Tarot Myths and Misconceptions
by Psychic Christopher
8th October, 2009 - Posted by Christopher x8023
A lot of Psychics at Psychic Source use Tarot cards as a way to provide insightful readings for clients. I have found, after seventeen years of reading Tarot, however, that many clients don’t really know much about the cards. There are many beliefs about the cards, ranging from how to obtain a deck, how to care for a deck, and how to use them. I would like to address some of these ideas and see what other Psychics and clients believe.
The first (and perhaps biggest) belief I wish to address is that you are “not supposed to buy your own deck.” Many people will tell you that you have to receive it as a gift before you can use it. Well, if this were true for me, I would not be reading Tarot at all to this day. I bought my first deck at age seventeen and began studying the cards on my own. No one at that point in my life would have ever considered buying them for me, as I was always surrounded by very conservative-minded people who frowned upon psychic phenomena and paraphernalia. Perhaps a “gift” deck could have a special benefit or blessing, especially if given to you by a very spiritual person or psychic friend, but I do not find it necessary to “wait” to receive your first deck–you may be waiting forever.
Another popular belief is that the cards must be wrapped in silk, or at least kept in a special wooden box, to protect them from negative energy. I understand that this belief may have specific religious origins, and if you subscribe to these principles, please do not be offended by my opinion. I have found, in my own experience, that just keeping the cards in the box they were purchased in is good enough. This helps keep them clean and in good condition. I do not believe that anyone would be out there specifically trying to “curse” or “hex” your deck of cards with negative energy.
One big belief is that no one else should touch your cards. I personally have found that allowing the client to shuffle the cards provides a better reading, though obviously this is irrelevant for phone and email readings. If you believe no one should touch your cards, that is up to you, but you may be limiting the potential of the cards, in my opinion.
These are just a few of the ideas from popular culture that may affect your own potential journey with the study of the Tarot. I realize that everyone has different beliefs, and these are just my own, but I imagine that many people agree with me as well.
Get out there and buy our first deck and give the cards a try! You may surprise yourself and your friends with what you can see!
Here’s a YouTube video that explains a bit more about reading the Tarot.
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8 Comments
Rainbow x7953
October 8th, 2009 at 11:28 AM
Hi Christopher,
I’m so pleased you raised these points!
There is a lot of misconception that when we work with a tool such as the Tarot, it ‘has’ to be treated in a particular way.
As a teacher of the Tarot, the first thing I tell my students is that it is not what they do, so much as the intent in which they do it. And this applies to all things, not just the Tarot! Even prayer; it isn’t about saying the most elaborate prayer, or getting many people to watch us pray; it is about offering the most heartfelt prayer we can. But I digress.
Being a reader, my cards sit on my desk, under my computer monitor, 24 hours a day. They are not wrapped in silk, they are not in a wooden box they are where I can easily grab them whenever I need to use them.
I do have little rituals that I do, though. My cards may be on my desk, but they are always face down! And between clients I shuffle the cards 4 times and cut them twice. That is my way of ‘cleaning’ them. Other people may do this differently — or even not at all! Again, it is the intent with which we do things, not what we do.
Obtaining cards is also a matter of intent. Perhaps many decades ago the belief that cards had to be given arose because there were very few decks available and even less money with which to buy them! But we grow and evolve. Now there are hundreds of decks available, and most of us have ‘some’ income where we might purchase our own cards. I myself don’t have a problem putting my energy into my work to obtain what I need, then letting the dollar bills convey that energy from myself to my acquisitions!
I tell my students to find the deck that resonates with them. There is no point trying to work with a deck when the images on that deck leave you cold. The cards have to speak the same language to which we relate if they are going to communicate with us at all. With hundreds of decks being illustrated on the Internet, and reviews being published, it is easier than ever to obtain a deck to our liking.
Working with Tarot truly is a wonderful journey for those who are prepared to look with their spirit eyes, listen with their spirit ears, and learn!
Maxine x7791
October 9th, 2009 at 8:19 AM
excellent article for the blog… i too have been reading the tarot since i was 17, that is when i bought my first deck. i keep my cards in pouches when i am not using them or yes in the box they came in as well, especially if the box is fancy. i have had cards given to me as gifts from people who know what i like and i am on my second deck of the osho zen tarot(both gifts) i wore out the first deck in about six years… this new deck is lasting longer for some reason. i think it’s in the shuffle.
one of my biggest concerns is that people read their own cards. for me the first lesson i learned was “never read your own cards” so i never did (and i have no idea the source of this information). when i get a reading from someone else i can incorporate my knowledge of the cards but allow the reader there insight -
a picture says a thousand words, so it is said… and as each artist of the tarot is unique onto themselves that’s a lot of words
the tarot gives us so much information it is truly wonderful to have the insight to use them.
one of the first decks i came across was the thoth deck. this deck has so many symbols in it you can blow your mind with accuracy. i had this deck for a long time and after a move across country i lost them. i searched for another deck found them bought them and that night i had a dream where merlin the magician came to me and told me to throw them out or i would never be happy. heavy sigh! so much for me using the thoth deck, in the trash they went… then years later i was gifted with another deck of thoth and this time i gifted them to a friend with the book –
when i asked one of my buddhist mentors how to impove my readings he said “do more readings”.
great article christopher – peace…
Rainbow x7953
October 9th, 2009 at 11:44 AM
I also have heard ‘never read your own cards’. Actually, though, who knows us better than we know ourselves?
