Since the beginning of time, humans have looked to the stars for direction. They act as a kind of bellwether in our lives: They literally led us through jungles and across oceans at first, when our needs were simple, and then they gave us our gods when we realized we needed something more to live for. However, we have advanced past these things and are no longer dependent on distant burning gaseous objects to determine our purpose. Instead, we now anticipate that the stars will unlock the biggest puzzle of all: our inner selves.
The recent resurgence of astrology and its sister practiceswitchcraft, tarot, and the care and maintenance of crystalscan be seen as the pinnacle of millennial narcissism. Who are we to think that the earth, the sky, or a deck of cards with pictures on them should be interested in showing us who we are? The argument that it is egotistical and unrealistic to think that the universe has created blueprints with each of us in mind is the starting point of many detractors’ criticisms. My doubting friends question, “Do you really believe that astrology and tarot are real?”
In crises, I am a millennial. I’ve tried to identify my role in the world as I’ve navigated maturity and to decide what I want from it. Tarot readings and horoscopes are alluring because they offer a solution. However, using psychic instruments comes with a tiny but significant cost: We must reflect on and discuss our emotions in order to gain access to the solution. The real enchantment of divination lies not in its connection to the cosmos but rather in the ability it gives us to become more self-aware. “Whether or not it has been scientifically confirmed to be true, I don’t think it really matters. Hanna Ketai, a Los Angeles-based marital and family therapist with a license, believes that what matters is how someone views it and whether or not they utilize it as a tool. She believes that the value of psychic disciplines comes from their ability to “help us reflect, broaden our awareness, and think about things in new ways.
The most effective mental tools act as a prism, allowing us to view ourselves and the world more clearly. They provide both a justification for and a remedy to our problems: My moon is in hyperactive Gemini, making me impatient with my motions; talking things out will help me focus on my sentiments for long enough to make peace with them. Mercury retrograde encourages us to give time and attention to old wounds that we may otherwise like to avoid. It also serves as a convenient catch-all for broken technology and relationships alike. Psychic disciplines con us into reckoning with ourselves by assuring us we won’t have to, like a parent putting zucchini into their picky child’s breakfast.
Making sense of who we are on the inside is difficult and chaotic; it requires us to face the unpredictable whims of our psyches head-on, which is the emotional equivalent of staring into the sun. Metaphysical techniques deceive us into thinking that we can pin and categorize our complex emotional dynamics like butterflies. According to psychic practitioner Grace Kredell of Brooklyn, New York, psychic techniques allow you to “immediately go in and start playing with things, shifting them around, and getting them to talk to each other, and it’s extremely playful. “It’s a terrific approach to work with yourself just to even start to diagnose what your kind of issues are.
Our generation has developed a keen knowledge of the importance of connecting with our inner selves (or whatever) to our general wellbeing more than any previous generation. Therapy stigmas are vanishing quickly, and self-care has evolved from a self-indulgent hobby to a mainstream trend. And it’s simple to see why. God knows we need help; between the particular difficulties the “me generation” faces and the psychologically trying times we live in. However, for many people, therapythe most obvious solutionrequires too much money, time, or guts. We haven’t even gotten to what it is that I really want to talk about, says Kredell, despite the fact that she has seen therapists and had numerous sessions. Contrarily, when it comes to astrology, “I can just talk about one location with someone and bam, we’re there, we’re talking about it.
Ketai is adamant that metaphysical aids shouldn’t be used as a crutch. Tarot, astrology, or crystals are clearly not substitutes for therapy in her opinion, and she does not advise them as such. “I am aware that there are obstacles to receiving care, but there are many methods to do so, including sliding-scale, free, and insurance options. To be honest though, I’m really looking for something that my therapist cannot provide me when I consult my horoscopes and my tarot deck. By giving myself over to metaphysics, I am tying myself to the sky and rooting myself in the planet.
The scientific principles that control natural occurrences and accidental events hardly have any room for us. We are able to subject our emotions and the whims of chance to the same conditions that govern the wind and water according to the laws of astrology, energy vibrations, and tarot. But it is up to us to take the final step toward self-awareness. The crystals on the windowsill, the Death card, and the night sky are all unchanging, disorganized, and unknowable immobile objects. It is up to us whether or not we let them affect how we behave.
In This Article...
Questions you don’t really want answered
Even though it might seem apparent, it’s advisable to refrain from asking the tarot cards questions that you aren’t prepared to hear the answers to. That’s because answers to these questions can reveal information you’re just not quite ready to hear.
“Tarot can definitely come off as offensive if you’re not willing to hear the truth or consider an opposing opinion. Tarot reading Nicole Fortunaso
According to tarot reader and life coach Nicole Fortunaso, “tarot may truly come out as offensive if you are not willing to hear the truth of the problem or look at an alternate viewpoint.” She advises analyzing why you’re reacting the way you are in order to reflect on how to effectively address the underlying problem if you ask the question and aren’t satisfied with the response.
Why do individuals use tarot cards?
Reversals:
When you draw a card and it shows up upside down, that is a reversal. Reversals can imply a variety of things, such that the card has to be cleansed, that its shadow side is being expressed, or that the messages are reversed. (A lot of expert tarot readers avoid reading reversals. In order to prevent pulling reversals, they constantly keep their cards upright and believe that a card always signifies what it says. You, the tarot reader, decide how to proceed.)
Pro Advice:
You’ll gain deeper understanding of your daily pulls if you journal about them. In addition to discovering much more about yourself, you’ll gradually build a relationship with the cards by analyzing your ideas, feelings, queries, and the solutions that have been revealed to you.
