health issues in tarot

Hi, I've been reading tarot cards for many years-using the rider-waite deck- and I am told I am usually quite good, though I do it mostly for myself; but I have trouble reading health issues and I've never been able to find any really good books which explain the meanings of cards relating to health....there are millions about love, relationships, money, etc, but nothing for health....does anybody have any suggestions ?
Also : predicting the sex of an unborn baby with tarot, .....are there any fixed rules, or is it just up to intuition ?
Thanks !

I think the reason there aren't many resources out there for reading tarot cards in regards to health is that many people think you shouldn't, myself among them. Health issues should be seen to by a professional. No exceptions. This stance is moral in nature. Disaster can strike all too easily if a reader misinforms themselves or another person about what they should do with their treatment or diagnosis -- which has famously (and very sadly) happened in the past on these forums.

As far as determining prenatal gender, there's a good discussion in this thread about card possibilities and alternate methods.

I too find health issues a potential minefield. I think I tend to only stay within the bounds of looking holistically at how they may be (mentally, emotionally etc) and stay away from pinpointing physical issues.

There is a deck coming out in May called the Healing tarot which may be of interest to readers. I have seen some images and TBH I will read it as a tarot deck. It is RWS based but MAY (and that is a may only....) be useful for health issues, but I would still only use it within the boundaries I have set myself.

I do crystal healing and am also a qualified Bach Flower practitioner. Again, this deck could be useful in conjunction. Maybe to pull a card at the end of the session and create an affirmation with any client.

Just to let you all know really - there is an interesting deck being released soon.

if you search the forums there is many threads which list which card means what in health!

here is two I have saved but use for my own personal reference only and not to diagnose myself or others....

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=149946
http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=162915

In the UK there is some laws about diagnosing people if you are not medically qualified so it's an area to be careful and ethical in, especially with other people.

Here's a discussion from just 3 days ago.

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=192840

If you do a search, you'll probably find lots more. But, as I'm sure you know, tarot shouldn't replace a doctor. I refuse to do health readings for people; I'll do them for myself though.

Baby gender

I just started following the faulkner tarot, and she was saying Ace of swords always boy, Ace of cups always girl, don't doubt yourself when you see these cards on the gender, they are always right. Myself i feel page of cups and wands feel girl to me and swords feel boy to me and page of coins feel like they can go anyway boy or girl, but more boy. It confuses me too.

For some reason i see 2 of coins as having to take pills for an aliment cause they are round they look like pills to me.
Ace of swords Shots and injections, needles. Operations
Empress Pregnancy, Gyn doctor.
9 of wands immune issues upright or next to good cards your immune system is doing well its prepared for what is out thier like a flu bug but reversed or by not so good cards now your immune system is weak and your going to catch that disease like a flu bug, take your vitamin C
High Priestest Fertility.. Next to the empress your heading for a pregnancy if these 2 cards are next to eachother if you don't want another baby use caution cause you are fertile. With the Ace of swords fertility treatments to get pregnant needles needing to be used to aid you. Ivf treatments. Fertility doctor.
10 of swords back problems injections to the back
5 of coins broken leg cause man is on crutches in my cards, head wounds, headaches.
10 of wands back pain back muscle issues like spasms possibly needing a massage, needing a back doctor,shoulder problems going to a chiropractor.
9 of swords female health problems, headaches, insomnia
3 of cups Reversed hangover, throwing up from too much drinking...
Queen of cups beauty procedures so if it was next to ace of swords it might be botox or face lifts procedures espessially with star card or 9 of cups or lovers (lovers changing the way you look to attract the opposite sex losing weight, getting breat implants etc, star wanting what the stars get done like facelifts and body makeovers, breast implants etc, 9 of cups getting beauty procedures to bring yourself self satisfaction facelifts, exersicing to lose weight,botox,haircuts anything that puts a smile on your face after having the procedure done, a makeover.
5 of cups, menstrual problems, bleeding heavy, possible hysterectomy due to heavy bleeding problemsor next to 9 of swords, she is the card of female health issues so can mean hysterectomy.
6 of cups a past health issue resurfacing again.
Knight of swords looks like an ambulance to me so next to the 4 of swords or even the chariot i see being rushed to the hospital(4 of swords) by ambulance.
Tower accidents with chariot car accident. strokes, sudden illnesses that strike you like heart attacks. aneurysms, anything that comes fast.
Sun feels like going to a spa day or resort kinda like a place that promises to be that youth back in you again. Tanning booth.
3 of swords heart lung and blood issues. With tower it looks like a heart attack or sudden stroke.
Death card can mean a seious health issue with death looming in the mix like being told you have inoperable cancer, or need a 5 way heart bypass(3 of swords) or you will be dead any minute kind of prognosis by a major heart attack if you don't have it, you wouldnt tell the person this but something like pay attention. Go to the doctors have him do tests so you not too late to fix any problems.
3 of wands waiting for results to come in, waiting for the phone call(page of rods/wands), or you will need to travel at a distance for health care.
Ace of cups Pregnancy.
Ace of wands/rods Pregnancy
Hierphant Turning to prayer for your health example asking a prayer group to pray for you. keep me in your prayers. You turning to God praying for an health issue to get better and asking for miracles. Praying to saints for health. With 9 of cups sun or star your getting your miracle. But remember prayer alone dosen't cure,, God made doctors and medicines to help you too, prayer can do just so much you gotta use all the tools not just prayer to get better.
7 of wands/rods tests needing to be done.
9of coins you can be dealing with one of your animals health. Might be going to vet soon espessially if 4 of swords is anywhere in the spread.
Strength card Good health, strong constitution feeling great, good immunity. Reveresed low health energy , health issues popping up. Cat could be having a health issue. If your asking about animals.
Judgement: remission, getting a 2nd chance.
Its also more then a symptom you can also look at the cards for how your going to respond to a health issue example if i had 7 of wands it can mean your fighting for your life or your health to get better now maybe its not the test part but fighting for your health with all you got. Fool trying a new treatment or meds something new you never tried before, Emperor going to a very respected doctor who knows his stuff, you can rely on him, 8 of coins working at a hospital, researching or working on your health, 5 of rods/wands exersicing for health, taking a karate class? 10 of wands overwork can cause your to get sick your neglecting your health in lue of work work work or taking on anothers problems and neglecting your own. Magician a great doctor he is the one that comes in and pulls the rabbit out of his hat by finding your problem putting you NOW on the right medicine and you like magic get better. where before no one was finding the problem or the right medicine you needed . the world card you maybe traveling long long distances or over seas for treatment or seeing a doctor that is a foreigner. 6 of cups getting a childhood sickness like chickenpox or dealing with sick children or child etc etc.

