Tarot Myths Archives - Being Doing Tarot

Starting With Tarot: A Guide For The Beginner

April 28, 2021December 13, 2020 by BeingDoingTarot

A Guide to starting with tarot — Tarroco Soprafino copyright Il Meneghello Edizioni, MIlano-Italy

I am starting with tarot, what do I do? This is a very common question. Based on my own early tarot experience, and what I have learned since, I am going to discuss what is really going to help you start using the tarot cards.

Most of the posts I have written assume you have already begun your tarot journey. However, on social media sites such as Quora, it is pretty obvious from the number of people asking the same question that how to actually start with tarot is a bit of a mystery.

Bear in mind that, as with everything else in this blog, you should only take what works for you and leave the rest.

OK, lets go!

Ignore the tarot myths

The absolute first thing you should do is ignore the tarot myths. I have already written a post on these, “9 Tarot Myths – False…Or True?“, which is here. This post covers some of the main myths which appear over and over again. They are all, for the most part, completely false. In 17 years of reading tarot (as of writing this post), not a single myth (with one exception) has demonstrated any semblance of truth.

But there is one myth in particular which really appears pervasive and persistent, people asking whether it’s true over and over again. I’m talking about the myth that tarot is evil.

I have also covered this myth separately in the post “Is Tarot Evil?” which is here. But I think it’s worth repeating the essentials about this myth again here. In fact, I don’t believe it’s possible to repeat the following enough.

Tarot is not evil. The Catholic Church believes that divine guidance should only come from God. So, in modern terms, the Church has spent many centuries trash talking the competition. You will hear devout Christians saying things like ‘God says tarot is EVIL and it’s the work of DEMONS‘

Oh, please. It’s the 21^st century, not the medieval era.

Tarot cards are just paper and ink. The decks are printed in their tens of thousands by large publishing companies and used by millions of readers worldwide. Tarot is a huge commercial industry. Tarot today is not powered by demons but by capitalism.

Reading tarot is essentially a psychological process which involves a form of creative thinking known as conceptual blending. Conceptual blending combines the meaning and art of the card, the position in the tarot spread, and a spark of intuition to generate a message. This message is usually something that we could not have arrived at just by using rational thinking. Spirits don’t really get a look in.

I take a closer look at conceptual blending and tarot in the post ‘Conceptual Blending: How Tarot Really Works?‘ which you can read here.

I was raised Roman Catholic and in all my many, many years of reading tarot I have never experienced anything evil- EVER – connected to the cards. I have not encountered spirits, or demons. On the contrary, I have only experienced immense benefits from reading the cards.

So, unless you are a devout Christian, you can bury this myth where it belongs.

Choosing your deck When Starting With Tarot

After ditching the myths, the first thing you need to do when starting with tarot is get yourself a tarot deck. I have written a post on how to choose a deck, “Choosing And Buying A Beginner Tarot Deck“, which you can read here.

However, the key thing to know is you should really get yourself a copy of the Rider Waite Smith (RWS) tarot deck or a deck that closely follows the essential aspects of the RWS. Why? Most beginner tarot books use the RWS to teach. Also, the vast majority of decks published today follow the RWS in terms of meanings so it will be easy to move from one deck to another.

The Rider Waite Smith Tarot is the 800 pound Gorilla

The Rider Waite Smith (RWS) tarot, first published in 1909, is a fully illustrated deck with artwork on every card. This made it very accessible to the general public and this deck is the reason why tarot is so hugely popular now.

The RWS is available in many different editions today, the differences mainly being one of colour. Some popular editions are shown here:

Choose your first tarot deck carefully. — Clockwise from top left: Rider Waite Tarot; Smith Waite Centennial Tarot; Radiant Rider Waite; Universal Waite Tarot all copyright US Games Systems

So yes, i’m recommending the RWS. Some people will say you should get a deck that you really like, even if this is not the RWS. This is true to some extent but I firmly believe that you should get a deck you like that follows the RWS closely. Even if you don’t like the RWS, there are many decks that are very close in terms of imagery so find one that suits your taste.

Art is subjective so a deck that everyone on the internet is raving about may not appeal to you. Finding a deck you like means you will be able to forge a much stronger connection to it than with a deck you dislike. Choosing a deck closely based on the RWS will make learning tarot easier.

Avoid Art Decks & Minimalist Decks If Starting With Tarot

Many decks are supposedly based on the RWS but some are closer to RWS imagery than others. Two types of decks for tarot beginners to beware of are art decks and minimalist decks.

What’s an art deck?

Well, my definition of an art deck is one which claims to be based on RWS meanings but strays very far from RWS imagery in terms of it’s artistic depiction. These decks can certainly be beautiful but they are hard to learn with for beginners because they bear no resemblance to the RWS. Here’s an example:

Avoid art tarot decks when learning how to read the cards. — From left: Smith Waite Centennial Tarot and Hush Tarot both copyright US Games Systems

On the left we have the 3 of Cups from the Smith Waite Centennial deck. On the right is the 3 of Cups from the Hush Tarot. The Hush Tarot card has no resemblance to the RWS 3 of Cups at all! The Hush tarot is an excellent deck for an experienced reader and I do use it. However, if you are starting out with tarot and trying to learn RWS symbolism using an art deck such as the Hush Tarot, you will experience only frustration and a headache.

Learning tarot with an art deck is certainly possible from an intuitive point of view but you will will find it difficult to use other decks.

What’s a minimalist deck?

A minimalist deck is one that has either very little detail in the artwork or the artwork is sparse. Being able to use your intuition is very difficult if there is so little detail to latch on to.

Avoid minimalist tarot decks — From left: Smith Waite Centennial Tarot copyright US Games Systems; Wild Unknown Tarot copyright Kim Krans

Here is the RWS 7 of Pentacles. On the right is the same card from the hugely popular Wild Unknown Tarot. The RWS version has lots of details that you could latch on to and spark your intuition. The Wild Unknown version has the same underlying meaning but the artwork doesn’t give you much to work on. Minimalist tarot decks are best kept for when you are more experienced as card meanings in these decks play a more prominent role in readings than intuition.

