superstitions on tarot

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

anjocoxo	15 Dec 2002
Everybody knows that people (non-taroholics and even taroholics) says the most unbelievable things about the tarot.... I've already done a spread about decks being offered (you know "deck have to be offered, bla,bla,bla..." AH!). Another things I've heard was that the cards have to be taken out with your left hand... and that you cannot read cards on a Sunday (WHY????). So, what I want you to do is tell me things that you've heard about tarot... superstitions, even absurd things, and if you think they actually make sense and why.... Anjo ;)

Damien X	15 Dec 2002
I have heard and read many crazy things about Tarot in my days, and here's a random selection: *one should cut the deck with the left hand *one should cut the deck with the right hand *one should have a special container for the cards *the container should be made by black silk *the container should be a wooden box *the container should never be made in metal *the cards should be recieved as a gift *the cards should not be used for anything else but reading (everything else is prohibited) *a reading should always be preceded by a magick ceremony *one should never use the cards on Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays... whatever How and why do people come up with these mad obsessions, so utterly divorced from reality?

Trogon	15 Dec 2002
Well... Damien already mentioned most of them I'd heard before, such as the "silk bag or scarf, wooden box, no metal storage" one and the "your tarot deck must be recieved as a gift" one. He missed the "jump on one leg, juggling 3 oranges and singing the...." no, wait... that's the DUI test from "The Man With Two Brains" isn't it? I did overhear a conversation in a local new-age shop that fits this discussion though. Two people were looking at the Tarot decks one Friday. I also happened to be looking at the Tarot decks, so I couldn't have missed this if I'd wanted to. The one was having trouble making up her mind which deck she wanted and her friend told her she shouldn't buy a deck anyway... because it was Friday. Apparently Fridays are bad for buying Tarot decks?

Macavity	15 Dec 2002
I'm studying one particular aspect of Tarot and I admit to feeling quite frustrated at the number of competing "theories" - Or the competing theorists. Lest there be any doubts left in the mind of the (this) reader, it becomes "Received Wisdom" or "Secret Lore" etc. Well indeed sometimes to/from ME anyway. ;) I suspect it's mostly about feeling... power. The "Knows" and "Don't Knows"? I admit (hope) to belonging mostly to the latter. But I observe it seems to keeps people (sometimes me) gainfully (harmlessly?) employed! In my OWN case it becomes observance of convention and tradition, the rediscovery of "old ways" etc. :D I suspect some are clear. Sabbath observance? The "Sinister" hand? The Silk/Metal ones are interesting. Avoidance (encouragement) of static electricity? Perhaps a ritual arising for coping with uncertaintly of... Modernity - Sparks maybe? :) Placating external agents seems common, especially in rituals. Get all your friends to believe (slightly fear) this stuff too? On buying my first Tarot deck, the salesperson said: (with concern?) "I hope you're not buying those for YOURSELF". Maybe it comes as company policy! I was merely confused: Wasn't I OLD enough? Was it somehow "illegal"? Did I need a plain brown bag? :) Unless taken to extremes, this must be harmless. I approve of traditions. Where does my acceptance criterion come from? Well, I'm a sucker for ANTIQUITY :D Mac

mrsjvan	15 Dec 2002
I once read that the reason for the silk is to protect your cards from "psychic contamination" another i have heard is that you shouldn't let other people touch your decks. I sure do break a lot of rules, lol. Funny thing is they still seem to work. hhhhmmmm mrsjvan

truthsayer	15 Dec 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Macavity On buying my first Tarot deck, the salesperson said: (with concern?) "I hope you're not buying those for YOURSELF". Maybe it comes as company policy! I was merely confused: Wasn't I OLD enough? Was it somehow "illegal"? Did I need a plain brown bag? :) Unless taken to extremes, this must be harmless. I approve of traditions. Where does my acceptance criterion come from? Well, I'm a sucker for ANTIQUITY :D Mac in answer to your question, some ppl believe that one should never buy a tarot deck for oneself. that it must be a gift for whatever reason. if i had waited for someone to give me my first one as a gift i would't have gotten one. now in the neighborhood of 100 decks later, i think 3 were gifts.

