Tarot reading may seem like harmless spiritual curiosity, but writer Kate Orson warns that it opens doors Christians are never meant to walk through. She explains the hidden dangers behind tarot’s mystical appeal — and why only God, not the cards, holds the truth about our future.
Tarot is becoming more and more popular, and some people even claim it’s a way to get closer to ‘God.’ But should Christians use it?
Tarot started out as a card game played in the 1400’s in Northern Italy. Then in 1781, a Frenchman who was also a Freemason wrote an essay called ‘Du Jes Des Tarots in which he shared his belief that the cards were a way of preserving ancient Egyptian mystery teachings and that certain tarot figures corresponded to ancient Egyptian deities. This essay launched tarot’s use as an occult tool for divination.
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The Bible doesn’t mention tarot specifically, but it does address divination; the practise of seeking knowledge of the future by supernatural means. Deuteronomy 18:9-12 says, ‘When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord.’
Using tarot to tell the future can be accurate.
Using tarot to tell the future can be accurate. Some people would put that down to an intuitive tarot reader and that the cards can be interpreted in different ways, but there’s more to it. In Acts 16 Paul casts out a demon from a slave girl who worked as a fortune teller. There was some accuracy to her readings as once the demon had gone the owners could make no more money from her.
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The same thing can happen with tarot cards; the intention to gain hidden knowledge of the future opens a doorway for demons to share their answers - usually a mixture of truth, and lies. A tarot reading will give just enough truthful information to get the person to trust the cards, while the enemy slips in destructive suggestions. For example, the reading might flatter a person telling them about their gifts, while also suggesting their husband doesn’t understand them for who they really are. This subtle technique might introduce marital discord that could be the beginning of a path towards adultery or divorce.
The other side of Tarot reading is the spiritual side effects. Opening that doorway gives demons the ability to influence someone’s life.
The other side of tarot reading is the spiritual side effects. Opening that doorway gives demons the ability to influence someone’s life. Someone could receive a reading that feels positive, then later, they start struggling with anxiety, depression, or insomnia. But because the symptoms didn’t start directly after the reading they may not realise the root cause.
I spoke to Elise, who did tarot before being saved. Elise grew up in a Christian home, and shared her family’s belief in God until she was 13. Then she went through a period of doubt, and when she was 17 she downloaded a tarot card app as well as trying other new modalities like visiting psychics. Elise felt her life started getting better afterwards. ‘ I felt much more confident about myself, about truth and life. I really thought the cards understood me. It was like finding something that loved me, that could tell me all the things that I needed to hear.’’
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Despite the apparent benefits, Elise had mental health struggles that became a lot worse after doing the tarot. ”I had OCD before doing tarot but it didn’t really sprout until I started doing it. The self-harm was also a thing before but, again, after I started doing tarot it became much worse.’’ Eventually she did end up giving up the cards. ‘’I realised, they only helped to a certain point. Nothing else was working in my life. I became very depressed and I couldn’t find Jesus. My plan was to just kill myself because this was too much for me. But then I went to Sardinia to stay with a Christian family and I found Jesus.’’
Elise’s OCD has improved to a large extent since being saved and going through deliverance, which is an ongoing process as she’s still new to the faith. “Tarot opened doors to many demons and those demons affected me greatly in life, demons that I still have to fight today. But now I know that God protects me, not the OCD rituals.’’
In an uncertain world having a way to know the future can be very tempting, but the supposed benefits are not worth the risks. Thankfully there is a way to know about our future that has no spiritual side effects, and that’s through prophecy.
God is not a vending machine that gives us spiritual answers on demand, but we are told in 1 Corinthians 14 to seek the spiritual gifts, especially prophecy. We can pray for this gift, and God will answer us. He hears our prayers, about our hopes, and worries about the future. He’ll give us little glimpses if he deems it necessary. But with God, ultimately, we don’t need constant reassurance about the future. When we draw close to him we can feel his peace right here, right now.
