Went blank during reading

Hi This is my first post and I hope I'm in the right thread and place.

I have been reading cards on and off since 2002 but during a recent reading (yesterday) I suddenly went blank and froze. I have lost a bit of confidence now and wonder how I can relax more with clients. I have knowledge and intuition but have lost the flow. Help please.

larimarlady said:

Hi This is my first post and I hope I'm in the right thread and place.

I have been reading cards on and off since 2002 but during a recent reading (yesterday) I suddenly went blank and froze. I have lost a bit of confidence now and wonder how I can relax more with clients. I have knowledge and intuition but have lost the flow. Help please.

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Welcome to you.

Sorry to hear about what happened, but it happens to the most experienced of readers.

What type of deck were you using? If it was one with scenic Minors, you might try just interpreting what's in the images/pictures. I have heard some people recommend that when the reader's block hits suddenly, simply begin narrating what's in the image. "There's a man looking at 4 cups, but he doesn't really seem to be that interested in them." This is supposed to naturally lead you to start making connections to the querent's question or life-- "I see that his hands are open, though, which indicates an underlying, subconscious receptivity. Maybe you do want to make that move/choose that partner, etc, but you're holding out because of XYZ..." etc.

If you use pips decks like Tarot de Marseilles-type decks, a technique I've heard recommended is almost the opposite to the one above: pull out a textbook "traditional" meaning (from any system you know--whether Golden Dawn-based or not) meaning, even if you normally take the an intuitive, free-form approach to reading the swirls and geographic shapes in the pips cards.

Another option with the latter is to start with the element of the suit and describe it, then add basic numerology to describe the number of the card, and combine them in your interpretation. e.g. "Two represents duality, and Water represents the emotions, the subconscious, relationships. So Two of Water means a joining together, a union that implicates the emotions." Once you start talking about elements and numbers, your intuition could kick back into gear and provide you with less generic insights more characteristic of the way you normally read.

All of these may be methods that you normally would never use while in your usual 'zone.' But they may just help you get back into the zone when you are blanking/floundering.

Best of luck.

Chiriku is absolutely right. It does happen to us all at some time or another. It certainly shakes one's confidence. But Chiriku gave you some good advice about just describing what's in front of you to see if that breaks the block. If not, maybe it's one of those instances where you just aren't supposed to see the answer.

Everyone has their own beliefs but mine is that sometimes I'm not supposed to be the one to answer a particular question for that sitter. Maybe they're supposed to go out and learn the answer to their questions by actively doing whatever it is they asked me about. Or maybe they won't react in a desirable way to me delivering the answer----maybe a younger reader would deliver it in a way more useful to them. Maybe if they hear it from someone my age, their reaction would be "oh right. She's just old-fashioned and would naturally see it that way, she's just making that up", where if a younger person in their own peer group relayed that same message, it would be accepted. Or maybe the sitter just shouldn't have the answer right now because what they might do in reaction would be catastrophic. The Universe is mysterious and awesome and I believe there are no accidents.

When this has happened to me, I've tried backing up and reflecting longer to see if I could get the answer, and maybe even picking the cards up, shuffling again and doing another spread, but if it still isn't working, I just tell my sitter that it's not for me to know at this time and suggest they ask me something else. I also might tell them I'll do another reading for them at another time on the question if they like. (I don't charge a set fee or I'd offer them a second free reading, but I work by donation so money doesn't enter the offer.)

That's a good point as well, Grizabella, and one I should take on board myself instead of always trying to make sense out of what's before me.

Although I tend to believe most any card can help us pull something out of our subconscious, once in a while, the card in front of you just throws up a big mental roadblock. Perhaps there is something to be said for taking it as a message that it's not the time to delve into this or know this right now.

There have been times where I have laid out all the cards for a spead, taken a good look and said to myself: "DAMN! These cards don't make a damn bit of sense!" The best thing you can do is start with the first card and start talking about it, tossing a few suggestions out, then go to card #2 and doing the same thing until you put a story together that somehow connects you back to the cards. This is not about 'faking your way out of it' or 'making it up as you go,' this is about using what the cards represent and seeing how they connect to each other.