Starting with Tarot: Use the Cards everyday

Now that you have (hopefully) found a deck you like that follows the RWS, the next thing to do is form a connection with the cards.

How do you form a connection with a tarot deck?

When you are starting with tarot use the cards regularly, preferably daily. Use them as often as you can because you need to form an intuitive connection with the cards. For this you do not need to know the meanings of the cards. It won’t hurt to learn the meanings as you go along but getting an intuitive feel for the deck is more important at this stage.

What Is Intuition?

Intuition is a combination of our experience and knowledge. When you get an intuitive feeling about something, your subconscious is accessing this storehouse to give you that gut feeling that says ‘pay attention to this.’ Therefore, it is always a good idea to take heed of those instinctive feelings. Intuition kept our primitive ancestors safe from danger and we can use this instinct now. Think of it as our psychic ability.

How To Use Intuition When Reading The Cards

When you are looking at the card, try to keep your attention somewhere between the card and the question you have in mind while also bearing in mind the particular position in the tarot spread (if you are using one.) This usually takes a few moments but don’t be afraid to take some time – reading tarot isn’t a race.

As you contemplate the card and the question pay attention to any details on the card that seem to leap out at you or catch your attention. This is your intuition speaking. As you notice these details you will start to have ideas about what the card is telling you. Make up a story about what the card is telling you.

When you are using your intuition, a card can provide a message that has nothing to do with its actual meaning. And that’s totally OK!

Just go with the flow.

Learning to use your intuition with tarot is quicker than learning all the card meanings but it still takes time and practice. For another method of reading tarot intuitively see the post ‘How To Do An Intuitive Tarot Reading‘ which is here.

So, what’s a good way to regularly practice using the tarot cards intuitively?

Using The Cards: The 1 Card Daily Draw

The easiest way to use the cards daily is to do a 1 card draw each day, either in the morning or the evening. This is how it works.

Each day, at the time that suits you, shuffle the deck and draw 1 card. If you draw the card in the morning spend some moments looking at it. Then keep the card in mind as your day progresses. See if any situation that occurs during the day seems similar to something represented in the card.

If you draw your card in the evening, again spend some moments looking at the card and see if anything in the picture reminds you of something that happened during the day.

By doing these daily exercises you not only become familiar with the cards but you begin to intuitively associate certain situations and energies with particular cards.

Even though I have been reading tarot for many years I still do a 1 card daily draw for myself in the morning. Tarot reading is a skill and I use every opportunity to practice, practice, practice. On the day I began writing this post I drew the following card:

Practice doing a daily 1 card draw — Sacred Rose Tarot copyright US Games Systems

The King of Cups was an interesting draw, Kings are in full control of their element – in this case moods and feelings – and use their expertise in an outward manner. In this case, the King of Cups symbolised my goal of influencing the feelings of the people reading this post! The symbolism that caught my eye here was the tight clenching of the cup (control) and the hand holding out the undine (a water elemental) representing a controlled outward expression of his abilities.

The Daily 3 Card Spread

A quicker way of intuitively connecting with the cards is by doing a daily 3 card reading. This way you learn about more cards daily. You can always do this and also do a 1 card draw.

For my daily 3 card spread I use Situation, Challenge, Advice as the spread positions to get a sense of the day ahead. This is really useful if I already know about the plans for the day ahead, say at work.

If I know there are particular problems that need to be resolved that day I might instead use Root of Problem, Advice, What I resolve to do.

Speaking of tarot spreads…

Learn Some Tarot Spreads

When you are starting with tarot, as well as connecting with the cards, it is really important to learn some tarot spreads that cover a few common topics. It is the tarot deck plus the spread that really give tarot it’s ability to answer questions.

A tarot spread is essentially just the question broken down into the specific elements of that question you want answers to – these are the spread positions. I gave some examples above of some simple 3 card spreads but there are countless other spreads.

Some people will say you don’t need a spread. Even if you don’t use a spread, you usually have something in mind when you put down the cards like ‘What do I need to know about today?’ But, a tarot spread really helps you to find specific answers to your question. I strongly recommend using a spread.

There are tarot spreads for any topic you can think of with any number of cards from 1 to 78 (the full deck!)

When you are starting with tarot it’s probably easier to learn a few small spreads with, say, no more than 5 cards. This just makes doing the reading easier without the mental overload of using a large spread.

Here’s an example of a 5 card problem solving spread that I sometimes use:

Starting with tarot. Learn some spreads — Morgan Greer Tarot Italian Edition copyright US Games Systems

The positions are:

Top left The Challenge or Obstacle
Bottom left Complications
Bottom right What is hidden
Top Right Idea, person or thing that can help
Centre Action to take

What About The Celtic Cross Spread?

Learning tarot spreads. The Celtic Cross — Celtic Cross Spread. Rider Waite Tarot copyright US Games Systems

The Celtic Cross spread appears everywhere, in practically every beginner tarot book. It made it’s first public appearance around the time the original RWS tarot was first published and has become ingrained in tarot consciousness.

I don’t believe it’s actually a good spread to learn when you are starting out. For a start this is a whopping 10 card spread – that’s a lot of cards to process. Also, the Celtic Cross is a general purpose spread. Trying to use it to answer every question you have is like trying to shove a square peg into a round hole. It’s just painful.

It’s much easier to use a spread that answers your specific question. A good tarot spread book I recommend is ‘Tarot Spreads: Layouts & Techniques to Empower Your Readings‘ by Barbara Moore. There are many tarot spread books but I believe this is one of the best. Keep it handy when you are starting your tarot journey.

