Tarot in a non divination way

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Meemai

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Yo

Tarot is just a piece of paper with printed images, a lot of the times a lot of christian symbols as well. Let’s not talk about that though I want to ask a question and I wanted to make very clear the ground I stand on.

Using tarot in a therapeutic way is it allowed? What do I mean? Now let’s say I am stuck and do not know what to do and feel bad. I could pray but I feel to bad to pray. I mean sometimes I am ashamed to come in front of God. Or I feel confused or sometimes I do not have the courage to feel God I am angry maybe or I feel sad.

Yes I know praying to God is best, but I just cannot always do this, it has to grow.

So what I do at times to calm and relax myself is shuffling tarot cards, which makes me feel relaxed and then I pick like 3 cards, and I know they’re meanings so I take the meaning of a card.

Let’s say I draw a card that says I am juggling too much stuff in my life around, and I need to calm down relax and chose one thing and finish that before moving on to the other, or doing 10 things at once. I start reflecting on that card and thinking if I have been doing such a thing lately in my life. Many a times I find out ‘aha, I have actually been doing that, neglecting this and such and so on.’

Now is it truly wrong to do this? I am not foreseeing the future, I am drawing cards and reflecting on them.
 
AttendeDomine said:
Why can’t you just reflect without the cards?
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There is not the relaxing habit of just shuffling them for 10 minutes.

The cards provide some subjects. I mean I could even make my own cards. I just think I can look at the card and think ‘what does this image mean to me, how does it fit in my life.’

I for my point of view am doing nothing wrong with this but wanted to ask and discuss this. I mean I am not telling fortune.

I even saw this book exists written by a monk:
amazon.com/Tarot-Talisman-Taboo-Reading-Symbol/dp/1856079023
 
I would suggest instead some nice herbal tea to relax …and reading the New Testament (ie lectio divina)…or other good Catholic Spiritual work for your meditation on your life…etc.

Stay away from those cards (I would burn em…). I cannot recommend any “use” …No matter what your intention is…such has too long been associated with the occult…and I think if you asked an exorcist who deals with the effects of such …he would tell you something similar…
 
Bookcat said:
I would suggest instead some nice herbal tea to relax …and reading the New Testament (ie lectio divina)…or other good Catholic Spiritual work for your meditation on your life…etc.

Stay away from those cards (I would burn em…). I cannot recommend any “use” …No matter what your intention is…such has too long been associated with the occult…and I think if you asked an exorcist who deals with the effects of such …he would tell you something similar…
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A good catholic monk wrote on them, so I do not see the problem perse. I am trying to make room for discussion.

They are just cards, you can use them for occult purposes this is very true, but even dice can be used for occult purposes.
 
Meemai said:
They are just cards, you can use them for occult purposes this is very true, but even dice can be used for occult purposes.
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You asked and so I gave my thoughts.

Dice may be used for the occult sure. And they can be used for good games.

But if you throw dice and take the number in the meaning of some occult system and think about it for mediation (while not using it for “divination”…that seems to be getting over into using it in the occult way…even if not the usual way.

(now I do not know what “meaning” you mean there…but I imagine often meanings given are from the occult at least partially).
 
And drawing three cards seems rather to be going through the motions of what the usual use is…
 
Bookcat said:
And drawing three cards seems rather to be going through the motions of what the usual use is…
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Of course, I pick 3 and then I chose the one I like most at the time. And of course reflect on that.

Now if I were to throw the tarot cards away, but use 3 dice and give every number a meaning. It would also be the same. I just use the tarot as a counseling.

I wonder if this really is against the christian faith. On the other hand where is the christian subsitute, flipping trough the bible. I have a lot of troubles with the old testament especially. I really dislike the old testament in a way. And that is the last thing I need when I feel down.

What can I do when I feel down and I need advice in a christian sense?
 
Meemai said:
Of course, I pick 3 and then I chose the one I like most at the time. And of course reflect on that.

Now if I were to throw the tarot cards away, but use 3 dice and give every number a meaning. It would also be the same. I just use the tarot as a counseling.

