Tarot Cards: Using Them For Divination, Gaming, Etc.

[nearbyfaraway]

Thank you Ulalume for your interpretation. I agree with you whole heartedly - my heart and soul have moved on, but I am still trying to use logic and this thought-loop that "this connection must carry meaning into the future forever", which I am definitely shaking off. I don't see him as a destructive personality and feel as long as I continue not being in touch with him, there won't be any opportunity to even wonder if I will see that negative side.

Thank you escargot1 and skinny for your amplifying what Ulalume said. An to answer you question, I have no relation to folkofthefarawaytree. like their name though!

 

[FrKadash]

nearbyfaraway I would try also to re-approach the reading by consecrating the deck if you haven't already done so and try an alternative spread to get a second fresh perspective and insight into the situation. I use the Crowley/Lady Frieda Harris Thoth deck personally, but it doesn't make much difference which deck you use really as it's the reader's personal magickal attachment and psychical connection to the cards that counts

 

[PeteByrdie]

I've never been much of a believer in things like tarot, but I dabbled. In my misspent youth, we my friends and I were involved in all manner of occult practices, friends would occasionally do a reading for me, and the card that was dealt to signify me was almost always The Tower. It happened so often we'd give each other a smile when it was dealt, which it pretty much always was, but secretly I found it quite disturbing. I could say now it was coincidence, but it would be an incredible coincidence if it was.

 

[Mythopoeika]

I've never been much of a believer in things like tarot, but I dabbled. In my misspent youth, we my friends and I were involved in all manner of occult practices, friends would occasionally do a reading for me, and the card that was dealt to signify me was almost always The Tower. It happened so often we'd give each other a smile when it was dealt, which it pretty much always was, but secretly I found it quite disturbing. I could say now it was coincidence, but it would be an incredible coincidence if it was.

Do you have a job in the Tower of London?

 

[Ulalume]

I've never been much of a believer in things like tarot, but I dabbled. In my misspent youth, we my friends and I were involved in all manner of occult practices, friends would occasionally do a reading for me, and the card that was dealt to signify me was almost always The Tower. It happened so often we'd give each other a smile when it was dealt, which it pretty much always was, but secretly I found it quite disturbing. I could say now it was coincidence, but it would be an incredible coincidence if it was.

This is one of the things that always draws me to tarot - people will keep getting the same cards again and again until that situation is resolved. I have my own theories about why tarot works (IMO, it's not necessarily "magic" in the usual sense of the term) but this is one of the things that convinces me it does. I've seen it more times than I could ever count.

Repeatedly getting the tower card would mean (by my estimation - and pardon my crudeness) that life keeps kicking you in the butt until you find the cause and put a stop to it. Did you find this to be the case in your youth?

 

[PeteByrdie]

Repeatedly getting the tower card would mean (by my estimation - and pardon my crudeness) that life keeps kicking you in the butt until you find the cause and put a stop to it. Did you find this to be the case in your youth?

I don't believe so. There was a destructive on/off relationship that I struggled to break out of the cycle of, but generally things were fine.

 

[Ulalume]

I don't believe so. There was a destructive on/off relationship that I struggled to break out of the cycle of, but generally things were fine.

Of course I wasn't there and don't know you in person, so only you can say, but it seems to me that any destructive relationship might be enough to cause the tower to appear.

There was a period where the tower persistently showed up in my own spreads, too (oh, how I hated the sight of that thing!) It was during a time when I had a crush that was making me unhappy. This wasn't even a proper relationship, just one-sided. Only after I accepted that the object of the crush didn't like me and never would did the tower stop appearing. It was a bitter pill to swallow, though.

 

[PeteByrdie]

Of course I wasn't there and don't know you in person, so only you can say, but it seems to me that any destructive relationship might be enough to cause the tower to appear.

There was a period where the tower persistently showed up in my own spreads, too (oh, how I hated the sight of that thing!) It was during a time when I had a crush that was making me unhappy. This wasn't even a proper relationship, just one-sided. Only after I accepted that the object of the crush didn't like me and never would did the tower stop appearing. It was a bitter pill to swallow, though.

