Have you ever used tarot cards for spells/magic(k)?

[Barleywine]

Just finished explaining my basic spellwork ritual sequence on this thread:
http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=245701
Post no.3

Thanks for the link; I read through it, and it reminds me of some of the druid circle rituals I picked up from John Michael Greer's The Druidry Handbook.

 

[Tanga]

Thanks for the link; I read through it, and it reminds me of some of the druid circle rituals I picked up from John Michael Greer's The Druidry Handbook.

There's a lot of borrowing and cross-over with pagan practices today.

 

[Scarlet Woodland]

I've used tarot peripherally in a few forms of magic in the past but rarely practice nowadays. Often use tarot and oracle cards as a focus on my altar to draw in specific energies though. I do plan to use tarot cards in spellwork in the future, but there are very few things that I:

A) Want
B) Deserve
C) Can't get/achieve purely on my own &
D) Feel ethically fine with using magic for

Often think about using a little white magic to help/heal people/places/creatures but find I'd have to add so many ethical caveats and codicils my spells would end up reading like legalese

It's like when I wanted to wish for snow as a kid so school would be cancelled, but couldn't in case anyone ended up crashing into a tree because of me. Yes, I was a strange child haha.

 

[Aunty Anthea]

Often think about using a little white magic to help/heal people/places/creatures but find I'd have to add so many ethical caveats and codicils my spells would end up reading like legalese

It's like when I wanted to wish for snow as a kid so school would be cancelled, but couldn't in case anyone ended up crashing into a tree because of me. Yes, I was a strange child haha.

I know exactly how you feel

People do not understand how powerful magik is and how carefully we have to word spells, it is hardly worth the effort

The idea of spells/curses coming back 3 fold comes from the witches pointing at someone to curse them. I finger points to the recipient of the curse but 3 fingers point back to the person who sent the curse. For that reason it is deemed rude to point at someone

Everyday people use candlemagik when they light candles on a birthday cake

I have no idea how I could use tarot in magik

 

[Barleywine]

I do like the idea of placing cards appropriate to the purpose of the ritual at the cardinal points of the circle.

 

[chaosbloom]

Tarot is really useful in this manner. The decks are practically portable symbol galleries, so they're pretty handy in sympathetic magic. Incredibly useful for "wildcard" anchors, for example the Six of Swords can be used to symbolise the thief that broke into your house that's never been caught and help you focus both your energy and act as the link. Also the range of benevolent and malevolent cards is pretty rich, although I think the different selection of cards you can use for afflictions is much better. Using cards in fetishes and simulacra (dolls etc.) is pretty nice too if no better links are available.

For the more chaotically inclined, a Tarot deck is also a portable godform gallery. Meaning that besides using the cards as symbols, you can use them and treat them as magical entities since millions of people constantly charge them. Free pocket-size godforms.

And then there's the semi-magical things you can do like reverse spreads or combining city and world maps with Tarot cards.

 

[Tanga]

I've used tarot peripherally in a few forms of magic in the past but rarely practice nowadays. Often use tarot and oracle cards as a focus on my altar to draw in specific energies though. I do plan to use tarot cards in spellwork in the future, but there are very few things that I:

A) Want
B) Deserve
C) Can't get/achieve purely on my own &
D) Feel ethically fine with using magic for...

Lol. Yes. (can't be doing spells all-the-time - you'll wear 'em out! ).
And therefore - real spells happen only occasionally - when there's nothing more that I can possibly do or try myself, and I can only trust that what will turn out will be for the best.
I may then construct a spell asking for my ideal outcome as I can best envision it (within the remit of "for the good of all". The spell, is a last resort when there's nothing else left that can be done).

Most of the time - I'll do a casting ritual, and then sit and either:
1 meditate (can pick a specific card to focus on), 2 send a little good will toward one of several friends who are presently suffering chronic/terminal illnesses (can use cards as a focus to represent the person or the goodwill), 3 celebrate one of the 8 pagan festivals greeting appropriate deities (cards again), 4 celebrate the full moon and do some focus on personal growth, 5 have a conversation with my guides (these are never long).

I love ritual - and the process of constructing my own ritual space.

 

[Brilliance]

No, I haven't.

 

[RiverRunsDeep]

Another vote for "Yes - several/all of the above".

I like to keep things simple by choosing only one card. It becomes the focal point for my meditation or dream work, or represents the intention of my magick/spell work.

 

[Morwenna]

Rituals, yes. They're wonderful for quarters, especially the Aces. But I've only used certain decks for that.

Meditation is another thing, not really covered in the choices here, and I've used cards for that often.