Introduction: “The Tarot Experience”

I have loved the Tarot since I first read about it in a library book when I was ten years old. That year I begged for a Tarot deck for Christmas, which I was so thrilled to receive. I spent that Christmas day studying the three books that had come with that Rider-Waite-Smith deck, furiously trying to memorize as many of the card meanings as possible so that I could provide readings to all the family members as they gathered at my grandparents’ house that evening. I thought back then that all the power was in the cards and I just needed to memorize the key words for each in order to render an accurate vision of the future.

It’s been more than twenty-five years since I was gifted that first deck. I’ve retained that same enthusiasm over the years, but I now understand that there is so much more to interpreting the cards than memorizing a few key words. I’ve come to appreciate the degree to which the Tarot are about more than mere “fortune telling” or providing glimpses of the future. The Tarot can actually serve as a wise, informed, and insightful friend who has seen a few things and can help us out when we feel lost, conflicted, or in need of reassurance. The Tarot can also keep us grounded and in touch with our realities when we are tempted to run away with our own self-delusions, serving, again, like a trusted and honest friend.

I do treat my cards like friends. I talk to them. I try to make them comfortable in the pouches in which each of my decks live. I treat them with reverence and respect. But what kind of friend would I be if I didn’t also tease, cajole, and make jokes with them? In return, the cards playfully, even affectionately tease me back, sometimes even threatening me with terrifying vision of the future if I’ve gone a step too far in pushing their patience. But, as is the case with any close friend, I know when they’re kidding and when they’re being serious. And they know when it’s playtime and not. It’s a relationship characterized by mutual respect, a shared vision for life, and nothing less than love.

I started this blog to have a place to publicly share the same thoughts that might go into a Tarot journal. But instead of having a private log of my thoughts, discoveries, and reflections, I wanted to share them with everyone who might be interested. I hope that we can form a kind of community of committed Tarot readers. In no way do I wish to discourage beginners, dabblers, or those with a merely burgeoning interest or curiosity from reading my posts or asking questions. I’m sure there is a lot to learn here. But I did want to engage with more seasoned readers and converse about topics that go beyond the basics.

Here are some of the questions that I hope to address in upcoming posts:

• How do we develop and follow the intuition necessary to interpret the cards?
• What does it mean when the cards seem sluggish, reticent, or obstinate and how can we deal with that?
• Of all the possible techniques for reading card reversals, how do we know which is right for that moment?
• How do we interpret the court cards when they appear in a way that seems out of alignment with the context? What is being shown to us in those moments?
• How do we deal, practically and emotionally, with querents who are unimpressed and difficult to please, or perhaps, who have become overly enthusiastic and even obsessive with our readings?
• How can reading the cards for ourselves help us in our own everyday lives? What practical advise can they give us and what does that look like?
• What can we learn from each other as a community of Tarot readers?
• What can our community share with the world? What knowledge, skill, and experience do we possess that transcends the cards and can be meaningful to all of those around us?
• What do the years we spend studying—but marvelously never mastering—the Tarot teach us about ourselves, what we’re capable of, and how to transform ourselves in countless other ways?

And this ultimately unexplainable phenomenon of recognizing truth when it appears—whether mundane or miraculous or outright magical—is at the core of what I like to call “the Tarot experience.”

I pose these questions as a sneak preview of upcoming posts but I assure you that I do not have all the answers. In fact, I have posed these questions here to inspire myself to contemplate each over the long term. By posing a question and letting it linger in the air, we are inviting the answer to reveal itself. Sometimes the cards themselves are happy to provide the answers we seek. Sometimes the answer comes in the form of a brilliant insight that occurs on a walk, in the shower, or while driving to work. Whether they come from our own logical reasoning or unconscious affect, whether from the collective unconscious or a realm beyond our rational comprehension, I believe that we recognize the right answers when we see them. And this ultimately unexplainable phenomenon of recognizing truth when it appears—whether mundane or miraculous or outright magical—is at the core of what I like to call “the Tarot experience.”

Enjoy your time here and please share your own answers and insights as well.