Steampunk Tarot by Barbara Moore and Ally Fell
Dealing with scary tarot cards can make us or break us not only as tarot readers, but as human beings dealing with life.
If we cannot find ways to deal with our challenges - no matter how hard they are - we will neither grow nor succeed.
This observation isn’t meant to be "tough love" or unsympathetic. Some things certainly are traumatic and require healing measures of various kinds. The point is, we don’t want to get stuck there for any longer than necessary.
There’s nothing wrong with feeling defeated or down or frustrated for a while. And grief is an organic process that takes its own time if a healthy attitude is present.
But at a certain point we need to transform the discomfort or pain into courage and acceptance so we can let go and feel inspired or at peace again.
This post and the accompanying video will give you confidence when dealing with scary tarot cards. Not only will you be able to face them, but you'll understand their true purpose - how to transform fear into empowerment!
Serenity Prayer: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
13 Scary Tarot Cards in the Minor Arcana Book of Wisdom
There are 13 scary or trial cards in tarot's minor arcana. I learned this idea from Angeles Arrien in her excellent textbook The Tarot Handbook.
note: I'll be using the words test, trial, shadow or scary interchangeably.
Although her book is based upon the Thoth or Crowley-Harris tarot, the interpretations and system can apply to any tarot deck you work with.
It’s interesting to note that the number 13 corresponds with the Death card which is all about transformation.
Remember, the whole point of practicing tarot is to rise above being a victim of fate. It’s to empower yourself to co-create. This is called Will. I’ve capitalized it here to show that it’s a fusion of the “little you” and The Universe.
The 13 Shadow Cards:
Swords (states of mind)
3 of Sword
5 of Swords
7 of Swords
8 of Swords
9 of Swords
10 of Swords
Cups (emotional states of the heart)
5 of Cups
7 of Cups
8 of Cups
Wands (enterprising and intuitive states)
5 of Wands
10 of Wands
Pentacles (resources and physical reality situations)
5 of Disks
7 of Disks
In her book, Arrien makes a connection between these 13 tarot shadow cards and the Death card from the major arcana because it's numbered 13. Her insight is based upon the fact of Death being the letting go of something to make way for something new.
In the minor arcana there are 40 numbered cards in total. This means there are 13 shadows to face (or "inner beasts" as she calls them) and 27 talents and abilities with which to vanquish them.
A Further Method To Deal With Scary Tarot Cards
Use whatever method you use to get quiet and reflective. Just be for a few breaths. Select a numbered card from the minor arcana that has positive qualities that resonate with you at this time.
Write down in your tarot journal these positive qualities and how you might bring them into your life.
Meditate on the imagery of the card with these positive qualities in mind. Keep the card where you can see it for a few days.
Make a connection to how these positive qualities can dissolve the fear brought up by the scary card in your tarot reading.
Freewill & Tarot
Certain energies have already been set in motion by our past choices, conditioning, ancestry, culture, etc.
But we have freewill. Otherwise, we’d just be puppets.
It’s important to realize that freewill is not a given. It’s a potential. We have to develop it. We have to earn it. It comes from taking responsibility and getting free of our automatic tendencies and un-helpful habits.
Tarot helps enormously with this development by allowing us to see our patterns right in front of us.
In a tarot reading, we put together meaning based upon our tarot knowledge, life experience AND the inner listening that we learn to trust as we practice.
These are some of the techniques I use in my 1:1 client work.
Watch the video below to get more ideas to support you in dealing with scary tarot cards!
Spiritual Growth To Inspire & Transform You
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When The Outcome Card Is A Scary Card, Try This
1) Ask yourself what is the challenge or trial asking from me? Where in my life does it resonate? Can I accept this particular challenge? If necessary, journal a bit in your tarot journal.
2) If you still feel a bit unresolved with things, go to the next step of pulling more cards. The video shows one method to use when the outcome card is a test or challenge card.
