Christian Tarot Reader

teatimetarot

As a practicing and professing Christian, I had some reservations when I got out my old tarot deck recently. I purchased it a few years ago before I converted, so getting it out again brought back a lot of those (Pagan) associations.

I decided to proceed without "hiding" anything from God. I pray before I do a reading, specifically for the Holy Spirit to guide me and help me to discern. I also make a point to remember that God is Almighty and that future readings aren't definite and certainly aren't outside of his control. To me this is important because my faith is (and remains) in God, not in a deck of cards, and ultimately I trust him to the utmost.

So I think a good question to ask is whether your use of the cards constitutes idolatry. By that I mean, where do you put your faith - in the deck or in God? I think we might be tempted to put our faith in the cards and their predictive outcomes. But our faith should remain in God. The tarot is just a tool to help us understand situations better.

In using the tarot and being a Christian I remember 1 Corinthians 10:31: " So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." In fact, that whole section of 1 Corinthians is good reading because it deals with a similar dilemma. If we continue to do all we do, including tarot, for God, I think we will soon understand how - and if - to proceed.

So, yeah :).
 

chongjasmine

I am a christian, my faith in Jesus matters most to me.
I think tarot is wrong, but I am still addicted to it.
I think ultimately, God looks at the heart.
Is your heart for Him or is your heart in tarot?
That is the question we, as Christians, have to answer, before Him.
 

gregory

I am not Christian. I don't even believe in God. BUT my father was a minister (and was once heard to say he wasn't sure if he believed in God either; it depends what you mean by god - but that's another stpry...)

ANYWAY - my understanding has always been that (for those who do buy in) God loves us all, each and every one of us, for who we are. Which means he loves us and our tarot, if that is a part of who we are.

If he were going to get peeved about something, I imagine he would be rather more concerned about people who drop bombs on other people, who murder, who abuse children and animals, who casually break up other gospel's relationships.... I'm willing to bet if he's out there, he'd use the cards himself if he felt like it. And I am NOT being frivolous here.
 

Nemia

I was raised in Pietist Luthern family, especially my grandparents and aunt were very pious, but for many years, I have moved from my roots and discovered Christian mysticism (Meister Eckart), other religions and wisdom teachings, and if I had to define my belief now, I'd say it's a Pantheism with Christian roots that took many years to develop.

Somebody once told me there's a Sufi parable about belief (never found it written anywhere but liked it). If God/the Divine is the central point of a circle, humans stand on this circle and strive to move inwards. That means there are as many ways to God as there are points on the circle, and it also means that the closer we come to God, the closer we come to each other. I keep that in mind and respect other beliefs as much as my own or my grandmother's.

This belief has little to do with tarot. I don't believe that a pack of cards has supernatural powers, I don't pray to tarot and don't venerate it. It's for me a tool for self reflection, a work of art, a mirror of archetypes from the culture I grew up in, and a distillation of ancient wisdom in visual language. It's wonderful but no more wonderful than other human works of art, imagination and wisdom.

Reading the cards is for me on one level with getting counsel from a wise friend. I don't put my fate into the hands even of the wisest friend, and I don't let the tarot control my life or anyone elses. The tarot can show me possibilities, tendencies, chances and challenges in my life, and it can help me bring to the surface what I felt but couldn't put into words.

It's a great tool but just like I wouldn't put a Rorschach picture or "War and Peace" on the same level as God or the Cosmos, I don't venerate the tarot.

So even when I was closer to my Christian belief than I am now, there was no conflict for me.

Besides: according to what I was taught, God gave us freedom and responsibility and a conscience. Why not use them and trust that you are well-equipped to make decisions of your own?
 

Bonny

It is very beautiful to hear some of these posts illuminate mature christian thought.

Nema's and the others that point to the difference between idolatry and using cards as a method to reflect are a relief to hear!

Thank God for common sense, at the basis of good Christian theology.
 

FinoAllaFine

Nemia said:
I was raised in Pietist Luthern family, especially my grandparents and aunt were very pious, but for many years, I have moved from my roots and discovered Christian mysticism (Meister Eckart), other religions and wisdom teachings, and if I had to define my belief now, I'd say it's a Pantheism with Christian roots that took many years to develop.

Somebody once told me there's a Sufi parable about belief (never found it written anywhere but liked it). If God/the Divine is the central point of a circle, humans stand on this circle and strive to move inwards. That means there are as many ways to God as there are points on the circle, and it also means that the closer we come to God, the closer we come to each other. I keep that in mind and respect other beliefs as much as my own or my grandmother's.

This belief has little to do with tarot. I don't believe that a pack of cards has supernatural powers, I don't pray to tarot and don't venerate it. It's for me a tool for self reflection, a work of art, a mirror of archetypes from the culture I grew up in, and a distillation of ancient wisdom in visual language. It's wonderful but no more wonderful than other human works of art, imagination and wisdom.

Reading the cards is for me on one level with getting counsel from a wise friend. I don't put my fate into the hands even of the wisest friend, and I don't let the tarot control my life or anyone elses. The tarot can show me possibilities, tendencies, chances and challenges in my life, and it can help me bring to the surface what I felt but couldn't put into words.

