The Answers are in the cards - Part 4

Today I'll answer several peoples questions about how I got into Tarot cards.

Erik asked:
Tell me about the tarot. How did you come to it? And why?
And growing up Mormon, how do they feel about the tarot?

Buddy Bear asked:
How did you learn about Tarot?

The Tarot:
One can google tarot cards and their meanings, so I won't go into their history at all, these questions are about what interested me in them.

Ever since I was very young and started playing regular card games I knew there was some different meaning behind them than "just playing cards". My parent were reluctant to let us even play with them as they believed they were evil somehow. This is probably what piqued my interest in them.

I really don't remember when I first ever saw a real tarot deck but sometime in the last decade I became interested in them and researched them on the internet. I know a lot of people that attend the renaissance faires like I do are more earthy in their spirituality than the mainstream Christians. Also, in my own spiritual journey past Christianity, in looking at other world religions, I remembered back to my interest in nature and the natural changing of the seasons. The more I researched and read about Pagans, the more true it rang to me. I also realized that I have good intuition, call it "gut instincts" if you will.

One day I was looking at a catalog of renaissance items and saw a Druid themed tarot card deck. I ordered it and really love reading the book about the cards and their meanings. Each tarot card is full of symbols and meanings, from the numerology aspect, astrology aspect and from nature and Paganism beliefs. I absolutely love the rich symbolism and meanings found in the deck and also how they can be different in a spread or reading. The cards can have slightly different meanings if they're by or across from another card. Learning all this has really helped me in a new spiritual journey in discovering what rings true to me.

This thinking and spiritual quest fits in nicely with the basics that I learned growing up Mormon. Mormon's have a lot of symbolism in their religion, mostly Freemason symbols in their temples and in the temple ceremonies. Some of the symbols are also sewn into the temple garments (the special Mormon underwear). Mormons also believe in divination, through their local church leaders and a man who is called to a lifetime calling of Patriarch who bestows a "patriarchal blessings" on worthy church members.

So, here is my thinking: Mormons believe they have the sole, exclusive rights to divination. Period. End of story. I believe they don't. Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs. So whether I get my inspiration from a deck of tarot cards or from a corporation (that's what the Mormon Church is)... If it helps me on a spiritual journey, then it's all good. But Mormons think the tarot is evil and it's best to stay away from it.

This is what interests me about a tarot card reading: why was it that these cards were laid down in this arrangement from the deck of 78 cards? Was it random or was it meant to truly tell or teach me something? I'm going with the latter. All the readings I have done for myself and others have been amazingly accurate about something going on in my life or the person I was reading for. It has seemed a bit eerie, but I find it fascinating! I have 3 decks now and several books. I do readings for myself several times during the month and for friends whenever they ask.

Hope that answered your questions.



I'll also answer Ur-spo's question here too since I know he's a tarot card enthusiast too.

Dr. Spo asked:
When do we meet?
I think the secret is out that I have a crush on you Dr. Spo. I wish we could have already met and done things that I wouldn't want to talk about here, in such a public forum. But alas, the reality is that I don't have any plans to visit Phoenix soon. Maybe in February next year. I'll let you know if said trip does come to fruition. It would be great to meet another blogger buddy in person! Especially one so handsome and debonair.