Even better than choosing a spread to fit your question is to custom create a spread to exactly answer your question. Some people feel uncomfortable at doing that but it’s easy and a good skill to learn as you are starting with tarot. I explain how to create your own tarot spread – and how to read a spread – in the post ‘How To Read Tarot Cards – 10 Steps For Great Readings‘ which is here.

Start a Tarot journal

I wrote about the importance of tarot journals in the post ‘Reading Tarot For Yourself – 7 Things To Avoid‘, which is here, but I want to quickly mention it again.

When you are starting out with tarot it’s a really good idea to keep a note of the intuitive impressions you are getting from each card. You then have a record of what you have already learned. And, as I wrote in the post above, keeping a journal to note down your tarot readings will help you remember those readings so you can reflect on them later. This also makes for a great learning tool as you can look back on what each card in a reading meant for you.

Get a beginner tarot book

In this blog i’ve often said that learning to read tarot intuitively is important and something that can get you reading tarot quite quickly without needing the card meanings.

But the card meanings are the backbone of tarot – it’s intuition plus card meanings that give tarot it’s power. So, after you have been reading using intuition for a little while, absolutely go and start learning the meanings. The card meanings add garnish to the intuitive reading and can actually spark your intuition in themselves.

When you are starting with tarot, try reading the cards intuitively first. Only after you have done this and gained some meaning from the cards should you reach for the tarot book.

You might be tempted to try learning all the card meanings first. Well, that’s how I started out when I was learning tarot. It was pretty difficult; using the card meanings alone without developing your tarot intuition results in some pretty unsatisfactory mechanical readings. I wouldn’t recommend it for someone new.

There are many good beginner tarot books available on Amazon. There are so many that I can’t really recommend a single one as being the absolute best. As a rough guide go for a book that has at least a 4 star average rating and at least 100 reviews (many have over a 1000 reviews). You won’t go far wrong with that.

Ignore The YouTube Videos That Promise Quick Results

When you are starting out with tarot it is tempting to go on YouTube and see if you can quickly learn the tarot. There are videos that promise you can learn all the cards in 2 hours. Or that you can read like a professional tarot reader in 1 hour.

It’s nonsense. As I mentioned, just learning the card meanings is going to lead to some terrible readings if you don’t learn to use your intuition as well. Reading tarot is a skill and, like all skills, to get good at it takes practice and time.

You will likely forget half the cards meanings after 2 hours of rote learning.

If you want to learn tarot, then take the time to learn to read tarot. Your effort will be rewarded, shortcuts don’t work and will just end in disappointment.

What’s Next?

Everything I discussed above should get you going at the start of your tarot journey. It does take time to become familiar with the cards but it’s worth it.

Once you start to feel confident with reading the cards for yourself, the next step would be to practice reading for other people. There is a lot of content in this blog to help you with reading the cards, both for yourself and other people, so have a wander around.

One of the things you may be wandering is whether you need to use reversed tarot cards in your readings. I mention this here and not in the main advice because you do not need to know tarot reversals to get started with the cards. Some people use reversed cards, others don’t. If you choose not to use reversals nothing bad will happen; the 78 upright cards provide all the information you will need.

If you want to learn an easy way to read reversed cards see the post ‘Read Reversed Tarot Cards With W.I.N.D.‘ here. If you want to know about elemental dignities – an alternative to tarot reversals – see the post ‘Using Tarot Elemental Correspondences In Your Readings‘ here.

And above all, enjoy yourself as you explore the tarot.

Reading Tarot for Yourself – 7 Things to Avoid

December 14, 2020August 31, 2020 by BeingDoingTarot

Reading tarot for yourself is very rewarding. It is a method of self reflection and considering potential decisions when thinking about what to do. However, personal tarot reading is not easy. In this post I am going to talk about 7 things I have personally experienced that make reading tarot for yourself difficult and how to respond to them. It is because of these issues that some people say you shouldn’t read tarot for yourself; you can read more on that in my post on tarot myths, here.

For more on how to read tarot cards, including for others, please read my post ‘How to Read Tarot Cards – 10 Steps for Great Readings‘ which you can find here.

As with all things I write, take what works for you and leave the rest.

Let’s go!

1. Not Having a clear question

Have a clear question in mind when reading tarot for yourself.

Some people simply lay out the cards without a question in mind to get a general idea of the energies present. I personally find this too vague. Without a clear question in mind, you cannot give the cards a proper context and your reading will also be vague and difficult to interpret. Which is just a waste of time.

Arguably, the most important thing to do before you ever get out your tarot deck is have a very clear question in mind. Figure out what it is you want to know. If possible avoid Yes/No questions but rather ask open ended questions such as ‘What do I need to know about…’ or ‘How can I…’

Once you do this it is much easier, in my experience, to interpret the cards and actually gain some practical benefit from the reading. I personally advise against Yes/No questions because these type of questions remove any agency you may have. If you believe that the answer is yes or no then why would you take action if you believe the answer is preordained? I do not believe the future is set in stone so I personally avoid asking yes or no questions for myself.

2. not using the most appropriate tarot spread

You must choose the most appropriate tarot spread to answer your question. — **3 card spread using the Tarot de Jacques Vieville copyright Editions Letarot**

Ideally, to really answer the question you have, you should create a custom spread for that question. However, I am aware that some people are not comfortable or confident doing that. In that case I do believe that you should take care to find the most appropriate tarot spread for your question. This will give you the clearest answer. Easy, right?

Maybe not. The Celtic Cross seems to have burned itself into the tarot reading consciousness as the only tarot spread available. This 10 card spread (11 if you use a significator) is good for giving an overview of the situation but that’s about it; it’s a general spread so it’s not very specific. Also, if you are a tarot newbie, then a 10 card spread can be overwhelming.

I would recommend a 3 card spread for most situations; 5 cards at the most. The 3 card spread is very flexible. You should not be afraid to assign any meaning you want to the 3 positions. Here are just some examples:

Position 1: Past
Position 2: Present
Position 3: Future

Position 1: Situation
Position 2: Challenge
Position 3: Answer

Position 1: Problem
Position 2: Advice
Position 3: Action

Position 1: Option 1
Position 2: Option 2
Position 3: Advice on option to choose.

