7 Tarot Myths, Debunked!
Do you feel like there’s something in the way of you, finally being able to read tarot?
It’s possible that you’ve got preconceived notions about the tarot that are preventing you from just diving in and starting to shuffle the cards. Tarot has a lot of stigma attached to it. For the most part, people deem it esoteric and mysterious, and because of this, it’s generally veiled with a lot of superstition and “rules.”
And while you could look at your tarot deck as mystical, all-powerful, and omniscient, the good news for most of us is—you don’t have to.
I’m bringing some practical wisdom to these typical tarot myths, in the hopes that debunking them will help you connect to your cards quicker and more easily.
That way, you can get those tarot myths out of the way and you can actually start using your cards!
Disclaimer: These are my opinions and come from a Practical Magic perspective. Other people will have different points of view and that's completely fine too!You can’t read cards if your mind is not clear.
For anyone who’s had any experience meditating at all, it’ll probably come as no surprise to you that it’s quite impossible to actually clear our minds. Our brains were designed to think, have thoughts, and multiply them exponentially. Unless we’re the Buddha or have reached some extreme level of enlightenment, we’re going to bring our own baggage, stories, biases, and hype into the way we interpret the tarot.
Does this get in the way of you, reading your own cards? Or you, reading for others?
It could, but it doesn’t have to. These cards are tools that can help us get through the muck. When we’re deep in the mud is probably when we need our tarot cards the most. The stories we tell through the images we see will be layered with our BS sometimes (especially when we’re reading for ourselves and desperately want a specific outcome to come through), but the more often we practice connecting to our intuition through these tools, the better we get at noticing when we’re bullshitting ourselves.
Bring your cards to the table when you’re happy, when you’re not feeling it, when you’re angry, when you’re sad. Let them reveal to you how rich your subconscious is and how your intuition will always pull through for you.
You need to be precious with your sacred decks.
This is a tough one for me because I get very particular about who touches my deck and how clean my worktop is before I lay them down. But that’s really more about never touching my stuff if my hands are dirty (or if I just ate some potato chips).
Tarot decks are essentially pieces of paper with images printed on them. They don’t possess any superpowers. You treat them with reverence because they’re important to you—the way you put a case on your phone. You handle them carefully because you spent money on them and don’t want them to get creased or ripped.
But if they did get some Cheddar and Sour Cream powder on them, if they did get wet (as many of my decks have), and if they did get dog-eared, that doesn’t mean you’re desecrating them or doing any harm. Tarot is magical because it helps you connect to your soul, not because some goddess is housed between the paper fibers of your cards (at least in my world view… lol).
You need to know all the meanings of the cards before you start reading.
Yes, if you’re selling your services and you want to be professional. But if you’re reading for your friends, go ahead and bring your guidebook with you. Go pull up your Golden Thread app and search the meanings. It’s okay.
There was a time when people read through entire instruction manuals before handling any type of appliance or gadget. People don’t do that anymore—we learn along the way and trust the Internet and YouTube to point the way when we falter. If you’re waiting to learn everything there is to know about the tarot before you pop open your deck, you might never start.
You may not know a lot but shuffle them anyway.
Only gifted people can read tarot.
Anyone can read the tarot. You just have to spend time studying the meanings and practicing. No “gifts” necessary.
You don’t “have” a third eye.
Everyone has a third eye. The third eye isn’t some doorway to the elemental world. It’s a representation of our inner voice, our gut, and our intuition. You can tap into your intuition to read the tarot, but, as I discussed in the earlier myth—you can actually read tarot through pure study and rote memorization. If you can read, memorize a couple of things, and practice doing it over and over again, you can read the tarot.
The deck you use determines the kind of reading you’ll come up with.
I think decks have certain styles—they can be quirky, dark, whimsical, humorous, etc. But our take on what the cards say depends largely on us. You can use a quirky deck and come up with a serious, emotional reading. You can use a dark deck and come up with something easy breezy.
Tarot cards are the medium—the reading and its “voice” is all you.
It’s like this. A white shirt worn by someone who’s into goth stuff can vibe differently when it’s worn by someone who’s got a Parisian chic aesthetic. Your deck may have a certain look or flair, but what it can deliver depends entirely on how you interpret it.
Tarot will predict what’ll happen next.
This is a big one for me and is something I make sure people know about me before I read for them. You can totally believe that tarot is predictive, but that’s not how I do things.
I believe in open endings where you decide what to do. Tarot shows you possibilities and opportunities. If you’re coming from a POV where you don’t believe in fixed futures (as I do), then prediction is completely off the table. This is why I don’t entertain yes or no questions and why I rephrase questions that ask “will this happen…” or “what’s coming next?” I turn those questions into “What could happen” or “If you do this, it might have x or y effect.”
This is how tarot becomes less intimidating, more practical, and useful to our day to day.
If you’ve been hesitant about shuffling your cards for any of these reasons or more, I hope this little list helps sheds some light on why you don’t have to be worried about starting your tarot journey.
Take it one step at a time, try it out, and see if these myths are beliefs you’d like to adapt for yourself. Or, just maybe, experience how easy it is to debunk these tarot myths too, once you actually start playing with your cards.
If you want to start with the tarot, check out the Practical Magic Starter Deck and the Pinoy Practical Magic Tarot Deck—both designed with the tarot beginner in mind :)