The Intimacy of Tarot

[TashaTealeaf]

I am very interested in people and their inner lives. But I'm not the type who can just go up and talk to people and get their life's story. I'm a natural introvert with social anxiety.

Think the Hermit, alone on her mountain, watching everyone else go about their lives.

But with Tarot, I get a chance to glimpse into parts of people's lives. They invite me in. I love that each time I do a reading, I get this chance to meet and know another person in a controlled setting.

The cards act as a barrier: I'm not looking at you directly, but your reflection in the cards.

does anyone else have this sort of experience or feelings?

 

[Barleywine]

I hadn't thought much about it this way before (and I've been doing this a long time) but having the spread to focus on does depersonalize or defuse the emotional situation a bit, making it somewhat "clinical" and less volatile or potentially confrontational. It's really how we should be reading anyway, IMHO, letting the cards do the talking with us as the translator and interpreter, and having the querent respond directly to that, not to our personality. Can be easier said than done, but if we see ourselves more as "clinicians" and not "performers" it can be easier to maintain that "professional distance.".

 

[Tanga]

...I love that each time I do a reading, I get this chance to meet and know another person in a controlled setting.

The cards act as a barrier: I'm not looking at you directly, but your reflection in the cards.

does anyone else have this sort of experience or feelings?

I hadn't thought much about it this way before (and I've been doing this a long time) but having the spread to focus on does depersonalize or defuse the emotional situation a bit, making it somewhat "clinical" and less volatile or potentially confrontational. It's really how we should be reading anyway, IMHO, letting the cards do the talking with us as the translator and interpreter, and having the querent respond directly to that, not to our personality. Can be easier said than done, but if we see ourselves more as "clinicians" and not "performers" it can be easier to maintain that "professional distance.".

Yes and Yes.
And in process of the exchange one learns more about humanity and oneself, and feels more
"a part of the great whole".
As a body therapist I already practice that "professional distance" on a one-to-one basis.
Tarot presents this engagement to me in an interesting variation. (one where I can enjoy looking at pretty artwork ).

 

[nisaba]

am very interested in people and their inner lives.

Ditto.

I'm a natural introvert with social anxiety.

Also ditto, although I'm also a cheerful extrovert with leadership qualities (or I'm bossy).

But with Tarot, I get a chance to glimpse into parts of people's lives. They invite me in. I love that each time I do a reading, I get this chance to meet and know another person in a controlled setting.

And in a setting that tells you thinks about their inner-world that even their most intimate friends will never know.

The cards act as a barrier: I'm not looking at you directly, but your reflection in the cards.

And here we start to disagree. I feel that the cards act as a bypass or release of all the normal social barriers we erect: politeness, ("How are you?" "Fine, thanks."), habit, fear of what our friends might think if they saw the real us, etc etc.

You can get a lot more intimate information from a stranger who has a reading than from someone you've known and loved for decades.

 

[crystalrose]

I am very interested in people and their inner lives. But I'm not the type who can just go up and talk to people and get their life's story. I'm a natural introvert with social anxiety.

Think the Hermit, alone on her mountain, watching everyone else go about their lives.

But with Tarot, I get a chance to glimpse into parts of people's lives. They invite me in. I love that each time I do a reading, I get this chance to meet and know another person in a controlled setting.

The cards act as a barrier: I'm not looking at you directly, but your reflection in the cards.

does anyone else have this sort of experience or feelings?

Wow this is exactly how I view the cards and why I have so much fun doing readings! I feel like I have a window into other people's lives that I wouldn't get to see ordinarily.... Different thoughts, feelings, viewpoints, & situations, and I actually learn a lot by doing them, especially when the cards offer up advice that's the exact opposite of what I would say. It's always cool and interesting to see how other people differ from me.

I don't see the cards as a barrier, though. More like a conduit. When I read, I see and sometimes feel the person through the cards. At times it's like I'm reading the person's mind... I think the cards remove a barrier rather than pose one, at least in my experience.

 

[SwordOfTruth]

I am very interested in people and their inner lives. But I'm not the type who can just go up and talk to people and get their life's story. I'm a natural introvert with social anxiety.

Think the Hermit, alone on her mountain, watching everyone else go about their lives.

But with Tarot, I get a chance to glimpse into parts of people's lives. They invite me in. I love that each time I do a reading, I get this chance to meet and know another person in a controlled setting.

The cards act as a barrier: I'm not looking at you directly, but your reflection in the cards.

does anyone else have this sort of experience or feelings?

I am also a massive introvert and a recluse. I rarely leave my house except for work and necessities. I don't have any problems talking to people face to face but it's not always appropriate to ask someone flat out about their relationships, hopes and dreams etc. Those are conversations normally reserved for the closest confidantes. And it's fine I'm not nosey either, I'm really not that fascinated. But I do love to perform readings, not because it brings me closer to that person but because it seems to bring me closer to myself.

By flexing my intuitive muscle in a reading and losing myself in the cards I get some kind of personal reward for doing that. As if I get closer to myself by offering something to another. Hard to explain.

 

[TashaTealeaf]

And here we start to disagree. I feel that the cards act as a bypass or release of all the normal social barriers we erect: politeness, ("How are you?" "Fine, thanks."), habit, fear of what our friends might think if they saw the real us, etc etc.

You can get a lot more intimate information from a stranger who has a reading than from someone you've known and loved for decades.

I don't see the cards as a barrier, though. More like a conduit. When I read, I see and sometimes feel the person through the cards. At times it's like I'm reading the person's mind... I think the cards remove a barrier rather than pose one, at least in my experience.

I can see what you mean. Thanks, it gives me a bit to think about.

 

[TashaTealeaf]

I hadn't thought much about it this way before (and I've been doing this a long time) but having the spread to focus on does depersonalize or defuse the emotional situation a bit, making it somewhat "clinical" and less volatile or potentially confrontational.

This is the bit I like. I feel like it takes a bit of the heat off of me. I'm acting as a messenger, not just some stranger telling you what to do.

 

[TarotRNJess]

I agree with you about their reflections in the cards, but sometimes I feel that the reflection is almost more intense and although I try not to, it shapes a new image of people for me. People have so much depth and a lot of them never want to even touch that fact, so I try not to push people by just being a relayer of information. It is absolutely intimate and thank you for noting it.