How has Tarot really benefited you?

[Fianic]

Recently I've been having doubts about the real benefits of Tarot in my life.

As for readings, it doesn't seem to give much other than a sense of comfort in times of anxiety. Although some would argue this is invaluable in itself, I'm personally not satisfied with it.

When I started learning Tarot, I saw it as a tool for empowerment. To gain knowledge and advice when needed to take to right action.

So far I've been forewarned about certain events that may happen so that I was prepared when they did. But I've never really been able to change the situation at hand.

I suppose the psychological benefits to Tarot alone should be enough to make it worth learning it. However I wanted to have more tangible advice. The constructive advice given just seems too vague to act on. Maybe I'm just expecting too much from it?

How about you guys? How do you feel you have benefited from Tarot? Are you satisfied just from the pure enjoyment of practicing it?

 

[Zephyros]

For me, the answer is a lot simpler now than what I would have said a few years ago. It isn't the accuracy of the readings or what they tell me; it isn't knowing the future or the past or really, anything that has to do with the results of Tarot. The simplest answer is that even if none of those things had any benefit (which to my mind, they do) I would still read, because it gives me a chance to sit down and think of my life seriously. In this fast world, I feel people don't do that enough, always expecting instant internet, instant coffee, instant friends. There is nothing instant about Tarot.

It's not navel-gazing, it's self reflection and meditation; it's about becoming more open to a myriad of possibilities and conundrums that in my limited knowledge and experience I obviously don't have all the answers to. It's about story-telling, only the story is my life. It's about the journey, the study of the occult and philosophical ideas about life and humanity, but not the destination.

It's about the questions, never the answers

 

[Kosjitov]

At first there was a pride in knowing things I shouldn't. That faded quickly into a more tempered understanding.

I take solace in that tarot will tell me things friends of mine will never say. It has given me unusual peace of mind in troubled times and that I *do* find invaluable. It's also helped some of those I've read for.

It's not going to give you something physical. Shuffling a deck won't help you win the lottery. But it does offer us intellectual insight into the world around us, emotional buoyancy, and in some cases significant inspiration- spiritual or artistic.

I guess the better question to ask is: "What could you possibly get out of tarot that has a single benefit to make the whole worth it?" For me, it's not just one thing. Does there have to be "just one" for you?

 

[Mythic Silence]

I'm rarely able to utilize my cards since I'm kind of "in the closet" about it, so I cannot speak much to the helpfulness of the actual reading process, but I do think that there are other aspects of tarot that have been beneficial to me.

Having a hobby, something to collect and enjoy, has brought me in contact with interesting and often intellectual people. I am quite shy and have few friends, so the social aspect of the community is pleasant and uplifting. Many forums and online communities are hostile and demeaning, whereas the tarot community seems to be populated with less intimidating folks.

I enjoy learning, and tarot provides material that crosses over many disciplines, such as psychology, art, history, religion and spirituality.

I tend to be an anxious person, so on a very mundane level, just shuffling the cards to prevent having idle hands minimizes nervous nail biting. I find shuffling to be a relaxing activity.

Overall, I suppose I'm saying that the benefits of tarot in my case have been more about learning, collecting, and having an interest to add something to my life.

 

[Amanda]

How do you feel you have benefited from Tarot?
It has opened my mind to alternatives I might not have thought of myself. It's made me feel important, like I've actually accomplished something I've set out to do. And because of those two things, I feel others truly value my opinion - something I don't get anywhere else, and it's a nice feeling.

Are you satisfied just from the pure enjoyment of practicing it?
Yes, but I'll say that I was feeling a bit bogged down by it not long ago... too many psychological perspectives, too much introspection... when I finally decided that I was going to stop being so serious with it and have more fun with it- I can honestly say now that I enjoy it a great deal more.

 

[AJ]

It has opened my mind and heart.

 

[Carla]

How do you feel you have benefited from Tarot?
It is a wonderful hobby that has opened up entire new worlds of study and exploration for me, as well as a completely new spiritual path.

Are you satisfied just from the pure enjoyment of practicing it?
I love the cards for their spiritual significance. I find lately I am moving away from mundane readings, or I guess what might be called fortune telling...though I don't really do any 'life coaching' readings, either. I have not promoted my tarot business or actively sought a client in about 8 months. But I am quite immersed in the cards every single day and they are becoming deeply woven into my personal spiritual practice.

