Myles Gets a Tarot Card Reading
In this video I go undercover tarot reading at a mind body and spirit event and discuss the experience and show that when you give hardly any information, or the wrong information, the person giving the reading gets it all wrong.
Myles Power 
It is perhaps a bit of a shame that you don’t think there is anything more to say about the cards themselves but I will admit that most of their history is only going to interest avid card players. However, you don’t mention that the games of tarot are still played today in at least a dozen countries that I can think of and while most countries have moved to using the French suited designs, the old Italian variety is still used in Italy and parts of Switzerland. They are some of the most enjoyable card games I have ever played and shamelessly promote them at every opportunity – but I’ll not spam your blog with that.
I do think that the history of the cards and the games played with them is relevant to those who find occult tarot objectionable (for whatever reason). Certainly, the history stands in stark contradiction to much of what the occultists and fortune tellers have to say about them – but the history taken together with promotion of the games has the potential to demystify the cards and make them less of a lure to those looking for the magical. I rather suspect that it is the perception that the cards are somehow mysterious or special that can still invite belief in a society where fortune telling with regular playing cards or tea leaves no longer can (they do to some extent but not nearly so as tarot and astrology). Campaigners against ‘woo’ might be missing a trick here. Just a thought.
If you are interested in learning more about their real history, the best place to start is with The Game of Tarot by Michael Dummett (Duckworth 1980). After 35 years it is a little out of date here and there but by and large, this is still the best starting place, discussing the development and origins of the cards and their images, the games played with them, and how they came to be seen as occult objects. Dummett later co-authored a couple of volumes that go into much greater detail on the history of the occult tarot (A Wicked Pack of Cards is the first and most enjoyable). The story is both entertaining and useful – as knowing you enemy always is.
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I have just watched the video of the tarot reading ad I thought she was spot on for most of the reading! You are deluding yourself – the tarot is very powerful – you should explore it in greater depth – I believe it scares you
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