collapse

* Recent Posts

Re: "Christ Is King" by Sophia C
[Today at 07:21:31 pm]


Re: "Christ Is King" by SirPalomides
[Today at 07:13:48 pm]


Re: "Christ Is King" by Sophia C
[Today at 07:04:14 pm]


Re: "Christ Is King" by Sophia C
[Today at 06:56:16 pm]


Re: "Christ Is King" by Yei
[Today at 06:56:00 pm]

Author Topic: Does Tarot Invite Spirits (Good or Otherwise)?  (Read 15973 times)

Shine

  • Sr. Master Member
  • *******
  • Join Date: Nov 2011
  • Posts: 912
  • Total likes: 0
    • View Profile
    • http://houseofthelion.wordpress.com/
Does Tarot Invite Spirits (Good or Otherwise)?
« on: March 30, 2012, 10:01:50 pm »
This is a totally newb question, so I thought it might fit here. Sorry to the mods if I made a mistake.

I feel silly asking this question, but since I'm fixing to buy myself a tarot deck (Rider Waite, most likely) sometime in the next week, I'd like to know.

All my life, I've heard people say that using tarot (and other forms of divination, for that matter) invites entities into your life. Depending on who you talk to, these entities could be angels, neutral spirits, malevolent spirits, demons, etc. You get the picture. Is this accurate in any way?

In using tarot, I intend to call upon gods/goddesses who might be interested in helping me out, so I guess I'd open myself to visits whenever I used the cards. . .

If tarot can attract entities of any kind, then what's the protocol for dealing with them? I've read about cleansing the cards before each reading. Is that good enough?
Leave your darkness with me, and I will make you shine.

Etheric1

  • Master Member
  • ******
  • Join Date: Jul 2011
  • Posts: 421
  • Total likes: 0
    • View Profile
Re: Does Tarot Invite Spirits (Good or Otherwise)?
« Reply #1 on: March 30, 2012, 10:31:47 pm »
Quote from: Shine;48233
This is a totally newb question, so I thought it might fit here. Sorry to the mods if I made a mistake.

I feel silly asking this question, but since I'm fixing to buy myself a tarot deck (Rider Waite, most likely) sometime in the next week, I'd like to know.

All my life, I've heard people say that using tarot (and other forms of divination, for that matter) invites entities into your life. Depending on who you talk to, these entities could be angels, neutral spirits, malevolent spirits, demons, etc. You get the picture. Is this accurate in any way?

In using tarot, I intend to call upon gods/goddesses who might be interested in helping me out, so I guess I'd open myself to visits whenever I used the cards. . .

If tarot can attract entities of any kind, then what's the protocol for dealing with them? I've read about cleansing the cards before each reading. Is that good enough?


My personal take on it is that's exactly what's you're doing with Tarot, or any divination for that matter - calling on a spirit.  I generally do a banishing ritual and keep my cards in a container until I plan to use them and then ground myself beforehand starting.  To me, cards are just that - cards, what you're asking for is spirit communication to have the reading have accuracy and give an answer, the spirit then uses the tarot deck to tell the story.
No matter how dark the fur, the bunny is still fluffy. - Mel\'s Law of Dark Fluffs.
Nothing is more despicable than respect based on fear. – Albert Camus
You can easily judge the character of a person by how they treat those who can do nothing for them. - unknown
“We cannot change our memories, but we can change their meaning and the power they have over us” - David Seamands

spoOk

  • Master Member
  • ******
  • Join Date: Jul 2011
  • Posts: 411
  • Total likes: 0
    • View Profile
Re: Does Tarot Invite Spirits (Good or Otherwise)?
« Reply #2 on: March 30, 2012, 11:45:35 pm »
Quote from: Etheric1;48237
My personal take on it is that's exactly what's you're doing with Tarot, or any divination for that matter - calling on a spirit.  I generally do a banishing ritual and keep my cards in a container until I plan to use them and then ground myself beforehand starting.  To me, cards are just that - cards, what you're asking for is spirit communication to have the reading have accuracy and give an answer, the spirit then uses the tarot deck to tell the story.

 
when I do tarot within ritual it's specifically to communicate with deity.
when I do cards outside ritual,for me or a friend,it's pulling more from mine or the persons subconscious....I like to say the cards tell you what you already knew but didn't want to admit....at least mine are like that.
lol
Ize bel zafen.
Ize bel daleen.

