Has tarot been made to me more complex than it needs to be?

light2000

I agree with you. People doesn't understand the card itself so they start to make assumptions to make it easy but at the end it complicates even more.

When i started to read was only simple meanings and actualy that wroked very well. Since we talk about states of mind etc.. the readings are a lot more about you feel this you think that instead of true actions and things that real happening.

But then again there are some spreads that focus the simple meaning and random cards makes uses to look more on the cards, I think.

But yeah i agree with you specialy when i see things like a card is air the other is fire so one absorve the other... what??? so the card came out for.... nothing?? just to be nule because of the water card around it? what a theorie
 

Grizabella

I'll give you my opinion and then you can shoot me at sundown. Nobody wants to just read the freakin' cards and tell fortunes anymore. They might get something wrong and be looking stupid, they think. Remember the old saying...if you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bull.....t? Well its something like that, in my opinion. I apologize to the many non-fortune tellers here. It's a shame more people don't use the cards to tell fortunes because they're missing the awe-inspiring magic Tarot holds.

I'm not going to throw the baby out with the bath water, though. The dedicated effort and inspiration of card creators is tremendously appreciated. Helping to add depth to the cards and working hard to write the books after doing all their research has given us some beautiful, mystical and awesome tools to use no matter how readers decide to use them.

I don't intend to insult anyone but I suppose I may have. I do think that everyone who uses the cards should commit themselves to telling fortunes for six months. Then if the magic hasn't happened...well, the magic WILL happen.

I love this forum and its members and I don't aim this at any one person.

Is it gonna hurt when the bullets hit? Please finish me off quickly and humanely.
 

Lilianne

In recent years the profusion of decks seems to let people choose the design and level of complexity that sits well with them. There must be nearly something for everyone interested in some aspect of Tarot. And with the publicity available, so much available on this forum, move on when they feel the need. I'd like to acclimatise to the divinatory side in which case simple, intuitive imagery would seem best to start with. For contemplation, study and/or astral work, I'd choose different packs.
 

greatdane

Really good question

I think the simple answer to me is that tarot needs to be as simple or complex as it needs to be to the individual reader.
 

Zephyros

Of course, one could also throw a wrench into the wheel and say that the Golden Dawn structure of Tarot that has become so popular (every pictorial deck is influenced by the RWS and so follows the GD structure) isn't actually Tarot at all, but something quite different, with different ends in mind than simple fortune telling. Other than the 22/56 division there isn't much similarity. It could be argued that the only true Tarot decks surviving today are of the Marseille variety.

After all, the consensus there is about different cards' meanings definitely came from somewhere, and that somewhere is all those "complications" that were distilled and simplified for the general public. Nothing comes from nothing. The meanings aren't traditional, they are not natural, they were manufactured. Seen from that perspective, Tarot was simple, then complicated, and then the complication was simplified. But calling for simplicity here is not to go back to the simple roots of Tarot, but to a distended version of simplicity that never really existed. So lets try not to rewrite history here.

So, if you're keeping it simple, what exactly is it that you're keeping simple?
 

ana luisa

I think the simple answer to me is that tarot needs to be as simple or complex as it needs to be to the individual reader.

Couldn't agree more. Tarot is what YOU make of it.
 

canid

I'll give you my opinion and then you can shoot me at sundown. Nobody wants to just read the freakin' cards and tell fortunes anymore. They might get something wrong and be looking stupid, they think. Remember the old saying...if you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bull.....t? Well its something like that, in my opinion. I apologize to the many non-fortune tellers here. It's a shame more people don't use the cards to tell fortunes because they're missing the awe-inspiring magic Tarot holds.

I'm not going to throw the baby out with the bath water, though. The dedicated effort and inspiration of card creators is tremendously appreciated. Helping to add depth to the cards and working hard to write the books after doing all their research has given us some beautiful, mystical and awesome tools to use no matter how readers decide to use them.

I don't intend to insult anyone but I suppose I may have. I do think that everyone who uses the cards should commit themselves to telling fortunes for six months. Then if the magic hasn't happened...well, the magic WILL happen.

I love this forum and its members and I don't aim this at any one person.

Is it gonna hurt when the bullets hit? Please finish me off quickly and humanely.

OK. Bang bang! Gotcha, or did I miss? I've decided to revisit my Buckland Romani & actually study it for once, which I started yesterday, then I saw your post. I'm committted. Gee, isn't that what 'they' used tarot for, predominantly? Fortune telling? Sure, if you see Polyanna, fine. But life isn't just that. Stuff happens & it's not always roses. I'd still have a hard time telling a sitter about death though, unless I thought there was something to be altered to prevent it. You didn't say anything wrong! I may not do it for 6 months, but maybe so.
 

Richard

Here's an example.

I needed a black coat for a certain musical performance, but I didn't have (or want) one. So one morning I decided to look around the thrift shops for a used coat. I decided to ask the cards if I was on a wild goose chase. I drew a single card: it was the 8 of Cups. What the ****:?: The keywords I use for that card are "abandoned success." So off I go the stores, no wiser than before. The first store I visited had a gazillion used coats. I found a black one which fit but decided to look around some more. Behold! I found one which I liked better, so I bought it ($6 US). When I got outside in natural light, I looked at the coat again, and......it wasn't black; it was midnight blue. I decided to keep it anyhow, since it looked black under artificial lighting, and I liked it.

On the way home, I remembered about the 8 of Cups. Without really knowing what I was doing, I had rejected the coat which I intended to get, and instead had bought something else. "Abandoned success."

That was an example of divination pure and simple, and it usually is spot on accurate, even though I may not understand it at the time.

If, however, I want to look deeply into something (such as my psyche) in order to understand the mechanics of how it functions, I may pull out all the stops (a pipe organ analogy) and go at it full steam with all the occult tools in my arsenal. It is somewhat like Freudian depth psychology as compared to simple behavioristic counseling. It is how I came to accept and understand the shadow side of my unconscious, thereby robbing it of it's power over my peace of mind.
 

missyjean130

I will keep it simple or complex as the mood strikes me.

All this in-depth philosophical, symbolic, and psychological elements brought into tarot is fascinating. I enjoy what I read about it and would love to incorporate it into reading when I feel it necessary. I'm one of those people who could be left in a small room lacking any activities and be content to play in my mind for that duration. It's nice to get lost in complexity. I also like studying!

I agree with everyone here encouraging others to do whatever floats their boat. :)
 

nisaba

I'll give you my opinion and then you can shoot me at sundown. Nobody wants to just read the freakin' cards and tell fortunes anymore. They might get something wrong and be looking stupid, they think. ...
Is it gonna hurt when the bullets hit? Please finish me off quickly and humanely.

<laughter> Griz, I don't know what happened to you whilst you were away, but it's certainly improved your conversational style. I really, really enjoyed that post!