Reading for yourself/friend - How not to cloud interpretation

I just did a practice reading for a friend of mine who is also a reader. I did some of it in her presence and because our kids were melting down I did the remainder of her questions on my own. I found it a little hard to interpret the cards without inferring my own opinions and feelings about my friend (and her husband). I tend to have the same problem when I read myself. Since I am a beginner I had to refer to the deck's book alot (Sacred Circle). I wrote the cards down for her, their position in the spread I created for the questions, and some basic impressions I got from the cards/book.

How can a reader "filter out" subjective feelings, opinions, and thoughts about a person they know and are reading for without losing or dropping from the reading the messages that are trying to come through? On the flip side, how can you successfully read for a complete stranger without knowing a thing about them except what they present to you when they introduce themselves?

Big questions. Sorry.

I think it is the reader who gives meanings to cards. The books say what the cards should mean, but I take what they say and then temper it with what I think.

On one of the lists about men readers I think it was said that some people rather go to men readers as they're more forward with the meanings. Another story I read recently said if a woman breaks down on a motorway they would more likey call their Other Half and the bloke would call the RAC first.

So it is the feelings and opinions that make the reading.

(One last thing is to go and look at horoscopes for you today from many different sources and I bet they are all different and maybe with a basis of simularity--they all use the same stars and planetary movements to start off with...)

Firstly, when reading for yourself, I am of the opinion that the clearest readings are those you write down by hand and then come back to in a week, a month or a year. Sometimes though, I think all you really need is an "impression" of whats to come as in a short 3 card reading. I guess it depends on what your reading for yourself is really about. If its self exploration and/ or a deeper understanding of your current events/ circumstances, write it down. If you just want to know what the day/ month/ week holds for then theres probably less need.

Secondly, when reading for close friends, or people whose personal situations you know a lot about. Sometimes knowing whats going on in their lives is a help. if you know you close friend doesn't have a significant other then you would read cards like the 2 of cups or the lovers differently then if you simply don't know. You would say something to the effect of love coming into her life as opposed to floudering for a bit till your sitter told you whether they actually had a love or love interest. Sometimes though it is a hinderance. Knowing they are about to start a new course of study could lead you to jump to the conculsion that the 8 of pents that showed up in her reading was about that, when really it could have been about other sorts of lessons.

As to how you "filter out" personal information, I honestly don't know. I look forward to seeing more answers to that question. In all the years I've read though, that question has become less important the better I've gotten at reading. With close friends I more often then not guess what cards or what message they are going to recieve before the cards are turned over. Very freaky and funny experience.

As for how to read for people you don't know anything about, well this is where you trust what you have learned and what impressions you get. And don't get too disappointed if your not always right. Fact of life, you will always get better responses from some people then others. And as Dr House says people often lie, so even if they say you are wrong, you may well not be.

well I usually find that when I am reading for myself I try to read as if I was reading for another person so that my judgement is not clouded but i have asked this question before like you because I once read that when you read for yourself you get the answer that you "wish" and not the "real" answer, but for ex. if you ask is a new love coming into my life and you get the 1 of cups how did I "make" that card just come up??? I mean out of all cards in the deck that one comes up!

I usually read for myself and then ask my friend to ask the same question I did and read for me to see if we both got similar answers, if we do than I know I read correctly and not its not just wishful thinking.

I also think its a bit tricky to read for total strangers because you dont know if you are going down the right path. I try to see it like a story, if it ties together it must be right but I also ask them if it makes sense what i am saying. I am not an expert by all means, I only read for friends still because I need more confidence but i always try to follow my intuition.

but again this is kinda tricky...I hope more people give more insight on this subject! This is my humble opinion

Hi,
I read for my friend several times and of course for myself since 25 years and got used to it very much. Always when I read my friends cards, he is drawing them and he doesn't tell me his question. Mostly if I see the cards first time I totally know what he was asking, but besides that we keep the secret until the reading is done. It helps quite a lot, I think, to keep myself a bit out of the reading. I can't read for him if I ask for him the question, then I get the nasty feeling I mix myself and him up quite badly.

Regards
Petra