allibee	15 Dec 2002
I feel a lot of the superstitions may well have started inocuously*sp*enough with the superstitious people that gave us the tarot, and were perpetuated by the Europeans that made the tarot what it is today. With their love of of the mysterious the Europeans added to the superstitions and rituals according to their locale and education. Nowadays *I FEEL* these superstitions have been twisted and bent out of all proportion with many serving no more purpose than to make Joe Public believe the tarot an elitest pastime, for only the select few. If I read the tarot for any strong reason at all, it is simply because "I can". And I hope the majority of these silly, no longer relevant to this day and age rituals and superstitions disappear back into antiquity where they belong, so that everybody can have the chance to read the tarot as they would a newspaper, without the threat of eternal damnation or serious mishap if they do something the 'wrong' way ;) allibee

Alissa	15 Dec 2002
Supersitions are a way for humans to gain "control" over something -- to gain a desired outcome, or to avoid a nasty one, usually. Many superstitions come from something that made an inkling of sense once (like not walking under a ladder, because you might get hurt, something dropped on your head, etc). My theatre background is ALIVE with supersitions and I am a superstitious person, even though part of me thinks I'm silly. I don't have any supersitions about my Cards though, at least not the ones listed here. I let others touch my cards, I dont keep them in silk, I dont worry about psychic contamination, and I dont use any magic rituals before or after reading. But.... and this my my BIG BUT :D Superstitions give us a sense of well-being, and create the "illusion" we have successfully navigated around bad circumstances, and/or encouraged good circumstances. The placebo effect here is what's SERIOUSLY the most important part, to me. Example : I will not go onstage until I cross myself. I'm not even a Catholic, but I read many years ago (as a young ballet student) that Pavlova never stepped onstage without crossing herself. Great idea, I thought~! So, I started crossing myself before *i* went onstage ... and lo and behold, it made me feel better. It calmed me down, and now I cross myself a LOT when performing. I ALWAYS cross myself before stepping onstage before the beginning of each and every show, no matter how long the show's run. And, if I'm in a difficult scene or in a challenging dance that "scares me", I cross myself before that scene as well. I've crossed myself and crossed myself, and I still can't tell you why -- except that each time the placebo effect kicks in, and I think to myself in some tiny little way "I'm safe now" and I feel better. I seriously believe that in order to get our own energies/thoughts/actions in order, superstitions can help us to create a ritual to contain and control our fears. In reading, we may fear we "lost touch" with our cards and that our readings will no longer "work." Supersitions, then, create a way for us to control that fear, and manage it, and even get a sense of defeating it. It may be that those with no supersitions have no fears to manage.

fairyhedgehog	15 Dec 2002
I think that is a very interesting idea - superstition as a way to control fear. I am also interested that we can have superstitious practices even when we 'know' that it is us that they change, not the world around us. I bought a tiny Buddha for my mum today, and the man at the stall was telling me that I should welcome the Buddha into my home as I come into the house, and my mum should do the same when she unwraps it. So I did! And I felt very good about it. But I don't actually believe it ... I think the placebo effect is one of the most intriguing aspects of human psychology. But I suspect that the love of power is also part of at least some Tarot superstitions.

patter	16 Dec 2002
I think that it is natural trhat supersticuous or 'magical' thinking will surround the tarot. Afterall, [to be a little glib] there is not absolutely clear line between 'cards predict the future' and 'silk stops bad eminations from contaminating the cards'. It's just a matter of how people see the world. [speaking as a person who would not support either statement -- and therefore possibly just talking nonsense]. If the ritual helps your mood and lets you see helpful meanings and patterns, then great. If a person is, however, paranoid about not observing a long list of rituals then something has gone a bit awry, I guess. [p]

Osher	16 Dec 2002
Actually, many people do keep their tarot in silk, and wipe them after with the silk after someone else has used them. I'm guilty as charged m'lord on this one, but my teacher did this, as have all professional readers I have ever been to. As for the other things....Well, people like to think that great power needs great 'extras'. If something just works by turning on a key it is not nearly as special as needing to carry out complex operations before hand. Patter is right though, if something makes you able to read better, then it works, even if has no direct effect. So, if you read better wearing orange clothes at 7 in the morning, then it works. Slightly off topic, but Goethe, the German writer, needed a rotting apple in the desk drawer to be able to write!

