Can a spirit hijack a reading or a deck?

[PrettyMama]

So, some background…

 

I was in a toxic relationship with a narcissist when I was a young woman. It ended when he died. This was a relief. Also, 35 years ago. 

 

So, it’s been a minute.

 

Since then, I have created a family and home with my husband. We’ll be celebrating 30 years in a couple of months. 😊

 

About six weeks ago, I was picking up on signs that someone who has passed on was trying to reach out to me. I’ve narrowed it down from three possible people to my ex. Let’s just say it was a Bye, Felicia moment on my end because NO.

 

Well, last month I purchased my first Lenormand deck. It seems like every other reading swings to a message he wants to convey despite the focus or question which have nothing to do with him.

 

Is it possible for a spirit to hijack a reading or deck? I’m at wit’s end here.

[Chariot]

That is a truly disturbing and even scary situation.  And yes, I do believe this can happen ...although it's never happened to me with tarot.  I had it happen to me once, long ago, with Ouija—back in my university days—and I have never touched an Ouija board since.  So yes, I do think this can happen.

Obviously,  unless you want to never touch tarot again, you want a way to deal with this.

No experience here at all. But I was thinking what I'd do in this situation.  I think what I'd do is seek out a very reputable tarot reader, explain to them what's happening to you, and ask them to do a reading for you.  Tell them you want advice from the tarot about how to handle the situation you're in, and how to stop being 'stalked' in this way. See what the third party reader can find out for you.

I think if you persist without any third-party interference, you might end up in quite a deep hole. So definitely ask for help with this one. And best of luck to you.  This is unpleasant indeed. 😞

[joy]

Hey @PrettyMama that must be very disturbing. If I understand you correct, he wants to send you a message, but you do not want anything to do with it? It rather frightens you? Does it only happen if you use this Lenormand Deck? I personally do not believe that a spirit could hijack a reading or deck unless we are open to it. I assume you have cleaned your space?

[PrettyMama]

Hello, @Chariot and @joy.

 

This is a bit of a strange situation, although not a scary one. 

 

We did have a spirit follow my family home after a ghost tour last year that pestered my sons (17 and 22). I had a witchy friend come in and help me do a deep cleanse/smudge and it left. So, we’ve dealt with that before.

 

This situation is targeted at only me and it’s more of an annoyance.

 

When I figured out it was my ex trying to contact me, I told my spirit guides I was not interested in anything he had to say and asked that he leave me alone. The morning of last month’s full moon, I had turned off my alarm and was about to get up. My eyes were still closed when the words “I MISS YOU” formed in my mind. I immediately sat up a little more than miffed.

 

I have set boundary that he is not willing to respect.

 

He doesn’t come across my tarot readings, but my Lenormand readings are something else.

 

My readings with Lenormand are with a 3x3 spread. These are the cards that have been showing up in the majority of my readings: mice, fox, snake, clouds, whip in conjunction with letter, birds, rider. Other cards that usually appear in the other spaces are heart, ring, sun, coffin, crossroad and ship. Sometimes the lady and gentleman pop up.

 

The impression I get is one of revisionist history. As in, “we are/were in love” offset by the negative cards marking the intended message as a deceitful.

 

The problem is no matter what the focus or question I put forth for the reading, that’s the type of feedback I get.

 

It’s only from this deck and it does’t bleed through to my regular tarot readings.

 

I am going to attempt a cord cutting with candles. Need to do further research on how to go about doing that.

 

This is such an odd situation, so any feedback or guidance is appreciated. Thank you!!

Edited August 13, 2024 by PrettyMama

[PrettyMama]

Just wanted to add, that I do have a dedicated reading space that is smoke cleansed regularly. There are also selenite, quartz and amethyst crystals (several others, too) that share the same space.

[Misterei]

5 hours ago, PrettyMama said:

... He doesn’t come across my tarot readings, but my Lenormand readings are something else....

Yes, Ive noticed Tarot is different from LN in this respect. I had to stop reading LN for a while as I felt lower energies coming through.

Never an issue with Tarot.

 

You might try a different deck? Burn that deck?

Black kyanite is good for cord cutting. Black tourmaline for cleansing negativity.

[PrettyMama]

1 hour ago, Misterei said:

Black kyanite is good for cord cutting. Black tourmaline for cleansing negativity.

 

Good idea. I’ve got a few small pieces of black tourmaline and black obsidian. I’ll give that a try.

 

Thank you!

[joy]

Hey @PrettyMama glad you are not scared but annoyed. Did you buy that deck online or in a shop?

[joy]

1 hour ago, Misterei said:

Yes, Ive noticed Tarot is different from LN in this respect. I had to stop reading LN for a while as I felt lower energies coming through.

Never an issue with Tarot.

That is interesting. Lower energies? For me it is different, it is not the cards to decide what energies are around but my own state I am in.

[PrettyMama]

1 hour ago, joy said:

Hey @PrettyMama glad you are not scared but annoyed. Did you buy that deck online or in a shop?

