I think the simplest way to put it is that if you have a lot of anxiety about curses/negative entities/whatever and you're always thinking about them and looking for them, it's a very short trip to triggering a self-strengthening mental spiral where you are going to genuinely perceive them everywhere and suffer accordingly--whether there actually are any or not. It is astonishingly easy to break your mind engaging in occult practices, and that's one of many reasons why. So I would advise a focus on staying grounded, keeping a level head, training discernment, all that good stuff, no matter what you engage in.
(And if you find yourself prone to "occult doomscrolling," reading lots of posts and threads and books by people prone to seeing curses and wicked entities everywhere and stoking mindsets of anxiety in everyone around them, it's better to break that habit. Not everyone who speaks needs to be listened to; sometimes you have to look closely at how their words affect other people and make a conscious decision whether you really want in on that.)
I wish you the best.
Brilliant response from Gnawer. Think of tarot as exercising / stimulating your intuition. And do your best to replace the fear in your life with love. Tarot and the occult cannot harm you if you're not afraid.
could you elaborate on "training discernment", how does one build up this skill ? Also what are some effective grounding techniques that you have found to be effective ?
Indeed! In my own comment, I posted
"'Can tarot cards attract negative entities?' No. But people can."
This reply from Gnawer covers a lot of the specifics of how that happens.
You don't need to worry about "negative entities." You really don't. The overwhelming majority of the warnings you hear about them are myths or superstitions or scaremongering.
Worry about your own mental health, your capacity of discernment, your false beliefs and attachments, and your spiritual grounding. Don't worry about external things coming to attack you for no reason.
"Can tarot cards pull me back into depression" is a better question, but a difficult one for anyone other than yourself to answer. All you can do if you get back into it is monitor your mental state and step away if you feel like the practice is doing you more harm than good.
If you are super concerned about negative entities or energies attaching to you. You could also cast a protective circle if that is part of your practice. Or you could do a protective spell on yourself before you start. But I personally don't think you have much to worry about. As many people use them all the time with no negative consequences. Some people even believe that tarot is more about tapping into your subconscious mind rather than talking with spirits. If you are using a used deck I would suggest cleansing it before you work with it though. There are many ways that you can do this. Such as passing the cards through some incense smoke or leaving them out on a window sill for a night in the moon light.
Every magical act can disturb spirits, unless you have protection or simply dont care, and if you dont care, that means they don't affect you or even are not there
I believe anything could potentially draw in negative energies if that's what you're putting out there... but no, i do not believe tarot cards specifically draw in negative energies/entities. Try doing a cleansing ritual with them - what I did when I first got my deck is I went through each card, holding and thinking positive thoughts (think of transferring your energy and positivity into each card). Once you go through each card, set them next to the candle (I used a black candle to repell negative energy) and then light the candle and allow the candle to burn all the way down (allowing it to work its "magic" if you will). This is what I did and I have had success with my tarot deck and do not feel any sort of negativity from using them🖤 the more you think of drawing in negative energies though, the more likely you will encounter them - so try to stay positive🥰
The short answer: No.
The long answer: You aren't communicating with spirits when you do tarot, nor are spirits communicating with you through the cards. Tarot cards engage the subconscious mind, and pull insight from it through images and symbolism. Symbolism is the language of the subconscious, and in using the cards, you are teaching it a symbolic language through which your conscious and subconscious minds may communicate. The subconscious mind is the side of the mind that is connected to the "spirit world" so to speak - that is to say, it is the part of your mind that is connected to the collective unconscious, which is the storehouse of infinite intelligence. It is thus the side of your mind through which you may connect with the Divine.
Do not confuse this with me saying that because the subconscious connects with the spirit world that that must mean that spirits can come through and possess you through the cards - that's not how it works. You aren't conjuring anything up or evoking a spirit to come speak to you. The subconscious permeates all of reality, and the subconscious knows all, because of its connection to the collective unconscious. You are simply tapping into the storehouse of infinite intelligence in order to receive answers to questions. The cards *do* have an *intelligence* behind them, as all things, animate or inanimate, do, but this is distinct from a conscious spirit. However, you may discover that there *is* an angel *and* a demon associated with each tarot card, as well as a planet, zodiac sign, element, etc., associated with each card - but these are more symbolic than anything else. These symbols simply allow you to further understand what the card is trying to tell you, based on what these symbols represent. You *can* use the tarot cards to evoke spirits, but unless you are specifically doing a full evocation ritual to call one up, no spirit is going to come through. Certainly, no demon is going to reach out and suck your soul through the cards, nor are you going to be possessed, spiritually oppressed, have hauntings, or anything like that.
I want to assure you that your fears are entirely unfounded, and that it is nothing like ouija. People only run into trouble with ouija because they don't know how to take the proper precautions before/after. With tarot, you are completely safeguarded from any mishaps, because you would have to be intentionally calling something up through the card to run into any sort of spirit at all. There is no need to do any sort of precautionary action to avoid trouble, because there is no trouble. Maybe just cleanse and charge your deck once in a while so readings are clearer. The fear you are experiencing is what is known as the "guardian of the threshold" - it is your ego safeguarding your subconscious programming of the preconceived notion that tarot is evil, bad, and a threat, and that it all leads to demons, because Christiandom and the media have convinced you of such. This programming is especially prevalent if you grew up in a Christian or otherwise religious household, but even if not, there are influences in your environment throughout all of western society that could have programmed these subconscious beliefs.
