What can go wrong with Tarot?

(secret answer…lots!)

Focusing on reading for yourself rather than as a professional.

The easiest thing to go wrong with Tarot is you allow the reading to scare you, or feed your fears.

We’ve heard it a million times “there’s no such thing as a bad card”. It’s all well and good- but when you asked how your job interview would go and there is the Devil, 5 of pentacles and 5 of swords no one is going to feel uplifted.

So how to guard against feeding your fears?

· Don’t ask if you aren’t prepared to hear the answer. It is worth taking your time to consider the impact of a reading. Once you’ve seen those cards you can not undo the spread.

· Focus on advice, and how to best navigate a situation rather than outcome. (The future is not fixed- so advice is always useful!)

· Choose your time wisely. Not when drunk or upset. Perhaps go for a walk first, watch a little comedy on TV, or wait until you can chat to a friend about how you are feeling too.

· Journal (journal, journal!) Writing about your reading, allowing yourself to process your emotions, really helps you to differentiate between emotional feal and the reality of the situation.

What about energies, entities, and “spirits” and the like?

Now maybe this just isn’t your “thing” and that is fine. But it is something that gets discussed a lot, and it is within my world view. The question I see a lot on Facebook is “will Tarot open me up to bad energies”. My answer is it is not Tarot that is opening you up- rather it is your altered state of consciousness that may allow other energies to enter your soul space. But any form of altered consciousness can do this (especially drugs) and it is VERY rare.

The easiest way to explain my understanding is that if you are not in full sovereignty of your soul space (if you are astral planning, journeying, etc) then there is room for something else to step in.

But again- this is very rare, and even rarer through reading Tarot.

My best advice is to stay grounded (sit with your feet flat on the floor), work with whatever guides/prayers/protection crystals or symbols work with you (asking for your Gods or guides to protect you at the start of a reading is powerful).

If you feel drained, or are getting odd feelings/experiences that aren’t normal tune in. Do you feel comfortable with this? If not stop, breath in deeply through the soles of your feet, and take a break.

And please remember if someone says you have a bad entity attached- and wants to charge you loads and loads of money, it is a scam. (I do remove entities, but usually within a normal appointment, and I only ever charge for my time).

The value of Grounding

As a shaman I run a small circle in some old barns near to my home. One of the things that has shocked me is “spiritual” people saying they don’t want to work with earth energies as they are trying to “raise their vibrations”.

My experience is that the root & crown chakra are directly linked- and the more energised the root, the more open the crown.

Which is why during a Tarot reading I will sit for most of the time with my feet flat on the floor, and as I breathe in I will visualise breathing in through the soles of my feet- to draw the earth energy up. I find this keeps me energised through a reading, keeps me grounded, and helps deal with any transference of emotions I may feel whilst reading. It also helps me to be more connected through my crown chakra which helps the intuitive flow be even stronger.

This may not suit everyone- as always, my best advice is to try it and see!

To conclude

Tarot is a powerful tool- but it does not create problems in your life. It may highlight them, it can create fear if you are not focused on processing and structuring the reading carefully. But the problems were there already- its just that you probably weren't fully aware of them.

It is Ok to not read Tarot right now, or to say "no" to anyone who asks you to.

It is OK to only ask for advice, and not go near prediction at all.

Tarot is a tool that can help and support life- so focus on using it help, in however best suits you.

If Tarot is not helping then either you are using it wrong, or you are working with the wrong reader.