Do You Prefer Less Information?

I had a woman contact me earlier this week wanting a reading... she is in the middle of a very troubling situation, and wanted to come over that morning, unfortunately I was out all day and so we arranged to meet this weekend.

She was quite upset about things however, and so we chatted quite a while- I think she just really needed someone to listen to her and she really is stuck in a very confusing place right now.

The thing is, I was thinking about it after I got off the phone and now I feel I know TOO much- I want to give her an honest and impartial reading, but now I have to admit I'd like to give the person she is involved with a swift kick up the bottom!

I would be interested to know what others think- do you sometimes feel it's better to know less about the situation of the person you are reading for? Or do you think the more information, the better? I'd would certainly rather know what the person's question is, (I do dislike it when they withhold their question- like I'm being tested or something) but in this case I feel I've lost that impartiality that allows me to be more open to the cards themselves.

In any case, it is going to be a very interesting reading, I'm sure!
I will ground and centre as I always do before a client arrives, and probably pull a few cards for myself to see what they advise... I would be interested to hear how others deal with this.

elnor

I do prefer less information myself. However, I have found myself caught in the same situation. In a case like this, I have the client ask a specific question, one at a time, and lay out a few cards (3 to 5) to give guidance. I find if the questions are very specific, then I can still give a good reading without any of my own feelings to come through in it. I find it most helpful to be very specific. One question at a time. Then if clarification is required on that one question---you can do so before moving on to the next question. I do not necessarily pick up the cards already read & include them in the next question(s). It depends on my feelings that day. good luck.

Definitely. When I know more information, I can't just "say something" and plan on it helping. Instead I am slightly directed by previous knowledge. I like just enough to give me some direction, or none at all.

I totally agree that less is better, personally. In person, I usually put my hand up and stop them before they get good and started, you must understand though that these are mostly kinfolk, but there have been strangers that I've stopped from telling me anything at all about the situation.
I do want to add that throwing my hand up to stop them is like a normal reaction for me, and not out of rudeness.

I'm a good listener, but when I'm reading, I don't want to know anything, I want the cards to revel what they will.

I normally tell my querants to concentrate on their questions, rather than to speak it to me. Before I even begin to shuffle.

I don't feel like I'm being tested, I feel like the cards have more freedom to revel what they have to tell.

Normally, when I do this other's are sitting and looking at me totally puzzled with a look of what, how do you know this!
I don't know anything, I'm just telling the story of what the cards tell, and make the connections like that.

So far, so good, I've pretty well nailed things right, although, I have just ran into a reading that picked up on someone other than the querant, which really blew me away, but at the same time it did make it's own sense.

However, I do have a strange way with some situations as to be able to be disconnected to the situation, this I do believe has a lot to do with my natal chart. It works on many different levels as well as giving me the ability to understand more than one point of view and usually come up with something that is helpful to all concerned. Disassociating one's self from something can be a good thing. It's like even though you are on the inside you get an outside look mixed in. (I don't know if that made sense to anyone but me...)

Nope, for me, less is best!

I like to start with just a very bare-bones question. As things progress, I often get querent feedback that helps us go deeper into the matter. Sometimes, as you said, people just need someone to listen to them figure things out for themselves, and that's fine; I really value an interactive dynamic in my readings. If my cards and I can be the sounding board that helps someone advance their life, even in a small way, I count it as a good reading.

Still, my emotional experience of reading is usually like standing in a big meadow under a starry sky, creating the connections between the stars that make the constellations. When I have someone's baggage all over the place to start, it makes me feel more like I've fought my way up a rickety staircase into a cramped, cluttered attic and now have to figure out what's relevant and what isn't.

If you take a few moments to clear your mind, it's entirely possible to give a non-prejudiced reading to someone. You just have to keep checking yourself to be sure that what you're "getting" from the cards isn't personal opinion. You know what's your opinion and what isn't, so it's not that hard. Practice doing it if you think it's too difficult and you'll soon get the hang of it.

Someone Else's Head

Floracove said: "So far, so good, I've pretty well nailed things right, although, I have just ran into a reading that picked up on someone other than the querant, which really blew me away, but at the same time it did make it's own sense."
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Sorry, I messed up the QUOTE function.

I have to say, this just happened to me today for the first time ever. I was alone reading my own cards, and it felt as if these cards were not mine, but that I was in the head of someone else (someone I know). It was very disconcerting. I even said (out loud), "Holy cow, why does it seem as if I am channeling someone else's feelings about this and not my own?" Everyone knows his/her own viewpoint, right? I was sure I did.
Sorry for the digression. When I read for someone else, I prefer to ask questions while I read, just to orient myself. I do not have the patience to listen to the whole story before (!) Anyhow, too much info ahead of time "spoils the soup".

I think so- I read for my friends and I know everything about whatever's going on.

It disappoints me so much when I lay down cards, stare at them and go "But I just read this in their online journal, what are you? A mobile blogging service?" I know I could lay down somthing completely off the wall, so I think the cards are right, but I dont even get the chance to provide them with a lot of new material and insight to work with.

Hopefully I get better and will be able to see deeper as time goes on.

More information is better; knowledge is power.

I'm with skysteel.

I've found that (when visions aren't affecting the readings that is), the people I read better for are people who I know and read for regularly... I know who and what is being spoken of by the cards and I don't need to grill the querant to ask what it is that I'm seeing.

Grandmother Laurette says an extra grounding when she is reading for someone she is close to, but I have never used it... Perhaps something like that might help?

T