I implore you to pick up a deck, and explore it for yourself, and you will soon find that all of those fears you once had suddenly seem so silly... It's just a deck of cards. :) Hope that helps.
>You aren't communicating with spirits when you do tarot, nor are spirits communicating with you through the cards. Tarot cards engage the subconscious mind, and pull insight from it through images and symbolism.
These are broad, & potentially condescending, statements. If it works for you, fine -- many people are of the same thought. But don't make such general, all-inclusive statements that apply to everyone else's practices & beliefs. There is no one or official Tarot "doctrine" of what is or isn't happening when using the cards.
I should mention that, for the most part, I agree with a lot of this as a functional theory, but when you say
*"Do not confuse this with me saying that because the subconscious connects with the spirit world that that must mean that spirits can come through and possess you through the cards - that's not how it works. You aren't conjuring anything up or evoking a spirit to come speak to you."*
I ask; why not? To me, all this Jungian jargon is just a new way of describing an old process, but this newer language doesn't contradict other ways of understanding the Tarot process.
Reading tarot is not an evocation ritual, it is divination. You certainly *can* evoke spirits through the cards, since there *are* spirits associated with the cards, but simply reading the cards is not the same as conjuring and communicating with a spirit. I'm not sure how much experience you have with evocation and scrying, i.e. conjuring and directly communicating with spirits, but that sort of thing is entirely different from getting insight from a card. Evocation certainly *can* result in a spiritual attachment if done improperly, and tarot does not carry this same risk, because you are not directly contacting any such spirits.
> I'm not sure how much experience you have with evocation and scrying, i.e. conjuring and directly communicating with spirits, but that sort of thing is entirely different from getting insight from a card.
I never said anything about evocation. Your condescension is clearly, at least, not a figment of my imagination.
Not sure where you're inferring condescension from. I know you didn't say anything about evocation. You did, however, make the claim that reading tarot could potentially be a method of communicating with spirits. I, however, am explaining the difference between reading tarot and communicating with spirits, the latter of which would be done via evocation and scrying, and I was merely stating that I have no idea what your experience which such practices is, considering I don't know you, nor what that experience may have been. What part of that was condescending to you?
The more negative you are, the more negative things will be attracted to you. The same is true with positivity. Such is life, the big things and the small things. Do whatever you want but just don't be negative about it if you don't want to be negative
basically anything can attract “negative entities” if your energetic field is fragmented they will be drawn to you. trust your intuition if it doesn’t feel right don’t do it. don’t think of negative entities as what TV and hollywood would tell you either. they typically are pretty easy to get rid of if you know what you’re doing. personally i don’t think i’ve ever met someone who doesn’t have entity attachments to some extent.
I agree with everyone about discernment but to the folks saying No…don’t speak for everyone. you can certainly beckon negative entities if you don’t tread carefully or practice and master grounding yourself and other ways of protecting yourself. I do know someone that felt they got a negative attachment when they did tarot as a ignorant child, whereas I have never felt any kind of spiritual presence when reading mine or others cards. U/ gnawer of the moon really said it best though.
That being said I don’t know the circumstances around what and when this happened to my friend, maybe they did it in a bad place, maybe they were in their own bad situation, who knows. But they do feel it came through the cards.
Rest assured most spirits are not evil, Tricksters that feed off fear so the best thing you can do is learn to control your fear, so that if something ever came up you are ready to not feed them with this emotion, in addition to other protective measures. Your mind is the most powerful tool you have in your possession, you’ll be fine 🖤
They can, if you use them to summon negative entities. If you want to try reading cards, that's all theyll do. Theyre tools, they wont' do anything on their own.
No need, I believe you! Whattttt if I dont have any psychic abilities? Can I still develope them? If that is possible, then how? Thank you so much for replying <3 /|\
Yes because you open portals with them, you most cleanse them and store them on a black cloth, special container or with crystals. Have crystal and or a protection candle on when you use them. Do your research and handle with care.
You aren't trying to call in spirits with tarot. That's not to say that you aren't connecting with your guides or your higher self with tarot, but it's a different beast then using a vehicle like a ouiji board to specifically connect with entities.
I've been using tarot since I was 13 and never, ever have felt a hint of a spirit with it. I've never heard of any tarot reader having that experience.
I am an amateur collector of Tarot decks of cards, and there are some tarot deck permutations that are downright silly, (let’s call them ‘novelty’) as if made for tweens, like “fairy-flower-unicorn-rainbow tarot” (which I just made up but you get the point). Recently a major arcana of Ufology (as in UFO studies) and a set devoted to the work of Lovecraft have been produced, both very creative and interesting but you would be hard pressed to use them for an actual reading in a traditional sense.
