I think we have a lot of Wiccans, Pagans and modern day witches here on the forum, but I’m curious… do you consider the Tarot cards as part of your witchcraft practice? I think we have enough threads about Christian Tarot readers and Tarot card being demonic because of their religion, so how about we balance that out by talking about the Tarot and witchcraft.
I’m not asking anyone about their religion or beliefs who doesn’t want to share. I’m not even saying the Tarot has to have anything to do with religion. But if we’re going to talk about it, I think we should have a pretty fair and balanced approach.
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I never understand why some people can’t leave other beliefs alone. The sheer idea that Tarot might have nothing to do with your book would blow some minds.
Your Bible says my Tarot cards are demonic? Cool. My book says Tarot is fantastic. Why on Earth do some people think theirs matters more?
I’ll try not to rant.
On the actual topic, modern witchcraft is a very broad term. Some would consider the Tarot witchcraft and some would not. There’s no clear cut answer but honestly it doesn’t matter.
You don’t need to be a witch to use the Tarot. You don’t need to use the Tarot to be a witch. You don’t need to care what others think of your beliefs.
Here’s a little pet peeve of mine: why do people always think tarot readers are witches? Tarot is just a tool. Context is important!
Tarot cards started as regular playing cards before all the mystical stuff got attached. Just something to keep in mind when we’re talking about whether it’s witchcraft or not.
Tarot has this weird way of showing you stuff you already know but haven’t admitted to yourself yet. I used to think it was about predicting things, but now I just use the cards to reflect on what’s going on. They give me a framework to think through problems.
My local tarot circle meets every new moon at the community center. We’ve got such a mix of people, last week a Catholic school teacher showed up with her deck, plus a couple atheists who just like the cards. Group readings feel way different than reading alone. Everyone sees the cards their own way.
Looking at the history of tarot, it’s kind of interesting that it started as just a card game. No mystical stuff at all, people just played it for fun in parlors.
From what I’ve seen, there’s less focus on crystals, altars, and energy work there. As for the dark magic thing, I haven’t really come across many people who think tarot is evil or demonic.
Most readers I know do work with what they call universal energies or spirit guides, but that’s their choice. You can use the cards however it works for you.
Shuffling a tarot deck and laying out the cards isn’t just about interpreting symbols. It’s about tapping into ancient magical practices. We rely on intuition to make sense of these images and connect with something beyond our rational minds.
This opens up insights that logic alone can’t provide. That’s pure magic.
If some hard-up Christian wants to call that Witchcraft, I really don’t care. As long as they do it somewhere else.
Tarot is basically talking to yourself through pictures. The cards have themes about common life stuff, relationships, work, decisions, whatever.
Pull the Queen of Cups and maybe you’ll think about being nicer to yourself. Get the 8 of Swords and you might notice you’re stuck in your own head about something. The cards just give you something to react to. You decide what matters and what doesn’t.
It’s like those inkblot tests, you see what you see based on what’s already going on with you. Sometimes a random card makes you realize something you already knew but weren’t paying attention to. I use them when I’m stuck on a problem.
Not because they’re magic, just because looking at different images helps me think differently.
I respect people who use tarot in their witchcraft and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that but tarot cards only showed up in the 1400s in Italy. That’s pretty recent compared to a lot of magical practices.
Makes me wonder if we just link tarot and witchcraft because that’s how we see them in movies and books now. Maybe the cards themselves aren’t inherently magical? They could be a tool that works for whatever you want, whether it’s witchcraft, divination, self-discovery, or just playing games. It would be cool to hear from witches who specifically don’t use tarot.
What made you decide against it?
I used to hide my tarot cards from my witchy friends. Felt like such a fake, there I was pulling cards for journaling while they were doing actual rituals and moon magic. Then I found this video about different tarot traditions:
Turns out tons of readers through history have used cards just for thinking things through, psychology stuff, even math and probability. Learning that Mary Greer and Rachel Pollack treat tarot more like a wisdom thing than magic made me feel way less weird about my approach. Anyone else deal with that pressure to be ‘witchy enough’ when you just want to use the cards for self-reflection?
I’ve been digging into tarot symbolism and the pentacles are interesting. You see those five-pointed stars in witchcraft all the time, but in tarot they’re just about mundane stuff, jobs, money, health. The High Priestess card has these pillars with B and J on them.
I looked it up and they’re from Solomon’s Temple, which is Jewish mysticism, not witchcraft. The more cards I study, the more I see they borrowed symbols from everywhere, Christianity, Judaism, paganism, astrology. Guess that’s why so many different people connect with tarot.
The symbols aren’t locked to one belief system.
I believe the tarot changes depending on who’s using it.
My Catholic friend pulls meanings that match her faith, while my Wiccan buddy finds magical stuff in the same cards. My therapist friend sees Jung everywhere!
It reflects our own worldview instead of forcing something on us. Which is probably why it started as just a card game and evolved into whatever people needed it to be. Pretty interesting when you think about it.
Some of my witchy friends actually avoided the fortune squares because of how mainstream they became. One gal told me she felt like pulling out a deck at her coven meetings was like bringing a touristy souvenir to a sacred ceremony. The sparkly crowd I hang with has this interesting split - the old-school magic folks stick with their herbs and moon water, while the newer practitioners grabbed onto the cards like they were going out of style.
My practice looks nothing like what you see on social media - no crystals everywhere, no elaborate altar setups. Just me, my cards, and a journal asking myself uncomfortable questions. The Three of Swords helped me realize I was grieving an identity I thought I should have instead of embracing the one that actually worked for me. Mary Greer’s approach totally changed how I see tarot too.
I sometimes think tarot is more about our own thoughts than some outside influence. When I look at the cards, it’s like seeing different parts of myself that I hadn’t noticed.
Been studying my Rider Waite Smith deck more closely lately. I didn’t realize how much it borrowed from other spiritual traditions beyond witchcraft.
There’s Jewish mysticism in there, plus symbols from religions I’m not even familiar with. Kind of interesting how tarot pulls from so many different belief systems. Makes sense why different people get different things out of it.
I think tarot is such a beautiful tool for intuition and self-reflection. Some people incorporate it into their witchcraft practice, while others keep it completely separate. This just shows how flexible and personal tarot can be for each person.
It really depends on the kind of tarot reader you are.
Some folks go all out with crystals, candles, and spirit guides, while others take a more psychological approach, using the cards like visual tools. Tarot cards can be as versatile as a Swiss Army knife, useful for various purposes depending on how you’re feeling. I’ve got friends who treat their deck as a way to connect with the universe, others who use it for introspection, and then there’s me, somewhere in the middle, shuffling cards after church.
My Wiccan buddy likes to pull cards by moonlight, and my therapist friend uses them to help people work through their tough times. Meanwhile, I’m just here asking the Three of Cups if I should have another coffee.
Tarot can adapt to whatever you need it to be, and that’s what makes it interesting.
