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great article! i've always considered tarot to be both a parlor trick and an introspection tool. the cards are so rich in symbols that your mind will find some

great article! i've always considered tarot to be both a parlor trick and an introspection tool. the cards are so rich in symbols that your mind will find some way to connect the dots to make them applicable to your life. in this way the cards can bring to the fore certain things about yourself that maybe you wouldn't have consciously thought about otherwise. if you're interested, the best book on the subject that i've read is "the way of tarot" by jodorowsky (yes that jodorowsky).

zzalpha 9y ago
This sounds very similar to a basic technique I find useful for making difficult decisions: the coin flip. If I can't seem to decide between A or B, I flip a coin. If, in doing so, the answer is A, one of three things happens: I find I like the answer, and it turns out it was my preference all along. I find I prefer B after all, and just didn't realize it. Or, I really don't care in which case the coin flip was as good an answer as any I could've come to. The coin didn't tell me anything. But by forcing a decision it revealed something I didn't consciously understand.
- daodedickinson 9y ago
  So, almost exactly how Socrates told people to use oracles.
- Pamar 9y ago
  Yes, precisely that - I use I-Ching instead. I plan to write a bit more about this, but I haven't got around it yet. In the meantime, everyone interested in using I-Ching (or any other kind of "oracle device") to re-evaluate your options can read this: https://aeon.co/essays/forget-prophecy-the-i-ching-is-an-uncertainty-machine https://aeon.co/essays/forget-prophecy-the-i-ching-is-an-unc...
  - 52-6F-62 9y ago
    Funny, while I stray from mysticism of any kind after growing up in a Christian church (most of my youth, anyway), I enjoy the I-Ching for that very reason and have for a few years. It's taken me down the road from a life where I was far more miserable than I realized, and to one that more aligns with my hopes. I have to say it also, just the practice of re-evaluation of my own opinions and feelings, has helped me to be more honest with myself and the people I care about regarding my feelings -- shirking the old "stiff upper lip" until I'm miserable again. It's freeing, even if the practicals don't change on the timeline you want.
- perilunar 9y ago
  Piet Hein wrote a "grook" on just this: A PSYCHOLOGICAL TIP Whenever you're called on to make up your mind, and you're hampered by not having any, the best way to solve the dilemma, you'll find, is simply by spinning a penny. No -- not so that chance shall decide the affair while you're passively standing there moping; but the moment the penny is up in the air, you suddenly know what you're hoping.
- JKCalhoun 9y ago
  The problem with the coin flip is that you have established (narrowly, I think) one of two outcomes. Tarot allows for the possibility of a third. Or fourth. Or fifth.
- cynicalbastard 9y ago
  i learned this the hard way, after doing what the coin said, and having to reverse course a couple of times. on minor stuff only, of course. on anything important i'll sleep on it and the answer will usually come to me the next day or two.
NathanKP 9y ago
Exactly this. I appreciate tarot cards because the symbolism stimulates your imagination and helps you to think of new ways to solve problems, or new perspectives on things in your life. The approach of mentally asking a question or thinking about something such as "my future" and then selecting a random card gives you one of 78 different lenses through which to think about that topic. From there your mind takes over and does the rest of the work to figure out if that particular symbolic lens applies to the subject at hand, and sometimes it helps you to realize things that you already had subconsciously. I'm solidly in the "soft" camp mentioned in the article, but I'm also pretty into tarot, enough that I've gotten a large half sleeve tattoo that features various tarot cards that I felt were especially meaningful at various points in my life. I plan to continue it as I experience life events that I think are meaningful enough to be associated with a card from the deck.
Pamar 9y ago
Seconded. I have seen Jodorowsky perform in public in a couple of occasions and he was always very interesting. Also, he is humble, warm and funny and a pretty fascinating speaker.
JKCalhoun 9y ago
Introspection nails it, I think. I remember a woman volunteering to give me a reading. The question I wanted divined was about "relationships", the answer she interpreted from the lay of the cards was "work". I leaned back and thought, "Perhaps the relationship thing will take it's own course, I should be thinking about getting my financial house in order." And so it did and so I did.
- creepydata 9y ago
  That's actually really good advice considering that finances are one of the biggest stressors in romantic relationships. Getting your financial life together makes the romantic life much easier and more natural.
mtzaldo 9y ago
Yes, I have read "the way of the tarot" and watched several videos regarding the idea of using the tarot for healing. I agree with the idea that the tarot is not a tool for "seen the future" instead as a tool to dive deep in the unknown of our daily life. What mean is, it can really help you to be aware of things about a situation or about yourself that you aren't aware of.

