My Intrepid Undercover Reporting Into the /Tarot Reddit Group

This One is For My Fellow Tarot Friends - My Snarky Opinions Nobody Asked For

I do not use Reddit. I do, however, find it to be an interesting place to find information such as Yellowjackets show theories - I went deep. There was a very real possibility that I would not find my way out of that one. I am blocking myself from creating an account for my own protection.

That being said, I have occasionally jumped into the /Tarot group. Sometimes I am looking for some quick information, or curious to read more after a google search returns that group page as a resource.

I am staying strong, my fellow tarot junkies, and not creating an account. Promise.

Get your tea and sit for a spell, this one is lengthy.

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I decided to do some intrepid undercover reporting on a rather large thread about the myths that should be dropped and a general bitch session about current tarot practices in this group, which apparently occurs on the regular.

Some members expressed exhaustion at yet another thread starting up. I hear you, /Tarot, I’m sure it’s repetitive when new members ask the same question over and over. But! I now had a treasure trove of posts to comb through to present my findings to all of you fine people on Substack. I am doing a service most may be too scared to attempt - the world of Reddit crossed with metaphysical folks of all kinds.

Nothings good can come of it . . .

However, my investigation uncovered a group with some very smart folks . . . and then there are the rest of them. The newbies, that’s all fine - the smarties help out and educate in a positive way. There are some trolls but it was minimal. The folks in the middle are, for the most part, decent humans. Perhaps a bit over-confident in their posts, but that’s ok. It seemed, to me, like a group for newbies to request spread interpretations questions, general advice, and deck recommendations.

I judged you wrong, /Tarot. You came out swinging with a decent bunch of members. Bravo 👏

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Here’s how this is going to work! I scanned the entire thread for the repeated things said which addressed:

• What traditions/things need to stop

• The way it is done in reality by the members

I grouped this long list into categories and will summarize my thoughts on these ideas. It gets really snarky at times . . . I have some strong opinions and this is an experimental tarot substack. I like to break things.

Let’s get into it!

Note: bullet points are fairly close to actual phrasing on /Tarot, edited for clarity.

Tarot Online - Interwebs, TikTok, and Consumerism

• “Pick a Card” entertainment reading, or “Pick a Pile” collective B.S.

• Having the patience to actually study versus just jumping online

• Not practicing, and instead just buying decks, books, TikTok/YouTube for source of tarot insights

• Reading multiple decks for different things (consumerism)

I am going to step on my soapbox for a few minutes and state that a good portion of tarot readers on sites like TikTok are bullshit. Yes, you heard me. If you watch those videos and fall into the trap of “OMG! How did you know!”, these “readings” are for entertainment only. And they give legitimate tarot practitioners a bad name.

No! You will not be receiving an inheritance, and your ex will not be coming back to your dysfunctional ass. Go to therapy. Stop leaning into random internet tarot videos for advice on life.

Don’t fall prey to people flashing cards to the camera proclaiming that the collective will all experience something, and the “meaning” explained has nothing to do with the actual traditional card interpretation. The “pick a pile” and “pick a card” collective readings fall into the same trap.

One poster expressed that she used TikTok to practice leaning how to read, and there’s nothing wrong with that. However, she also admitted that she was posting videos of collective readings when she really didn’t know what she was doing. These were broadcast out to the interwebs - it seems irresponsible to me.

There are many tarot practitioners who post videos with valuable topics meant for learning how to relate to the cards with insightful reflections. Most importantly, they respect the cards and what they represent. Those are my people.

/end soapbox rant/

I want to address the ease of access to information about tarot and divination online. When I started practicing, this really didn’t exist in the way it does today. It is so easy to look up the meaning of a card - why buy a book, right?

I use these resources, too! I look for specific information, or perhaps my tired brain can’t remember a small detail. Interwebs to the rescue! What I do have issue with: studying tarot without tapping the rich world of books from amazing tarot practitioners, such as Mary K Greer, the tarot queen IMHO.

Please study in a real way. The tarot system is very complex, and after nearly 30 years I am still uncovering the layers of symbolism. A website will not dive into the intricate details. I promise a real study of tarot is both satisfying and fascinating.

If you continually buy cute decks without a true study of tarot, just to have them, you get what you paid for - a stack of cards on your shelf with pretty images on them. I have over 30 decks; some of them were gifted and have value, and the rest were purchased to serve a specific purpose. If I don’t feel that a specific deck meets this criteria I gift them to someone who will love them.

