Have been reading "Tarot Diva" by Sasha Graham which is prompting me to think in more detail about more light-hearted and fun ways to use cards on a daily/weekly basis.

that's a good idea. i should actually buy a book like that and have it handy. have read tarot diva but it's probably better to own it. i have some of the more intense ones - 21 ways to read a tarot card, etc. - but something more lighthearted would be nice as a day-to-day companion

I have a Tarot Altar - so I have a shrine to Tarot.

i have a bit of that but it's not as prominent as it could be. something to think about ... and thank you for listing all the ways you honour the tarot.

 

[fractalgranny]

I happened to ask the cards which one of my perfumes would a love interest like the best on me. I work with many decks and the answer (imagery on the card) was so spot on, on which bottle to choose, I actually gasped... And when it turned out that he really likes that perfume, I was amazed...

thank you, i could do more of this finely detailed questioning.

 

[fractalgranny]

The way I see it at the moment, I'd like to use Tarot as a source of alternative POVs on my life and development, the kind of alternative POVs you get from a bunch of trusted friends. I don't necessarily see not following Tarot's advice to a T as 'lack of respect' or 'not honouring it'. I do take what Tarot says into account, but the ultimate decision (and the responsibility for its consequences) is totally mine.

yes, that's one of the things i see tarot to be fabulous for - another POV. i like the idea of the trusted friends. or even just someone who you think might have something useful to contribute.

i wasn't talking so much about following the advice to a T (although there are situations where that's a good idea) but at least considering it. it has happened a number of times that i got a good reading here, i said, fabulous! and that was it. that feels a bit off.

I, personally, don't think in terms of some questions being 'worthier' or 'wiser' to ask than others, but rather in terms of some questions being more helpful/useful to ask. Some questions indeed have the potential to move the querent forward, while other ones can hold them back almost indefinitely. This is the distinction that matters to me the most at the moment, in my readings both for myself and for others.

i think the same way but you have phrased it so well. what i get from this is that it would be useful for me to do the same thing that i often do in counselling, namely to ask, "if you knew XYZ, how do you imagine that would help you?" hm, i think i'll try that today ...

 

[fractalgranny]

Basically everything. I even worked out a way for Tarot to help me with my weight-lifting program, what areas to concentrate on, how heavy, etc. Tarot is infinitely versatile.

I think it is safe to say I'm the only person in my gym who's training program is based on Kabbalistic principles.

that's part of my problem. i know people do that and think it's super cool - but i just can't connect to doing that. i've tried it a few times and didn't go any useful place.

it's a bit like pendulums. i am fascinated by how i can get pendulums to do what i tell them to do but i find asking pendulums questions (yes/no questions, or the ones where you use a chart) about as interesting as counting peas.