Do you believe in Tarot?

[Joan Marie]

I had two very deep and interesting conversations last night.
It was strange because they were completely separate and yet the same very specific topics came up in both.

They were private conversations so I won't discuss the details, but in both of them the tarot played a very profound role in the one life-experience that every single one of us has, without exception: grief and loss.

I was still thinking about these conversations this morning, considering how, although we don't talk about it so much, tarot plays such a meaningful role in our lives. It's not just a hobby or past time. Sometimes it is, but for most of us, it's also something we can turn to in difficult and troubling times. We learn to listen and to understand and trust what the cards are showing us.

I then thought about all the times when people who do not practice reading the Tarot will ask "Do you believe in Tarot?"

We've all heard this question. And aside from the usually pejorative nature of it, what bothers me about the question is the word "believe."
To believe in something requires either the existence of Facts That I Accept As True, or a kind of religious blind, unquestioning faith.

For me, it is neither of these.

Asking a tarot practitioner if they "believe" in tarot is like asking someone if they "believe" in books or movies. Yes of course they exist, but is it possible to learn from them, to see your own life and experience reflected in them, and be moved or changed by them? Or does all information have to be presented to you as fact, fact, fact, for you to take it on board?

Tarot is about the nuance of story, how it affects you in different ways at different times.

Think about a love song. You may hear it and think, "Nice song" and maybe catch yourself humming it for a couple of days. But then later you are in love, and you hear that same song and suddenly it is something else entirely. That song helps you to understand your own feelings better, your own state of mind. You open up to it, and the message of it, differently than before. Then later, after a bad break-up, you hear it again, and then you hear other things in it you had not when you heard it before.

It was the same song all three times, but somehow you heard it differently each time. It spoke to you differently each time. And you were moved. You were changed in some way. The experience was intense. It was real.

Tarot isn't about "belief." It's about being curious. Listening. Observing and having sensitivity to certain things.

I think it is profoundly human and a wonderful thing to be connected to.

[Diana]

I then thought about all the times when people who do not practice reading the Tarot will ask "Do you believe in Tarot?"

We've all heard this question. And aside from the usually pejorative nature of it, what bothers me about the question is the word "believe."
To believe in something requires either the existence of Facts That I Accept As True, or a kind of religious blind, unquestioning faith.

For me, it is neither of these.

Asking a tarot practitioner if they "believe" in tarot is like asking someone if they "believe" in books or movies. Yes of course they exist, but is it possible to learn from them, to see your own life and experience reflected in them, and be moved or changed by them? Or does all information have to be presented to you as fact, fact, fact, for you to take it on board?

I hear you sister.

"So you actually BELIEVE in the Tarot ??" So I say "And, you, do you actually BELIEVE in electricity ?" This usually stumps them for a little while.

You can "believe" in electricity till kingdom come, and even until the millionth kingdom has come, but nothing will happen if you just stare at a light bulb and saying "I believe in you" or "I don't believe in you". Either the switch works or it doesn't when you switch it. And the Tarot works. And that's why I "believe" in it. But only because it works. And I know it works because I can experience it. It is a reality, just as real as the electricity - the effects of which I can experience such as when I switch on a light, or switch on my laptop.

The Tarot is something that one experiences through learning how it works, its mechanisms, its nature, its origins. It's doesn't take long for anyone who is curious enough to look into it so see that there is something very unusual about the Tarot. And the further one goes into it, one realises that there is no need for any kind of belief, because it's something very real and structured. It's almost as if the Tarot is the allegory of humankind - and of each individual in it.

Belief is actually one of the reversed aspects of both the Devil XV and Le Pape V, which as Belenus pointed out recently are pairs. So some of the people asking this question would be V and others would be XV. That makes a lot of sense.

[BlackTarotCards]

I had two very deep and interesting conversations last night.
It was strange because they were completely separate and yet the same very specific topics came up in both.

They were private conversations so I won't discuss the details, but in both of them the tarot played a very profound role in the one life-experience that every single one of us has, without exception: grief and loss.

I was still thinking about these conversations this morning, considering how, although we don't talk about it so much, tarot plays such a meaningful role in our lives. It's not just a hobby or past time. Sometimes it is, but for most of us, it's also something we can turn to in difficult and troubling times. We learn to listen and to understand and trust what the cards are showing us.

I then thought about all the times when people who do not practice reading the Tarot will ask "Do you believe in Tarot?"

We've all heard this question. And aside from the usually pejorative nature of it, what bothers me about the question is the word "believe."
To believe in something requires either the existence of Facts That I Accept As True, or a kind of religious blind, unquestioning faith.

For me, it is neither of these.

Asking a tarot practitioner if they "believe" in tarot is like asking someone if they "believe" in books or movies. Yes of course they exist, but is it possible to learn from them, to see your own life and experience reflected in them, and be moved or changed by them? Or does all information have to be presented to you as fact, fact, fact, for you to take it on board?

Tarot is about the nuance of story, how it affects you in different ways at different times.

Think about a love song. You may hear it and think, "Nice song" and maybe catch yourself humming it for a couple of days. But then later you are in love, and you hear that same song and suddenly it is something else entirely. That song helps you to understand your own feelings better, your own state of mind. You open up to it, and the message of it, differently than before. Then later, after a bad break-up, you hear it again, and then you hear other things in it you had not when you heard it before.