I think the reason that people say not to read your own cards is that it is very hard to be subjective about a situation when we are right in the middle of it. It is easy to read what we want to be there, because the situation is so close to us.
Mary K. Greer has published an excellent book called ‘Tarot for Your Self’, and I have found it an excellent guide as to how to read my own cards.
I will mention though, that when I do my own cards, I do them more for a ‘thought for the day’ type reading, rather than a prediction.
Interesting topic indeed!
Maxine x7791
October 9th, 2009 at 1:00 PM
exactly! being subjective is very hard – my sister does a spread for the day using the “artist tarot” which i gave her. she uses it more as one would use astrology – what the energy is for the day based on the cards instead of the planets.
the most i have done is use an interactive tarot internet reading. even than knowing what the cards mean put me right in that subjective space.
the nice thing for us tarot readers is to get a reading over the phone and not be told what the card is –
when im reading i will tell the person the card or cards only if they ask.
in one reading i told the person that the man she was asking about had a lot of guilt feelings. she asked me what card came up to show that – i said “the guilt card”. and we laughed so much… in the osho zen tarot there are words on the cards – i call them power words allowing instint answers to tough questions and a base to start my readings.
calei 7961
October 9th, 2009 at 1:13 PM
I love it ,this is such wonderful information ….I have all my life loved cards….I once tried to read a regular deck of playing cards. I did astrology wheel layout what fun that was.I do have some quriks about my cards but they are mine,I never pass them on to another budding student.(I tell my students to find the deck that resonates with them.)I love what Rainbow says here . Love & Light
Rainbow x7953
October 9th, 2009 at 9:35 PM
Maxine, I’m the same as you! If I have my cards read, I try not to look at them, because I don’t want to start drawing my own conclusions! I really like it when a reader uses an oracle with which I am not well versed, too, such as ogham or runes or the Osho Zen cards that you mentioned. Then neither my knowledge of the cards nor my subconscious can influence the reading in any way.
I think it is also a good time to point out that, just because one reader interprets a card in a particular way, it doesn’t mean that is the ‘only’ way that card can be read.
For example, when my friend Paula gets the Empress, she always sees a hospital situation. When the Empress comes to me during a reading, I see new beginnings, fertility, a possible pregnancy. Paula is correct in her interpretations for her readings, and I am correct in my interpretations for my readings; but often my information won’t transpose into Paula’s readings, nor her’s into mine!
Calei, I like the idea of the astrology wheel layout! I often use that for guidance when timing is important. Being an astrologer, you’ll well appreciate that we can apply that wheel to ‘any’ given segment of time; the wheel can represent a year, it can represent a day, or it can represent the duration of an event or specified time. And — as we were discussing recently in the Psychic Source chat room — the Tarot cards can represent timing as accurately as the astrology wheel, because of the planetary correspondences between astrology and the Tarot.
Oh my, aren’t we discussing some wonderful things?!
Maxine x7791
October 10th, 2009 at 9:33 AM
morning all – wonderful!!!
a long time ago i went to a class about the “key to tarot” what it turned out to be was what the major cards were astrologically. in doing the astro spread of 12 card in a circle (each card is placed in an astro house) i use the major cards for that spread and a traditional deck. the osho zen does have the same elements as traditonal tarot just in a different design.
the key is as follows:
fool – air / magician – mercury / empress-venus / hierophant -taurus / chariot -cancer / star – aries, aquarius / lovers -gemini / high priestess – moon / hanged man – water / wheel of fortune (vanna white lol) jupiter / strength – leo / justice – libra / hermit – virgo / death -scorpio / devil – capricorn / temperance -sagittarius / the tower – mars / the sun -sun / emperor – aquarius, aries / judgment – fire / moon – pisces / universe – saturn
where the air, fire and water come in there is a vast amount of information to interpret being there are 3 signs in each element. i do wonder what happened to the earth? perhaps the earth is the center of it all, where we live and does not need a designated card! what’s your take on that?
Rainbow x7953
October 10th, 2009 at 12:37 PM
Maxine, I agree that the Earth probably is the center of it all.
When I learned the Medicine Wheel all those years ago, I learned that there are 7 directions; East, South, West, North, Above, Below, and Within. The ‘within’ position was also referred to as the ‘here and now’.
It is impossible for us to look at something without being the center of it, because this is the way our ego is created; we assimilate information based on how it is going to affect us. Therefore, I think you are dead on with the Earth being the center of it all, because it is where we are. We simply cannot perceive the Universe from any other direction, because we simply aren’t there.
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