Misconceptions Around Tarot - Debunked!

In the mainstream Tarot community, there are a lot of dos and don’ts. And I’ll be honest, a lot of them I don’t listen to. They’ve never worked for me, and I think it just creates energetic clutter when I try to follow those rules. Interestingly, you find people who are tarot readers and people who are oracle card readers, but not both.

I happen to be both. In fact, even though the first deck I ever bought was a tarot deck, I started learning to read with oracle cards.

In 2017 while scrolling through the witchy side of Tumblr, I stumbled across a Kickstarter for a new tarot deck. Now, I had no idea what Tarot was; I just liked the artwork. A few days later, I found an oracle deck on Kickstarter that spoke my name. Sometime after that, I bought three more oracle decks off of Etsy. And thus, the deck lust started.

It wasn’t until 2019 that I actually started reading tarot cards. I stuck with oracle cards for a bit because it was easier. And even when I did start reading Tarot, I had a hard time with all the books and guides I’d bought. What worked best for me was sitting down and seeing what I deciphered from the cards. No book, no manual, just me and my soul having a conversation.

All of this to say, there are so many different ways we can get started in divination. And honestly, learning the card meanings is only one part of divination. The other half is learning to trust yourself and whatever messages come through. And in the mainstream Tarot community, there have been a lot of misconceptions around Tarot Etiquette. So I’m here to tell you that any rule you’ve heard, you can throw it out the window! Yep, here we are all about making our own rules.

So what are these misconceptions that irk me to no end? And need to be debunked and dismantled like yesterday?

Debunk #1: You have to be gifted your first deck.

Uh, no. You do not. There’s no Tarot police that’s going to come and confiscate your deck. If you want to start reading cards, buy a deck! These silly complications of how things were done 100 or 200 years ago only slow us down now.

If you want to start reading, I suggest Amazon, Etsy, or even Barnes and Nobles as a place to get your first deck. And if you really believe it has to be gifted… gift it to yourself! Problem solved.

Debunk #2: Tarot gives deeper readings than Oracle cards.

If you read my other blog post, “Are Oracle Decks Fluffy?” you will know that some people have a belief that oracle cards don’t go in-depth enough to get a profound message. I’m (again) calling crap on that. If this has been your experience and Tarot gives more nuanced answers for you, that’s great! I’m glad. But that’s not the case for every deck. Some oracle card sessions I’ve done can get pretty intense.

Debunk #3: There’s a specific definition for each card.

While yes, each card has its own established definition, the beauty of intuition is that the card could mean anything depending on the person. Whatever the Tarot card brings up for that person and their subconscious is what it means at that moment.

On top of that, one card can mean one thing today, but if you pull that card tomorrow it might have a completely different meaning! Especially because a card's meaning can change depending on the other cards pulled.

When reading, we are tapping into our intuition. Our intuition is going to speak whatever we need to hear. And what we need to hear may be vastly different than the traditional meaning of the card. So, knowing how to intuitive nudges is key here.

Debunk #4: You have to clean and charge your deck regularly! (Insert eye roll here.)

Didn’t I say that there’s a lot of arbitrary rules for Tarot? And this is another one of them. For all of the people who clean and charge their deck every full/new moon, is it necessary? Is that what your divination tool needs right now? Now, if this is what you do, I’m not trying to shame you. But it’s not a dead-set rule in Tarot. My point is this: clean the deck when you need to. And unless you’re doing spellwork with your deck, you don’t actually have to charge it. Tarot is a tool. It is just another way for us to listen to our intuitive senses.

Debunk #5: “I can’t read tarot!” (Insert even bigger eye roll here).

ANYONE can read Tarot. And I mean anyone. All there needs to be is a willingness to listen to your inner voice and some creativity. There’s plenty of resources to start reading cards today. And if you don’t feel like researching, you don’t have to! Just pick up a deck and start reading. How do you start reading? Well, another way to think of reading the cards is storytelling. The cards are almost akin to a writing prompt. So if anyone tells you they can’t read Tarot, they either haven’t found the right deck or the right teacher.

So there you have it! Hopefully, this has helped clear the commotion around how to handle your decks. I have two rules when it comes to Tarot: listen and do you. So easy, right?

And not following these rules make reading cards so much more fun! And I’m all about fun and play in life. Now go out there and do Tarot your way! It’ll be great!