What has happened to people who are dedicated to learning something well? News of the last six-session beginners’ tarot course I was going to offer generated many interested nibbles, but when it came down to the crunch, only one person was actually ready to sign up, so I cancelled it. There’s a lot of buzz about my upcoming Level One Reiki course on the last weekend in June, but so far no one has actually laid any money on the line. Many times, on discussion groups and even in books printed by major publishers, I’ve seen unnecessary misspellings such as “querant” instead of the correct “querent”, or “alter” when the person means “altar”. If we’re going to do tarot, or reiki, or circle, or astrology, or therapy, or writing, or massage, or whatever it is we do, let’s know our terminology and how to use it. Let’s know our tools and processes and how and when to use them. Let’s not come across as flakes. Let’s actually learn and practise before offering our services, whether we do them on a for-pay basis or as favours for friends. I’ve seen a couple of people in Toronto who took a one-evening, three-hour Learning Annex tarot class, then hung out their shingle to do readings. I’ve been working, playing, and living with tarot for almost 29 years and I still don’t know it all. When I come across something that excites me and that will enhance my work, I do my best to learn and integrate it. End of rant.
Blogroll
- Awakenings Bookstore
- Cello Chanting
- Deena Metzger
- Dr. Art
- Gaian Tarot
- Geraldine Amaral
- Gina Thies
- Hyakuten Inamoto (Komyo Reiki Kai)
- Jeannette McCullough (Shaman)
- Lakeside Retreats
- Maat Tarot
- Mary K. Greer’s Tarot Blog
- New Earth Chronicles
- PeerSpirit Circling
- Rachel Pollack
- Raven Essences
- Storycatcher
- Tarot Connection podcasts
- Tarot School
- Thalassa / Daughters of Divination
- Urban Flute
- Voyager Tarot
- WonderWorks Bookstore
- WordPress.com
- WordPress.org

10 comments
Comments feed for this article
June 17, 2008 at 4:10 pm
judy
YOU TELL ‘EM JAMES!!
June 17, 2008 at 10:21 pm
Beth Owl's Daughter
Hear, hear.
June 18, 2008 at 3:03 am
Ges
Our society is geared toward fast personal gratification. People don’t want to work for anything any more, it’s all fast fixes and quick courses, people don’t want work or time, they just want the world, and want it now.
June 18, 2008 at 2:12 pm
jameswells
What comes to mind is a line from Postcards From the Edge: “Instant gratification takes too long.”
June 19, 2008 at 6:12 pm
Nancy Antenucci
Boy if we thought oil was a special commodity..it has nothing over “time” in our current culture. It would take alot for me to commit to 6 classes to work with a tool that I may never really use or understand. For instance, I would love to study calligraphy but it just isn’t a priority in my life as I juggle family and work and play. I had always wished that someone could show me things I could work on in calligraphy until I could make it a priority. Perhaps my dear James…you could offer a workshop that is an introduction to Tarot. Once they meet you and sense the creativity and divinity that you bring as a teacher…they would then devote the time in a longer workshop. You could call it Tarot Foreplay???
June 20, 2008 at 3:31 am
jameswells
I have no more interest in offering the beginners’ class. They can work with me on a private tutorial basis. Period.
June 21, 2008 at 12:43 am
Jennie Lin
I’ve seen my readings decline, too. I’ve chalked it up to people having to decide between gasoline and food, between mortgage and school clothes. It’s tough out there, all the way around. As we know from the Wheel, these things go in cycles. The ability to pay for extras isn’t there right now, but hopefully will be back by Summer Solstice next year.
July 7, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Lunaea
James, I’ve seen a decline in commitments to my year-long programs too, and I think there are several reasons for it. First is the natural inclination to do less in the summer, or at least, to commit to less. School’s out! Commitment will pick up again in the fall. The worry about money (gas prices, blah blah) is also part of it, but more from the worry standpoint, I think, than actual lack. That’s not to say people aren’t struggling — priestesses and tarot teachers, for example! — but the FEAR of lack is guiding people just as much, pumped up by the media. Finally, I know that when energy withdraws from me in terms of new program participants, tarot clients, etc., it is often because my own energy has withdrawn. The universe gives back what you put out. Thoughts of abundance and generosity and willingness to share will bring those things back to us. When I get worried and clutchy, I’m sure I’m adding to the worry and clutchiness everywhere. The cycle WILL come around, sooner than you think. (And by the way, alter/altar bugs me too, as does “free reign” which I actually read in print in “Eclipse” [sequel to "Twilight" and "New Moon"] the other day. I Googled and “free reign” has 1,010,000 instances, whereas the correct “free rein” has 770,000. Sigh.)
July 12, 2008 at 4:07 am
Psyche
I find the same. I prefer smaller classes on dedicated subjects, or one-on-one private lessons.
No-one wants to be a beginner in public, it seems.
August 6, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Gail Wood
I hear you. I’ve been challenged to write a beginning Tarot lesson for my (Wiccan) tradition and I can’t figure out how to do it without writing a book of exercises that lasts a year-and-a-day, the traditional length of time for the dedicant phase of learning in our tradition. I have been teaching it to our members in person and we are currently near the end of our second year.
Even with that and compared to the dedicant timeline, most people — to really learn the thing well– take as long as it takes. Often more than a year and a day.
I studied Tarot for more than 10 years before I considered myself good enough to be a “Reader” in the commercial sense. My jaw still drops when I see someone set themselves up in business as a reader after a few months. Is it moxie, confidence, or arrogance?
On the other hand, the arrogant and over-confident will reap as they sow and may well learn some hard lessons. We probably won’t ever see that underbelly. Thank heavens.