And so on. You get the idea.

There are many books on tarot spreads. One of the very best I have come across is ‘Tarot Spreads: Layouts and Techniques to Empower Your Readings‘ by Barbara Moore. This book not only contains loads of different spreads for any conceivable situation but also advice on how to modify existing spreads and on how to create your own spreads. This book is essential reading.

This advice on choosing the best spread really applies only to readings using a Rider Waite Smith based deck. For people using the Tarot de Marseille (TdM) I fully recommend ‘The Marseille Tarot Revealed‘ by Yoav Ben-Dov. This book will show you how to get the most out of your readings using the TdM.

3. Bias due to strong emotions

Strong emotions can bias a tarot reading for yourself

So, when should you not read tarot for yourself? When you are experiencing strong emotions, particularly the more negative emotions: anger, jealousy, hate. However, if you are feeling strong positive emotions such as joy then I also suggest you leave the tarot reading until you are calmer.

When you experience strong emotions these will definitely bias your tarot readings. For instance, if you believe your boyfriend or girlfriend are cheating on you then you may be subconsciously predisposed to read the worst outcome in your reading. Leave the tarot deck alone.

Reducing The Chance Of Bias

Two things you can try to do if you really want the tarot to give you some genuine clarity.

Firstly, try some mediation before you do the reading to calm yourself. Personally, I find meditation challenging but a simple technique I have found works is, first, to find a quiet space. Then, take a deep breath in to the count of 4, then breath out to the count of 4. After that, simply focus on your breathing and nothing else. If something enters your mind and distracts you repeat the breathing in and out to the count of 4 and return to focus on your breathing.

After a few minutes I usually find myself calmer and my mind clearer.

Secondly, and this is a good technique for self tarot reading at all times, is to imagine you are reading for someone else. If you have a pet imagine you are reading for them. Or imagine you are doing the reading for a friend. It may seem silly but it does work because it helps you remain objective.

However, in the end, if you are still experiencing those strong emotions then it’s a good idea to just not do the reading – it won’t be any benefit to you at the very least and may lead you astray at the worst.

4. Not being able to focus due to distractions

To get the most benefit from your tarot readings you really do need to reflect on the reading and focus on what the cards are saying. Tarot cards, particularly the fully illustrated cards of the Rider Waite Smith and similar decks, are a symbolic language. To understand the language you have to concentrate on what is being said.

This is not easy if you are trying to do the reading in an environment full of distractions. Maybe you are a busy parent with young children running around. Or perhaps you live in a shared house and it is difficult to have complete peace.

Avoid distractions when reading tarot for yourself

What I do to ensure I can focus on my own readings is find a quiet time – either in the evening or early in the morning – where disturbances are minimised. If you live in a busy household, try to find a quiet spot, dedicate it to tarot readings, and let people know you do not want to be disturbed. It is well worth it to make this effort.

5. Asking the same question again and again

Sometimes you do a reading and you may not be sure what the cards are saying. Or, you want confirmation of what the first reading is saying – just to be sure. Perhaps you were not happy with what the cards had to say the first time. So you do another tarot reading on the same question. And then maybe another. Repeat.

This doesn’t work. The tarot is effectively a mirror reflecting your psychological state and situation back at you. All you do if you repeat the same question again and again is get the same answer back from the cards. The cards may be different or they may be the same but you will interpret the reading in a similar way. What is worse, with repeated readings, you may even end up confusing yourself with slightly different reflections. Like this guy here:

The tarot is a mirror. Repeating the same question again and again results in different yet similar answers that may confuse you.

Whether or not you understand the reading the first time, even if you don’t like what the cards have to say, do not repeat the reading. Instead you have to try to understand and reflect on that first reading and understand the message it is giving you. The tarot never lies but it does require time to interpret.

Of course, after a suitable period of time you may want to repeat the reading on that specific question. Maybe the situation has changed or other factors have become important. Then absolutely do another reading. I personally try to leave at least 3 weeks to a month before I repeat questions. This is plenty of time for things to have evolved and then it is worth doing another reading.

Talking of reflecting on readings leads us to the next problem with reading tarot for ourselves.

6. not making a note of the readings

Making a note of tarot readings is important for learning the cards and reflecting on the readings.

As I mentioned in the last point, it can sometimes take time to reflect on readings. This is especially true if the reading didn’t really make sense. I have lost count of the number of times where I forgot to make a note of the cards in the reading so that I could reflect – after a few days I have just completely forgotten what cards were drawn and I have to repeat the reading again.

The answer to this is simple and very worthwhile. Make a note of your tarot reading in a dedicated tarot journal so that you can look back over the reading in the days, weeks, and months ahead. It doesn’t really matter what type of journal you keep; it could be a good old paper journal or an online journal. Maybe even just take a picture of the spread with your phone.

Personally, I prefer a nice hard copy paper journal. I like the tactile feel of the pages and I can absorb information better reading from a page then I can from a screen. The benefit of making a written note of the reading over just taking a picture is that you can make detailed notes of the what the cards were saying to you; any questions or issues you had; things you want to look out for as time passes.

In general I would recommend a tarot journal for any tarot reader, especially if you are new to tarot and you are learning the cards. A journal is great for noting down your interpretations of a card, maybe after a daily single card draw. This helps you understand what the card means for you and this is invaluable for intuitive tarot reading. And talking of intuitive readings…

7. sticking to the card meanings

This is one of the hardest problems to overcome when reading tarot for yourself or for other people. This is particularly true if you are learning the tarot and you are relying on card meanings. The true power of tarot is being able to use your intuition when reading the cards, even if this means you move completely away from what the cards actually mean.

Practice is the only answer but how do you do it? While the subject of reading tarot intuitively is something I want to talk about in another post there are some things you can try to do fairly easily.