Another Method That Some Tarot Readers Use
Another method is to take the outcome card as a significator card and start an entirely new reading. This is only if you really have time and feel the need to go deeply into things.
Because the new reading may have a shadow as the outcome!
If so, keep going with the Q&A method I demonstrate in the video until you feel a sense of resolution and at least some degree of courage and acceptance.
Here's The Basic Rule!
Never leave a reading in fear or panic. If you feel too upset to read more, do something to take your mind off of things. Go for a walk. BREATHE and meditate for 5 minutes or more. Dance. Sing. Even watch something on Netflix. The idea is to interrupt the pattern of fear for long enough to start to receive intuitive guidance again.
When you feel more calm, you can try the reading again. It may be the same day, or a few days later.
If you follow these basic steps, you’ll eventually come to a feeling of resolution and inner knowing of how you can proceed with courage and confidence to face things.
Mindful Tarot Reading For Dealing With Scary Tarot Cards
A tarot reading for yourself can be even more empowering if you use a mindful approach.
When you see a card that brings up fear, pause. Scan your body. Recognize the sensations. Observe the stories going through your mind.
Allow all of this and simply watch. Breathe through your nose into your belly and exhale through your pursed lips a few times.
Be still and allow space.
Quite often, this will bring new insights from within that will dissolve any fear that was triggered at first.
If not, you can follow the method of pulling more cards in order to deal with scary tarot cards.
Rules of Thumb and A Caveat
It’s important not to get carried away with pulling too many cards because this will only bring confusion after a while.
That’s why if you can bring a sense of mindfulness to each card a pause to allow for space, you will know when to stop.
As a rule of thumb, it’s usually not necessary to pull more than 2-3 extra cards. Usually 1-2 is quite enough.
The only time you break this “rule” is if you want to start a new tarot reading with the “scary outcome card” as a significator in your new spread.
The trials or challenges in ancient Egypt were known as Bardo states. In Kabbalah they are known as “klipoth' and in Buddhism they are the poisons. In Shamanism it's looked at as a need to retrieve part of the soul that's gone missing.
Ultimately, even though these forces seem to be outside of us in other people, situations or in nature, they are within our minds. Our job (or Great Work as some call it) is to do our best to transform them.
Personal Growth & Soul Retrieval With Tarot
The key point to understand is that you are receiving a scary tarot card as a message from your soul or Higher Self. It’s within you, outside of you - everything is connected in some way we can’t quantify with our tiny meat brains, but we can intuit in our hearts.
And the only reason you are, is because you are ready to face it and process it!
I know. Your ego probably doesn’t like it. It might even feel very stressful and scary because of the life situation you were asking the tarot cards about in the first place.
But rest assured that you do have the strength to face it.
Not only that, every shadow tarot card has a healing or solution contained within it.
As I said, it may not be what you want to hear, but when you’re ready to hear it, it will free you from the way you are holding yourself back in this situation.
For example, The Devil might have a message about a toxic relationship. Are you procrastinating leaving this toxic relationship? The healing message could be that the sooner you find your truth and courage to leave, the more open and available you will be to have something better.
note: Keep in mind this was a very general example and only meant to point you in the right direction when you’re working with yourself using tarot and journaling.
Takeaways For Dealing With Scary Tarot Cards and Empowering Yourself
1. The shadow or scary tarot cards only have prominent places in a reading when we are ready to face those shadows within ourselves
2. We can face the shadow card and then pull another card to answer a question about the shadow card.
As an example for the 5 of Wands we could ask, “in what ways am I fighting with life?” or “how is any inner conflict being played out in my life situations?”
If you’re not sure what question to ask, simply ask for clarification on the scary card.
3. Never end a tarot reading with a feeling of doom and gloom! You should always aim to leave a tarot reading feeling empowered and courageous or even accepting and peaceful.
This is accomplished by mindful tarot reading and tarot journaling.
If you’ve read this far, I hope you gained some insights that will help you on your tarot and personal growth journey. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.