How can 78 Cards tell my future?

[Victoria1969]

Hi Tarot friends...  X/

 

This may have been asked previously. And, this isn't me asking the question, so I don't want to appear rude or narrow minded, it's some of my sceptical friends and family. And although my answer is always "They don't, but I understand my situations better because they ask me to use my instincts to guide me".

 

However.... most are unsatisfied with my response and I wondered, is there a better way to explain that when I (or someone else) needs guidance on what energies surround me/them etc., etc., how is a random card selected. Who decided to select that particular card, me, my unknowing subconscious mind, my spirit guide, the universe or was it simply by chance and we just interpret whatever card we see before us insightfully?

 

I'm not questioning it, because I don't need to, but others do and I never know what to say!

 

Thank you so much for any insight  <3

Victoria

[truthseeker65]

I think of them as a tool to interpretation.

 

We use tools to interpret our world every day; computers, clocks, phones ... etc.

 

Those things cannot work without us using them to understand the world around us.

 

The cards have meanings assigned to them.

 

Our "energy" pulls the cards out of the deck.

 

We interpret the meanings in relation to our lives.

 

The problem with non-believers arises when they don't want to accept that the world and all that is in it is energy, positive/negative/benign.

 

Energy is there for the taking.

 

They might call it religion (religious belief via prayer, etc) or the force or karma.  It all boils down to the same thing.

 

Faith.

 

Now, how do you explain that to someone who doesn't believe?

 

I have no idea.  I have learned which family and friends I can and cannot discuss tarot with.  There are those who are skeptical and mock me.  There are those who are uncomfortable with it.  There are those who have faith in it.

 

I know it sounds wrong, but being more selective with whom you talk about it in real life is the answer.  Not saying hide it, just saying not everyone needs to know about it.  It sounds sad and depressing but that's why I come online to talk about it.  I have a few friends who are into it.  But most either think it's a joke, are skeptics or religiously against it.

 

Sorry I don't have a better answer.

[AJ-ish/Sharyn]

folk unfamiliar with the cards will always see them as a B movie prop with the death card always at the center...

You can't change people's ideas about politics or religion, or anything they deem as superstitious. save your breath.

 

welcome to the board!

 

 

[Victoria1969]

Our "energy" pulls the cards out of the deck.

 

Brilliant Truthseeker65, that's such a great answer!

 

AJ-ish/Sharyn, you're absolutely right, I should save my breath. But sometimes these people are genuinely interested and just find it hard to understand, rather than be convinced.... some folks are more logical than spiritual I guess!

 

Thanks so much for your replies  :heartz:

[Tulirose]

Love your replies truthseeker65 and AJ-ish/Sharyn :heartz:

 

Victoria, a quote from Valerie Sim helped me a bit when/if I try to explain;

"...the cards in and of themselves have no power. They are no more bad or good than the individual that deals them, but rather are useful keys for accessing the ancient wisdom we all possess...a tool for tapping into your own mind and your connection with the One".

 

Aj-ish/Sharyn's approach is useful; if someone is not there yet, save your breath.

 

If the Universe wants a person to get 'clued in' it will find a way to do it, at least that's what happened to me. Outside of these forums I have only met two people in real life who try to understand the Tarot. 

 

Now that I am retired and have time I would love to go to one of those Tarot Meet-ups and be surrounded by knowledgeable Tarot people and examples of all sorts of Decks. Do they even happen anymore now that AT is gone?

 

[truthseeker65]

Thanks Victoria and Tuilirose ... I've been dealing with non-believers so long I'm always surprised when I find actual believers.

 

Life is energy.  Star Wars taught me that.  lol  Sounds weird but Star Wars and their talk of the Force actually awakened something in me to seek more information about the world behind the world, outside the 5 senses if you will.

 

Energy is what moves us.  It has many names but it all boils down to energy ... it's all relative (lol..see what I did there?  It's practically science!)

[gregory]

AJ-ish/Sharyn, you're absolutely right, I should save my breath. But sometimes these people are genuinely interested and just find it hard to understand, rather than be convinced.... some folks are more logical than spiritual I guess!

 

Thanks so much for your replies  :heartz:

Yes - I have "issues" as you might say, with people who are genuinely interested and want to understand. It's hard to explain that it doesn't bear explanation. I have most luck with the very religious. If they can believe in a God, I say, a God they cannot PROVE exists, can they not understand that the same can apply to the cards ?

 

It has worked quite well. The only unfortunate side effect is the ones who ask how I can then say I don't believe in God, Which I don't. Then it gets to be quite fun !

[Raggydoll]

AJ-ish/Sharyn, you're absolutely right, I should save my breath. But sometimes these people are genuinely interested and just find it hard to understand, rather than be convinced.... some folks are more logical than spiritual I guess!

 

Thanks so much for your replies  :heartz:

Yes - I have "issues" as you might say, with people who are genuinely interested and want to understand. It's hard to explain that it doesn't bear explanation. I have most luck with the very religious. If they can believe in a God, I say, a God they cannot PROVE exists, can they not understand that the same can apply to the cards ?

 

It has worked quite well. The only unfortunate side effect is the ones who ask how I can then say I don't believe in God, Which I don't. Then it gets to be quite fun !

 

Well, you need to be selective, that's a given. You cant just go believing in every unprovable thing. Isn't it supposed to be limited to 6 impossible things before breakfast, by the way? That's what I thought. That gets filled up very quickly for me  ;)

[Saturn Celeste]

Isn't it supposed to be limited to 6 impossible things before breakfast, by the way? That's what I thought. That gets filled up very quickly for me  ;)

 

:lolsign:

 

I tell people I am simply the messenger.  They ask me a question, I read the cards and deliver the message.  It's very simple--I trust my cards.  If they continue to be interested, I ask them if they'd like a reading.  I've done readings for skeptics, knowing they were skeptical just to show them exactly how it works.