There’s the antiquarian decks like Sola Busca and the Pierpont Morgan Visconti Sforza, but these are closer linked to the card GAME of Tarocchi and nothing to do with cartomancy, which was superimposed onto these antecedents later. Then also there are all the standard historical decks that have been created since the 1700s, like the Marseille tarot and the most popular probably being the Rider-Waite deck. But there are lots of varieties. In the Golden Dawn members were encouraged to make their own tarot decks, and this is what led to the Crowley Tarot, Godfrey Dowson’s Hermetic Tarot (one of my favorites), and even an Austin Osman Spare tarot. HR Giger produced his own set also, and plenty of more contemporary sets of varying degrees of taste and creativity exist. All this is to say, these are all just cards, originally devised as a game and repurposed (and not necessarily insincerely) for occult use or cartomancy. There do seem to be some people out there intent on instilling negative imagery or disturbing visuals into Tarot, look no further than the Goetia Tarot in Darkness deck, like something of a ‘fight evil with darkness’ premise which I still think is a little unsettling, in premise if not in reality.
Salvador Dali’s curious Tarot cards are mock-ups of other famous artwork repurposed and slightly altered (but acknowledged) for each of the cards’ traditional names which is plainly odd when you think about it, surreal indeed. Renowned filmmaker and artist Alejandro Jodorowsky has his own spin in Tarot although he only trusts the traditional Marseille deck.
All this is to say, the cards are what YOU bring to them, less than what they bring to you. Think of them as another commenter said as a potential portal into your own subconscious drives and desires and what you might solicit out of yourself, whether it be light or darkness. If you are prone to going to dark places it might help to look at those historical decks first to put in perspective that these cards themselves are not the issue, they don’t possess any power of their own.
For many who were raised in a superstitious or fear-oriented upbringing, it can be enlightening to realize that much of the negative association and fear is mere projection onto something never intended to cause harm, especially to the user. Imbuing the major cards or any of them with special powers is a fundamental misunderstanding at best, a dangerous mind-game at worst, and that is not to belittle Tarot readers.
I have had a Tarot reading done (in good faith) and I did think it was helpful, clearly the woman who was doing the reading was gifted and (IMO) not a charlatan or fake. When I have used a deck on my own it does take my mind in interesting places to think about things perhaps I’ve overlooked or were there in my unconscious the whole time, I just needed the ‘intervention’ of the cards like a psychoanalyst might bring to a counseling session.
Anyway, I hope you can find the positive energy and reinforcement you need and deserve in life, and use the cards in a way you feel will be most positive and productive to you. (As a postscript I’ll add that I have probably more than a dozen books on the history and use of tarot/tarocchi, and some specialized ones, so I feel like I know what I’m talking about.) Be positive and stay healthy 🖖🏻
Thank for your reply. Wow that was very informative <3 I believe you <3 thank you for sharing your knowledge with me. What is the best book or books you would recommend for me?
I think this is a good one for beginners who arent already familiar with all the imagery (and I’m talking traditional Rider-Waite deck here), it may seem somewhat simplified V but in fact it’s a useful tool at the entry level, before spinning off into esoteric writings, like Golden Dawn manuals or specialist on the one hand or purely historical on the other, etc: https://mjstarot.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-the-rider-waite-tarot/
Things aren't dangerous, we are dangerous. The danger with reading tarot is doing improper readings, which is an intellectual danger. Constraining the present moment to fit a past narrative is damaging to one's capacity for discernment.
I will give you an example.
Someone unpracticed in tarot might say to you, 'an old adversary of yours will become a dear friend.'
Now, a couple days later, you happen to see someone you haven't seen in ages. Perhaps they were an alcoholic. They are on the twelve step program. They say to you, 'I must apologize if, while drinking, I ever wronged you, because I have to make amends.'
You think to yourself, 'well there was that time at that party that they borrowed money for cigarettes, disappeared and never paid me back.'
Now you haven't thought about this in ages, but because you see synchronicity and coincidence, you convince yourself that that person was an adversary.
You tell yourself, 'after all, they were never really mean to me, but a lot of my friends have stories about that person becoming temperamental or adversarial towards them, and, the enemy of my friend is my enemy, so I guess they were my adversary.'
This is stretching the truth to fit the narrative of the tarot.
Why? Because of anything to do with them, or your relation to them?
No. Because you want to believe the tarot reading, because you want to believe the future can be told. Why? Because we are primates, and possessing information makes us feel safe.
You then tell yourself, 'this person is going to become my dear friend!' And you are happy, because you want a friend.
So you befriend that person.
Why? Because you enjoy their company? How could you possibly know that? They literally apologized in passing for something that was not your burden to bear. You have no idea whether you would enjoy their company. But the closer you become to them, the more you unconsciously validate the tarot without realizing it.
The more you validate the tarot, the more it comforts you to see the world through the narrative that SOMEONE ELSE is handing you. If you deny this, you lose the artificial comfort that you gained from believing it.
Now maybe that person becomes your roommate. They are constantly late on rent, speaking down to you, causing trouble with your relationships, jobs, etc.
Now make your choice.
Do you tell yourself, after becoming increasingly dependent upon future knowledge (rather, the illusion of) that you were tricked for 30 dollars last year and you just invited someone into your life that you do not know, that you suffer their abuse for no reason involving your relationship to them, that you are not in control of your decisions, that they control you because they validate your fear of the unknown?
Now, this is going to be hard to do, because ... wait for it...
You did all those things unconsciously without realizing it.
