Argh! Mental Block! Empty Slate!

3crows

A reader comes in- wants a "general" reading, I look at the spread..and nothing! I turn over a few more cards...nothing! So, now I'm feeling anxious. All I can say is hmmm....okay....well.....

Its sort of like math anxiety...even if you know the square root of something- if its on a math exam, your mind will freeze up...and you won't be able to proceed.

Anybody recommend any good starters- or opening lines- for when that happens? I don't want to give up early and just tell the person..Gee, I'm drawing a blank. Call me in the morning!"

thanks!
 

MareSaturni

Erm...maybe you start saying in a robotic voice: "does not compute! does not compute!" and let your head fall on the table as if your brain had had a short circuit? Make sure to move your arms like C3PO!

Hum...bad idea :p

I think that before stammering, stuttering and eventually panicking, we should first calm ourselves. We know the cards. Close your eyes, breathe. I remember that Paul Fenton-Smith tells in his book "Tarot Masterclass" that you don't need to hurry up and say something just to avoid the silence. It's best to let yourself calm down and take it easy than to get nervous and say nonsense. Your sitter will most likely remember the good reading then the extra time you needed do start it.

Give yourself time to think.
 

Grizabella

Excellent advice, Marina!

When I first started reading for other people, I thought I had to just read right along like I was reading a passage from a book, but that's not how it has to be at all. I find that sitters---especially if they're paying---actually appreciate you taking time over their readings. They'd rather give you the time than have you just spout any old thing just for the sake of speed or saving face.

If you truly don't get anything out of the cards after spending a few minutes calming yourself, then it's possible that you're just not meant to get the message for that person. If you want to give it another try, though, just say to the sitter that you didn't get anything from the cards that time and try rewording the question or putting out more cards or even using another deck. Or maybe ask if they have another area of concern.

There's nothing wrong with just not getting it sometimes. We're not infallible, after all. It's embarrassing, but nothing to beat yourself up over.
 

Sheri

3crows said:
A reader comes in- wants a "general" reading, I look at the spread..and nothing! I turn over a few more cards...nothing! So, now I'm feeling anxious. All I can say is hmmm....okay....well.....

Its sort of like math anxiety...even if you know the square root of something- if its on a math exam, your mind will freeze up...and you won't be able to proceed.

Anybody recommend any good starters- or opening lines- for when that happens? I don't want to give up early and just tell the person..Gee, I'm drawing a blank. Call me in the morning!"

thanks!

When I am in the blank spot, I reach for my water bottle and take a drink of water. It's a normal action that gives me a chance to take a deep breath and embrace the silence. After that, I say the first thing that comes into my mind, usually the more crazy sounding the more spot on it is. :D

Once in awhile, the cards will show chaos or confusion and be unreadable. At that time, I ask my sitter if they were concentrating on only one thing they wanted to have answers to, or if their mind oscillated back and forth between a couple of things. Usually it's because they didn't have focus when they had the cards. They fess up and I pick up the cards and tell them that we will do another throw for the other issue, so they can freely concentrate on ONLY one issue at a time. At this point, when the cards are thrown they make sense. It's worked every time for me... so far :D

:love: Sheri
 

Debra

This happened to me today.

I recovered my equanimity by saying, "Let's see what we have here. Lots of pentacles, which are about material conditions, equivalent to coins in the old decks, and swords, etc. blah blah" about swords, and the next thing I knew, I was reading the cards.

I really like Sheri's idea.
 

nisaba

It's only happened to me three or four times, and what I've done on each occasion is apologised, refunded the money, and recommended that they either seek out another reader (I offer referrals) or come back in a fortnight.
 

214red

i agree with the others , it happens to all of us at some point, and find a starting point, you can use lots of things to start the conversation off.

Numerology-"most of the cards are high numbers so its coming to the end of a cycle/project etc"
Astrology
Colours
people/pips/courts
active vs passive
direction people are facing
elemental

once you start the ball rolling usually something will come through thats meaningful, sometimes the biggest hurdle is the first one
 

3crows

excellent tools

those are great techniques. The water bottle...looking at just the numbers...or the suits, colors....and admitting when you just can't pull it off...giving yourself time to think.....calling the sitter (in a nice way) on their own inability to focus! this is exactly what I was looking for.

Thank you! I love this site. Everyone is so wise :)
 

Umbrae

Well fer starters, you're looking at all the cards face up at once.

So start with the cards face down. Turn them only as you read them. You can do all the fancy dancy stuff later on.

Turn them over and read them one at a time (and reach for the water bottle).

Now when you hit a blank spot turning them over one by one - that's a totally different matter (which should be embraced and appreciated).

ETA: further, with all your cards face up from the beginning on, think about your sitter staring at 10-14 colorful pictures trying to listen to you...? Say what? One at a time sister, one at a time...
 

214red

perhaps you want to do smaller spreads too, start with one card. Or pull a overall/clarifying card and concentrate on that alone