The Empowered Read
Where does the power reside? So many who are new to the tarot become entrenched in the archaic superstition that dogs it. But let’s be reasonable. When doing a reading where does the power really reside?
There are about 1001 ways to cleanse and attune yourself with a deck. We talk as if the deck carries innate wisdom and is scolding us, or encouraging us, or even worse, ignoring us. We believe we are not allowed to buy our first deck, or allow others to handle our deck. We personify these decks and attribute a great responsibility to them. But where does the power really reside?
When a carpenter builds a house do we thank his hammer? When a chef creates a meal do we thank his knife? When a surgeon saves your life do we thank his scalpel? No we do not. If we are reasonable we thank the people who’s life time of education and skill has come to task to create the result we are hoping for. If we are superstitious we thank god. But we never thank the tools used. So why do so many readers believe that their decks hold the power? Where does the power really reside? The power resides in us.
Fundamentally a tarot deck is just a collection of paper with ink printed on it. There is no power there. So how come it works? Why does it always seem so accurate? Because the human brain is a remarkable creature. First we create and design a system of archetypal characters and a symbol set that we all agree upon. We ascribe a plethora of meanings and combinations to them and we allow cosmic coincidence to lay them out in front of us. Then the most remarkable of all events takes place. The human brain ascribes meaning to the chaos.
Our brains love symmetry and patterns. We are very good and finding what we are looking for. We are even better at justifying our experience. Our brains look for meaning and purpose everywhere. So when offered a magnificent set of archetypal characters and symbols it is easy for us to tease a meaningful exchange from them.
Where does the power reside? In us. Every time we give our power away to inanimate objects we become weaker. It is a terrible thing to take advantage of those who may be suffering by telling them that an inanimate object knows more about their lives than they do. As a reader it is important to remember this. Your job, if you choose to accept it, is to help your clients find their power and learn to trust themselves again. Telling them that there is power in the cards does not do this. Using the cards as a tool to remind them that the power is in them does.
