Tarot: a credo-in-progress

By Sarah Taylor

Over the years that I have been working with tarot cards personally and professionally, I have begun to formulate in my own heart and mind a set of personal truths about the cards.

Ace of Swords - RWS Tarot deck.
The Ace of Swords from the Rider-Waite Smith Tarot deck. Swords are associated with thought; the Ace specifically symbolises, among other things, the potential for insight.

In essence, I have come to see these truths as a ‘credo’, the Latin word for “I believe.” Rather than a statement of fact, a credo is therefore a statement of belief. I cannot prove what I believe to be true about tarot, apart from its demonstrating to me time and again that it works. Nor would I want to foist my beliefs about tarot on anyone else, given that what is true for me isn’t necessarily true for the next person: one man’s tool of divination is another woman’s load of hooey. And fair enough: if we don’t have freedom of belief, then we have nothing (or so I believe!).

Moreover, those beliefs have been, and continue to be, subject to change, reinvestigation and redefinition as my work with tarot and my own ideas about divination — and life, really — have evolved. But I thought I’d share with you what it is that I’ve come up with. So far. Feel free to agree, disagree and add your views. I’d love to hear what you have to say.

Tarot tells it how it is

I believe the cards we get in any reading are 100% accurate, although this statement comes with a few qualifications:

#1: It is the translation that creates inaccuracies — especially when we are reading for ourselves, and/or when emotions, wishes and expectations start to come into play and are not adequately corralled.

#2: Sometimes ‘telling it how it is’ means drawing our attention to something more important than the current subject of the reading. When this happens, the cards tend to communicate in a bolder tone. Think of it as having a conversation with someone where they need to raise their voice, or wave their hand, in order to be heard: you know who it is that you’re speaking to; it’s just that they have to be more demonstrative because you aren’t quite expecting what it is that they’re saying.

At other times, the cards play what I often refer to as silly buggers: they question the question itself. This happens when we do a reading for the second, third, fourth time in a row because we don’t like the response we’re getting. The cards meet our desperation by becoming increasingly dramatic to mirror the desperation back to us. At this point I feel it’s counter-productive to read the meanings of each card literally because what they’re really saying is a collective “Enough already!” in the best way they know how.

#3: ‘How it is’ is subject to change, and tends to affect those cards that deal with longer-term outcomes — the tenth, ‘outcome’, card in the Celtic Cross, for example.

… Or does it? Can we really affect outcome? I’m adding this third qualification because, although the jury is still out for me on this one, I’m erring on the side of popular belief that we can change our destiny. But what I’m holding and toying with behind the scenes is the gut feeling that outcome will be outcome will be outcome. It might not come in the form we were expecting, but the card will be accurate in its own way.

Of course, all of these qualifications can be seen by sceptics as highly convenient ‘escape clauses’ whereby I get to explain just why and how it is that cards really are working even when they apparently aren’t. To that, I have no provable defence — save to point them in the direction of the word “credo.”

Tarot is a three-way exchange

This exchange takes two forms:

#1: Between reader, querent and source (or, where you’re doing the reading for yourself, between you as reader, you as questioner, and spirit — because there really should still be a division so that you preserve some objectivity).

#2: Between matter, consciousness and super-consciousness.

Readings are most effective when this trinity is invoked because it becomes holistic/wholistic in nature, which brings the idea of balance into an equation that could otherwise so easily slip one way or the other. When a reader’s agenda dominates, we run the risk of slipping into the realm of egotism; with the querent, fantasy; and when reader and querent are not there to bear witness and interpret the cards, their meanings remain in the realm of the unconscious. All three working together are akin to a form of magic.

Tarot is archetype-driven

Tarot cards are symbolic; each archetypal characteristic, experience or situation they depict is neutral. It is how we fill them with content — its quality and quantity — that gives them meaning. In this way tarot becomes ‘meaningful’ to us on a personal level; we bring it down from the transpersonal to the personal. They mirror our experience to us because it is we that they are seeing and responding to, and not the other way around.

This is an empowering thought, because then when we work with tarot, we are neither at the mercy of a fickle, cruel fate, nor are we entreating a genie in a bottle who is there to grant our every wish: we are the creators of our experience, and the tarot reflects this back to us.

Tarot = Intuition

Tarot is simply another way of using our intuition. Look at that word: “in-tuition” — the teaching from within. We are instructing ourselves. This follows on from the previous point that tarot reflects rather than directs. Any direction we are receiving is the one we are giving ourselves.