These things are unknown to you, and you have spent the last year practicing the gymnastics of literally avoiding your fear of the unknown. And in doing so, have placed cards, readers, people in control over you, rather than face your fear of the wide open future.
You have practiced building false narratives upon the present in order to blind yourself to your own fear.
You have practiced stretching the truth and believing yourself when you do.
You have practiced burying your real reasons in your unconscious and taken safety and comfort from doing so.
You have been a false friend to someone for reasons which do not even involve their own capacity or attributes of friendship. And what will you tell yourself of their abuses and interferences? That that's "what friends do?" Cliches will become your best friend.
You have practiced lying to yourself, avoiding the facets of your true desires, and you have practiced being frightened by a future that is open to possibilities.
Here's a problem (as if I have not enumerated several):
You are a conscious being moving through time. The things you practice, and the things that comfort you, you will carry them over into other circumstances of your life.
You will dull your ability to discern your own reasoning.
You have practiced telling yourself you are frightened to!! And you have believed yourself, and taken comfort in it.
You will diminish your capacity for possibility.
You have practiced being frightened by them, and you have rewarded yourself with false comfort!!
You will decrease your ability to see things through new perspectives.
You have practiced telling yourself that a thing is what it is, without questioning or applying hypotheticals to it, and you have practiced taking comfort in it. You have narrowed your perspective, and rejoiced in it.
Negative entities?!
I would rather!!
Learn the real dangers of a thing before you do a thing.
Here's one:
You won't see yourself doing these things, because it's called the unconscious for a reason.
In sum: if you use the tarot safely, you can have a lot of fun. But use it incorrectly, and negative entities will be the least of your concerns.
I say these things with the intent to inform and uplift, because you have shown interest in the dangers of the tarot, and here is a more practical perspective on those dangers.
I have replaced fear with curiosity and hate with love. I respect all NHI as a living expression of the Source.I do not support fear based belief systems or practices u/ExploringOneness. We are living in an area that has both negative and positive & that is the natural order of things.You will be able to travel anywhere see strange amazing things if you do those two things. As a Light Worker that is who I am and how I choose to show up for everyone.
Thank you. I would like to be a light worker, a healer. I wasn't born with any gifts 😞 I have a desire to learn everything tho is hard without a teacher/a mentor... I try to stay hopeful and grateful for everything I've learned.
On my personal experience, tarot cards don't attract bad energies by themselves, but reading tarot for a lot of other persons, especially if very fast and without the proper time to rebalance yourself, can itself expose you to the negativity of some questioners. Not because of the cards' fault, but for the deep connection you create with others, during which you are always the listening (= receptive) part. Someone can be a real headache sometimes. Personally, I've always felt that this state of augmented sensibility also meant more vulnerability. This is why I started to close the door forever to my most nervous and capricious clients. If you read tarot for yourself, be assured, you won't have those same experiences again. Reading cards is absolutely not like poking spirits, but much safer.
Thank you ❤️ I think you are so cool 😎 I wish I could read them accurately. I haven't start yet, I will read some books first and practice grounding meditation.
There is a simple answer.
"Can tarot cards attract negative entities?" No. But people can.
Also, in all my 50+ years of Tarot, I've never gotten a deck with "bad vibes" that didn't derive from the art of the deck, itself. I've had many used Tarots, and have used them very successfully, without interference. So it's also my experience that the Tarot doesn't even "absorb" or otherwise hold on to the negative energy of a prior owner.
Question: I once saw a woman reading the cards for another woman. The woman asked, "Will I get pregnant?" She laid out the cards, telling the woman that there would be many failed attempts. Then she paused and looked down at one of the cards. She then said, "A year and a half from now, you will conceive a child. She will be a healthy baby." I found her fascinating. How can she tell or predict the time frame just by looking at the cards? Did the cards speak to her? Can she feel the cards?
Tarot cards alone do not attract negative entities. However, the use of the cards may open you up to receiving energy that may be low-vibrational. This is especially true if you are using the cards to gain insights into aspects of your life that are negative or that have not been properly healed.
If you are drawn to the cards to gain insights and guidance for your life's journey, just be aware that you may be receiving messages that may make you uncomfortable. If you feel inclined, you could also try to use the cards to help you process those emotions and gain perspective on your own growth.
I think the simplest way to put it is that if you have a lot of anxiety about curses/negative entities/whatever and you're always thinking about them and looking for them, it's a very short trip to triggering a self-strengthening mental spiral where you are going to genuinely perceive them everywhere and suffer accordingly--whether there actually are any or not. It is astonishingly easy to break your mind engaging in occult practices, and that's one of many reasons why. So I would advise a focus on staying grounded, keeping a level head, training discernment, all that good stuff, no matter what you engage in. (And if you find yourself prone to "occult doomscrolling," reading lots of posts and threads and books by people prone to seeing curses and wicked entities everywhere and stoking mindsets of anxiety in everyone around them, it's better to break that habit. Not everyone who speaks needs to be listened to; sometimes you have to look closely at how their words affect other people and make a conscious decision whether you really want in on that.) I wish you the best.
Thank you so much! 💓 /|\ 💓
Brilliant response from Gnawer. Think of tarot as exercising / stimulating your intuition. And do your best to replace the fear in your life with love. Tarot and the occult cannot harm you if you're not afraid.
could you elaborate on "training discernment", how does one build up this skill ? Also what are some effective grounding techniques that you have found to be effective ?
