So I have some tarot cards

[Bookcat]

If you truly want to sell them as works of art then break the sets up. Only sell one suit to a given person and refuse to sell any of the other suits from that deck to the same person. Perhaps you would sell the major arcana cards as individual portrait cards, but never the full suit together. Yes it reduces the value, but if they are truly works of art some would collect them purely on that merit.

To use your analogy it would be like selling firearms that have the firing pin removed. Sure someone might be able to reassemble them for a less worthy purpose, but at least you have tried removing something to make it “safe”.

Unfortunately such is basically now in the arena of the “occult” -that is how most view or use them (99.56%). So even as “art” such would still bear such connotations.

(in addition to my posts above).

 

[Hoosier_Daddy]

I was unaware that this is the Church’s teaching. That’s mighty strict! But since that is the accepted belief on this forum I will try to bear that in mind if a question like this comes up again. However, I stand by my original advice.

You were unaware that the Church forbids collusion with demons? And you think that is strict?

A handgun can end a life. A sin can damn someone to hell for all eternity. Yet you seem to think that the important part is the life, not the destination of the person for eternity. Look at things from the bigger more spiritual picture and things might be put in a different light for you.

A handgun can save a life. Tarot can only bring destruction.

 

[boldlygo]

Many years ago, a student from France came to my university, and soon joined our card-playing group…we usually played bridge, and sometimes pinochle while waiting for a ‘fourth’…he was invited to a weekend session at a grad student’s apartment, and he arrived with snacks, beer, and a deck of tarot cards…he showed us a game that was somewhere in between bridge and pinochle in complexity, and we played his tarot-card game all night…and none of us sprouted horns…

 

[ffg]

But people are killed, really killed, by handguns. Let’s not compare them.

Guns don’t kill people.

People kill people.

(low hanging fruit, I know, it’s almost Friday and it’s been a long week)

With regard to the subject of selling cards that could or could not be used for something bad, if forecasting the consumers use of a product is in your control, aren’t you doing what some think Tarot cards do? (forecast)

You could also take a sharpie to the back of the cards and write ART down the card. A witch might find that a problem if desire was to use them for current day uses.

How about sell them and use some of the funds to give to Church or do something good for someone.

 

[Hoosier_Daddy]

It actually does not matter but how much money are we talking about here?

 

[Hoosier_Daddy]

I just looked up an ad on craigslist.

I have 4 tarot card decks id like to sell. 3 of the decks im asking $5 each and one that is by Aleister Crowley deck im asking $10 for. If interested

we are not talking big money here. Especially for something that could spiritually damage others. If we are truly Catholic then we must recognize possession and demonic activity as real.

It. Is . Not. Worth. It.

destroy them.

 

[ffg]

Taking the above Craigslist info to heart, are we talking about a few decks or a pallet load?

If a few decks, I agree, probably not worth the trouble to try and sell.

That asking price of $25 for 4 decks will end up settling around 60-70% of asking.

That’s not worth the time.

Enjoy a warm fire instead.

 

[edwest2]

Let’s keep it brief. The primary use of tarot cards is for divination. We should not be using anything for divination. Such things should not be resold. They are a danger to the spiritual well-being of a person.

Peace,
Ed

 

[Bookcat]

Let’s keep it brief. The primary use of tarot cards is for divination. We should not be using anything for divination. Such things should not be resold. They are a danger to the spiritual well-being of a person.

Peace,
Ed

 

[Alindawyl]

Many years ago, a student from France came to my university, and soon joined our card-playing group…we usually played bridge, and sometimes pinochle while waiting for a ‘fourth’…he was invited to a weekend session at a grad student’s apartment, and he arrived with snacks, beer, and a deck of tarot cards…he showed us a game that was somewhere in between bridge and pinochle in complexity, and we played his tarot-card game all night…and none of us sprouted horns…

Tarot cards, as I found out when I was in the French Exchange program in my high school many years ago, were originally not used for the occult. Occult use began no earlier than the 18th century. They were originally used just to play a card game called Tarot, which was played in Europe possibly as early as the 1300’s. The French refer to it, quite plainly, as Jeu de Tarot (Game of Tarot). That’s what you played, and it’s still hugely popular in France today. In some other European countries, such as Germany, Austria, and Italy, you can find people familiar with a variety of card games based on Tarot. Tarot never caught on in England, which is probably why we aren’t familiar with it as a game.

