I often come across debates as to whether or not kids should be reading tarot or oracles and if so, then what sort of cards are suitable? Oh… and what about cards that have nudity in them? Is that appropriate?
Now the question of nudity… well maybe it’s just me… and admittedly yet again I’ve missed out on making the short list for Mother of the Year award… but… I kind of find that question funny… actually… that’s an understatement… I find it roll on the floor hilarious… I wonder… do people stand outside the world’s greatest Art galleries and indulge in lengthy arguments as to whether or not under 18’s should be allowed to see famous paintings as *gasp* the figures are naked!
I grew up in a household where questions where silenced and a whole atmosphere of ‘being seen and not heard ‘ reigned… and I guess that has had its effect on me… Certainly it never fails to make me laugh as I recall turning 18. Around the age of 8? 9? I asked my father the meaning of a word I’d heard at school… He visibly squirmed and through clenched teeth muttered that I should ask him when I turned 18… Long story short… I quite relished that I’d found a way to push his buttons and so by the time I turned 18… well… I had quite a list of words for him… Yeah! I gave myself a fantastic present, much to his dismay… He stared at me silently and I stared back and said… well? mmmm… until eventually he spat the words f@ck off! at me…
Yes… I was a child that delighted in the pleasure of knowing that I could make an adult squirm…
And I don’t think I’m alone in that… In fact I know I’m not… I got all the evidence I needed a few years ago, one morning in the school playground. The local childminder turned up with a posse of laughing children. The woman was beetroot red and almost close to tears. I went over and asked if she was ok? She told me that she hated the week that school covered sex education. She’d walked all the way to school with half a dozen children asking her if she a had a clitoris and what was it for and did she use it. They had been relentless in their taunting as not only did they enjoy her embarrassment but also they enjoyed the fact that they were walking behind the postman who was finding the whole scene highly hilarious… They’d had her on the ropes good and proper!
So… what was I talking about… oh yeah… Kids and tarot… do they mix? Well… why on earth not?
How much should you tell them?
Well… my attitude to that is pretty much the same as my attitude to sex…
If they have a question… you address it… have an open discussion and pitch at their level of understanding…
What about the images?
Really? You know kids have internet access… they see lots of images… and I’m only concerned about things they try to hide or are secretive about…
What sort of cards should they use?
Again… really? Let them choose… Would you want somebody else deciding for you?
How much can they understand?
Probably a lot more than you credit them with…
A few years ago my youngest who was around 7 or 8 at the time, asked me what Tarot was…
I gave him pencil and paper and asked him to draw what he thought it was…
Is he right? Is he wrong?
I don’t think it matters…
What I do think is important, is that it opened up a conversation for him to explore his thoughts and ideas and also allowed him some creative expression…
So… should kids read Tarot?
I know my thoughts…
What are yours?
The pure and blessed way 