Addressing Card Interpretation

• Using personal bias for meanings instead of actually reading the cards

• Messages are not absolute - traditional meanings vs intuitive readings

• Reading reversals

• Looking up the meanings while reading for others

Interpretation of the cards creates a grey zone chock full of personal bias, traditional meanings, and intuitive impressions. Look, no tarot practitioner is perfect and we call fall into these traps. Tarot interpretations are limitless, in my view, due to the infinite possible combinations of cards within a spread. We need to be aware that traditional meanings are the foundation of the cards, and it should be considered first. After that, the relationship to the surrounding cards and how they interact. Intuition can be used at this point to tell the story of the cards’ interactions using the traditional meanings as the base.

Personal biases - what a slippery slope. If you are reading for yourself, which can be difficult, you already have a bias. If you are reading for someone you know very well, your biases are also in play. We must, as tarot practitioners, try our best to remain neutral in our biases.

I recall a day where a few friends were at my house, and I gave readings to several of them in turn with deep intuitive hits, and one of them said “You spilled my brain out onto the table!”. My husband was next, and he is not a person who would ever want a tarot reading. The intuitive hits flowing from person to person immediately came to a screeching halt. My guides knew that I would have a huge bias - I told him that I couldn’t read him as I knew him too well.

We have an ethical duty to avoid bias as much as possible.

Reading reversals is a contentious issue. Until this year, I was pro-reversal. I did so because the decks I used included reversal interpretations. Also, viewing the cards upside down changes the image of the card. The cups flip upside down (pouring out the contents), swords fall away out of whatever they are piercing, etc. It’s fascinating! I think there is a strong argument to be made to show the shadow side of a card’s position in a spread.

Lately, I am not using reversals for every spread. I really depends on my objective. I will purposely flip them to find shadow elements - see my post on elements or my post for creatives as examples. I also introduce a hybrid celtic cross spread where an additional “energetic” card is pulled for each position of the spread. The primary card is right-side up and major arcana only, and the second card is minor arcana with reversals allowed. My point is, using reversals can serve a very specific purpose.

Multiple posters in /Tarot expressed an almost compulsive need to keep the entire deck right-side up at all times. I really find this unnecessary and would probably drive me crazy to waste time righting them when I can flip them as I pull out of the deck. But that’s me - I am notoriously impatient. Many said it was too hard to learn reversals so they avoid it all costs. I think a whole world of shadow elements is lost when it is not acknowledged, but using this system is not essential.

A really good friend of mine once went to Lily Dale and paid for a tarot reading. This community is known for mystics, mediums, and other intuitive folks. He told me that the person he paid used a book to look up cards interpretations as they went. I was horrified. This person should not have been charging for readings. My point is this: do not give readings to others or charge for them until you are comfortable telling the story of the cards in front of you in a coherent, natural way.

On Tarot Decks

• Gatekeeping - Gifting decks tradition

• Each deck has its own vibe - do decks have personalities?

• “Jumpers” – they just need to learn to shuffle

• Other people touching your deck, respect the cards

Ah…gatekeeping. The most common tradition, which for some reason still persists, is that a person must be gifted a deck to begin practicing. It is a beautiful gift to receive your first deck. Mine was gifted! However, it is not a hard and fast rule, just an old tradition which I cannot seem to trace back to its source. An “old wive’s tale”? Who knows. If you want to practice tarot, buy a deck and start studying and working with the cards.

It may be considered “woo woo” that a tarot deck, which is simply a stack of cards with images printed on them, could possibly have a “personality”. I will contend that this word is exaggerated. Another poster referred to this as more of a “vibe”. This is probably closer to what I feel about this idea. It’s not that the deck itself, fresh out of a box, has a “vibe”, but it certainly evokes emotions while viewing the cards - within the human. The “vibe” is the mood of the images - is it bright and cheery evoking a sense of joy and lightness, or is it dark and moody invoking a more serious internal response? For example, I have a deck called "The Black Tarot” which features greyscale images. Dark, right? I cannot imagine giving a light and happy reading with this. And the same for reverse situations! A light and happy deck for a serious reading would feel inappropriate for me.

Jumper cards occur while shuffling the deck and card(s) will fall out of the moving stack. I sometimes do a swirl of cards on my lap desk and wait for cards to fall of the side. I think it’s fair to say that most readers would either put this aside to reveal later or place it back into the deck. It is often an additional piece of information useful for the spread if kept.

I do know some readers who will shuffle a specific way to allow for jumpers to fly out to get the cards for the spread, and they do so with a quickness. Totally valid. On the interwebs, TikTok and YouTube videos are abundant on how to get jumper cards on purpose. Do they show off for the video? Does it take a long time to wait for a jumper to emerge? If I were to conduct a reading and shuffled for minutes at a time waiting for the elusive jumper card, I would waste valuable time I could be using to give the actual reading. Most of the time, I just think - maybe learn to shuffle properly? Stop showing off? It’s mostly annoying.

