Two years of self-reading, no curses, no plagues of locusts. I mean. You’re kind of the proof here lol.
This superstition has been floating around tarot communities forever. It sits right next to ‘you must be gifted your first deck’ and ‘never let anyone touch your cards.’ Same shelf. Don’t let anyone tell you what to do with your cards.
A lot of these myths trace back to older traditions where tarot was sacred and passed down through family lines, like in some Romani traditions, where a deck would be given to a young apprentice within the maternal line. In that context, it makes total sense. But it got generalized into this blanket rule that was never meant to apply to everyone. Now people treat it like some universal law of tarot.
If I wanted to be really cynical, I’d say it was started by people who didn’t want people reading for themselves so they could sell them spreads.
It just screams gatekeeping to me.
Self-readings do get tricky with high-stakes emotional stuff though. Your energy will influence the cards you draw and how you perceive them. If you’re panicking or spiraling, probably not the time to pull cards for yourself.
I would read the cards aloud as if you’re reading for someone sitting across from you. It just switches your brain into a more objective mode. If you’re just reading them to yourself, you are more likely to (not intentionally) distort the meanings. And don’t ask the same question over and over. There’s an old I Ching concept about this. If you keep begging the oracle to tell you the same thing, it stops making sense. Or starts messing with you basically. One question, one read, sit with it.
I would suggest starting with some Oracle cards to start with as well. Something with more direct meanings printed on the physical cards so your spreads are a little more pointed than the RWS. Less room for your mind to dilute things.
Though honestly the locusts thing would have been kind of impressive…