using a box with salt

[zan_chan]

The trouble with all of this as I see it is that the OP was told that she was making a mistake by not storing her decks with salt, as if she were breaking one of the Ten Commandments of tarot. If the reader the OP had gone to had said that cleansing your decks by storing them with salt is something one can do, there would be no problem, as she would then have the choice to make. Being scared into these myths because tarot is spooooky does nothing but further the image that we should all be 70 year old gypsies in purple headscarves....

 

[starrystarrynight]

Zan_chan, I was just about to say the exact same thing...

Perpetrating these things can do harm...not to the cards or their energies, but to our image as readers.

 

[The crowned one]

First, I never said the cards would turn, someone else did.

Fair enough.

 

[Silver Crow]

I guess I'll take my salt, smudge sticks, myths and lies and go back to reading these types of threads and not commenting. I didn't realize there were a handful of people that knew what is and isn't true as far as tarot and divination go. If ever there is a thread telling me what to believe or not, and who is right and knows all the facts, what is fact and what is fiction, I will be sure to read it, apparently I have it all wrong.

 

[Rev_Vesta]

Working with tarot is such a personal journey....

There are so many myths and differing beliefs... it is about finding what works for you and what not....

if you want to work with salt, sea salt, himalayan salt , which is great for consecration, cleansing etc...... I would suggest if you want to use it with your Tarot cards I would keep the salt in a pouch or bag of some sort (not plastic (as plastic can create moisture if it gets too hot...)not in direct contact with the cards.... as I would hate to see a Tarot deck get ruined by being in contact with salt......and maybe the cards also wrapped in a cloth or in a pouch of some sort..... the box should not have any metal pieces because of erosion......

Rituals are important to the person creating them for themselves....

just remember not everyone follows the same ritual as you do but it does not make their ritual any less important than yours...........

Rituals are created for a purpose and as individuals we have the right to believe the ritual works.... but we do have to understand that not everyone has the same beliefs......
Hope this helps.....
take care.....
Vesta

 

[Manda]

Tarot, by its' very nature, is subjective. Just as there is no definitive list of what the cards means in every situation or to each individual, there is also no list that says "you must do this" or "never do that" when it comes to reading cards.

If one feels cards are purified by salt, by all means, salt 'em up. There is no harm done to anyone. There is equally no harm in not salting the cards, if you do not see the benefit. Some people find rituals important and comforting, and some do not care for them. It's personal, and we should honor what resonates within our hearts.

There are two little dishes of salt on my altar, one black and one white, because I do think it has a place there, for me. But there is no salt near my cards, unless I happen to be using them on the altar, and I have not had any adverse effects.

Ultimately, I believe that tarot is a tool, an amazing and wonderful tool that should be used respectfully and valued, but like all tools, it makes a job easier, not possible. I believe tarot cards are like Dumbo's feather. He could fly all along, but grasping it made him believe in magic.

 

[gregory]

I guess I'll take my salt, smudge sticks, myths and lies and go back to reading these types of threads and not commenting. I didn't realize there were a handful of people that knew what is and isn't true as far as tarot and divination go. If ever there is a thread telling me what to believe or not, and who is right and knows all the facts, what is fact and what is fiction, I will be sure to read it, apparently I have it all wrong.

How odd. This whole thread seems to me to be people saying whatever works for you is OK, but there are no rules (except for a few tongue in cheek posts including some of mine.)

There IS no right or wrong, and I think no-one in this thread will say there is - though I am aware that there are a few threads here where someone claims to have the absolute answer. But the "anything goes" includes whether or not you HAVE to have salt. No you don't - but equally if you feel it's right for YOU, go for it; maybe you are someone who DOES have to. That is NOT to say that you have it wrong - just that I don't feel the same way.

But I do think it's dodgy to think that painted cards can have energies that need cleansing. The only energies of that sort I have come across have been smells - easily cured by my now famous candle box !

 

[Rasa]

I believe that salt has cleansing and healing properties, both physically and energetically. This can't really be proven, and I think that the only difference that makes a belief into a myth is when someone says that you should believe the unproveable thing, too.

Sometimes I use unrefined sea-salt in rituals, for purification (in the bath, sprinkled in the circle, rubbed between my hands, in a dish on my altar that I might place things in, etc.).... but I don't use it on my cards, both because I wouldn't want them to be damaged, and also because I don't cleanse the energy of my cards. I stir it up (the energy, I mean) by shuffling-- but I don't believe I ever need to 'clear' my decks.
I want them to accumulate things. I want my decks to be worldly, and buzzing with the stories of all the people I read for, NOT clean and sterile. And I think that even when people have difficult readings, it doesn't make the deck negative. The deck already has all the symbols in it for every shade of human experience, how can it be all good or all bad?
The deck just becomes more experienced, and more refined. It expresses more, as it takes in more.
I believe that objects can become consecrated through their USE, for a particular purpose, and that this is usually a better way of making something sacred than trying to do some kind of elaborate ritualistic practice.


Just my $.02

 

[The crowned one]

I believe that salt has cleansing and healing properties, both physically and energetically. This can't really be proven, and I think that the only difference that makes a belief into a myth is when someone says that you should believe the unproveable thing, too.

Just my $.02

The physical is true and provable. I think the energetic is true and provable too. Salt as an isotonic sodium chloride (saline) solution has the same fluid quality as blood plasma. ( saline solution IV) skin and the eyes are protected from infectious germs by the anti-bacterial effect of salt. It is also a anti fungal. How about Osmosis? Regulating fluid pressure within our cells thereby protecting the body against excessive water loss? Steam with salt for chronic respiratory disease...The list is endless. Our ansesters knew this and myths and legends( a great way to pass on knowledge) formed around salt, gave it value, and insured its continues use.

 

[misfitknits]

Tarot, by its' very nature, is subjective. Just as there is no definitive list of what the cards means in every situation or to each individual, there is also no list that says "you must do this" or "never do that" when it comes to reading cards.

actually, there are lists *whether in books, or now, reproduced in various places on the internet* that say you absolutely should or shouldn't do certain things. but just as the first sentence of that quote says, it IS subjective.

rituals ARE what they mean to the person who participates in them. and to other people they are ABSOLUTE dribble. these are OPINIONS we are talking about.

to the person who originally asked about the salt, i'm sorry someone made you think you MUST keep your tarot cards with salt. what people are trying to say in this thread is that if you want to do that, believe in that, that is your choice, but it's certainly not something you HAVE to do.

also, what i understood from the question: because this person has given you such accurate readings, you put alot of faith in what she tells you. therefore, the thing with the salt must be true. and also that if this person stopped keeping their cards in salt, their ability to give accurate readings would somehow stop.

so then we could deduce that keeping the cards with salt is what's giving this person their great ability to read the tarot cards, which i can tell you, respectfully, but without a doubt, IS false.