Paul Quinn, a talented Tarot reader and author of Tarot for life, shared a post “The Tarot card reader” by Jessa Crispin.

Mrs. Crispin is clearly a talented writer, but I strongly disagree with many of the points she made.

To read her post see OPINIONATOR.BLOGS.NYTIMES.COM

In her article she beautifully writes how she got a reading that set her on her path to learn Tarot .

I disagree with many of the points she makes along the way, in regard of how to learn and of what makes a good Tarot reading.

I am by no means a talented writer as she is, but please bear with me because I think I make valuable points in my disagreement.

1) Mrs. Crispin starts by sharing with us the wonderful reading she got by a very talented reader in Manhattan. Unless the reader specifically asked her not to disclose her name, why doesn’t she give credit to the mysterious reader?

“Her reading taught me two things: With a change of strategy, I could get back in control of my life and, also, I wanted to learn how to do this.”

I totally agree with her there. A good Tarot reading provides good strategies. The client may decide to follow them or not, but she is made aware of the different options available.

She goes on to say that after buying half a dozen Tarot books she felt very disappointed. She is a book critic and she states that after taking apart those books she was left with nothing.
That brings me to my next point.

2) Perhaps she was looking for a magic formula that would allow her to instantly read with the same grace and wisdom of a talented and experienced Tarot reader.

Why is it that some people expect to excel at tasks without putting time or effort in learning the skill?

Over the past 25 years I have read many Tarot books. Some I liked more than others, but I got something out of each and everyone. I would add that from time to time I go back to my book case and I pick a book I already read. I have found that by reading it again, I learn new things and I am often surprised by the experience. Several years may have gone by since I read a book. The knowledge I have acquired in the meanwhile, often allows me to get more insight out of the book than I got the first time around.

Mrs. Crispin goes on to say that she got into the habit of pulling a Tarot card out each day. Simply by looking at the pictures and the events of the day over the course of years she learned how to tell stories through the cards.

The process is well known to Tarot readers and Tarot students. You pick a card or two, you write it down on your journal and you get back to it to see how the energy of the card was expressed throughout the day.
The benefits are many. You combine theory and practice. You write what you know about the card. The impression you get from the image. You compare it with what happened that day. You gain confidence and a personal relation with the cards, as sometimes a card will consistently have a meaning for you that is not one of the keywords for it.

So we are back to the necessity to put time and effort in learning something. I may add that if this practice is done along with a more traditional way of learning Tarot, the learning process may be faster.

Given the length of this post, I can see the need to divide it in two posts. This one to address the learning.

In part two I will address the reading process, the different styles and the advantages and disadvantages of each.

I hope you will read both posts. I will share them on my face book page also and you are more than welcome to write your comments there. You can agree or disagree, but with respect.

Thanks.

The image is The Fool from the Ancestral Path deck, created by the very talented Julie Cuccia- Watts.