Is using / studying tarot safe?

techn1k

Also, I have a question about safety. Recently my friend warned me about Tarot. Apparently her mother was a psychic and quite often reading for others involved a 'price', usually someone from her family was getting sick right after.

I certainly would like to avoid anything like that. I wouldn't like to have a problem with forces I can't control. I can't be sure if the story was absolutely real but scared me a bit.

It may sound stupid but is using/studying Tarot safe? (sorry if this question is inappropriate)
 

Cocobird55

It's safe. There are a lot of myths about why it isn't -- I ignore all of them.
 

Zephyros

I think it depends on how you define safe. Tarot changes you, it makes you grow as a person, it helps you develop an enhanced view of your life and teaches you to observe it. You start off with a deck and you can never know where you might end up.

What it doesn't do is evoke demons or spirits or causes bad things to happen. But I'm not the same person I am when I started reading, and I have no doubt it would not be who I am today without it. So I don't think it's safe at all, but I would say, rather, that it causes no harm unless you yourself cause it.
 

techn1k

Thanks! That's all I was wondering about. Change is life so I am happy with it :)
I just wonder why Tarot has such a bad press. Yesterday another person told me she is afraid of it (or me as I use it). These are just my first steps but I appreciate the additional sensitivity it teaches. I feel like it helps me to 'dive in' deeper into myself. Do you think it's simply customary to connect Tarot to witchcraft?
 

Grizabella

I think it's just misguided folks who see it as evil. The Death and Devil cards reinforce that, I guess.

One thing I've noticed about people who believe Tarot is evil is that they seem to be the kind of people who tiptoe through life, afraid of every little thing. They're afraid of Tarot, they're afraid everyone they meet might be malevolent, and in general, they think there's a boogie man around every corner.

The ouija board is not safe, in my opinion. Using that will conjure up spirits and if you're not aware of how to do that, then you can get into problems. But with Tarot, you're not conjuring up spirits. You can bring spirits into play if you choose to do that, but otherwise the cards won't involve spirits on their own.
 

Zephyros

Thanks! That's all I was wondering about. Change is life so I am happy with it :)
I just wonder why Tarot has such a bad press. Yesterday another person told me she is afraid of it (or me as I use it). These are just my first steps but I appreciate the additional sensitivity it teaches. I feel like it helps me to 'dive in' deeper into myself. Do you think it's simply customary to connect Tarot to witchcraft?

I would think you would have to define your terms here, because there are quite a lot of people on AT who practice magic in many forms. :)

But, if you mean connect Tarot with evil, I think it is something that it has always had to contend with. People don't like what they cannot understand.
 

MissChiff

Quite a few people here are into tarot, but don't tell anyone else. They keep to themselves. That's what the forum can be good for. You can have a place to talk with no judgement.
 

Apollonia

Also, I have a question about safety. Recently my friend warned me about Tarot. Apparently her mother was a psychic and quite often reading for others involved a 'price', usually someone from her family was getting sick right after.

I certainly would like to avoid anything like that. I wouldn't like to have a problem with forces I can't control. I can't be sure if the story was absolutely real but scared me a bit.

It may sound stupid but is using/studying Tarot safe? (sorry if this question is inappropriate)
100% safe, for the Tarotist, their family, and their friends. So is being a psychic BTW. I've been doing both for many years now with no ill effects.

Plus it's fun.
 

lantana

Do you think it's simply customary to connect Tarot to witchcraft?

Magic and witchcraft also get bad press like Tarot, and for the most part aren't unsafe either (depending on what you're doing). Tarot does get connected to witchcraft because hey, a lot of witches are also tarot readers and visa versa, and they're both "occult" things.

So yes, I would say it's customary for people afraid of these sorts of things to lump them into one scary pile.
 

barefootlife

Studying tarot is quite safe for everything but possibly your wallet, once you start looking at all the gorgeous decks. :laugh:

More seriously, though, when I've heard people talking about working magic or spellcraft having a price, it was because they were using or tapping into energies that didn't belong to them, and magic requires an exchange (or sacrifice, if you want to get all spooky about it). If you want to talk about using energies, tarot only taps into what's already there, it doesn't 'take' or 'give' anything. You certainly use your own personal energy to interpret the cards, and plenty of people around here believe that their readings come from messengers, angels, faeries, etc, but a message is given, not taken.

Basically, there's nothing to be afraid of. Nothing is going to seep out of the shadows and hurt you or your family.