As usually, I’m reading several different books at once. (Many years ago I had a great attention span, but it has all be disappeared now.) One of the books, The Forest of Souls: A Walk Through the Tarot by Rachel Pollack, talks a bit about how and why the Tarot works. One of Ms. Pollack’s ideas is based on quantum physics. She puts forth the idea of “entangled particles.” Even after two entangled particles are separated, they will still show evidence of being in direct, instantaneous contact with each other. This is an example of two seemingly unrelated things effecting each other, much like Tarot and a person’s life. I’m obviously paraphrasing her ideas here, but I think I’ve got the basics across.
There is also the idea of the Uncertainty Principle. In a nut shell, by observing an event you change it. (This makes me think of Big Brother for some reason…) That makes me wonder about Tarot readings even more. Say my day was probably going to be pretty normal, with maybe a small incident with a rude person while on my way to the library. Most days I wouldn’t really notice. But, say on this particular morning I did a Tarot reading for myself and drew some cards that pointed to some sort of conflict involving a woman. Suddenly, I have changed the way I will view the rude lady. Am I creating my future with the reading, or am I changing the way I view things that would have happened anyway?
What happens when you don’t believe that the future is predetermined? I guess you don’t read Tarot! Just kidding. This is an understandable belief. Actually, I’m of the opinion that we create our own future based on our previous actions. I see Tarot as being like some quantum particles, who’s presence in the future actually appears to create themselves in the past. Tarot is able to pull out the our past actions, and use these to show us the actions will we make in the future. But, as always, there is an element of individuality.
Tarot also acts as a focus. Through it we can concentrate on our spiritual selves. Meditation, journaling, readings, etc. can all be used as a way to explore our inner self. Going back to the Uncertainty Principle, by this self-examination we change ourself in two ways. First, we change the part of the self we are examining. Secondly, we change the part of our self that is doing the examining. Doesn’t make sense? Ah, well, think about what is happening the next time you sit down for some quiet introspection.