The "intuitive" cop-out: Thoughts from a recent Tarot class

So, I've been attending a Tarot meetup for a more than a year, and I love it--but I want to talk about something that's been bugging me from the beginning.  Now, the format of this get-together is kind of loose, and activities vary from week to week.  We pass around different books and decks, exchange readings, and share our experiences and methods.  Usually there's a fairly in-depth discussion segment, where we will consider traditional and alternative meanings for the cards, talk about their elemental and astrological correspondences, and decode some of the mythology and symbolism embedded in the images.

But almost every time, there's someone who becomes very resistant.  It's not the same person, but a succession of them. This visitor sits through the discussion, not contributing, then raises his or her hand and says,"All this information is well and good for you people, but I'm a natural intuitive and the cards speak to me despite the fact that I know nothing about them.  (And don't want to.)  In fact, I don't need any tools at all.  I read a person's vibes like a teleprompter, and I have a personal chat with Mother Universe every Saturday. If I were going to condescend to do a reading here--which I'm not--I promise you'd all be blown away."

Now, the rules of etiquette prohibit me from laying into these folks on the spot, so I'm going to do it here. Leaving aside the obvious insecurity bubbling up from this statement (and the obvious question, what are you doing in a Tarot study group?) it's time to call bullshit on self-styled intuitives who resist study, practice, and discipline.  One foundational occult maxim is "Know Thyself"--and Tarot is "yourself, turned inside out" (Trish Macgregor and Phyllis Vega, Power Tarot).  Deep study of the Tarot, or any organizing system of wisdom, can only make you bring you closer to self-knowledge and enhance your intuitive work.
 
Now, I'm not quibbling with those folks who use personal meanings for the cards that differ from the traditional ones, or those who take intuitive cues from visual elements in the cards.  Most, if not all, good readers do this.  And it is just as common to be too rigid when interpreting the Tarot as it is to be too loose.  What I'm reacting to is the implication that some students are less wise, less intuitive, because they have the commitment to take notes, read books, exchange ideas and debate with others.  As if careful, persistent examination of one's spiritual path could diminish its beauty and mystery.  As if it were even possible to diminish something so beautiful and mysterious as the Tarot.  The anti-intellectualism that pervades the pagan/New Age arena is a pernicious, eroding influence.  Intuitive and intellectual faculties are not mutually exclusive.  The best diviners--the best practitioners of any magical art--are the ones who can synthesize all the parts: knowledge gained from study, wisdom gained from living in the world, and intuition gained in the moment.