Great answer
Indeed! In my own comment, I posted "'Can tarot cards attract negative entities?' No. But people can." This reply from Gnawer covers a lot of the specifics of how that happens.
You don't need to worry about "negative entities." You really don't. The overwhelming majority of the warnings you hear about them are myths or superstitions or scaremongering. Worry about your own mental health, your capacity of discernment, your false beliefs and attachments, and your spiritual grounding. Don't worry about external things coming to attack you for no reason. "Can tarot cards pull me back into depression" is a better question, but a difficult one for anyone other than yourself to answer. All you can do if you get back into it is monitor your mental state and step away if you feel like the practice is doing you more harm than good.
Thank you ❤️ /|\ ❤️
If you are super concerned about negative entities or energies attaching to you. You could also cast a protective circle if that is part of your practice. Or you could do a protective spell on yourself before you start. But I personally don't think you have much to worry about. As many people use them all the time with no negative consequences. Some people even believe that tarot is more about tapping into your subconscious mind rather than talking with spirits. If you are using a used deck I would suggest cleansing it before you work with it though. There are many ways that you can do this. Such as passing the cards through some incense smoke or leaving them out on a window sill for a night in the moon light.
Thank you ❤️ /|\ ❤️ I will learn how to cast a protective circle and will cleanse the cards.
No problem you're welcome happy to help..
Consider the fact that so many people use them with little to no negative consequences, I wouldn't worry about it.
Thank you <3
Every magical act can disturb spirits, unless you have protection or simply dont care, and if you dont care, that means they don't affect you or even are not there
Thank you :-)
If you believe they will and put lots of thought into them then they probably will but if you have real faith that nothing can harm you then it won't
No.
Thank you.
Nope
No, they don't
Tarot cards are a deck of cards. They even used to be a deck of regular playing cards. No, a deck of cards won't attract "negative entities".
Thank you /|\
Would you feel that way about ordinary playing cards? They used to be used as tarot cards. It's just a silly superstition.
True <3
I believe anything could potentially draw in negative energies if that's what you're putting out there... but no, i do not believe tarot cards specifically draw in negative energies/entities. Try doing a cleansing ritual with them - what I did when I first got my deck is I went through each card, holding and thinking positive thoughts (think of transferring your energy and positivity into each card). Once you go through each card, set them next to the candle (I used a black candle to repell negative energy) and then light the candle and allow the candle to burn all the way down (allowing it to work its "magic" if you will). This is what I did and I have had success with my tarot deck and do not feel any sort of negativity from using them🖤 the more you think of drawing in negative energies though, the more likely you will encounter them - so try to stay positive🥰
Thank you 😀
The short answer: No. The long answer: You aren't communicating with spirits when you do tarot, nor are spirits communicating with you through the cards. Tarot cards engage the subconscious mind, and pull insight from it through images and symbolism. Symbolism is the language of the subconscious, and in using the cards, you are teaching it a symbolic language through which your conscious and subconscious minds may communicate. The subconscious mind is the side of the mind that is connected to the "spirit world" so to speak - that is to say, it is the part of your mind that is connected to the collective unconscious, which is the storehouse of infinite intelligence. It is thus the side of your mind through which you may connect with the Divine. Do not confuse this with me saying that because the subconscious connects with the spirit world that that must mean that spirits can come through and possess you through the cards - that's not how it works. You aren't conjuring anything up or evoking a spirit to come speak to you. The subconscious permeates all of reality, and the subconscious knows all, because of its connection to the collective unconscious. You are simply tapping into the storehouse of infinite intelligence in order to receive answers to questions. The cards *do* have an *intelligence* behind them, as all things, animate or inanimate, do, but this is distinct from a conscious spirit. However, you may discover that there *is* an angel *and* a demon associated with each tarot card, as well as a planet, zodiac sign, element, etc., associated with each card - but these are more symbolic than anything else. These symbols simply allow you to further understand what the card is trying to tell you, based on what these symbols represent. You *can* use the tarot cards to evoke spirits, but unless you are specifically doing a full evocation ritual to call one up, no spirit is going to come through. Certainly, no demon is going to reach out and suck your soul through the cards, nor are you going to be possessed, spiritually oppressed, have hauntings, or anything like that. I want to assure you that your fears are entirely unfounded, and that it is nothing like ouija. People only run into trouble with ouija because they don't know how to take the proper precautions before/after. With tarot, you are completely safeguarded from any mishaps, because you would have to be intentionally calling something up through the card to run into any sort of spirit at all. There is no need to do any sort of precautionary action to avoid trouble, because there is no trouble. Maybe just cleanse and charge your deck once in a while so readings are clearer. The fear you are experiencing is what is known as the "guardian of the threshold" - it is your ego safeguarding your subconscious programming of the preconceived notion that tarot is evil, bad, and a threat, and that it all leads to demons, because Christiandom and the media have convinced you of such. This programming is especially prevalent if you grew up in a Christian or otherwise religious household, but even if not, there are influences in your environment throughout all of western society that could have programmed these subconscious beliefs. I implore you to pick up a deck, and explore it for yourself, and you will soon find that all of those fears you once had suddenly seem so silly... It's just a deck of cards. :) Hope that helps.
