All Hands on Deck!

I’m laying the nay-saying (and often scary!) myths about tarot cards on the table.

I’ve said it before and I’m gonna say it again—I would love for you to get your hands on a tarot deck of your very own. If this idea gives you that sparkly “ooooh” feeling, allow me to shoo away any false negative ‘scaries’ often believed about this magical modality that may be holding you back.

Even when used as a self-development and creative tool, as I do, there is still undeniable magic and mystery to this curious modality. Undoubtedly, this is why so many foreboding myths continue to swirl around it.

Let’s debunk them, shall we?

Myth: The cards will tell your future or fortune.

Many people fear a reading because they think the cards will somehow foretell something horrible. I get that—not many of us would want to be told that we’ll die young or that some terrible stroke of luck is right around the corner.

Well, it’s a good thing a colorful piece of card stock can’t do that! Any card overturned or message from them is for your benefit, even if it tends to fall in what you would view as the ‘negative’ category. It may show you what could happen if you continue your current thought process or take a potential path to your detriment.

Rider Waite Smith tarot

Any danger the cards may warn about is more than likely allegorical and metaphorical. If the 10 of Swords is turned over, you will not be stabbed with ten large swords pierced in a perfect line down your back. It’s often a warning of an argument, a betrayal, or even your thoughts and actions that have the potential of bringing whatever you’re working toward to a nasty end.  

The thing is, choice is always part of the equation. Although some readers can have psychic abilities, even if they ‘see’ something in your future, they can’t predict or control what you will do when you leave a reading. The idea of getting a tarot reading is to learn about yourself to avoid making damaging choices or validate your current path. And when horrible things happen— because they do, whether we make confident choices or not-- tarot helps you learn how to sit and sift through these instances in a way that still has the potential to move you forward.

Myth: The Death card means that you will die.

As with the 10 of Swords I mentioned above, the Death card does not mean physical death. The Devil card does not mean a scary red dude with horns and a tail will terrorize you or your loved ones.

On the flip side, The Sun card doesn’t predict that everything in your life will be happy, and The Empress is not necessarily telling you you’re pregnant.

Although some cards may give off a darker tone, there are no purely ‘good’ or ‘bad’ cards in a tarot deck because life itself is not merely good or bad, white or black. In almost any situation, you can experience a positive and/or negative feeling or outcome. Cards tend to give off more positive or negative energy, and even that is dependent on whatever else is happening in the grand scheme of things.

There is a reason people study the tarot for years and never become experts (in my humble opinion.) Every card has many layers and can mean so many different things. And although each one does have a prescribed definition, if you will, often the most life-changing and essential interpretation you intuitively come to can have nothing to do with what it is supposed to ‘mean.’

Myth: You have to be a mind-reader or at least into the occult to read the tarot.

OhmygoodnessNo. I will tell you right now—although I’m pretty intuitive, I am not a psychic! I like to be very clear about that so that people who come to me for a reading don’t expect that I will be predicting anything in their lives.

I believe if you’re going to read the tarot for other people, being intuitive, compassionate, and empathetic are the only imperative qualities in the job description.

Although I haven’t been a conventional spiritual person in quite some time, I’m still someone who used to cringe when anyone would mention “the Universe” as a source of guidance. When I started getting into the tarot, I was about as far away from ‘woo woo’ as a person can be.

It is only since I opened myself up to learning and getting involved with the spirit of tarot that I feel more connected to nature, how we are all intertwined, and more receptive to an ‘occult’ way of thinking. (and p.s., ‘occult’ does not mean ‘devil worship.’ It is a practice of magical thinking and practices that attributes unexplained and mystical forces to many things.) That was my path, and it is certainly not the path of others. I know people of the Christian faith who read the tarot!

Myth: I won’t be a tarot reader, so I shouldn’t have a tarot deck.

I enjoy sharing my thoughts and ideas with the help of the tarot, which is the same reason I got my life coaching certification. I am passionate about helping people discover and explore what calls to them as their authentic, elemental selves, and helping them spark their creative fires.

