MEDI 236: Modern Interpretations of Tarot

Ok so as part of my research (and an odd social experiment to see how the modern media portrayal of Tarot has influenced people) I decided to send out a questionnaire via Facebook to best gauge the modern opinions of Tarot. I took a random selection of people that I know so that the results would be reflective of general opinion. I used a sample size of 20 people between the ages of 19 and 64 years. Of these 12 were female and 8 males. I received 9 responses of these 6 were female and 3 were male.

Questionnaire: 
Q1; Do you believe that they can tell the future? 
Q2a; If no explain why not? 
Q2b; If yes what leads you to believe they do? 
Q3; When or how do you think Tarot originally started? 
Q4; Would you consider what you believe to fall under the blanket term of Pagan? 
Q5; Do you know someone that owns a tarot deck? 
Q6; Do you personally own a Deck? 

I decided to split the replies into male and female responses so that I am able to draw comparisons on this and yet have the responses remain anonymous.

Female Responses:

Q1; I'm not sure... Yes and no!!

Q2a; I've never really tried it, or had my future told or anything so I would say not since I believe things once I've seen them...

Q2b; However, I like to believe that some things are magical and mysterious!! I've had other things like Horoscopes and dreams and things like that come true before, so I don't see why Tarot would be any different!! Perhaps more so if it was a proper Tarot reader rather than someone who was just starting out?

Q3; I know it's clichéd to say so, but I always think of gypsies when I think of Tarot haha!! You know, the reading the future for money etc... Also, gypsies were chased and killed etc in early periods of time because people thought of them as witches, right? So if that's true, then maybe that means that Tarot can tell the future!!

Q4;  I don't know... I'm not too knowledgeable on religion and whatnot, so probably not lol!! Although I did look into Wicca a little because I love the idea of magic and, after reading a book that had lots of references to Wicca, I was really interested... After looking at that I would say it kind of ties in with aspects of Pagan belief (don't hate me if it doesn't - I literally don't know anything haha) which, in my mind, also links to witches, then to gypsies and back to Tarot... So maybe!!

Q5; Yes ^.^ one of my friends' mum (back home) has lots of Tarot decks and took a couple of classes in... *forgotten what it's called... begins with 'S' I think?*... erm some sort of thing to do with healing by using decks/scented candles/massage/etc!! It was really interesting!!

Q6;  No, but I've been meaning to buy some for a while haha just waiting for a bit of spare cash!!

~~~

Q1; Undecided.
Q2a; Fate is in ones own hands.
Q3; By Readers back in time.
Q4; Paganism covers lots of sources but not necessarily.
Q5; Yes.
Q6; No but members of my family have them and Runes.

~~~

Q1; No.

Q2a; Our destiny is already mapped for us, i think they just make us think about what we are doing.
Q3; It was a parlor game.

Q4; Yes.

Q5; Many people.

Q6; Yes 3 but only i only really use one of them.

~~~

Q1; No.

Q2a; I don't believe anything has the ability to tell the future.

Q3; Ancient times, maybe in royal courts, may have been used as entertainment or to influence decisions.

Q4; No, I wouldn't pigeon-hole it to just Pagan.

Q5; Nope.

Q6; Nope.

~~~

Q1; I believe that tarot card can offer an archetype to try and live by (or avoid living by) at any given point in time, or can offer certain forms of advice which can be followed, but I don't believe that Tarot cards necessarily tell the future, no.

Q2a; As above, I feel they more offer archetypal guidance, which can allow a person to go down certain paths in their future, rather then indicate a set-in-stone future.

Q3; Probably a long time ago, and probably as more of a novelty or nuance.

Q4;  More Neo-pagan. 

Q5;  More then one person, yes.

Q6; I own more than one deck, but never use them I prefer cards based around animal totems.

~~~

Q1; Yes.

Q2b; I don’t no why i just do.

Q3; Many, many years ago.

Q4; Yes. 

Q5; Yes lots of people.

Q6; No.

Only one female believed that the cards tell the future. This actually surprised me because the media these days represent them as cards that can tell the future. The more popular opionin is that they merely offer guidance, with the only person that believed they could tell the future not really knowing why they believed so.

Interestingly enough the women all agree that they are a very old invention with a few prescribing to the myths and a surprising number actually drawing very close to what is believed to have been historically accurate.

I am actually shocked that of the 6 responding half the women considered themselves Pagan or Neo-Pagan with the rest not giving an outright no...

Over half the women knew one or many people that owned a Deck, this shows just how widespread they are. Compared to this however over half do not have a deck of their own.  

Male Responses:

Q1; Not really, but never had a reading... 

Q2a; I don't believe in fate as such, and how else will a desk of cards reliably tell the future? 

Q3; Probably as a concentration technique for the naturally gifted, or a distracting pastime for rich women. 

Q4; Not reliably 

Q5; At least one 

Q6; Nope... I own Runes though... 

~~~

Q1; No. 

Q2a; Their pieces of card. Nothing can tell the future. 

Q3; Ancient Egypt, maybe. 

Q4; No. 

Q5; No. 

Q6; No. 

~~~

Q1; Yes but more than just that, they can open up your past and define your present. 

Q2b; From both having and doing readings in the past.

Q3; Back gods knows when. As for why that is not so easy to say, I would like to think it was a way to show some one else what the reader was seeing in their head but I also think it was a way for shady people to scam money out of people.

Q4; More Wiccan then Pagan.

Q5; Yes.

Q6; Yes.

Two of the three male respondents do not believe that Tarot tell the future. Their reasoning's on why differed greatly but only one of them thought that they were nothing but cards.  

The men also tended to follow the myths about their creation but also came close the historical theory.

Only one of the men even remotely considered themselves Pagan.

Two of the men knew people that owned Decks and one himself owned a Deck, however interestingly another owned a set of Rune Stones. (Widely considered a similar tool for divination).

It is interesting that the participant with no experience of the Tarot cards had absolutely no belief in them. This is however what I would expect as these things can be cause and effect. If you don't see something you don't tend to believe in or likewise if you don't believe in something you don't go out of your way to own it or seek it.
That being said maybe its a statement on how the cards work? Perhaps for them to actually be effective you need to have a little faith or at least believe in something.  

One of the most interesting responses I received was from a friend of mine who is a Druid.

“Cards don't tell the future.

Tarot images have been found from medieval times - rumored earlier but none have survived. They originally appealed to the French romantic courtly class, with their popularity growing throughout the West. Last century theorists such as Jung have suggested their enduring appeal is due to the images tapping into enduring human archetypes, inspiring 'messages' from the subconscious to apply to life situations.

I am Pagan in belief and practice. I know many readers and myself have several sets, but do not rely on them! Fascinating to see them used well, however. If they inspire and help people, that's positive, but like anything, but be respected for what they are/do (including potential for misuse).” -Cat Treadwell a Druid