Should Tarot be Mainstream?

Miren

I agree with you, stella, there are different kinds of mainstream. I would prefer it to be mainstream like apple pie (for Americans) rather than mainstream like McDonald's. People don't eat apple pie all the time and some people don't even like it, but it's simply a part of the tradition of overarching American society (not meaning to discredit various immigrant groups who don't share the tradition...this is just one of the best examples I could think of). Maybe people could accept tarot the same way they accept apple pie. Thus one's choice to use or not use the cards would be a matter of taste...whether or not they speak to you.
 

WolfSpirit

stella01904 said:
Hmmmm.....maybe mainstream French and Italian are not so appalling as the McMainstreamtm we get shoved down our throats over here. Maybe "mainstream" over there is determined by something other than advertising hype targeting the lowest common denominator?
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Well yes I suppose Italy and France are not representative for how tarot is regarded all over the world...I think it is part of their cultural history they are very eager to maintain.
I guess noone is really safe from McMainstreamtm ;) but it helps if you have a strong cultural background. If you learnt with a historic deck you will not fall for every fashionable deck.
For those who missed it - here are a few pictures of the "tarot people" from
the Torino Olympics 2006:

http://www.torino2006.org/ENG/OlympicGames/photogallery/gallery_228_16.html
http://www.torino2006.org/ENG/OlympicGames/photogallery/gallery_228_25.html
http://www.torino2006.org/ENG/OlympicGames/photogallery/gallery_228_25.html
 

SunChariot

Dark Inquisitor said:
I think I will quote myself :

" Sometimes it's better that they not be too mainstream . "

Notice I did not say mainstream . I said TOO mainstream.

What is too mainstream ? For me it would be turning on the tv and having to listen to some bubble head celebrity drone on about his/her deep tarot insights every other day . Such as you have to steal your first tarot deck or other fanciful news. Too mainstream would be Hanged Man cereal . Tarot "Churches" on every corner , with Tarot Witnesses coming to the door to spread the word. I would no more want teachers giving a tarot deck to every student than I would want every student given a Bible or a Koran or a Book of Shadows .

I doubt that anyone who is for the tarot wants it to be illegal, hard to find, impossible to understand, or something that will get you burnt at the metaphorical stake . But I have respect for spiritual traditions , and many of them are mysteries you walk a path to understand . Unfortunately in our modern world , whatever becomes too popular is beaten to death in the media for profit and eventually becomes kind of cheap and creepy in the end. You only have to look at witchcraft and vampire fads in the media and the cartoonish bs they have produced . I have to imagine that the only reason it hasn't happened to tarot yet is that tarot is harder to understand once you're face to face with it on your own.
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I never thought of it that way, but wow what a nightmare that would be! Can you imagine? Taking somethings so spiritual and making a breakfast cereal out of it???

You're right about that, not too mainstream!

Bar
 

firemaiden

WolfSpirit said:
For those who missed it - here are a few pictures of the "tarot people" from the Torino Olympics 2006
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Interesting - at first I thought oo tarot people, but it could also just be a regular Italian playing deck - I do not see any trumps.
 

stella01904

Miren said:
I agree with you, stella, there are different kinds of mainstream. I would prefer it to be mainstream like apple pie (for Americans) rather than mainstream like McDonald's.
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Real apple pie, not those fried McPies, lol. Something somebody (not "Mrs. Paul" or "Sara Lee") made, even if you bought it. Something people liked for years before the ad people told them it had less fat, cost less and would make your family act like the people on a Hallmark special.
People don't eat apple pie all the time and some people don't even like it, but it's simply a part of the tradition of overarching American society (not meaning to discredit various immigrant groups who don't share the tradition...this is just one of the best examples I could think of).
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Or New Orleans - the fact that the place still HAS cultures is what makes it great.
I think what we call "mainstream" here kills culture. It makes all the cities too alike for comfort.
Maybe people could accept tarot the same way they accept apple pie. Thus one's choice to use or not use the cards would be a matter of taste...whether or not they speak to you.
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A lot of them do. I saw people on two different soaps awhile ago reading Tarot.

It's just that the anti-Tarot faction tends to be very, very loud...
 

MysticTree

Major Tom said:
There are many people in the world working very hard to help make tarot more mainstream - more open and available for everyone to use. In many ways, that's exactly what the Aeclectic Tarot Forums do - make tarot more readily available. I personally think that most people would benefit from the use of tarot, far outweighing those who might be harmed. Indeed, if we compare it to other things that are mainstream, television for example, tarot use would seem considerably more beneficial. Shall I use tarot to examine my options or spend the next couple of hours in a vegative state in front of the TV? Hmmm, that's a tough one. :rolleyes:

What do you think?
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Going back to Major Tom's question, I think tarot going mainstream is fine. It will be like martial arts going mainstream. There are places to study martial arts that are all about the "sport" and none of the spiritual side and there are places that work for a balance. When you go to find a place to study, you find the play that feels right to you and you get the depth you want.

Tarot is simular. I have met readers that learn the basics, love to read for friends and at parties. Ask them about studying the cards and they tell you they already know the keywords. Then there are those who will be students of tarot until we die (or longer). People get what they want from it.

The benifit of mainstreaming for me is that readers are better educated then before. I had a client recently that told me she knew the last person was a con because they offered to remove a hex for a fee after just one reading. I hate to think those things still happen, but I was happy to know that she walked away from the reader not tarot!

MysticTree
 

Cocobird55

I got a gift catalogue from Restoration Hardware (upscale US store) yesterday and right next to the magic 8 ball was a RWS tarot deck for sale, for $12.95. Definitely mainstream, I think.
 

Glass Owl

Gayla said:
However, it would be nice to see the fear of it lifted a bit...but then it would loose it's mystic, would it not?
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In an interview at prweb.com Paul Quinn, author of "Intuitive Conversation With Life: Tarot for Insight, Guidance and Growth, said "I make it my mission to take the terror out of the tarot, but not the mystery."

I have always had a soft spot for a good mystery :)
 

Glass Owl

I would love to see more information about tarot in the media. I think that this would help bring it into the mainstream. It is too bad that there wasn't more press about the movie, Scoop. I thought that was a lost opportunity. It is as if the movie just disappeared. I just found out that it is available on dvd thanks to amazon and I haven't seen it in the usual places that sell dvd.
 
Are some people more naturally in tune ? Repeat Cards