Splungeman
Though I've been sort of absent from the forum of late, I've still been reading Tarot. Most recently I was at a Psychic Fair. It was quite amusing. In the middle of redneckville Texas, we had a Psychic Fair. It wasn't a big deal. It was actually a fundraiser for the Unity Christian Church, a very progressive-thinking church...quite cool.
Anyway...this was the first time I'd ever done readings one after the other in rapid succession one stranger after another. I noticed very clearly just how wobbly my reading style was in terms of consistency. Boy was I doing things differently as the day progressed. Something about the frequency of reading for four hours straight with only a couple of water/snack breaks really shows how much more tweaking a novice needs to get down a consistent style. You notice more of what you're doing from one reading to the next when it's rapid fire rather than once or twice a month.
For example...I didn't quite realize how obsessed I was with pointing out little historical or factual details on the cards or trying to explain every little single reason I said what I said to the sitter. After two or three people had gotten a reading I was starting to drive myself crazy! I realized that the sitter didn't care about the alchemical significance of red and white on The Magician card, they cared when I told them that the person at work who can most help them with their current problem would be someone with charisma, an orator, and who feels to me like someone older than 65. BOOM! They light up and the reading continues. So by the time the event was winding down, I relaxed about feeling I had to explain every single statement made and just gave them the reading. When a sitter asked me to explain I was happy to, but otherwise they don't really care. SO that was one lesson learned. So in terms of presentation of information to the sitter I did some refining.
Another major thing I refined was my actual reading style. I was still struggling with how much of my information came from the cards themselves and how much came from intuitive flashes (or "glorp" to refer to an old post of mine). I noticed inconsistency there as well doing these one after the other readings. I got that pretty smoothed out towards the end of the event as well. To me, the cards are the framework, plumbing, basic structure of the "house" that is my reading. All the details come from..."out there"...or maybe I mean "IN there" (points to head). Well wherever the hell it comes from, it fills in the detail and the gaps. That's my style. I pinned the sucker down...FINALLY!
Other things noticed and smoothed out:
Shuffling routine- Noticed that needed to be consistent right off the bat. Helps keep your mind focused on reading the cards if you have a concrete shuffling method that never wavers. It becomes automatic and no longer a worry.
Arrangement of crap on the table- I learned that very probably the original reason Tarot readers started putting crystal balls, magical stones and other fancy-looking junk on their table was to keep the whole cloth an card setup from blowing away in the freakin' wind! You see this was outdoors, so the wind kept picking up my reading cloth and subsequently throwing my cards to the wind. Thank the Supreme Architect of the Universe that there was a guy selling gemstones who let me borrow some of them to weigh my cloth and cards down.
Introduction, manners, names- Do I just be myself? Do I act sagelike? Do I say "ma'am" and "sir"? How should I greet the sitter? Got all that pinned down. Once again, with events like this it's best to have a routine down so you don't have to think about it too much. Have pencil and paper handy to write down their name in case you are an idiot with names like I am, just don't be too blatant about checking it. "Okay so....(obviously looking at name like an idiot)......Tina! ....it looks like your cards say....etc"
I'm so glad I did this event. It was really great. It was like getting a REALLY good runners high after a marathon.
Anyway...I'm curious about how others have honed their style and methods over time. Any funny stories about how you got to where you are now? I haven't had a good 'ol Tarot discussion for awhile so let's get crackin'!
Anyway...this was the first time I'd ever done readings one after the other in rapid succession one stranger after another. I noticed very clearly just how wobbly my reading style was in terms of consistency. Boy was I doing things differently as the day progressed. Something about the frequency of reading for four hours straight with only a couple of water/snack breaks really shows how much more tweaking a novice needs to get down a consistent style. You notice more of what you're doing from one reading to the next when it's rapid fire rather than once or twice a month.
For example...I didn't quite realize how obsessed I was with pointing out little historical or factual details on the cards or trying to explain every little single reason I said what I said to the sitter. After two or three people had gotten a reading I was starting to drive myself crazy! I realized that the sitter didn't care about the alchemical significance of red and white on The Magician card, they cared when I told them that the person at work who can most help them with their current problem would be someone with charisma, an orator, and who feels to me like someone older than 65. BOOM! They light up and the reading continues. So by the time the event was winding down, I relaxed about feeling I had to explain every single statement made and just gave them the reading. When a sitter asked me to explain I was happy to, but otherwise they don't really care. SO that was one lesson learned. So in terms of presentation of information to the sitter I did some refining.
Another major thing I refined was my actual reading style. I was still struggling with how much of my information came from the cards themselves and how much came from intuitive flashes (or "glorp" to refer to an old post of mine). I noticed inconsistency there as well doing these one after the other readings. I got that pretty smoothed out towards the end of the event as well. To me, the cards are the framework, plumbing, basic structure of the "house" that is my reading. All the details come from..."out there"...or maybe I mean "IN there" (points to head). Well wherever the hell it comes from, it fills in the detail and the gaps. That's my style. I pinned the sucker down...FINALLY!
Other things noticed and smoothed out:
Shuffling routine- Noticed that needed to be consistent right off the bat. Helps keep your mind focused on reading the cards if you have a concrete shuffling method that never wavers. It becomes automatic and no longer a worry.
Arrangement of crap on the table- I learned that very probably the original reason Tarot readers started putting crystal balls, magical stones and other fancy-looking junk on their table was to keep the whole cloth an card setup from blowing away in the freakin' wind! You see this was outdoors, so the wind kept picking up my reading cloth and subsequently throwing my cards to the wind. Thank the Supreme Architect of the Universe that there was a guy selling gemstones who let me borrow some of them to weigh my cloth and cards down.
Introduction, manners, names- Do I just be myself? Do I act sagelike? Do I say "ma'am" and "sir"? How should I greet the sitter? Got all that pinned down. Once again, with events like this it's best to have a routine down so you don't have to think about it too much. Have pencil and paper handy to write down their name in case you are an idiot with names like I am, just don't be too blatant about checking it. "Okay so....(obviously looking at name like an idiot)......Tina! ....it looks like your cards say....etc"
I'm so glad I did this event. It was really great. It was like getting a REALLY good runners high after a marathon.
Anyway...I'm curious about how others have honed their style and methods over time. Any funny stories about how you got to where you are now? I haven't had a good 'ol Tarot discussion for awhile so let's get crackin'!
