Non Believer Turned Believer

Sitting in a local fast food place I decided to do a few quick spreads because I had to wait for my truck to be fixed the other day. I had my Dragon deck out doing a spread. While staring at my cards, this Fed Ex guy walks by, sits down across from me. He asks: Are those tarot cards? I smile, saying: Yes, would you like to look at them? After giving me a weird look, he replys: I'll try them. (okay sorry but I had to laugh when he said it) I let him shuffle the cards, and I draw up three facing him. I can't remember the exact cards but I know Death was one of them, *rolling eyes*

I have never done a reading for someone face to face before so this is really was a new thing for me. I looked at the cards explained each one in turn then how they related to one another. I was rather proud of myself, because I knew that I had it all clicking right. The poor Fed Ex guy however was slightly flipped out because I seem to have everything that was going on in his life right on target for such a short reading.

When I collected my things to leave, he says to me: I'll never doubt them again, thank you. Asked me if I did this for a profession. It made my morning! I was wondering what everyone else first "live" reading was like?

Hey Tabi,

That sounds totally cool.

My first readings with my tarot cards were actually for another person. My friend and I bought our decks and book together, and then read for each other. The book we bought to learn with had only the Celtic Cross, the Gypsy Spread and one Seven Card Spread for yourself in there. It gave us the impression that you weren't really supposed to read for yourself, so we practiced on each other. THe results were accurate, but not groundbreakingly so. It wasn't until I started to practice reading for myself that I began to be amazed at the accuracy of the cards.

Anyway, Good job on "converting" someone.
It would have made my morning too.

That's cool. I wish that I was able to take my cards out in public. I don't know. Being a teenager, I'm always under pressure about having to act 'normally' even though I'd love to do it wherever I am. I would be scared that the reading would have turned out incorrectly or I would read it incorrectly. Good job.

Brock

Nice job, tabi.

I'm glad your first reading for another went so well. You've made a great start on a wonderful path. Best of luck with your future attempts!

My first live reading was my last. It was, for me, a terrible experience and it decided me not to do it again. I will still read for others now, but not in person.

It was for a girl at work, during our lunch hour. I was careful to explain beforehand too that some of the card names sound a bit ominious, but to not pay attention as there are no bad cards...

So of course the Death card came up. And she went "I knew it, I'm going to die!!!" And she was like so terrified it was like her eyes were spinning in her head. And I was saying No it doesn't mean that.....But she was completely tuned out at that point and not at all hearing anything I said anymore. She just ran out of there and would not talk to me at all again. A few days later she left and I never saw her again and could not explain more.

I hated it. I never want to feel that way again, to upset someone so much.
At least in a written reading you can explain things. And it is there for the person to reread later.

All that aside, your reading sounded wonderful though and I really am happy for you.

Babs

Sunchariot: I was wondering if I could give another perspective, and perhaps ask you to reconsider reading for others. I'm not trying to push; obviously this is your own decision to make.

If your first reading had gone very well, as tabi's did above, you may well have considered continuing. After all, you are a sensitive person, have taken some time to learn the cards, and wish to help others. Many people on these boards share these characteristics; it is one of the reasons Tarot draws people in.

But we take on a large responsibility when we read, as the Unknown can have a very powerful effect on impressionable people. I'd be willing to say that your Querent's state of mind had very little to do with what you did or said. It came from her, triggered by what she saw as a frightful image. This card could (in theory) have come up in a reading from another reader, with (perhaps) a similar result. For whatever reason, your Querent was not equipped at that moment to hear what you had in mind to say.

But of course there may well be others out there with the same fears, who would be willing to listen to a sympathetic voice, and who might be able to reflect on their own responses and come away the better for it.

If you had had a number of readings under your belt, you might have felt that while this was quite an unfortunate episode, and you empathized with the pain of the young lady, you nonetheless would continue to read. You would realize that this was only one experience among many, and should be seen in perspective and balanced against all the helpful readings that you had done.

There have been a number of threads that have discussed client reactions, from the fantastic to the horrible to everything in between. The Tarot tends to evoke powerful responses. But when the good outweighs the bad, and you know inside that you have connected with and touched people deeply and positively, it makes it all worthwhile.

I'd just hate to have you stop reading for others before you even got started.

Sincerely, Sentient.

Some people stop listening as soon as they ask for a reading.

These are the people you need to be careful of, as they will selectively hear only what they want, and twist what you did say to fit that view.

This is not your fault, and I am sorry you had to deal with it.

-Fenier

Thank you Sentient and Knightward.

Well, never say never I guess, as you can never know what will happen in the future. But for now I am perfectly happy doing my readings for others either online, or for friends home alone and then typing it up for them (images of the cards included).

I find it distracting with someone else there watching over my shoulder anyway. As I read intuitively and I tend to focus quite intensely on the images and feelings they bring up....someone around seems to distract me.

Thanks again for caring though guys!

I'm sorry your first reading wasn't great, but I do have to agree with Knightwand most people only hear what they want to. I was always leary of telling anyone that I did read the cards, over time I have built up my confidence. While I'm not great at looking at the cards and knowing exactly what they mean everytime, I know that I can be clear.

When reading for someone you're not sure of it helps to do short readings, for the Fed Ex guy I did three cards. It help me focus, but also they don't lose interest either. I really do think it makes a huge difference on the person you are reading for. I know that it is harder to read for someone that you know on a "co-worker" basis then it is to read for a complete stranger or a close friend or family member.

Best of luck!

I've only read 'live' for someone else once and I'm not sure I'm ready to give it another try for awhile. It was for a good friend who doesn't know much about Tarot but is open minded and supportive of my interest and wanted to see how I worked with them (ie, how I get from image to interpretation).

So I gave it a go and found myself being exceedingly nervous, stuttery and struggling to come up with what each card meant - I couldn't get any intuitive grasp on them and couldn't remember any keywords either. Total stagefright.

But I struggled on anyway, describing the cards out loud to try to get a fix on what they meant, offered an idea that felt very flat to me and each time his initial response was 'well, I don't know about that...' and it just totally tripped me up.

And this was from someone who is supportive of me! A couple weeks later, I talked to him about that and let him know that I'd realized that our standard way of talking to each other (which has a sort of easy going debate quality to it - in normal converation, he can lead off his idea with 'well, I dunno...' and it doesn't trigger me at all) totally deflated my ability to talk over the cards with him.

Thing is, I don't know that I can possibly control another person's reaction in progress with a reading - for now at least, I need more quiet and time to get a feel for what they're saying. I'd like to attempt it again, with him even, but not yet. I think I have to get a lot more comfortable with getting a quicker feel for what the cards are saying before I try that again.