Skeptics Partners or other loved ones

Dara said:

I have a partner that is very closed minded to many things and I have accepted that about most things. In fact we align very differently politically and what not, which I knew about from the beginning of our relationship.

However when I got into tarot recently, his reaction to it was a bit disheartening. He is a total non-believer, thinks its a waste of my time, and even may be evil. I tried to talk to him about it, telling him that I don't use it to tell the future and only use it to gain insight about the current state of affairs in peoples lives so that we can reflect and guide ourselves. He's still is very skeptically. He hasn't interfered with me learning tarot or anything. He lets me do it because it makes me happy. But I still feel uneasy that he may be judging me.

Has anyone else dealt with skeptic loved ones... family members, close friends, or partners?

I don't think this is an issue that will break us up or anything, but I do want to know how people go about addressing this or if they have advice about this matter.

Thanks y'all.

Click to expand...

I think all you can really ask for is that he doesn't prevent you from reading. People who don't understand or accept it likely never will, but if he isn't interfering with you reading, that's a start.

Regarding judgment, everyone judges. Some simply don't vocalize it. No real difference in my opinion.

BTW, my entire family thinks I am, let's use a gentle term, "eccentric". Not just for tarot either. They let me be though, so I have no issue with it. They can think what they want, as long as no one interferes with me, it's all aces.

I think he should respect your opinions. I'm close to people who have various opinions on the Tarot, and that includes people who don't care much about it and don't see the point in it. However, the reason why we're friends is that they still respect my interests. I'm not harming anyone with my interest in the Tarot, so they don't judge me. Just as if they started collecting stamps, I wouldn't judge them, either, even though it's not something that appeals to me.

I just started weeks ago and am still in that semi-obsessed stage. There's no one to talk to about it though. The reason I began reading was because of some major life issues, and the cards have provided a lot of insight and, yes, advice. And it's always good advice. Like, whenever I'm really, really down and do a reading, the cards tell me to find balance, peace, and then the ace of pentacles will always show up. I really love that. And I'm having a tower/devil/three of swords kind of life right now. So anyway, I was talking to my mother on the phone yesterday about my marriage trouble and know better than say too much because she gossips and has a way of making me feel stupid, melodramatic, etc. Well I let it slip that I have been reading tarot--and she said something which alluded to me being cuckoo. And when someone says that, you DO feel cuckoo. Needless to say, I've grown enough this last fall to know that I'm not, and that her old-fashioned way of thinking is just that, old-fashioned. But still, it hurts. It just gets me how one can meditate, study spirituality, really work hard on themselves, and then others—especially our family—always finds a way to cut us to the roots. I don't even feel like going to Christmas this year.

Remember - NO ONE can hurt you as much as a member of your own family can ... unfortunately ...

That's actually not true, TB. I could be FAR more hurt by people I care a lot more about than I do about some members of my family....

What we should all remember though is that no-one can expect anyone, however close, to be INTERESTED in, and want to join in with, all our interests and even our passions. As long as they don't take the piss, or try and prevent our indulging them and as long as we don't push them on our partners to the extent that we damage the relationship (as in indulging ourselves in our passions and neglecting our partner) there isn't an issue. But we must not expect them to share if they don't want to.

pandap said:

The funny thing is, I showed him a couple of cards and asked him what he thought they meant, and he was amazing in his off the top of his head intuition. I was astounded (and a bit annoyed that I don't seem to pick it up as easily as he found it just looking at the cards). I told him he should be doing the Tarot instead of me. So he leaves me to do my thing ...

Click to expand...

So I'm tried showing partner the Sun card (rws deck) and asked him what he saw. He said a naked baby. I asked, "Anything else?" He replies with, "Why is there a naked baby riding a horse?" Good question Lol. I tried to explain what it may mean but I guess its still strange that there's a baby riding a horse. At least he took the time to look at it which made me happy.

Dara said:

So I'm tried showing partner the Sun card (rws deck) and asked him what he saw. He said a naked baby. I asked, "Anything else?" He replies with, "Why is there a naked baby riding a horse?" Good question Lol. I tried to explain what it may mean but I guess its still strange that there's a baby riding a horse. At least he took the time to look at it which made me happy.

Click to expand...

That's the response I was expecting from my partner. I showed him the Hanged Man, to which he immediately sprouted off, "he's in suspension, waiting, lazy, can't be bothered, got a different perspective ... " and the Death card, "well, obviously it's not about Death, it's about getting rid of the old to make way for the new ..." I'm like, WT????? I was totally surprised, as he sees things in black and white, no in-betweens and only operates on logical. I'm going to show him the Sun card to see what he comes up with. Maybe it was just a fluke ... or maybe he's been studying the Tarot when I'm asleep!

Wow he's pretty intuitive. Maybe he was a tarot reader in his past life. Keep us updated

Brilliant stuff - it fits with my feel for reading that the images contain all we need! I hope he really gets into into it now.

tolerance

The truth is we all have to tolerate each other and our weird hobbies and interests and everyone has a little weird in them! (it makes us human ).

There is a difference between a skeptic who doesn't believe in tarot but just let's their loved one or partner continue their interest, or a skeptic who doesn't want anything to do with it and someone who thinks their partner is bringing evil upon the house with the tarot or something like that! There is a scale I guess! I have a lot of people in my life with a lot of different beliefs and respect their beliefs (unless they push a hate agenda) but I don't mind if there is people who hate the tarot or are skeptics, as long as they tolerate my love of it!

I don't mind having a partner who isn't into it but I would mind if they forced their views on me or wanted me to stop using it! respect is a two way process! But if someone isn't into tarot and really doesn't like the whole area, I would just leave them. Don't bother them with the cards.

It's a two way process, a compromise of different people but these days I can't be bothered with someone who doesn't tolerate me! although the other day I decided not to talk about AT to a really skeptical friend, I changed the conversation line I was going down and that really bugs me