That could've been it, then (says the person who doesn't believe in tarot). I haven't had a reading since that time, but I'm curious now, talking about that time again after so long, what sort of a reading I'd get now (says the person who doesn't believe in tarot).

 

[Recycled1]

A few years ago I had a Tarot reading.
I can't read the cards myself, but have read enough about them to have a small idea of their meaning.
Anyway, the Tower turned up in what had been an uneventful reading up to that point.(The lady reader and I looked at each other with a degree of apprehension!)
I realised some time later that , for once, the card's literal image was what was being shown.
I had been contemplating making alterations to my little house , involving a great many falling bricks etc., and that's what the card was all about at that moment in time.

So -don't always be too concerned by The Tower!

 

[sherbetbizarre]

This new book looks pretty comprehensive...

Stars, Fools and Lovers will explore the world of the tarot through dozens of original and forgotten cards, from the well-known Rider Waite Smith deck to Austin Osman Spare's recently discovered Major Arcana, as well as reinterpretations by contemporary artists

This lavishly illustrated book explores the art, history and symbolism of the enigmatic tarot. The tarot's mythic origins stretch back to ancient Egypt but the cards as we know them today have their roots in Europe in the 18th century as playing cards. Since then, the seventy-eight card deck has become one of the most popular visual oracles of all time and one of the most adaptable too. Along the way it has inspired seekers, occultists, artists, film makers, writers, pop stars and fashion designers -- its influence can be seen in the work of the Surrealists as well as the TV series Twin Peaks.

https://unbound.com/books/tarot/

 

[James_H]

I'm not necessarily a believer but I realise that my life has been affected hugely by tarot cards.

Some years ago, I met a woman at a party, we went home together, ended up in a relationship, she got deported, I moved to Hong Kong, we broke up, and here I am. Later she told me that she doesn't usually do that sort of thing but acted on the strength of a tarot reading, which told her she was going to meet someone soon.

 

[GNC]

That's sort of how Peter Sellers married Britt Ekland - his psychic told him to watch out for the initials BE, he met Britt and convinced himself that because of the psychic's advice he had to divorce his wife and marry her instead. The marriage didn't last, unsurprisingly.

 

[IbisNibs]

In my misspent youth, . . .

Is there such a thing as youth that is not misspent?

. . . friends would occasionally do a reading for me, and the card that was dealt to signify me was almost always The Tower.

Mine was the Devil. Thank goodness (or something) that I've outgrown him!

 

[GNC]

I am , incongruously, quite fond of Tarot cards, exactly because of the designs and artwork. My friends and I once tried to play 'normal' card games with the Tarot - it makes them much more difficult.

For about a century (maybe more?) after their creation, Tarot cards were just playing cards just like the ones you would play poker or bridge with today. Does anyone know the original games that were played with them, or have they died out to be replaced by the mysticism?

Also, has anyone tried to Tarot with the spades, diamonds, hearts and clubs deck? If so, what kind of results do you get?

 

[EnolaGaia]

For about a century (maybe more?) after their creation, Tarot cards were just playing cards just like the ones you would play poker or bridge with today. Does anyone know the original games that were played with them, or have they died out to be replaced by the mysticism?

Officially (in terms of documented history) ...

The combined set of 78 cards we know today was used exclusively for gaming as early as the 15th century. The use of the cards for divination came later. Some of the games originally played with the 78-card deck (most especially Tarocchini) have been played in certain locales all along and are still played today.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trionfi_(cards)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarocchini
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarot_card_games

Documented claims for the cards' applicability to divination / cartomancy date back only as far as the late 18th century.

Having said that ...


Unofficially (speaking only for myself) ...

I've never been comfortable with the idea the 'triumphs' (trumps) were always part and parcel of a large deck of 78 including the four suits analogous to the "regular" deck of playing cards.

