Cold Reading.

Try as I might, I am so unable to do an intuitive reading to save my life. No matter what it comes down to all I can do is offer the meaning of the card and compare it to the cards around it. HUFF. I'm as empathic as a rock. When trying to add imput on other readings in the forum I sound like a text book, and when I go back and read what I've written to another person I'm embarassed at how stiff and cold my opinons are. Anyone offer any suggestions on improving ones reading to a level better than that of a robot?

I'm about the same at the moment, but I think I am getting better with it. I have only been learning the tarot for 6mnths now, and half of that time I didn't spend any time with them at all (silly uni!!), so I guess it takes a bit of practise.

I have been listening to advice to others here, and they say to make a story out of the cards. I like that idea, so now I look at where the people are looking at, I try and notice if an animal is present in all cards and how that animal progresses...

Also, I'm trying to think about what I think the cards mean, not what I have learned the 'traditional' meaning is. I'm trying to say what I think is happeninng, instead of being 'sure'. I'm not sure if you are new like me, but if you are, you can use it as an 'excuse' if your reading isn't acurate!! I mean, afterall, we have to make mistakes to learn from them!

That is what I tell myself anyway. I think for me, atleast, part of the problem is overcomming the fear of getting it 'wrong', and this prevents me from straying from the textbook meanings.

I hope that has helped a little bit

Also, I just had another thought. Perhaps try buying a tarot deck with non-traditional images. I just bought the Shapeshifter tarot. I like the art, but I was dissapointed that alot of the images just aren't RWS. I can't read the damn thing!

Now I have started thinking about it in a new way. Perhaps it will teach me to 'unlearn' the RWS textbook meanings and help me read more intuitively?!? Well, I'm not sure yet if my theory will work, I guess only time will tell.

kittenann said:

Try as I might, I am so unable to do an intuitive reading to save my life. No matter what it comes down to all I can do is offer the meaning of the card and compare it to the cards around it. HUFF. I'm as empathic as a rock. When trying to add imput on other readings in the forum I sound like a text book, and when I go back and read what I've written to another person I'm embarassed at how stiff and cold my opinons are. Anyone offer any suggestions on improving ones reading to a level better than that of a robot?

Click to expand...

I think it is a just a matter of getting used to the cards and their different meanings. I used to be the same, and in some way still am. I think a part of it may actually relate to the person you are reading for as well. From my experience, limited, mind you, some people are incredibly easy to read for, and others seem like a closed book (pardon the exaggeration, like the pages have been stuck down with glue), so to speak.

Bec

Dear Kittenann ~

I am still quite new as well compared with many others here. firemaiden currently has a beautiful thread in her forum about 8 Pentacles.

It's about learning and practising a craft - the detailed attention and love that goes into it. After a while you know the basics so well that they become automatic and to some degree unconscious.

This will happen to you in time. Keep your journal and keep working with the cards. Some of the reading circles in the Reading Exchange might be worth joining.

Stay with it and practice. One day you will fly easily .

Moongold

For me, the more comfortable I got with the 'textbook' interpretations of the cards, the more I was able to expand on the meanings, and use my intuition. I still feel like I have a looong way to go, and I often find myself doubting my gut instinct when I first pull a card. Do you feel confident when you read, or are you unsure of yourself? In my case, the more sure of myself I became, the more able I was to listen to my inner voice. Don't try so hard. Just keep reading, and learning the cards and intuition will come. What deck are you reading with? Do you feel that you aren't connecting with it? What helped me is finding a deck with images that move me, and that I love. That helped me to see the cards as a force working with me to find an answer, and not an obstacle to overcome before finding the answer.
Good Luck, and keep learning and reading
Samantha

Suggestions

I've read for years now, and I've read many, many books. You know what? The best way to improve your readings, the interpretation, is practice. Fact is there are several possible meanings for any given card - you must deduct it based on the subject/question, position, other cards in the spread, etc. So get lots of practice - read for others, read for yourself, do reading about general current events - and keep a journal pertaining to each reading- the cards drawn & position, the question/issue. and the follow up - what became of the situation? This will help you to compile your personal meanings. Imo, tarot interpretation works much like dream interpretation - you can read all the dream dictionaries/encylopedias/traditional meaning guides you want - but really you have to work out what the symbols mean for you personally - you can't communicate/interpret something given to you in a language you don't understand. Use the traditional meanings as a guide and starting point. This is the only way to get/give accurate, meaningful readings.

