Mental health and tarot cards

eyeDEEclaire

gregory said:
The thing is, eyeDEEclaire, that no two mentally ill people are the same. We just can't say this person with x condition should or shouldn't (not that I think this an acceptable position but still !) be allowed to read. Someone who knows the individual, and preferably one who is trained to assess them properly might be in a position to say "Jennifer Juniper shouldn't be allowed to use her cards this week, as she is experiencing x, y and z and they might make her worse" - but other than that - I don't think anyone can say yea or nay in any direction.

I realise that you were scared by the way your friend was around the cards - but your friend might equally well have decided the CIA were out to get her based on cracks in the pavement (someone I know) or cobwebs in the kitchen (I made that one up.) I honestly don't think the cards were the issue; I think it was that you cared enough to be afraid of what you saw in her. (I see that part of your post is edited out - but I can appreciate that those in mental distress are scary to those who love them. I know my SO was scared by what he saw in me. But rather than try and change what I did with my time, he very wisely drove me to the doctor's office !

OMG! AAAAGGGHHH! I feel so misunderstood! I never said ALL bipolar people were delusional or that they should never read tarot! Believe me, I'm no shrink or tarot expert, and I know everyone is different like snowflakes.
I made an off the cuff comment based on the original post that insinuated the person in question was bipolar and psychotic! And honestly, the first thing I thought was maybe the reader was one of those phony psychics that just scams people out of money.
I just really want to be clear that I'm not labeling anyone! And I would never be the type of person to assign rules & regulations to tarot.

I only made the comment that I did because I think tarot can be very helpful. But as I've read on this forum & experienced for myself, sometimes if you are really depressed or whatever, it may not be the best thing to read the cards. You know, you're feeling really down and you drawn 3 of Swords or the Tower(which I've found out from this forum can be a really GOOD thing)and then it seems magnified because of your perception...I don't fault tarot for that. Or the person, it sucks to be in that kinda frame of mind. Or like someone in a delusional state draws the Devil and thinks their husband is possessed or the Antichrist(not that that couldn't be the case

).

ClimbTheseWalls

eyeDEEclaire said:
OMG! AAAAGGGHHH!

Ugh, I've probably just dug myself a deeper hole. I regret commenting in the first place.

Nope, I think this was a totally good thing you brought up! If it was bad no one would have commented. This is awesome - gets the neurons all excited n' shit! ahahah

gregory

eyeDEEclaire said:
OMG! AAAAGGGHHH! I feel so misunderstood! I never said ALL bipolar people were delusional or that they should never read tarot! Believe me, I'm no shrink or tarot expert, and I know everyone is different like snowflakes.

No I know - and I know that you didn't say all bipolar people were delusional. I mentioned what you had said because you deleted it and some people were wondering why certain other things had been raised by people who saw your post. No worries.

Don't get paranoid about this.

eyeDEEclaire

gregory said:
No I know - and I know that you didn't say all bipolar people were delusional. I mentioned what you had said because you deleted it and some people were wondering why certain other things had been raised by people who saw your post. No worries.

Don't get paranoid about this.

You're with the CIA, aren't you?

eyeDEEclaire

ClimbTheseWalls said:
Nope, I think this was a totally good thing you brought up! If it was bad no one would have commented. This is awesome - gets the neurons all excited n' shit! ahahah

Thanks! I just don't fit in a box and don't want anyone thinking I'm trying to stuff others into one!

eyeDEEclaire

ClimbTheseWalls said:
Exactly.

The concern with this is that if someone reads the cards and interprets their demise or that they are hated by everyone or a particular person hates them, and they believe this, even if in reality it doesn't match at all, their firm belief in the cards will lead them to undermine their own sense of reality, their understanding of the world, and in some cases it has led people to extreme behaviour (quitting a job (the cards said i'd be fired), telling someone off (The cards said you secretly hate me), suicide (the cards told me i was doomed)). It's this stuff.

The cards are ambiguous, we know this. It leaves lots of room for our own neuroses (everyday or pathological) to sneak in and cause havoc. For some it's fine, for others it's not. There's potential for harm.

This is what I was eluding to. Especially since it's a divining tool, someone who was already delusional may see something in the cards that "confirms" their fantasy. Like, I KNEW it, my husband IS the Devil! Sorry to keep using the Devil...he probably likes the attention, though.

gregory

eyeDEEclaire said:
You're with the CIA, aren't you?

Don't want everyone to know. The cards made me do it....

eyeDEEclaire

gregory said:
Don't want everyone to know. The cards made me do it....

Ah hah! The Devil! I knew it!

gregory

eyeDEEclaire said:
This is what I was eluding to. Especially since it's a divining tool, someone who was already delusional may see something in the cards that "confirms" their fantasy. Like, I KNEW it, my husband IS the Devil! Sorry to keep using the Devil...he probably likes the attention, though.

The cracks in his toast will tell you, if the cards aren't there... I know this...

eyeDEEclaire

gregory said:
The cracks in his toast will tell you, if the cards aren't there... I know this...

LMAO! Hey, I saw that in the Weekly World News so it MUST be true!