Tarot
There is some dispute as to when the Tarot cards originated. Some believe they emerged out of the Inquisition in medieval times when the traditional deck of playing cards was converted to the Tarot images so that they could be used as a means of coded communication to convey hidden messages.
Some Tarot decks of today, however, are less nurturing than the Oracle cards and, therefore, more negative. Because I consider myself to be a spiritual healer more than a fortune-teller, I choose not to use the traditional Tarot cards unless the client insists and/or has a spiritual understanding of the explicit images. Tarot is also a medium with which you can be a liability to your clients if you just read into one aspect. While the cards are powerful, they are also open to a wide variety of explanations. The Tarot decks on the market today all come with their own guides to interpretation, some more spiritually wise than others. Some of these interpretations imply that the power is “out there” rather than “within,” leaving the client feeling like a victim of circumstance rather than a spiritual being who has come to the life to get in touch with his/her power.
If you feel yourself drawn to use Tarot, please ensure that you study several interpretations in depth before you read for yourself or others. I have spent many a session attempting to undo damage and dispel fears that were initiated by inexperienced or un-spiritual psychics who predicted only the negative connotations of the Tarot.