My partner in French Exchange taught me the game when I was in France. I asked him if anyone used the same deck of cards to tell fortunes as well as play the game, and he looked at me like I’d grown a second head. All he said was, “These are for playing Jeu de Tarot.”

So although in the English-speaking world Tarot cards tend to be immediately associated with the occult, that’s not necessarily true everywhere.

 

[thewanderer]

Tarot cards, as I found out when I was in the French Exchange program in my high school many years ago, were originally not used for the occult. Occult use began no earlier than the 18th century. They were originally used just to play a card game called Tarot, which was played in Europe possibly as early as the 1300’s. The French refer to it, quite plainly, as Jeu de Tarot (Game of Tarot). That’s what you played, and it’s still hugely popular in France today. In some other European countries, such as Germany, Austria, and Italy, you can find people familiar with a variety of card games based on Tarot. Tarot never caught on in England, which is probably why we aren’t familiar with it as a game.

My partner in French Exchange taught me the game when I was in France. I asked him if anyone used the same deck of cards to tell fortunes as well as play the game, and he looked at me like I’d grown a second head. All he said was, “These are for playing Jeu de Tarot.”

So although in the English-speaking world Tarot cards tend to be immediately associated with the occult, that’s not necessarily true everywhere.

Yes, this. While in English speaking countries Tarot cards are primarily used for occult purposes this is not the case in much of Europe.
Another interesting fact is that there are differences in the make-up of Tarot cards made for card games and those made for divination. Me and a couple of my friends went out years ago to buy a deck of Tarot cards intended for playing the card game, they came with instructions for the Jeu de Tarot and we have had a lot of fun with the game. I wish it would catch on more over here, it really is an excellent card game.

As to the OP, if your cards are secondhand, even if they were originally intended for the card game, there is unfortunately a very real chance that they have been used for occult purposes and so may be dangerous. If they are secondhand I would talk with an exorcist about what should be done, whether they can be blessed and rendered harmless, or whether they are too dangerous and should be destroyed. If they can be rendered harmless (or if they were unused when you purchased them and so you know they are harmless) then I would say you should try selling them overseas if you can, so that it is more likely that they would be looked at as art or cards for a card game rather than as having any connection with the occult. I really cannot see how that would be problematic.

 

[minion]

Unlike handguns, keeping occult items in one’s possession is spiritually hazardous, even if you don’t use them. Exchange handguns for “radioactive material” and you might have a better analogy.

Handguns aren’t immoral to use, though. Whereas tarot cards are.

Just burn them, for the love of the Lord.

I honestly don’t know the true answer about your cards. There is no non-immoral use for them, but people do collect Nazi memorabilia, etc, just as physical objects. It seems that this could be the same. There is no “reverse consecration” that makes the objects themselves “evil.”

99.56% of people who get Tarot Cards are going to use them in the “occult” manner.

Let’s keep it brief. The primary use of tarot cards is for divination. We should not be using anything for divination. Such things should not be resold. They are a danger to the spiritual well-being of a person.

As posts from boldlygo, Alindawyl and thewanderer noted,*** I would like to emphasize that Tarot cards were not originally intended for use in fortune telling, but for card games***. So there are purposes for tarot cards beyond what is commonly thought for them in English-speaking countries.

Perhaps it’s not a religious motivation for burning them, but rather a passed down attitude from an older, more intolerant generation with a dislike of things generally thought of as foreign, that has turned tarot into some sort of stigma. Several countries had their culture exterminated by Christian colonization, and it seems a shame to simply dismiss something like tarot as evil and burn them, rather than giving the chance to return them to their original purpose of playing cards/Christianize them, like how wedding rings were originally pagan, but were Christianized.

I realize that people buying them might use them for divination purposes because that’s what they’re generally know for, which is why I’m asking if selling them is permissible, as I generally have no control over what people do with it. It’s like someone working at a cash register at Barnes & Noble, and meeting a customer wishing to purchase the latest issue of Playboy magazine…can the cashier really do anything about it?

Also, is anything associated with tarot cards to be stigmatized as well? Plenty of popular video games, such as the Persona series, Ogrebattle, and even Street Fighter feature tarot cards in some fashion. Whether the medium is tangible or digital seems irrelevant to its “moral usage.”