Intuitive Tarot Reading Tips

After making sure you have a clear question in mind – see point 1 above – you probably want to choose a small spread if you are new to tarot. No more than 3 cards say. Layout the cards and then completely ignore what the actual card meanings are. Don’t look up card meanings or just pretend the card is a painting and put the meaning out of your mind.

Then simply describe the card literally. Take your time and look at the picture and just describe the picture to yourself and think about it in the context of your question and the position in the spread. Do the same with the other cards. I’m not going to pretend it’s easy – it’s not but this is how you can start to learn to read intuitively.

Another good method of practising reading tarot intuitively is to get your tarot deck and start to make a story with the cards. Turn over the top card and describe the card. Then turn over the next card, describe it, and add it to the story. Keep going. This way you are not thinking about the card meanings but describing the cards in the context of the story you are creating. For instance, with the Fool, Magician and High Priestess I might create the following story just from the pictures alone:

‘I’m taking a walk along the cliff path with my dog and i’m carefree and not looking where i’m going. I fall off the cliff and land in a nice garden where a wizard points up to the cliff and points at me on the ground and says “I can help you get back to the top with magic.” His sister, the High Priestess, is also in the garden near the beach and says “look be quiet, I can’t hear myself think and i’m trying to hear the sea and it’s night time now”‘

Just an example to give you an idea of what i’m talking about.

Of course, if you feel you need to know the card meanings then go ahead but try to read the card intuitively first, then look up the meaning.

For much more on reading tarot intuitively, including an easy method for intuitive reading, see the post ‘How To Do An Intuitive Tarot Reading‘ which can be found here.

Anyway, I hope some of this has been helpful for you and that you find it useful in your personal tarot readings. The tips i’ve talked about in the points above have definitely helped me so give them a try for yourself.

Is Tarot Evil?

November 22, 2020August 23, 2020 by BeingDoingTarot

Tarot is not evil. As I mentioned briefly in my Tarot Myths post, which you can read here, tarot cards are simply cardboard and ink and do not have any inherent powers. In fact, the power is within you.

This does not prevent people from thinking that tarot cards are evil or harmful. This is mainly due to the Bible’s view of divination which I will talk about. But the Bible is not the only reason that tarot has, arguably, gained an ill reputation with some people. In this post I am going to talk about some of the other reasons why tarot might be considered evil: fraudsters; portrayal in films; early card meanings; and some dubious marketing. Then I will talk about the Bible’s view on divination before I provide an example of how it is possible to combine faith in God with tarot. Finally, I will briefly talk about some research into the benefits of tarot.

I will warn you in advance that I have some strong opinions when it comes to the influence of the Church on tarot, divination and magic.

Tarot fraudsters

Over the years there have been numerous examples of people encountering fraudsters and scammers using tarot for their own ends. Inevitably this usually involves the tarot reader cold reading a person rather than actually reading the cards. The fake reader then says that the person is under a curse or something similar and that, for a price, this curse can be lifted. Bad, bad, bad!

No genuine, ethical tarot reader should ever ask the querent to pay more for anything, ever. If the querent wants another reading or another service from a tarot reader than that should be for them to decide. Fake tarot readers bring the whole art of tarot reading into disrepute and, personally, I don’t want anything to do with them.

However, the portrayal of tarot in films has also had an impact in how tarot is perceived.

Tarot in films

Interest in the occult and supernatural really took off in the 1960s and 1970s as can be seen in this 1972 abstract from the Sociological Quarterly which you can read here. Tarot began to be appear in a more dramatic fashion in films around this time. Two of the best known films in which tarot appears are the 1973 James Bond film Live and Let Die and the 1965 British Horror Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors:

In films tarot is portrayed as having supernatural power.

In Dr Terror's House of Horrors, tarot predicts death.

In Live and Let Die we have Jane Seymour’s character, Solitaire, use the tarot to predict Bond’s arrival on the island and the death he brings. Events, of course, play out exactly the way Solitaire predicted which presents the tarot as a supernatural tool for predictions which cannot be changed.

In the earlier Dr Terror’s House of Horrors we see an even more malignant depiction of tarot. Five strangers board a train followed by a sixth passenger, Peter Cushing’s character Dr Schreck, who pulls out his deck of tarot cards. The other passengers then ask for their futures to be read. Big mistake! Dr. Schreck uses his tarot deck to predict the wildly unusual but fatal ends of all the passengers. Which of course cannot be avoided!

Honestly, I think that if you were really into the supernatural back in the 1960s and 70s and believed that tarot could predict a future cast in stone then these films would have had quite an influence. They certainly helped solidify tarot’s reputation as a supernatural force for the general film audience.

Is it just the films that gave tarot it’s supernatural aura? If you had a tarot deck in your hands, particularly in the 1960s when there were very few tarot decks available, would you really be afraid of a tarot reading? If you believed in the power of tarot and used the little instruction book that came with certain decks you might.

Early Tarot card Meanings are scary

Above is the Grimaud tarot deck, the same deck used in Dr Terror’s House of Horrors. This copy is from the 1970s and came with a very interesting little book of card meanings.

These days, we associate the Death card to mean a transition from something that has outlived its usefulness to something new. The transition may be planned or unexpected but we rarely, if ever, think of the Death card as meaning actual death. Not in the Grimaud tarot which was pretty much the only widely available tarot deck in the 1960s:

Just look at those card meanings and card combinations! Death by itself means actual death. Combine it with other Major Arcana and we are talking mass death on an epic scale! At the time of writing this post the world is in the grip of a major pandemic – Death followed by the World in the above instructions means disease epidemic on a vast scale. I don’t believe any modern tarot deck instructions would lead you to considering a mass disease outbreak.

