I'm not a skeptic, just curious.

Hi guys.

I'm not a frequent board user, so please for give my absense. I decided to come back to tarot cards, but a question lurks in my mind every time and i just got to ask. When you do your readings, do you think it's a spiritual force that's giving you the message? Or do you use it as a psychological tool? I can see it's effectiveness psychologically, i see the cards as a whole person that gives you advice and different alternatives in complexed situations. Like a tool that gets your subconsious mind unlocking answers that are allready in your brain. But everytime i read for someone, they always want to know their future. But i explain to them how i work, and what i think the tarot is. Then they seem disapointed and don't bother with the reading... So in short: What do you think the cards actually are? Also i'm not mocking anybody that believes different things than me, i just want your insight out of interest

That is very much part of the crux of the matter, is it not? in the sense that it is not only about the cards and the reading, but also about our own views of the world we inhabit (I'm probably repeating myself a little on something else I have just written elsewhere).

Personally, I consider that there are a number of important factors, one of these is very much the integrity of the person reading - and in that, his or her particular ontological views: views about what there is and is not, and how this operates in both the world around us and through our psycho-physiological makeup.

If we consider the world as essentially spiritual, then even if we consider the cards as 'simply' providing a means through which to 'unlock' possibilies to complex situations will not be considered as solely allowing unconscious (or sub-conscious, or pre-conscious) connections to arise, but perhaps also as being guided to seeing specific nuances. To tell the potential person receiving the reading would, in such a case, say more than something like "let's consider this narrative arising out of this sequence of images", but also imposing on her or him our own worldview (whether by its psychological interpretation or its spiritual one).

All this, and we haven't even talked about future inclinations or directions yet!

Hi,
welcome back to tarot!.
Tarot is a very personal tool to each and everyone of us. If you decide to continue, your personal style and way of working will start to develop. This is why you often hear it being referred to as a journey. Never an easy one, particularly at the beginning, for reasons I have just explained.

Here on AT, you will find everyone uses their chosen tool very differently and it is interesting to experiences the different styles of reading. Giving you a slightly different angle.

I can only speak for myself here, but I tend to use my cards more intuitively these days, but always as a guidance and insight tool, I never start out at the beginning of a reading expecting to deliver fortune telling information. If this is what the client expects then they need to be warned that they may be disappointed. The cards will delivery the information the client needs most at that moment in time, as a reader you must trust this aspect of your cards. It goes without saying that in doing this, the cards do touch on certain aspects of a situation and may point to possible developments and outcomes. Possible being the operative word.

I am sure if you ask some of the readers on this forum that have been reading for many years, they will tell you that reading and reading styles are open to change according to the readers own life experiences, it has to, its what makes us compassionate human beings.

For me, it springs from a spiritual message and I am sure ends up being of psychological benefit to the querent. This is my plan anyway. You are right in making it clear to your client how and what shape your readings take, it is then up to them to decide whether to continue or not, sometimes you will get a feeling that it may not be wise to read for this person because of their attitude, at times like these trust you feeling and protect your energy and say, maybe next time!!
Enjoy your Tarot, its a very worthwhile journey of discovery!.

All I can say is that the cards are very strange things. You open to your own development and beliefs and then they bring you further. I would suppose it is expansion and experience. If you seek you will find.

I am beginning to think the readings are a bridge to many things, depending on your focus and interest. I don't think we can just nail it down as to whether it is spiritual or just an unfolding of the sub-conscious or whatever.

Some are able to give accurate predictions. The thing to do is to always be true to yourself. Where you are, you are.

I know what you mean about the problem with reading for others - their expectations of what tarot can deliver and what you find so intriguing and useful about them.
But you can use them to satisfy both - read predictively for others if that is what they want and use it for spiritual guidance for yourself.
How it works in my opinion is that it is a tool for tapping into the unconscious (that is why dreaming is so important with tarot work - you need to keep the loop open). Many people do not understand that the brain has the ability to "see" steps ahead of the conscious "known". And tarot is the tool to access that ability.

Hi, wb. wb to AT.
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woodwind bard said:

But everytime i read for someone, they always want to know their future. But i explain to them how i work, and what i think the tarot is. Then they seem disapointed and don't bother with the reading...

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That's their choice - it might be frustrating, but it's better to preserve your integrity than change your values just to get attention.

woodwind bard said:

So in short: What do you think the cards actually are?

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A collection of images that depict spiritual lessons.

Mostly I see it as my subconscious mind talking to my conscious mind.

But...

I've only posted one reading here. I carried the list of cards from a Celtic Cross reading literally for a decade or more. I took one look at that spread, wrote down the cards, put the note in the bag the cards live in and put it all away. It was that scary.

It was also absolutely true and accurate as to what was going to happen over the next year or more.

So what happened there? Don't have a clue. Did my subconscious mind KNOW what was going to happen? I don't know. Did the information come from someplace else? <glyph of a woman shrugging her shoulders>

All I know is that I do not know.

woodwind bard said:

Hi guys.

I'm not a frequent board user, so please for give my absense. I decided to come back to tarot cards, but a question lurks in my mind every time and i just got to ask. When you do your readings, do you think it's a spiritual force that's giving you the message? Or do you use it as a psychological tool? I can see it's effectiveness psychologically, i see the cards as a whole person that gives you advice and different alternatives in complexed situations. Like a tool that gets your subconsious mind unlocking answers that are allready in your brain. But everytime i read for someone, they always want to know their future. But i explain to them how i work, and what i think the tarot is. Then they seem disapointed and don't bother with the reading... So in short: What do you think the cards actually are? Also i'm not mocking anybody that believes different things than me, i just want your insight out of interest

Click to expand...

I generally avoid telling people how I believe the Tarot works unless they ask me. This way they can apply their own belief system or thoughts on how they work and come away with a more meaningful reading.

As for my personal beliefs, I think it's a bit of both. The subconscious mind to me is simply a link to the spirit world. It's a bit like an internet connection to the divine. Problem is sometimes that connection is dial up and the message takes FOREVER to download, and other times it's broadband and the message comes through in a flash.

When I work with Tarot the symbols are kind of like the webpages. They provide me with the information that's coming through my subconscious. Whether these messages are simply knowledge that is lying unlocked in my human mind or they are from a higher plane or being remains to be seen. Sometimes I think that these bits of wisdom and insight are simply what I already know, and other times I get the distinct feeling that the universe or one of my spirit guides is sending the information.

Hope that helps!

I think its a subconcious thing for me. I am sure I can spin the cards to tell a story to relate to that person but I go with my instinct.

woodwind bard said:

What do you think the cards actually are?

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Paper and ink from a historical Italian game whose antique images resound with our Western intuitions, since it is based in our shared culture. Thus it allows us to express what we could not otherwise easily articulate.