I’ve been reading tarot for 15 years now, and when someone calls my cards demonic, I usually just smile and tell them the cards help me process my thoughts, kind of like how journaling works for other people.
I learned early on not to get defensive or try to change their minds. Instead, I relate it to something they already do. Like how prayer is a form of meditation, or how their Bible study groups help them reflect on life choices.
Most people who react this way are genuinely scared because they’ve been taught that anything outside their belief system is dangerous. Arguing just makes them dig in deeper. So I usually ask about their own spiritual practices and show genuine interest. That tends to ease the tension.
If they keep pushing, I just say “I respect your path and I’d love the same courtesy for mine” and change the subject. You can’t logic someone out of a belief they didn’t logic themselves into. I save my energy for people who are genuinely curious rather than those looking to save my soul.
My Catholic grandmother used to say the cards were evil until I did a reading about her garden and accurately predicted her tomato blight. Now she asks for readings every Easter. Sometimes actions speak louder than theological debates, but sometimes you just gotta know when to fold your cards and walk away.
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In my years (too many to admit) I’ve learned to not bother trying to correct people sometimes. If they’re choosing to be offended by something that you’re doing when minding your own business, then let them be offended.
We have Christian Tarot readers and Christian Tarot decks. If that offends them then they’re perfectly free to not use either.
Their opinion really doesn’t matter.
Trying to convince someone that tarot isn’t demonic in a single conversation is pretty much impossible.
Especially if this is someone who’s going out of their way to inflict their belief on your day. Those types of people are not going to be strong in the “free thinking” arena. Old book says X, so don’t dare question it.
While with the Tarot, we get to question things all the time. In fact, our best readers have their own interpretations of what the cards mean and how they work.
People need time to process things, especially when they have strong religious beliefs about it. I learned the hard way that arguing just makes them more defensive. Now I don’t really bring it up unless someone asks.
PS: I just do my thing with tarot and let people think what they want. Some folks have come around after seeing I’m still the same person, but plenty still think I’m playing with dark forces or whatever.
I once told a pastor that his sermon illustrations were basically doing the same thing as my tarot spreads. You know, taking archetypal stories and applying them to personal situations.
Watching his face go through about 22 different emotions was something else.
Just pulled Judgement this morning. I was sitting there looking at Gabriel with his trumpet. You’re right about the Christian stuff being all over the deck. I keep getting Temperance, those angel wings are everywhere in tarot.
The Lovers card with Adam and Eve and the angel blessing them? That’s straight biblical imagery. I was actually reading about this yesterday and pulled The Hierophant.
People have been working with angels and saints forever, using them to connect with the divine. Some people act like this is all new-age stuff, but it goes way back. The cards tell the story themselves. Even The Devil card is more about being stuck in your own patterns than anything else.
Tarot skeptics take around a year to open up to it. The cards actually predicted you’d want it to happen faster! Fair warning, you’re gonna need patience.
We’re talking saint-level patience here. Or at least enough to shuffle cards really slowly while they watch. What happens is you mention the cards casually now and then, nothing too heavy. Over time, you’ll see less eye-rolling, maybe some curiosity creeping in.
Some people eventually ask ‘what do the cards say about.?’ Can’t rush it though. Push too hard and you’ll just get sighs and more skepticism.
The four suits matching the four elements, the 22 majors and the Hebrew alphabet, there’s a lot of mathematical structure in tarot. These same patterns show up everywhere in spiritual traditions. Maybe that’s what freaks some people out and makes them think it’s demonic.
Math is scary. I get it.
Found out from a seminary student friend that tarot cards came way after the Bible. The Bible was finalized around 367 CE, and tarot didn’t appear until the 1400s in Italy. Over a thousand years difference. Pretty hard to forbid something that doesn’t exist yet.
These people don’t even understand what their own books say, but they try to inflict their belief on other people. Usually aggressively.
Even the Urim and Thummim in the Hebrew Bible were basically sacred lots used for divine guidance. We’re not doing anything new here, just using different tools than our ancestors.
It completely reframes the ‘demonic’ argument when you realize priests literally cast lots to make decisions in biblical times. But let’s not expect logical thinking from them.
Been looking into the religious opposition to tarot lately. Turns out a lot of it comes from ancient history (because it can’t come from common sense).
Early religious communities saw divination being practiced alongside child sacrifice and other disturbing rituals in places like Canaan. It kind of makes sense why that fear would persist for thousands of years.
That’s some heavy baggage to carry forward
Do they know playing cards were banned by Puritans? Now churches have poker nights.
Time really does change what people think is dangerous. Rock music went through the same thing. Everyone thought it was evil in the 50s and 60s. Tarot’s just another example of something that starts out scary and eventually becomes no big deal.
My neighbor was pretty skeptical about tarot until I described my deck as fancy conversation starters last week. Once I explained it that way, she actually seemed interested. I’ve found that respecting where people are coming from makes a big difference. When they realize tarot is just another way to have meaningful conversations, the fear usually fades. Sometimes they even want to try a reading.
If you actually look into tarot history, the cards weren’t created for occult stuff at all. They were commissioned by nobility, basically fancy playing cards for rich people. The demonic connections only showed up during the Victorian occult revival. That’s pretty recent considering tarot has been around for 600 years.
Growing up in some religious circles, I heard endless warnings about tarot being dangerous. But those fears usually come from folks who’ve never really explored what tarot offers.
New ideas scary. Don’t want brain to overheat. Better yell and get angry about it instead.
These days, if someone tells me tarot is evil, I just smile and say, ‘That’s an interesting perspective.’ Their fear often says more about their own shadows than about my deck. The cards have helped me face parts of myself I was afraid to acknowledge. I’ve given up trying to change anyone’s mind. If they’re not ready to see tarot as a tool for introspection, that’s their experience.
I’m just here with my cards, doing the work of understanding myself better.
its funny how people react to the same cards so differently 
i remember showing my religious friends the Death card when i first got into tarot. they were convinced it was demonic or something. meanwhile i’m sitting there seeing it as just. life moving forward the cards are literally just printed paper but everyone brings their own baggage to what they see
I tell people tarot helps you connect with your intuition.
I use them for spiritual insight - you could say they help me deck-lare what’s already in my heart! (sorry, couldn’t resist) The cards themselves are neutral. It’s what you do with them that counts. People can misuse anything if they really want to.
I’ve found that refusing to explore different perspectives causes more problems than any deck of cards.