The more we practise using our intuition, the more we can hear our inner teacher. It speaks to us more quietly than most other voices because it is the language we use to communicate with spirit, which is more subtle than the world of matter in which we are more used to operating.

One clue: it works closely with our feelings. Intuition is like a toggle — it is on or off, there is flow or constriction, connection or disconnection. Consequently, when seeking out intuition, we will either feel opened up, or closed down. Qualities of emotion then stem from this experience and help us to define what it is that we are aligning with. Which emotions feel like they are opening us up? Which ones feel like they are closing us down? When is it that we are in touch with our intuition, and when is it that we are turning away from it?

Tarot is a means to an end

Tarot won’t solve our problems, make things happen, or make things go away. We do that for ourselves. I see tarot as one of many possible signposts on our journey — and, to go back to the point about archetypes, signposts are neutral.

That doesn’t mean, however, that we have to make the journey alone. There are many forms of divination; equally, there are many forms of assistance to help us read the signs and decide what to do based upon what they’re telling us. If at any time along the road we feel we need help, calling a friend, calling an advisor — hell, even calling the cavalry sometimes — might be the best thing we can do to take the next step. If the signpost tells you you’re entering the landscape of The Moon, wouldn’t you want a travelling companion well-versed in matters lunar holding your hand to help guide you through? Conversely, if the Four of Wands is inviting you to join the party, surely it would make sense to find people to dance with?

Tarot is never the answer. But I believe it’s a damn good start.

 

If you want to experiment with tarot cards and don’t have any, we provide a free tarot spread generator using the Celtic Wings spread, which is based on the traditional Celtic Cross spread. This article explains how to use the spread.

5 thoughts on “Tarot: a credo-in-progress”

  1. Hi Sarah,
    Thanks for this article,
    Your #2 made me smile because the fact that my not liking what the cards were saying last summer and re-doing the spread one or two more times–I got a card that was so clearly–“damn, girl, give it up. It Has Been Spoken” : > ) —I just laughed out loud. And haven’t done that again–at least not back to back as it was that evening.
    The other part in #2 that helped me was when I got an “answer” to a question last summer that seemed so off-but now I see it as the clear answer to the Real situation that was being addressed in my life.

    Makes me smile to think of this type of Mystery we have supporting us on our (pre?) destined ways.

    Hugs,
    Lea

  2. I was mulling over this idea of destiny and being able to change outcome on the way back from my walk this morning.

    I think I have a ‘Donnie Darko’ approach to outcome. In other words, we actually do change our outcome, but when we go back to the cards that we drew, we find that that was what was indicated anyway. So did we change it? Or is the cosmos one step ahead of us all the time (or, rather, is a part of us one step ahead of ourselves)?

  3. Sina I think that is true what you say about always being able to change direction, but I think what Sarah says is also true, for example I could choose to turn off the main road but in fact I don’t because my own astrological imprint makes it not my destiny (ie there is more at stake in some way than just the freedom of changing direction, not true to myself in someway, or true to the situation etc etc), or unideally I’m not aware enough to see the main road or the side roads or the difference and travel haphazardly.

  4. Sina – Thank you for such a clear explanation of the different roles of reader and querent, and also your thoughts on outcome. Actually, there’s a part of me that is nodding at what you write about the latter; there is a certain ‘click’ of recognition that I feel when you refer to that connection with spirit in that moment — and if that is my own intuition, then it is something I’d prefer not to ignore. Food for thought!

  5. Hi Sarah,

    As a new reader this year to PlanetWaves and your work, I have really enjoyed your insights on Tarot. And I agree that what ever cards come up for you, are 100% accurate for you, no doubt about it.
    When I first started learning about Tarot, 14-15 years ago, I was taught that a tarot reading was like being on a double decker bus, with the querant on the lower level driving it, seeing only directly in front of them. The reader is on the top level, seeing that little bit further ahead, and all the access roads and diversions leading off the main road, that the querant has access to, but can’t see as yet. As the reader, I always saw it as my responsibility to advise the querant of the twist and turns aheads, and the options available. Also the outcomes, if they stick to this particular path, or that one. However the Outcome, with the insight from the reading, is always still in the hands of the driver, who could turn corners and change direction at will, despite the insights from the reading. So to me, the outcome is always changeable because we do have free will. The reading, therefore, becomes a personal map, and if we are truly using our intuition, we will be wise enough to follow it, because it is a map chosen by the querant in conjunction with spirit always for our highest good. But if we choose to ignore the map, then we ignore our own intuition which had connected with spirit, at that moment, to reveal something important and personal to us.

    With deepest respect,
    Sina

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