zzalpha 9y ago

This sounds very similar to a basic technique I find useful for making difficult decisions: the coin flip. If I can't seem to decide between A or B, I flip a coin. If, in doing so, the answer is A, one of three things happens: I find I like the answer, and it turns out it was my preference all along. I find I prefer B after all, and just didn't realize it. Or, I really don't care in which case the coin flip was as good an answer as any I could've come to. The coin didn't tell me anything. But by forcing a decision it revealed something I didn't consciously understand.

daodedickinson 9y ago
So, almost exactly how Socrates told people to use oracles.
Pamar 9y ago
Yes, precisely that - I use I-Ching instead. I plan to write a bit more about this, but I haven't got around it yet. In the meantime, everyone interested in using I-Ching (or any other kind of "oracle device") to re-evaluate your options can read this: https://aeon.co/essays/forget-prophecy-the-i-ching-is-an-uncertainty-machine https://aeon.co/essays/forget-prophecy-the-i-ching-is-an-unc...
- 52-6F-62 9y ago
  Funny, while I stray from mysticism of any kind after growing up in a Christian church (most of my youth, anyway), I enjoy the I-Ching for that very reason and have for a few years. It's taken me down the road from a life where I was far more miserable than I realized, and to one that more aligns with my hopes. I have to say it also, just the practice of re-evaluation of my own opinions and feelings, has helped me to be more honest with myself and the people I care about regarding my feelings -- shirking the old "stiff upper lip" until I'm miserable again. It's freeing, even if the practicals don't change on the timeline you want.
perilunar 9y ago
Piet Hein wrote a "grook" on just this: A PSYCHOLOGICAL TIP Whenever you're called on to make up your mind, and you're hampered by not having any, the best way to solve the dilemma, you'll find, is simply by spinning a penny. No -- not so that chance shall decide the affair while you're passively standing there moping; but the moment the penny is up in the air, you suddenly know what you're hoping.
JKCalhoun 9y ago
The problem with the coin flip is that you have established (narrowly, I think) one of two outcomes. Tarot allows for the possibility of a third. Or fourth. Or fifth.
cynicalbastard 9y ago
i learned this the hard way, after doing what the coin said, and having to reverse course a couple of times. on minor stuff only, of course. on anything important i'll sleep on it and the answer will usually come to me the next day or two.

NathanKP 9y ago

Exactly this. I appreciate tarot cards because the symbolism stimulates your imagination and helps you to think of new ways to solve problems, or new perspectives on things in your life. The approach of mentally asking a question or thinking about something such as "my future" and then selecting a random card gives you one of 78 different lenses through which to think about that topic. From there your mind takes over and does the rest of the work to figure out if that particular symbolic lens applies to the subject at hand, and sometimes it helps you to realize things that you already had subconsciously. I'm solidly in the "soft" camp mentioned in the article, but I'm also pretty into tarot, enough that I've gotten a large half sleeve tattoo that features various tarot cards that I felt were especially meaningful at various points in my life. I plan to continue it as I experience life events that I think are meaningful enough to be associated with a card from the deck.

Pamar 9y ago

Seconded. I have seen Jodorowsky perform in public in a couple of occasions and he was always very interesting. Also, he is humble, warm and funny and a pretty fascinating speaker.

JKCalhoun 9y ago

Introspection nails it, I think. I remember a woman volunteering to give me a reading. The question I wanted divined was about "relationships", the answer she interpreted from the lay of the cards was "work". I leaned back and thought, "Perhaps the relationship thing will take it's own course, I should be thinking about getting my financial house in order." And so it did and so I did.

creepydata 9y ago
That's actually really good advice considering that finances are one of the biggest stressors in romantic relationships. Getting your financial life together makes the romantic life much easier and more natural.

mtzaldo 9y ago

Yes, I have read "the way of the tarot" and watched several videos regarding the idea of using the tarot for healing. I agree with the idea that the tarot is not a tool for "seen the future" instead as a tool to dive deep in the unknown of our daily life. What mean is, it can really help you to be aware of things about a situation or about yourself that you aren't aware of.