ihcoyc	16 Dec 2002
The purpose of tarot, in one sense, is indeed to invite an uncontrolled outcome. If I could just think in different angles off the top of my head, I wouldn't need them. And like any other such process, sometimes the results will be apter and others. It's just human nature to start to wonder what it was I did right, or wrong. From these things, at least some superstitions are born. I am happy to keep my cards in a metal box --- but I lined it with black fake velvet first. (Silk, whatever its merits, doesn't take well to contact cement.) You can get a very nice index card box from Office Depot that holds two average sized decks. This is the box I use whenever I am taking the cards somewhere. I lined it with velvet mostly to protect the cards or the boxes from scuffs, not because I imagined that contact with cold metal would somehow dissipate the magic. Which deck has more mana? --- An immaculate deck, silk wrapped, taken out for special occasions, exposed once upon opening to patchouli incense? --- Or an ancient, beat-up deck, common property of a tavern, that gets used weekly on Saturday night by card-players, exposed to their smoke and their wine, and on Sunday is used by the landlord's daughter to ask the fates about her boyfriend? I may be odd for thinking so, but if the treatment it's received adds or subtracts from the power of the cards, I'll put my trust in the deck from the tavern.

Silverlotus	16 Dec 2002
I really like your idea, ihcoyc. Honestly, I baby my decks a little bit. I have one deck I've used for almost ten years and it doesn't feel anything like my first deck that I used for maybe a year. That deck got so banged up and bent it looks like it was used for a decade or more. I think all these superstitions may be why I'm having trouble connecting with my cards now. I didn't know about most of this superstitions when I bought my first deck. It worked great. But every deck since I've cared about the cloth, the box, etc. Well blah to that now! I'm making neat little bags with cross stitched designs on them to hold the cards (the boxes they come in are cheap!). And if my cubby old kitty wants to sleep on my latest spread, she's more then welcome. I think taking some of the "mystery" away from the cards will help me use them better. Sure, I love romanticism and magic as much as the next person, but if I want to use the cards to examine myself, I need to strip some of that away. I think spending to much time, energy and effort of the mystery surrounding the cards takes away from the work I'm trying to do of stripping away the mystery surrounding me. lol! Down with superstitions. ;)

retrokat	16 Dec 2002
Why DO humans crave ritual? Ah, there's a fascinating topic for the next time I've had a tequila or two....

Sea Sprite	16 Dec 2002
I suspect that some of it got started by unscrupulous merchants in an effort to increase sales such as never work with a used deck; always store your cards in a wood box; wrap your cards in silk; etc. JMHO :D Sea Sprite :CL

Macavity	17 Dec 2002
Quote: Originally posted by retrokat Why DO humans crave ritual? Ah, there's a fascinating topic for the next time I've had a tequila or two.... Yep, prepare the salt and lemon :) Mac

Teranar	17 Dec 2002
Heh, I already try to wear my cards out as much as possible - My 'New' Deck already looks like I've had it for months! I've heard a few superstitions like one I do myself - I always have people I read shuffle the cards if applicable to get their spirit all over the cards, or to project their spirit at the cards, but the wierdest superstitions I've heard relate to the readers themselves. A LOT, and I mead a LOT, of people around where I live have this superstition that you never disturb a tarot reader while he/she is reading, otherwise you and your family will be cursed until you are forgiven, and the same apparently goes for taking a reader's cards away. Another wierd superstition, well it isn't a superstition, more like an assumption, is that all tarot readers are gypsies and can read and write the gypsy language! I had never heard of that and I thought the person was crazy until I found out a lot of people seem to think that! :confused: But because of these wierd beliefs none of the teachers at school dare to try to take my cards away - they just ask me to put them away! :D

Trogon	18 Dec 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Teranar A LOT, and I mead a LOT, of people around where I live have this superstition that you never disturb a tarot reader while he/she is reading, otherwise you and your family will be cursed until you are forgiven, and the same apparently goes for taking a reader's cards away. Hmmm.... Never thought of that... maybe I should start spreading this one around... I'll stop getting those pesky interruptions when I'm trying to do a reading at work... ;) Cursing a person who took my cards away... At the They'd definitely be having troubles... :laugh: ;)

tarotbear	19 Dec 2002
You guys forgot the BIG Tarot superstition: "You are not supposed to accept payment for doing a Tarot Reading" yeah, right.

Teal	20 Dec 2002
Hmmmmm-------that gypsy thing-----------would it count that I married a gypsy in a blackout once before I quit drinking? The marriage lasted only about as long as the blackout, but hey-----he WAS a gyspy!

