Danger is My Middle Name

I got my first deck of tarot cards when I was about sixteen.  I still have them, although I rarely use them for readings anymore.  They are the Rider-Waite deck, nothing fancy, a classic really....but I digress.

When I first got the cards I did readings all the time.  I did readings at school, during classes, at my job at Subway.  I did readings for my little sister and for myself.  But the first time my mom saw the cards she wasn't happy about it.  She said that she didn't like me messing around with 'that stuff'.  Those words planted a seed in my mind that what I was messing about with could actually be (cue dramatic music) dangerous.....

There have been times along the path where books, teachers, and friends have talked about some part of the Craft being dangerous.  (And yes, I have seen someone have a psychotic break, not pretty.)  But did that really come from dabbling in magick or was it something that was going to happen to them anyway?

I have seen and experienced things that have blown my mind, shifted my beliefs, changed the way I look at the world, left me shocked and amazing, left me without logical explanation, and given me the heebie-jeebies, but never have I, ever, felt like I was in danger.

This has led me to thinking about the dangers of the Craft.  Are there really any?

If I am totally honest it kinda excites me.  I mean, if there wasn't something spooky and potentially dangerous out there, maybe I wouldn't be as into all of this as much as I am.

That afternoon, when my mom told me not to mess with things I didn't understand, she didn't scare me away.  Instead her words filled me with a desire to understand more.  It encouraged me to want to learn as much as I could and continue to dive into the things that scared me, both out there in the world and hiding in my own inner shadows.

Overall I suppose that is a good thing.