My Complicated Take on Tarot Cards
there’s no easy answer to this question
Q | Is using cards always bad? For me it feels that cards can be used to communicate, this does not need to be unclean spirits. The question in this I have is, can I know who I'm talking to.
Why would god not use this same tool?
This Reel from Angelamarie Scafidi accompanied the question.
A | Where do we even begin with this one? It would be a loaded question even without the mouthful that’s being spewed in that Reel. Phew. I’m exhausted already and have only begun typing.
I have never had an affinity for Tarot cards. The energy surrounding them always felt off to me. A deck gifted to me in ninth grade stayed in my possession until my last move in 2018. For the majority of those twenty-eight years, the deck remained on my shelf, untouched. Over the years, I’ve had my cards read a few times, but the whole experience always felt out of sync with my energy regardless of who was doing the reading.
This is all to say that I’ve never felt the excitement or connection to Tarot that I know many experience.
Objects Imbued with Energy
Pick an object, any object.
[flares hands for added emphasis and showmanship]
What did you pick? Was it a spoon or a deck of cards or a wooden frog or your favorite crystal?
The more we interact with an object in any context, the more we create an energetic bond with and to it. This doesn’t even need to be in a divination sense. Do you have a spatula you prefer to use when cooking? How about a go-to mug for your coffee or tea? Each time you flip your egg or sip your morning beverage, you exchange energy with that inanimate thing.
This is why it can be difficult to shed our belongings.
I’m actually a fair bit wary of Minimalism for the lack of connection that is developed with objects in the home, but that’s a conversation for another day.
Now, if you’re using the same item for the same activity again and again and again, that object will also form a connection to that use. More specifically, if you sit down and rub the same spoon to center yourself to draw in psychic information, that spoon is no longer like the rest in the drawer.
Do you see where we’re going with this?
A Tarot deck works the same way. The repetition of activity creates an energetic bond to you as well as the application for which you have been using it. However, this goes one step further. You’re not the only one using that Tarot design even though the deck you hold in your hands is specific to you.
A Shared Energy
Design matters.
The creator and history and users of a specific style of Tarot deck influence the energy that flows through it. If a certain design is embraced by those with dubious intentions or if the artist who crafted the deck is entwined with dark energies, the diciness factor increases exponentially.
Take Oujia boards. At some point, perhaps they were harmless. Those days are long gone. So much darkness has been poured into them that only evil will emerge. It doesn’t matter how pure your intentions, those things are cesspools of unwanted connections.
So what about the classic Rider-Waite Tarot deck, drawn by Pamela Colman Smith in 1909 under the direction of Arthur Edward Waite, that comes to mind for many of us when we think of Tarot?
[deep sigh]
It’s a mixed bag. When I feel into the energy surrounding it, I want to vomit because it’s so topsy-turvy and unstable. There are those pulling it toward good while a whole different group pulls it toward evil. Oooof. Get me off of this ride.
My two cents is to steer clear of it. I suspect there’s a deeper (possibly darker) history that would shed some light on why that energy is so tumultuous. If you have insight, please chime in with your comments. I have enough thoughts without embarking on that research project tonight.
Who has thoughts on the origins of Tarot?
If you’re purchasing an artisan deck from a limited run of twenty, the odds decrease that you’re going to become entwined with oodles of complicated and/or dark energy. This becomes even more true if the artist who crafted them has beautiful, pure energy. It’s a much cleaner palette for you to imbue your own energy onto them.
Which brings us to one of my oh so favorite topics…
How Are Your Boundaries?
What parameters are you putting in place before engaging with your deck? Who are you inviting into your space? How is your ability to kick beings out if they’re acting questionably?
You’re going to get this wrong. I know, it’s the peppiest pep talk every time I say this.
Have you dated people that in retrospect seem questionable? Have you invited people into your home only to want them to leave? Have you trusted someone only to have your secrets broadcast publicly?
We learn and adjust our expectations and invitations with the living. The same goes for the dead.
Put the best practices in place that you know to do. Adjust accordingly.
Confidence in yourself and your ability to toss the jerks to the curb is the best protection you can have against questionable characters. It doesn’t guarantee that something icky won’t find its way to you. Access your most convincing mom voice (even if you don’t have kids) and tell that jerk face of a being to get the hell out of here. This is one of those rare times where I strongly endorse profanity. There’s an energetic charge that zaps them like a cattle prod.
My other solid rule — if something feels off, trust that.
Words from an Angry Christian
I speak at length about the New Ager turned Christian trend in my piece on Fake Jesus. It goes into depth about how many who were once enmeshed in occult practices denounced those beliefs and became equally fanatical about Christianity. However, in my opinion, they are not following Jesus. Instead, they have fallen prey to aliens impersonating Him.
The venomous anger that I hear from so many who once swore by Tarot and crystals and all that jazz is likely aspects of those alien controllers seeping through. Fun!
But to say —
At best using Tarot is a sin you need to repent for and an idol that you have made more important than obedience to the Lord, and as is if that’s not enough to lay it all down, at worst using Tarot was opening a door for the influence of unclean spirits giving them access to your life when you come into agreement with the demonic prophecy that is manifesting itself through the modality of the cards that the spirits are using to manipulate your flesh.
Seems like a bit of an overstatement.
This prompted me to do some light searching on the origins of Tarot. It was inevitable. We all knew that.
According to an essay titled “Before Fortune-Telling: The History and Structure of Tarot Cards” by Tim Husband, a curator in the Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters at The Met —
Tarot is a game of trick taking, as the many trump cards clearly indicate, and even though there are many variations (mostly minor), the rules of the game likely have not changed significantly since the 15th century. The present-day association of tarot with fortune-telling and the occult gained currency only in the 19th century and has nothing to do with the medieval tarot cards.
The way Husband describes it, the game sounds like something my friends and I would have played on rainy days at the cottage and not terribly dissimilar from Euchre or Spades.
Total side note. If you ever have the opportunity to visit The Met Cloisters, they are filled with some of the loveliest ghosts.
Back to the origins of the Tarot deck. You know whose take I really trust on the history and origins? Spirit Halloween. Yep, that one. The company that takes over empty strip mall stores for the month of October and then vanishes into the night. Their article, “A Brief History of Tarot,” did point me in the direction of Antoine Court de Gébelin and Jean-Baptiste Alliette. Both men are credited with influencing the shift from card game to occult divination tool.
I’m inclined to think that since there was a three hundred or so year period that led up to the cards transitioning their role in society that this is in part what creates that topsy-turvy energy. The origins are pulling the energy in two different ways.
The early Tarot illustrations remind me so much of French Illuminated Manuscripts that the art history nerd in me wants to know the connections and influence.
Tarot as a Crutch
One final thought on this theme. Recognize when you’ve outgrown the tool.
There’s often a point where the very things that helped you develop your energetic practice suddenly begin to hold you back. Imagine finding the confidence to ride a two-wheel bike and wanting to dart around the neighborhood at full speed only to be encumbered by training wheels. That extra set offered support at the beginning but now restricts your movement. Take stock of your energetic tools to ensure that they aren’t doing the same.
That’s it! That’s all! If you have a question of your own, don’t hesitate to ask! Reply to this email, drop it in the comments, or submit it here. I answer as many as I can.
I really like the idea of the spatula! ;)
I love that you point out to asses your tools. I skipped sidewheels 😄