Daily Notes #10
Another revision, some lore . . . and a rant preview
I’m not sure how long ago I wrote the original Ten Doors—but I think it may have been as long as ten years. It stayed in a folder somewhere until I gave it a little buff and published it on Medium. So it’s not surprising that some updating is needed.
My original description of the “social door” was not wrong, just incomplete. Here’s what I thought of at the time:
From this vantage, you will see Tarot as an active interest that fosters interpersonal connections and provides a sense of community. | Along the social path, you can expect to find Facebook groups, classes, workshops, symposia, and associations.
But here’s what I would have to add now: You can also expect to find Tarot-themed content marketing and disinformation.
I’m counting those aspects as part of the “door” because people do enter the world of Tarot in those ways. As you might guess—I don’t consider this a good thing.
However. I’m going to focus most of the present note on happy aspects of Tarot community, by paying tribute to people who’ve made huge contributions in this category. Year after year they have brought Tarot enthusiasts together for shared experiences, shared discoveries, and the pleasure of being with fellow travelers.
It’s likely that most of you know all about the following. But I just want to make sure!
The indisputable goddess of Tarot gatherings is Thalassa Therese, whose Bay Area Tarot Symposium (BATS) began in 1991 and provided a Tarot gathering place for nearly a quarter of a century. As someone who was lucky enough to participate on several occasions, I can tell you what a great experience it always was—and how much work Thalassa put into making it happen.
On the other coast, Wald and Ruth Ann Amberstone began their Readers Studio event in 2003, and over the years it became enormously popular. The in-person gatherings have been sidelined by Covid-19, but Wald and Ruth Ann keep up a sense of community through publications and virtual salons.
For more than a decade, Mary K. Greer and Rachel Pollack have been teaching together every summer at the Omega Institute in upstate New York. Their classes attract and reward enthusiasts from all over the country.
These and other gatherings have enabled many people to connect with others through a mutual interest in Tarot—even though they may have come in through different “doors.” And for those who can’t/don’t join in-person events, a whole array of blogs, forums, and websites have been available. To see some of the longest-running, browse the “Links” roll on Mary K. Greer’s Tarot Blog.
All that is good. But as it stands today, the idea of in-person Tarot festivity seems lost in an uncertain future. And traditionally substantive means of online communication—those sites and blogs and forums—have increasingly been displaced by short-form spaces like Facebook and Instagram.
The good/bad ratio of that fact is complicated, and I’m not going to belabor it. Social media is not the subject of my forthcoming rant. What I’m dismayed about is the use of “content marketing” to sell Tarot.
I’ve made it all the way through Door #10 without breaking my 3-minute pledge, so won’t give in now. Instead, I’ll post my rant as a standalone story—and that way you can seek it out if you’re curious, or in the mood.
But I’ll give this brief summary: Content marketing is a manipulative formula for getting people to buy things. The transactional goal is not always obvious, but it’s always there.
And the mechanics of content marketing are exactly the same, no matter what the product—including Tarot. In case you don’t recognize the CM formula, I’ll say a bit more in the rant, and take you (slightly) inside how it’s used by one Tarot site.
For now, though, I want to close with this micro-manifesto . . . .
I don’t think Tarot practitioners should ever persuade someone that they need or ought to have a reading. And content marketing is about nothing but persuasion. It may look like information-sharing or community-building, but underneath all that, it’s a calculated methodology designed to convert prospects into buyers.
In my view, that’s not the way Tarot should be treated.
I meant to end on a cheerier note—seems that didn’t happen though!
But I do have some cheery plans for next week on EP, so look for the Saturday recap/reveal. It will also expand a bit on two stories from last week. C