Years ago I collected a number of scholarly books on the Tarot (all of which were destroyed with the rest of my library 7 years ago this very weekend). One of those books noted that an Italian nobleman was credited with combining two extant decks (the triumphs / the four suits) into a single deck and developing new games using the larger combined deck in the late 14th century (circa 1370 - 1390s). The source mentioned the nobleman's innovation in combining the two decks into one, but didn't specify the details of the combined deck so as to confirm he'd invented the same 78-card deck we know today. Personally, I've always believed he did.

Because the specifics of his new deck were not documented, he wouldn't have been included in the references cited above (which focus only on specific documentation of the deck itself).

Anyway ...

The old reference to the unification of two prior decks plus certain things that arose during my use of the cards starting back in the 1970s convinced me the four suits and the triumphs represented two distinct instruments, and I never used the four suits again (for Tarot purposes).

 

[GNC]

Fascinating, thanks @EnolaGaia ! Sorry about the loss of your library, every book lover's nightmare.

 

[EnolaGaia]

... Also, has anyone tried to Tarot with the spades, diamonds, hearts and clubs deck? If so, what kind of results do you get?

Yes. As I recall from my long-lost books the history of cartomancy using the four suits (i.e., the 'popular' playing card deck) is much better documented than the history of using the triumphs / trumps for divination (whatever ... ) purposes.

The use of playing cards (the 4 suits) for cartomancy isn't the same as the use of the Tarot deck per se. There's a long tradition and protocol which may as well be considered a whole different "game." Some older relatives and acquaintances in my native area (American south) were familiar with cartomancy using playing cards alone, and I was told by various sources that this was far more common in central and eastern Europe than Tarot.

At the risk of being prejudicial, I'd say the main difference between the two approaches lies in how the cards are presented to the querent and interpreted. The playing cards tend to be presented as somewhat formulaic in their symbolism - i.e., this card specifically alludes to such-and-such (e.g., a dark-haired woman). The Tarot cards (at least as I use them) tend to be presented as more general or allusive frames into which the querent is invited to project - or from which perspective the querent is asked to creatively view - his / her situation or issue(s).

When I was living in Sweden I was involved with, and engaged to, a doctor from Ukraine. She was well versed and experienced in playing card cartomancy. We'd spend entire nights "reading" each other using our two different techniques. Even though we were using two distinct approaches we astounded each other with the accuracy and depth of results each of us drew from our respective traditions. It was a fascinating exercise.

 

[GNC]

I was watching the short documentary Ghost Strata on MUBI, and it's topped and tailed with the director visiting a Tarot reader. At the start of the year (2018) she tells him his work is connected to time (true, but isn't everything?) and at the end of the year she basically tells him doom and gloom await. When he expresses half-jokey alarm, she reassures him, laughing that she's made it all up anyway.

That reassurance is all very well, but what are you going to remember in your naturally superstitious human brain, her claim the Tarot is all made up, or the prediction of disaster?! One of those things will prey on your mind...

 

[charliebrown]

I am afraid of Tarot cards !

My only time with these cards was at a local fair to raise money for the local museum.

The reader brought up the death card, and then went on to something else not to scare me and my wife.

The next day one of my wife’s aunts died.

These cards are evil !

 

[EnolaGaia]

The Death card isn't really about predicting someone's physical death. It is more appropriately seen as denoting transformation involving the end of something current so that something different or new can be initiated. Closing one door so another can open, burning off a field so that new growth can occur there - that sort of thing ...

 

[littlebrowndragon]

Does anyone on here read cards, and knows them to be reliable?
cheers

I use tarot/oracle all the time and find them reliable. However, everything hinges on the interpretation. I do get the interpretation wrong and sometimes I just don't get the interpretation at all, but when I do, I find the cards reliable. It takes practice and as time goes on, I do get a little better.

