Tarot Keywords: Cataloguing the Commonplace
AUTHOR’S NOTE: I’ve been learning that many Medieval writers padded their work in a variety of ways to increase its length. One of their favorite ploys was digression, by virtue of which they never had to get to the conclusion in a timely manner. But the one that caught my eye was cataloguing or assembling exhaustive lists covering a miscellany of topics that were almost certainly well-known to their readers, thus providing the comfort of familiarity and avoiding the risk of misapprehension (apparently boredom wasn’t an issue for their devotees).
This got me thinking about traditional tarot keywords, particularly when we use them with querents who have some previous exposure to the tarot and don’t need a primer. We are basically handing them the leavings of someone else’s mental effort rather than offering fresh insights derived from our own application of my three favorite “I” words. Inspiration. Imagination and Ingenuity (to which Intuition is only one input along with Knowledge and Experience). Rather than parroting back at them what they already know, we should be striving to break new ground with our narrative by heeding but not slavishly mimicking established conventions.
This dilemma is the main reason that, except for the occasional memory-jogging reference, I steer clear of “canned” keyword lists and “little white books” in general, those that come with tarot decks and often present the deck creator’s personal opinion about card meanings. Any storyteller worthy of the name should be capable of fashioning something with at least a gloss of originality even if it is rooted in customary wisdom. I’m not talking about pure fabrication here, but rather a gathering of numerous anecdotal threads, some from learning and practice and others from intuitive conjecture, for the purpose of weaving them together into a coherent fabric of meaningful observation. In short, we should trust our instincts but treasure our antecedents.
It can be painfully obvious when a reader’s depth of understanding runs only a single layer deep, projecting a wafer-thin veneer of keyword reliance that may have been only haphazardly committed to memory. The advice of seasoned mentors (who should know better) to not bother memorizing anything and just fly by the seat of one’s pants does no favors to those who are hard-pressed to put a creative story together. They need some hooks to hang their ideas on, which is the only justification for adopting rote verbiage as a starting point.
There is a place for keyword memorization when first trying to learn the cards, but it should only be a passing phase as confidence is gained in one’s own impressions, and it should be limited to no more than a couple of core ideas for each card that will spark innovative interpretation. These can remain in one’s vocabulary as a “safety net” for overcoming moments of perplexity in the middle of a reading. The concept of method acting, in which an actor can become immersed in a character’s emotional state of mind to the point of psychological fixation, is a cautionary one for the diviner. We want to give a respectful nod to time-honored methods of prognostication but we don’t want to become those methods, which I see as the “kiss of death” for any kind of spontaneity.
I’ll close with a brief word about digression. There are times when I will arrive at the last card in a spread while feeling that I haven’t really done justice to those that preceded it, but I’m also at a loss for what to say next. In these unsettling situations, in order to give full value to paying clients I may “circle back around” to something I said earlier and refresh or amplify it (amplification is another Medieval author’s tactic) as a contributing factor to present considerations. A standard keyword or two can provide a convenient wedge for “moving the immovable” toward some kind of closure. The challenge is to avoid letting this degenerate into “padding” that may be all too visible to our sitter as we fumble our way to the end.
Originally published at http://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com on December 28, 2024.