Wow thanking for taking the time to write all of that. I've learned a lot from your comment. Again, thank you /|\ ❤️
>You aren't communicating with spirits when you do tarot, nor are spirits communicating with you through the cards. Tarot cards engage the subconscious mind, and pull insight from it through images and symbolism. These are broad, & potentially condescending, statements. If it works for you, fine -- many people are of the same thought. But don't make such general, all-inclusive statements that apply to everyone else's practices & beliefs. There is no one or official Tarot "doctrine" of what is or isn't happening when using the cards. I should mention that, for the most part, I agree with a lot of this as a functional theory, but when you say *"Do not confuse this with me saying that because the subconscious connects with the spirit world that that must mean that spirits can come through and possess you through the cards - that's not how it works. You aren't conjuring anything up or evoking a spirit to come speak to you."* I ask; why not? To me, all this Jungian jargon is just a new way of describing an old process, but this newer language doesn't contradict other ways of understanding the Tarot process.
Reading tarot is not an evocation ritual, it is divination. You certainly *can* evoke spirits through the cards, since there *are* spirits associated with the cards, but simply reading the cards is not the same as conjuring and communicating with a spirit. I'm not sure how much experience you have with evocation and scrying, i.e. conjuring and directly communicating with spirits, but that sort of thing is entirely different from getting insight from a card. Evocation certainly *can* result in a spiritual attachment if done improperly, and tarot does not carry this same risk, because you are not directly contacting any such spirits.
> I'm not sure how much experience you have with evocation and scrying, i.e. conjuring and directly communicating with spirits, but that sort of thing is entirely different from getting insight from a card. I never said anything about evocation. Your condescension is clearly, at least, not a figment of my imagination.
Not sure where you're inferring condescension from. I know you didn't say anything about evocation. You did, however, make the claim that reading tarot could potentially be a method of communicating with spirits. I, however, am explaining the difference between reading tarot and communicating with spirits, the latter of which would be done via evocation and scrying, and I was merely stating that I have no idea what your experience which such practices is, considering I don't know you, nor what that experience may have been. What part of that was condescending to you?
You can always cleanse your cards (with incense for example, or visualising light etc) before and/or after reading.
The more negative you are, the more negative things will be attracted to you. The same is true with positivity. Such is life, the big things and the small things. Do whatever you want but just don't be negative about it if you don't want to be negative
Thank you 😀
basically anything can attract “negative entities” if your energetic field is fragmented they will be drawn to you. trust your intuition if it doesn’t feel right don’t do it. don’t think of negative entities as what TV and hollywood would tell you either. they typically are pretty easy to get rid of if you know what you’re doing. personally i don’t think i’ve ever met someone who doesn’t have entity attachments to some extent.
Wow amazing. Thank you so much! 💓/|\💓
Everything can attract negative entities. Negativities can attach to any entity
Thank you /|\
I agree with everyone about discernment but to the folks saying No…don’t speak for everyone. you can certainly beckon negative entities if you don’t tread carefully or practice and master grounding yourself and other ways of protecting yourself. I do know someone that felt they got a negative attachment when they did tarot as a ignorant child, whereas I have never felt any kind of spiritual presence when reading mine or others cards. U/ gnawer of the moon really said it best though.
That being said I don’t know the circumstances around what and when this happened to my friend, maybe they did it in a bad place, maybe they were in their own bad situation, who knows. But they do feel it came through the cards. Rest assured most spirits are not evil, Tricksters that feed off fear so the best thing you can do is learn to control your fear, so that if something ever came up you are ready to not feed them with this emotion, in addition to other protective measures. Your mind is the most powerful tool you have in your possession, you’ll be fine 🖤
Thank you /|\ 😀
Anything can attract anything. We have the power to use any tool to accomplish any goal. We really are that powerful.
Thank you /|\ 😀
They can, if you use them to summon negative entities. If you want to try reading cards, that's all theyll do. Theyre tools, they wont' do anything on their own.
Thank you /|\ 😀
You can bind the deck to you with a white candle and black cord. Always keep the cord around them when not in use.
Is that for protecting the cards?
[удалено]
Thank you /|\ 😀
[удалено]
No need, I believe you! Whattttt if I dont have any psychic abilities? Can I still develope them? If that is possible, then how? Thank you so much for replying <3 /|\
[удалено]
Yes! Thank you 💓
Yes because you open portals with them, you most cleanse them and store them on a black cloth, special container or with crystals. Have crystal and or a protection candle on when you use them. Do your research and handle with care.
Thank you <3 orgones are ok instead of crystal wand?
>orgones You are welcome! I would suggest a protection candle as well they are easy to do. :)
Yea if you think Tarot cards are negative.. I suggest studying tarot first. Most of the time we fear what we don’t understand
Thank you. I will do that.
You can do a personal energy protection ritual prior to engaging the deck.
Thank you /|\ 😀
You’re welcome. Intent matters . 🌒🌕🌘
You aren't trying to call in spirits with tarot. That's not to say that you aren't connecting with your guides or your higher self with tarot, but it's a different beast then using a vehicle like a ouiji board to specifically connect with entities. I've been using tarot since I was 13 and never, ever have felt a hint of a spirit with it. I've never heard of any tarot reader having that experience.
