Contacting Spirits w/Tarot

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 31 Jan 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Jeanette	31 Jan 2005
Last week a very dear friend of mine buried her husband after a long illness. I happened to drive past her today on the highway, and caught her attention & waved. She gave me a big smile & a wave; then when she got home she called me. We chatted for a minute or so (I was relieved to see her out and about and looking so well). Then she surprised me by saying how she knew I was into Tarot, and would I maybe know of some way that would help her contact her husband? She wanted to know if he was happy with the funeral arrangements she had made, and whether or not he was at peace, out of pain, etc. I wish I could have told her that I knew how to go about doing such a thing, but I don't. I felt just awful that I couldn't help her with this. So, I'm wondering, does anybody have any experience and/or ideas that would incorporate tarot to sort of "bridge the gap" between this world and the hereafter?

Fullmoonsinger	31 Jan 2005
I don't know how to incorporate the Tarot in this, but I don't think that is necessary. My Pagan circles hold "dumb suppers" where we cast a circle of protection and ask the guardians of the quarters to watch for us. Then we open the veil and invite loved ones to come dine with us. We set a place for them and serve small portions of their favorite foods. No words are spoken during the meal, out of politeness, because the dead cannot speak aloud. At the end, we say goodbye to our loved ones, close the veil, and take down the circle thanking all spirits and powers that participated. Not exactly Tarot, though. Or maybe you want to make up a spread to ask the specific questions she wants answered? The only problem I see is that the recently dead can be a little confused sometimes. MoonSinger

Jeanette	31 Jan 2005
At the "dumb suppers," does anybody (living) ever have a conversation (like telepathic, or something along the lines of feeling thoughts) with any of the departed loved ones? Or is this something that is more of a symbolic ritual? I think my friend really needs to know what her husband's current situation is (if such a thing is even possible). And like you said, he is very recently deceased, and probably not at all settled into his new surroundings. I've never been asked about something like this before, to actually perform or initiate a contact. But I do believe I've been contacted in the past (it just sort of happened, I really didn't have any control of it).

Fullmoonsinger	31 Jan 2005
At the "dumb suppers," does anybody (living) ever have a conversation (like telepathic, or something along the lines of feeling thoughts) with any of the departed loved ones? Or is this something that is more of a symbolic ritual? *****(Wish I knew how to quote here at Aeclectic, but I'm new to posting here.) Yes, the living do have conversations with their beloved dead. Exactly as you described. People's experiences differ, however. MoonSinger

Dark Inquisitor	31 Jan 2005
Just ask the questions as you would for any living person. Ask the questions she wants answered. The dead are the same as we are, just without a body and probably in a different dimension. When you do a reading over the internet , you don't have that person in front of you, yet you connect to the energy . It's sort of the same principle , just a little odder. Sometimes while the reading is happening, you will feel cold chills.

lark	31 Jan 2005
Very much agree with Dark Inquisitor. Have done this many times. The cards become the voice of the loved one that has crossed over. Sometimes other relatives come in as well. Just let her ask the questions and tell her what the cards are saying. If her husband wants to come through he will. And when he does you'll know and so will she.

rainwolf	02 Feb 2005
Fullmoonsinger: Just click the quote button at the bottom of the box. When you see how it is quoted, then you can copy and paste for future reference while doing the html thingy, its really easy-i dont do html! You dont have to do tarot with everything, you can use a ouija board instead. Its not dangerous-you just have to be careful and considerate. Have two people though, it will make you feel more comfortable.

Kara	03 Feb 2005
I'm not experienced with this at all, I wanted to, after my Father died. I didn't do a reading, but I found a spiritualist forum on the net, with people practising this like we do spreads. A very, very kind lady from the UK contacted him for me, and I believe it was the real thing - it was his jargon, the topics covered were our 'issues', how he died and a *whole lot* more - she even knew the name of my grandfather on my mother's side - and it wasn't an everyday name. I didn't tell this lady a thing, just that he had died, and that I wasn't able to communicate with him before his death. I can try and find that forum again, if you like.

