Here’s an interview with Cyndi Lauper on her experience playing a tarot reader on the TV show Bones (Season 5, Episode 1) and on her own method of reading the cards. The role was well-written and tarot was treated respectfully (if with humor and despite the ubiquitous Death card scene). I love it that the first card drawn was Temperance – the first name of the main character, Temperance Brennan. It’s just the kind of “amazing coincidence” that I find happens so frequently in readings.
The opening tarot reading scene is especially good because it takes place in liminal (between the worlds) time—the eerie music, the park framed by trees as if peering into a magical space, and the fact that Temperance Brennan is just off the train, sleep-deprived, having been away on an extended trip and not yet re-connected with her ordinary world. The reading then recounts the events of the previous season’s finale and leads us into the new season. It’s a touch of magic carried over from the carnival episode and the dream-world that Bones and Booth also inhabit. [The video clip of this scene has been removed from youtube as it breached copyright.]
Mary K. Greer has made tarot her life work. Check here for reports of goings-on in the world of tarot and cartomancy, articles on the history and practice of tarot, and materials on other cartomancy decks. Sorry, I no longer write reviews. Contact me
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October 2, 2009 at 2:26 pm
*lynne*
Hey I caught that episode recently! 🙂 I rolled my eyes at the mandatory “Death card accompanied by ominous music!” scene: I may not know much about the different meanings of the cards, but I ~do~ know Death isn’t a disaster card the way Hollywood tends to portray it. While I’ve been fascinated with the Tarot ever since I was a tweenager, I’ve not gotten acquainted with it yet – the time will come when it’s time … 🙂
October 2, 2009 at 8:13 pm
heavenly7073
Thoroughly enjoyed Cyndi Lauper as a Tarot reader. She was very believable, except for the Devil card; but then it was some scriptwriter who came up with that one. Someone should have told him there are other cards in the deck that would have been more appropriate than the Devil. Guess when it comes to ratings anything goes. Maybe we should suggest they hire a consultant – yes a Tarot Consultant – if they ever bring the character back. Wonder what they would pay a Tarot consultant? I would be interested in applying for that job…Celeste
October 3, 2009 at 1:43 am
Marisa Merewood
Haven’t seen the episode yet, but we’re big fans of Bones. And you gotta love Cyndi Lauper, I’d go to her for a reading. She was such fun in Vibes. I shall look forward to it.
October 3, 2009 at 8:30 pm
Jim
I agree. I’ve been a fan of Cyndi Lauper’s music for a long time.
It’s cool to see her acting on TV. If I’m not mistaken that looks like the Universal Waite deck.
October 10, 2009 at 3:32 pm
John Roberts
Cydni’s approach (always look up meanings in a book) is not reading Tarot cards. People who do this really have no business reading for others, hobby or not.
October 11, 2009 at 5:04 pm
mkg
John –
I just can’t agree with you. People do what people do. Just as the I-Ching involves looking up the oracle in a book, so too can tarot. For instance, I find that Rachel Pollack’s book for the Shining Tribe Tarot provides a powerful oracle, when drawing one card, and something I benefit greatly from meditating upon.
Generally speaking, this is not the most wholistic approach to tarot – as it is only one method out of many and doesn’t touch on the full potential of a spread – but it can have its own validity in the synchronicity of the moment. I agree that most people will not appreciate paying for this kind of reading – but I don’t think Cyndi is advocating that.
Furthermore, I would venture to say that most beginning and ‘occasional’ tarot readers read out of the book – whether for themselves or a friend. It is one step in learning how to read the cards and a great place to start. Once a person finds themselves drawn to using the cards, I encourage them to learn as much about it as possible. I don’t think there is “one right way” to do this. Simply, start where you are.
October 13, 2009 at 9:09 pm
John Roberts
Hi Mary:
Thank you for your reply, and I suppose we will agree to disagree. From my perspective, beginning tarot students should never read for other people. A good place to start is reading for themselves, and do practice readings for imaginary clients. Once the meanings of the cards are mastered, then it is time to read for others. I say this for a very important reason, and that is the power of suggestion.
Much unintentional harm is inflicted by well intentioned, but poorly skilled readers.
October 15, 2009 at 3:05 am
dymondbolt
As you say, we do agree to disagree. Commenting on first time divinations using the Tarot or the I Ching. I have an old 89 cent I Ching book that I have been using for over ten years now, and at the very beginning, I wondered just how accurate the more detailed change line part of the divination were. The little book had very detailed advice. So for one lady friend I asked her to think her question and throw the three coins six times and I copied down the results. When it got to the fine details, the hexagram said”an old love has come back into your life, stay with the new one.” She told me she had been presented with just that choice and wondered which lover to chose. She later told me she was very happy with the new lover. The second time I did that, a male friend threw the coins without first telling me what his question was and the answer was “Now is a good time to change jobs” and he was wondering if he should stay with the security company he had been with for five years or start with a new one. He’s making a lot more money now with the new company.