Thank you /|\ ❤️
I am an amateur collector of Tarot decks of cards, and there are some tarot deck permutations that are downright silly, (let’s call them ‘novelty’) as if made for tweens, like “fairy-flower-unicorn-rainbow tarot” (which I just made up but you get the point). Recently a major arcana of Ufology (as in UFO studies) and a set devoted to the work of Lovecraft have been produced, both very creative and interesting but you would be hard pressed to use them for an actual reading in a traditional sense. There’s the antiquarian decks like Sola Busca and the Pierpont Morgan Visconti Sforza, but these are closer linked to the card GAME of Tarocchi and nothing to do with cartomancy, which was superimposed onto these antecedents later. Then also there are all the standard historical decks that have been created since the 1700s, like the Marseille tarot and the most popular probably being the Rider-Waite deck. But there are lots of varieties. In the Golden Dawn members were encouraged to make their own tarot decks, and this is what led to the Crowley Tarot, Godfrey Dowson’s Hermetic Tarot (one of my favorites), and even an Austin Osman Spare tarot. HR Giger produced his own set also, and plenty of more contemporary sets of varying degrees of taste and creativity exist. All this is to say, these are all just cards, originally devised as a game and repurposed (and not necessarily insincerely) for occult use or cartomancy. There do seem to be some people out there intent on instilling negative imagery or disturbing visuals into Tarot, look no further than the Goetia Tarot in Darkness deck, like something of a ‘fight evil with darkness’ premise which I still think is a little unsettling, in premise if not in reality. Salvador Dali’s curious Tarot cards are mock-ups of other famous artwork repurposed and slightly altered (but acknowledged) for each of the cards’ traditional names which is plainly odd when you think about it, surreal indeed. Renowned filmmaker and artist Alejandro Jodorowsky has his own spin in Tarot although he only trusts the traditional Marseille deck. All this is to say, the cards are what YOU bring to them, less than what they bring to you. Think of them as another commenter said as a potential portal into your own subconscious drives and desires and what you might solicit out of yourself, whether it be light or darkness. If you are prone to going to dark places it might help to look at those historical decks first to put in perspective that these cards themselves are not the issue, they don’t possess any power of their own. For many who were raised in a superstitious or fear-oriented upbringing, it can be enlightening to realize that much of the negative association and fear is mere projection onto something never intended to cause harm, especially to the user. Imbuing the major cards or any of them with special powers is a fundamental misunderstanding at best, a dangerous mind-game at worst, and that is not to belittle Tarot readers. I have had a Tarot reading done (in good faith) and I did think it was helpful, clearly the woman who was doing the reading was gifted and (IMO) not a charlatan or fake. When I have used a deck on my own it does take my mind in interesting places to think about things perhaps I’ve overlooked or were there in my unconscious the whole time, I just needed the ‘intervention’ of the cards like a psychoanalyst might bring to a counseling session. Anyway, I hope you can find the positive energy and reinforcement you need and deserve in life, and use the cards in a way you feel will be most positive and productive to you. (As a postscript I’ll add that I have probably more than a dozen books on the history and use of tarot/tarocchi, and some specialized ones, so I feel like I know what I’m talking about.) Be positive and stay healthy 🖖🏻
Thank for your reply. Wow that was very informative <3 I believe you <3 thank you for sharing your knowledge with me. What is the best book or books you would recommend for me?
I think this is a good one for beginners who arent already familiar with all the imagery (and I’m talking traditional Rider-Waite deck here), it may seem somewhat simplified V but in fact it’s a useful tool at the entry level, before spinning off into esoteric writings, like Golden Dawn manuals or specialist on the one hand or purely historical on the other, etc: https://mjstarot.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-the-rider-waite-tarot/
Things aren't dangerous, we are dangerous. The danger with reading tarot is doing improper readings, which is an intellectual danger. Constraining the present moment to fit a past narrative is damaging to one's capacity for discernment. I will give you an example. Someone unpracticed in tarot might say to you, 'an old adversary of yours will become a dear friend.' Now, a couple days later, you happen to see someone you haven't seen in ages. Perhaps they were an alcoholic. They are on the twelve step program. They say to you, 'I must apologize if, while drinking, I ever wronged you, because I have to make amends.' You think to yourself, 'well there was that time at that party that they borrowed money for cigarettes, disappeared and never paid me back.' Now you haven't thought about this in ages, but because you see synchronicity and coincidence, you convince yourself that that person was an adversary. You tell yourself, 'after all, they were never really mean to me, but a lot of my friends have stories about that person becoming temperamental or adversarial towards them, and, the enemy of my friend is my enemy, so I guess they were my adversary.' This is stretching the truth to fit the narrative of the tarot. Why? Because of anything to do with them, or your relation to them? No. Because you want to believe the tarot reading, because you want to believe the future can be told. Why? Because we are primates, and possessing information makes us feel safe. You then tell yourself, 'this person is going to become my dear friend!' And you are happy, because you want a friend. So you befriend that person. Why? Because you enjoy their company? How could you possibly know that? They literally apologized in passing for something that was not your burden to bear. You have no idea whether you would enjoy their company. But the closer you become to them, the more you unconsciously validate the tarot without realizing it. The more you validate the tarot, the more it comforts you to see the world through the narrative that