As I mentioned above, there are no specific requirements to work with the tarot, and you certainly don’t have to read it for anyone else but yourself! All that is required to get something out of it is curiosity, an open mind, and a love of learning.  

Myth: It’s too much to memorize and learn about the cards!

Yes, digging deep into the tarot means dipping your toe in astrology, numerology, and symbology and familiarizing yourself with the prescribed meanings of each card. But guess what? You don’t have to know a damn thing about any of that—or even what the cards mean—for them to spark creative and explorative thoughts within you for journaling, meditating, and visualizing. Cool, huh?

You may be surprised that I rarely read cards that present as reversed or upside-down because, the way I tend to read, many of these nuances come out in the cards as they present themselves right-side up. The tarot mentor I worked with initially doesn’t read them unless she gets an intuitive hit to do so. We readers tend to follow our own guidelines!

A tarot deck is for anyone who wants to continue exploring and learning about themselves and wants to turn self-development into self-expansion!

Myth: Tarot decks are so old-fashioned; they are misogynistic and too conventional for me.

I get those feelings! If you look at the classic Rider Waite Smith deck, which pretty much started the way we use the tarot today, you’ll see that everyone is white, and the people and roles they embody are very much behind the times.

Luckily, the ideals behind even this classic deck have evolved. Like there are no positive or negative cards, the tarot is also meant to be read as fluid with its prescribed archetypes.

Yes, in this deck, Kings are drawn as men, and Queens are women. Knights are always men. But the tarot invites you to look at these identities as degrees of masculine and feminine. For instance, a man who stays home to care for the kids when they are young takes on more of a feminine queenly role at that time, and a woman who takes action or fights for something she feels very passionate about embodies knight energy.

From left to right, in a circle: The Biddy Tarot Deck, Terra Volatile by Credo quia Absurdum, The Somnia Tarot by Nicolas Bruno, and The Moonchild Tarot, by Danielle Noel.

And although this specific deck does not depict people of color, many decks do. You can find this classic deck redone with a mix of skin colors, and many decks celebrate people of unique cultures, which is really cool.

Myth: I have to wait for someone to gift me a deck.

I have no idea where this myth came from or why it’s a thing. Perhaps people thought it was bad luck to get your own, or it is supposed to ‘find its way’ to you to be effective?

Ridiculous. I personally think you must pick out your own, unless, of course, someone knows what you want and gifts it to you. A tarot deck is very personal, and it should speak to you. There are countless styles out there!

This is why getting to a store where you can see and touch different decks or at least spending time looking at every card in a deck online is so important. Many specialty stores will have a plethora of decks on display that you can go through. As such a visual person and storyteller, I am someone who needs to feel drawn to a specific style or art to feel attached to a deck. And it’s important to feel attached! This will inspire you to want to study and work with them, and you will see and feel so much more if you’re drawn to the overall feeling of it.

That being said, I do highly suggest starting with the Rider Waite Tarot, or something that follows that very closely, for your first deck. I will be honest when I say I wasn’t particularly drawn to it initially. I didn’t like the bright colors—I tend to be more of a pastel gal—and they seemed a bit ‘simplistic’ for my taste.  But I knew it was the OG for a reason, and I thought it would be good to start learning with it. I find myself going to it a lot now, and it has definitely grown on me.

Pagan Otherworlds by Uusi

When I first went to purchase one, I fell in absolute LOVE with the Pagan Otherworlds deck. However, flipping through the cards, I was disappointed that the minor cards didn’t have ‘people’ in them. The depictions of the suits are beautiful, and although there were some artistic hints to the general meaning of each of these cards, I knew I needed to start with something more conventional to help me learn. I reluctantly put it back on the shelf, knowing I wasn’t quite ready for it. One year later, after lots of study, I purchased it as a birthday gift to myself. Although I have other decks that I’m very drawn to, this will always be my personal deck—and I’m glad I waited until I was ready for it.

Whew, did I cover all of the myths? I think so! Please ask me if you can think of any others or statements you’ve heard that have given you pause! I’d love to shed some light for you. And if you need help picking out a first deck? Don’t hesitate to reach out for ideas.