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Tarot reading and other Ni activities

8.5K views 33 replies 17 participants last post by  Gildar  
#1 ·
How many INFJs here are tarot readers? Is it just me or are there a disproportionate amount of NFJs that tarot-read? I've met some ENFPs that do it really well as well, but there are so many INFJs that do it, and do it well! I strayed away from the "spiritualistic" stuff for a while now, but I've been using Ni really actively the past year for people interactions, and tarot's no exception. I find that, whether tarot really is doing magical things or not, the way the archetypal symbols are there, waiting to have patterns picked up and related to a large amount of unconscious information is so essentially Ni.

My readings tend to be really revealing though, and I've wondered if Ni tends to be a little cynical. I always end up picking up on really subconscious information about the other person that might be TMI, to the point that I rarely do tarot readings in a group setting, because the honest information I might get about the person or the situation wouldn't be appropriate to publically reveal.

How does it work for other INFJs? Can it be used for casual matters? Are there other similar systems that do a good job tapping into Ni?
 
#2 ·
I used to dabble in it in my youth. I believe there is still a deck (Ryder-Wait), wrapped in silk, in a wooden box with a pentagram on its cover somewhere. I have since forgotten all but the basics, but I must say that I found it fascinating at the time. I think my Ti is too strong to really take it seriously again, other than in perhaps aiding in my fiction. I still relate well to the Fool.
 
#4 ·
A friend during college taught me how to do it... I think she was ENTP, but I'm not completely sure -- I just know that's what she tested once. I picked up on it pretty quick. I've done it for a few people, with pretty darn accurate results and just personal readings. I'm not quite bold enough to go out and read several peoples because they might think I'm crazy. :confused:
 
#6 ·
I've always seen tarot reading on the same level as believing your horoscopes. The "advice" it gives you is so bleak and general that it essentially can be applied to almost anything in your life- that being said, I believe it then begins to borderline a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Logic aside, tarot readings can be fun. I just refuse to believe that it works the way people say it does.
 
#12 ·
I have to say I believe in tarot Iv had some very accurate readings. My friend the INTP she is a pagan and uses tarot with a lot of skill. I wanted her to teach but she wouldn’t she said I mustn’t buy a pack and I’m not aloud to touch hers.
Apparently I would be very good at if learnt. I don’t know about mysticism. I know my friend does she understands it very well and she thinks totally outside the box I think she does with the power of N. Its time I had a look at it. I know lots of people very well versed in mysticism they all think I would be extremely good at when I’m ready. The thing is I don’t understand how it works and it holds me back. Its shame because I identify so much with the cups and tarot reading guess I believe it enough but I’m also slightly sceptical enough to not get to wrapped up it.
I always get cups and the queen of cups represents me. The queen of cups and the suit of cups is a far better description of me than MBTI. It generally people who are drawn to certain cards they do have a lot of meaning.. I sort of know how it works to do a tarot. My housemate left me his cards Iv never seen him use or mention before he went to India. I can use them if he’s handled them too much though. So I have to wait until he gets back, but he probably left them on our landing for a reason. He knows its only upstairs and no one else goes up there. Must of thought I would be bored in his absence *sigh * I am.

Even you have seen these meanings and stories already. See what you think. Are they more you than MBTI INFJ?

The fool aka @HorribleAesthete

The Fool is usually depicted as a beggar or a vagabond. In the Visconti-Sforza tarot deck, the Fool wears ragged clothes and stockings (and suspenders and frilly knickers) without shoes, and carries a stick on his back. He has what appear to be feathers in his hair. His unruly beard and feathers may relate to the tradition of the woodwose or wild man.

The Fool is the spirit in search of experience. He represents the mystical cleverness bereft of reason within us, the childlike ability to tune into the inner workings of the world. The sun shining behind him represents the divine nature of the Fool's wisdom and exuberance, holy madness or 'crazy wisdom'. On his back are all the possessions he might need. In his hand there is a flower, showing his appreciation of beauty. He is frequently accompanied by a dog, sometimes seen as his animal desires, sometimes as the call of the "real world", nipping at his heels and distracting him. He is seemingly unconcerned that he is standing on a precipice, apparently about to step off. One of the keys to the card is the paradigm of the precipice, Zero and the sometimes represented oblivious Fool's near-step into the oblivion (The Void) of the jaws of a crocodile, for example, are all mutually informing polysemy within evocations of the iconography of The Fool. The staff is the offset and complement to the void and this in many traditions represents wisdom and renunciation, eg. 'danda' (Sanskrit) of a
Sanyassin, 'danda' (Sanskrit) is also a punctuation mark with the function analogous to a 'full-stop' which is appropriately termed, a period in English grammar. The Fool is both the beginning and the end, neither and otherwise, betwixt and between, liminal.
The number 0 is a perfect signification for the Fool, as it can become anything when he reaches his destination as in the sense of 'joker's wild'. Zero plus anything equals the same thing. Zero times anything equals zero.[7] Zero is nothing, a lack of hard substance, and as such it may reflect a non-issue or lack of cohesiveness for the subject at hand.

