Ethics and Responsibility in Tarot

Recently there has been some turmoil and upheaval in the tarot community. Somebody wrote a supposedly fictional story where one of the main characters murders another of the characters, a radio show host. Assumedly, these characters where based upon real people and the author played out a twisted fantasy with the characters involved.

I am new to the international tarot community and while I heard the stories of the people involved, I was not there when the bad blood between the two started and festered so I can not remark one way or another on the story.

However, it did get me thinking about morals, ethics and responsibility. Everyone has an individual set of beliefs and walks their own path. Therefore, I do not belief in concrete ethics or morals. I believe that individualism and free will  means you can not legislate morality, both macrocosmically, on a Federal Government level and microcosmically, at a small organizational level.

I am a member of The Tarot Guild. One of the great things about the organization is for a small membership fee ($24) you get access to the entire sight, including their class archives. I was searching through them the other day and I found a class on Ethics and Responsibility. Given recent events I was curious to see what they had to say.

The class was facilitated by Christiana Gaudet. She maintained that all tarot readers hold an ethical responsibility to themselves, their gifts, their clients and their community. Community could stand for the Tarot Community at large, partners in your practice, and/or tenants in the office building you rent space in.

During the class she interspersed several one card readings to help identify what our ethics were and where we might face challenges. This exercise is not only valuable for metaphysical professionals but could help anyone interested in bringing their professional and personal ethics more in line.

Exercises:

How am I doing living my ethics and honoring my clients and the tarot community? - Wheel of Fortune.

In the Fool's Journey, Wheel of Fortune comes after The Hermit. It is the moment you see the patterns in everything and realize your part in cause and effect. The Wheel for this questions tells me I am honoring my part in the relationship. The Wheel also stands for the ups and downs along the journey. I understand that I am neither as good as everyone tells me when things go well nor am I as bad as I think I am when doubts set in. Lastly the Wheel portends good fortune this lets me know I am on the right track.

What more do I need to do to enhance my level of professionalism? What do I need to pay attention to? - The Lovers.

The Lovers represent physically intimate relationships. Does this mean I need to "get busy" with members of the tarot community and my clients? No. The Lovers also can stand for strong partnerships and teaches the lessons of compromise.

The lesson for me to learn here is to align myself with respected organizations and groups. Being part of a specialized group or becoming certified or endorsed by an organization can lead clients to become more comfortable. I have always stayed away from tarot certification because there are many organization that do it but there is no commonality between organizations or certifications. It looks like I need to research the many groups and select the that best aligns itself with my beliefs and practices.

The Lovers also shows me the need to compromise and give a little for the greater good. In order to achieve a higher level of professionalism and therefore a higher level of success I must understand that I do not have all the answers. That sometimes other people's ideas have merit and may be the better option.

Is there anything I need to add to my personal Code of Ethics? - Two of Pentacles

Twos represent unions and partnerships. They also may represent decisions. In the Two of Pentacles we see a young man  juggling two pentacles while hopping on one foot. Behind him we see two ship sailing on rolling seas. The lesson here is at the beginning I may be biting off more than I can chew.  I must make sure I do not overtax myself as my business starts and the early challenges mount.

If we look at the two pentacles that are being juggled a lemniscate, or infinity symbol, surrounds them. This reminds me that while I am juggling and handling the challenges, the possibilities of my business remain limitless. This reminds me to make sure my personal Code of Ethics not only will serve me now but will also support me later.

What should my attitude be towards charging for readings? - Four of Cups (Rx)

The Four of Cups shows a man with his arms folded, sitting crossed legged. He is being recalcitrant. He may be throwing a temper tantum like a little child or simply being apathetic. His refusal to be open does not allow him to see the cups sitting on the ground next to him or accept the cup that is being gifted to him from the clouds.

Reversed, our man remains open to opportunities and accepts the gifted chalice as manna.

The reversed four shows me that my attitude should be one of acceptance and gratitude when charging and accepting payment for my services.

What do I need to do to provide a good value? - Seven of Pentacles

In the Seven of Pentacles we see a farmer admiring his bush. The bush is ripe with pentacles. Our farmer just rests on his hoe and fawns at his handiwork. Some say that he is just waiting for the fruits of the pentacles to ripen so he may harvest his crop. I do not agree with this. If we look at the ground we see a pentacle that may have ripened to the point of falling of the bush. The fruits, in this case, are ready to harvest but our farmer is so enamored with admiring his work he does nor reap what he sowed.

The lesson here is clear. Do not get so wrapped up in past successes that I rest on my laurels. I must remember to keep learning to ensure that will be able to sow my harvests year after year after year.

What is my confidence level in my tarot ability?- Five of Cups

Okay, I've got to admit this card confused me when it showed itself. The Five of Cups represent loss and sorrow. I have been reading professionally for over a year and have read for ten year prior to that without charging. I am confident in my gifts, skills and abilities, so what could this mean?

When talking about the Five of Cups in "Tarot Reversals" Mary K. Greer states that that "you may regret lost opportunities." She goes on to say that "something valuable can come out of the situation" and "You are at a turning point." This allowed me to look at the five a little differently.

I do regret not diving into Tarot with full force earlier in my life. I feel that my knowledge and skills would be considerably greater had I started earlier. I played the Corporate America game for over 25 years, and find myself past my "prime earning years" and disappointed with American Dream.

I have been downsized from more jobs than I can remember and stayed the course because that was what was expected of me. I denied my more creative and intuitive self for too long and missed out on knowing my higher self early on.

Right now is a turning point for me personally and professionally. I am ready and eager to see where this part of my journey leads me. If we look at the Five of Cups we see that if our man would simply lift his head he would see a bridge over the river that leads to home.

What is my level of confidence in the Spiritual Righteousness in Professional Tarot? - Eight of Wands (Rx)

Eights represent movement. Wands represent passion and/or fire. Together the Eight of Wands is possibly the fastest moving of all of the tarot cards. Waite referred to the Eight of Wands as "arrows of love," and often times people refer to this card as the "falling in love card." Reversed the feelings of love and speed are stymied.

Anytime I see the word Righteousness, I get scared. It smacks of a holier than thou attitude and a sense of exclusion. This feeling certainly describes the tarot community. There are many wonderful organizations in the tarot world where you can learn and grow, but many of them do not play well with each other.

Many groups believe their way is the only way or is the "true" way. Their Righteousness draw battle lines. Many groups demand exclusivity from their members and will not allow them to be members of any other, or in some case one particular group. Even going so far as to forbid communications with members of other groups.

This whole belief is dangerous. It conjures images of cults and gives the public image of Tarot and all metaphysical arts an ugly face. It throws obstacles to enriching the tarot community as a whole and prevents true growth.

I do not believe in Righteousness. I believe in that my way is not the only way, my way is just another way. Anyone who tells me that others are wrong, they know the answer and can introduce me to the truth will see my back running away from them.