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.