THE HANGED MAN aka @Malovane

A man hanging by one foot from a Tau cross - sometimes from a bar or tree. His free leg is always bent to form a "4," his face is always peaceful, never suffering. Sometimes his hands are bound, sometimes they dangle. Sometimes coins fall out of his pockets or hands.

Basic Tarot Story

The Fool settles beneath a tree, intent on finding his spiritual self. There he stays for nine days, without eating, barely moving. People pass by him, animals, clouds, the wind, the rain, the stars, sun and moon. On the ninth day, with no conscious thought of why, he climbs a branch and dangles upside down like a child, giving up for a moment, all that he is, wants, knows or cares about. Coins fall from his pockets and as he gazes down on them - seeing them not as money but only as round bits of metal - everything suddenly changes perspective. It is as if he's hanging between the mundane world and the spiritual world, able to see both. It is a dazzling moment, dreamlike yet crystal clear. Connections he never understood before are made, mysteries are revealed.
But timeless as this moment of clarity seems, he realizes that it will not last. Very soon, he must right himself, and when he does, things will be different. He will have to act on what he's learned. For now, however, he just hangs, weightless as if underwater, observing, absorbing, and seeing.
With Neptune (or Water) as its planet, the Hanged Man is perhaps the most fascinating card in the deck. It reflects the story of Odin who offered himself as a sacrifice in order to gain knowledge. Hanging from the world tree, wounded by a spear, given no bread or mead, he hung for nine days. On the last day, he saw on the ground runes that had fallen from the tree, understood their meaning, and, coming down, scooped them up for his own. All knowledge is to be found in these runes.
The Hanged Man, in similar fashion, is a card about suspension, not life or death. This is a time of trial or meditation, selflessness, sacrifice, prophecy. The Querent stops resisting; instead he makes himself vulnerable, sacrifices his position or opposition, and in doing so, gains illumination. Answers that eluded him become clear, solutions to problems are found. He sees the world differently, has almost mystical insights. This card can also imply a time when everything just stands still, a time of rest and reflection before moving on. Things will continue on in a moment, but for now, they float, timeless. He also lives in a pinaple under the sea next door neptune


The Cups

Tarot cups can be the most difficult to describe because their very nature is seductive and elusive. The element of water rules the cups, and just like air ruling the sword suit, it's hard to catch identification from the formless.
The cups bare meaning in the form the:
• Heart
• Psyche
• Emotions
In classical mythology Psyche was the human soul in the form of a beautiful woman. Psyche was loved by Eros, who was the god of love (often depicted as Cupid). The Tarot cross-references this myth by representing the gamut of emotion experienced by the Psyche (soul) while surrounded by the support of Eros (love).
This is symbolically significant: That which fills the cup is love (or emotion) and the cup itself represents the human soul. This is a very intense concept that if held in place during your readings, will expand your interpretations to a whole new horizon.
Other deeper symbolic meanings of the Tarot cups:
• Illusion
• Opening
• Intuition
• Inclusion
• Elevation
• Obsession
• Sensuality
• Temptation
• Elusiveness
• Completeness
• Impermanence
We can see evidence of this impressive (and deep) list of characteristics when we recall that the cups are ruled by the element of water. Water is fluid, yes, but can also be steamy, frigid, cleansing, burgeoning, etc. It is the same with the nature of emotions. When we recognize the potentially erratic and unpredictable nature of love, we begin to chip away at the tip of the iceberg (also a symbol of love in a frozen state?) of the suit of cups. Even the psyche, when unobserved, can be very wily in her ways. But the cups are not always elusive. With surrounding cards, or pointing to a specific issue, the cups reveal a storehouse of symbolic direction. As an aspect of the summer/harvest season, the cups render messages of completion, expansion, abundance and vibrancy.
The cups signify this vibrancy and warmth. In our readings the cups express a time in our lives in which we must delve more deeply in to the matters of heart and psychic potential. Just as Psyche and Eros formed a sacred union, the cups indicate our ability to join together the most primitive yet compassionate places within ourselves and express unbridled potential.
The soul is capable of such tremendous expressions? Leaving us overwhelmed? Sitting in the seat of infinite heights. This is the concept that is so fluidly expressed in the suit of cups. Observe the cards from this highest place where the psyche is unleashed and tempered with the love from the innermost heart.

