No. I do like all the funky drawings on them though.

i used to be into tarot and runes in my late teens but grew out of it . i just lost interest.

I used to, years ago. For a little while I was actually a professional tarot card reader. But I couldn’t see any future in it, so I quit.

ba-da-boom.

(actually thats true – I really was a pro tarot card reader and I quit because the local fairs were dying out)

I believe in tarot cards !

@Beargyi : that’s great. Thank you. I’m new here. People used to ask me questions on Answerbag that I would use Tarot Cards to answer. It was entertaining for us all.

HAAA!! Downtide, yer such a card :)

@phillis : LOL.

Jake, I have an avid interest in things like this, but after it hit me how damn hokey astrology was it kinda lost it’s appeal. I’ve not seen (or spent money on) anyone who could tell me anything that was actually true. Please don’t take offense. I’m Fox Mulder – I want to believe :)

@phillis lol thanks :)

@phillis : No offense taken. Live and let live. :)

No I don’t, never really understood that stuff.

I have a set of tarot cards that I really love. I don’t believe in them or not believe in them- they’re not meant to tell the future or do anything supernatural, they’re just there to give you new insight into a situation. Usually we get stuck thinking of a situation in the same way over and over again, and not considering all angles. I used to do a lot of readings for people, and they’d think it was spooky and accurate, but it was all their own ideas! Tarot actually started as a card game in Renaissance Italy, I believe, but maybe the images come from some older archetypes.

I have the Rider-Waite deck. Somehow the deck just “feels” right to me, from the symbolism to the style of drawing to the weight and texture of the cards. (The surface feels patterned or woven.) I feel the same way about other nice objects that I have; like graphite pencils and earthenware pottery.

I used to have the Tarot cards read for me often. Most of the readings were not correct, but there was one woman whose predictions were 90% accurate.

My husband has been a Tarot reader for about 30 years. I always consult him for my Tarot needs.

What kind of insight do you get from it, Yarnlady?

@phillis I find the readings help me define the areas where my own personality and potential can be guided to more productive expressions.

I’ve read Tarot for 30 years now….pro and for friends…and celebs. It’s not a parlor game or a joke…though a lot of people treat Tarot in that fashion. I took formal courses when I started way back (as a toddler…:) I was in my teens when I started and studied with someone who taught me in an arcane traditional method and I grew from there.

Tarot is a tool that gives you insight into your life….each card is a symbol of a part of a longer journey (Joseph Campbell would call it “The Hero’s Journey”). The cards are not dark or demonic (as called by a lot of fundamentalists) they are simply archetypal images that serve to bring up what our unconscious mind is grappling with at any given time. There is a strong correlation between Jungian psychology and the cards.

So, when you get a reading…a good reader is just an interpreter of what is already going on inside of your mind/psyche. They simply serve to show you possible futures, possible challenges and possible venues of expression that are showing up in your life or may be ready to be called forth.

Do I believe in the Tarot? Yes I do…if used wisely it is a great guide. I think that, and the I Ching (used by Jung) is also a useful tool for guidance.

A lot of people buy cards for grins, then go out and start doing readings without any idea of what they are doing. That accounts for a lot of people thinking they are “tripe”. They go to someone who is not qualified to be reading the phone book, much less the cards. So, if you are going to get a reading or need some direction in your life….find someone who has experience and knows what they are doing.

i do many forms of divination , i read dice , normal playing cards , dominioes, runes, apple peelings , crystal skulls , crystal balls , water , oil , smoke , eggs , candels , scrying mirrors , etc etc… but i dont read tarot . weird eh ?

@The_Anonymous_Witch I’m baffled how you can do divination with eggs. How does that work?

Been there done that.

“It’s not a parlor game or a joke”

I see them as just another form of mental projection.
You believe and perceive what and how you want to.

With all due respect to you. :-)

I get better odds playing Texas hold ‘em

@downtide
Egg Divination
Fill a clear, tall glass with water. Using a pen, prick a hole in the egg’s smaller end. Hold the egg over the water until the white begins to drip into the glass. Ask a question, if any. Watch as the egg whites diffuse and create shapes as they hang and float in the water. From these shapes and through the use of symbolic thought, determine the future.

That is sort of like looking at the ceiling or the floor and seeing faces.

It is called pareidolia. Our mind wants to makes sence of what it see’s.

I used to read Tarot cards during my witchcraft days – now I just use common sense

OOoooooo…pretty colors and spooky characters…Oooooooooo.

I understand the meaning of the cards and their positioning in a reading but I make no claims of any psychic ability of use to others. I’ve memorized the meanings as a purely intellectual exercise,

@DarlingRhadamanthus : Thank you for your thoughtful, thorough answer. I agree that it gives us insight and is not to be taken lightly. It helps us expand our thinking about whatever situations we may be going through.

@SirGoofy : Oooooo… should I have asked the question at Halloween? :o)

No. I don’t believe in stuff like that.

@SirGoofy Your comment, while meant as a spoof, is actually spot on. One of the techniques of helping people achieve a fresh view is to alter the “usual” into something unusual, with colors, spooky characters, odd decor and many other implements.