But to put this all in perspective. When I read the book I read correctly that the Hexagrams are built like a buillding. Throw three coins and record heads or tails from the bottom up. But I was not thinking that way. On paper you start from the top down. And so when a friend saw how I was recording the throws, he let me know I was ding it upside down. The I Ching hexagrams are totally different if reversed. But after he also heard about our two mutual friends encounter with the I Ching, he advised me to keep doing it the way I was. If it works for you, don’t change it, simply because everyone else says that’s the way it should be. However these messages reach you is the right way to do it. Just remember. Someone had to be the very first person to look into a crystal ball and see someone’s future. It worked for them and it worked for others. Like the first Movie Cindy Lauper was in, if you feel a vibe that works for you, stick with it.
October 15, 2009 at 2:29 pm
mkg
I would probably have never become a tarot reader if I had had to memorize all the meanings first – since memorization is very hard for me and fixed meanings have never worked for me anyway. I advocate reading for oneself, but I offer techniques that help one from getting stuck in ruts or overly concerned by personal tendencies to over-optimism or pessimism.
When my book, Tarot for Your Self, was published, most earlier books said never read tarot for yourself. However, when I asked other tarot readers all but one admitted (with some shame about their breaking the “rule”) that they did read for themselves. I realized that turning this taboo around so that it became something of value was the very best service I could offer the tarot community.
Having memorized meanings and practicing on yourself doesn’t necessarily make one a better reader. I’ve seen very experienced readers abusing the power of suggestion (deliberately or not), while beginning readers are usually more humble and not so definitive about what they ‘see’ in the cards.
All the so-called tarot “rules” are merely guidelines that were advocated by someone with a theory based on their own interests, proclivities, and on how they themselves were taught. Each rule will work well for some people but not necessarily others.
Making people “wrong” for doing what comes naturally seems a little silly. Instead, it helps to present some options and techniques that directly address the specific problems and benefits that come with the method.
October 15, 2009 at 6:39 pm
John Roberts
Hi Mary:
This is not an issue of right and wrong, this is an issue of responsibility. Like it or not, to sit in the chair of the reader is a position of authority. With that aura of authority comes a power that few beginners (and perhaps many experienced readers as well) do not realize. A careless comment, a thoughtless suggestion can wreak havoc in the lives of those individuals who sit in the chair of the querent.
It takes mature experience to handle this delicate dance with any sense of grace. And by experience, I do not mean experience gained at the expense of others while in the learning process of becoming a reader. So, in closing let me clarify: Of course anyone can do any darn thing they want to. However, it is important to remember that harmful things (regardless of intentions) done to others have a way of coming back around.
October 15, 2009 at 8:00 pm
mkg
John –
I simply don’t see how responsibility is guaranteed by not reading for others until you have mastered the meanings of the cards. [You wrote “Once the meanings of the cards are mastered, then it is time to read for others.”] I think responsibility in reading for others, especially regarding “suggestibility” comes from many other sources than “mastering the meanings.”
I agree that mature [life & reading] experience is helpful, but it also takes empathy, compassion, listening skills, respect for the querent and his or her choices, and many of the “dos and don’ts of an interactive reading” that I discuss in 21 Ways to Read a Tarot Card. For instance, suggestibility is not that much of an issue if your reading style is not predictive or proscriptive – that is, if you aren’t trying to tell someone with 85% accuracy what will happen (an all-to-frequent claim) or if you aren’t trying to “fix” them.
October 17, 2009 at 1:44 pm
John Roberts
“I don’t see how responsibility is guaranteed.”
Mary, responsibility is never guaranteed. With mastery, comes maturity, and this engenders responsibility.
“Suggestibility is not that much of an issue.”
Mary, suggestibility is always an issue.
October 17, 2009 at 4:18 pm
mkg
John –
Suggestibility is not the be-all-end-all of a reading (although it is important)—and it doesn’t just come from amateurs but can be found as much or more so in professionals. The more people know, the more there is a danger that they think they have all the answers.
By quoting only half my statement above [“Suggestibility is not that much of an issue”] you have twisted my meaning and suggested that I said something quite different than what I actually said. It may not have been intentional, but it shows how it can crop up anywhere in our lives. You are right that this is an area that needs to be understood much more thoroughly. I simply suggest that it isn’t solved by memorizing a set of meanings for cards. And, since there is not one canonical set of meanings there is also the question – which meanings?
October 21, 2009 at 11:52 am
John Roberts
“By quoting only half my statement, you have twisted the meaning.”
Not at all, I quoted the essence.
“Since there is not one canonical set of meanings there is also the question-which meanings.”
The meanings that the reader assigns to each card, and these meanings are developed over time-with experience.
August 16, 2019 at 2:29 pm
Stella aka "fennario"
Old comment thread, but I have to say this:
People who have to look up the meanings in a book shouldn’t CHARGE for that, or otherwise present themselves as professionals, because they aren’t. They’re novices. It’s fine if they read for others. Cyndi states in the video that she reads as a HOBBY, I don’t see any issue with this at all.
As far as suggestibility goes, if we were THAT suggestible, we’d never need aspirin – just someone to tell us that our headache is gone.
August 16, 2019 at 5:15 pm
Mary K. Greer
Stella,
Thanks for reviving and updating this discussion.
Mary