The Qeen of Cups aka @sea cucumber

The Queen of Cups is the Queen of the realm of emotions. She is a beautiful, introspective woman who sits on a throne in the midst of the sea. In her hands she cradles a beautiful cup with handles shaped like angels. The cup is closed, an indication that the thoughts of the Queen originate from the unconscious, from the depths of her own soul. The throne upon which she sits is decorated with images of sea-nymphs, fish, and scallop shells. The sea and fish are symbols of the unconscious mind and water in general represents emotion, spirit, and feeling.
A woman who has more feeling and imagination than common sense. She is a good wife and loving mother. She is poetic and dreamy. A maternal female. A good mother and spouse. An emotionally secure situation. The queen of cups will want the work you do to mean something or to have value for others and/or to enlist the aid of another. People might not get your concepts or see things the way you do, but you will not be left out in the cold. Someone will come to your aid, or you will have the opportunity to utilize some of your skills or talents.
The Queen of Cups indicates a welling up of feelings that may have been hidden or unacknowledged for some time. On the other hand, this card may indicate an overflow of emotion and sentimentality that could be the source of trouble.
Empathy. You need to empathize with human frailty, yours included. Think with your heart, not your head. Learn how those in need cope with life's challenges and share your knowledge. Be aware of getting too close. Hug someone you care about. The Queen of cups gives freely to others. She is creative, and highly intuitive. You may be called upon to help, or care for, another. You will be glad to help, but make sure you take care of yourself as well. You should pay close attention to your inner voice. Trust your intuition. You might feel a burst of creativity, or become involved in a creative project.

Physical description - light (its dark) brown hair, fair complexion, beautiful woman (if you sy so tarot), expressive eyes, sensuous lips.
Personality traits - warm, loving, sociable. Good-natured woman, devoted and honest. Sympathetic, sociable, artistically gifted. Very imaginative, honest, loyal.
Caring, sensitive to the feelings of others, compassion, kind to animals and children, intuitive, emotional, heart on the sleeve, understanding, responds to the unconscious, spiritual, patience, unconditional love and acceptance, telepathic, reverence for life, mature love relationships, sincerity, has well developed 6th sense, gentle, motherly, good listener, empathy, good in matters of the heart, has an inner guide, psychic ability, oneness with all people, mysterious, devoted, helps those in need, tender-hearted, experiences life as sacred, other worldly, ethereal beauty, loves fantasy, easily influenced, passionate, loyal, self acceptance, ability to listen to feelings, perceptive, imaginative, gift of prophesy.
Love of art and poetry and music, nurturing and protective energy, inner visions and dreams, the muse who inspires, enchantress, mythology, power of the unconscious, divine inspiration, mother love, collective unconscious, depths of the psyche, mysterious feminine, seductive, pay attention to the anima, fragile and easily hurt, unfathomable, still waters run deep, open in showing feelings, sympathetic ear and a shoulder to cry on, keeps emotions under control, dislikes thoughtless and inappropriate behavior, strong moral sense, tranquil, compelling.

The queen of cups is also a very naughty girl that could not resist the temptation to mess with the tarot descriptiona after reading that the fool wears stockings :)
 
#14 ·
The fool aka HorribleAesthete

The Fool is usually depicted as a beggar or a vagabond. In the Visconti-Sforza tarot deck, the Fool wears ragged clothes and stockings (and suspenders and frilly knickers) without shoes, and carries a stick on his back. He has what appear to be feathers in his hair. His unruly beard and feathers may relate to the tradition of the woodwose or wild man.