I think it is with good reason that there is a lingering fear amongst some people of having a tarot reading. Tarot card meanings have clearly evolved over time but, back in the 60s and 70s, if you believed in the power of prediction, then you would likely be scared out of your wits if you received the Death card. Even now, people are still afraid of the Death card. It’s not hard to see why! From experiences like this, it’s is also not hard to see how tarot could have gained a reputation for being evil.

old Tarot marketing feeds into evil reputation

It’s not just the tarot card meanings from the 60s and 70s that make tarot appear to be frightning or evil. There was some dubious tarot marketing going on in the 1970s. Have a look at this deck published around 1975:

Sensational tarot deck packaging to tie into tarot's reputation for being evil — **Royal Fez Moroccan Tarot Ca. 1975**

Pretty sensational stuff and not the kind of packaging you see for tarot decks nowadays. Here we have two of the more infamous tarot cards, The Devil and Death plus the snake from the Lovers card, featured up front and centre. The packaging is clearly tapping into the tarot’s reputation for scary predictions to create sales. It’s a long way from the current view of tarot as a spiritual tool and source of guidance.

So, tarot card meanings and lurid packaging back in the day certainly helped to both create and feed off tarot’s fear inducing reputation. However, today, in the early 21st century, the main reason why some people believe tarot is evil is because of the Bible.

tarot is evil according to the bible

The Bible has quite a lot to say on the topic of divination, if you want you can read a large selection of quotes regarding divination here. Essentially, the Bible says that the only source of divine guidance should be from God and that all other supernatural sources of such guidance – through divination – are spirits or demons. Which of course are evil. Even the Pope, as recently as 2018, specifically called out tarot cards as a form of idol worship and that one should only commune with God for divine guidance.

In my personal experience this is a load of nonsense. I have been reading tarot for myself and others for many years and have never experienced negative outcomes or summoned evil spirits from using the tarot. I know many tarot readers who have used the tarot far longer than I have, many decades, and I know they have never experienced anything negative.

I want to make it very clear that I fully respect everyone’s religious practices but that doesn’t mean I can’t hold an opinion. It is worth noting that the Bible was written by men to interpret the word of God. Mankind is fallible with biases and prejudices. Furthermore, and more crucially, the church has a vested interest in making sure that people only worship God. If people could find spiritual guidance through divination then they would have no reason to join the church and the religion would not grow.

The Catholic Church Believes in Magic

The Church explicitly believes in magic – of which divination is a part – by celebrating Jesus turning water into wine at a wedding in Cana. This is described as a miracle but is clearly an act of magic.

However, the Church has a history of centuries of repression of the practice of magic because it is simply unacceptable to access guidance from the divine through any source other than worship. To do so was considered heresy and was a major reason for the creation of the Inquisition.

Although the Inquisition is long gone, the repression of divination and magic in general by the Catholic Church continues to this day for the same reason. Magic is considered real via the concept of miracles but only by worshipping God can you be enlightened.

And so, we hear that tarot will summon spirits and that divination is the work of devils. The truly devout will tell you that this comes directly from God. Yet, as I mentioned above, men wrote the bible, not God.

This kind of thinking belongs in the Medieval era, not the 21^st century.

Problematic Aspects Of The Bible

The Bible has several problematic aspects that do not fit into modern society. Exodus tells us that: ‘You shall not allow a Sorceress to live.’ So, yep, the Bible is saying we should kill people who practice magic. That’s called murder. Not very helpful and actually illegal. Moving away from divination for the moment the Bible also tells us that women should be submissive to men. Well, that is surely down to individual choice, isn’t it? Not because the Bible says it should be so. Again this piece of biblical wisdom doesn’t fit well in the 21^st century.

The point here is that sections of the Bible should be ignored because they are widely out of touch with modern society. I include the Bible’s view on divination here, especially in our multi faith and increasingly secular society.

I also feel that devout Christians telling us that tarot is evil is somewhat hypocritical. Religion itself, especially Christianity, has been the source and cover for real evil throughout the centuries and into the modern day. The Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions murdered thousands of innocent men, women and children for centuries. Accusing someone of being a heretic was also used as means for the Inquisition to acquire land and property from the accused. Abuse of power on a grand scale.

In the modern day, we have numerous examples of sexual abuse perpetrated by priests and covered up by the Catholic Church. You can read about some of these in this BBC article here. The Church of England has also been found guilty of failing to protect children from sexual abuse – you can read about that here.

In other words, it is a bit rich for Christians to tell us that tarot cards are evil when the church itself is involved in acts of real evil. The church does not have the moral high ground to lecture us on what is evil and what is not.

If you live your life according to the Bible then i’m not going to change your mind. However, if you are open minded and curious about tarot then I can reassure you, there is nothing to worry about. Do not take any notice of those who say tarot is evil.

Combining Faith With Tarot

I don’t want to finish talking about the Bible’s view on divination on a negative note. If you have faith in God I want you to know that it is possible to combine your faith with reading tarot. Jada Jones is an example of someone who combines her religious faith with reading tarot in a very positive manner. You can read Jada’s story here.

Personally I find Jada’s story very uplifting; she explored tarot for herself and discovered the benefits of combining tarot with her own faith to help her overcome life’s challenges. I share her view that the tarot is not about predicting the future, it is about looking into oneself with the tarot acting as a mirror. The tarot then is not a means of communicating with evil spirits and demons. Instead, it is a psychological means to really think about what is happening in your life and how you can respond to that. I don’t believe the Bible has an issue with this.

At the beginning of this post I mentioned that the tarot cards have no power, the power is within you. This is true. A word of caution though. If we say that tarot acts as a mirror then, if evil results from a tarot reading, the evil comes from within you. In which case neither the tarot nor the Bible can help you.

The most conclusive way to see if tarot is evil or not is surely to conduct some academic research into whether tarot is beneficial or not. What does the research have to say?

Tarot Research

There is not a lot of research into tarot and its benefits but some qualitative journal articles have been published. In a 2004 article, Anne Coulter describes how tarot can be used as a tool for counselling as well as assisting in meditation and spiritual growth. You can read part of the abstract here.

