self harm

[inomminate]

Listening to the news this morning I heard that there had been a rise in self harm.
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-48514349

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanp ... w-27013292

I wonder how self harm might show up in a tarot reading and if people who read a lot for other people see anything about this come up in readings.

[Charlie Brown]

An interesting question. I haven't seen too much of that myself, but the first thing that comes to mind would be 5's in combination with one of the darker majors. Maybe some 4 of Cups for depression?

[Joan Marie]

I wonder how self harm might show up in a tarot reading...

I think you would need a bit of understanding on the background of why people do this in general before you could understand or see why an individual person, sitter or loved one of a sitter, might be doing this.

I would imagine it wouldn't show up in a reading in an obvious, X of Swords kind of way.

This is an interesting topic. I heard a podcast the other day about how mental health issues are on the rise for young people. A lot of older people, parents, think this is a sign of poor character, spoiled youth. But the conditions young people are growing up in today are completely new and the different anxieties caused need to be seriously acknowledged.

So, yes, I imagine this could come up in tarot readings. It would be good to know how to handle it.
Common ethics dictate referring people to specialists obviously, but it also shouldn't be ignored in a reading. It's a serious health issue.

[Joan Marie]

Maybe some 4 of Cups for depression?

The concept of "hopelessness" is being looked at more closely these days by health professionals. Self-harmers are not (necessarily) suicidal. They want to live, they just don't see how, from time to time.

[katrinka]

Maybe some 4 of Cups for depression?

The concept of "hopelessness" is being looked at more closely these days by health professionals. Self-harmers are not (necessarily) suicidal. They want to live, they just don't see how, from time to time.

This.

Those rotten "kids these days" don't even have the opportunities we had. Higher education puts them in horrible, ongoing debt. Good lord, they can't even have babies and go on welfare - they often have no future but wage labor. And there's climate change and all kinds of nasty things coming down the chute. WTH kind of future is that?

I refuse to look down on cutters, etc., simply because they're self harming. I totally get it. And I'm glad I'm old - for me - but I fear for my kids and my grandson. This is my grandson, looking like a very young Bob Dylan. He sees into things. And in these times, that scares the hell out of me.

[Joan Marie]

An interesting question. I haven't seen too much of that myself, but the first thing that comes to mind would be 5's in combination with one of the darker majors.

This kind of combination would point to a kind of despair, wouldn't it?

I might also suggest some combination that includes the Emperor. I say that because that card, although it's associated with wisdom, can also be kind of like a parent who "knows" what is good for a kid, but isn't open so much to what the kid thinks. This can be a great source of stress on family. The parent wants the kid to do things the way they did, go to school, get a job etc...but this path isn't working out for everyone anymore for lots of reasons and parents are often very reluctant to support alternatives, and even worse, to even listen to their kid. It's extremely difficult for everyone and the stress is intense.

This parent/child impasse can be a big contributor to this behaviour.

But I don't know if I'm answering your question inomminate.

[inomminate]

But I don't know if I'm answering your question inomminate.

Joan Marie

Yes you are. I was interested in how people thought this would show in the cards and thinking it might be something we as readers were meant to help people with.

[Charlie Brown]

This kind of combination would point to a kind of despair, wouldn't it?

Maybe, but I've had 5 of Cups show up as substance abuse, for example. You'd probably need at least a three card combination to get something firm-ish.

I'm also getting a little stuck on how we get to the "self" part of the self harm. Certiainly 9 of Swords can have that valence, especially RWS. Is this a case for a historical reading practice like having a clear, pre-set significator?

9 of Swords + Hanged Man + something to do with the method/style of harm?

Katrinka's great at this stuff. I would tag her if I could.

p.s. I'm mostly joking about the tagging. It isn't a feature that I care about.

[inomminate]

Thanks to the replies to my question. They have sparked off some thought. Here are some of my developing thoughts.

first thing that comes to mind would be 5's in combination with one of the darker majors. Maybe some 4 of Cups for depression?

Charlie Brown

I like the idea of the fives. The fifth sephiroth Gebura is the cleansing fire,surgery ect.. If not balanced by mercy Gebura it is extremely dangerous. Is self harm on some level related to surgery? The idea that there is something wrong that needs to be cut out. Gebura in terms of the body is the left arm. A place that a right hand person might cut.

Because of the relevance of the fives then we might also look for the bad side of the hierophant. When out of balance a religion can resort to surgery. Look at the Spanish inquisition.