Tarot Cards - It's all Just Cold Reading...

[Jeremy Rogers]

I think that the professional skeptics out there, who have cornered a nice little 'expert talking head' niche for themselves, have a tendency to make sweeping statements about what tarot (and astrology) is, with the implication that all tarot readers are just out to make an easy buck. Point 1 it's never an easy buck, there are much easier ways to make a living, Point 2 is that 'cold reading' is just as much a part of the tarot 'performance' as 'magic' is in an illusionist's act - the person enjoying the performance, in both cases, willingly suspends rational belief in order to be entertained. The guy that fixes my car, the tv repairman, these people work 'magic' for me - I certainly couldn't manage what they do.
Does anyone really believe that the Tarot reader 'sees' into their mind with the help of the cards? Good readers are naturally empathic, highly intuitive people who help to articulate what is on the questioner's mind, making it easier for the questioner to understand decisions, choices and issues, and how to act on them. This adds a high degree of responsibility when it comes to areas that require more qualified, professional attention, which good readers are quick to refer on to. Opinions on Tarot, people?

[turtlemoon]

I agree with you regarding there being easier ways to earn a living!!!!!! I dont think that a reputable Tarot Reader would "cold read" although obviously there is a degree of this involved i imagine. I am not competent enough to do Tarot Readings at a professional level but i would say, as a clairvoyant medium, empathy and intuition play a large part in readings that are given, which i would assume the same to be said of Tarot Readers.

Basically, a person does a job for which they are usually well suited. In essence Tarot Readers are such becuase they have a high degree of intelligence, integrity and intuition. I couldnt read Tarot in any great depth and i think those that do should be encouraged !!!!

Besides, you are bound to get sceptics in fields such as this, its sort of begs for it! Id like to see one of them give me a credible Tarot reading though :)

[Jeremy Rogers]

The depressing thing is, they believe they can. I watched one on tv and wondered how many takes ended up abandoned - the few that were shown featured people who were clearly embarrassed at being filmed, and even more so by the awful 'reading'. There is a strange belief amongst skeptics that all tarot readers do nothing more than utter a few vague generalities that anyone would actually want to hear and identify with, and I really don't believe that the ones I have come across have ever seen a good reader at work.

You really find out the finer functions of Tarot when you do it by eMail, when you have to trust the cards. It's an instructive and intriguing exercise and having done several a day for nearly a year I am increasingly intrigued by how effective it can be. Face to face it is very different - the immediate feedback and the presence of the questioner changes everything. Cold reading is unavoidable and utterly natural - we all do it all the time, not just in tarot readings - but really accomplished performers like Derren Brown earn plaudits and admiration for their work which involves a lot of cold reading. My point is that we underestimate our abilities, especially intuitive and empathic abilities, which tarot can focus with great effect. Most of the supernatural associations that Tarot has acquired have been courtesy of critics and skeptics - take away any suggestion of the supernatural and you still have a very effective process. Many 'new age' therapies suffer in the same way.

Thats my soapbox for the day! I'd just like to quote a grand old Romany lady I met long ago when I started reading who told me that "these days we have these 'psycho-trickerists' " and that when she was a 'gel' in North East London, they had card readers, and it was much the same thing but cheaper.

[Dorothy]

For me, tarot is a tool which helps me link with spirit. I don't use the conventional cards, I use a photo pack which is quite different and has been startlingly accurate in its use. Tarot is not for people to play with, it is an essential divination tool which is accurate, predictive, interesting and ever changing. Nothing is cold about it, when I read for someone they are not with me, I cannot see into their mind, I cannot read body language, I have nothing but an email or a short handwritten letter from which to make my reading. Feedback, unusual, accurate, helpful. Because it attunes me with spirit and spirit give me the answer with the help of the cards which are laid out on the desk for me to read. Is this wrong? Or is this the way tarot reading should be? I do the same thing with my main work, Mayan stone readings, reading from the placement of stones, as the Mayans did thousands of years ago.

[turtlemoon]

I think Dorothy, you have made a very valuable point here... in as much as the Tarot are a tool and not a game ! People dont seem to realise the accuracy of Tarot and the usefulness of such a tool. Even if someone WAS to "play" with them i think they would soon realise its value.

I use Angel cards which have the same effect of working with Spirit, i use them to work from a different angle during a clients reading. At the end of the day, for me, linking with and working with Spirit for the benefit of the client and working from the heart and being honest is the most important thing. I dont think its wrong, in any way shape or form. If stone readings work for you, then so be it, you are very lucky to be blessed with such a gift!