Some people assume that tarot is all about revealing fate or a pre-determined future. They believe that Life showers them with goodies or ca-ca because that's the way it's "meant to be". These people might want a tarot reading in order to know ahead of time which end of the stick that Life intends to hand them. Or they avoid tarot altogether, figuring that ignorance is bliss. I work with an assumption that there's no such thing as a pre-determined future, but rather that we create our future based on choosing one or more options in any given moment. My work assumes that the tarot simply reveals choices, challenges, and resources. How we respond to these is up to us.

Because some people believe in fate, they assume that a specific percentage of accuracy is possible. They buy into the announcements on chipboard signs that call out, "Professor Hoo-Haw is 95% accurate", or "Madame Contiki will succeed where others have failed". Fatalistic types assume that the reader is going to do all the work and impress them, or not. My own point of view is that we're all human and we all have good and bad days. Anyone who claims a specific and consistent level of accuracy (and who determines what the hell "accuracy" is anyway?) is either lying or self-deluded. Another of my own assumptions is that a tarot consultation is to be a co-created experience, a combination of what the client brings, what I bring, and what the cards themselves bring. We work together to help the client remember the wisdom that s/he possesses. I'm not in this business to impress anyone, but rather to be helpful to them.

There are those who assume that a tarot consultant is "psychic" and they have a very narrow view of what that word means. They want the reader to describe in gory detail what Aunt Hattie ate for breakfast on March the 3rd, 1986. Who cares?! The word "psychic" comes from the word "psyche", meaning "soul". To be psychic is to be connected with the soul. It is NOT about being some sort of cosmic trivia freak. If the information from a tarot session doesn't nourish the client's journey in some way, then it's just useless glitter.

Some people assume that the tarot consultant will "fix" them, will wave his/her pack of cards over them and hey presto -- you're fixed! Oh that it were that easy. My own assumption is that I simply provide the time, space, tools, and expertise that can set up the conditions for clients to empower themselves. The only person who can empower someone is the person him/her-self.

In a similar vein, there's an assumption that tarot cards hold some special power over people, that the deck is some kind of "master" or "guru". My own view is that the power is in us. We are our source of wisdom. We have the capacity to create, destroy, love, hate, etc. We are our own "masters". The symbols and concepts of the tarot reflect that inner power. They are not its source.

To bring this piece to a close, I asked the Druid Craft tarot deck this question: "What do the people reading this article most need to know about the tarot?" When I reached into the deck, I received the Prince of Pentacles. This card reminds me that the tarot is simply a tangible agent that funnels our insights into the "real" world. It's a physical mirror of our earthwalk. The tarot is a supporter or attendant that offers stability and a sense of security. It is the vehicle, not the journey itself.

I admit that the ideas expressed in this article are rooted in my own assumptions. But so far this non-fatalistic, egalitarian, self-empowering approach to tarot has never let me down. It has made me a better tarot practitioner and a stronger human being.

©James Wells