Tarot Magic

I never fail to be amazed at the synchronicity of the Tarot and the matter at hand. I have read Tarot cards for many people, primarily in a party setting. Yet even some of the people who come to my table see Tarot as no more than as a parlor trick, are able to receive valuable insight.

I can't offer any logical explanation why the random choice of cards from a shuffled deck should have any more relationship with the client or even party guest than the price of tea in China, but it does.

Time after time an insight that speaks directly to the client's issue pops out. This is the magic of the Tarot and it is truly magic.

I've come to realize that the cards that appear are exactly the right cards. The complicated part is figuring out why. 

That is because no selection of cards that make sense unless we know the question and the life context of the client.

Often the client's actual question is not the spoken question. Then the spoken question is not the Tarot answers. 

Then the skill of the reader is necessary to tease the underlying question from the client. 

This is one reason readers who read for themselves sometimes run into difficulty; they are too close to their situation to know exactly what they want to know or what they need to hear.

But readers who read for themselves have a huge advantage of knowing more than anyone else about their life context. 

After all, Tarot images are an elaborate system of symbols. And each symbol has a whole set of meanings. It is not possible to know which is applicable to the client until it can be plugged into context.

The best way to understand this is by example. The Universal Waite 4 of Cups, a card showing a seated figure under a tree with his arms akimbo with 3 cups in front of him and a fourth offered by a hand from a cloud, appeared in one reading for a woman contemplating whether she should have a fourth child.

Yet, for another client, the 4 of Cups, this time reversed or upside down, symbolized additional responsibilities she did not want to take on.

Same card, two different clients, two very different interpretations. And neither interpretation is a traditional book definition of the card’s meaning.

My personal style is that of an interactive reader. That is the exchange of words and energy between the client and myself helps me to hone in on the cards’ message.

It also helps when both reader and client are relaxed and open with each other.

But when the ingredients come together, the results are indeed magical.

Comments

[Jeanine Byers Hoag]

What often happens for me is that I think I am only reading for a client or friend, but don't realize that I am asking a question, too, until it hits me that the cards are answering my question, too!

And I agree, Ellen, it's amazing!

[Ellen Zucker]

Thank you, Jeanine, for validating my experience.