“I’ve Always Wanted a Tarot Reading, But I’m So Scared”
“I’ve always wanted a tarot reading, but I’m so scared.”
“Of what?” I ask.
“I don’t know. I’m just so scared of what you’ll say.”
It’s rare for someone to find out I do this and not immediately launch into the above dialogue. I’m not exactly sure what it is about tarot that sparks such a high level of fear, but I mostly blame crappy television and movie depictions of tarot readers. This, in combination with largely biblically based fear mongering and incorrect information about tarot, keeps many people feeling “safer” at a distance while wrapped in a cloak of ignorance and misinformation. Television and movies like to portray tarot readers as shady and dark individuals (usually women since women are super scary) who use cryptic messages from the future to frighten and manipulate people. It’s not uncommon for these fictional tarot “masters” to predict violent deaths or horrible misfortune while presenting no option for changing the outcome and with no mention of free will. The rest of the readers you see usually have some kind of mysterious connection with dark forces and have often traded their souls for this forbidden tarot knowledge. If this is what you’re expecting to experience or encounter during a reading, no wonder you’re afraid. Shit, I would be too.
In reality, you should be no more afraid of tarot than you are of seeing a therapist. A therapist helps you look at your own issues alongside your patterns of behavior and thought. They help you develop strategies to live your best life and to help you become your most authentic self. They spend time talking to you to help you determine for yourself what your options are when making choices and then support you as you choose the option that works best for you. They empower you to become the best version of yourself by examining what barriers are holding you back and work with you to learn the strategies to overcome those barriers. They look at your past experiences with you to help you connect those experiences to your present circumstances and then look at how these things together can influence your future choices and outcomes. They help you achieve an awareness of the “why” behind things in your life and the “how” to effectively change those things you want to change. The responsibility to put any of what is learned into action is always yours though. Your therapist cannot make anything happen. Only YOU hold the power to affect an outcome.
Wait a minute…..that sounds exactly like a good tarot master who is using tarot as it is meant to be used. That actually sounds really helpful and useful and not scary or evil in any way. You mean to tell me that a skilled tarot master and a therapist are actually trying to guide you to the same self actualized place? They’re both here to help you shape your future in the most beneficial way for your own chosen life path? You are still the one ultimately responsible for acting on what is uncovered during your reading and for making the choices that lead to the ultimate outcome? Yep. It’s true.
Please understand that there is a huge difference between an actual tarot master and a sketchy movie fortune teller. Unfortunately, it’s usually the sketchy fortune teller who gets the spotlight in popular culture. This grossly incorrect depiction of tarot and how it works is largely responsible for the continued fear and misunderstanding I encounter nearly every time the subject comes up. This is really unfortunate because there are so many people who’s lives could take a totally different direction. If individuals were examining themselves in the deep way that tarot in the hands of a skilled reader allows, they could uncover and change so many things. Unfortunately, fear, some very deeply rooted misconceptions, and a consistently inaccurate portrayal of tarot readers continues to keep people away from this remarkably insightful practice. Tarot is not a cheap parlor trick. It’s not a “woo-woo” spectacle. It is an incredibly valuable tool for self reflection and growth, and if self reflection and growth is wrong, I don’t want to be right. I mean, I can throw in some “woo-woo” fortune telling shenanigans just for theatrics and fun if you’re into it, especially at parties and such where I’m hired mainly for my entertainment value. I can blow your mind with what I can tell you about yourself and your life, but that’s because I’m also psychically gifted completely separate from the cards. Other than as a party performer, I really don’t like to take my readings to that “woo-woo” psychic space unless what I’m seeing is going to be very beneficial or empowering for you to know and only if it’s something you want to discuss right then. It’s not my intention or my style to read that way. I like to use this skill as it was meant to be used. For the most part I’m like a therapist, but with a deck of cards in front of me, who is helping you look at yourself in a way you likely haven’t ever looked at yourself before. I’m actually really disappointingly unfrightening, unmysterious, and boringly ordinary when I read for people.
What could you learn about yourself if you were able to put aside your fears and biases and talk to me for a while?
I’m not sure if we could get any further away from the reality of tarot than movie depictions just like this.