Even if you don't do 'readings', contemplating the tarot will deepen your understanding of yourself.

 

[tarotbear]

I could apply the opening question to just about anything in life.

Do you remember anything from high school? For me that was almost 40 years ago. Did taking Latin and Spanish DO anything for me? Did Chemistry? Can we say that we 'benefitted' from high school? They told me I "HAD TO take Calculus" because I was thinking about going into nursing. I didn't take calculus (of course, I ended up dropping out of nursing school - but calculus was not going to be what kept me there.) We went to high school because we were told to. Somewhere, somewhere you will do something decades later and it will trigger up a memory of something you learned or did high school - even if it's cutting up worms and locusts in biology class.

No - we don't HAVE to take Tarot; it's not a subject - it's an elective. But merely in studying it you learned to think and analyse and put things tgether and come up with an answer. If that isn't a benefit then I don't know what a benefit is.

Who was Jean Valjean?

 

[Hanno]

Hi Fianic

I suppose the psychological benefits to Tarot alone should be enough to make it worth learning it. However I wanted to have more tangible advice. The constructive advice given just seems too vague to act on.

Just a couple of questions to understand better: do you get same vagueness when using RWS than Toth? Do you get same vagueness when reading for others then self? Maybe you get more easily practical insights when using a more intuitive deck, or when not reading for self? Or maybe indeed trying a different approach with tarot: outside psychological benefits you mentioned, tarot could be great for brainstorming, creativity, problem solving, effective decision taking.

Maybe have a quick look at the following book (at least before buying) and see if it could inspire you into getting more practicality out of tarot: Putting Tarot to work by Mark McElroy. I hope that is ok to reference that book; I have no connection with author nor personal gain in referring it! (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Putting-Tar...444X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345411721&sr=8-1)

Tarot for me is so versatile in its benefits as listed by others. What I found particularly insightful is that at some point it becomes a visual language between a situation or a context and you (from where - subconscious, energy, source, god, etc- is another discussion). At some point when you think of or look at a situation, at people, or even at business ideas or decisions, you could get cards flashing in your mind, coming to you intuitively, or just the knowing that this card or these cards would apply here. Then I realise the tarot is more to me than just some physical cards on a table I use to find specific answers I need.

 

[Fianic]

Hi Fianic

Just a couple of questions to understand better: do you get same vagueness when using RWS than Toth? Do you get same vagueness when reading for others then self? Maybe you get more easily practical insights when using a more intuitive deck, or when not reading for self? Or maybe indeed trying a different approach with tarot: outside psychological benefits you mentioned, tarot could be great for brainstorming, creativity, problem solving, effective decision taking.

Maybe have a quick look at the following book (at least before buying) and see if it could inspire you into getting more practicality out of tarot: Putting Tarot to work by Mark McElroy. I hope that is ok to reference that book; I have no connection with author nor personal gain in referring it! (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Putting-Tar...444X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345411721&sr=8-1)

Tarot for me is so versatile in its benefits as listed by others. What I found particularly insightful is that at some point it becomes a visual language between a situation or a context and you (from where - subconscious, energy, source, god, etc- is another discussion). At some point when you think of or look at a situation, at people, or even at business ideas or decisions, you could get cards flashing in your mind, coming to you intuitively, or just the knowing that this card or these cards would apply here. Then I realise the tarot is more to me than just some physical cards on a table I use to find specific answers I need.

The RWS was virtually unusable to me when I first started learning. My real progress came from learning the Thoth. I can use the RWS deck now, but I basically use it like a Thoth deck.

My intuition sucks. Thankfully the Thoth doesn't require one to have a good intuition to get good readings.

I do found that others find my readings more helpful than when I read for myself. I think it's just because I'm more demanding than my sitters than because the readings are clearer.

I have had a stint where I decided not to so reading for myself for a while. if I needed a reading I'd do an exchange. Have recently started reading for myself again.

I agree with the others that Tarot has so many benefits simply from a learning perspective. My doubts were really on the usefulness of readings rather than of Tarot as a whole. Although it's nice to see how it has enriched people's lives outside of readings .