For example, today the idea of "snake" came up - you get snakes in spirit animal oracle cards - and I interpreted it as "rebirth" (that is its main interpretation, but there are other aspects one might focus on - one learns which to focus on with practice). This gave me insight into what is going on in my life at the moment re my progress to date. (I am going through a process of breaking with my past which will lead to a "rebirth" of sorts i.e. a new me.)

 

[Nosmo King]

I use tarot/oracle all the time and find them reliable. However, everything hinges on the interpretation. I do get the interpretation wrong and sometimes I just don't get the interpretation at all, but when I do, I find the cards reliable

Im not mocking or anything but, in my opinion this is the epitome of unreliable.

 

[JaneD]

They are just such lovely works of art though. Take a look at these https://www.thecreepingmoon.co/tarot.html# they are just beautiful

 

[littlebrowndragon]

Im not mocking or anything but, in my opinion this is the epitome of unreliable.

Think of tarot cards as using a language - the language of tarot.

When one first learns to speak as a child, speak English, say, one is inept. It doesn't mean to say that the means of communication is unreliable. It just means that one's own ability with the language is still weak. So, my own ability with tarot is weak, I have not learned the language sufficiently well to be "fluent". My lack of fluency does not imply deficiency/unreliability with respect to the medium of communication.

 

[IbisNibs]

When one first learns to speak as a child, speak English, say, one is inept.

I know this isn't helpful, but . . . half the adults I meet who speak English as their mother tongue are also inept when it comes to speaking English!

But yes, Tarot as a language, that's a nice analogy.

 

[littlebrowndragon]

I know this isn't helpful, but . . . half the adults I meet who speak English as their mother tongue are also inept when it comes to speaking English!

I agree. And I think that articulacy is on the decline, both verbal and written. One cause of this is Political Correctness. When one cannot speak directly, when one cannot say what is on one's mind, when one cannot call a spade a spade, then of course articulacy suffers.

At school, I was trained to write essays etc. in English lessons. But, as I studied maths at university, I never wrote another essay for many years after that, not even at teacher training college. Lamentable, but not unusual. (Scientists and mathematicians etc are, apparently, not supposed to need to be able to write well.) Thus, when I took up German with the OU (Open University) 20 years later, and WAS required to write essays, and in a foreign language, I found that my own articulacy needed some serious work.

I have been working on improving my written and verbal articulacy since then.

 

[IbisNibs]

Continuing tangent:

I agree. And I think that articulacy is on the decline, both verbal and written. One cause of this is Political Correctness. When one cannot speak directly, when one cannot say what is on one's mind, when one cannot call a spade a spade, then of course articulacy suffers.

Political Correctness is not a problem with the people I'm thinking of, who are all over the map, politically speaking.
They just never use the past participle, and at times have trouble using words according to their officially defined meaning.
But yes, when you have to express yourself indirectly, your self-expression becomes a bit convoluted adn hard to follow.

And now, back to the thread:
Here's a site with fabulous and modern Tarot designs:
https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/5-great-tarot-designs-by-contemporary-creatives/
"Tarot is often associated with divination and mysticism. But historically, picture card packs had a variety of uses and styles, including storytelling: the combination of these pursuits is what makes contemporary creatives keep coming back to tarot design centuries later."

 

[C.O.T.]

Hi, i'm developing a table psychic game, similar to tarot, and i'm looking for people to test it,and maybe make some changes, is a divination card game based on the computer programation metalenguages as basic phyton perl etc, if are interested on trying it tell me, show you in this link asesion that did about the situation of the world afther the covid.
world after pandemic

 

[IbisNibs]

Hi, i'm developing a table psychic game, similar to tarot, and i'm looking for people to test it

Did anyone ever take you up on this? What did they report?

 

[C.O.T.]

Hi, i'm the developer of the psychic game, although maybe is not i its definitive form is completelly usable, have made many sesions with it and works surprisingly well, had recorded a sesion about what would be the status of the world after the pandemic, posted the record of the sesion on youtube :

The cards have to be made DIY, but are only 11, if you want to try it or ask for our experience on using it simply ask.