Also, you may want to invest in a couple of books on mystical/occult symbolism in general - symbolism present in tarot decks. For example, you will be better able to grasp the meaning of most RWS inspired decks if you know the associations of fire (wands and kings/knights), water (cups and queens), air (swords and knights/princes), and earth (pentacles and pages/princesses).

People use the word intuition quite often to describe a "good" reading, and as something that you either have, or you do not. Of course, you can "get" it by practicing, but there is no middle ground, there are no readings with only "a little" intuition.

I'm sorry for the jarring note, but really, no offence intended. I f you are seeing the meanings of the cards and adressing them according the cards around it, well, then, thats great! A good card and a bad card side by side may cancel eachother, or mean something else entirly. Intuition is not getting messages from above, it is knowing the stuff that makes the reading work, and in experienced readers it may look like "magic" but it is obviously years of learning and getting used to it.

The reason (now I'm getting to the point) that I'm saying all this is because once you tell yourself that you cannot do an intuitive reading, or you are "just" reading the meanings of the card, then you are selling yourself short, and are probably better than you think you are, and in any case, comparison with others, or how it "should" be done, is always detrimental.

I think the biggest thing is just to jump in and try. I was flabbergasted the first few times I did it at how accurate I was-----not to mention scared to death. I still have that feeling a lot, but it's just doing it that will really get you past that hurdle. Instead of worrying whether you're doing it "right" and giving the "right" meanings from what you've memorized, just trust your instincts about what comes to mind when you see the images on the cards. If you can't trust your instincts then just "act as if" you trust them until you've done it enough that you really can trust them. If you suddenly go blank and can't remember what the book meanings are, just push on through and say what comes to your mind, because chances are, that's going to be much more accurate anyway. Tarot images work by your subconscious taking over and giving you answers, not by learned meanings from books. Those are just a basis to get you started. Tapping into your subconscious to get at the hidden wisdom you don't realise you have is the "magic". Those blank spots where suddenly you can't remember what you've learned is a blessing in disguise, really.

I find that I can't read for myself. I just can't seem to be objective enough. The greatest thing I ever experienced was in getting the courage to read for others because suddenly it worked! Before I got the courage to do that, I was convinced that I wasn't ever going to get it, that I had an absolutely total "dumb spot" for tarot. I had just about given up completely.

If you can't read for someone face to face to start with, try reading for people online, through Yahoo messenger or email, and try really hard not to turn to a book. Just push through the blank spots.

Good luck to you. You'll get much better if you just don't give up and if you take that giant step off the diving board and try it.

Just yesterday, someone whose friend was one of my very first readings told me that "it all came true." That the friend had eloped and gotten married just like I'd seen the cards say would happen with a guy who wouldn't commit. Well, I don't even remember that reading, but even though at the time it seemed like I hadn't seen what was in the cards accurately, lo and behold! It just took awhile for it to play out was all. And the other readings I had done around that time had all been very accurate. So you see? Just trust your instincts and don't give up.

I agree with everyone else - it takes practice - don't give up! Also, I think that if you are thinking "I will never do this" then that puts you at a disadvantage to begin with. Tell yourself you can do it, and you will!

Something I used to do and I have advised my mom to so (she is also learning) is to deal a few cards and then make a story up connecting one card to the next - don't worry about the book meanings, look at the card and use your thoughts on the images to tell the story.

Please don't give up - it will come eventually, I promise!

Sue x