Introvert

I've been thinking are there more Tarot introverts than extroverts? Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm going for introverts . I think that the Tarot is ideal for self exploration and growth, being an introvert I don't need to connect with the wider world to look for answers.I don't have to use people for support, role models etc nor do I have to have people as a mirror that I can look in to find myself reflected.I'm INTP-A .....how about you?( forgive me if this topic has been covered before, I'm old and forgetful)
John

I'm an introvert. However, I don't often use my cards for myself. I read for others, which means that I use them for an extroverted purpose.

Original Destiny said:

I've been thinking are there more Tarot introverts than extroverts? Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm going for introverts . I think that the Tarot is ideal for self exploration and growth, being an introvert I don't need to connect with the wider world to look for answers.I don't have to use people for support, role models etc nor do I have to have people as a mirror that I can look in to find myself reflected.I'm INTP-A .....how about you?( forgive me if this topic has been covered before, I'm old and forgetful)
John

Click to expand...

Introvert here. Don't ask me what my Myers-Briggs type is, though. It comes out different every time I take one of those quizzes (though it's always I and usually N).

I prefer Tarot for self-exploration too (rather than for predictive divination), but I also feel connected to the wider world. I find peace and a source of contemplation in nature - trees and birds; the salt marsh and the sea; the forms and movement of clouds, and the way light strikes them - do you not feel that too? Everything is connected in a great web, and so all of nature is a mirror of sorts.

Human beings are part of the web, and though I am definitely an introvert, I do need people. I'm just very quickly drained by social interaction. I need people, but less of them than an extrovert does. Of course there is a scale of introversion to extroversion - nobody is purely one or the other. If you're in the middle you're an ambivert.

As far as tarot goes, I think introverts process things differently than extroverts. We go more to our memories and our store of knowledge, do more compare and contrast, and basically think things out before we react. Extroverts, on the other hand, tend to need to react in order to process. They have to talk about things to know what they think about them.

I definitely think you could make a case for introverts using tarot more for introspection, then, while an extrovert might use it more for interfacing with other people, and might be more interested in talking over the spread and interpreting it together. Maybe that's why I don't usually enjoy participating in the Your Readings section. I like to contemplate my cards and reach my own conclusion about them; I don't really want to dissect them with a bunch of strangers. But maybe I should do exchanges more often, with people I'm more comfortable with... food for (introverted) thought!

Introvert here too, though I'm very practised in acting like an extrovert in many situations (after which i have to go home and lie down or sit for a long time somewhere with no noise or distractions to recover).

I am drawn to tarot primarily for self reflection and introspection. I find it an amazing tool for provoking deep thinking about my values, motivations, what's important to me, what kind of person i want to be, whether my behaviour is helping me be the person i want to be, how i relate to others, how others may see me etc etc.

I like reading for others, though I don't do much of it. Its much more tiring then reading for myself. I think the effort involved in articulating to someone else what is going on is huge, and trying to express that in ways that will accurately get across what I've interpreted is exhausting compared to reading for myself when it just swills around in my consciousness and i don't have to open my mouth and talk, or craft a written narrative. I don't know if this is an introvert/extrovert thing though?

I'm an introvert but those who don't know me well often mistake me for an extrovert (I blame my rising sign of Leo for that). I do not use the cards for self reflection, as I do enough of that in my head naturally all the time. I remember once saying to a friend, "For me, no thought goes unexamined."

Being an introvert was a critical part of my learning Tarot. I can't count all the hours I spent on my own, totally blissed out with a gaggle of Tarot books laid out around me, learning card meanings and practicing spreads.

I'm an introvert. Like you, Original Destiny, I really benefited from using the cards to examine myself and grow from new perspectives and influences. I'd also like to add that the cards have helped me connect with others, helped me understand their energy dynamic, how to safely engage at times, and how to decompress after being around a crowd.

Original Destiny said:

I've been thinking are there more Tarot introverts than extroverts? Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm going for introverts .

Click to expand...

I'm very, very extroverted.

I think that the Tarot is ideal for self exploration and growth,

Click to expand...

Extroverts are very comfortable doing this. I should know ...

being an introvert I don't need to connect with the wider world to look for answers.

Click to expand...

Neither do I. I'm *very* comfortable with solitude. And entirely comfortable with the company of others, and taking part in (even leading) conversations.

I've known for years that I'm an INTJ type (although I didn't need the MBTI to tell me that); we had to do it for work one time quite a while ago. I ran the test again today and nothing has changed.

Introvert(41%) iNtuitive(59%) Thinking(50%) Judging(41%)

You have moderate preference of Introversion over Extraversion (41%)
You have distinct preference of Intuition over Sensing (59%)
You have moderate preference of Thinking over Feeling (50%)
You have moderate preference of Judging over Perceiving (41%)

http://www.humanmetrics.com/personality/intj

The linked description perfectly captures my blended analytical-intuitive approach to reading the cards. This also encouraged me to explore the "Big Five" set of personality factors, which is supposedly less skewed by the test creator's bias, and the HEXACO six-tiered "personality inventory" model. The more generally accepted models (from the scientific standpoint of reliably repeatable research data) make a distinction between temperament, which seems to be incipient at birth, and personality, which is a product of socialization.

Mine is very similar Barleywine. I had to do this for work as well and the biggest difference was that Thinking was dominant over Feeling to a greater degree.

I found myself nodding reading CharlotteK's post. I also enjoy reading for others, especially in person but yes, it is tiring. I am a classic introvert in the sense that while I enjoy the company of others after a while I have to get away for a break from the pressure of their feelings and desires. At least that is how I interpret it.

Alta said:

Mine is very similar Barleywine. I had to do this for work as well and the biggest difference was that Thinking was dominant over Feeling to a greater degree.

I found myself nodding reading CharlotteK's post. I also enjoy reading for others, especially in person but yes, it is tiring. I am a classic introvert in the sense that while I enjoy the company of others after a while I have to get away for a break from the pressure of their feelings and desires. At least that is how I interpret it.

Click to expand...

It's kind of funny that at large gatherings I tend to hang on the fringes (maybe I'm just keeping my escape path in view) or glom onto someone I know and don't really mix, but in reading for others in a one-on-one setting my introvert-extrovert pendulum shifts and I see it more as a "performance" opportunity. Multiple readings usually make me thirsty but not tired; I find the energy exchange invigorating.