SunflowerP

  • Host
  • *
  • Join Date: Jun 2011
  • Location: Calgary AB
  • Posts: 9909
  • Country: ca
  • Total likes: 732
  • Don't teach your grandmother to suck eggs!
    • View Profile
    • If You Ain't Makin' Waves, You Ain't Kickin' Hard Enough
  • Religion: Eclectic religious Witchcraft
  • Preferred Pronouns: sie/hir/hirs/hirself
Re: Does Tarot Invite Spirits (Good or Otherwise)?
« Reply #3 on: March 31, 2012, 05:05:23 am »
Quote from: Shine;48233
All my life, I've heard people say that using tarot (and other forms of divination, for that matter) invites entities into your life. Depending on who you talk to, these entities could be angels, neutral spirits, malevolent spirits, demons, etc. You get the picture. Is this accurate in any way?

In using tarot, I intend to call upon gods/goddesses who might be interested in helping me out, so I guess I'd open myself to visits whenever I used the cards. . .

If tarot can attract entities of any kind, then what's the protocol for dealing with them? I've read about cleansing the cards before each reading. Is that good enough?

 
In general, my answer is the opposite of Etheric1's - no, tarot, and most other forms of divination don't necessarily or inherently attract spirits/entities.  Some forms of spirit-channeling are seen as divinatory, so those are a different story - but divination isn't inherently a channeling thing.  To some extent, the difference between my view and Etheric1's simply represents different ideas about how it works, but I'm going to flatly say that, in 35-ish years of reading tarot, I have never to the best of my recollection had non-corporeal third parties involved, so his ideas aren't universally true, however much they may be true for some.

That said, if you're invoking deities, that is inviting them.  Whether the accept the invitation or not - and you won't necessarily be able to tell for sure - you want to be polite/respectful.  If you take a look around TC, you'll find many threads, both on the current board and on the archive forum, about interactions with deities.

I don't do formal cleansing before reading - I give them a few shuffles to make sure they're attuned to me (or I'm attuned to them); I don't really feel that's cleansing per se, though when I'm doing readings for more than one person, reattuning between readings has the effect of cleansing out the energies connected to the previous reading.  Some people find that they do need to use methods that are more directly cleansing in nature, so YMMV.  Again, I'd recommend checking out existing threads, particularly in the Divination folder - I know there've been convos about both cleansing and attuning with tarot cards.

Sunflower
I'm the AntiFa genderqueer commie eclectic wiccan Mod your alt-right bros warned you about.
I do so have a life; I just live part of it online!
“Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live.” - Oscar Wilde
"Nobody's good at anything until they practice." - Brina (Yewberry)
My much-neglected blog "If You Ain't Makin' Waves, You Ain't Kickin' Hard Enough"

RandallS

  • Site Admin
  • *
  • Join Date: Jun 2011
  • Location: NE Ohio
  • Posts: 10311
  • Country: us
  • Total likes: 296
    • View Profile
  • Religion: Hellenic Pagan
Re: Does Tarot Invite Spirits (Good or Otherwise)?
« Reply #4 on: March 31, 2012, 08:14:07 am »
Quote from: Shine;48233
All my life, I've heard people say that using tarot (and other forms of divination, for that matter) invites entities into your life. Depending on who you talk to, these entities could be angels, neutral spirits, malevolent spirits, demons, etc. You get the picture. Is this accurate in any way?