[Bodhiseed]

What I get from the cards comes from inside of me, in my opinion. But it's hard to take an honest, objective look at oneself. When looking in a mirror, all I see is the front of my head and face. If I want to see the back, I have to use a second mirror. The tarot is my second mirror, though sometimes the information is a tad blurry because it arrives in symbols (the language of the unconscious). Yet if I pay attention to a song lyric, a quote, a memory or something else that flits through my mind while I'm studying the cards, that can often help me translate the symbolic meaning into a more practical and useful one.

Hope that helps!  :heartz:

[McFaire]

Sometimes with inquisitive skeptics you can just leave out the woo-woo and tell them that the 78 cards are systematic way of describing human life that helps you consider things from different angles, like talking things over with a friend who helps you looks at a situation from a different point of view.

If you know the system, you can use it to help analyze situations.

If they are still listening... I would usually go on to say that it is a rather ingenious and comprehensive system, so that virtually any card combination you draw can be interpreted to apply to the present concerns in a helpful way. There is really no "belief" necessary to find usefulness indifferent points of view.

Now, when it comes to fortune telling, predicting the future, it's probably best to just leave that out of it when dealing with folks who are completely unfamiliar with the subject of divination.

[ashjey]

On 4/3/2019 at 5:55 AM, truthseeker65 said:

 

Faith.

 

Absolutely this. How do we know if our clocks are correct? How do we know if there is a higher power? Heck, how do we even know the moon is real? A blind person could not possibly know what the moon is like (i'm assuming, at least).  It's all faith. Believe what you will, y'know? 

 

I often think about the fact that shrimp can see more colors than humans. What do the shrimp know that we don't? What do they see? What do they not see? I think I have faith in the shrimp. 

Edited May 3, 2019 by ashjey

[ashjey]

Sometimes, I think a lot of people are just not spiritual. Humans are logical thinkers. We live in an age of facts and science. People don't believe in gut feelings and instinct as much. Some people just won't understand and I think that's okay. However, I hate when people cross the line of insulting others for their beliefs and ways. I would just tell them to either have faith in the cards or not and mind their own business. 

[Wanderer]

Yeah, I get this too. I have different types of explanation for different people. Some are so far removed from the mystical side of life that they can't possibly accept anything non-rationalist. For them, I explain that I use them as a tool for understanding the human experience. The Tarot have been developed to encapsulate the things that happen to us in life, and the stages that we go through. Every card contains a distillation of wisdom. It's possible that there's nothing mystical going on, and no actual fortune telling.... and when I think there is, my brain is fooling me. Even in that case, the cards are useful, because they make us think about our situation in a new way, and give us clarity. Most people will accept that much without concluding that you're a complete fruitloop. 😁

For those who are more open, though... well, we each have out own views as to how the cards work. There are hints from quantum mechanics that causality isn't what we think it is, and the future (e.g. reading of the cards) can interact with the past (drawing of the cards); that's actually within scientific establishment, albeit only accepted on a quantum scale. I don't 'believe' any one explanation: that my intuition and card selection is being prompted by external spirits, or that my subconscious is able to choose the most appropriate cards though some sort of collective unconscious... but I can say that it seems to really, genuinely work. The cards are so often exactly the right ones, and consistent within a spread, that I can't put it down to chance or selective perception. Sometimes the cards (or just intuition) tells me things that I can't possibly know... and however they do it, I can't but accept that something is going on. And the more I believe it, the better they seem to work.

I reckon the best way to deal with the interested sceptics is to not claim to know more than you really do know. Faith in one explanation, or use of nebulous terms like 'energy' is all very well, but it's not going to convince anyone who doesn't share your views already. Inexplicable experiences and openness, though... they at least raise an eyebrow or two. 😉

[howlaust]

This is definitely a tough question, and ironically I was contemplating this a bit this morning.

The way I see it, operating a mindset of Mentalism. All things are intricately connected. We are part of The All, but The All is also us and IN us too. }In our minds we can create and conjure anything we want. In a very real sense, we feel and experience these things as if they were "real." That's because they are. We are simply working off energy that already out there, but also in us.

I think Tarot might work in the same way. They are little pictures that capture energy, much like our mind captures energy in the form of thoughts, visualization, feelings, etc. It's a way of capturing what already IS in a material form. Cards connect and represent energies that already are (forces at play, energies, etc.).

The card just helps some connect with what already IS. The method people use to connect is different, but the things were are connecting to aren't. Energy cannot be destroyed, only changed/transmuted. Does a card tell your future? Maybe. But what it really does is give you a picture of what's going on, from what already IS, and how to work with it. Like an X-Ray can shine light through a body and give us a sense of what goes on underneath. The light is not making us that way, it's showing us as we are. Likewise, a reading does not make us act one way or tell our concrete future. We can go with it, or we can not. Only we can choose.

 

The point being, the skeptical people in your life are already using this sense of knowing. They look to signs and symbols to give them an idea of what's to come or what is. Maybe a counter question would be to ask them what they use/feel drawn to in an effort make sense of what's going on and how to change it. Then use their own words and understanding to better explain you're own.

[Jewel]

I do not subscribe to the cards telling the future, but I do believe they help me see issues from a perspective I might not normally consider or think about.  That allows me to broaden my perspective of the issue and think the issue through with more awareness and more consideration of the potential effects of my actions and come to a better outcome.  So to me they are tool to opening up my awareness and help me explore possibilities, potential, and consequences.  It helps me think things through more thoroughly and allows me opportunities to face my own role in issues for good or ill so I can chart my course to resolving the issue.  When I read for others I read for them in this same manner.  So I guess I have a psychological approach to reading them.

Edited May 15, 2019 by Jewel