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The Real Power of Tarot . . . and Why Tarot Is NOT Fortune-Telling

Writer's picture: Ally MulliganAlly Mulligan

Updated: Jan 1, 2024

What comes to mind when you think about Tarot? A woman (most likely) with a fierce manicure and colorful turban shuffling cards like Vegas dealer?

 

Maybe that image scares you. Maybe it makes you chuckle with skepticism. Possibly, you’re afraid of what the cards and that reader might say about your future.

 

This fear comes from the misguided (imo) belief that Tarot is fortune telling—that it can predict events and even the timing of them. That’s not a really accurate understanding and belies the true potency of this wondrous tool.

 

I tell my clients that if they’re looking for me to predict their future, for the cards to tell them what is going to happen or what they should do, then I am not the reader for them.

 

To me, Tarot is not a fad, toy, or one-dimensional. It is not a parlor trick (although reading from run-of-the-mill playing cards IS, indeed, a fun party trick!)

 

Tarot is a tool we can use to access the muck that lurks inside our subconscious, calling out and learning to alchemize that beast Carl Jung called the Shadow. Indeed, many Jungian psychologists use Tarot in their clinical practices.

 

Our Shadows are usually pretty mean, or desire taboo things, and often like to keep us stuck in a cycle of playing small. They have an intellect of about two years old and crave, above all else, the security of the known.

 

Any change, good or bad, is seen as a threat, and our Shadows will dig in and thwart that change with the stubbornness of an ox and the might of a two-ton stone pillar.

 

If you’ve ever asked yourself why you attract the same crummy partners, or you stay in a toxic job, or you can’t stay on a wellness plan, you can thank your Shadow. It is always ready to accommodate your subconscious attachment to what you know, even if what you know is dreadful. No matter how much intellectual information you have about how destructive it is to, for instance, date a narcissist, no matter how motivated you are to stay on a particular diet or attend yoga class regularly, knowledge and motivation alone do not create behavior change.

This is not that new.

 

We have to “fix” this equation with a lot of elements, but for now we will just add one:

If we’re talking about positive change, it can’t happen unless we believe that the change makes sense. We must believe that the change is right for us, that it belongs in our life, and that we are worthy and capable of it.

 

Conversely, a belief that negative change will happen can have an eerie Law of Attraction/placebo effect. A friend of mine went to Salem, MA and consulted a reader who told her she would never experience another love relationship in this lifetime. Guess what? She hasn’t.

 

(Unwriting that prediction is still a work in progress.)

 

Addressing our belief systems is a multi-faceted affair. One fabulous way to do this is by using Tarot.

 

Your two-year old Shadow doesn’t understand verbal language. This is a problem with talk therapy, groups, and reading self-help books (those things are great, but they, too, are only part of a set of tools). Imagine sitting a two-year old down in a lecture hall and attempting to educate that child on the physiological impact of overeating. The speaker is dynamic, the energy in the room dynamic, and the lecture includes a multi-media presentation with stark images of bloated livers with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and diabetic patients on dialysis.

 

You, the adult, walk away stunned, vowing never to let a single Dorito ever cross your lips again.

 

But your two-year old subconscious hasn’t understood a word and is cranky because it was bored. And now it’s hungry.

 

And it will eat whatever is nearby.

 

So, how do we talk to the two-year old?

 

Think of the Tarot as the Translator. Children understand pictures. And because the Tarot relies on pictures of archetypical images, it accesses not only our subconscious, but that of the collective. Everyone has a reaction when they see the Death card; the reaction is universal. Even in the worst of skeptics, a conversation ensues, usually a deep one in which insecurities, regrets, and maybe even phobias are sussed out. The process is therapeutic.  

 

Back to the Death card for a minute. I personally like it, because it means something new is on the horizon. Something usually has to go to make room for something new. And that something doesn’t have to be a literal death or the death of something you cherish. In fact, I haven’t met a single client yet who doesn’t respond with a yes (usually emphatically) to this question:

 

“Do you think it would be easier to achieve your goal (find the right partner/career/insert whatever fits) if you could manage your inner dialogue in a more supportive, positive way and stop using the word “can’t” so often?”

 

That’s usually what needs to die.

 

Thus, we can think of Tarot as a pictorial prompt—much like someone would use a writing or journaling prompt. Because the images are archetypical and relate so eloquently with the subconscious, the triggered insight can be almost primal. In such a place, we can begin to discover our divine purpose in a highly sensitive, artistic way that may feel more “connected.” We deconstruct limiting aspects of our consciousness and think expansively. Tarot isn’t about predicting something predestined but rather birthing new realities.

 

Let’s say you get a card with an interpretation you don’t like. Worse, let’s say you’ve done a Past-Present-Future spread and this unappealing card is in the Future position. While I intend to write about how to specifically manage this situation in a reading, the snapshot is that you pull additional clarification cards until you come up with a “story” that makes sense.

 

It may take some time. It may take delving. I call it consciousness spelunking. And when you go through an intense process of self-inquiry like this, you won’t have accepted fate—you will have manifested your own destiny.

 

Tarot is not fortune-telling. It is co-creation.

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