I enjoy snapping a photo of the card I choose for myself that particular day and using it as my phone’s screensaver. I may then use the card’s significance to guide me visually throughout the day. It also serves as a reminder of how to handle any circumstances that may arise.
Tarot cards are they a psychology?
Therefore, the least unusual location to shuffle a deck of cards is probably your therapist’s office. There have always been significant psychological uses to tarot cards. The cards are the perfect tools for therapeutic and mental health, according to psychoanalyst Carl Jung, who described them as a simple way to symbolize the “archetypes of mankind” or universal attributes like power, ambition, and passion.
Tarot cards are globally applicable and can help you visualize your circumstance, according to Columbia University’s Inna Semetsky, PhD. ” What you really desire becomes apparent once things are laid out. They assist you in externalizing your issues.
It’s all about the pictures, literally. Tarot cards allow you to storyboard your life. You can look at the cards and see colorful, palatable images of behaviors you may identify with and that are now assigned to you since the cards have been pulled for you. This is why tarot decks, with their simple symbolism, are so strangely useful in healing and therapeutic sessions. Your goals and concerns become more visible and require less therapy when you see them represented in pictures.
What kind of religion are tarot cards?
Tarot cards also include four suits, but they are different depending on the region: French suits are found in Northern Europe, Latin suits are found in Southern Europe, and German suits are found in Central Europe. Each suit contains 14 cards: four face cards (King, Queen, Knight, and Jack/Knave/Page) and ten pip cards, numbered from one (or Ace) to ten. In addition, the tarot features a unique 21-card trump suit and a solitary card known as the Fool; this 22-card group of cards is referred to as the Major Arcana in the world of divination. The Fool may serve as the top trump or alternatively may be played to avoid doing so, depending on the game. In parts of Europe, these tarot cards are still used to play traditional card games without any occult connotations.
Tarot cards are mostly employed for amusement and divination in English-speaking nations where these activities are less popular, typically with the aid of specially created packs. Although academic research has shown that tarot cards were partially invented in northern Italy in the 15th century (16 of the modern 22 Major Arcana cards) and combined with a deck of four suits, “the Mamluk deck,” some people who use tarot for cartomancy believe the cards have esoteric links to ancient Egypt, Iran, the Kabbalah, Indian Tantra, or the I Ching. The Mamluk deck of cards was created in or before the 14th century and arrived in Western Europe after paper was produced in Asia (see Playing Card – Egypt and following sections). By the end of the thirteenth century, Europeans were making the Mamluk deck with customized “court cards” and suit symbols.
Although some people think that tarot cards were not used for divination until the late 18th century, there is evidence of an early tarot deck that was “used in divination to determine the querent’s prospects in love” (Fernando de la Torre’s “Juego de Naypes” deck of Spain, 1450), each card having an image and verse.
What occurs when tarot cards are read?
According to her, “Tarot cards do not predict the future; rather, tarot is a tool for spiritual guidance and allows the reader to connect to his or her inner wisdom.” “Tarot readings assist a person in learning the information required to make sense of a specific circumstance. As readings provide a person with insight into past, present, and future occurrences based on their current path at the time of the reading, decks are best utilized as a tool of inner wisdom and guidance. The cards don’t always predict what will happen; rather, they help a person analyze a situation and choose the best course of action based on what is already known and what the cards indicate.”
Can you get a date from the tarot cards?
If I had a crystal ball, I could tell you exactly how many times I have had to tell sitters that I am unable to predict their new boyfriend’s birthday or when their letter will arrive. I might start my own crystal store. They can become irritated at times. Tough titties, then! Again, the Tarot provides you with direction and forecasts, but it also considers reality and your free will. Doors are left unlocked. Don’t go to a reader asking for the date of your wedding; tarot can offer you an idea regarding timing (within 3 months, before the Fall, sometimes even more precisely in certain settings). If they respond, they are either a very talented psychic (as opposed to Tarot reading), or they are a con artist. There is only one way to learn.
Can I read tarot cards on my own?
It’s normal to be a little clumsy when you first start practicing the tarot. Tarot study is similar to learning a new languageit takes time to become proficient. But what happens if you no longer require the booklet and have intimate familiarity with the deck? Are you able to read yourself? No, except for a few rare instances. Simply put, it’s a horrible idea.
You see, the majority of us turn to astrology or tarot when we’re looking for clarity amid a period of ambiguity. In contrast to astrology, which is quite technical, our consciousness restricts our capacity to read tarot cards. Working with your personal interpretation of the cards, you are not constrained by short- and long-term cycles like the planets’ orbits. It might be tricky to go beyond your current circumstances while utilizing the tarot to better understand a trying scenario. Even if all the cards are spread out in front of you, putting them together requires such a broad perspective that it is all but impossible to fully understand the meaning of each card. Basically, any biases you already have will always be reflected in your tarot reading!
Lay some simple ground rules with yourself
Before you even pull your card, Marmanides advises you to consider what your gut feeling is telling you about the solution.
We are expected to consult the tarot guides for knowledge or direction, but we should also trust our instincts. Therefore, whether you’re performing a tarot card spread or just picking cards, you should follow the High Priestess’ advice and go inward. Concentrate on the directions you want to be led in and the feelings you already have about a specific circumstance, then channel that energy into your reading.
Is astrology a branch of tarot cards?
Tarot has evolved over time into an intuitive art that may assist you in planning for both the best and worst scenarios. Tarot cards are filled with symbolism, but you might not be aware of how closely it is related to astrology. In need of a Tarot deck? A card from the Major Arcana, for instance, corresponds to each sign of the zodiac.