The Tarot Ate My Friends

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 15 Jul 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Dark Inquisitor	15 Jul 2002
After I became involved with the tarot, I lost a lot of friends. One family that I was friends with for 10 years stopped speaking to me after I sent them a reading about their troubled son that the wife had requested. (There wasn't anything terrible in the reading, and I did it for free.) They won't even return my emails or phone calls so I can ask what happened! There are other similar incidents, all involving people that I have gone out of my way to help for years . It's as if whoever you really are and the good you've done doesn't matter, you just become labeled as evil or scary because you can do this. (You would expect this kind of thing from really religious types, but these people weren't that way or I never would've bothered to tell them.) I've kind of decided it must be for the best, but I was curious if anyone else has had similar encounters. Tarotphelia

Fiona Blackwolf	15 Jul 2002
I have had similar experiances, though not due to tarot reallt. More to my spirituality in general. Sometimes people just aren't open to change or to a spirituality not their own. I believe people come into your life for a reason and some of them...after that reason or lesson is over... leave. When this happens, although it makes me sad, I find it best not to dwell on it and to try to move on (not always easy :) ) And I have also found that when this happens new friends who are more in tune with my path join me and I am generally happier.

truthsayer	15 Jul 2002
i rarely tell anyone that i do tarot anymore. it was only w/ great hesistation that i told my husband. fortunately, he accepted it even tho he doesn't believe readings are true. so i won't do readings for him. when i started doing tarot as a teen, i didn't realize that some ppl consider tarot to be evil. i brought my cards to see a friend once and her father got really upset at me. he began a 6 year campaign to save my soul from tarot. it was my first big confrontation w/ a fundamentalist christian. he even told my mother to burn my cards. she told me what he said and i told her that if she did i'd just get another deck. i never could get why he was so upset about that. i never did drugs or drank. i wasn't promiscuous. i got good grades and was involved in school activities. i'm not surprized your friends backed off from you, tarotphelia. ppl often can't handle the truth that we give them. they think they can handle it but in the end denial is easier. i did a reading once for a woman that a very sensitive spot came up and she started crying. i was very gentle and kind and spent an hour or so counseling her. afterwards, she stepped returning my emails. i decided that i reminded her of a painful truth and backed off. i knew she was scared of the cards to begin w/ and she got more than she bargained for. i can accept that. i just hate that i made her so uncomfortable revealing that truth.

Diana	15 Jul 2002
edited

zorya	15 Jul 2002
diana said this so well; "I suppose if I lost friends due to my Tarot interest, or other interests, I reckon it would not bother me much. It would mean that I have outgrown these people, that our paths have separated and it is time to say good-bye." i believe that people come in and out of our lives for a reason. we need them for some purpose while they are in our lives. even people we don't get along with. it may be that they are there to help us learn a particular lesson. once that lesson is learned, or our purpose in their life has been accomplished, it may be that it is just time for everyone to move on. time for us to move on! your readings may well have upset them! often the truth is hard to handle. it may seem easier for them to be angry at the messenger then to be angry with themselves or their situation. your readings had an impact. you've planted a seed in their brain. you have succeeded! now, let it go and move on. new people will enter your life. the people you need at this time.

Starfish	15 Jul 2002
Quote: Originally posted by zorya I believe that people come in and out of our lives for a reason. we need them for some purpose while they are in our lives. even people we don't get along with. it may be that they are there to help us learn a particular lesson. once that lesson is learned, or our purpose in their life has been accomplished, it may be that it is just time for everyone to move on. time for us to move on! How insightful and beautifully put! :T3C Starfish

Dark Inquisitor	15 Jul 2002
Some friends I didn't read for at all- they just think tarot is of the devil . Which I didn't know before we had the last conversation! The people I did the reading for didn't get a scary reading. In fact, the aspects were really good- Both parents & the son got the wish card in the same position in their relationship spread outcomes ! (Pretty remarkable.) I was not out to succeed, or plant a seed in their brain. I was trying to help their son who is really gifted and deserves every chance he can get.(The kid's favorite book was the encyclopedia!!) But , whatever happened , I accept it as the universe weeding out people who may not have much concept of friendship, but hid it really well for a long time. I am still curious about the experiences others have had along similar lines. Tarotphelia

Dark Inquisitor	15 Jul 2002
PS- I know you're trying to be helpful, but I am not asking for you to fix me or to explain it to me. I would just like to hear some interesting stories! Tarotphelia

zorya	15 Jul 2002
i humbly apologize tarotphelia. i was not trying to "fix you".

the hermit	15 Jul 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Tarotphelia PS- I know you're trying to be helpful, but I am not asking for you to fix me or to explain it to me. I would just like to hear some interesting stories! Tarotphelia You might find the following previous thread from here interesting: Discretion My tale of woe, and others, are there. I haven't lost too many friends, but as I've said in other threads, "you get to pick your friends", and my true friends accept me for what I am... a grumpy old hermit :)

Dark Inquisitor	15 Jul 2002
Don't get all mushy on me! You have nothing to apologise for . Tarotphelia

Umbrae	15 Jul 2002
After reading for a few years I have learned that some folks can handle readings while others cannot. When it comes to friends, after losing a few (and really, in retrospect, no great loss, they made room for others), I am very careful before I provide any kind of reading. I will do no reading for a friend about affairs or children. I look at it this way; they do not want me to tell them how to raise their children, what license does a tarot deck give either of us (them or me)?

divinerguy	18 Jul 2002
I used to substitute teach at a local high school. A student saw my tarot deck in my opened briefcase, and exclaimed, "Oh, those are evil." I closed my briefcase, thinking that she would make a major issue out of it. I live in a small town, and could imagine the newspaper story. Luckily, she didn't say anything. I don't keep a deck in my briefcase any more.

