Mental health and tarot cards

vision777

I would like to know if a person has so-called bipolar should they be any where near a tarot deck ? and i also like to know what is the differents between psychosis and doing a tarot card reading. could the reader be suffering from psychosis and remeber psychosis means seeing things that are not there. when people read cards then tend to say a lot of things that have nothing to do with the actual card picture or meaning of the card. it's either there making stuff up or they could actual have a mental disorder how do you know if this person is a real reader or could be having little psychosis melt downs.?
 

eyeDEEclaire

They could just be bullsh*tting you altogether. Is this reader making money from doing readings?

A true bipolar person probably shouldn't work with tarot, IMO. I say that because they are prone to delusions.
 

gregory

I would respectfully disagree. Bi-polar has nothing to do with delusions; it is about mood. I would wonder if it was wise to read when at either extreme if I were doing it for money - but otherwise - why not ?

Psychosis is a whole different thing, but bi-polar people are NOT generally psychotic.

Many so called "normal" people are a lot madder (as in more disturbed when reading) than those of us with a psychiatric history. (yes I mean me !) The readers I find FAR more dangerous are those with an agenda - who cannot see past what they think people "should" do, and so on.

A "real reader" is one whose readings strike a chord with the sitter, who makes sense to the sitter. I don't know that it matters where their information comes from. I know people who go into trance to read. I also know people who read while watching TV. As long as the results make sense to the sitter - does it matter ?
 

The crowned one

As far as bipolar disorder it would depend on many many factors including level of control over the disorder. What level is their disorder diagnosed at? Would positive cards help in a manic situation? AS every person is different every reaction will be different. Really there are to many factors to answer the question, but on the whole bipolar have as much of a right to tarot as anyone else.

I think you are mixing a psychosis with imagination and free form thought. Hallucinations or delusional beliefs is not the same thing as card interpretation, even purely intuitive readings with no base knowledge of the subject represented in the cards are not delusional. ;)

If someone is truly psychotic I really doubt they would be reading cards and their condition would be very very obvious.
 

eyeDEEclaire

Nevermind
 

Thirteen

Question is moot

vision777 said:
I would like to know if a person has so-called bipolar should they be any where near a tarot deck ?
I'm married to a bi-polar person. If he wanted to read tarot cards I'd see no problem save that in his up moods he'd probably read them for people all night long, and in his down moods he'd focus too much on whatever bad messages they were giving him and no do anything.

Otherwise, he'd be fine with them.

As for psychosis, from wiki:
People experiencing psychosis may report hallucinations or delusional beliefs, and may exhibit personality changes and thought disorder. Depending on its severity, this may be accompanied by unusual or bizarre behavior, as well as difficulty with social interaction and impairment in carrying out the daily life activities.
I do not think that anyone with that severe a psychosis could handle tarot cards. They'd lay out the cards and start telling you that aliens were on their way to eat your brains. Then they'd lick the cards and you'd probably be running for your life.

when people read cards then tend to say a lot of things that have nothing to do with the actual card picture or meaning of the card. it's either there making stuff up or they could actual have a mental disorder how do you know if this person is a real reader or could be having little psychosis melt downs.?
People "making stuff up" doesn't = psychosis. However, I will grand that there are strange folk out there including those who have "episodes" where they have visions (this is common enough that anyone can experience it). Sometimes this happens to people while looking at tarot cards. Maybe it's psychic ability, maybe psychotic episode. Whether they should be allowed to read the cards is an absurd question.

Why? Well, because people can get up on a pulpit and preach as truth, vision or future whatever psychotic episode they experienced. There is, unfortunately or not, no law against telling people the visions you have when you look at anything, nor any law against them believing it. So far, I see far more danger in the preacher who gets his cult to kill themselves then I do a tarot reader who scares a single client. You might as well worry about folk believing Nostradamus or the Book of Revelation or the Rapture.

You can't keep tarot cards out of anyone's hands any more than you can keep such books out of anyone's hands. So the question is moot.
 

BelovedK

Probably best for someone having delusions to stay away from reading for others if they are in the throes of their disorder, HOWEVER, bipolar is a disorder of the mood and doesn't always manifest in delusions. Some bipolar people I know are the most creative people, and I will say that someone who is treated with medication or some other way to control the condition is perfectly capable of being an awesome reader. I see bipolar people being judged, and the word 'bipolar' being used as an insult when if we discounted everyone with the condition, we would be missing out on some awesome insight.

I am not saying that the OP meant it to be an insult, it is just a hot topic for me.
 

BelovedK

Thirteen, crossposted with you, great post, ITA with everything you said
 

moderndayruth

gregory said:
Many so called "normal" people are a lot madder

The crowned one said:
If someone is truly psychotic I really doubt they would be reading cards and their condition would be very very obvious.

What Greg and TCO said.

Vision777, what's the reason you are asking this question, general curiosity or something more personal?
Were you read by a person who is diagnosed with bi-polar or its someone you know?
In any case, if they are stable, reading shouldn't be a concern... bear in mind that some of the greatest minds in history suffered from BP and its a two sided coin too (as everything else).
As TCO says, was someone really psychotic - it would be obvious and, let aside all the internet reasearch and second hand experience- no one of us who posted in this thread is a psychiatrist... maybe the person you are referring at should consult theirs, given that they are not a bigot and prejudiced against Tarot.

ETA: crossposted with Thirteen - but, yes, all there! :thumbsup:
 

eyeDEEclaire

BelovedK said:
Probably best for someone having delusions to stay away from reading for others if they are in the throes of their disorder, HOWEVER, bipolar is a disorder of the mood and doesn't always manifest in delusions. Some bipolar people I know are the most creative people, and I will say that someone who is treated with medication or some other way to control the condition is perfectly capable of being an awesome reader. I see bipolar people being judged, and the word 'bipolar' being used as an insult when if we discounted everyone with the condition, we would be missing out on some awesome insight.

nevermind