Trish	20 Dec 2002
OK ... please forgive me if this has been brought up before, but I'm just curious: I myself do not believe in the superstitions about decks that are given as opposed to decks you buy yourself. But what I want to know is, what constitutes a 'given' deck? Is it considered a 'given' deck if you pick it out, and you are present during the purchase, but somebody else pays for it? Is it considered a 'given' deck if somebody else knows you want a particular deck, and buys it for you as a gift without your knowledge and/or presence? Or does it have to be a total surprise, completely devoid of input from you? *shrugs* Needless to say, this is one of the reasons why I don't believe in the tradition. ;) hehe!

tarotbear	20 Dec 2002
We've discussed this before, but that concept of being given a deck harks back to the long ago time of the 1950s when you (believe it or not) did not just walk into any large bookstore and picked a tarot deck off a shelf. There were anti-witchcraft laws EVERYWHERE and you could only obtain one by knowing someone who knew someone who knew someone because selling a deck to an undercover cop meant your business could be raided or closed. Since if was impossible to find one yourself, someone had to 'give' it to you. Aren't you glad we are living in such enlightened times ... Senator Lott?

Trish	21 Dec 2002
LOL! Oh yes ... quite enlightened indeed. ;-) Thanks for the explanation. It certainly is interesting to find out how all these things came about! :D

RiccardoLS	23 Dec 2002
As I don't read Tarot very often, Ritual is always useful to me. It helps me (and the querient) enter the right state of mind, and concentration. And sort of gives purposes to what I do. I never read Tarot for money (wrong move, I know... but I got free dinner, and even illegal smoking substances in exchange :) I shuffle the decks myself and also I make the querient shuffle it (it should symbolize how the end results depends on both of us) I ask the Querient to cut the deck with the non-writing hand (because he will have less conscious control on that hand). That's all :) When I teach Tarot I always encourage people to make up their own rituals and stick to them. But I also prompt them to give a meaning to every and any action they take. If You - for instance - don't want to wear rings while reading, give to this quisk a symbolic reason. That way, every time you took off Your rings, it will help you concentrate and open your perception. (imho). Riccardo

Shadow Wolf	23 Dec 2002
I was raised in a strict Catholic household. So-- You can only imagine the things I've heard about tarot. 1. It's against our religion -- We must trust our future to God. The Church obviously believed it to be Fortune Telling. And of course the church being the church presumed that God would disapprove. I accidentally (maybe subconsciously on purpose) left my Tarot Spellcaster book on the coffee table this summer and my 14 yr. old neice saw it and asked me about Tarot. When I explained it to her she asked for a reading. My sister was less than happy and proceeded to give me a lecture on what it meant to be a "good Christian". I tried to explain that tarot does not tell us anything we're not meant to know, and that is more of a personal empowerment tool than an oracle. She wasn't convinced. She said that Christians were on one side. (the right side) and everyone who believed differently were on the other side. And then she asked me , Do you want to be on the other side ? OH, it annoyed me so much. She later apologized, but it showed me how intolerant she really is. 2. It's associated with "black magic" and witchcraft. 3-It's associated with the devil ? 4- Accoding the Catholic Church it's just plain wrong. And why shouldn't it be. The Church tries to contol every aspect of your life, why should condone anything that might help you to think for yourself ? I'm just a little turned off by the Catholic church or Hadn't you noticed ? In fact, I'm so enraged that the church is so hypocritical that it's turned me off from organized religion altogether. I have my little altar to Goddess set up in my basement and I have my tarot cards and I'm taking it from there. Anyone who doesn't like it can just go ----------- Sorry about venting all you kind people, but with this thread it was kind of unavoidable.

tarotbear	23 Dec 2002
Shadow wolf -- don't worry. I left the Catholic church since it chose to treat homosexuals as criminals. After growing up catholic - it was quite a shock to find out I was not 'acceptable' to the faith that says 'we shall know one another by our love.' we certainly do! Can you imagine the crap I'd have to take if they found out I'm gay AND read tarot cards? Come join us on 'the other side'.

Trogon	25 Dec 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Trish But what I want to know is, what constitutes a 'given' deck? I've commented before (in another, similar thread) that I've been given several decks... I walked into the store, I gave a gift of money to a person in the store and they gave me a gift of a Tarot deck! ;) Seriously though... I would think there is a potential for a minor problem with someone giving me a Tarot deck without knowing anything at all about what I might like or need in a Tarot deck. They may end up getting me one I dislike. Still... it is the thought that counts... An interesting thing has arisen in this area for me just tonight. My wife gave me the Victoria Regina Tarot for Christmas (yaaaaay! ;) ). But she had commented that she was a little concerned about buying me a Tarot deck because she had heard (from where, I'm not certain) that a Tarot deck is a very personal item. She was afraid she'd get me one I didn't like. Just thought it interesting in the context of the discussion.

The superstitions on tarot thread was originally posted on 15 Dec 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.