Hello Fae and welcome to this little corner of cyberspace.  I'll offer my opinions on the subject.  Just be aware they are just that- opinions and not some immutable truth. 

I've been reading the tarot for about five years now, and have found the cards are actually most useful to reach somebody in the here and now.  It's one thing to predict when new love will come into your life.  It's a far more useful thing to help a person become available to new love.  Tarot is about gaining clarity into a problem or situation, bringing to the surface something which you have been denying. 

But to answer your other question, tarot cards are not summoning tools.  I suppose it is possible to open a portal while using the cards- you are in a meditative state, after all.  But you are focused on another person, looking for their energy.

Blessings,

BeerLover

Aug 18, 2009 -- 11:47AM, Brownowl33 wrote:

The main thing I hear about Ouija boards, from everybody from the usual Christian sorts all the way to practicing Witches and Spiritualists, is that talking boards are somehow "dangerous" and attract lower entities, and that to use one is to invite unpleasantness.  Why, though?  Why is this one method supposedly so risky, but using pendulums/cards/crystals considered less so?

The only thing I have heard that makes even the least bit of sense is that when using a talking board, YOU are the instrument whereas when using a pendulum or something it's an external device being manipulated.  Not being a Christian, I don't hold much belief in the "everything but Jesus is evil!" nonsense, but even fellow pagans have reported scary stuff.  Clearly, though, it can't be that bad; talking boards have been immensely popular, and there certainly isn't a mass epidemic of possession or anything like that.

 

Any insights?

I had two experiences while using an Ouija board many years ago.  When I bought the first one, I brought it home, and began using it by myself; it worked!  The planchette moved and a bunch of swear words directed at me occurred.  I got wrong answers too, led me on a wild goose chase.  Then I got depressed; it was like a physical force pulling me down.  I put the Ouija board in the closet and at night the closet creaked so loudly that it would wake me up!  I did get a few right answers, but the rest of the ill effects weren't worth it.  One soul was trying to help me learn how to ask questions.  In fact, that was very educational.  Asking a question correctly is a very necessary skill to develop when using a divination device.  Well, there was too much interference and the right answers were too few.  I threw the board out in the trash.  It took me about a month to shake off the depression.  Then I had second thoughts and went to the store to purchase another one.  The same thing happened, and depression.  It was so bad that I stayed a recluse for over a month, couldn't even stand to be around friends!  After some time, the depression lifted.  So I threw the board away.

Years later, I was introduced to the pendulum.  I got a little tired at first, but nothing like the Ouija board.  Now I use both pendulum and digital dowsing and sometimes I have to do this for over an hour as a tracker.  I suffer no ill effects at all.

I look back on the experience of the Ouija board and think that when one first starts to extend one's mind nonlocally, it can be very tiring, and the depression I felt was because I was so exhausted from doing a mental function that I wasn't used to.  Also, I may have been attracting souls who were hanging around and using my energy.   

About the swear words, it may be true (I think it is) that there are souls in the spirit world who get our thoughts, but it depends on which level one is at when one starts using any divination devices.  At the time I was probably in the worst state of mind, going through a child custody battle, and was being greatly attacked by the ex as well as his family, and was going to school and trying to support myself all at the same time.  Any student can attest to the stress of being a student and parent simultaneously, while trying to make a living, as well as the legal battle and legal fees mounting with no easy way to pay, and incompetant lawyer who was stringing it out to fleece me.  I was completely distraught, you could say fragmented on many levels just trying to keep my head above water.  That was the level I was at when using the Ouija board.  I think if I used it today, things would be different.  So, that's my story.