I wanted to really get into the Tarot for the longest time but… are Tarot cards safe? Are there any dangers I should know about or anything I should be doing to stay safe and not attract the wrong attention?
My friend is freaking out after finding my cards. She’s really into Eastern spiritual stuff and told me that using cards without knowing what I’m doing is basically leaving my door open at 3am in a bad neighborhood. Except instead of burglars its entities that are going to notice I have Tarot cards and try to interact with me because of them.
Your friend means well, but she’s mixing up tarot with stuff like Ouija boards and channeling, and those work very differently.
Tarot is self-exploration. You’re working with your own deeper wisdom and intuition here. The cards are full of symbols, images, colors, numbers - all of that acts as a trigger for your intuition so you can ask better questions and find your own answers. Think of it more like a really insightful friend.
There is absolutely no danger there.
The worst damage you can do is give yourself a paper cut or give someone some bad advice if you try to run before you can walk.
The thing to watch out for with tarot is taking readings too literally, especially when you’re new. You pull the Death card, you don’t know the layers yet, and suddenly you’re spiraling. But Death almost always means transformation, an ending that opens into a new beginning. Same with The Tower. Looks scary, but the cards have way more nuance than people give them credit for.
Repeat after me: Don’t learn Tarot cards from crappy Hollywood horror movies!
Your friend is probably thinking of practices that are actually about contacting spirits (mediumship, channeling, that whole category), and those are different things.
Your friend cares about you and that’s sweet.. but she’s % working off some misconceptions. It’s not too uncommon and not her fault.
> Tarot cards deliver the messages… they don’t create them.
The cards pick up on current energy and use symbolism to reflect things back to you. That’s really it. They don’t attract or create energy that you don’t want. Even the idea of getting a risky or dangerous message… the Tarot never gives you bad advice to scare you or just for the sake of it. It gives you actionable advice to help you.
There are some practical things worth doing. They make your readings better and keep your headspace right.
Grounding before a reading. Sit down, take some deep breaths and feel your feet on the floor. Some people visualize roots going from their feet down into the earth, which sounds kind of out there, but it just centers you so you’re not coming in anxious or scattered. Your mental state affects the cards you pull and how you interpret them - you want to show up clear-headed.
Cleansing your deck is another good habit. Smudge them with sage or palo santo, just light it and fan the smoke around the deck. Or knock on the deck three times to clear residual energy - that’s usually what I do when I’m in a rush. Storing them in a bag or box when you’re not using them helps too. I keep a small quartz crystal with mine.
Setting intention matters more than people think. Before you actually draw any cards, just take a second and mentally state what you’re looking for guidance on. That focus alone makes the whole reading more useful. And afterwards, wash your hands, have some water or tea, maybe write down what came up.
These little things close out the session so you’re not carrying that energy around with you all day. Just good practice.
The scariest thing my cards have ever done is call me out on my own nonsense. Eight years of reading and that’s the worst of it. They’re brutally honest like that lol.
(And just because I know someone might be reading this when they are genuinely scared… I’m joking. The cards are helping when they do that).
Fear around tarot comes from so many directions - religious stuff (despite there being plenty of Christian Tarot readers), Hollywood, just the general tendency to lump anything ‘mystical’ into one spooky category. There is nothing to fear from actual real Tarot.
We all have different beliefs about where the use of the Tarot comes from. Some think there are guardian angels and higher levels of the universe. Some of us think that the imagery on the cards works like a mirror. It reflects stuff back at you. I have never seen any reason to believe that there is any risk to using the Tarot.
… other than to your bank balance. Sometimes a new deck comes out and you just start collecting more and more of them. It gets addictive.
I do think energy management is real ,though. Worth learning about even if you don’t believe spirits are involved at all. Reading for other people, especially, you can walk away feeling genuinely drained, like you absorbed their whole mood and carried it home with you. Experienced readers talk about this all the time. Happens to empathic people more. So the little rituals can really help if you think that might be you. Even just burn a little incense or rosemary before you sit down, visualize white light around your space (sounds corny, works for me), and keep a black tourmaline on your reading table.
And tell your friend you appreciate her concern, but she can relax. You could give them a slow, gentle reading somewhere if they feel comfortable to help them understand it more.
When I teach friends about tarot, I always point out something about the Catholic Mass. You have a man in ornate robes using sacred words and gestures to transform bread and wine into what they believe is literal flesh and blood. Put that in a fantasy novel and everyone would call it magic. Play some horror music behind it in a movie, the audience will gasp.
The church labels plenty of things sinful that people happily do while living full, meaningful lives - that part doesn’t really hold the weight people think it does.
Your cards are a tool for reflection and insight. You’re going to be fine.
Getting an education isn’t dangerous, and neither is learning about alternative spiritual paths. All of the ‘tarot is dangerous’ warnings trace back to one-true-religion propaganda meant to discredit other practices. Once you notice that pattern, it’s hard to unsee.
Don’t let someone else’s fear keep you from exploring something that matters to you.
The cards aren’t doing anything harmful; if anything, they are the exact opposite. In my tarot groups, nobody has ever reported anything even remotely like that. Not once. You would have to be actively trying to summon spirits or open portals for that to even become a concern - and at that point you’re doing something way beyond just pulling cards from a deck.
It’s a tool. Probably my most-used tool for reflection at this point. I wouldn’t worry about it.
Thirty years of reading cards. Not once have I encountered any ‘portals’ or spirits knocking on my metaphysical door.
I’m an atheist and a psychologist (which yeah, probably colors things), and honestly I sometimes wonder if people’s beliefs about these dangers are what’s creating the experiences in the first place… like a self-fulfilling prophecy kind of situation. But that’s just me.
All that ‘leaving your door open to entities’ talk comes from fear-based religious traditions, spooky movies, and gatekeepers who want you paying for their ‘proper’ training courses. Every single time. None of that has anything to do with you and your deck.
I like to think of each card as a friendly creature telling a story - seeds that bloom into insights when you sit with them.
In my experience, the only thing Tarot attracts is creativity (and maybe an adorable cat who desperately wants to sit on the cards). So keep the lights on, breathe deep, treat your deck like a playful art project. It’s a garden of possibilities.
I wonder if your friend is assuming tarot means spirit communication or they might be mixing it up with something else.
If it helps you feel grounded, just set some boundaries (like ‘no readings when I’m anxious’) and maybe avoid pulling cards about health or legal outcomes.
Your friend is overreacting. The cards are a self-reflective tool, a part of myself.
The only real danger (and the cards kind of revealed this to me over time, which is its own irony) is when people start believing the deck is literally dictating their life choices instead of just offering reflection. That’s where it gets weird. But staying grounded in how you use them is fair too.
Been reading cards for over a year now. My spiritual door remains firmly closed to any unwanted visitors, and I’m not losing sleep over it.
Back in 15th century Italy when tarot first emerged, the cards were just a game for nobles. A card game. No one was worried about demons showing up at their palazzo (which, fair enough, they had other problems). The whole ‘dangerous portal’ narrative came much later by people trying to scare others into buying whatever they were selling.
I’m still waiting on my first entity encounter… suspect I’ll be waiting indefinitely.
Thirty years with the cards. Not once - not a single time - has shuffling a deck opened some portal or called anything in, and I’ve done a lot of shuffling.
Your gut’s probably already telling you this. But your friend, sweet as she may be, is steering you wrong on this one.
% working off some misconceptions. It’s not too uncommon and not her fault.