Man, talk about a topic that gets people all riled up! You hear it everywhere, right? Don’t touch someone else’s tarot cards. Don’t even look at them funny. They’re personal, they carry energy, and if you mess with them, you’re asking for trouble, or at least a really wonky reading. For the longest time, I totally bought into that.
I remember when I first got into this whole tarot thing. I was a complete newbie, super excited but also a bit intimidated by all the “rules” and superstitions floating around. My first deck was a gift, and I treated it like pure gold. I kept it in a special cloth bag, rarely let anyone else even glance at it, let alone touch it. The idea of using someone else’s deck? Nah, that felt like a big no-go. I genuinely believed it would be bad luck, like their energy would somehow clash with mine and just throw everything off kilter. Or worse, bring some random misfortune my way. Sounds a bit silly now, but that’s how I felt back then.
My Dive into the “Forbidden”
Then something happened that nudged me to actually put that belief to the test. My friend, Sarah, had been reading tarot for ages. She had a few different decks, some really old, some brand new and shiny. One day, I was at her place, and we were just chatting about life, and I was feeling a bit stuck on a decision. I didn’t have my deck with me. Out of pure desperation, and maybe a tiny bit of rebellious curiosity, I just blurted out, “Hey, can I just… try one of your decks for a quick three-card spread?”
Sarah looked at me, a little shocked. “Are you sure? I mean, people say it’s bad luck, you know.” We both hesitated for a moment, like we were considering a bank heist or something. But then, she just shrugged and said, “Alright, go for it. Pick one.”
I remember picking up her oldest Rider-Waite deck. It felt… surprisingly normal. Not instantly zapping me with bad vibes or anything spooky. It just felt like a deck of cards. I took a deep breath, shuffled them real good, trying to clear out whatever energy I thought might be lingering there. I knocked on the stack a few times, just like I heard you should, trying to “personalize” it, in a way. I pulled three cards for my situation. The reading was actually pretty spot-on for what I was feeling at the moment. Nothing catastrophic happened. My house didn’t burn down. I didn’t trip and fall on the way home.
That first little experiment got me thinking. Maybe it wasn’t such a big deal after all. Over the next few weeks, whenever I was at Sarah’s, if I needed a quick read and didn’t have my own, I’d just ask to borrow one of hers. I tried her different decks. Each one felt a little different in my hands, sure, like a new pen has a different grip. But the readings themselves? They were consistently useful, insightful, and relevant to whatever I was asking. I wasn’t getting garbled messages or prophecies of doom.
Beyond Borrowing: The Takeaway
My exploration didn’t stop there. I later tried a quick reading with a deck my cousin owned, a super fancy, gilded one he was very protective of. He was even more nervous about it than Sarah was, practically hovering over me as I shuffled. But again, the reading was clear. It offered perspective, and it certainly didn’t bring any “bad luck” into my life.
What I learned from all this personal hands-on action completely changed my view. The idea of “bad luck” from using someone else’s tarot cards, for me, just didn’t hold up. I realized it’s not about whose hands touched the cards before. It’s not about some inherent magical curse that automatically activates when a “wrong” person uses a deck.
No, what I found was that it’s way more about a few other things:
- Your Intention: When I approached Sarah’s cards, I was doing it with respect and a clear intention to get guidance. I wasn’t trying to mess with them or mock them.
- Your Focus: When I focused on my question, the cards just flowed. It felt like my energy, my connection, was strong enough to bridge any supposed energetic gap.
- Your Belief: Honestly, I think a big part of it is what you believe. If you truly believe it’s going to go badly, you might unconsciously interpret the cards or events in your life that way. But if you’re open to it, if you trust yourself, then the cards are just tools.
Think about it like this: if you borrow a friend’s guitar, does it suddenly play out of tune and give you stage fright just because it’s not “yours”? No, it’s still a guitar. You might need to adjust to its feel, its strings, but it’s still a tool for making music. Tarot cards, in my experience, are the same. They are tools. Powerful tools, yes, for reflection and insight. But they’re not some kind of mystical trap that only works for one person.
So, the truth, from my own personal journey and messed-around experience? The whole “bad luck” thing about using someone else’s tarot cards seems to be more of a myth or a way to emphasize the personal connection people form with their own tools. For me, it was never bad luck. It was just an interesting way to get a different perspective, and actually, it taught me a lot about trusting my own intuition and not getting caught up in all the unverified rules. If you’re feeling a pull to use someone else’s deck, and they’re okay with it, just go for it with respect and a clear mind. See what truth you find for yourself.
