Tarot cards

[jason91078]

So like I've said in the past, I'm new to all of this so please bear with my questions.

What do you guys think about tarot cards? I was reading an interesting article on PaganSquare.com about the subject and how a family will use the cards themselves to try and help find their own answers to tough questions instead of going to a supposed expert tarot card reader.

I was talking to a friend of mine who was raised Pagan, and she told me she was raised to believe that it is bad luck to but a deck of cards and that cards should only be handed down from a master to student.

So what do you guys think?

 

[Caladan]

Tarot are a lot of fun. My advice is pick a deck that you value for its creativity or artistic flavor and play around with it.
I don't believe that the tarot has inherit mystical qualities, but it can certainly teach us about ourselves. I use the Thoth deck for its massive symbolic qualities and its synthesis of Egyptian religion with Qabalah, just appreciating the art and the vividness of the cards gives me satisfaction.
Personally, I find the tarot to be a great historical relic, it passes to us a leisure and learning activity of a more refined era.

The strength of the tarot cards, for those who take them more seriously is the learning process we can undertake with the cards being the tool in a journey. At the end of the day, the cards encourage us to find our own answers.

 

[Erebus]

Tarot are a lot of fun. My advice is pick a deck that you value for its creativity or artistic flavor and play around with it.
I don't believe that the tarot has inherit mystical qualities, but it can certainly teach us about ourselves. I use the Thoth deck for its massive symbolic qualities and its synthesis of Egyptian religion with Qabalah, just appreciating the art and the vividness of the cards gives me satisfaction.
Personally, I find the tarot to be a great historical relic, it passes to us a leisure and learning activity of a more refined era.

The strength of the tarot cards, for those who take them more seriously is the learning process we can undertake with the cards being the tool in a journey. At the end of the day, the cards encourage us to find our own answers.

I can't add much more to this other than to say that whenever I perform a reading for friends I tell them not to think of the cards as showing the future, but as offering a possible solution to a current problem.

 

[Infinitum]

I find Tarot extremely fascinating, especially since they've been around for such a long time. There's lots and lots of explanations of what this or that symbol means, but I think that whoever is using the cards has to find out their own personal (inner) language in order to use them. They can be a good way of sorting ones own thoughts and finding new perspectives to problems. Sometimes perhaps we even get in touch with our own subconscious when looking for answers to what we should do or what would be best for us. In a nutshell, the philosophy of Tarot is to access your own self with the help of pictorial tools. Very interesting stuff.

 

[Quintessence]

Oh dear, given tarot is one of my divinatory methods of choice, there's a lot I could say about it. Too much, probably. >_>

The first thing I'd like to note is that nothing about the tarot is Pagan. Not intrinsically, anyway. There are plenty of contemporary Pagans who are not into tarot, and plenty of non-Pagans who are into tarot. I'd have probably posted this in the "other religious movements DIR" unless I was specifically looking for a Pagan take on things. It's kinda funny, but I've seen some Neopagans get miffed over the assumption of "hey, you're into Witchcraft stuff? So you can you give me a tarot reading?" when they have zero interest in tarot.

The other thing I'll say for now is that this talk about "you have to have a deck given to you" is a load of nonsense. Pretty much everybody recognizes it's a load of nonsense, but for some reason it still gets circulated. I don't know why, but I would be curious to know when and with whom the nonsense started. A deck won't work for you at all if you don't connect with it, and you are by far the best evaluator of that. Decks are fun to give/receive as gifts though, if for no other reason than the art of many is fantastic.

The last thing I'll say is that there can be some benefits of going to a reader, provided they meet certain qualifications. I will not go to a reader who does not have a formal background in counseling or psychology. That is effectively the role they are serving, and IMHO they have no business charging ridiculous sums of money for readings without professional certification. Getting a reading from a friend who knows you well (and probably won't charge you) is different... and possibly ideal in some cases.

Gawds... so much more I could say. Must... not... post... wall of text...

