Who is Interested in Tarot and Why?

Reflections on a Tarot Class

I had the really spectacular experience of teaching a tarot class at a college through their continuing education program. I love tarot and I love teaching but I didn’t know what to expect. I have been an English professor for ten years and a dance teacher for twenty, but I didn’t know what to expect ‘teaching tarot!’ The college’s staff and I decided to give it a try and offer a four-hour intensive intro to tarot on a Saturday morning. This incredible day changed my perspective for sure, and I know it also did for so many of the participants. I left the campus that day smiling and glowing. I knew that I would be a tarot teacher forever.

I’ll share some of my reflections and insights from the class here.

Is tarot taken seriously?

I, of course, take tarot seriously. I have been studying this art for thirty years. But I must not have been convinced that it would be taken seriously by others, or by the world as a whole. This four-hour tarot seminar really confirmed for me that serious people are in fact interested in tarot and are excited to begin their tarot journeys.

First of all, we hoped to just get seven people signed up so that it would be worthwhile for the college to host the class. We wondered if that was even possible. Eighteen amazing people joined us that Saturday morning! I was ecstatic to watch the numbers go up after registration opened.

Not only was the number of individuals willing to take the class exciting, but these were really extraordinary individuals. There were professionals of all kinds: professors, therapists, social workers, librarians (several), multiple doctoral degrees. But even more importantly than the high levels of skill and education were the high levels of openness, positivity, and pure friendliness. The energy was high and inspiring and it stayed that way the entire time!

These individuals came to the class because, in one way or another, they had all felt intrigued by the idea of consulting the cards for personal growth and development. Many in the world may think of tarot as silly, superstitious bunk or even worse, a scam perpetrated by con artists. But I wish I could have invited the whole world to see what a positively transformative experience this really was. The class was enjoyable but serious, just like study of the cards was intended to be. Tears threaten to come to my eyes when I say,”I honestly believe that we did justice to this very old and very worthwhile practice that day.”

Tears threaten to come to my eyes when I say, “I honestly believe that we did justice to this very old and very worthwhile practice that day.”

How do you teach tarot?

I knew that I didn’t want to structure the class as lecture-heavy where I just stood at the front of the room and filled the four hours by pontificating upon what each card means. Not only would that be incredibly boring for everyone, myself included, but passively taking in information like that is no way to learn a practical, dynamic, and interactive subjective skill like reading the tarot. I knew they would want to get working with their cards right away (though some were apprehensive to take that first step, but I reassured them!). And, as a professor, I knew the valuable of rich, deep discussion. And we experienced a lot of it that day! While understanding the traditional meanings of the cards is important, so much of that information is available in excellent reference books. I predicted that the practical and personally subjective elements would be the most valued by participants and that was certainly the case.

We learned techniques for interpreting the meanings of cards as well as helpful practices like keeping a tarot journal, developing a personal dictionary of meanings (with mini stickers I gave them!), and getting into habits like my Daily Duo Draw (explained here). We also discussed and practiced the skill I call card confabulation (explained here) in which we synthesize meaning from the interactions between multiple cards. We found our discussions beginning to transcend just the practice of tarot to discuss the nature of life and lived experience itself. All of humanity and human experience is indeed encoded within the cards and the structure of the tarot deck.

Four hours may seem like a long time, with the need for a ton of “material” to fill it. But we all agreed that time passed so quickly and pleasantly. This was merely the beginning of a tarot journey for so many of the participants. I knew that I couldn’t teach them everything on one Saturday. After all, one lifetime isn’t enough to take in everything that tarot has to offer.

I also shared my personal “tarot truths:” maxims that we can take for granted as we read the cards because we’ve “decided and determined” that they were true:

• Thee is no wrong way to shuffle or draw the cards. Randomness is the only criterion.
• The cards fully understand the question (if we do!).
• The cards are directly addressing the question or the issue you’ve presented to them. There is no need to repeatedly ask the same question or endlessly draw more cards, desperate for clarity. The answer is in what you’ve drawn and that’s it.
• The cards will never give you a message that you can’t interpret by yourself and your own intuition.
• The cards will only ever offer you positive insights. You can walk away from a reading empowered, never discouraged.

So what did I learn? How was I changed as a result of this stellar experience teaching tarot?

I can’t wait to do it again. I learned that teaching tarot is an art and practice completely distinct from reading tarot. And I love it. I want to do it more frequently and I hope I always have students that are at least as half as inspiring as the ones that I had that day. I have kept in touch with several. They’ve promised to return for more. And just today, as I write this, I signed a contract to teach more sessions this summer. Teaching tarot is also an intuitive art. Certainly, you need to be prepared for class just like a teacher of any other skill. But with this art, especially, you need to be completely open to what’s presented to you and to access and listen to your own intuition. You never know what the cards have in store for you!