Member Articles |
| AUSTRALIAN TAROT GUILD ARTICLE ABOUT THE CTN |
BY LINDA MARSON |
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Linda Marson, the Guild's Treasurer and web mistress, is going through a "Hermit" phase as she travels the world to see what lies ahead in the next stage of her life. In Canada she caught up with two people from the Canadian Tarot Network (CTN). Eileen Croutch, the Executive Officer of the CTN, is the person who has worked tirelessly over the past four years to establish the CTN. She has always been psychic and was drawn to the Tarot about seven years ago. She does online readings under the pseudonym of Jade at http://www.questingcenter.com and http://www.mysticalcraft.com. She has her own web site at http://www.outofegypt.ca. Norma Cowie is no stranger to the southern hemisphere. She was born in New Zealand and moved to Canada in 1963. A year later she began her metaphysical studies with the Tarot and has developed over the years into a well-regarded consultant, teacher and writer. She is the author of two books on the Tarot and several books on lifestyle and spirituality. For more information, visit the CTN's web site at http://www.tarotcanada.com and Norma's web site at http://www.normacowie.com.  Travelling the Hermit's path Norma Cowie describes herself as a "psychological" reader who uses the cards to help people understand patterns of behaviour such as defensiveness, imagination, absorption, balance, control, learning, action, communication and spiritual growth. All cards are read as relating only to the querent, and interpretation is based on identifying the behaviour patterns contained in the symbols of the Rider-Waite cards. For Norma, the Hermit, the Hierophant and the Star represent the pattern of learning and teaching."When the Hermit appears, you need to learn to listen to your inner voice. It's a quiet time, a time when you learn to trust your own answers. It's the calm before the storm of reality hits. If your time as the Hermit brings clarity, you'll be ready for the Wheel of Fortune - you'll be in control, you'll be at the hub of the wheel as it spins you into the next phase," says Norma. Eileen likes to look at the direction in which the Hermit's lantern is pointing: "Depending on the position of the Hermit in a spread, and whether he's upright or reversed, the lantern could be pointing to the past or the future. If it's to the past, the guidance or lesson you need can be found by looking at past events. If it's pointing to the future - which often happens when the Hermit is reversed - the guidance you need lies in something which has yet to happen," says Eileen. Driving through the Canadian Rockies I sense the power of Nature in the towering snow-clad peaks that surround me. It's easy to wind-down and contemplate the meaning of life - it's easy to travel the Hermit's path. To help me focus on what I may need guidance on at this point in my travels, I did Eileen's quick "Hermit Reading". I took the Hermit out as a significator and drew another card to see the answer. It was the Queen of Cups. This answer was particularly significant, since earlier I had been talking to Norma about how she interprets the court cards. For her they are not other people in the querent's life or events, but attitudes exhibited by the querent. If someone wants to know about another person, they ask a question relating to that person. If court cards appear in the spread, they are interpreted as indicating the attitude or behaviour patterns the querent is exhibiting, or has exhibited, in relation to that person. So, what did my Queen of Cups signify? For Norma she "represents the attitude of a person who is absorbed in her own thoughts, emotions and dreams. She is imaginative and, because she is caught up in what is occurring in her own mind, she is not aware of other situations around her. She procrastinates because of this, putting off the inevitable. She is very creative, but often her creativity will not be used positively." Bingo! How appropriate! Here I am, wandering through the Canadian Rockies, standing in the snow just like the Hermit. I'm waiting for an answer to emerge - perhaps I'm really procrastinating, perhaps I actually know the answer and don't want to move forward! Norma's advice would be "look around and begin to do something, rather than just sitting and waiting". I can see the truth in that interpretation, but just for the moment, I'll continue to wander around in a state of unreality! It's a novel feeling, and one that I'm enjoying, at least for the time being. What makes a Tarot professional? The Guild is currently reviewing the transition process from interest to professional membership. Our process differs from that which exists in the US and Canada, where there has been a six-level certification system for some years. In recent times there has been a degree of upheaval in the Tarot communities and associations in the US, leading to two different certification systems in the US. The Canadian Tarot Network, which was originally part of the American Tarot Association, has decided to stay with the original six-level system . These levels are:
Linda Marson (LM) talked to Eileen Croutch (EC) about the CTN and how their certification system works. LM: Is membership of the CTN linked to certification? EC: No, you can apply for certification at whichever level you think is appropriate without being a member of the CTN. However, there are benefits to being a member. For example, when you join, you're immediately assigned a mentor who works with you to determine which certification level is most appropriate for you. LM: What do you charge for certification? EC: There's a one-time fee of $60 for each certification level. Fees are used for the development and distribution of educational materials by the CTN in the form of courses, tapes and seminars. LM: Canada, like Australia, is a big country. How do you manage the certification process across the country? EC: Email, online forums and a 1-800 number! People send information by e-mail, we talk to them by phone. It's incredibly important to have that free telephone number, so that anyone can ring in and find out about the CTN and the certification process at no cost to them. Online mentoring though e-mail and discussion forums is a regular activity - it's how I started. LM: How long would you spend on the phone when you're assessing someone for certification purposes? EC: For the Apprentice level, we'd normally talk for about 30 minutes, but remember we've already had information back and forth by e-mail, or there have been calls on the 1-800 number. For the Professional Tarot Reader level, it's usually about an hour. I recently did an Instructor level and that took about 90 minutes. At that level the person will have written a quite detailed curriculum. In the telephone conversation I take on the role of a potential student and ask questions about how different aspects would be taught, the order in which they're going to teach things, how they're going to teach ethics and so on. At the professional reader level we do telephone readings and play games with the cards, e.g. reverse that card, or move it to a different position, how would that affect the reading and so on. Between information supplied in advance by e-mail and the telephone assessment, you can confidently determine whether the person qualifies at a particular level. LM: How well-accepted is Tarot in Canada and the US? EC: It varies from place to place. In Vancouver, for example, so-called new-age activities are quite common. In Calgary where I live, Tarot readers have to pay the city council a $200 annual fee! Of course, that's hard to regulate and they have no jurisdiction over online readings. Fortune-telling is illegal in both Canada and the US, so it's important to market yourself in a way that doesn't suggest fortune-telling. I know of a few cases in the US where Tarot readers successfully defended themselves against charges of fortune-telling because the judge could see they were professionals, since they had a code of ethics and had been through a rigorous certification process. LM: Money to run the CTN…always an interesting question. How do you generate funds? EC: Some comes from membership fees, but these are kept reasonably low and really only cover basic postage and telephone costs. Certification fees and sale of the CTN's curriculum is how we mainly derive our income. |
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