Also just a tip, since you like the “art”. Buy some “Magic the gathering” cards instead. They are made by actually gifted artists. If you’re lucky you migth get some rare cards and those are even worth ALOT of money… i believe it goes up to the 3-5 thousand dollars…

If your implication is that tarot artists are less skilled, I would just like to say that I own a tarot deck painted by a Magic: the Gathering artist ^^;

And I met her in person, she’s really nice.

I think the point the OP is trying to make by the comparison is that there is “nothing immoral per se” in the use of tarot cards. You could use them for displaying their artwork in a baseball card binder, in playing a game of Freecell, or to practice tossing them into a hat from five feet away. All of which are moral.

I’m not sure whether I fully agree with that or not. Divination and attempting to use the cards to gain knowledge from evil spirits would be gravely immoral. That is clear. But I also have a hard time believeing that mere paper with pictures on them coming off of the manufacturing line are automatically infused with evil as some sort of anti-sacramental merely because the word “Tarot” is on the outside packaging. So I can see what the OP is getting at.

Good point about “used cards.”

Yes, I would not recommend selling them either. But I had the feeling the OP’s primary purpose was comparing “cardstock with pictures” to “weapons of death” rather than actually soliciting advice over what to do with the cards. Maybe I read the OP wrong.

Well, I was asking for soliciting advise on the morality of selling them, and wanted to make a point before people scream BURN THEM.

And I will re-iterate the point, tarot cards’ original, principal purpose was for card games. Just because their purpose has been subverted for crackpot divination, that doesn’t mean tarot cards are inherently evil, correct?

Let’s apply my point to a more familiar example: the Rosary. Where I live, many people wear Rosaries as jewelry, and more specifically, because they are fashionable to wear for its association as a gang symbol. Does that mean Rosaries become evil if 99% of the world’s population wears rosaries as a gang symbol, or began using them as a choking weapon, or does the rosary’s inherent, original purpose remain? Could someone use a rosary handmade by a gang member to represent a gang symbol, and use it for prayer, seeing that was a rosary’s original purpose anyway?

What a dilemma! But think for a minute. Would you sell a butcher knife that could used in a Satanic ritual? What about your old car that could be used in a suicide bombing? What about your pig that might get loose, brush against a Muslim and send them to hell?

If you could do any of the above with a clear conscience, I would say selling the Tarot cards is ok. Er…How much are you asking? I could use some Tarot cards.

Yes, that was kind of my point. But uh, can’t sell’em yet, still working out my conscience ^^; There might be a bonfire waiting yet…

 

[minion]

Let’s not use the handgun analogy please. Many people collect tarot cards for the artwork. I say advertise them for “art lovers only please- not to be used as a tool of divination” and leave it at that. Probably sell them to someone over 18 if you’re concerned they will fall into impressionable hands.

If you truly want to sell them as works of art then break the sets up. Only sell one suit to a given person and refuse to sell any of the other suits from that deck to the same person.

You could also take a sharpie to the back of the cards and write ART down the card. A witch might find that a problem if desire was to use them for current day uses.

How about sell them and use some of the funds to give to Church or do something good for someone.

The problem is this will de-value the cards, to the point no one would actually want them, which is kind of opposite of what I want to do, sell for profit. Or rather, paying off some bills.

It actually does not matter but how much money are we talking about here?

Like you said, it doesn’t really matter concerning the morality of it, but it’s a large collection, some particularly rare, so I could probably sell them for $200-$300 on ebay for the whole lot.

 

[thewanderer]

I hope this doesn’t end up side-tracking the thread, but an analogy I thought of for selling them in a place where Tarot cards are mostly used for divinization purposes, is to that of pharmacies (or employees who work in them) that sell hormonal birth control pills and condoms. The vast majority of people who use these are going to use them immorally, but there are still legitimate moral uses for both of these. (Perforated condoms are necessary for collecting sperm morally for certain forms of medical tests). Its an interesting question because if no-one sold these items out of fear they would be used immorally then those who need them for legitimate medical uses would not be able to get ahold of them. I know that I have definitely seen the question come up of whether it is immoral for a cashier to sell condoms or the pill and if I remember correctly the consensus was that it was not immoral. OP, maybe you could search for those threads and see what people said and their reasoning behind it to see how it would apply to your situation? Just another thought.

