Do your tarot cards heal you when you're upset?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 16 May 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Suriel	16 May 2004
Do they? :) I've experienced this a few times. When i'm very sad, i would feel like i want to take a look at my tarot cards, and i look at them, slwoly and deeply.....after going through 22 major cards (that's all i have!) , i became calm and light-hearted. This is amazing,i think! Do you have these experiences too? And, if yes, why, you think they could heal you?? :D Looking forward for your replies! :) Thanks Lswern

firemaiden	16 May 2004
Well, its funny, now that you mention it, there have been many times when the cards have shown me absurdly positive responses to very negative questions when I am feeling very blue. So yes, I often find comfort in them, whether or not the cards are telling the "truth" hahah or just saying whatever "they think" I need to hear to make me stop snivelling, it works. :P

hedgecub	16 May 2004
I find my animal oracle decks definitely help when I'm upset. Often when I'm sad or scared, just taking out my animal oracles and looking through them makes me feel calmer and happier :) I haven't tried that with my various animal tarots. Perhaps I should :)

yve	16 May 2004
I discovered tarot during a period when I was down. They helped me get through a difficult period, so I definately believe that tarot cards can help the healing process.

Indigo_lady	17 May 2004
I'm scared to use tarot when I'm upset, I feel that my mood will interfere and reflect in the cards in a way that will make me feel worse

WooMonkey	17 May 2004
My experience is somewhere between Indigo Lady and Firemaiden's. I really prefer not to do a reading when I'm in a poor mood. The energy just doesn't seem right (almost like a chore). Better when I'm happy or calm. However when I have gone to them during times of turmoil, they usually tell me to "snap out of it, get rational, stop wishing and start doing, no more excuses!". This is tough to take sometimes, when what you really want is sympathy!!! :)

galadrial	18 May 2004
Quote: Originally posted by WooMonkey This is tough to take sometimes, when what you really want is sympathy!!! Perhaps you could try a different deck. I finally gave away the Arthurian (Hallowquest) deck because it could bring me down even when I was in a good mood with it's This is This and Get Real attitude. When I've felt particularly depressed or unhappy I've done well with the Inner Child cards and (oddly enough) the Baseball tarot.

SongDeva	18 May 2004
I find that I have to do a reading when I'm really upset and when the solution is hidden from me in the state I'm in. I've noticed lately the deck I head for most in this situation is the Vision Quest. I think the Hudes is a close second, once I've calmed down a bit. :)

diane drizzy	18 May 2004
Hi Lswern! Yes I do agree. I especially reach for my Faerie Oracle. I pull The Singer of Healing which I focus on. After that I just go through the deck and I'm smiling by the time I'm done. :)

Xarokys	18 May 2004
Hello Lswern, I've had the same experience. I have a few decks I like to call my 'comfort decks' because just looking at the images can bring me out my doldrums. I don't actually do a reading with them, just sort through them, sometimes put them in order. The Halloween tarot is a comfort deck, it always makes me feel better. :)

Suriel	18 May 2004
Hi everyone! Thanks for your opinions! ..:D As for me, i don't do reading with them, i just look at the images, from the fool until the world. Feels like my heart lighted and drown and healed at the end.....! Such amazing feelings...!:D Lswern

Moonbow*	18 May 2004
From my experience, if I pull a card when I am upset it doesn't only heal but gets right to core of why I am feeling a certain way. When I feel like this I don't ask a question but just pull up to three cards and see what the images tell me. Mostly they tell me how I feel, why I'm feeling that way and how to get out of it. Osho, and Rohrig are excellent for this.

cartarum	20 May 2004
they dont heal me. they just state the obvious truth, and that can be either disturbing or enlightening depending on my position in the affair. really, if i am having a bad day, those cards will tell me the worst things just to make me spaz out.

lunalafey	21 May 2004
I have had those times where reading tarot has given me the light I needed to feel better. Sometimes those reading where not telling me that things would get better, but that I'm going through what is neccessary in my life. The readings will give me advise on what sort of attitude to have to deal with these trying times.

Pagan X	21 May 2004
"Comfort Deck", yep. Golden Tarot, Aquarian Tarot,Palladini Tarot, Halloween are my Comfort Decks. I look at them before going to bed if I'm tense at the end of the day. That is different from doing a reading with one of my Working Decks, such as the Universal Waite. Reading a book about Tarot also helps, or I Ching, or spiritual topics. Wonderful topic!

Ruby7	21 May 2004
I can't do a reading when i am upset, but I do take comfort in picking one card and thinking about it, or just as you mentioned Lswern, randomly looking through one of my decks and somehow taking comfort in the images. I think for me looking at the images takes me outside of myself and whatever is upsetting me. The imagination is a wonderful thing, Ruby7

tao51	14 Jun 2004
My cards are like old friends. I sometime do a spread just to be made to feel better. Sometimes they give me a humorous message. That is, a reading that would be silly if it were true. Or they give me a reading that makes me feel good.--Tao

smokey	15 Jun 2004
My favorite cards most definitely make me feel better when blue. Healing when Physically ill?...I honestly don't know...good question! As you say,they're like old friends...

