Ethics on Where to Read Cards

nisaba

I'm not offended by Bibles, either. The writing in them is poetic, metaphorical and quite gorgeous, if a bit bloodthirsty at times. The Bible may not reflect my beliefs, but nor do Sufi texts, and I respect them both as visionary writing.
 

gregory

Seafra said:
How can you say tarot cards are not offensive and bibles are? Tarot cards are like newspapers but "bibles etc" aren't? Where is your respect for the beliefs of others as you argue for the right to display your own? That, to me, is very unbalanced thinking.

IMO the bible is not offensive in the least -- but a person who thumps it in my face is.
Yes. What I think the issue is is that when you lay out cards it is very obvious what you are doing. Many people find it deeply offensive, and even frightening - as I would find it uncomfortable someone was conducting a religious ceremony (a single person, not a full scale service) in a hotel lobby.

MANY things in life are harmless and natural but best done in private. Canoodling in pubs causes major offence, even though it hurts no-one. Most pubs ask you to stop it. Shouldn't they ? How far will you take this ? Should that couple who actually made love openly on their plane seats have been prosecuted ? (they were, and successfully, even though they tried to argue that as they were 3000 feet up, no country had the right... :D) They offended people with a perfectly delightful activity. I would even have been uncomfortable. Now, in a cafe or somewhere where you have permission - I can go elsewhere. If I am terrified of tarot and come back to my hotel and see it in the lobby - that is affecting my stay, and I can't just move on.

You have sensitivity to others and respect their feelings and you will get the same respect back.

As to where to do this reading - a park sounds good; so does a car. Or even a tent.... ;) I can lend you one.....
 

214red

Seafra said:
How can you say tarot cards are not offensive and bibles are? Tarot cards are like newspapers but "bibles etc" aren't? Where is your respect for the beliefs of others as you argue for the right to display your own? That, to me, is very unbalanced thinking.

IMO the bible is not offensive in the least -- but a person who thumps it in my face is.
Okay I am not aiming to offend anyone, but I liken it to bibles and newspapaers because I don’t relate tarot to any religious or spiritual beliefs. My cards are the same as playing cards, I treat them with respect but I treat things I own with respect.

I respect others religious views aslong as they don’t try and push them on to me, I have read many religious books such as the Qu'ran, and the bible etc, I see them as interesting books but that’s all.

People view tarot differently, I respect that some people attach religious or spiritual beliefs to tarot. By reading tarot in public I am not preaching, I am not soliciting people to join me, I am simply reading cards
 

gregory

214red said:
Okay I am not aiming to offend anyone, but I liken it to bibles and newspapaers because I don’t relate tarot to any religious or spiritual beliefs. My cards are the same as playing cards, I treat them with respect but I treat things I own with respect.

I respect others religious views aslong as they don’t try and push them on to me, I have read many religious books such as the Qu'ran, and the bible etc, I see them as interesting books but that’s all.

People view tarot differently, I respect that some people attach religious or spiritual beliefs to tarot. By reading tarot in public I am not preaching, I am not soliciting people to join me, I am simply reading cards
It's a lot easier not to see a book that someone is reading (it could be anything) than to avoid seeing cards laid out.... and you know - I am sure - that many see laying out cards as performing a spell. OK they are wrong (AFAIK) - but they have the right to be wrong ! And I don't think ANYONE sees reading the bible as doing that....
 

214red

gregory said:
As to where to do this reading - a park sounds good; so does a car. Or even a tent.... ;) I can lend you one.....

If I was doing a paid reading I would seek the owners approval because I think that’s only right. Which makes it difficult finding places to do paid readings, although I love the idea of a tent!

I love parks so any reason to be out in one always makes me happy:)

I am interested to hear peoples ideas because it’s a difficult thing to find, anonymous places like a starbucks/costa (out of town if you don’t want to bump into people you know or what people knowing your business) is where I used to meet a friend for tarot study.
 

gregory

Yeah - starbucks - to give them credit for something - seem to be very relaxed about it. I wouldn't use Costas myself, as I loathe their coffee :D. I'm not wild about Starbucks coffee either, but it's better !

Don't laugh TOO hard - but the most anonymous place I know is Tescos cafeteria. Four of us from here had a lovely discussion of all things weird, from auras to soul retrieval, and no-one seemed to overhear a thing. Everyone there is in such a hurry that if you use a corner table, no-one will have TIME to notice !
 

nisaba

You know, in Australia, Maccas reads particularly well - just the right amount of ambient background noise, tables kept scrupulously clean, the customers don't give a flying flamingo, and the staff aren't paid enough to give a flying flamingo.
 

214red

gregory said:
It's a lot easier not to see a book that someone is reading (it could be anything) than to avoid seeing cards laid out.... and you know - I am sure - that many see laying out cards as performing a spell. OK they are wrong (AFAIK) - but they have the right to be wrong ! And I don't think ANYONE sees reading the bible as doing that....
People might think i am doing a spell??? That’s their warped perceptions, I don’t see putting cards on a table that I am no sharing anything different then most hobbies, or pastimes. I might get my ipod out and play a game on there (I wouldn’t put my headphones on because that’s just rude) or I might get my cards out, I might write in my journal, or I might read a book, to me its all the same thing.

If people think I am practising a witchcraft or anything like that they should educate themselves, if people ask me about them I tell them my view on it and usually they are fine with it, they might not agree with it but the understand its nothing to worry about.

If I saw some doing tarot and I didn’t know what it was, I would either ask them or look it up later to try and understand what they were doing.

Other peoples ignorance is not my issue, part of the reason tarot is seen in such a dark light because people hide it away like it’s a dirty secret. I choose not to
 

gregory

214red said:
People might think i am doing a spell??? That’s their warped perceptions
<snip>

Other peoples ignorance is not my issue, part of the reason tarot is seen in such a dark light because people hide it away like it’s a dirty secret. I choose not to
Consider others if you want them to consider you. The more people INSIST on reading in places where people mind, the more flak we will all get. Sorry.

Sure they may have warped perceptions of tarot. But bible bashers believe you have warped perceptions of their activities. To each his own.
 

2_Journey

Fascinating discussion. I work in customer service, and have for several years. I can see both sides, however I completely understand why a hotel manager would want a tarot reading to occur in someone's private room rather than in the lobby. Customer service is often times about catering to the lowest common denominator, and trying to anticipate incidents and deal with them before they start.

I had a friend in college who was frightened to be in my dorm room because she knew tarot cards were there. I tried to be open about them and how I was using them, but no amount of education or information on the subject would sway her, and my talking about my cards made her even more uncomfortable. She is a devout Mormon. She respected my right to do as I wanted, and so did not take issue with my cards being in my room (i.e. she still came over and we still hung out), but out of defference to her, before she came over I always made sure my cards were put away before she stopped by. (By the way, she was one of my best friends in college and we still are close, and it is wonderful having a friend with such a different world view to my own. I'm sure she feels the same as her being frinds with me put her way outside her comfort zone but she puts up with me anyway :).)

I say this to illustrate the deep fear some people have of tarot cards and why when you are out in public, you must be prepared for people to occasionally have a problem with them. Going back to the original question, I can understand why the querant would not want to have her reading in a public place like a coffee shop, though I've done readings for people at Starbucks. Depending on what your weather is like, I recommend a public park. One of the best and most memorable readings I've ever done happenned sitting on the grass in a public park. I used rocks to weight my cards down to ward off the wind, and the atmosphere was amazing. :)