Tarot Realizations #4 – from Bill Vincent
Tarot is a somewhat remarkable thing. I find myself marveling at it’s beauty, and entrenched in it’s symbolism. But Tarot has also given me something else, too. It has made me really understand that there is a unique quality to Tarot that goes beyond the 78 cards. It has given me a sense of hope that someday we will better understand the energy behind it.
In my experience, Tarot is the most interesting and powerful of all divinatory arts. Through it I have discovered that there is indeed a unique power that plays between myself and the cards, a power of synchronicity which cannot be explained away. It does not have every answer, and does not control my life. Yet, it provides the closest thing to tangible proof in my eyes that there is truly an unseen intelligence that plays a part in our existence.
Being the skeptic that I am sometimes, I tend to look for scientific proof before I will entertain such notions. Interestingly enough, I don’t think it would be possible to actually test my personal findings around Tarot in a science lab, because only I can relate the messages that I see in the cards to my own experience – the message and the receiver of the message are inseparable. I am sure most, if not all Tarot users would agree. Only I can understand the synchronicities that are present in the cards and how they relate to my life specifically. Overall, I think trying to test the Tarot within the scientific realm would be similar to trying to scientifically explain why the Mona Lisa is a masterpiece. It might get close to describing the symbolism, but never could quantify the emotional connection that it causes in the soul when viewing it. Science is not yet capable of seeing or quantifying the inter-related connections that are part of the Tarot and the reader. It is a much too complicated, personal relationship to ever be successfully compared objectively or quantified completely. A scientist could test specific predictions, but the cards only present one possible future at any given reading. Conclusively predicting the future is impossible, because even a prediction can cause waves of change that could affect the predicted outcome.
Others before me have said it very well – that Tarot and it’s amazing images represent energies – and they have an uncanny way of giving you an accurate snapshot of those energies when you freeze the moment by laying the cards. How well you can understand the snapshot depends on your ability as a reader and your emotional state, but they can and will continually surprise you. I may never understand completely the energies that are represented by Tarot – but I am cautiously willing to explore and increase my understanding. The Tarot is a beautiful and non-threatening way to discover. And to me, the Tarot provides the realization that there is more to understand about ourselves and the universe than science can ever teach us. The Tarot is specifically designed to let us explore our inner reality, and the outer one too. It is a tool that also speaks to us. It is elegant and simple yet infinitely complex, both constant and ever-changing. Its imagery is beautiful, yet sometimes disturbing. It is a collection of incredible paradoxes and an amazing repository of collective knowledge wrapped in the simple construct of a game. We’ve always been told that it’s the simple things in life that matter. I think there is real truth in that statement. And with that, what could be much simpler than a simple deck of 78 cards?