Why Tarot?
Us humans are strange, aren’t we? We question ourselves daily, our motivations behind what we are doing and why we’re doing it. Family and friends are asked for their opinions, and we receive answers (not always looked for!)
During just one day, we are bombarded with a thousand thoughts and emotions, some of them rational, the vast majority irrational and fleeting, like the remnants of a dream. It’s no wonder that when overlaid by important considerations about life, careers and love, these shifting sands of instability create nervousness and doubt.
Many people will return repeatedly to important life questions, but as is the case at times, the answers alter depending upon our moods and the intricacies of the day. This can leave us with a sense of bewilderment. When our best friend is then asked and doesn’t give us the response we crave, or our partner’s advice is deemed unsatisfactory, we may turn, sometimes reluctantly, to outside help.
Tarot Cards. Why?
Because sometimes, to quote one of my favourite album titles from ‘Blur’ – ‘Modern life is rubbish.’ That we now live lives ruled by reason, where everything is explainable, that there are clear scientific answers for everything. Progress in every field has equipped us with knowledge that although it may comfort us, has reduced the magic and mystery of the unknown, of what is unseen and not easily explainable. It’s a bit like the natural world, there is far less ‘wild’ than there’s ever been, we’ve conquered so much of the globe and made it orderly to serve us humans, but in doing so we’ve not only wrecked our planet and its all important bio-diversity, but we’ve lost those untouched Eden-like wildernesses, and by doing so, our sense of wonder.
No surprise then that there is an explosive surge in adrenaline seeking thrills and spills, the thirst for adventure, for something simply different than the daily grind, and I think there’s a direct link between this and how we approach our life questions.
On the face of it, if you are seeking answers, and you’ve exhausted your own self, and the support and guidance of loved ones, the next logical place to go is some form of counselling.
Counselling is hugely successful and beneficial, so why doesn’t everybody choose it? What place is there in this rational world for Tarot? Surely it was only of use in the past when science hadn’t yet given us all the answers.
Well, some of us know that our world is not 100% per cent rational. We know that thought processes, explained by Freud and Jung, amongst many others over our human history, do not give us all the answers. We believe in fate, we feel that the world and what is in it is mysterious.
Spirituality, Religion, Magic – belief systems. Psychoanalysts will tell you that it’s a human need to ‘make up’ Gods and systems of divination, that we crave these things, but they are not real.
It seems to me, that it’s unhelpful to have two attitudes acting as if only one is 100% per cent correct. A medical student recently asked, ‘can you please tell me if I’ve passed my exams?’ Now, she knows very well, as a scientist, that she can predict this based clearly upon her current grades, her spreadsheet analysis of performance so far, but she was fascinated to find out from the Tarot!
Clients I have seen are grounded practical individuals, intelligent and very rational. They come to me to find empowerment and to uncover their own hidden motives, guided by a thirst for the spiritual, magical, religious.
Tarot has an impressive ancient lineage, the symbolism contains elements of the Kabbalah, of Paganism and Christian symbolism. Working one-on-one with another human unfolding the life journey of the Major and Minor Arcana has proved immensely beneficial and powerful to the seeker. Done properly, there is a sense of the living spirit in each one of us, which we can embrace fully, or partly, and still use the Tarot as a tool for psychological growth.
But it’s key to ensure that you seek out a proper service, not some generic Tik-Tok offering that is sensationalist, and reduces Tarot to entertainment. And there’s lots of it out there: social media has in some instances, diluted the power and efficacy of Tarot by offering quick shot paid for instant results. Nothing worth doing or having, is transactional and impersonal, and this does a huge disservice to us practitioners such as here at ‘The Seeker’s Pathway’ who want to provide people with a committed and in-depth service.
At The Seekers Pathway, that commitment is everything. If something in these words has stirred a question you haven't quite been able to answer alone — perhaps it's time to sit with the cards.
— Nicky Osborne