If you call on them to help your reading, then yes, it uses spirits. If you don't release/banish them when you are through, they might hang around your life (but more likely would not). If you don't call on any, then just using the tarot isn't likely to cause any to show up. If you are on them, specific what you want to show up, don't leave to to chance and thank and release them when you are finished.
Randall
RetroRoleplaying [Blog]: Microlite74/75/78/81, BX Advanced, and Other Old School Tabletop RPGs
Microlite20: Lots of Rules Lite Tabletop RPGs -- Many Free

monsnoleedra

  • Sr. Master Member
  • *******
  • Join Date: Jul 2011
  • Banned!
  • Posts: 957
  • Total likes: 2
    • View Profile
Re: Does Tarot Invite Spirits (Good or Otherwise)?
« Reply #5 on: March 31, 2012, 08:43:17 am »
Quote from: Shine;48233
.. All my life, I've heard people say that using tarot (and other forms of divination, for that matter) invites entities into your life. Depending on who you talk to, these entities could be angels, neutral spirits, malevolent spirits, demons, etc. You get the picture. Is this accurate in any way?

In using tarot, I intend to call upon gods/goddesses who might be interested in helping me out, so I guess I'd open myself to visits whenever I used the cards. . .

If tarot can attract entities of any kind, then what's the protocol for dealing with them? I've read about cleansing the cards before each reading. Is that good enough?


From  my perspective its yes and no depending upon the type of reading one is doing.  Typical what if type readings to me call forth no entities to guide or focus the cards for you.  Yet, when you start getting into some types of specific question spreads I do think one calls entities to assist them.

Spreads that deal with invocation or evocation for certain call forth entites.  Spreads that deal with divine reading may also call forth any sort of entity as you may get the divinity him/herself or an avatar of thiers or even a trickster spirit who will pretend to be them.

SatSekhem

  • Sr. Master Member
  • *******
  • Join Date: Jul 2011
  • Posts: 995
  • Total likes: 2
    • View Profile
    • http://satsekhem.wordpress.com/
Re: Does Tarot Invite Spirits (Good or Otherwise)?
« Reply #6 on: March 31, 2012, 12:30:23 pm »
Quote from: Shine;48233
All my life, I've heard people say that using tarot (and other forms of divination, for that matter) invites entities into your life. Depending on who you talk to, these entities could be angels, neutral spirits, malevolent spirits, demons, etc. You get the picture. Is this accurate in any way?

Okay. I have to disagree here. I've always seen the use of Tarot as you connecting to the divine aspect of yourself and interpreting what you have to say to yourself. I know this whole thing may have just confused you but I don't think I can put it into proper words... I'll try, though.

So, I believe that we are all connected to the Divine. I'm polytheistic, so this might sound a little strange. To me, the gods created us not just in their image, but also as a part of themselves. And it is this aspect that we tap into when we do ritual and when we use Tarot or Oracle cards. You're merely being given a... back up method of learning what you already know, if that makes sense.

In regards to communicating with OTHERS(TM) then, that's different to me. I've asked gods to help me when reading the cards for others who are tied to a specific deity/spirit before. To me, that's my personally reaching out and asking said entity, "Hey. I don't think I'm strong enough to do this reading without some aid. Can you give me a little nudge?" As far as demons and malevolence, I have never found that to happen even when I'm reaching out to deities and spirits.

Quote from: Shine
If tarot can attract entities of any kind, then what's the protocol for dealing with them? I've read about cleansing the cards before each reading. Is that good enough?

I cleanse my cards after every reading. And if I don't do a real clean, which is my shuffling the deck and putting them back in order, then the quartz crystal I keep with my deck tends to suffice until I stop putting it off. This has always removed the residue of my touch, my querant's touch, and/or the gods'/spirits' touch on my cards.
Religious Blog
Regular Blog

In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move. - Douglas Adams

Raincloud

  • Sr. Newbie
  • **
  • Join Date: Jan 2012
  • Posts: 13
  • Total likes: 0
    • View Profile
Re: Does Tarot Invite Spirits (Good or Otherwise)?
« Reply #7 on: April 04, 2012, 09:51:42 am »
Quote from: Shine;48233
This is a totally newb question, so I thought it might fit here. Sorry to the mods if I made a mistake.

I feel silly asking this question, but since I'm fixing to buy myself a tarot deck (Rider Waite, most likely) sometime in the next week, I'd like to know.

