Dear Julia:

I am studying tarot via the Internet. I'm still a beginner, but I am enjoying the lessons, and I believe that what I am studying is true and valuable. I think that tarot is a tool one can use to discover the landscape of the unconscious, like meditation or psychotherapy or dream interpretation. What do you think of tarot, given your many years of study, training and experience in your field? Is it a true and valuable tool? I have a problem because many people think that studying the tarot is funny or ridiculous. While I am convinced of its power, sometimes I am convinced about a lot of things and then my view changes or I'm proven wrong. I am not only studying tarot, I am also reading everything that could help me find my true spiritual path. Thanks, dear Julia!
- Nolla

Dear Nolla:

I also believe that tarot can be a real and valuable tool for accessing our own subconscious (or superconscious) awareness. I use it myself. This is a matter of some controversy in psychic circles, however.

First, those who view tarot as silly probably view everything psychic as ridiculous, and are not likely on conscious spiritual paths anyway. If this is what you're dealing with, then the issue is not really tarot, but psychic ability in general. As even serious, rational scientists have grown more and more impressed with the amazing powers of the mind, I consider folks who see all psychic matters as silly to be close-minded and uneducated on the subject. Who cares what they think? There will always be scoffers; if you give their opinions more weight than your own, you'll never experience anything new or interesting.

There are also some within psychic ranks who reject the use of divination tools like tarot. These are the hardcore lot generally composed of either natural born psychics or Spiritualists. Those who were born with psychic ability have never had need of such tools. They don't have to work at getting psychic information; it just comes to them. In the Spiritualist view, everything comes from entities in Spirit, so the focus is entirely on connecting with those entities who are willing and able to send messages through. This sort of spirit communication is not something I believe the cards are useful for. Both of these groups simply have no need for such tools. It is those who purposefully seek to develop their psychic ability who benefit most from working with divination tools like tarot.

While I'm a Spiritualist minister, I've rejected the dogma regarding divination tools. I see divining the future (whether with tools or without) as fundamentally different from the spirit communication of Spiritualists. Both are possible and valuable, but for different reasons. To me, the spirit communication of Spiritualists is about emotional healing via communication with loved ones on the other side. It's about bringing through evidence that loved ones continue on in the afterlife, and messages of love and comfort. I would not go to someone's departed relatives to ask for advice and information on decisions regarding the future, for the advice of those on the other side is generally no greater than it was when they were living.

For that sort of information, spirit guides are the best source of wisdom and guidance, along with divination of what will happen given various options. This is not accomplished via spirit communication with departed loved ones so much as a shift in consciousness that allows one to transcend the laws of space and time. For this sort of work, a combination of divination and spirit guide communication is ideal. This is the format for most of my readings.

Most of the time, I don't need the tarot to get answers, but I find the cards useful for offering a full, colorful, satisfying reading. If I ask Spirit a question, the answer could be as little as one sentence. This may be a good, clear and helpful answer, but most folks want much more than that. They want to know why, how it will feel, what they should look for, etc. Tarot is a great tool for telling the story of the future in a detailed, useful, satisfying way.

Also, people like having something they can see and touch in a reading. It's comforting for both the developing reader and the client. Some may call this a crutch. I do think it's wise to move beyond dependence on the cards, especially if you become a professional reader, but that doesn't make it wrong to use them in professional readings any more than it would be wrong for a pharmacist to use a book to look up possible medication interactions. If he is most confident and comfortable looking it up, and that is the system he has developed, I'm just happy he is trying to do his best work and is being careful.

As for how to go about learning tarot, the traditional approach is to study and memorize the meanings of each card. Unfortunately, lots of writers and teachers believe that they are offering the "real" meanings, but few of them fully agree with each other. This can be confusing, so if this is the path you take, either pick a teacher whose teachings resonate with you and stick with that approach, or develop your own interpretations by synthesizing the meanings that most resonate with you.

Other teachers suggest you simply allow the cards to speak to you. This is the intuitive method, and it has a lot of benefits. It begins to develop your own intuition immediately, for in essence, in asking "the cards" to speak to you, you open up so that Spirit (your spirit guides and the guides of others, along with your own higher self) can speak to you through the reading process. Here you look at the card and allow its images to offer you answers, and whatever pops into your mind should be honored. This is an exercise in intuitive development in and of itself.

It's also immediate: it doesn't take years of practice and study to begin to read this way. The only drawback is that some people ask for the cards to speak to them, but then "hear" nothing in response. This is usually caused by a failure to properly align their energy and consciousness for the reading. Regardless of the method, if one is not "connected," it will be hard to get powerful, positive results. This is where a personal teacher can be most helpful, and where that number one prescription for psychic development û meditation - comes into play.

Remember, there are other divination tools that can be useful besides tarot. The simplest is a pendulum. (I've written at length on how to use a pendulum in the past). There are also Runes, the I-Ching, etc. Tarot is probably the most advanced divination tool because it is so complex, but in return for the investment it demands of us, it offers us a deep, rich landscape to work with.

I think you're doing a wonderful job of honoring your inner guidance by studying tarot; instead of rejecting tarot without knowing anything about it, you are exploring it for yourself and making your own decisions. To stay on a conscious spiritual path, we must have the courage and faith to follow our hearts in the now, for we will be drawn to things when they are helpful, and when we no longer need them, we'll change our minds about them or simply feel drawn toward something else.

My advice to you is to put more stock in your own truth than the opinions of others. Be proud of your open approach to spiritual growth and development. You don't have to justify your choices to anyone! Keep following your heart, and don't feel foolish if one day the tarot no longer calls to you, and you decide to leave it behind. That just means you've turned another corner on your journey, and are being led in the direction that is best suited to your needs at that time.

- Julia