Is tarot a woman's domain?

hedgecub said:

. o O (If they were an endangered species, would we female tarot readers have to round them up and start an emergency breeding program? )

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Sounds like fun. Where do we sign up?

Not only is Tarot a Manly domain for Manly Men, finally there are decks that sway away from the ‘female cards are good, male cards are bad, earth goddess don’t have a penis’ scene.ROFLPP

A couple examples of decks for Manly Men.

The Alcohol Tarot: Although not strictly a Man’s deck, it does lean into the masculine (which incorporates the High Priestess just fine, doan-cha know).

The Tarot of Baseball: To this day, one of the best readings I’ve ever had came from HOLMES, who used this deck (perhaps he knows my love of Baseball). Thanks again buddy…you rock.

Then there is the very Manly, Tarocco dei Giardini di Priapo.

Further, Voyager is sized for a man’s hands (LOL), and does not contain overtly feminist overtones. Love it, use it. BTW: Size does matter…

Oh, I see--Manly P. Hall stands for

Primal or Prime Male...so that is why the Knapp-Hall Tarot in its original form is so sought after, it's the original size....that explains his book also, the "Secret of All Ages".

By the way, I do have many tarot gentlemen friends who will agree with you about it being "...a Manly domain for Manly Men." They adore the oversize Cosmic Tribe Tarot as well.

Thanks for the giggles...

Cerulean Mari

As far as I can figure out from all the studies on the left brain/right brain... it seems that women do use their right brain (intuititive) side more than men do. And men seem to use their left brain (rational) more.

Which obviously doesn't mean that Tarot is a woman's domain or a man's domain. It does explain though why there are more women readers... and so many men who write books, or design cards and study it from a more logical rational point of view.

All the seminars I have gone to have as participants (ie. those in the audience) between 90 and 100% female, .... and the speakers have been about 90% male.

The books I have on Tarot that I find really interesting, the majority are written by men.

Is tarot a woman's domain?
I have a question for you all. I've not been involved with tarot long enough to get a good idea of who or what types of people are interested in it & drawn to it, so I want to ask you all what you think.

Is tarot a woman's domain? Are there just as many men interested in it or only a few compared to the number of women?

Generally speaking, more women tend to be intuitive & in touch with their spirituality & emotions than men (I'm not men bashing at all, I'm just giving generalisations) so does this mean that women tend to be more attracted to tarot since it is quite an intuitive thing?

In your experience, mixing with other tarot enthusiasts, have you found just as many men as women, or far less men?

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Greetings Ferrous, and welcome to another Australian. I’m curious about the name and wonder whether you work in the minerals or geological industries… Haha! If people knew Northern Australia, that’s not such an odd question.

You seem to be asking a few questions here. How to sift them, and how to answer?

My experience has been that women do tend to be more intuitive than men but whether this is a consequence of biological or culturally constructed difference, I don’t know. It is probably a little of both. In the West we tend to separate religion, spirituality and the more abstract qualities of being from ordinary life.

My understanding is that Tarot is primarily a western practice at the moment and not a very large one at that. I guess that in other cultures, and even other parts of our own communities that we may not know about, there are most interesting and different spiritual and divining practices occurring quite naturally. Tarot is a very small part of all this. I have a sense that men and women in cultures very different to our own have their own very real sense and practice of spirituality. And there are many men in this culture who do as well - maybe just not in Tarot.

While Australian society is as it is I think you are going to come across more women actively pursuing an interest in the Tarot. Probably the same cultural, social and economic values that make us who we are predominate in most western countries. You’d probably find fewer men interested in Tarot in the USA, UK and Europe as well. At least at the moment.. Look at Aeclectic, for example. Almost certainly most of the registered and active members are women. I’m not attaching any value to that but simply saying that’s how it is.

Some of our best and most creative contemporary Tarot scholars and artists have been women, and I think it is just great that this one milieu in which women are freely celebrated and have the opportunity to excel. There seems to be lots of space for creative exploration for all genders and all kinds of people in the world of tarot. Deo gratias

It certainly has not always been the case. Pixie Colman Smith of Rider Wait Smith fame is a good example of one distinguished Tarot artist and mystic who received little contemporary recognition for her work.

I was just at a Tarot seminar with about 18 people attending. There were 4 men in the crowd, which included the seminar organizer. That ratio works for me! So I say, manly men, stay away....you'll hate it, you really, really will....


Lawguy51

Lawguy52 (), I concur... absolutely, without reservation...

WolfSpirit said:

Maybe you should have a tarot pub, have some beer mats with images of tarot cards etc. to make tarot more attractive to men - and I would like it too, and I'm female.

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Yes, the Tarot Pub! I'd love that.

Though in my college town, it would probably the Tarot Sports Bar....

I can imagine the discussions..

"Hey, did you SEE the way he scored that goal? He absolutely broke their defences down! It was like they were nothing but moths or something.."

"Yeah, this guy is like The Tower you know, just breaking down the defences of the opposite team and BAM they're scattered like the stoneblocks on that card, you know the one with the lightningbolt.."

"I so see it dude.. And that goalie, he like totally missed it cause he's just seeing things he wants to see. It's like he's moonstruck and can't see where the ball is really going so he just hopes he's going in the right direction.."

"Yeah dude.. That is a totally awsome way of putting it.."

"Hey, want another beer?"

"Sure, lets have another couple of those Emperor ales. They sure make you feel good, don't they?"

"Yup, like your on top of the world.. See that World-card over there? I'd sure like to be on top of her..."

"Duuuude, that's just Fools-talk. Like that would ever happen.."

Re: I can imagine the discussions..

Eco74 said:

"Hey, did you SEE the way he scored that goal? He absolutely broke their defences down! It was like they were nothing but moths or something.."

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Two minutes for high sticking....errr...5 of Wanding!

Lawguy51