All my life, I've heard people say that using tarot (and other forms of divination, for that matter) invites entities into your life. Depending on who you talk to, these entities could be angels, neutral spirits, malevolent spirits, demons, etc. You get the picture. Is this accurate in any way?

In using tarot, I intend to call upon gods/goddesses who might be interested in helping me out, so I guess I'd open myself to visits whenever I used the cards. . .

If tarot can attract entities of any kind, then what's the protocol for dealing with them? I've read about cleansing the cards before each reading. Is that good enough?

 
A lot of this fear is mostly Christian myth and rhetoric. Christians trade in fear. I know, I held that fear for decades.

From what I can tell, the only people who attract malevolent spirits into their lives, are those whose spirits are open to it like a portal. So in that regards yes Tarot can initiate for those people, but the tendency was always there in the person.

I would develop a relationship with a Deity or spiritual guide (if that is your thing), and call upon them to bless and protect you and overlook you.

Basically if any lesser being such as a malevolent spirit tries something, A God's power or protection can easily banish them. Also having, or building faith in that deities ability can help as well. This is how a seriously faithful Christian can exorcise demons. Whether it's because of the power of their faith, or the power of Jesus is up for debate.

In pagan terms, certain pantheons have hierarchies. There are Boss Gods. Odin, Zeus, Isis, The Morrigan, etc etc. They are the ones that easily lay down the law.

But it's like developing relationships. You need to patronise and honour those Gods.

Sorry, just my little ramble about spiritual protection.

Short version: If people are worried, they can call upon the Gods for help.

Dezdura

  • Sr. Newbie
  • **
  • Join Date: Mar 2012
  • Posts: 18
  • Total likes: 0
    • View Profile
Re: Does Tarot Invite Spirits (Good or Otherwise)?
« Reply #8 on: April 07, 2012, 12:08:14 pm »
Quote from: Shine;48233

All my life, I've heard people say that using tarot (and other forms of divination, for that matter) invites entities into your life. Depending on who you talk to, these entities could be angels, neutral spirits, malevolent spirits, demons, etc. You get the picture. Is this accurate in any way?



Many people have a stake in making other people afraid to use "Occult" tools. They make up stories about deamons and angles. I feel that Wicca has never included a belief in heaven or hell. All spirits if any can be both malevolent or kind. Tarot cards have a booklet that comes with them that gives you the meaning. You memories this, and then usually combine your knowledge of psychology and human nature, and often the reading subject's desires to get a reading. The cards themselves do nothing. It is the reader, who calls or invokes. If you do not open the door, nothing happens.

caelestisraven

  • Apprentice
  • ***
  • Join Date: Jul 2011
  • Posts: 46
  • Total likes: 1
    • View Profile
    • http://moonkissedraven.blogspot.com/
Re: Does Tarot Invite Spirits (Good or Otherwise)?
« Reply #9 on: April 07, 2012, 04:43:18 pm »
Quote from: SunflowerP;48272
In general, my answer is the opposite of Etheric1's - no, tarot, and most other forms of divination don't necessarily or inherently attract spirits/entities.  Some forms of spirit-channeling are seen as divinatory, so those are a different story - but divination isn't inherently a channeling thing.  To some extent, the difference between my view and Etheric1's simply represents different ideas about how it works, but I'm going to flatly say that, in 35-ish years of reading tarot, I have never to the best of my recollection had non-corporeal third parties involved, so his ideas aren't universally true, however much they may be true for some.


I highly agree with Sunflowers post. I don't believe the cards themselves attract anything on their own. I think alot of it comes from fears, as others in the thread mentioned. If you do this you will attract bad things. But wouldn't that be said about just about anything then? That would be alot to worry about on a day to day basis lol. I think though that if one believes it to be possible then that act could invite them.

