Reading for yourself

I read in my book yesterday that it was almost impossible to do an accurate reading for yourself. Whether this be a reading about why a relationship isn't progressing as you would like, or a general diagnosis of the type of personality you are - apparantly your intuition goes out the window and your concious mind takes over and disregards anything you don't really want to hear or see in the cards.

I would really like to hear what you think about this?

Ange x

I don't think that's exactly right. Some people do read for themselves and some don't. When you read for yourself, you do have to be careful because of your personal biases, judgments, and expectations. You'll know what the card means, but if it does say something that bothers you, your feelings would get in the way. It's not recommended that you read for yourself often. Reading for others helps you learn the cards much better.

I sometimes have trouble reading for myself. It is hard to stay objective or I may find a card that does not make sense in my life at that point. I still think it is a great way to learn, esp if you keep track of your readings. This way, you can check your accuracy in predicting and interpretation. I find it hardest to read for people I am close to. But that may be because I always want to give them good news.

I don't agree that your intuition goes out the window when reading for yourself. That may apply to some people who might choose to not see themselves or their situation as it really is. But I don't feel this is the case for everyone. Besides that, I have many other intuitive experiences (mostly dreams that come true) that only work on myself. So I don't see how one intuitive sense can work while another doesn't. Perhaps it depends on the strength of your knowledge and your gift.

I think that sometimes somefolks do have trouble being objective when reading for themselves.

I have no trouble reading for myself and find it really useful.
Readings that I have done for myself have helped me get through some difficult times.

I think it depends on the reader and what they are reading about. I don't think that you can make blanket statements (I mean your book, not you) as every reading and every reader is different.

If I couldn't have read for myself then I would never have learned how to read tarot.

A very good book about reading for yourself is 'Tarot for yourself - a workbook for personal transformation' by Mary K Greer http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tarot-Your-...6606341?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1177588972&sr=8-1

I had never heard the idea of not being able to read for yourself until I came to this forum.

There have been a couple of times when I've done readings, or a series of readings that have shown me what I'm doing wrong in a situation, even big things that I haven't exactly been wild to hear.

This is probably a minority view point here but I think that one of the points of using a tarot deck at all is in order to see things objectively. You yourself know far more about the ins and outs of your situation than anyone else so your own readings about your situation are bound to be more useful. You can learn and grow. You can become more objective about yourself.

There are people (usually very conventional types but not always) who feel quite suspicious of anything that is done alone, and of people who spend a lot of time alone. There is a real tendency in our culture to question the value of time spent alone and introspective activites. You may find that people will devalue and mock at the idea of reading tarot for yourself so be forwarned.

--Myrrha

I agree with Myrrha's comments.

You can indeed read for yourself, and unless in the deepest denial, the cards will show you clearly what you need to know. Also agree that society in general seems suspicious of solitary activities, but for me self-readings have pulled me ahead and allowed me to finally get over things that might have taken a very long time without their guidance.

Taking the time to really consider the cards, leaving them lying around for a while, making firm connections between them and your life can be so freeing. And this in a way that no other reader can do, because who knows your life like you do?

Lots of people can and do read for themselves very successfully.

I'm just one of the ones that can't.

I think I could way back when...when I was first starting out, and on rare occasions I can still get clear decent answers.

But I am not at all objective when it comes to myself, (I am the epitome of what Marion calls...the Deepest Denial! )and I can see too manymeanings in each card.
So, I tend to see what I want to see...(whether that's good or bad, depends on my mood at the time)

When I desperately need a reading...I can often get one of the amazing talented people here to read for me!

I also read for myself, not so often now, but I do. If I didn't, I would never have learned. Yes, it can be difficult, if not impossible, to be 'objective'. But sometimes, just putting yourself in the frame of mind required for reading is enough to see the situation more clearly, to detach and admit things you were avoiding. The cards provide pointers and help focus the attention to the really important issues and point out stuff you had no idea about, but all of a sudden you realize that you do have a very clear idea about. Not well phrased, hope you get what I mean!

I think sometimes I need a reading done by someone else and sometimes I need to do a reading myself. Both are good, but very different and you get different things out of them.

One challenge can be to be disciplined when reading for yourself, not let emotion cloud your intuition, not read about the same thing a zillion times, not ask 'naughty' questions etc. But even if you do end up doing these things you learn the hard way and stop doing them

But there's people who never read for themselves. You won't know which you are until you try...

I think it's hard, but not impossible. The problem with self-reading is that you know all the background - what's going on, what you're thinking and feeling, stuff you haven't told anyone. Over-analyzation, etc. I think it's really hard. I personally read much better for others than myself. But a lot of people read well for themselves too.

The depth of my reading seems to be better when it's about/towards/for others. I have trouble muddling through my own crap when reading for myself.

I don't think accuracy is impossible, though. I think total objectivity is, though.

I've never had trouble reading for myself, in fact I read only for myself for almost a year when I started. There are some things you need to be able to do first, imho to do it effectively. If you aren't in the right mind frame, it's best to wait till you are.

Reading for yourself takes a lot of objectivity. For one thing, you can't go into the reading wanting to see a specific answer, or thinking "I really hope the cards tell me only positive things and nothing negative."

Don't attempt reading for yourself if you are in that mindframe. That's my advice. What I try to focus on is to remember that I don't want one answer over another. Instead what I want is Truth. That is all I ask of my cards and readings to present me with truth.

Because hey, you can't hide your head in the sand and Tarot is not just a predictive tool. It is also a tool to help you change your future. And if you are heading towards something negative, I mean wouldn't you rather the cards tell you, so you can change your path and avoid it, rather than not knowing about it and one day you're just minding your own business and when you least expect it: Wham!

And btw, I have already seen this process in my life in a relationship reading. I was on the verge of messing up a relationship (that was still new) with someone I really care about. And the cards were kind enough to let me know where I was headed. And that let me do more readings on why we were heading that way and how I could fix/change that and create a more positive relationship instead. And of course I took all the advice and our cards have been very positive about our future even since.

I am very grateful for the bad news the cards told me. If I had just wanted to see good things in the cards, hey I would never have learnt what I needed to to fix things. And I would have had a broken heart instead of a renewed sense of faith in Tarot.

Oh and as far as reading for yourself, and I think this goes for any reading anyway....you need to be calm and relaxed to read well, so reading on a topic you are very emotional or worried about will not work well. That does not mean you can't do teh reading, but not when you are in that mindframe. You just need to calm down some before attempting it and be truly ready to accept whatever truth the cards gift you with.

Actually, when I think of it, some of my most meaningful personal growth has come from my readings for myself. I tend to ask all kinds of philosophical questions, on why I am here, my life purpose, ....what I am meant to learn from different life experiences....usually I use my angel decks for that now. But, to me it is literally the best way to explore your inner life and purpose.

Bar