The Fool is the spirit in search of experience. He represents the mystical cleverness bereft of reason within us, the childlike ability to tune into the inner workings of the world. The sun shining behind him represents the divine nature of the Fool's wisdom and exuberance, holy madness or 'crazy wisdom'. On his back are all the possessions he might need. In his hand there is a flower, showing his appreciation of beauty. He is frequently accompanied by a dog, sometimes seen as his animal desires, sometimes as the call of the "real world", nipping at his heels and distracting him. He is seemingly unconcerned that he is standing on a precipice, apparently about to step off. One of the keys to the card is the paradigm of the precipice, Zero and the sometimes represented oblivious Fool's near-step into the oblivion (The Void) of the jaws of a crocodile, for example, are all mutually informing polysemy within evocations of the iconography of The Fool. The staff is the offset and complement to the void and this in many traditions represents wisdom and renunciation, eg. 'danda' (Sanskrit) of a
Sanyassin, 'danda' (Sanskrit) is also a punctuation mark with the function analogous to a 'full-stop' which is appropriately termed, a period in English grammar. The Fool is both the beginning and the end, neither and otherwise, betwixt and between, liminal.
The number 0 is a perfect signification for the Fool, as it can become anything when he reaches his destination as in the sense of 'joker's wild'. Zero plus anything equals the same thing. Zero times anything equals zero.[7] Zero is nothing, a lack of hard substance, and as such it may reflect a non-issue or lack of cohesiveness for the subject at hand.
Wow, you are well-versed in the Tarot. I was never this knowledgeable. I wish I has stuck with it. I indentify very much with this description, perhaps not quite a s much as with my MBTI, but it seems quite accurate. Being lead by my Ni, The "joker's wild" effect, as well as reality nipping at my pant's leg (my Ti). The renunciation of worldly goods (everything in my pack). Holy madness or crazy wisdom. I very much feel as though I am ever on the precipice. Much as my Traveling Man poem. I also quite identify with my descriptions of my astrological sign, Virgo. These three together...it is quite amazing. Thanks for the post!
 
#13 ·
Judging by what little I know of tarot cards, I think "the death" applies best to me. If I'm not mistaken, that card stands for the end of the old and the beginning of a renewal, where the old self is cast away in favor of a new one.

If anyone else has any better ideas, let me know. :)
 
#18 ·
INTJ here, but I'm a tarot enthusiast, mostly amateur grade. (Mostly: I helped design the Wooden Pirate Tarot the Schiffer press publishes. Not the Los Scarabeo one. Shudder.) I have around forty different decks, but I really only use about five for reading.

I am undecided if there is actually something to tarot, if it's all intuition, or whether it's best thought of as a way to focus on your problem more intensely. I really enjoy doing readings for people over the internet, because then I know I'm not cold-reading them. Or a reading in person where I don't know the question.

And swords aren't necessarily bad - they can be cards of strife, but swords are also the suit of air (in most decks - sometimes they're fire) and the intellect. I personally identify with the Queen of Swords, though I'm not even a metaphorical widow.

I've seen some interesting attempts to line up the court cards with MBTI types, since there are sixteen court cards. I think it starts to breakdown because pages are the immature or beginning of each suit's focus, and how do you put an entire Type into that pigeonhole? I mean, you could certainly say NTs could be Swords, NFs Cups, SPs Wands and SJs Pentacles, but how do you do it after that?

For those who want to try their own breakdown:
Swords: Strife, Intellect, Air
Wands: Change, Energy, Fire
Cups: Emotion, Relationships, Water
Pentacles/Disks/Coins: Practicality, money, earth

-finishes rambling-
 
#19 ·
I think that the feeling side is the one responsible for believing the tarot is somehow connected
to reality in any real way.
You need intuition to read them.
That's why I can read them,
but I don't believe they show the future or past in a magical way.
They may make you recall the past and give you a new perspective on
past, present and future and we INTJ love new perspectives. :proud:
 
#21 ·
My INTP friend believes in them. I think any type can do them but the N being dominant helps. If your not an N type you have to work on it and even if you have consentrate. With a pinch of salt I think its connected to reality, Iv had a lot very good predictions from readings. I don't take readings from people who dable for fun though.
If I do then Im participating for fun. I go to freinds and freinds who are pagans the tart cards are just a tool of interpetation.

They have predicted my fathers death I year befor it happen, he died sudely of a brain heamerage my friends preganacy she's younger than me and no one exected her to get preganat at 14 straight A student. Those are just a few. Its not mean to be magic. t sort of works on the rpeincple that nature and life is a cycle and thus the whole world and everything that happens in it has been payed infinity times befor over and over, it just tapping into that realy and interpting what you find through picture and meaning in the cards.
Well to the best of my knowlage thats how it was explained to me.
 
#24 ·
I believe I do what one would accomplish with Tarot cards or palm reading, etc. without using anything. I think these methods were developed originally by INFJs. I think if we don't use someone else's previously developed methed we find our own. The only difference being we don't necessarily make it into a specific system that is tangible and teachable to the other people.

