by If you have been around the Tarot community any length of time or read any tarot books, you may have come across the stance that it is looked down upon to use Tarot to predict health outcomes. What people generally say is that if you have a health concern you should just ask a doctor.
But, know what, sometimes doctors don’t know everything. Sometimes you don’t want to go to the doctor or you don’t have time. Or sometimes you just want to know what the energies surrounding health are like.
This has been on my mind a lot this week as my mother had knee surgery earlier this week. So what is a tarot reading daughter to do when her mother is about to go under the knife? Would the Tarot “gods” be upset with me for even asking these questions?
My opinion…tarot is fine for this situations, as long as you are dealing with a very rational and reasonable person who has a solid understanding of what tarot is and what it is not. This is not the time to be reading for a newbie who will believe that the answers they receive are going to be the end all be all and they won’t be able to do anything to change them.
And, of course, make sure your client won’t freak out when seeing cards like “death” or “the tower” because those cards may very well come up in these types of situations. And maybe, if doing an in person reading, choose a deck whose images won’t scare your client. H
ow would you like having the nine of swords or the hanged man from The Wild Unknown show up in this situation?
For my mother’s knee surgery I did a general reading, just to see what the energy was currently like surrounding the event. Here is what the tarot told me.
For the present energy I drew the 6 of cups, this shows that my mother is nostalgic, looking back at how her knee has been with her throughout her life and how it has served her over the years. She may have even been hoping that the surgery would bring her back to a more youthful state.
In the future spot, I drew the 6 of Wands reversed. In the immediate future following the surgery she is not going to feel on the top of her game. She will likely feel that something is preventing her from feeling great.
For advice the four of wands appeared. This card is suggesting to celebrate this surgery and how it will make her feel. With the four wands stacked on top of each other in this image it brings to mind the idea of celebrating each milestone, taking each step one at a time until she is back on top.
The final outcome is the Sun. A wonderful card to have in this position, one that suggests expansiveness in her abilities and good health. With the knee surgery she will likely be able to do more than what she was able to do prior to the surgery.
For an overall theme there are two six cards and two wands. The number six is about family and home. So she may need to depend on her family at this time, and, with the positive nature of these cards her family may help her during this journey. The number six could also suggest a number of recovery days. It may take her six days to start feeling back to normal after this surgery. The two wands suggests that this surgery may deal with her self development and her passions. By getting this surgery it will help her to get back to doing what she likes doing.
So this was a general reading that was pretty positive surrounding a surgery. No “scary” or intimidating cards appeared. And, knowing my mother, I did not do this reading in her presence as she is an individual that I believe would negatively react to seeing some of the images cards have for Death and the Tower.
What about you? Do you read for health concerns? Is this the type of situation you choose to avoid?
Mary Shannon 
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