I’m going to ask the tarot the question that I know a lot of people are wondering. How is using the tarot to contact the dead any different from using a Ouija board or some similar device?
Maybe you’re like me and have been warned away from Ouija boards all your life by bad movies and your mother. I never liked the idea of them, even though I have a small collection. I love them and I’m drawn to them, but I don’t use them. In fact, when I put them out on display, I have visions of spirits peeking through them like windows from the other side, just waiting for me to invite them in—not visions as in revelations, but visions as in crazy mental images.
I’m conflicted about these spirit boards because as a child they gave me some good information. My cousin and I participated in the Ouija board craze as tweens in the ‘60s. One day we (like millions of other kids) asked the spirit of the board to tell us who it was. It spelled out E-F-F-I-E. We laughed. What a hilarious name. So we told my grandmother, and her face went white as a sheet. Effie was my grandfather’s sister. Not only that, but she read palms and the tarot for anyone who came asking. My cousin and I didn’t know this. In fact, we had never even heard the name mentioned prior to this. That’s when we were scared off Ouija boards.
I’ve told that story about a million times whenever spirit boards are mentioned. Like most of you, I’ve felt that we can invite all sorts of nasties into our lives if we have unprotected Ouija. In essence, we are turning on the beacon and using a bullhorn in the spirit world to call for random spirits to come on in—both good and bad. We’ve all seen the movies and had our share of scares. On the other hand, Effie got through to me. My interest in the tarot and things unseen certainly got a jump start that day. So like most things, proceed with caution. I use a pendulum to get yes-no answers all the time. I don’t see how that is much different. This is my opinion, but let’s ask the tarot.
The question: How does using the tarot to contact our Beloved Dead as we’ve been discussing here differ from using a more dubious (to some) device like the Ouija board?
The cards (from the Morgan-Greer tarot deck):
“Wow” is becoming an overused word on this blog. But, wow. I shuffled and cut the deck into two piles. The top pile is about Ouija boards. The bottom pile is about tarot. Let me state that the kind of Ouija board use I’m talking about is the kind where people just pull down a board and start asking questions. (I have no doubt that spirit boards can be highly effective tools for the spiritually adept.) Sure, people can just pull down a tarot deck and start asking questions, but the tarot system requires study and practice to make sense of it. It is inherently a more thoughtful process.
The bottom card on the Ouija pile is the Magician. The bottom card on the tarot pile is the High Priestess. Remember that I use these cards to inform my readings, just as I might use a card that jumps out of the deck while shuffling. Both these cards have to do with spirituality and otherworldliness. The Magician is a more outward energy that manipulates the elements around him. The High Priestess is the inner wisdom that comes through meditation and deep spiritual insight. So already we see that one is a more yang, aggressive process while the other is more yin and receptive.
The cards I pulled for each further amplified the differences. With spirit boards, the entities that you contact can come from a place of grief, sorrow, or confusion (5 of Cups). They might be lost or angry. In fact, they may be in any of those famous five stages of grief—denial, anger, bargaining, depression, or acceptance. This is where you have to be careful. It takes someone skilled in such things (as denoted by the Hermit card) to suss out these messages. It’s kind of like tuning in a radio. You can listen to static and everything out there or you can tune into the right program. Responsibility is the key in these sessions. The Knight of Pentacles represents taking practical, safe steps when using these boards. It’s not a game! I would be lying to you if I said there weren’t some ugly things out there. The knight also appears to be on guard against outer forces. Pentacles is the suit of the material plane, and it really looks like he is protecting the material plane from spirit invaders.
The first card in the tarot row is the Ace of Cups. These readings come from a place of deep and abiding love. Not only that, but they can bring cathartic, emotional healing. Sure, the dead connect with us as with spirit boards, but the recipient of the reading almost always heals some broken part of themselves. It is a two-way process. The 2 of Pentacles tells us that balance is the key—balance within ourselves and balance between this world and the spirit world. We can’t become too obsessed with either. The Dead don’t hang around waiting for our calls. They have their own work to do. However, they are invested in giving us direction from time to time because they love us. We each have to stay firmly planted in our worlds. The Death card here represents our Beloved Dead. This is the major difference between the two processes, in my opinion. We aren’t contacting random spirits, good or bad. We are contacting our Dearly Departed, whom we love and who loves us. Big difference.
Well, I feel better about that now. Remember that all spiritual tools—tarot, spirit boards, crystal balls, pendulums, and the like—can be used for good or ill. It is all about intent. I thank the Universe for graciously communicating with us as we ask these heartfelt questions.
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