In a 2006 article, Inna Semetsky discusses how tarot can be used to help individuals achieve emotional stability and well being as well as reconciling conflicting ideas and experiences. The abstract is available here.

I’ll admit that is not a lot of research but it is something and does help demonstrate that using tarot has positive outcomes. I can’t find any published research that says tarot is actually harmful.

In conclusion, my belief is that tarot is not evil. It has gained that reputation due to dodgy scammers; its presentation in media and publishing and from the Bible’s view of divination being evil. My personal experience is that tarot has only ever been beneficial, otherwise I wouldn’t be writing a blog about it!

If you want to try tarot for yourself then go for it, don’t let talk of it being evil put you off.

So, what are you waiting for?

9 Tarot Myths – False…or True?

March 6, 2021July 17, 2020 by BeingDoingTarot

Here we are in the 21st century with tarot accepted in the mainstream and yet certain tarot myths surrounding the cards seem to persist. Or, at least, I keep hearing them come up again and again. These days, stories and ‘facts’ about tarot circulate in social media and spread; even now on tarot forums I see tarot newbies asking about these tarot myths. Hmm. I’ve picked up on some of the tarot myths that I keep hearing about and I want to talk about them from my own experience. After all, if the myths were true, then shouldn’t I have discovered this over the years?

On this blog I want to encourage people to pick up and use tarot; some of these myths might put the tarot curious off so i’m going to talk about them from my personal perspective.

Lets dive in!

1. You need to be gifted Your first Deck

This old chestnut is still around. I have absolutely no idea where this comes from, probably from the dim and distant past. Lets put this one to rest.

If I had waited to be gifted my first tarot deck all those years ago, I would never have got into tarot in the first place. I suppose I could have asked to have a deck as a Christmas or Birthday present but what if I received a deck I didn’t like? Nope, I bought my first deck. Hated the deck. Lesson learnt there, research your deck before you buy it.

Back in 2004/2005 when I was looking for suitable learning decks, Amazon was incredibly useful as was the Aeclectic.net tarot database which has many, many decks you can get a sampling of. The Aeclectic site is still there although the excellent forums shut down several years ago; You can access the site here. These days, pictures of cards from just about any deck you’re interested in are a short click away from Google; YouTube; Pinterest: Instagram – you name it.

So yeah, you can buy your own deck – being given your first deck is nice but buying your first deck won’t affect your ability to use the tarot. You can read more on buying your first beginner tarot deck in ‘Choosing and Buying a Beginner Tarot Deck‘ which you can find here.

2. You need to be Psychic to read Tarot

Do you really need to have psychic abilities to read the tarot? I’m quite certain there are people in the world with genuine psychic abilities. They might be very rare but i’m sure they exist. I’m not one of them. I would not, in any way, describe myself as psychic yet I am able to read the tarot with no problem. Before our current coronavirus pandemic, I often attended Tarot Meetups here in London and I haven’t yet met another tarot reader who would describe themselves as psychic. I doubt genuine psychics even need to use a tarot deck. Intuition is what’s important so if you’re not psychic then don’t worry, you don’t need to be.

To learn an easy technique to help you read tarot intuitively, see the post ‘How To Do An Intuitive Tarot Reading’ which can be found here.

3. only Witches can read tarot

I’ve seen this mentioned a few times. I’m aware that many witches, whether they are Wiccan or follow some other path, read tarot as part of practicing the Craft. So, some witches are tarot readers but not all tarot tarot readers are witches. I have met some excellent tarot readers who are not witches. One works in the Civil Service, another works in the legal profession, another in television. One tarot reader I known works in the London Underground. Myself, I work mainly in the UK National Health Service and I am definitely not a witch of any kind. But I can read tarot. So there you go.

So, yep. You can read tarot without needing to be a witch.

4. Only women can read Tarot

Tarot Myths: Only women can read tarot — **Ancestral Path Tarot copyright US Games Systems**

Oh boy, i’ve seen this one come up pretty often. The rationale is that women are more intuitive than men and, therefore, men cannot read tarot. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

I would say, browsing social media and the internet, that there appear to be more female tarot readers than male ones. However, apart from myself – male if it wasn’t obvious – I have encountered in person quite a few male tarot readers. A few of them have been some of the most skilled tarot readers I have ever encountered.

As for myself, when it comes to intuition, I will admit that when I started with tarot many years ago I found it difficult to use my intution with the cards. I had to fight against years of conditioning where I had been focused on rationality and believing that science has all the answers. The more I used tarot though and the more I was exposed to the realm of metaphysics – as well as a very frightning personal experience with the paranormal – I began to realise science does not have all the answers. This allowed me to open up and relax, allowing me to exercise my intuitive ‘muscles’. In fact, I believe that tarot has actually helped me to become more intuitive – the tail wagged the dog.

All of this is to say that men can read tarot just as well as women. Men might read tarot differently from women but, in my experience of having had readings from both male and female readers, both genders do just fine. This myth is a load of old cobblers and deserves to fade away.

5. to bond with your tarot deck – sleep with it under your pillow

I’ve heard this a lot as well. The idea is that you can attune the deck to your energies (or the other way around) by having it under your pillow when you sleep. Getting used to your tarot deck through osmosis basically.

There is only one thing guaranteed to happen if you try this. You will have a very uncomfortable night’s rest and probably wake up with a sore neck. Of course, you could try it with a very thick pillow – memory foam is probably better – but, still. You also run the risk of damaging your deck – not exactly what ‘imprinting’ your energies into the deck is supposed to mean!

If you really want to attune to your tarot deck, to get really familiar with it, then play with it regularly – every day even. Do one card readings, study the cards, whatever floats your boat.You will get used to your deck more easily this way and learn all its nuances. As with most things to do with tarot – and life – there are few shortcuts. Memory foam pillows are very comfy but keep your deck somewhere safe, not under the pillow.