 

[jason91078]

Thanks everybody, very interesting. I'm definitely interested in picking up a deck (not sure where to get on yet, probably online I guess) and kind of using it like a magic 8 ball except you have to look within for an explination as to what the drawn cards show you. Actually probably be a good source for inner reflection.

 

[dgirl1986]

I bought my own deck, they work really well for me. I tend to only use them when I am really struggling and cannot find the answer to things on my own. I

 

[Quintessence]

Thanks everybody, very interesting. I'm definitely interested in picking up a deck (not sure where to get on yet, probably online I guess) and kind of using it like a magic 8 ball except you have to look within for an explination as to what the drawn cards show you. Actually probably be a good source for inner reflection.

Definitely. That's the main thing I use it for, but tarot can also be used for non-divinatory purposes ranging from ritual and spellcraft to worship or connecting to the gods. Pretty versatile stuff. Any oracular system of divination can be used that way, though, so that isn't unique to tarot.

 

[The Hammer]

I find Tarot to be an amazing tool to help one find answers that they may not have seen without the help of the cards (I think those are the biggest draws to divination for most). The art and symbology are effective, but I don't think necessary if one has the knowledge of the meanings behind the cards (or their own meanings for them).
I utilize a very basic 25 card tarot set, based on the Druid Ogham letters. They are very plain art wise: the letter name is written at the top of the card, along with the Ogham written letter itself as the 'body'. This is done on an index card. I made the deck myself, and have had great results divining with it so far.

 

[jason91078]

Hammer - "I find Tarot to be an amazing tool to help one find answers that they may not have seen without the help of the cards" - you hit the nail on the head, I definitely agree.

 

[dgirl1986]

There seem to be so many different theories and beliefs about cards.
Some say they should be handed down, some say they should be gifted to you, some say they should call to you etc.

I bought my first pack of cards and they were hard to interperate but I never had a false reading. My friend just bought me an oracle deck and the artwork really speaks to me the message...so I dunno...Im pretty noobish anyways.

 

[satori8]

So like I've said in the past, I'm new to all of this so please bear with my questions.

What do you guys think about tarot cards? I was reading an interesting article on PaganSquare.com about the subject and how a family will use the cards themselves to try and help find their own answers to tough questions instead of going to a supposed expert tarot card reader.

I was talking to a friend of mine who was raised Pagan, and she told me she was raised to believe that it is bad luck to but a deck of cards and that cards should only be handed down from a master to student.

So what do you guys think?

This is so false, and I do not know who told you that. That is insane.

There is nothing wrong with buying a deck from the store. This is what I do:

I look at the decks, and which deck resonates with, or 'calls out" I will get. I do not believe a deck needs to be handed down. AS a matter of fact, that deck will contain energies of the reader and all the reads ever done (no matter how much cleansed). So go to the bookstore, or wherever, examine decks, and get the deck that calls. if none call dont buy. Just wait, and when it calls, you'll know what I mean. It just speaks to you, the images and so forth. Then you can begin learning.

if you have never read tarot you can go to Learning the Tarot - An On-Line Course

 

[jason91078]

This is so false, and I do not know who told you that. That is insane.

There is nothing wrong with buying a deck from the store. This is what I do:

I look at the decks, and which deck resonates with, or 'calls out" I will get. I do not believe a deck needs to be handed down. AS a matter of fact, that deck will contain energies of the reader and all the reads ever done (no matter how much cleansed). So go to the bookstore, or wherever, examine decks, and get the deck that calls. if none call dont buy. Just wait, and when it calls, you'll know what I mean. It just speaks to you, the images and so forth. Then you can begin learning.

Thank you satori8, good points.

 

[dgirl1986]

My friend bought me the faerie deck, she said she instantly thought of me when she saw it. I was a bit oh ok that sounds nice lol. When I actually took them out of the box I was like OMG WOW WHOA It was actually really weird.