When I started reading Tarot back in 1992, things were different. You couldn’t find all the neat decks that are out there today, and there was no online community. Most of the time all you found were people steeped in their own hard fast “this is the only way” belief-system (i.e. someone must buy/gift your first deck). I bought my own.
Although I have always been attracted to what I call the 3 Cs (cards, crystals, and candles)- the crystals and candles have been more so for “setting the stage”. Not to say I’m putting on a show, but to give me the surroundings to be in the zone. This isn’t a religious thing for me. I’m not too ritualistic with this stuff- I practice *secular witchcraft*, very basically- a descriptor people weren’t using 27 years ago. I do put stock into the meanings of crystals for various reasons, but that’s another topic. I’ve learned even today there are a lot of people who say you can’t believe in more than one thing, but I believe in TONS of different things. No matter the issue someone else has in how I practice and believe, it changes nothing for me. I’m an Episcopalian... but I believe bigger than that. I’m not going to choose one side when there’s far more than one side to me as a person. I can’t shake my beliefs and just pick one thing so someone else will be satisfied. I’m not going to follow the pagan world blindly just as I won’t follow the Christian world blindly.
I appreciate other paths and I respect how other people approach things. But I would never say my way is the only way. I’ve noticed even in this community, you have the same kinds of mindsets found in judgy Christian spheres. In my 20s there was an older lady who worked with me who was very new agey- one day she saw my crystal pendant and told me I HAD to put it under my shirt or else it was vulnerable to soaking in everyone else’s energy and would put me at risk. She was over the top about it. But how does that make any sense when many of us where crystals as bracelets and rings? It doesn’t.
Everywhere I turned there were people spouting all the “wrong ways” and it seemed they were pointing at me- I was frustrated, and I’m sure it influenced my loss of interest in Tarot. That and the fact that the card imagery left a lot to be desired. Again, not enough variety. Mostly I could only find Tarot in major bookstores, but even then you were lucky if you found two different kinds. I was in the Marines and stationed in North Carolina at the time- hardly the hub for such things. Since I found myself stressing with certain card imagery, it wasn’t hard to couple that with overly critical people and then just put my stuff in a box and leave it. I’d read only for myself- and just for about 5 years.
I had no superstition attached to my way. I’d always felt strongly (and still do) that when I got a deck of cards, they were immediately mine and didn’t need a ceremony to make them so. The only thing I needed to do was handle them a lot and get to know their images.
People can touch my cards, but they can’t shuffle them. I’m only concerned with keeping them in good physical shape- no fear in getting other people’s “energy” on them.
I don’t read reversals- TONS of people don’t. You don’t have to. I think the cards have plenty of interpretations upright as it is. I think that reversals can trigger anxiety in people and it’s just not necessary. I think it also makes things confusing for some. And simply, this isn’t something you have to do. That being said- read reversals everyday and twice on Sunday if that’s your deal.
I’ve never slept with Tarot cards under my pillow. I don’t cleanse them in the moonlight, nor do I sage them. I have a deck on my nightstand and a couple cards out from another deck as focal points to help bring certain things to fruition. But that’s it.
Today, you can find hundreds and hundreds of different decks. It is absolutely possible to find themes you are comfortable with. You can find a deck of cards that allow you to do a reading and not freak out over anything that pops up. Not to say we don’t need to deal with our truths, but we can do that without the metaphorical jarring stab some decks give. We can also choose to use those decks when we feel that’s what we need.
So, now I have a full arsenal of cards that I can reach for no matter what angle I’m coming from, and I also have a community of people who are also secular witches. Countless other people just like me who use Tarot for the (mostly) psychological approach. Cards mirroring what you’re thinking and helping you reconcile those thoughts and personal trials. I am constantly pleasantly surprised when I learn someone I’m following on social media also comes from a secular standpoint. At the same time some of my favorites are those who *do* come from a religious, spiritual, magical direction.
I’m just glad there’s not only a place for the likes of me these days- but so many others who have this very point of view.
*****
All of this being said, this does not mean that I discount the magical world. It does not mean that I discount psychics. I have my own “abilities” but I don’t talk about them widely. They are raw, not honed, and hardly skilled. I have nothing to teach others on that specific topic and can’t even make them work “on demand”. While that's all true- I still feel strong in what I am capable of. It’s my personal journey. I just wanted to add that- because I can sense eventually someone is going to call me hypocritical. Not at all. It’s just that like Walt Whitman- “I am large, I contain multitudes”.
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