Interrobang Tarot
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Spreads
  • PATREON
  • Shop
  • Ebooks
    • Wicked Queer Tarot Spreads
    • Eight Useful Tarot Spreads
  • Decks
    • Black Ink
    • Spirit Vertigo
  • Art
  • Contents
  • Contact
  • Freebies

Why Tarot?

3/9/2015

3 Comments

 
Picture
The Ancient Italian Tarot, published by Lo Scarabo. The world, The Star, The Fool, and The Ace of Staves.
Why tarot? This is the most logical question to start with for a new tarot blog, and yet I found it weirdly hard to answer when I actually sat down to draft this post. Tarot has been a part of my entire (granted, brief) adult life, and most of my adolescence. I use tarot cards all the time, but I don't often ask myself why I use them.

First and foremost, tarot is a tool for introspection. 
Yup. And?



Now and then, I wind up defending my habit to the odd cynical friend who’ll blanch, sneer, or blow their drink out their nose when I mention the cards offhand. In these cases, I’ll say something about how tarot cards are a tool of introspection. 

A bit like a free-association game, or brainstorming tricks, you can use the images and symbols in the cards as a jumping-off point to have a conversation with yourself—in particular, to have a conversation with the deeper part of yourself that knows what you really want and what you’re really afraid of. 

They don’t have to be all mystical and mysterious; they can provide very simple and practical ways to generate new ideas on any given problem.



This alone is a great reason, and enough reason to pick up a deck of tarot cards. 



This was my main approach to tarot when I first started reading, and for years on. For many tarot enthusiasts, that’s all the reason you ever need.

There can be more to it than that, though. Here are some of the other things I’ve seen and heard of tarot doing for people:

De-Mystified Things:

*Brainstorming
*Creative problem-solving
*Decision making
*Analyzing patterns
*Back-up, validation, and emotional support

Re-Mystified Things:

*Healing
*Spiritual exploration and guidance
*Allegory and metaphor
*Initiation 
(The Fool’s Journey and the narrative arcs of the arcana can serve as paths for inner growth and the attainment of wisdom.)
*Sacred Text
(The tarot can be seen as a living, constantly changing sacred text that you get to co-create.)


So many things! Good things! I’ll be exploring all these in depth in future posts, but for now, a good summary is that the tarot serves as a tool for connecting with our own intuitions, facilitates decision making, validates our experiences, and provides rich metaphors for meditations and spiritual growth. Over time, it can subtly alter the way you see the world and relate to others for the better.

3 Comments
Beth Stamper
8/28/2018 09:54:32 am

You speak my thoughts eloquently. Thank you.

Reply
Evvie
8/28/2018 09:59:18 pm

Thanks Beth! Glad to hear this strikes a chord for you.

Reply
Victoria Addington link
11/20/2023 02:29:54 am

Thank you for letting me know that tarot reading can provide validation and emotional support to people. My friend wants to buy a sealed vintage tarot deck. I should advise him to go for it to learn tarot reading.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Author

    Hi, I'm Evvie. I'm an animist, artist, lyricist, chronically ill queer, and huge nerd for divination & folkloric craft. I've been playing with tarot, art, and illustration for over twenty years each. I also go by the nickname Evvin.

    Picture

    New Book!

    Fortune's Inkwell: An Interrobang Tarot Guidebook out now! Pair with the Black Ink & Interrobang decks, or any other deck in your collection.

    Kickstarter

    The Black Ink & Interrobang Tarot Decks are coming out this summer 2024 thanks to your support on Kickstarter!

    Picture

    Newsletter

    Subscribe  for updates on new projects and events, plus fun recommendations, tips,  & process from behind the scenes.

    Contents

    Full blog index. Includes links to each post, by topic, with hand-picked highlights.
    Picture

    Picture

    Categories

    All
    Art
    Autumn & Halloween
    Blog Hop
    Crafts & DIY
    Decks
    Dreaming
    Faces & Facets
    Fluff And Fun
    Interviews
    Journaling
    Majors
    Music
    Myths & Misconceptions
    News
    Philosophy
    Queerness
    Spreads
    Style
    Tarot 101
    Witchcraft


    Follow

    RSS Feed


    Picture

    Support

    With money: you can join the art & tarot club on Patreon, shop the shop, or donate through Paypal. For free: comment on posts, share links with friends, and follow, like, and comment on Instagram. Thanks so much! You're a gem!
    PATREON
    DONATE
    SHOP
    INSTAGRAM

HOME

Book

BLOG

SPREADS

CONTENTS

EBOOKS

ABOUT

SHOP


Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Unless otherwise credited, all works on this site are by multimedia artist Evvie "Evvin" Marin (they/them). Check out my sibling site, www.evviemarin.com, for interdisciplinary art inspired by folklore, natural history, and subconscious fantasy. Join me on Patreon to support my work and receive rad, exclusive content! © 2024 Evvie Marin. All Rights Reserved.​