lunalafey	03 Feb 2005
Here's a quote from an old thread of mine that is an account of my after death communication using tarot... Quote: Has anyone used tarot to communicate with those passed on? What was your experience? I just recienty picked up a book about ADC's after death communication. The researchers excluded, 'seances, crystal balls, ouiji boards, or other simular devices' The reasoning behind this, 'many religions and other sources... - what ever that is supposed to be-..specifically warn against summoning 'spirits' These sources may think it's wrong, but the end result was as rewarding as any of the other expeirences documented, AND that is what it is really all about, right? I think it's too bad that the reseachers did not consider another CLASS for these types of communication. Here is what happened to me. I lost a soulmate and was longing for some sort of sign/communication. One night while really missing his company and needing his words of wisdom to help me through, I reached for my deck. REWIND There we were sitting on the couch and the conversation took a spiritual turn, so I introduced him to my cards. I put them out the way I do when I want to 'feel' for a card. When I asked him to pick one, he used the same motions I do!!! The card he choose...HONOR 4of pipes, Native American deck. I fell off the couch. In the weeks before this I kept asking him, 'What are your intentions ? "All honorable" he said. When he drew the honor card I was able to let go a little and trust a lot more. FORWARD I reached for my deck, I was home alone so I was able to speak aloud and not bother anyone. I told him that I just wanted him to talk to me, NO question for the cards, just talk to me. I picked 5 cards for this, that was the number of days between our birthdays, ACTUAL days not just days apart on the calander. The first card, HONOR. I fell off the bed. #2 8 strength, pictured is a mountain lion, both of us have mountain lion as one of our animal totems, the constillation, lynx also. Lynx is secrets, there is alot of that surrounding his death.(the lynx from the medicine card deck was the card I drew when I asked about his death) 3rd, 5 of vessles, this is warrior woman. I would get this card alot in my readings, so much that I called it MY card. This was before I knew about significators. #4 card, Maiden= to a page, of shields. This card is a card that I related to and opened me up to a past life.(he is my soulmate) AND the last card, 17 the star. It was a very moving moment. I retired the deck after that. All it takes to make a connection, is the intention.

stella01904	03 Feb 2005
MM ~ I don't think Tarot is ideal for this kind of thing, either, though it can help, no doubt. A lot of spirit contact is entirely THEIR decision, their way, in their own time. And a lot of it is just us being receptive and recognising a communication when it does happen. A lot of people are brainwashed into being scared of Tarot in this life - maybe this carries over into the next, I don't know...BB, Stella

Nevada	03 Feb 2005
I think I would encourage her to just talk to him, in private, herself. Or with a friend (you?) or close family member present if that's more comforting to her. Whether she does this as a part of the grieving process, or in the hope of contacting him, either way it's a healing experience. You might want to sit with her and do a meditation. Whether you incorporate Tarot in the process is up to you and her, but possibly not important. Nevada

seneris	03 Feb 2005
I do believe in ghosts or spirits but I don't think I will ever try to make contact in this way. I'm sure it would provide help to people that are left behind, but I must say that I'm a bit afraid of what's on the other end...

VisionQuest	03 Feb 2005
I've never attempted to contact spirits through Tarot, however spirits have been contacting me all of my life, and I've recently begun exploring that and attempting to nurture the ability. Just the other day a family friend who's father had passed the day before, asked me over the phone if the next time we got together, I could try to contact his dad. I had never had anyone ask so promptly upon losing someone, and I didn't really know how to approach it, but what I did know, was that it was too soon, in more ways than one. I think that even in the case of a long illness, we need time to grieve our loss, before we try to contact the loved one who's passed. This is just my opinion of course, but I wanted to share with you my experience. I told the young man the truth, that at this point in time, his dad is more likely to contact him, than me. I didn't elaborate on this, but it is my feeling that sometimes spirits don't even know they have passed right away, and also, whether they do or don't 'know', they tend to linger around their loved ones, for various amounts of time depending on the person and the circumstances. However I felt the best thing I could do for him was to convey my sympathy for his loss, agree that in the future if the opportunity arose to read for him I would be more than happy to do so, and to give him the advice to try to contact his dad himself, in "quiet moments" , either in prayer or meditation, etc. Personally, I wouldn't have felt comfortable reading for someone who had suffered such a recent loss, I think there needs to be a period of grief first. However in the case of a long illness, she may have already begun grieving a long time ago. But from the standpoint of my own experiences, I don't know that the spirit would have been able to communicate just yet, and that kind of disappointment so soon after the death, might just make things worse. Having said all that (sorry, I tend to ramble, lol), I have never tried contacting spirits through Tarot. So basically I don't have an answer lol, just wanted to share my thoughts :)

Jeanette	03 Feb 2005
VisionQuest, your post sort of sums up my predicament! I feel pretty much the same way you do. I don't want to put her off and make her think I don't want to help her (of course I want to comfort her if I can) but I just don't know about me being the one, and using tarot to accomplish this. It just doesn't "feel right" to me, and I can't exactly say why. I agree that if he wants to contact her, he will. She just needs to be open to it. I think she's taking medication (nerve pills) to help her get through this stressful time. She's not the kind of person to stay on something long term, so maybe I should even wait for her system to be clear? I just don't know, I have misgivings about the whole thing at least for the present. Thanks to everybody so far for your thoughts on this. Maybe just a general tarot reading would be good, and see whatever will be, will be. Que sera, sera!

Nevada	03 Feb 2005
Maybe you could help her find someone who can help, say via a spiritualist organization or church in your area. Where I live, the spiritualist church has psychic fairs about once a month. They have people trained to reach the other side. The prices seem reasonable. I think the ones here are $20 for fifteen minutes, or close to that. Some use Tarot, too. Nevada

The Contacting Spirits w/Tarot thread was originally posted on 31 Jan 2005 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.