Follow up on a card

I forgot to add 9 of wands can mean flu shots , Pneumonia shots, herbs that help your immunity,taking your vitamin C before a cold comes on. It's a card of taking meds to defend against a bug before you get it or to battle it if you already got it. 9 of wands is your immunity.

health and tarot

Thanks a lot; yes, I myself have always refused to read tarot on health for other people; I know it's dangerous and to mislead people on health issues is not the same as giving them the wrong idea about a love affair....I've tried a couple of time and wasn't very happy with the result; but I''ve known people who were very good at reading cards for health; mostly they used decks like plain playing cards-lots of people use them in Italy instead of tarot-and so I couldn't work out how they did it or what method they use.....I know that you should be very cautious and never try to substitute a doctor, but I still think it can be useful sometimes and it is frustrating that, of all the books which exist on the rider waite, so little is said about health issues......

People seem to freak out about mentioning health problems in Tarot readings, but I've found that the readers who do know something about healing and health matters usually provide suggestions in a responsible manner. For example, my mother went to see a Tarot reader who suggested to her in her reading that she may want to go see a female doctor and get a check up. She had already been experiencing problems in this area, and knew that she should make an appointment but was procrastinating. After the reading, she made a point to make that appointment and was diagnosed with early stage cervical cancer. Treatment was swift and minimal (hysterectomy, no radiation or chemo... clean bill of health ever since). Was he wrong to make that suggestion? In my opinion, hell no! It was just what my mother needed to push her into swift action towards a professional! Granted, he has been reading Tarot for some 30+ years and is well versed in Shamanism and alternative healing therapies, but was never professionally trained. He must have become clued into these reading cues somewhere along the way, and one can only wonder at the trial and error process he went through to correctly understand the information he was receiving. Was it beneficial in the long run? In my mother's case, it was - and I'm grateful for it. Is there a delicate way to go about suggesting this kind of information? Absolutely, but isn't that what we do when reading on any subject, be it relationships, career etc? We don't purposefully read for somebody on any topic with the intent to send our sitter into a tailspin of worry.

I would *like* to believe that people are aware of their body and know when it's out of balance, and are *smart* enough to seek professional help when needed. I did a reading in the Newbies Circle some time back where I kept getting hints that there was a medical inbalance and the suggestion that kept coming up including too many sweets/carbohydrates. I considered diabetes but didn't present my ideas as a diagnosis. I merely suggested that some kind of health consultation might be appropriate concerning the topic of food. I took a leap of faith, and posted my reading. At the time the sitter was only able to give general feedback, and she even suggested "What now, diabetes?". A couple months later I received a PM telling me the reading was pointing exactly to that very topic. She had been diagnosed with Diabetes.

We speak about ethics when reading cards, but prefer to turn a blind eye on the topic of health. I've noticed that in this particular format of online reading, the reader is presented with a spread or topic, they do their reading, receive feedback and that's the end of it. Rarely do I see people asking probing questions to better clarify their interpretations, or do any follow-up on their reading to expand upon a concept or topic that came up in the cards (though thankfully, there are some exceptions!). Some people feel like it's 'cheating' to get additional information from the sitter and review their reading to make adjustments, but this is the very process which often occurs when going in person to a reader and sitting with them face-to-face. Why is it so taboo to ask the sitter, "how have you been feeling lately?" and let them tell us the answer. Maybe they have no health concerns at the time, maybe they do. If they don't mention anything health-wise then there may not be a need to address that topic in the reading. If they do however, should we not consider the topic, and address it *to the best of our ability*? I have a strong science background, I work with diseases on a daily basis, I've studied energy healing and holistic medicine in my own time - I *do* have some knowledge of the topic. Not to mention that in my previous example about diabetes, the cards were just SCREAMING at me to get the information out there.

One last example here. I've gone to a psychic medium twice, and twice she has brought up concerns surrounding the auto-immune system. I asked if she could be more specific, and she said she wasn't quite sure about what it was, just that I needed to keep an eye on it and that nothing was imminant. Did I freak out? No. I went home and googled auto-immune diseases and found that Crohn's disease was listed as being one. My family on my mother's side has a history of this disease, and I've been screened for it in the past and keep a close eye on my food intake and digestion. She wasn't telling me anything I didn't already know about myself - but she didn't know that. Was that irresponsible of her? I don't personally think so - she wasn't wrong to warn me about it as I carry the tendency towards this disease in my family history.

I'm sure others will disagree with my opinion, and that is fine. I don't make a habit of bringing up health concerns, but I don't shy away from a sitter asking to get a health reading either (and that has happened! And I did!).

PS. If you are looking for a book that mentions health, consider Mary K. Greer's Tarot Reversals as there is some really good suggestions health-wise in her interpretations. Certainly a place to start digging a little deeper into the topic.