I wonder if this really is against the christian faith. On the other hand where is the christian subsitute, flipping trough the bible. I have a lot of troubles with the old testament especially. I really dislike the old testament in a way. And that is the last thing I need when I feel down.

What can I do when I feel down and I need advice in a christian sense?
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Sounds like you have a crisis of faith in which you reject the sanctity of the Old Testament and you seek solace in occult items such as the Tarot. Now you have come to Catholic Answers to seek advice from, ostensibly, faithful Catholic people. You have already been given some good advice and you are fighting back against it and attempting to justify your practices.

Perhaps you should discuss this with your confessor or spiritual director and see what kind of advice he has to offer.
 
Meemai said:
Now if I were to throw the tarot cards away, but use 3 dice and give every number a meaning. It would also be the same. I just use the tarot as a counseling.

What can I do when I feel down and I need advice in a christian sense?
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Using dice in that way yes would not be something recommended.

Unless your say flipping a coin to decide if your going to order pizza or a burger!

Random “counseling” is yes can be problematic in itself.

Spiritual direction…going to Confession talking with a Priest…reading spiritual works on the subject in question…reading the Catechism or Compendium of the Catechism…

If you like doing things “randomly” I would suggest taking a little New Testament and opening it up and read …not seeking some “random answer to a question” of course but simply looking for a verse to read at the moment for mediation. One can for example go to the a particular Letter -like that of Paul to the Colossians and look around til you find something to mediate on in particular at that moment.

If you open up to Judas hanging himself…well read something else.

I do this every night before bed …If what I read does not suit me at the moment I read something else …then I take that verse within my thoughts and prayer as I fall asleep…that is a very good way to pray (such as repeating the verse silently).

One can also carry the little New Testament with you and read a little bit when your waiting somewhere or get a moment to do so during the day.

A kind of brief lectio divina.
 
“Reflecting on the meaning of a tarot card” IS “using them for divination” whether you think so or not.

Have nothing to do with tarot cards - NOTHING. Want to reflect? Reflect on the gospels.
Tarot cards? Burn them, nothing more. Your posts are just trying to turn occult practices into non-occult practices and you can’t. Dice aren’t occult; they came about as a form of gaming. Tarot cards conversely cannot be separated from their occult nature any more than a ouija board cannot be. In the strongest terms: steer clear!
 
You could also take say the Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and pick one line for that day to mediate on. One could write them all out and then draw one out to meditate on that day.
 
Meemai,

You are looking for something to act as a tool for self reflection, it sounds like to me. And there is a bit of ritual in the process of selection. There is a randomness to the selection. I am reminded of St Francis opening the Bible at random for a word of insight and the Biblical casting of lots to determine God’s will.

Almost anything found can be an object for self reflection. I think the danger is in believing that a particular selection is “intended” or meant to for you or pre- determined. You could also select a station of the cross or mystery of the rosary.

I would rather journey in dialogue for: Ask Christ a question and then try to imagine how he might answer.
 
Meemai

When people want help of some kind in making a decision, there are different things they do. Some people will read their horoscope and act on it, others will toss a coin, and so on. There are some people who play solitaire with an ordinary deck of cards , not tarot cards, and if the game comes out they take that as an indication that the right thing to do is to follow one course of action rather than another.

For Catholics, all these things are wrong, as any priest will tell you. However, unlike some other posters on this thread, I see no reason why using a tarot deck, rather than ordinary playing cards, would make it any worse.
 
PolarGuy said:
“Reflecting on the meaning of a tarot card” IS “using them for divination” whether you think so or not.

Have nothing to do with tarot cards - NOTHING. Want to reflect? Reflect on the gospels.
Tarot cards? Burn them, nothing more. Your posts are just trying to turn occult practices into non-occult practices and you can’t. Dice aren’t occult; they came about as a form of gaming. Tarot cards conversely cannot be separated from their occult nature any more than a ouija board cannot be. In the strongest terms: steer clear!
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What he said.
No practicing Catholic should use Tarot cards. Read the Catechism. Steer clear indeed. :nope:
 
Meemai said:
Yo

Tarot is just a piece of paper with printed images, a lot of the times a lot of christian symbols as well. Let’s not talk about that though I want to ask a question and I wanted to make very clear the ground I stand on.

