With the resurgence in fashion of styles from the 1990’s I find myself at times, lost in a world of nostalgia. So of course at some point I was going to write about the 90’s and tarot. It was, after all the decade I bought my first deck and began to read the cards.
How it all began
I skipped school one afternoon, because I was quite sure I could find something far more educational within the shops of Glasgow City Centre, turns out I did. I was smoking a cigarette outside a shop in one of the quiet streets in the city and a lady came out of the store and lit up a cigarette as well (it was the 90’s). We got chatting about random stuff and then when she had finished her smoke she asked me “so, are you coming in to get that tarot deck?”. And as they say, the rest is history.
Sitting in my bedroom, my walls covered in posters from illustrious publications such as Smash Hits and NME, playing (What's the Story) Morning Glory by Oasis and Moseley Shoals by Ocean Colour Scene, there I was shuffling, pulling cards and teaching myself tarot. There was no internet, no youtube. I had my Dragon Tarot from US Games, the little white book that came with the deck and a fancy notebook I bought from Woolworths. But, most importantly I had my intuition and psychic gifts inherited from both the maternal and paternal lines of my family.
I wrote in my notebook what the LWB said about each card and then I would write what I thought about the card, what I liked about the image, what I didn’t like. How the image made me feel. I will forever be in love with the High Priestess and The Lovers from the Dragon Tarot. I didn’t do this because someone told me too or some book told me too, I did it because it felt like the right thing to do.
Being a teenager is hard, there are lots of firsts, and so much pressure. There was lots going on in the outside world and so much more going on internally. I was luckier than most because I had tarot. I started reading for friends by accident as one of them saw my deck in my school bag one day and they asked me what they were and what I did with them. That was how I began, being an enterprising Taurus I soon started charging a couple of pounds for a reading and it soon built up, it was a nicer way to top up my pocket money than delivering newspapers.
There was no grand spiritual introduction or deep psychological musings, it was things like “is it worth my time asking xyz person out” or “is abc talking about me behind my back”. The usual type of teenage dramas. Would I ask such questions now, of course not but the thing is tarot has grown and evolved with me. Tarot is my friend, my confidante and my gateway to a world of wonder.
Looking back to go forward..
If I could I’d like to go back and let teenage Marion know that it turns out to be worth the absolute rollicking given to her by a nasty little cretin of a maths teacher because instead of doing his homework on quadratic equations she was studying tarot and making up my own tarot spreads.
Now, if you will excuse me I am away to buy some combat trousers and listen to Messers Gallagher and Gallagher.
To book a consultation with me head to the bookings tab at www.marionktarot.com