It's a great tool but just like I wouldn't put a Rorschach picture or "War and Peace" on the same level as God or the Cosmos, I don't venerate the tarot.

So even when I was closer to my Christian belief than I am now, there was no conflict for me.

Besides: according to what I was taught, God gave us freedom and responsibility and a conscience. Why not use them and trust that you are well-equipped to make decisions of your own?
Click to expand...

I think this is one of the best posts I've read.
 

page of wands

chongjasmine said:
I am a christian, my faith in Jesus matters most to me.
I think tarot is wrong, but I am still addicted to it.
I think ultimately, God looks at the heart.
Is your heart for Him or is your heart in tarot?
That is the question we, as Christians, have to answer, before Him.
Click to expand...

That's a good point. I think my heart is for him. I am obsessed with tarot, but that's because i act this way whenever i like something. i like something passionately. but it doesn't mean i love it more than God.
 

page of wands

Nemia said:
I was raised in Pietist Luthern family, especially my grandparents and aunt were very pious, but for many years, I have moved from my roots and discovered Christian mysticism (Meister Eckart), other religions and wisdom teachings, and if I had to define my belief now, I'd say it's a Pantheism with Christian roots that took many years to develop.

Somebody once told me there's a Sufi parable about belief (never found it written anywhere but liked it). If God/the Divine is the central point of a circle, humans stand on this circle and strive to move inwards. That means there are as many ways to God as there are points on the circle, and it also means that the closer we come to God, the closer we come to each other. I keep that in mind and respect other beliefs as much as my own or my grandmother's.

This belief has little to do with tarot. I don't believe that a pack of cards has supernatural powers, I don't pray to tarot and don't venerate it. It's for me a tool for self reflection, a work of art, a mirror of archetypes from the culture I grew up in, and a distillation of ancient wisdom in visual language. It's wonderful but no more wonderful than other human works of art, imagination and wisdom.

Reading the cards is for me on one level with getting counsel from a wise friend. I don't put my fate into the hands even of the wisest friend, and I don't let the tarot control my life or anyone elses. The tarot can show me possibilities, tendencies, chances and challenges in my life, and it can help me bring to the surface what I felt but couldn't put into words.

It's a great tool but just like I wouldn't put a Rorschach picture or "War and Peace" on the same level as God or the Cosmos, I don't venerate the tarot.

So even when I was closer to my Christian belief than I am now, there was no conflict for me.

Besides: according to what I was taught, God gave us freedom and responsibility and a conscience. Why not use them and trust that you are well-equipped to make decisions of your own?
Click to expand...

This is really good! I totally agree. I like the way you put things too. I feel like some people are not searching for God though. Like maybe they are going away from God, instead of drawing near. And the ones are searching could be in any religion or spirituality but they are the ones searching and getting closer. We are all on a spiritual journey, whether getting closer or farther away from God (that's what I think). And I like how you say when we get closer to God, we get closer to each other. That's a really great picture.
 

page of wands

gregory said:
I am not Christian. I don't even believe in God. BUT my father was a minister (and was once heard to say he wasn't sure if he believed in God either; it depends what you mean by god - but that's another stpry...)

ANYWAY - my understanding has always been that (for those who do buy in) God loves us all, each and every one of us, for who we are. Which means he loves us and our tarot, if that is a part of who we are.

If he were going to get peeved about something, I imagine he would be rather more concerned about people who drop bombs on other people, who murder, who abuse children and animals, who casually break up other gospel's relationships.... I'm willing to bet if he's out there, he'd use the cards himself if he felt like it. And I am NOT being frivolous here.
Click to expand...

Really good point. God is love. And dropping bombs on people is not love. I feel like if there is a God, and if Tarot is bad (for whatever reason) God would let us know if we ask him. That's what I'm doing, and keeping an eye out for the answer.
 

page of wands

teatimetarot said:
As a practicing and professing Christian, I had some reservations when I got out my old tarot deck recently. I purchased it a few years ago before I converted, so getting it out again brought back a lot of those (Pagan) associations.

I decided to proceed without "hiding" anything from God. I pray before I do a reading, specifically for the Holy Spirit to guide me and help me to discern. I also make a point to remember that God is Almighty and that future readings aren't definite and certainly aren't outside of his control. To me this is important because my faith is (and remains) in God, not in a deck of cards, and ultimately I trust him to the utmost.

So I think a good question to ask is whether your use of the cards constitutes idolatry. By that I mean, where do you put your faith - in the deck or in God? I think we might be tempted to put our faith in the cards and their predictive outcomes. But our faith should remain in God. The tarot is just a tool to help us understand situations better.

In using the tarot and being a Christian I remember 1 Corinthians 10:31: " So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." In fact, that whole section of 1 Corinthians is good reading because it deals with a similar dilemma. If we continue to do all we do, including tarot, for God, I think we will soon understand how - and if - to proceed.

So, yeah :).
Click to expand...

I'm going to follow like you do. Pray for Holy Spirit to give me discernment before doing tarot things, and ask for his guidance. It's good to know that their are other Christians that do tarot.
 
Tarot Journalling Name your deck?