Different thoughts on Tarot

I get Tarot readings and they will sometimes predict a future event like meeting a new person, getting a new job, relationship, etc. However what about when it doesn't happen? Or it happens years down the line? Do Tarot readings ever expire, and if you're thinking "Oh I want to be in a relationship." then isn't it natural for the Tarot to show you that even though it's not in tune with what's actually going on in your life? Do you think Tarot just picks up on what you want to happen, as far as predicting goes? How do you change this so you're getting clear answers? Grounding methods?

Some of us simply don't use tarot as a predictive tool. I find it a very useful tool to explore options, do inner work and meditation, expand my view of possibilities and so on. Speaking purely for myself, I've never really seen the point of predicting the future, even if I believed it could be reliably done. I'd far rather explore the healthiest path for me to take, and let the future take care of itself.

Your mileage may vary.

I'm with Gryff. I tend to ask questions to make me think, or to aid in the decision making process, never to make the decisions.

You both have valid points that I agree with, somewhat. However, I do what I want regardless of what the Tarot says. I don't let it dictate the decisions I make or anything but I was just wondering if perhaps the Tarot mirrors your desires thus it's not really predicting anything (though it can, and I've had it happen). For instance, many Tarot users say the Tarot shows what the outcome will be of the current path you're on. So if you want a relationship, you will find one with or without the Tarot saying so. Let's say you do ask the Tarot about relationships though. Will it simply tell you yes you'll find one because that what energy you're giving out, or does it tell you what it wants to regardless of your desires? I guess my point was Tarot isn't really a predictive tool afterall. Hmmm. I'm confusing myself now.

I've decided that Tarot readings are valid at the "time of the reading".
At the time of the reading, the cards that have the information you
need to know, will be on the table turned up and read. All other cards
are information that either you all ready know, or you do not need to know
at the time.

As you stand up from the table and leave, you leave with the knowledge
from the reading...and anything can happen to change the path. Other
people can change our thought pattens, which will change what
we think or feel that we had heard during the reading.

Sometimes, what happens to others and what other people say...
change us, if it is spoken in the reading or not.

And timing is everything...every event changes us or others which
then changes us.

Just some thoughts!
poivre

poivre said:

And timing is everything...every event changes us or others which
then changes us.

Click to expand...

I mean to say that...
when we are having our reading, something may be happening that
we do not know of until after the reading...maybe hours or days later.

This is how I meant to say that
"at the time of the reading"
when we leave the table...anything can happen... phone call or visitor etc.

Yes, I also confuse myself sometimes!

I'm with Gryff and KMill in terms of what I use the Tarot for and why. As far as the question of whether the Tarot mirrors our desires and is thus not really predicting the future, I think along the lines of what poivre said - that is, a reading is a freeze-frame picture in time and the client can decide to do (or not do) something about the insights obtained during the reading. Whether the reading/insights merely reflect the client's wishes and she goes and creates her own future regardless of the reading, or whether they end up influencing her wishes in such a way as to create the outcome in the cards is, in my strictly personal opinion, the same thing as asking which came first - the chicken or the egg. It's circular and can't really be answered, I don't think.

Just my two cents.

ETA: I'm pretty tired and so could easily be confused as well and not making any sense...

I'm not afraid to use it for predicting the future, as well as other things. Many people just have Tarot readings for the fun of it and to them, the fun of it includes predictive stuff. I'm sure to always let the sitter know that I may be wrong but that, on the other hand, I've had folks contact me up to a few years later to tell me that the predictive reading I did for them actually did come to pass. In those cases, I always stress that it's for entertainment, not to be taken as gospel truth. Anything can happen to change the course of events in their lives.

I have a couple of decks I use mostly for myself. One is Waking the Wild Spirit and the other is the Medicine Woman. The Medicine woman is designed more as a personal deck in the first place, I feel, more for meditation than reading for others, although it can be used for that, too. It was my very first deck and it's been just buried in my deck drawers for years, but recently I dug it out and dusted it off to make use of it again and now I'm enjoying doing a morning spread with it every day during my spiritual hour before the day starts rocking and rolling along when everyone else gets up. It's pretty beat up, but receiving a couple of them for donation perked up my interest again and I went digging to see if I still had it. Anyway, for myself, meditation and personal stuff is what I use Tarot for as well as for predicting and other types of readings for others.

Although I'm a very ethical sorta person, I don't use a printed code of ethics. People who know me know I'm ethical already. I live in a small town where most people either know me or know OF me. I read for others for many reasons---just whatever they want, mostly, whether it's a for-fun reading or a serious one. Tarot is very versatile.

GryffinSong said:

Some of us simply don't use tarot as a predictive tool. I find it a very useful tool to explore options, do inner work and meditation, expand my view of possibilities and so on. Speaking purely for myself, I've never really seen the point of predicting the future, even if I believed it could be reliably done. I'd far rather explore the healthiest path for me to take, and let the future take care of itself.

Click to expand...

I don't usually read to predict the future either, except maybe as distant as the following day, but usually that's more about exploring options than asking what will happen. I do get future readings, sometimes, I'm just not asking for them. My readings tend to be more introspective. But I mainly read for myself.

ETA: I'm not sure that I would take a reading about the distant future too seriously, since so much can happen to change the potentialities between now and then.

The comments in this thread will probably interest you.