 

This is my Sweet Blossoms deck that was shipped from the UK.

 

It was cleansed with a palo santo incense one card at a time as I examined each one.

 

Here is a reading from a few minutes ago. My son recorded a video of it, but the file size is to big to post. Anyway, it’s available if I can figure out a way to make it smaller. (Is it possible to post an IG link? I could probably get that to work if anyone is interested.)

 

Question: Will I finish reading my book in time for my book club?

 

 

This is the type of reading I get on a regular basis.

 

For the record, my tarot readings have been clear today.

 

[Misterei]

3 hours ago, joy said:

That is interesting. Lower energies? For me it is different, it is not the cards to decide what energies are around but my own state I am in.

Tarot for me has a higher spiritual vibe from it's neoplatonic roots and all the occult symbols. It always felt like it had psychic *guardrails*. LN is straight-up for fortune telling and it felt like no guardrails and anything can come through. I wrote about it in more detail here. I'm not troubled by it any more thank goodness!

Edited August 14, 2024 by Misterei

[Chariot]

2 hours ago, Misterei said:

Tarot for me has a higher spiritual vibe from it's neoplatonic roots and all the occult symbols. It always felt like it had psychic *guardrails*. LN is straight-up for fortune telling and it felt like no guardrails and anything can come through. I wrote about it in more detail here. I'm not troubled by it any more thank goodness!

Wow.  I just read that link, and you have nailed it ...at least as far as I'm concerned.  I certainly felt exactly the vibe you describe regarding Ouija.  My playing with that occult 'game' happened when I was at university, in the late 60s and early 70s (long before I discovered tarot.) After a bit of frivolous fun, the session turned very ...disturbing and unbelievably personal.  I stopped immediately and never touched it again.

I can still feel that gut-lurch I got when I realised what was happening.  And no, my playing partner was NOT manipulating the pointer. One of our previous playing partners had admitted to doing this, which was extremely annoying.  My friend and I agreed before getting started that night that neither of us would speak our questions out loud, so neither of us would know what the other one's questions were.  My friend, to this day, still does not know why I suddenly leaped up from the board, walked away, and refused to return.

No guardrails is an excellent way to describe what happened—or what CAN happen.  But, like you, @Misterei I have never got that vibe from tarot, and I've been 'doing' tarot for nearly 50 years now.  Despite the sometimes-scary imagery on many tarot cards, it has always felt a 'safe' practice for me.  (Lenormand is still a closed book for me, as I've never managed to get a reading that was even remotely accurate.)

If I ever felt I was being personally stalked during readings in any card medium, I would engage somebody else to help me work it out.  An experienced third-party reader who has firm control over the medium used, and isn't personally involved in the relationship between me and the 'other side', would probably be able to discourage an unwanted intruder.  They might be able to unearth the reason behind the stalking, and could give me useful advice about blocking the intruder in my own future readings.  

Edited August 14, 2024 by Chariot

[Raggydoll]

Firstly, I don’t really agree with the division of low vs high energy tools, nor do I think it’s relevant to compare Ouija boards with tarot cards. Ouija boards are most often used by very inexperienced young people for entertainment purposes, so it’s no wonder that anything and everything can happen. It is also a tool meant for spirit communication. Cards may or may not be used for spirit communication, but mainly they are divinatory tools. 
 

To get back on topic: I do not think you need to burn your lenormand deck or use tarot decks only. But I do think you need to learn and practice a higher degree of spiritual self defense. It is my belief that a spirit is only able to bother an individual if this person is in some way vulnerable to such contact. I don’t think crystals or incense will do much to help you with this particular situation (at least not at this stage), the actual work must be done inside of you, at the point of your spiritual barrier, for lack of better description. In my experience, that is how you can regulate if and when you notice spirits, and whether they can communicate with you. I don’t think that a spirit who is unable to anchor himself in you, would then be able to possess your deck. I mean, in theory, anything is possible, but this goes against my experiences.

 

I have done a lot of spirit/mediumship work over the years, and once I learned to protect my barriers, I could control whether spirits were able to contact or linger in my presence.

 

I believe that different methods will work for different people and it also depends on the nature of your culture/beliefs/spiritual practice. For me, the key was to get help from my protective ancestral spirits. That’s how I was taught inner self defense. They help me uphold the barrier, so that my personal energy is not depleted.
 

You could also learn from a book or from another person. The key is that the defense starts from within.  Once you control your inner channel/barrier then your personal energy will stop leaking and you will notice increased spiritual strength in general. That will then improve your ability to work with crystals and have them extend your defense or carry your intentions more forcefully. 
 

I wish you the best of luck, and keep us posted! 

