Unpopular Fact #3: Right- & Left-Brain Theory Is Utter Crap

 

 

 

 

For awhile, it was thought that the left side of the brain was analytical and the right side was creative and intuitive, and that one side or the other "dominates." But that's been completely debunked:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130814190513.htm

 

Then some people got the ill-conceived idea that if they just ignored left brained things, let all of that atrophy, they'd be amazingly psychic. But the thing is, even if right and left brain theory were true (which it isn't) we need to use our whole brain - even for reading cards. Analysis, logic and critical thinking skills are as necessary as intuition and creativity. Often even moreso.

 

It's not just aspiring card readers who do this. We've come to a point in time where the willfully ignorant think that facts and logic pose an actual threat. Rejection of science and embracing quack cures in the face of a pandemic, for instance, is hastening our descent into Dark Ages v2. So is racism - science itself tells us that race is a construct.  

I could go on, but you get the picture. The decision to close off from facts and stay stupid is, well, stupid.

Unpopular Fact #2: Decks Don't Call People

 We've all seen it: the aspiring reader asks "What deck should I get?" or "Can someone suggest a good beginner deck?" and without fail, people will pipe up and say "Get the deck that calls to you."

Never mind that pasteboard is obviously inanimate, so "the deck that calls to you" gets interpreted as "Do whatever you want", which is no advice at all. It's saying it doesn't matter. Get the one you think is pretty, or the one in the bargain bin, or whatever. But some decks are idiosyncratic. Others are just bad. Nobody can help this person if their deck is nonsensical. And the available reference material for wonky decks is often the LWB/companion book and nothing else.

I'm not saying that new readers should be treated like children. There's no reason not to start with the Thoth, or something similarly complex, if they're reasonably intelligent and that's what they want. But FFS, put some thought into this. Somebody asked for help, so help them. Or get out of the way. Don't just parrot things.

Really.

Stop being a parrot.

Unpopular Fact #1: This Is A Spread

 

A line of three cards with no named positions is a spread. So is a line of five, seven, or nine. Cards laid in squares, pyramids, and tableaus with no named positions are spreads. The cards are spread on the table (or on any available surface, like the boots above.)

A spread is simply an array. It's something spread out. When you invite people for a big dinner, the available food on the table is referred to as a spread. Nobody says the potatoes are the near future or the meat is advice. A ranch is referred to as a spread, because the land is spread out. The items on a newspaper or magazine page, taken together, are also referred to as a spread. The cover for a bed is called a spread as well, because you spread it on top.

I'm not sure how it started, but I've seen people referring to "reading cards without a spread" on multiple occasions in recent years. Stop. It's ignorant not to use a simple word like "spread" according to the definition.

On wellness, privilege, and cards

                                                                        Il Meneghello's Sibilla 1850 features numerous "people cards."

I think I've talked about the wellness model here before. It's essentially the marketing of pricey quack cures to the kind of people who can spend $60+ on a Gwyneth Paltrow yoni egg just to see if it works. There's a more in depth article about it here.

In recent decades, it's been gradually creeping into Tarot. Reading has become progressively more solipsistic. Articles have been cropping up in major publications saying that "Tarot doesn't predict the future", but rather, "it's a tool for self-reflection." Me, me, me. Even the New York Times has jumped on the bandwagon:

 

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/01/style/self-care/tarot-guide-for-beginners.html

 

Do those questions remind you of anything?

 

 

They're all self-centered, other than "Why is my mother like that?" which amounts to armchair psychological analysis. They're vague, too. Ask vague questions, get nebulous answers.

 

The privilege is problematic. For all their "self-awareness",  the wellness crowd doesn't seem to mind doing things like continuing to sell and burn sage knowing the negative impact it has on Native Americans. They support a massive market for crystals, knowing the environmental impact and the working conditions of the people who mine them. Life is an endless gold rush to them. Lay things to waste, profit, and move on. I'm not saying that owning a few pretty rocks makes you a jerk. A lot of perfectly nice people have been sucked into wellness. But it's time to stop buying, or at least slow down considerably.

I'm just not seeing any real self-reflection.

And I'm all for skepticism. But my experience with cards has shown me that they really do seem to predict things. I don't know how or why it works. That's what makes it interesting. That's what makes going to a fortuneteller fun for people, that little mystery.

Tarot was not always nonpredictive and self centered. Until the 70's or so, it fell into two broad categories: traditional fortunetelling, something that mainly deals with the future and other people, and occult Tarot, which was often meditation, study and contemplation, but could also be used for predictive reading. Here is a wonderful bit about incorporating the Sephiroth and paths:
https://www.tarotforum.net/showpost.php?p=4312387&postcount=17

 

And then we started seeing "codes of ethics" with items like this: 

"Questions relating to third parties e.g., partners, family members, colleagues, will either be re-phrased or declined."

I read cards in the traditional way, and while others are of course free to do what they think is right, I resent the implication that readers like myself are somehow less "ethical" because we read cards the way people have for the last few hundred years. I won't disrespect a client by changing their question, and I do read about other people. We don't live in a vacuum, our lives are impacted by others. But no matter, you do you. Just don't try to push it on me.

 

Wellness marketing has a LOT of money behind it, so they've been more successful than I would like in marginalizing us. (Note how the example questions in the NYT article cited above are allegedly from "the experts." I doubt these "experts" could read their way out of a wet paper sack.) I'm fully aware of their intentions toward us, but their efforts are doomed to fail. The old books, the good books, and the better online content are proof enough that we've existed for a long time, they haven't erased us, we're still here. And we're good.

Luckily, the wellness model so far seems limited to Tarot and "oracle"/affirmation decks, at least as far as cards go. I haven't seen it applied to Lenormand, Kippers, Sibilla, playing cards, etc. And while I'm knocking wood that it never happens, it would be very difficult to force these decks into a wellness mold. These decks and methods center on our interactions with others, and how they impact our lives. Here is a Kipper spread - note the people cards:

These systems don't lend themselves well to the modern, non-cartomantic methods that have been shoehorned into Tarot. Which brings me to the point:

If you subscribe to the wellness model, I can't help you with Lenormand, Kippers, etc. I don't see how any traditional reader can. And if we are talking in an online venue where the rules state that the things people normally ask about have to be "rephrased" and "third party readings" are forbidden, I'm effectively gagged. It's not that I'm taking my ball and going home, I really can't help you. It's not workable.