What prompted me to write this post?

I was, very recently, seeing a particular question pop up on Google: “If someone throws my Tarot cards on the floor, will the spirits be angry?” I didn’t click on the link; I know that reading it would probably have pissed me off, given the judgemental person I can be!

However, my immediate thought just had to be, “Who is going around throwing your cards on the floor?” followed by “And who exactly are these ‘spirits’ who would respond so angrily to such a petty occurrence?”

I felt genuinely sorry for the questioner. After all, it must be difficult to live with such a fearful and superstitious mind.

“Where, or from whom, did they pick up such a questionable belief?” I mused.

A brief history lesson!

Anyway, getting down to business, and for those who are interested, here’s a very brief history lesson — followed by a few frequently asked questions (answered by me, based on my own beliefs and personal experience!).

The Tarot deck was originally designed and used as a parlour game, mostly by the wealthy. Even today, in some countries, Tarot remains a card game.

It isn’t, as often believed, an ancient and sacred form of divination. It was late in the 18th century when claims were made by certain individuals that Tarot was a mystical tool, long used for fortune-telling purposes — giving it two purposes: a form of game playing and a means of divination. There are now probably millions of differently designed decks available to buy, and, let’s face it, they can be highly collectible. Many are visually beautiful and fascinating — while others are scary and intimidating!

Commonly Asked Questions:

Should I allow others to touch my cards?

You can do, as long as they handle them with care. No one wants a treasured possession to be manhandled or mauled. The cards don’t have independent thought — they don’t shrink away from another’s touch. However, I wouldn’t lend them out. I do believe that inanimate objects can energetically absorb information and emotion from those who use them consistently, as well as from their surroundings — especially under highly charged circumstances (research psychometry).

Are Tarot cards dangerous? Do they attract dark energies?

No, Tarot cards are not evil. And the ‘spirits’ don’t operate through them. People can be evil and people can develop in dark ways, existing within an energy field that is highly charged (in a negative way). A person whose resonance is consistently destructive, and whose intentions are questionable, will transmit that outwardly — including through the use of Tarot cards. It won’t be the cards that could potentially be dangerous — it will be the person using them. Psychic energy can be undisciplined and uncontrolled when its source is also undisciplined, erratic, ego-driven, and uneducated (on the subject). Often, the person who operates in this way will view psychism as a ‘power’ to wield over others. The words ‘psychic’ and ‘power’ should never be linked together.

Can Tarot cards ruin my life?

Of course not! They are, as I keep saying, beautiful, artistic images on pieces of card. They do not possess any kind of power. Mentally and emotionally vulnerable people can be negatively affected by their own, or a reader’s, interpretation of a spread — but that has nothing to do with the cards.

Fearful, superstitious, vulnerable people should steer clear of all forms of psychic involvement, including receiving predictions. Our mind has the capacity to be our biggest enemy at certain points in our life and we need to take good care of it. The psychic and spiritual arena can seem very attractive to individuals who are struggling with mental and emotional health problems. It’s also pretty attractive to those who want to feel special and ‘different’… not to mention the ones who love attention and drama. And, as I’ve already said, the words psychic and power are not synonymous — and anyone who believes otherwise should be avoided at all costs.

Are Tarot cards able to accurately predict the future?

They can assist the reader in their endeavour to understand and interpret what they are intuitively sensing, feeling, or seeing.

A Tarot spread in and of itself cannot predict the future — it can only be interpreted. And, if ten different readers were to examine the same spread for the same customer, the likelihood is that the enquirer would not receive 10 identical interpretations. The experience and efficiency of the reader will influence the way the cards are interpreted, along with how they read them. Some focus largely on the ‘meanings’ of each card, as explained in instruction books. Some just look at the images and interpret them literally. Others (like myself) read them intuitively — paying attention to:

a) How that group of cards work together in that particular context

b) Where on each card the attention happens to be drawn

c) How the spread causes them, the reader, to feel.

It is an accumulation of factors, rather than an instant revelation. There is often — though not always — more than one potential pathway, and more than one possible outcome, ahead of us — and so future prediction may take the form of important insight or even a warning. A lot of people don’t appear to understand this, seeing it as a cop-out if the reader can’t/won’t give a specific and direct answer to a question or problem. They believe that that’s what ‘psychics’ should be able to do. However, if the reader is mithered enough into reluctantly giving a black-and-white response to a client of this mindset, and it isn’t what the client wants to hear, they are likely to be on the receiving end of a rather unpleasant backlash!

How can I improve my ability to efficiently read Tarot cards?

By using them! Practice, practice, practice.

That way, you’ll develop your own, personal relationship with them and they will work with you. It isn’t like following a recipe to the absolute letter.

For some, this won’t sound like good news because they want to be told that there is a definite, irrefutable formula that will work every time if only someone would teach it to them. Tarot is a tool for learning, and the regular use of it helps us to connect with, and strengthen, our intuitive and psychic capacity.

Relax with your cards and enjoy them. Take your time, paying attention to how you feel about a particular spread, and where your attention happens to be drawn on that occasion and in that context. Believe me, you will never be short of willing ‘guinea pigs’ to practice your Tarot skills on — just let it be known that you’re available and they will be queuing up!

Final thought: Hauntings and mental health issues

Throughout the 20-plus years I spent attending people’s homes to provide consultations, I was constantly informed about presences that were causing upset and disturbance to the residents. In a very high percentage of those cases, there was a direct link with depression and other mental health problems, including addiction. On occasions, there genuinely did seem to be at least one entity that needed to be dealt with (in an appropriate way).

However, it wasn’t uncommon to find that it was the residents themselves, albeit unknowingly, who were creating a palpable energy field from their collective, ongoing misery and negativity. The living can be pretty intense, believe me. Unfortunately, this kind of human-created, energetic swamp can then attract non-physical, ill-intentioned entities — and, if left to its own devices for too long, the situation can negatively impact the mental and emotional health of someone who was previously strong and well. This is not a common scenario, but neither is it rare. If the reader of the cards isn’t ‘dark’ of mind, fearful, or superstitious, and if they are grounded, then no harm can come about. And who’d want to receive any kind of psychic consultation from a crazy or weird person, anyway?