I invoke the Goddess when I read the tarot usually. When I had a fairy oracle deck I would invoke their energy and after the reading thank them and bid them goodbye. I think you can always add that in at the end- a goodbye message :)

You may also finding casting a circle and cleansing the area and making some type of firm ending - like opening the circle may ease your mind on the matter.
♥ I walk in the shadow of the moon, I dance to the pulse of the earth. ♥

My Blog..¤°.¸¸.•´¯`»http://moonkissedraven.blogspot.com/ ›●‹

Sharysa

  • Master Member
  • ******
  • Join Date: Feb 2012
  • Posts: 471
  • Total likes: 1
    • View Profile
Re: Does Tarot Invite Spirits (Good or Otherwise)?
« Reply #10 on: April 07, 2012, 09:17:17 pm »
Quote from: Shine;48233


 
A lot of the "TAROT CARDS WILL ATTRACT EVIIIIIIL SPIRITS AND YOU SHOULD ONLY USE THEM IF YOU REALLY REALLY NEED TO" fear-mongering is just that--fear-mongering. I use a lavishly detailed deck (the Cachet deck) that's more geared towards being displayed as a gift, but they work just fine for me because I like having a pretty deck. My friends could look at them with no problem (which was their original purpose), and I've never had to cleanse them before or after readings, although I do like to put them in my book cupboard to let them rest in the dark.

The only real trouble I have is that they're rather large and they get "cranky" if I shuffle them too roughly, but I'm thinking of getting a smaller, lower-maintenance deck anyway.

I think of the Tarot as more observers or counselors than vessels for spirits; my cards frequently pick up on the nuances of my question, or the "fine print" I'm not acknowledging. Recently I asked them, "Will I get cast in Spring Awakening?" and the card representing the question was the Tower, which told me "Your family will never accept your choices." It forced me to realize that my whole question was, "If I get cast in Spring Awakening, will my family finally accept me?"

And the answer to that was no, but the situation's outcome was the Star--meaning that if I just stopped seeking my family's approval, there's no reason I couldn't become a star.

In short: The Tarot doesn't bite, but if you really feel you need to cleanse your cards before or after a reading, then go ahead. It's your deck.
On hiatus, but might pop in now and then. Just making it official.

My blog. 40% normal, 60% spiritual, 500% details.

Tags:
 

Related Topics

  Subject / Started by Replies Last post
17 Replies
2720 Views
Last post July 16, 2012, 06:55:58 pm
by Celtag
2 Replies
1734 Views
Last post January 31, 2013, 01:13:34 pm
by Aiwelin
18 Replies
2355 Views
Last post August 12, 2013, 03:21:57 pm
by Ivy
2 Replies
1738 Views
Last post June 22, 2015, 08:40:46 am
by Gilbride
10 Replies
3745 Views
Last post March 26, 2017, 03:37:13 pm
by NightSpook

Beginner Area

Warning: You are currently in a Beginner Friendly area of the message board.

* Who's Online

  • Dot Guests: 209
  • Dot Hidden: 0
  • Dot Users: 2
  • Dot Users Online:

* Please Donate!

The Cauldron's server is expensive and requires monthly payments. Please become a Bronze, Silver or Gold Donor if you can. Donations are needed every month. Without member support, we can't afford the server.

* Shop & Support TC

The links below are affiliate links. When you click on one of these links you will go to the listed shopping site with The Cauldron's affiliate code. Any purchases you make during your visit will earn TC a tiny percentage of your purchase price at no extra cost to you.

* In Memoriam

Chavi (2006)
Elspeth (2010)
Marilyn (2013)

* Cauldron Staff

Host:
Sunflower

Message Board Staff
Board Coordinator:
Darkhawk

Assistant Board Coordinator:
Aster Breo

Senior Staff:
Aisling, Allaya, Jenett, Sefiru

Staff:
Ashmire, EclecticWheel, HarpingHawke, Kylara, PerditaPickle, rocquelaire

Discord Chat Staff
Chat Coordinator:
Morag

'Up All Night' Coordinator:
Altair

Cauldron Council:
Bob, Catja, Chatelaine, Emma-Eldritch, Fausta, Jubes, Kelly, LyricFox, Phouka, Sperran, Star, Steve, Tana

Site Administrator:
Randall

SimplePortal 2.3.6 © 2008-2014, SimplePortal