In this episode of ⁠The Tarot Diagnosis⁠, I explore a concept called “poisoning the well” and how it can inconspicuously shape the way we interpret tarot, often before we’ve even given the cards a fair chance to speak, or ourselves an opportunity to be curious about the card. Poisoning the well can happen when we learn to fear a card before encountering it in its specific context, which makes anything that follows feel threatening, prophetic, or untrustworthy.

In tarot, this shows up when cards like The Tower, Death, The Devil, or the Three of Swords are immediately labeled as “bad” or “painful,” which shuts down curiosity, nuance, and the ability to experience deeper reflection.

I walk through the three psychological patterns that tend to fuel this kind of tarot bias:

• First impressions: Where early fear-based meanings stick even when a card’s position or context suggests something more layered, or not so literal (e.g. Death).

• Confirmation bias: Where we unconsciously look for evidence that supports our fear while ignoring nuance or other contextual factors in a spread.

• Emotional reasoning: Where anxiety or discomfort becomes “proof” that something bad is going to happen, rather than just useful data about what the card is activating in us.

From there, I explore how poisoning the tarot well reduces a card’s meaning, turns tarot into rigid labels instead of reflective tools, and leads to avoidance behaviors like reshuffling, pulling endless clarifiers, or abandoning readings altogether. While these reactions may feel protective in the moment, they ultimately reinforce fear and limit growth. Many of the cards we fear most are the ones pointing directly toward the work we need to do: attachment patterns, boundaries, grief, shame, power dynamics, necessary endings, etc.

I also share a personal story (aka I talk about reading for my very religious sister) about how religious and cultural conditioning can shape tarot fears - poisoning the tarot well, and how rigid narratives around certain cards can feel genuinely destabilizing if they’re never questioned. From there, I offer concrete ways to un-poison your tarot well, including identifying where your card meanings came from, working with somatic reactions instead of avoiding them, asking more specific and grounded questions, and expanding your language around difficult cards through techniques like free association.

Ultimately, this episode is an invitation to let tarot challenge you. When we stop deciding what a card means before we pull it and get curious about it instead, tarot becomes what it’s meant to be: a mirror, an opportunity for philosophical dialogue, and a tool for a deeper understanding of yourself and the world around you.

I love when you all leave comments on Spotify or YouTube about your own thoughts on the topic discussed - so let me know your thoughts!

📚 Order my book Dark Shadow, Golden Shadow for more therapeutic tarot practices!

🌙 Stay Connected With Me

💌 Follow me on Instagram:⁠ @thetarotdiagnosis⁠

🧠 Sign up for my newsletter at⁠ thetarotdiagnosis.com⁠

👥 Join ⁠The Symposium⁠ — my tarot & psychology membership community

If you love The Tarot Diagnosis Podcast, please consider leaving a review! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is a super easy and FREE way to support my work. Plus, it helps more people discover the podcast. I appreciate you all so much!

Audio Edited by Anthony DiGiacomo of⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Deep Resonance Sound⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Music by Timmoor from Pixabay

In this episode of ⁠The Tarot Diagnosis⁠, I'm exploring something that’s been stirring in me since a recent book club event inside The Symposium: the way we unconsciously project motherhood onto tarot’s female figures.

After an insightful conversation in the book club (shoutout to Darcy for naming it so clearly: “Tarot doesn’t need another mother”), I couldn’t stop thinking about how often cards like Strength, the Empress, and all four Queens get flattened into maternal archetypes.

And of course, we’re not just doing this in tarot. We’re doing this everywhere, all the time.

In this episode, I explore:

• Why the Strength card has become one of my least favorite cards (for now)
  

• How projection and cultural conditioning shape our interpretations of female-presenting figures in tarot
  

• The dangers of turning all gentleness and emotional regulation into compulsory/female/motherly care
  

• What it might mean to view Strength as discernment, regulation, or even female rage instead of caretaking
  

I also talk about the psychological cost of maternalizing every act of compassion and why it limits not only women, but all people across the gender spectrum who wish to express care, leadership, or emotional depth.

This episode is part tarot analysis, part cultural critique, and part personal reflection on how we assign meaning to caretaking and why it matters.

I close the episode by offering a question for your next reading:

In what ways does this card validate me and in what ways does it confront me?

Book Referenced: Talismans and Tarot

Deck used: Tarot Vintage

📚 Order my book Dark Shadow, Golden Shadow for more therapeutic tarot practices!

🌙 Stay Connected With Me

💌 Follow me on Instagram:⁠ @thetarotdiagnosis⁠

🧠 Sign up for my newsletter at⁠ thetarotdiagnosis.com⁠

👥 Join ⁠The Symposium⁠ — my tarot & psychology membership community

If you love The Tarot Diagnosis Podcast, please consider leaving a review! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is a super easy and FREE way to support my work. Plus, it helps more people discover the podcast. I appreciate you all so much!

Audio Edited by Anthony DiGiacomo of⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Deep Resonance Sound⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Music by Timmoor from Pixabay