tarot beliefs

I love sewing so I sewed a little bag for my cards. I also made a spread cloth out of navy silk-like material; since I have an embroidery machine, I embroidered a celestial sun in one of the corners of the spread cloth. The sun is gold, with navy outlines for the face and details. I also have a sachet in the bag with the cards; so wherever you go with them you can take along a little bit of whatever "cleansing" fragrance you prefer!

'Lo all,

Great topic!

Jeanette, the spread cloth you make sounds so pretty.

The very first time I ever saw tarot cards used a woman layed them out for me at a party. It was perfect. The lighting was candles. She rang a little bell. (Don't ask me why.) After shuffling, she instructed me to cut the deck into three piles and put it back together in any order. With my left hand. I was bubbling with a thousand questions. This was one I asked. "Why the left hand?"

"Cause," she says, "your left hand is closer to your heart." I think she was laughing at me. This may not make any sense, least not to me, but I've always done it that way.

One more story. Shortly after that first reading I acquired my first deck. This was back in the ancient past. It was in the last century! No internet, no tarot bookshops, decks were hard to find and there were not many to choose from. At the same time I bought a used, and very strange, book on tarot. The book said you should always "seal" your deck before putting it away with a special card on top and on the bottom of the deck.

I did the Mary Greer thing to find my personality and soul cards, and it was one of those years where it adds up to three cards, The Sun, The Magician, and The Wheel of Fortune. So, I have always "sealed" THAT DECK ONLY by putting the Sun on top and the other two cards on the bottom.

Does that make sense? 'Course not. What it is, it's a nuisance. Still, with that deck I've always "sealed" the deck.

Talisman
What do Alexander the Great and Winnie the Pooh have in common? They have the same middle name.

Hi talisman,

She told you right, in quite a few of the older tarot and playing card divination books, the drawing of the cards was always done with the left hand because it was nearer the heart and the power hand and the cards were always turned like a page and not flipped. Most of my newer tarot books don't mention these little rituals at all and yet if you start doing them as a newbie to card reading you tend not to change and the habit stays.

EveAnna,

In my case, you are absolutely right. All the rituals, strange or not, are continued from my first, and only, reading and from the time I got my first deck.

For instance, the woman referred to the remainder of the deck, after laying out a Celtic Cross, as the "Daath" (I have no idea how that is spelled) pack, for unrevealed knowledge. Have no idea where that came from, but have always thought of it that way.

Also, when I was beginning, book in hand, I would lay out the Celtic Cross, with all the cards face down. Then I would turn the cards over one by one, looking up each card in the book as I went.

It was only after each card had been looked at individually this way (twice, once for the card and once for the spread position -- my book got a workout) that I attempted to read the cards in relationship to each other. What was there, what wasn't, what story threaded its way through the spread.

So, I still do it that way. Lay the cards in the spread out face down. Silly, huh? 'Course, I never read for other people.

Newbie ineptitude led to a ritual I still follow.

Talisman

talisman (09 Sep, 2001 02:03):
[snip]
For instance, the woman referred to the remainder of the deck, after laying out a Celtic Cross, as the "Daath" (I have no idea how that is spelled) pack, for unrevealed knowledge. Have no idea where that came from, but have always thought of it that way.
[snip]

Click to expand...

Hi,

You've spelled it correctly. Daath is the invisible sephiroth on the tree of life in the qabala. It represents knowledge.

Jane

Oh I still do that too talisman - I like to draw the chosen cards out into the spread before i turn them over - I seem to get the full impact that way rather than seeing a card at a time

talisman (09 Sep, 2001 01:05):
After shuffling, she instructed me to cut the deck into three piles and put it back together in any order. With my left hand. I was bubbling with a thousand questions. This was one I asked. "Why the left hand?"

"Cause," she says, "your left hand is closer to your heart." I think she was laughing at me. This may not make any sense, least not to me, but I've always done it that way.

Click to expand...

Well, that's what I do too! But I ask the querent to cut only twice with the left hand. I don't know why, it's just something I've always done...

The idea that your left hand is closer to your heart is also reiterated in the tradition of putting a wedding ring on your left fourth finger, not your right...

Kiama

You won't get the deck that feels good to you unless you either purchase it yourself, or ask someone to get it for you.

Anyways...thinking about the different tarot myths/beliefs... I really think it is just a matter of what YOU believe about what you are doing..

Don't read for yourself or you will lose your ability?
I really think it is just a matter of what YOU believe about what you are doing..


...If you HAVE to read for yourself, use a separate deck....
I really think it is just a matter of what YOU believe about what you are doing..


Don't take money for a reading in your hand...
I really think it is just a matter of what YOU believe about what you are doing..

So gang, which rituals do you find meaningful?
I ask the person whether or not they believe in angels, spirits, ghosts and the like. Also, whether they believe you can contact them and ask for "assistance or guidance". If the person says yeah, then we pray and ask the "invisible spitits" to help out by moving the querents hand in selecting the cards which most clearly relate to what we're doing. As the cards are laid out in a circular manner, the other person moves his/her hand above each card seeking a "feeling" and they pick the next card. After all cards are picked (by them) I assist in interpreting what is before them. They must strongly believe that some invisible power is guiding their hand and they must believe in the invisible or it won't work.

old thread

Did a search to find this one ...

I believe that tripe about not buying a deck for yourself goes back to the dark, dark days of the 1950s when you did not just walk into the local Barnes & Noble and select a deck off a shelf and buy it. Tarot cards were considered 'witchcraft' and even into the 1970s there were laws on the books forbidding their sale (I know you young people find this hard to believe, but it is true!) so to have a deck on display was an invitation for the law to come in and close you down. The only way to buy a deck was to know someone who knew someone who knew someone who could get you a deck. If you were a starnger and walked into shop and asked to buy a tarot deck, if the clerk didn't know you, you would be told there were no decks for sale - for fear of selling a deck to an undercover cop.

I have 40+ decks in my collection; if I was to wait for people to give them to me I'd only have two or three....

What other Myths have you been fed lately? LOL!