Tarot Reading Techniques

• Future Predictions - Tarot is a guide, not a prophet. It is a tool for conversation

• Placebo effect of using additional tools (crystals, etc)

• Pulling too many clarifiers

• Sugarcoating versus not sugarcoating readings - finding your own style. There is no universal right way to practice

• Not connecting with the story of the cards, and taking meanings too literally

• The state of mind while reading

• Other religions can use tarot, such as for meditation or prayer

There are many things here to unpack. For sake of both my time in writing, and your time in reading, I am going to condense this down as much as possible.

Tarot is not a tool meant for future predictions. I will also clarify that there are mystics who truly have the gift of precognition, or seeing future events unfold. I can get this sometimes but it really isn’t something I can force. It really isn’t a very impressive clair for me. I have other clairs that operate consistently for me.

I love crystals, they are beautiful. I especially love amethyst, the purple gem purported to protect and heal. While I love the enticing beauty, I do believe that they only work if you put your own energetic purpose into them. If you believe that amethyst offers psychic protection, it depends on your energetic intention to make it work for you. Using that same crystal on the table while you read works because you did the work mentally to make it so. Mental associations at work. I do think that crystals, stones, and other earthbound objects can hold energy as long as you place your energetic intention onto them. Yes, “woo woo”.

Pulling clarifying cards, additional cards pulled for more information, is perfectly fine. If you pull too many additional clarifiers, it can change the interpretation. I limit my clarifiers to three cards. After that, its a slippery slope.

Reading style and creating the “story” in a tarot spread. Sugarcoating interpretations versus not sugercoating . . . it’s an art. I think there is a balance here. A reader should not give overly positive interpretations if the cards do not support it. If I see something that needs to be addressed which may not be overly positive, I will look at the surrounding cards for support, and perhaps pull one clarifier. I want the full story before I address it. Once I get that story, I will address it in a gentle way and offer ways to overcome the difficulties in a proactive manner.

A tarot practitioner needs to find their own style and approach to telling the overall story of the cards, not just reading the cards straight with no connection to other cards. Because, dear friends, they are always connected into a larger narrative. We are storytellers for the seeker.

I cannot read for others when I am not feeling well - whether it is a medical sickness, mental issues (depression/anxiety), or life stress. It is irresponsible to do so. Also, I cannot channel when I don’t feel well. I would also stress that seekers should not ask for a tarot reading when they feel that same way. The reading should be conducted when both persons are calm and collected.

Secular tarot is a thing! People of all faiths use tarot for introspection and meditation only. No “woo woo” or energetic intuitive skills required. The symbolism is universal to everyone open to using the system.

Interacting with Seekers’ Questions & Motivations

• Asking yes/no or specific questions for definitive answers

• Using tarot to make big decisions

• Asking for constant advice. Asking questions that are not ready to be asked and bad phrasing

• Only do reading for serious questions – i.e. not “will he come back to me”, and not reading anything related to health matters

• Readers should never charge for readings

Tarot can give perspective, but I would warn against giving a reading for strict yes and no questions. It can lean towards one or the other, but it is not ethical to tell someone what to do, you can only offer a way to think about either choice.

If a seeker is asking “big questions” that could impact their life in some way, I will ask them to rephrase their question. Legal, medical, child welfare, abuse, and financial decisions are a no-go for me. It is not my place to advise on these topics. There are professions in the world for these issues.

There are seekers who will jump from reader to reader until they get the answer they want to hear. Its hard to identify these seekers sometimes. But if I get the sense that the person is doing this, I will decline or ask them to rephrase. Not only is it a waste of time and money, but shows an unhealthy motivation and compulsion from the seeker. The same goes for seekers who consult tarot practitioners for advice for every little issue, frequently. Sorry, but if that is happening its a red flag. Asking questions not ready to be asked is also a red flag. This can be asking for predictive outcomes for something that has not happened yet. Also a no-go for me.

I have given exactly one reading for a “will they come back to me” or “do they like me?”. I was not aware it would go that way at first, but the seeker’s intention showed pretty early in the reading. And you know what? The cards did not support it. I gently told them that, and I am sure it was disappointing. I will not lie to them and give false hope. I also advise people that I do not do “love” readings. I feel it is unethical to predict love relationships. I can read established relationships, but it carefully navigated with the right question.

Lastly, the idea that practitioners should not charge for reading! Wow, what a crock. When learning, I support not charging because it is a process to become fluent. However, there is a point where charging is acceptable. We put out energy when we read for others. Would you pay your therapist? That’s what we do, too. I do energetic reading trades with other practitioners, and read for free with close friends and family. Outside of that, I do charge. I exert energy for my clients.

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We made it! The /Tarot community is very smart and supportive for new readers. They are a viable source for support and knowledge. Who knew!

I would love to know your thoughts, questions, and objections. Let’s discuss!