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Divination & Tarot:
The Illuminated Journey:
Acknowledging the Dark
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by Beth Owl's Daughter |
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Last month, my column was about the good, the bad, and the ugly of the Tarot: how to find good readers, avoid bad ones, and, hopefully, never run across the ugly.
One of the caveats I offered for discerning unethical, unsavory readers is to beware if their readings imply that you have some dire, inevitable fate hanging over you. Doomsayers and alarmists are usually that way because, surprise, they have a cure for the problem. For an extra premium price, of course!
If that happens to you, you can bet you are not getting a Tarot reading; you are being scammed. Grab your money and go; and please don’t lose a minute of sleep over what they might have told you.
That said, though, it is also very true that Tarot is not all sweetness and light. In fact, I believe this may be one reason that some people avoid it. Unlike so many of the oracle decks being created (and don’t get me wrong, I am a fan of many of them), the Tarot is not a system of affirmations and reassurances.
In fact, except for a few decks that have bent over backwards to be, the Tarot is not cuddly at all. It is a pull-no-punches depiction of the many crosscurrents that can be found in the universal human condition.
Despite the mass hypnosis of commercialism, or those well-meaning folks that would wish it otherwise, not all of the elements in our lives are happy, angelic, or sweet.
In fact, the catalyst for seeking the extraordinary insight that the Tarot offers is, quite often, the fact that there are times in our lives that are not a bit pretty. It gives us a powerful spiritual tool for those occasions when we are at our absolute worst.
It deals honestly and fairly with the dark nights of our soul; when we are in tatters, poisoned with doubt and despair. The Tarot does not flinch when injustice, wickedness, loss, heartbreak and suffering bedevil us.
Sometimes, we can only be helped when we directly acknowledge and address the darker places in our lives. I feel that the Tarot’s accommodation of our shadow side is one of its greatest gifts to us.
While there is a time and a place for simple good cheer, the great power of the Tarot is that it offers honesty, depth and complexity, and does not shy away from the big, sometimes hard truths of human existence. It assumes we are mature souls who do not insist upon panaceas and good intentions.
The eternal questions around thorny issues such as Death, Evil, Suffering, and Vice and Virtue, are directly tackled in the Tarot. And, in most good decks, they are not sugar-coated.
So what does this mean for Tarot readers?
Over the years, I have changed and evolved when reading difficult or frightening cards for my clients (and myself). When I was first starting out, I would rapidly skip past the grimmer sides of the Death card, The Tower, and other cards with disturbing images.
I absolutely did not want to be mistaken for the kind of reader who preys upon the fears of the querent. And as a student of human consciousness, I was hyper-aware of the Pygmalion effect, in which the seeds of expectation planted in someone can so easily bring about a self-fulfilling prophecy.
For instance, I would quickly reassure my clients that “Death” was really transformation, or big change. I truly didn’t intend to water down its meaning, but I did not want to scare people, either.
Luckily, I got the wake-up call that my strategy was not working early in my career. When you hear the seeker concluding that this weighty, pivotal Major Arcana card is directing them about mid-term exams or which novel to choose for a book report, you know you have not communicated its importance.
So I quickly learned not to downplay the more challenging cards, or spin their meanings just to reassure the seeker.
I certainly did not mislead anyone -- Death really is about transformation. But the truth is, I can’t think of a way that real transformation happens, without the permanent loss of what went before.
Sometimes that process can be easy. Sometimes it’s painful.
But always, the Tarot offers a profoundly impartial mirror that reflects to us what is true.
Across the centuries, despite the mood of the times, the Tarot never insists that we are somehow omnipotent and that if we will only focus on happiness, no harm will befall us.
Neither does it promote the opinion that humans are intrinsically, fatally flawed, unless outside intervention and redemption are received.
In the world of the Tarot, as is true for many older spiritual paths, the goal is to balance light and dark, not defeat one or the other.
Therefore, the Tarot does not edit from our view that which depicts sorrow, pain, fear, and the foibles of fallible humanity. It does not paint our existence with wishful watercolors, but shows the complexity of our true experience.
By doing so, it invites us to consider this mystery: that the dark and the difficult are not evils to be conquered, but teachers and way-showers. The wisdom and beauty of the Tarot lie in the fact that it always, ultimately, points to the possibility of our Highest Good.
The Tarot will not offer you cotton candy fluffy fakery, nor will it leave you scared and stuck in the dark. But, should difficulty appear, it can illuminate exactly how even the most disquieting cards may be necessary to a beneficial outcome.
As those who are privileged to use the Tarot and dedicated to serving with integrity, our readings never hide the dark; but neither do we insist upon it.
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Beth Owl's Daughter,
Internationally recognized author, teacher and leader in the Tarot community.
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For nearly four decades, Beth Owl's Daughter has been a practicing seer and guide in the non-ordinary realms. After being fascinated by the I Ching and astrology (calculating charts by hand, mind you, and with a life-long aversion to math!), one day in 1972, Beth stumbled upon the first Tarot deck she had ever seen: the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot.
It was love at first sight, and evidently the feeling was mutual, because ever since, the Tarot has been a profound, lifelong friend and guide for her and for those with whom she shares her gifts.
Beth Owl's Daughter [http://www.
owlsdaughter.com]
* is a member of the American Tarot Association, Tarot Professionals and the Tarot Association of the British Isles.
* is an internationally recognized author, teacher and leader in the Tarot community. She has published many articles, reviews and columns about the Tarot, served as ethics columnist for the debut issue of Tarot World Magazine, and has been featured in many radio interviews and podcasts.
* serves on the Board of Directors for Cherry Hill Seminary, the world’s first and only graduate-level education for Pagan ministry.
* is founder and organizer of one of the world’s oldest and largest Tarot social groups.
Beth is a trained, full-time intuitive, an Usui Reiki practitioner, and an eclectic Witch practicing in the Reclaiming and Faerie traditions of the Craft. She is also an award-winning blogger: http://www.owlsdaughter.
com/owls-wings .
She has extensive "real world" business experience, having worked for many years in management, career development, information technology, and as a professional writer. For this reason, she is passionate about teaching people to use the tools of ancient wisdom for practical, modern applications.
She offers readings readings and workshops for motivated, creative people who are reaching for high standards of personal excellence and who understand that to live deeply, joyfully and in balance is a form of spiritual service.
Beth Owl's Daughter will spark your sacred wisdom and connect you to your heart-centered power and vision.
Awaken your dreams, focus your creativity, and manifest your vision.
Web:
www.owlsdaughter.com
Email: beth@owlsdaughter.com
Blog:
www.owlsdaughter.com/
owls-wings
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