[DanielJUK]

One point about this discussion is that it's about our personal beliefs and how we use divination. Some people use it in an entirely secular way, others in an entirely clairvoyant way, talking to spirits, others in-between

 

@PrettyMama I am sorry you had this traumatic situation in your life. Personally, I don't believe a spirit can hijack a deck because the decks are just cardboard with art on them made from ink. I believe that the work or the reading comes from us, trigged by what we see in the cards. It's possible a spirit could interfere if that is someone's beliefs. I would set boundaries or rituals to stop this, but you said you were on that with ideas 🙂 .

 

Other ideas about this, could this be on your mind, in your emotions right now? Secondly could it just be you don't get on with this deck, it just didn't fit you, try others?

I have had past issues in my readings that keep coming up, it went across all decks I used and divination methods. It was the place my mind was in at the time and I had to deal with it to get the readings to change from that, I had to release and move on from a past situation 🙂 .

[Chariot]

7 hours ago, PrettyMama said:

 

This is my Sweet Blossoms deck that was shipped from the UK.

 

It was cleansed with a palo santo incense one card at a time as I examined each one.

 

Here is a reading from a few minutes ago. My son recorded a video of it, but the file size is to big to post. Anyway, it’s available if I can figure out a way to make it smaller. (Is it possible to post an IG link? I could probably get that to work if anyone is interested.)

 

Question: Will I finish reading my book in time for my book club?

 

 

This is the type of reading I get on a regular basis.

 

For the record, my tarot readings have been clear today.

 

I'd be interested to hear from a Lenormand reader how this spread result could be about finishing reading a book for a book club—which is the question @PrettyMama asked.  It seems there are some pretty big issues surfacing here.  I'm no expert with Lenormand, but if I was having the experiences Pretty Mama has been having, I would be a tad concerned.
 

[DanielJUK]

You are welcome to post your reading and get second opinions @PrettyMama, but it would need to go here

[Raggydoll]

1 hour ago, Chariot said:

I'd be interested to hear from a Lenormand reader how this spread result could be about finishing reading a book for a book club—which is the question @PrettyMama asked.  It seems there are some pretty big issues surfacing here.  I'm no expert with Lenormand, but if I was having the experiences Pretty Mama has been having, I would be a tad concerned.
 

It’s a yes/no question, not an open ended reading.
 

But Dan is right, we are in the wrong area to discuss interpretations. 

[DanielJUK]

@PrettyMama we can split your reading post into a reading thread if you like, but you would need to interpret it after 🙂 

[PrettyMama]

 

Hey @Chariot, @Raggydoll and @DanielJUK

 

The question that I posed was an off the cuff one to use as an example of what tends to come across this deck. I’ll start another thread with a valid question and interpretation a little later.

 

The only major change that may have triggered this is that I have started practicing Reiki during the past four months. I’m wondering if the energy work along with divination inadvertently opened this connection.

 

That said, it has been pointed out that I need to learn some form of spiritual and energy protection. It will be a grand learning adventure. I would like to extend a warm thanks to everyone for their thoughts and advice. It means a great deal.

 

Wishing everyone a great day!

[Raggydoll]

1 minute ago, PrettyMama said:

The only major change that may have triggered this is that I have started practicing Reiki during the past four months. I’m wondering if the energy work along with divination inadvertently opened this connection.

That’s such an interesting connection and I don’t think it’s a coincidence. I had a similar experience when I first began consciously developing my psychic skills. For a while it led to a very chaotic situation with invasive mediumship experiences. At that time, it felt like it was beyond my control and I was very intimidated by the whole thing. I then opened up about this with another tarot reader, and it turned out that they had gone through something similar themselves, and was now at a place of control again. I was given some ideas of what type of ‘self defense’ I would need, and the rest was something I turned to my ancestral guides with.
 

So yes, I think you are onto something and I do believe you will be able to balance things again. With stronger spiritual abilities there is a much greater need for boundaries and self defense. So what used to work will likely no more be enough. You’ll figure it out though. Try not to stress out, this is fixable and you’ll come out at the other side as a much more experienced and powerful practitioner!

[Misterei]

13 hours ago, Raggydoll said:

... I don’t really agree with the division of low vs high energy tools, ...

Whatever words we put on it, Tarot and Lenormand have different histories and symbol sets. They were invented for different purposes in different eras. I'm sensitive to those factors. These factors *do* affect my relationship with the tool. YMMV.

13 hours ago, Raggydoll said:

...  I do not think you need to burn your lenormand deck or use tarot decks only.

I have had to burn a couple of tarot decks over the years. One I intentionally *charmed* and felt the magick got stale or negative over the years. Plus the person with whom I did the original spell went in questionable life directions. So I burnt the deck.

I have no idea if @PrettyMama feels her situation is this extreme or not.

Just sharing something I did and never regretted.

13 hours ago, Raggydoll said:

... For me, the key was to get help from my protective ancestral spirits. ...

Strangely enough, that was part of my personal journey with Lenormand. I had to connect with the *Grandmother's folk magic* aspect of the cards. I wrote about it in detail in my journal. That's how I began using Lenormand again -- untroubled by unwanted lower astral vibes [or whatever words you use to describe unwanted contacts on the subtle planes].