WolfSpirit	17 Jun 2004
When I am nervous and tense and fear I will suffer from insomnia I put a few decks I love close to my bed just in case. When I can't sleep reading a book just makes me more awake, but looking at beautiful pictures calms me down. I sometimes do this during the day too, or I may put a card close to my pc where I can see it just to remind me where I can find relief.

Nirnaeth	18 Jun 2004
I normally pull out the Shapeshifter Tarot if I need some reassurance. It isn't blunt like Hallowquest can sometimes be - which is great when I need that but when the world seems against me the Shapeshifter soothes my mind, it's very easy to lose myself in the cards. Sometimes I like to hold one when falling asleep, until I drop it on the floor that is when I finally drift off. Though when I'm physically ill I tend to avoid the cards altogether, I've never tried actual healing with them

krysia322	20 Jun 2004
What I find myself doing, whenever I feel stressed or blue or whatever, is that I'll sit and just shuffle the cards for an indefinite period of time, with no real emphasis behind it. Sometimes just the act of shuffling soothes me. If a card happens to 'fall out' while I'm shuffling, I'll read it, or if I get the urge (while I'm shuffling) to lay a spread, I will... And then the cards further help me by providing a distraction from whatever's bothering me. :)

closrapexa	21 Jun 2004
I don't if they "heal" me exactly, but meditation can take on many guises, obviously not just saying ommmmmmmmm or something like that. In "memoirs of a geisha" the heroine says that after a good tea ceremony she feels as if she had just woken up from a good night's sleep. Same way with Tarot for me. Sometime I just look at a card and write in my Tarot journal what it makes me feel, or riffle through the deck, or many other ways to find that quiet inner place, the "eye of the storm" so to speak.

Red Emma	21 Jun 2004
As I read these posts I realized that, for me, the Tarot serves as a spotlight straight into my subconscious. It exposes issues that I've been unable to find as I sort through my past. I've spent much of my life dealing with depression, which mainly concerns finding stuff I was taught to repress when I was young. Most of it is now coming back to haunt me. I do count on consulting it when I'm way down in the depression scale. While it may not always give me good news, it does tell me where to look, and how to deal with, what ever's causing the malaise. As has been mentioned above, more often than not it tells me that the current distress is caused by stuff that's necessary for my long term healing. And gives me a "cheer up! You're getting there."

Red Emma	21 Jun 2004
Quote: Originally posted by WooMonkey However when I have gone to them during times of turmoil, they usually tell me to "snap out of it, get rational, stop wishing and start doing, no more excuses!". This is tough to take sometimes, when what you really want is sympathy!!! :) Woo Monkey, whatever deck you're using sounds like a very bad, very destructive psychiatrist I once tried to work with. But not for long. Such "advice" falls more into the emotional abuse category than anything helpful and/or constructive. Would it be possible for you to try out other decks until you find one which more fits your needs? My very best wishes, Red Emma

linabeet	24 Jun 2004
Usually when I feel bad I end up drawing cards obssessively, asking the same questions over and over regardless of the answer. I like the idea of going through the major arcana as a healing excercise. It could help to remind you of those phases you've been through sucessfully or those that could come, maybe it could shift attention away from the pains of the present. I'll have to try it.

tao51	30 Jun 2004
your cards can point you in the direction of a cure for your problem.--Tao

Sillanza	01 Jul 2004
If I try to read for myself when I'm upset, I will often get a very Magic 8-Ball "ask again later" type of answer. I do find it soothing to study or meditate on some of my most favorite images for a while, then the readings start to make sense again.

tao51	01 Jul 2004
I found my cards to be very supportive. My Visconti cards seemed to want to show me the way to healing or recovery. Some cards simply communicate better than others during difficulty times. I have a deck on my night stand. I have awoked and have done a reading which has been of great comfort.--Tao

tmgrl2	01 Jul 2004
I don't know about "healing" but when I am upset , I draw a three-card spread or sometimes just two cards, ask my question and then reflect. Usually, the cards help me look at the situation in a way that can be very helpful. So I try, then, to keep that message in the foreground as I go through something. Eventually, the situation passes, but I do think there is a comfort when I find another way to look at something, that "thinking out of the box" way. terri

The 78th Fool	03 Jul 2004
Put quite simply, my cards soothe me. They are my equivalent to worry beads and I find them an immense comfort when I am stressed, sad or worried. I simply leaf through and escape into the images (Understand now why I love the Gilded Tarot so much !!!!!??) Of course, I'll also do a reading from time to time but the very feel of a deck in my hand and the sight of the familiar names and images is ample way of escape. My lodgers think I'm crazy !!

The Do your tarot cards heal you when you're upset? thread was originally posted on 16 May 2004 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.