 

[Hoosier_Daddy]

The problem is this will de-value the cards, to the point no one would actually want them, which is kind of opposite of what I want to do, sell for profit. Or rather, paying off some bills.

Like you said, it doesn’t really matter concerning the morality of it, but it’s a large collection, some particularly rare, so I could probably sell them for $200-$300 on ebay for the whole lot.

As Catholics we should be able to grasp this concept well. We have sacramentals. Things used to help our spiritual practices. Rosaries, medals, statues. Many of them blessed. When we break one of these things or it just gets worn out we dispose of them but we are to do so in a way that does not give scandal to others. Seeing a rosary lying on a banana peel in the trash is not in itself sinful but we are to take precautions to make sure that we do not send the wrong message to other people. So we might burn or bury or discard something in a way that does not have the potential to harm others. So much more so here. Think of the future. Think of what someone else would probably do with these things. Honestly, you know the answer, you are just strapped for cash and are trying to rationalize.

I’ll tell you what. Why would you sell something potentially harmful spiritually to others to pay a bill. I’ll tell you what. Send them to me and I’ll pay your bill directly and destroy the cards.

Or you could just do the right thing yourself.

 

[thewanderer]

Though I would still keep in mind that if your cards are used there is a real chance they could have become cursed. Just as objects can become sacramentals by being blessed (Holy Water etc) objects can become cursed when used for occult purposes. That is why I advised you to talk to an exorcist about what to do if the cards are secondhand. Even if the cards are used for innocent purposes it doesn’t seem right to pass potentially cursed and dangerous objects on to others. So if they are secondhand that is a real concern to pay attention to. And again, its not that the cardstock with images on it are cursed straight off the press because they have the name Tarot associated with them, but if they’ve been used for occult purposes it is possible that they have become cursed in the process and that is something important to be aware of.

 

[minion]

Honestly, you know the answer, you are just strapped for cash and are trying to rationalize.

I’ll tell you what. Why would you sell something potentially harmful spiritually to others to pay a bill. I’ll tell you what. Send them to me and I’ll pay your bill directly and destroy the cards.

Or you could just do the right thing yourself.

Honestly, I am uncertain. Perhaps I am rationalizing, but perhaps, on burning them, I am just acting on an irrational fear and an old cultural prejudice.

If it comes down to the point I believe they should be destroyed, I will burn them myself, and not empty someone else’s pocket in the process. As it is, I’ll just let them rot in the garage for now.

@thewanderer - Yes, the whole idea kind of dizzies me. I don’t see how anyone selling guns could not face a similar dilemma concerning their usage, which is why I brought up the example.

 

[GEddie]

Honestly, I am uncertain. Perhaps I am rationalizing, but perhaps, on burning them, I am just acting on an irrational fear and an old cultural prejudice.

If it comes down to the point I believe they should be destroyed, I will burn them myself, and not empty someone else’s pocket in the process. As it is, I’ll just let them rot in the garage for now.

@thewanderer - Yes, the whole idea kind of dizzies me. I don’t see how anyone selling guns could not face a similar dilemma concerning their usage, which is why I brought up the example.

I would never sell a gun or ammo unless forced to. “Never sell anything that can be returned to you at high velocity.”

ICXC NIKA

 

[Usige]

The problem is this will de-value the cards, to the point no one would actually want them, which is kind of opposite of what I want to do, sell for profit. Or rather, paying off some bills.

I agree that they could be devalued. It really depends on if they are truly works of art. I formerly owned 4 different sets of Tarot cards. The Rider-Waite certainly aren’t something most people would buy as art. I had a couple other decks that were better done but were still mass produced prints on laminated card stock. Not exactly what an art collector would buy.

My point was that if you have a collection of hand painted cards then those can often be sold by suit or perhaps the trumps individually because they are works of art. While a full set of hand painted cards might be more valuable, unique sets can still be sold to art collectors because they are unique works of art. Their value is less as working cards.

Instead if you have a collection of mass produced cards their value as a complete set is only for people that want to us them. You have to ask yourself what is the most likely way they will be used.

For example if you have a buyer for a gun and they ask if the bullet could go through body armor you might want to think twice about selling them the gun.

 

[cornbread_r2]

I would think that a deck of cards that could be reliably used to predict the future is going to be worth a whole lot more than a few bucks.