I watched a friend give a new friend of ours a palm reading one night. We were visiting an old friend on vacation & his boyfriend was the new friend I am speaking of. I got there a day earlier than she did and I had been "working" on him the whole time. When she read his palm it was like what I had been doing but compressed into a burst of it. The whole time I was like "yes! yes!" to everything she was saying! I just connect, dial in without a tool. The next morning she felt bad about reading his palm because she had quit a year ago and become a super Catholic because she said she was getting the info from the devil. She is an XXFP tested as INFP.

I didn't think it was evil or scary, but I am used to seeing things the way she sees them when palm reading.

But, I really don't know much about any of that stuff. This is just my amateur guess.


I think my personal cards are pretty crazy. I desire the devil apparently.. I thought everyone desired the devil and that is why we sin???

Power Cards: The Chariot & The Empress
Core Cards: The Emperor & The Fool
Desire Cards: The Devil & The Lovers
Lucky Cards: The Lovers & The Fool

Apparently I am a hermaphrodite ruler & a loving fool who is victoriously aware of the devil. :confused:
 
#26 ·
Bah. I've been feeling rather low and wishy-washy lately. I've also been getting odd messages in fortune cookies as well. Oddly apt and rather foreshadowing messages... It's much too bad that I don't know anyone around here that does tarot readings because despite what I said previously, it could be pretty fun and may just serve to distract me from my current earthly woes.

I looked up the Death card. It speaks of the Fool who is wandering in a field after hanging upside down, and he meets death. Death informs him that his old self has died and left him but a mere skeleton- a shadow of his former self. But as Death rides off the Fool sees that Death was right, but that this skeleton he has become is only but a basis for a brand new self. Essentially, it depicts the potential of a new beginning.

I believe this one is fitting to me because I always build myself up only to lose everything and start over again-- for example, getting a job and keeping it for a year only to lose it to health problems and lose eveything I gained with it-- except for the lessons I've learned in the process. It's a recurring theme in my life. Making it to the top only to come crashing back down to rock bottom, then getting back up and doing it all over again.
 
#30 ·
Makes me want to offer to do readings. :) Besides standard Celtic Cross ones, my favorite ones are Past Life readings. Again, I'm not sure how much I believe, but I love putting together the stories. I also use Tarot when I run out of creative steam on stories and roleplaying characters.

@Female INFJ, for some reason, I thought you'd like this version of Strength. It's from the gorgeous, gorgeous Bohemian Gothic Tarot by Magic Realist Press.

Image
 
#31 ·
I was raised with a religious upbringing, and was generally not encouraged to dabble in any divination.

But, along the journey of life, I wound up reading cards for quite a while. I always loved the symbolism. The Major Arcana cards are so neat in their evolution from the Fool (0) to The World (XXI).

In the years that I read, I really used them more than anything for understanding of self or of others (with their permission).

I stopped reading, because however they were managing to link up and sync-up with with my intuition was getting to be too much. I used the Eileen Connolly method for delineating dates the few times that I would do readings for forecasting, and the fact that things would happen, I wound up questioning whether I was foreseeing it, or causing it to happen just by believing so.

So, I stopped.

Despite this, I still adore them, for their symbolism, and various artistic representations.
 
#32 ·
I was raised with a religious upbringing, and was generally not encouraged to dabble in any divination.
Yeah me too!

I originally bought tarot cards to be BAD. :crazy:
However I soon realized that they are a really developed system of the human condition.

All the Arch types and recurring themes of humanity is there.

Have no idea what the next step is? Lay out some cards and they will show you many options! :happy:
 
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#33 · (Edited)
@sea cucumber
My INTP friend believes in them.
Ok..
My myers briggs knowledge wasn't very deep when I wrote the F thing.
An INTP uses "Ti, Ne, Si, Fe" and an INTJ uses "Ni, Te, Fi, Se" it may be quite significant on the beliefs formed.
An INFJ is "Ni, Fe, Ti, Se" by the way.

With a pinch of salt I think its connected to reality
Sure it is connected to reality!

I go to freinds and freinds who are pagans the tart cards are just a tool of interpetation.
Yes! I too believe that who is reading is much more important than the cards them self.

They have predicted my fathers death I year befor it happen, he died sudely of a brain heamerage my friends preganacy she's younger than me and no one exected her to get preganat at 14 straight A student.
Ok

t sort of works on the rpeincple that nature and life is a cycle and thus the whole world and everything that happens in it has been payed infinity times befor over and over, it just tapping into that realy and interpting what you find through picture and meaning in the cards.
Interesting perspective. :happy:

Well to the best of my knowlage thats how it was explained to me.
Good that you remember and can pass it on! :wink:
 
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