Using tarot in a therapeutic way is it allowed? What do I mean? Now let’s say I am stuck and do not know what to do and feel bad. I could pray but I feel to bad to pray. I mean sometimes I am ashamed to come in front of God. Or I feel confused or sometimes I do not have the courage to feel God I am angry maybe or I feel sad.

Yes I know praying to God is best, but I just cannot always do this, it has to grow.

So what I do at times to calm and relax myself is shuffling tarot cards, which makes me feel relaxed and then I pick like 3 cards, and I know they’re meanings so I take the meaning of a card.

Let’s say I draw a card that says I am juggling too much stuff in my life around, and I need to calm down relax and chose one thing and finish that before moving on to the other, or doing 10 things at once. I start reflecting on that card and thinking if I have been doing such a thing lately in my life. Many a times I find out ‘aha, I have actually been doing that, neglecting this and such and so on.’

Now is it truly wrong to do this? I am not foreseeing the future, I am drawing cards and reflecting on them.
Click to expand...
Tarot cards are never to be used for any reason. They are not a teaching device. Or a good method for self-analysis or self-reflection.

Best,
Ed
 
OP,

I think you should consider why you feel “too bad” or even “ashamed” to pray, and so seek solace in the tarot cards.

This is never a good place to be in. One day, after all, we will see God, and do not want to be ashamed!

For that reason alone, I’d say, get rid of the tarot cards and get thee to confession!

ICXC NIKA
 
Might as well mention that tarot started as (and still is) a card game. To the best of my knowledge - openly admitting I could be mistaken - there is nothing in the Catechism that forbids Catholic from playing “secular” card games.
*
“The real history of the Tarot, however, begins in the early 15th century in Italy, and their story is an important part of gaming and cultural history that was lost for centuries. They were created to play games, not tell fortunes.”*
Source: patheos.com/blogs/godandthemachine/2013/07/reclaiming-tarot/

Sir Michael Dummett, referenced in the above post by Patheos, was a Catholic convert who helped to “secular”-ize tarot card games:

“Although Dummett was brought up an Anglican, by the age of 13 he regarded himself as an atheist. In 1944, however, he converted to Roman Catholicism.”
Source: telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/8981654/Professor-Sir-Michael-Dummett.html

If it’s sinful to play tarot as a card game, would it also be sinful to play Scarto? What about tarocchi gaming decks that DON’T have 78 cards? Again, I could be terribly mistaken - forum elders, please correct me if I am mistaken - but I think the Catechism is silent on both of these points.

🍿
 
randomuser said:
Might as well mention that tarot started as (and still is) a card game. To the best of my knowledge - openly admitting I could be mistaken - there is nothing in the Catechism that forbids Catholic from playing “secular” card games.
*
“The real history of the Tarot, however, begins in the early 15th century in Italy, and their story is an important part of gaming and cultural history that was lost for centuries. They were created to play games, not tell fortunes.”*
Source: patheos.com/blogs/godandthemachine/2013/07/reclaiming-tarot/

Sir Michael Dummett, referenced in the above post by Patheos, was a Catholic convert who helped to “secular”-ize tarot card games:

“Although Dummett was brought up an Anglican, by the age of 13 he regarded himself as an atheist. In 1944, however, he converted to Roman Catholicism.”
Source: telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/8981654/Professor-Sir-Michael-Dummett.html

If it’s sinful to play tarot as a card game, would it also be sinful to play Scarto? What about tarocchi gaming decks that DON’T have 78 cards? Again, I could be terribly mistaken - forum elders, please correct me if I am mistaken - but I think the Catechism is silent on both of these points.

🍿
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it’s not “just a secular game”.
catholiceducation.org/en/religion-and-philosophy/apologetics/the-history-of-tarot-cards.html

BTW, there is an except from the Catechism within this article.
 
I had heard somewhere that the tarot game in fact developed from the divination system; the games, most popular before 1500, never caught on in England, so are very rare in the USA.

The gaming cards are visually different from those used in the divination system.

ICXC NIKA
 
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