Channeling and understanding the most powerful insights the tarot reveals requires an open mind and a willing spirit, but it also requires something else: knowledge, self-awareness, and the ability to protect oneself from negativity, both on a spiritual and psychological plane.
I learned to read tarot at an early age; I was very enthusiastic and dedicated. Through the cards, I was able to intuit situations and interpret messages with amazing clarity. While the tarot opened a door to world of perception that I never knew existed, it also opened the door to something else. Something dangerous.
Think for the moment, of the tarot as a powerful race car. If you fuel it correctly, maintain it properly, and truly understand what it takes to keep it in control, a race car can take you for a thrilling ride. But should you choose to jump behind the wheel uninformed and untrained, and simply put the pedal to the metal, the results can be something different entirely.
There was a time in my life that I chose to disengage myself from the tarot. Part of my decision was based in growing up and learning to “un-believe” in magic, but the larger reason was one of self-preservation. When I found myself in the presence of something dark and overwhelming, not only was there no one in my life who could teach me to protect myself back then, but I didn’t even realize that it was possible to do so. At the time, I thought my best option was to simply remove myself from its influence, which is exactly what I did. Although I knew I’d be losing something I treasured and often relied on, I simply shut the door and walked away.
Eventually, after a long journey, I found my way back to that door and opened it, but in the interim, I’d learned how to protect myself so that I could channel the positive energy inward and deflect the negative influences back out into the cosmos.
Protect Your Spirit, Protect Your Psyche
Good. Evil. Karma. Destiny. Whatever you choose to call them, experience has taught me to believe in larger powers that surround us and work their influence on our daily lives. These forces are like the weather. While you can sometimes predict them, you can’t stop them—but you can learn to both embrace the positive energy, as well as to repel and protect yourself from the negative energy.
These forces, especially evil, are opportunistic. If you leave a door open, they will find a way inside. If you don’t take precautions to protect yourself, some of these occult forces can actually do you harm and relegate your spirit to darkness. The tarot is a mechanism of enlightenment, but there is a seductive quality to the cards that cannot be denied. Those who are in deep turmoil, or tend to be highly suggestible may run the risk of turning the tarot from a tool into a crutch, and form an unhealthy dependence on them without realizing how their own heightened emotions and fears can actually influence readings and cloud them with self-fulfilling negativity.
So, what can you do to keep yourself safe?
- Should you decide to become a serious devotee of the tarot, I would strongly advise you to seek out guidance from a trustworthy mentor who will teach you how to keep yourself out of harm’s way as you hone your skills.
- Your spirit, like your body, has an immune system. When you are exhausted physically and emotionally, your system is weakened. Save your readings for times when you feel strong and in control.
- If you think about it, tarot is a form a meditation in which you must open yourself to receive messages. “White Light Wrapping” is a process by which those who meditate protect themselves when a psychic door is opened. Whenever you read, picture that you are surrounded by a white, healing light. This light will not prevent messages from coming through to you, but it can filter out negativity.
- Pay attention. Think about the race car again. Changing conditions and outside influences can impact a reading.
- Trust your feelings. If you somehow feel odd or uncomfortable during a reading, stop. Put your cards away for the time being. You can always come back to them later.
Tarot cards are meant to shed light on your choices and reveal those things that may be holding you back from attaining your goals. Again, if you are in a vulnerable place in your life, a tarot reading can do you a world of good, but what the cards reveal should not be substituted for your own judgment. A competent, sympathetic reader will understand this, and like any qualified practitioner of a psychic art, will put your spiritual and mental well-being above all else.
If you want to get the most from the tarot, trust a KEEN advisor who can give you a reading that’s as safe as it is enlightening.