It was the same song all three times, but somehow you heard it differently each time. It spoke to you differently each time. And you were moved. You were changed in some way. The experience was intense. It was real.

Tarot isn't about "belief." It's about being curious. Listening. Observing and having sensitivity to certain things.

I think it is profoundly human and a wonderful thing to be connected to.

Thank you so much for your post, Joan Marie.

I think of tarot, in what seems to me, a very similar manner. One way I describe it is that reading a tarot spread is like discovering the moral of a story. If I go to a friend and discuss my life with them and that prompts them to recommend a book, I'll try to apply the wisdom I can glean from that book to my life.

I try my best to look for wisdom in what the universe presents me, including tarot.

[Monk]

Dear Joan Marie,

Next time you are confronted with the concept of "believing":

When people speak of it, often it is just a word conveying intention. People use it in many different contexts and for many different reasons. I get your line of thought about the love song triggering different lines of emotional thought in different contexts. It works the same for me. I 'believe' it works the same for everyone. So when people ask you whether you believe in Tarot, maybe they are simply asking 'how' you feel about the Tarot?

When I first read your post I was immediately pondering a response as I can relate to your question. I noticed I was trying to make an analogy in my head that could explain at least to myself how I see "believing". The very first thing that came to mind is love. Love for me is very entangled with believing and having faith. Not necessarily in a religious context. When considering my emotional fragilities it is very clear to me that giving my love to someone is only working for me because I chose to believe and have faith in my partner. I chose to believe that in engaging with her, integrating her into my life path that it will lead to where I mean it to go. I feel I have a path in life and I can feel it being the right one for me, I even am sort of emotionally depending on it as my motivations come from the heart. So, I believe my partner is the right person for me, as I have 'felt' she is providing me with all the right stuff I need. Up to a certain degree my 'love' for the occult and arcane is constituted in the same way by believing it provides me with the right perspective on my world.

So, for me if ever asked whether I believe in the Tarot; the answer will most likely be yes. The concept of believing is nót about things being rigid or absolute, or even about ditching curiosity. And so, believing in the Tarot also doesn't make it rigid, to me it just means I trust the Tarot to be a useful thing for me. I think that when I believe in myself and all I truly care about, stand by my life choices, stand by the way I "am" then I do not need to be ashamed about 'believing' in what I do.

So dont be offended by (narrow-minded) people questioning (the nature and origin of) your motivations and resorting to concepts like believing to place your answer in context. In a sense they are being curious in their own way.

One love,
Monk.

[Joan Marie]

So dont be offended by (narrow-minded) people questioning (the nature and origin of) your motivations and resorting to concepts like believing to place your answer in context. In a sense they are being curious in their own way.

This is lovely. Thank you.

[Monk]

So dont be offended by (narrow-minded) people questioning (the nature and origin of) your motivations and resorting to concepts like believing to place your answer in context. In a sense they are being curious in their own way.

This is lovely. Thank you.

I just hope it helps you trust in your beliefs when being questioned about them <3

Stay curious and open and have it all.

Monk

[Joan Marie]

I just hope it helps you trust in your beliefs when being questioned about them <3

That's really the thing, isn't it?

I find in life that people have this habit of positioning themselves all the time. This is what is often behind questions like "What do you do?"
People are very quick to put others into boxes.

As I write this, I realise I am projecting. I've been put into a lot of boxes and resented it. I've also done it to others.

But one has to grow out of this tendency. And that starts with having trust in your own beliefs, in yourself. Which is another way of saying love yourself, being kind to yourself. Then of course it's easier to show that same sort of understanding to others. You are so right when you say people are just being curious in their own way. Taking offence won't help anyone learn.

I guess this is on my mind because of the holidays and all the socialising that goes with them.

It's funny because I like competitive people, I am one. I find them interesting and challenging and often of great humour. No joke goes untopped! But joining that fray requires one to be well-centered. And certainly being easily offended is not a sign of well-centeredness.

[Monk]

I just hope it helps you trust in your beliefs when being questioned about them <3

It's funny because I like competitive people, I am one. I find them interesting and challenging and often of great humour. No joke goes untopped! But joining that fray requires one to be well-centered. And certainly being easily offended is not a sign of well-centeredness.

Word.

Thats the X-mas Spirit

Have a great one <3

[chongjasmine]

I don't believe tarot predicts the future, but I use it sometimes as a guide for my future.

[curiousanneli]

WELL YEAH I do. I have been stuck in life. no one to talk to. no one to undertand me. I spent life in walking, working and alone. and medically and socially and educationally I HAVE BEEN VERY SOUND. I am not deep rooted in religion but I do come from a religious household but still I found negativitiy. with my life being so adventurous now at a standstill I wanted someone to read me FOR FREE WITH CARE and atleast something that gives me peace, and not every tarot reader can do that. yem tarot was a peace to me . She can only reply on email. but I do believe in it because rather than going to a psychologist or a psychiatrist I better go to a "SINCERE" tarot reader to attend to the SOUL part of us which we all have.