Negative and positive cards

Esther

Do you feel that there are any cards that are definitely negative, or ones that are definitely positive, or does it depend on the circumstances and the position in a spread?

The Tower is often seen as a negative card, but for some reason I've always liked it and don't really see it as necessarily indicating something bad happening. To me, it's more about sudden, possibly stressful change, and could apply to both good and bad situations (for instance, I could see it applying to someone having to check into rehab, which might be upsetting and sudden but could ultimately be a good thing if it made them healthier).

I can kind of see the same thing happening with some positive cards, though to a lesser extent. Could a card usually showing contentment be a negative card if it's used to symbolize someone content when they shouldn't be?

What determines, for you, whether a card is positive or negative in a reading? The surrounding cards, the meaning of the card, the spread, etc.?
 

Thirteen

Esther said:
Do you feel that there are any cards that are definitely negative, or ones that are definitely positive, or does it depend on the circumstances and the position in a spread?
IMHO, there is no card in the deck that is 100% positive or negative. There are cards that are more than 50% positive or negative--cards that do not hold an equal balance of positive/negative--but none that carry only positive or only negative messages.

So, for example, it's really hard to find the positive in the 10/Swords, but it can be found; it's not totally and always negative. Likewise with the Sun--it's a good 75% positive...but there are negative qualities about it as well and it's well to remember that. Depending on the card's position in the spread, you can certainly get a negative message from a generally positive card and vice versa.
 

SunChariot

My opinion is that there are no negative cards at all, not even depending on the situation. All cards are there to help us live our happiest and most fulfilling lives. There can be nothing negative in that.

And the future they predict is usually very changeable. So even if a card does come up that predicts something that you don't wish to happen, that very card is your key to changing that future from a negative to a positive one. With that knowledge you can do more readings to see how you can change to a happier future. What is more positive than a tool that lets you do that???

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