Seeing as I’m on a Tarot kick, I thought I’d share my two cents about the words “fortune teller” and “fortune telling”. I saw this in a blog entry by Angelo Nasios. There’s a tendency among readers (of Tarot and other divination systems) to fly a giant disclaimer (figuratively speaking) to clients; it reads: “I AM NOT A FORTUNE TELLER, I CAN ONLY COMMENT ON THE HERE AND NOW AND DISCUSS HOW THAT MAY EFFECT THE FUTURE” and to me, that is more or less wrong. I’ve only been reading professionally (as in, charging people) for a little over a year now but there is one thing that is true about 95% of the time – people come to me be because they see me as a fortune teller. They come seeking advise, sure, but they always first ask about what’s going to happen before they ask about what is happening.
The Rider-Waite Tarot images are classic
I’d be willing to bet that the vast majority of Tarot readers are introduced to the system as a way of predicting the future. I know that’s how I came to the Tarot nearly ten years ago, and I don’t understand why we have to be ashamed of it. Can I predict the future? No, but I can predict a future – a likely future, one based on the here and now. That doesn’t mean it’s not able to be changed or molded. The future is fluid, changing and always able to be shifted. We weave the web of life through our interactions and intentions.
Of course, there are many other uses for the Tarot, or the Runes, or Oracles, or any other form of divination. They can offer insight into patterns in our lives, cast light on the shadows of the unconscious, and provide a means of connecting with other beings or realms. The usage of any divination system is limited only by the imagination of the diviner; but I think it’s a disservice to try to “cover up” one of primary purposes that these systems serve for us.
Is there really any shame in being a fortune teller? I don’t think there has to be. So many readers I come across prefer to say that they “practice divination” instead of saying they are “fortune tellers” – without seeming to understand that they mean the same thing! Divination is simply the practice of foretelling future events, be it by cards, runes, intuition, or any other system.
I’ve decided to change my disclaimer to now read: “I AM A FORTUNE TELLER, BUT THE FUTURE IS EVER CHANGING, YOU HAVE FREE WILL NO MATTER WHAT FUTURE THE CARDS PREDICT”.
I love me and I love being me – and part of being me is being a fortune teller.
Rose Gypsie 