6. It takes years of study to become good at tarot reading

What is true about being a tarot reader is that you will never stop learning something new. I have been reading the cards for many years and I am constantly learning new things that I add into my practice. However, constantly learning doesn’t mean you can’t read the tarot relatively quickly.

There are some key approaches to learning the tarot. One, you learn the meanings of the cards first – we are talking about the Rider Waite Smith system here – and then learn how these meanings apply to your reading with intuition guiding you. With this approach, it can take a long time to become familiar with reading the cards and personally I don’t recommend it. Why? Because this is the approach I took when I started learning to read and it wasn’t easy. I wouldn’t try this if I was a tarot newbie now.

A much better way is option two: you don’t worry about what the cards are supposed to mean, instead you become familiar with your deck by studying the pictures on the cards and figuring out what they mean to you. Some tarot readers are purely intuitive, they never learned what the cards are supposed to mean. Instead they let the pictures guide them in the context of the question. This approach doesn’t have to take that long but, again, you will need to practice, practice, practice.

This approach will get you off the ground and reading the cards fairly quickly but I still encourage learning the card meanings and suit elemental energies later on. It is good to have the knowledge to hand to flavour the readings and, if you get stuck during a reading, you can fall back on the meanings to help you. However, don’t be put off picking up tarot reading because it looks like years of study lie ahead, it doesn’t have to be that way.

7. Tarot Cards are Evil

Devil Card from Bohemian Gothic tarot — **Bohemian Gothic Tarot Copyright Alex Ukolov and Karen Mahony**

I fully respect the religious and spiritual views of other people. However, I do have to take this myth down. Hard. The myth is that reading tarot cards will unleash demons – or something similar in tone. Any truth to this? Have I ever experienced this in my many, many years of tarot reading?

The Devil card above, from the fantastic Bohemian Gothic Tarot, probably shows one of the most evil depictions of the Tarot Devil i’ve ever seen – seductive evil, intoxicating, addictive. But, it’s just a card. Tarot decks, whether they are published by large publishers or by independent deck creators, all come off printing presses (mainly, it is possible to get them printed on demand) in their thousands in the case of many mass market decks. They are cardboard and ink and they are no more inherently evil or capable – in and of themselves – of summoning evil spirits as anything else made of cardboard and ink.

So, no, tarot cards are most definitely not evil. In all my years of reading tarot, whether for myself or for others, I have not once summoned evil entities. I’m sure I would have noticed.

A better question to ask is whether tarot cards can be dangerous. In my personal experience they can be but not because of unleashing evil spirits. Tarot, as with all things in which people believe strongly, can create problems. This is a worthy topic for another post so I will leave this for now.

8. you must not read tarot for yourself

Another tarot myth that still appears regularly. One version of this myth i’ve heard is that reading tarot for yourself will result in bad luck. Really? I think the many thousands of people who read tarot for themselves would beg to disagree and so do I. Have I experienced bad luck from reading tarot for myself for 16 years (as of writing this post). Well, i’ve certainly experienced bad luck over the years but then so does everyone else!

It’s inevitable that unfortunate circumstances will happen to people, that’s just the law of averages. On the other hand, reading tarot for oneself can bring many benefits – understanding where you stand in a situation, reflecting on circumstances, helping to creatively think about where and what to do next and the list goes on.

Is reading tarot for yourself difficult? Yes, it can be. The problem with reading tarot for yourself is that you can bring bias to your reading – you can see in the reading what you want to see. It is difficult to be objective about your own readings but it can be done.

This is worth expanding on in a post of it’s own but there are two things you can try to be objective. First, learn when not to read tarot. Yes, that’s right, you heard me! A definite no-no is reading tarot when you are experiencing intense emotion, for example when you are upset or angry at someone or a situation. If you want to read about this situation then wait until you calm down or practice meditation to calm yourself. Another simple technique is to imagine you are reading for someone else; it takes practice but this really works at helping you be objective.

So, let’s put a stake through this myth and burn it. You aren’t going to experience bad luck reading tarot for yourself – that will happen any way because of Life. However, reading tarot for yourself can certainly help you deal with this bad luck in a positive manner. You see, it’s all good!

You can learn more about the problems of reading tarot for yourself – and how to deal with them – in the post ‘Reading Tarot For Yourself – 7 Things to Avoid‘ which is here.

9. Avoid second hand tarot decks

The final tarot myth I want to cover here is this one. The myth goes like this: if you use a second hand tarot deck then you will not be able to get an accurate reading because the energy of the previous owner will create interference. This is mostly untrue in my personal experience.

I am not a collector of tarot decks but I do own quite a few old and vintage decks, mainly for their aesthetic qualities rather than their financial value. These old decks have wonderful papery card stock, more interesting colouration, or just simply resonate with me. Many tarot decks are out of print – if you happen to really like one then you don’t have any choice except to buy it second hand.

I use these old decks quite regularly and with one exception I have never encountered anything out of the ordinary with any of them. The one exception is an old deck that was last published in the 1970s. What makes this deck different is one simple, tiny thing. A previous owner and, for all I know, the only previous owner, marked the back of the 5 of Pentacles with a blue dot in felt tip. If you are familiar with the Rider Waite Smith 5 of Pentacles then you know this card depicts poverty, illness and just sheer material worry.

That tiny blue dot on the back of the card tells me how anxious this previous owner was about that card and I can feel this person’s energy in the deck. However, it is a warm energy, this owner obviously cared for this deck as a valuable divination tool – it is in pretty good condition for a decades old deck. This energy doesn’t interfere with my readings but I am aware of it.

In conclusion

So there you have it, tarot tall tales that have absolutely no truth in them at all – except for one. So don’t let them put you off picking up a tarot deck and beginning a wonderful journey down this metaphysical path. I don’t know why these myths continue to appear, they probably circulate by word of mouth. Ignore them, they are (mostly) a load of BS.