Faerie Lin	18 Jul 2002
5 years ago, when I worked at this semi-conductor place, I had brought my tarot deck to work. Then I was teamed up with an older baptist lady, very into talking about the "rapture" and "are you ready for it?" Well when she found out I read tarot, she also told me that this was evil and she said she prayed for me everynight, asking God to please let me give up the tarot. We had this huge argument one day where I REALLY got upset (inside, couldn't show it outside since I was at work) plus sometimes I get irritated easily. Then all of a sudden a felt this caressing hand glide across my cheek in such a comforting way. It was either my spirit guide or a departed loved one, still not very good at distinguishing... But that there made me realize, that everything was okay. Lin

napaea	18 Jul 2002
i haven't actually had this happen with tarot yet. but when people found out i was doing yoga and taking herbal remedies for my allergies, you'd have thought i was the mistress of the devil. i also had long-time friends "caution" me about yoga and herbs, and that they might lead to other things. or worry about what "the chanting" was. (i told them sections of the satanic bible in hindi. lol just kidding) it was really frustrating for me, because up until then, these people had complete confidence in my sanity, and just because i decide to do some stretching they feared for my eternal soul. i have a hard time with that as far as being psychic, or believing in reincarnation. people think i am full of demons or am being "misled" by evil spirits. it seems to be ok for them to receive information from the "holy spirit" , but if i talk to my dead grandmother i am channeling evil minions. i can't really figure out why people get so all whacked out about stuff. you know, if it seems upsetting to people, i don't know why they don't research it a little. if they don't understand or agree, fine but at least they'd be more educated and not afraid of a freaking deck of cards or a back bend!!!!! (oooops. guess i pushed my own anger button! :) )

wavebreaker	19 Jul 2002
Quote: Originally posted by napaea i can't really figure out why people get so all whacked out about stuff. you know, if it seems upsetting to people, i don't know why they don't research it a little. if they don't understand or agree, fine but at least they'd be more educated and not afraid of a freaking deck of cards or a back bend!!!!! I think it's these other people's insecurity. They don't have an opinion of their own, so they desperately hang on to their own religion/beliefs. So if someone else comes along who believes something else, they don't know what to do about that. They can't argue against it, because they can't even explain their own beliefs, they are just repeating what their religion has told them without ever thinking about it or without ever doubting what they have been taught. So they are scared by other beliefs, and they just dismiss it as being "evil", which is also what their religion is telling them to do. Getting more educated is scary for them too, because they may find out that other religions/beliefs may have a point as well. Just my 2 cents...

Dark Inquisitor	19 Jul 2002
Yoga was all it took to be mistress of the devil? How come I didn't know about that? Somebody should tell the National Enquirer! I always wonder why relatives & friends feel free to caution you about your personal beliefs, yet they never come and ask you for permission to follow theirs. (Are we just walking around with the words DANGEROUSLY DUMB on our foreheads and don't know it?) The Holy Spirit parallel is really interesting. I bought a plastic pumpkin at a resale store and was handed a booklet about a local church that was speaking in tongues. I felt like giving her a lecture on the dangers of possession, but I knew that would cement my new status as the Evil One to be Feared & Converted. (Do you think people's reactions to me would be different if I wore a crucifix ? That would be funny- to have to wear a cross to protect me from Christians!) I am thinking that modern people really haven't changed from the huddled village peasants of 300 or 3000 years ago. If you have a different belief it threatens the cohesiveness of the group. Everybody must stay in line, control maintained in order for them to feel secure. We are making them nervous. I am also thinking that the need for a scapegoat is alive & well & universal. If you become the "weird person" , you may be making yourself the automatic scapegoat target of the group. I bet there's a lot going on under the surface we don't understand. It would be really fascinating to interview random people and come up with a profile of exactly what is going on in their minds about all this. Might scare the hell out of me too. Tarotphelia

divinerguy	19 Jul 2002
Good thing we don't live in 15th century Europe, if so, they'd be out collecting firewood and matches. Still, I think I'd prefer being burned at the stake, rather than listen to my sisters go on about Satan. At least with burning, it would be over relatively quickly.

Dark Inquisitor	19 Jul 2002
Quote: Originally posted by divinerguy Still, I think I'd prefer being burned at the stake, rather than listen to my sisters go on about Satan. . [/b] I wonder if the people that are always thinking , fearing , & talking about Satan realize they may be attracting it!!!! (I imagine it would like nothing better than to torture religious people who are really afraid of it.) Tarotphelia

The The Tarot Ate My Friends thread was originally posted on 15 Jul 2002 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.