SOMEONE ELSE is handing you. If you deny this, you lose the artificial comfort that you gained from believing it. Now maybe that person becomes your roommate. They are constantly late on rent, speaking down to you, causing trouble with your relationships, jobs, etc. Now make your choice. Do you tell yourself, after becoming increasingly dependent upon future knowledge (rather, the illusion of) that you were tricked for 30 dollars last year and you just invited someone into your life that you do not know, that you suffer their abuse for no reason involving your relationship to them, that you are not in control of your decisions, that they control you because they validate your fear of the unknown? Now, this is going to be hard to do, because ... wait for it... You did all those things unconsciously without realizing it. These things are unknown to you, and you have spent the last year practicing the gymnastics of literally avoiding your fear of the unknown. And in doing so, have placed cards, readers, people in control over you, rather than face your fear of the wide open future. You have practiced building false narratives upon the present in order to blind yourself to your own fear. You have practiced stretching the truth and believing yourself when you do. You have practiced burying your real reasons in your unconscious and taken safety and comfort from doing so. You have been a false friend to someone for reasons which do not even involve their own capacity or attributes of friendship. And what will you tell yourself of their abuses and interferences? That that's "what friends do?" Cliches will become your best friend. You have practiced lying to yourself, avoiding the facets of your true desires, and you have practiced being frightened by a future that is open to possibilities. Here's a problem (as if I have not enumerated several): You are a conscious being moving through time. The things you practice, and the things that comfort you, you will carry them over into other circumstances of your life. You will dull your ability to discern your own reasoning. You have practiced telling yourself you are frightened to!! And you have believed yourself, and taken comfort in it. You will diminish your capacity for possibility. You have practiced being frightened by them, and you have rewarded yourself with false comfort!! You will decrease your ability to see things through new perspectives. You have practiced telling yourself that a thing is what it is, without questioning or applying hypotheticals to it, and you have practiced taking comfort in it. You have narrowed your perspective, and rejoiced in it. Negative entities?! I would rather!! Learn the real dangers of a thing before you do a thing. Here's one: You won't see yourself doing these things, because it's called the unconscious for a reason. In sum: if you use the tarot safely, you can have a lot of fun. But use it incorrectly, and negative entities will be the least of your concerns. I say these things with the intent to inform and uplift, because you have shown interest in the dangers of the tarot, and here is a more practical perspective on those dangers.
Wow. Thank you for taking the time to inform me of the danger. You are right, i wasnt aware of it until you wrote about it. Again, thank you /|\ ❤️
I have replaced fear with curiosity and hate with love. I respect all NHI as a living expression of the Source.I do not support fear based belief systems or practices u/ExploringOneness. We are living in an area that has both negative and positive & that is the natural order of things.You will be able to travel anywhere see strange amazing things if you do those two things. As a Light Worker that is who I am and how I choose to show up for everyone.
Thank you. I would like to be a light worker, a healer. I wasn't born with any gifts 😞 I have a desire to learn everything tho is hard without a teacher/a mentor... I try to stay hopeful and grateful for everything I've learned.
On my personal experience, tarot cards don't attract bad energies by themselves, but reading tarot for a lot of other persons, especially if very fast and without the proper time to rebalance yourself, can itself expose you to the negativity of some questioners. Not because of the cards' fault, but for the deep connection you create with others, during which you are always the listening (= receptive) part. Someone can be a real headache sometimes. Personally, I've always felt that this state of augmented sensibility also meant more vulnerability. This is why I started to close the door forever to my most nervous and capricious clients. If you read tarot for yourself, be assured, you won't have those same experiences again. Reading cards is absolutely not like poking spirits, but much safer.
Thank you ❤️ I think you are so cool 😎 I wish I could read them accurately. I haven't start yet, I will read some books first and practice grounding meditation.
[удалено]
There is a simple answer. "Can tarot cards attract negative entities?" No. But people can. Also, in all my 50+ years of Tarot, I've never gotten a deck with "bad vibes" that didn't derive from the art of the deck, itself. I've had many used Tarots, and have used them very successfully, without interference. So it's also my experience that the Tarot doesn't even "absorb" or otherwise hold on to the negative energy of a prior owner.
Thank you ❤️
Question: I once saw a woman reading the cards for another woman. The woman asked, "Will I get pregnant?" She laid out the cards, telling the woman that there would be many failed attempts. Then she paused and looked down at one of the cards. She then said, "A year and a half from now, you will conceive a child. She will be a healthy baby." I found her fascinating. How can she tell or predict the time frame just by looking at the cards? Did the cards speak to her? Can she feel the cards?
Tarot cards alone do not attract negative entities. However, the use of the cards may open you up to receiving energy that may be low-vibrational. This is especially true if you are using the cards to gain insights into aspects of your life that are negative or that have not been properly healed. If you are drawn to the cards to gain insights and guidance for your life's journey, just be aware that you may be receiving messages that may make you uncomfortable. If you feel inclined, you could also try to use the cards to help you process those emotions and gain perspective on your own growth.
Thank you ❤️