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

Zephyros

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.

I agree, and I also see it as a way of learning to recognize patterns, which helps not only in the contemplative aspect but also in the divinatory one. Symbols connect to one another whether it is a sparrow or the entire Tree of Life, and this can greatly help in gaining perspective on a given situation. As per your example, the Eight of Cups is in a pivotal position on the Tree, "causing" the Sun and Judgement, with the Tower and Hanged Man being the "causes" of the Eight. These cards in themselves tell the saga of your coat, what with realization of your goal (Tower intersecting Temperance), abandoning success (Eight), the harsh light of day revealing the deception of darkness (Judgement) and you deciding to keep it anyway (the Sun). You may also have suffered, being unsure of your success, and this is where the Hanged Man comes in. In this situation, I would pull a random Ten to see if your hope that the coat would indeed look black (Nines are too astral, you need cold hard Malkuth answers here!) would materialize.

Pulling this out of the proverbial behind here, but you get the picture. For anyone who's interested, this is the Tree of Life, and looking where it says "8" you can see all the cards I mentioned, connecting to it.

Anyway, that's basically it. If the occult is scientific study of the spiritual forces that move the universe, it can also be used to better understand cause and effect, thereby allowing you to plan ahead for contingencies, sometimes predict, and is all in all a powerful divination tool. It never precludes the emotional connection, what some might call "intuition," but it introduces it in a way that is far less prone to bias or wishful thinking. The Tree can be used to give a bird's eye view, and that's just a small example of anything having to do with occult study. Were I to invoke astrological attributions many more connections could be found, and LRichard's whole day could probably be mapped within reasonable amounts of probability. Or something.

Saying it is all intellectual or impractical simply isn't true, that's like the difference between a cold reading and a real one. And it isn't as if anyone ignores the card itself. The magic is there, and it's the same magic, just different. :)
 

Grizabella

I've had a year of no internet mostly but more than that, no kids or or grandkids or other progeny and it's been really a journey that's at times scary and other times sublime and all points between. That really did help me remember who I started out to be and many things I didn't realize I was or wasn't.

I'm glad you enjoyed my post nisaba.
 

Grizabella

Wait. I'm not sure of the definition of progeny. Maybe I should have said descendents.
 

Marie-Bernard

I know some people who play music well enough that they're pleasant to listen to, other people can sing along, they can fill in at church once in a while. It's a hobby they've put a little extra into, but they didn't want it to be complex and, for them, it's not. I also know a couple of people who've studied music for years- one who teaches it at a college level - and for those people music is very complex.

Some people like to read voraciously. For some enjoying a book or a poem in the moment is enough, other people want the complexity - they need to dissect the symbolism, the use of language, the history of the genre.

If you don't want tarot to be complex, it doesn't have to be. Enjoy your cards and use them for what you will. Some people want to dig deeper, learn the symbolism and the history. For that type of person, the complexity increases the pleasure of using tarot.
 

Richard

.......If you don't want tarot to be complex, it doesn't have to be. Enjoy your cards and use them for what you will. Some people want to dig deeper, learn the symbolism and the history. For that type of person, the complexity increases the pleasure of using tarot.
I agree all the way. Some people make a lot of angry noise over those who "pile esoteric stuff onto Tarot." That's crass hypocrisy! From a historical perspective Tarot was originally a game deck, and then fortune tellers piled all sorts of divinatory stuff onto it. Live and let live. Use it however you wish and do not condemn those who use it differently.
 

light2000

canid

I agree all the way. Some people make a lot of angry noise over those who "pile esoteric stuff onto Tarot." That's crass hypocrisy! From a historical perspective Tarot was originally a game deck, and then fortune tellers piled all sorts of divinatory stuff onto it. Live and let live. Use it however you wish and do not condemn those who use it differently.

Dingdingding! And the boy wins the prize! Love it. But...'tarot was originally a game deck'...no one truly knows for sure. 'They' (those gamers) may have told the powers that be at the time (ie religious leaders/government) that they were using it as a game to avoid burning at the stake while in the back room they were actually using it for divination; I've heard that theory. It's a possibility that no one can determine for certain. So, if I want to give my purse a reading, that's my perogative, right? But we seem to have gotten away from the fortune-telling aspect somewhere along the way. If you do, fine. If you don't, that's fine too. Just don't throw stones when you're in a glass house. (NO, I'm not referring to you at all, just a comment pretty much about someone else.) Someone here recently said that tarot is NEVER EVER to be used to predict death or illness - this person had absolute 'proof' that it was never to be used that way...well gee, sometimes life and death just happens.
 

geronimo

Dingdingding! And the boy wins the prize! Love it. But...'tarot was originally a game deck'...no one truly knows for sure. 'They' (those gamers) may have told the powers that be at the time (ie religious leaders/government) that they were using it as a game to avoid burning at the stake while in the back room they were actually using it for divination; I've heard that theory. It's a possibility that no one can determine for certain. So, if I want to give my purse a reading, that's my perogative, right? But we seem to have gotten away from the fortune-telling aspect somewhere along the way. If you do, fine. If you don't, that's fine too. Just don't throw stones when you're in a glass house. (NO, I'm not referring to you at all, just a comment pretty much about someone else.) Someone here recently said that tarot is NEVER EVER to be used to predict death or illness - this person had absolute 'proof' that it was never to be used that way...well gee, sometimes life and death just happens.

I think it's a pretty plausible theory... afterall history is written by the victors.

Of course tarot doesn't need to be complex. I've considered cutting and pasting stuff on cards with ideas that speak to me more.. however.. the fun for me in tarot is the esoteric stuff, the forgotten symbols, the things we're collectively allowing to be reduced to nothing when it is just so so so rich and powerful. We live in a world where things are getting simpler and simpler and more specialized. I think it makes things like tarot even MORE important than it ever has been. Especially with us English speakers. Our language is just so dull and bland and deprived of rich meaning! So yeah... could you do readings with simpler images, hells yeah, you might even be better at it... but I think involving yourself in the complex has potential for you to grow and that for me is what makes tarot so fun. That's why Jung liked it.. tarot was/is such a lovely little mental tease.