Does anybody else have problems identifying people???

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 20 Jan 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Ramses	20 Jan 2002
Well, I always have this problem with my readings...I can never know for sure who are the people in the readings...for instance, that Queen of Wands in the past position in the Celtic Spread...who could it be?...the mother of the querent?the querent herself?a relative?a friend of the querent?....Who? I know that Iīm supposed to use my intuition on these matters, but itīs so hard to do it! Does anybody face the same problem?...Would anyone have a suggestion???

amyel	20 Jan 2002
It depends. Listen, it really does. There is no "set in stone" for who these people are. Some decks, (like the Mythic Tarot) even go so far to say it could aspects of the querent. I tend to focus on the qualities of the court cards - the "personalities" if you will. This usually makes it clearer to the querent. I don't feel it's important that *who* it is is as important to me - after all, it's not my reading. But that's just my opinion. My best advice would be if it isn't immediately apparent who it is, then focus on the qualities or personality described in the card - that's probably more important.

MeeWah	20 Jan 2002
Amyel beat me to this, so: I agree. There are no specific rules regarding Court cards since they can represent the querent, another person, a situation or even all three. Since the reading is for the querent, then like the rest of the cards they can easily be expressing an aspect or quality of the querent. When in doubt, examine the card from that point of view, unless there is reason to see it otherwise.

Mojo	20 Jan 2002
When in doubt.... ask! Reading Tarot for somebody is an interactive event to me. Sometimes I get strong impressions about the court cards and sometimes I just get inklings. But intuition only goes so far and there is no shame at all in having your querent guide you. If I get a strong impression that a card represents, say, a mother, I will ask them what they're relationship is like with dear old mom and then see if it fits with the card. Then I can flesh out the story as I see it being told. Other times I will just describe the kind of person I see based on the card and let the querent tell me who it is. Again, that enables me to spend my time and energy on really interpreting rather than trying to guess an identity. I think this approach makes the experience much more real for the people I'm reading for. They feel totally involved in the reading and I think they take more away from it because of that connection. Court cards can be very challenging, but there's no reason you should make the job more challenging by feeling like you need to impress anyone by pinpointing an identity. I've even been known to change my opinion completely about a card as a reading progresses. Early in my reading experience this was a little embarrassing, but now it's just part of the process to me.

bec	21 Jan 2002
I agree with the above written, if youīre doing a distant reading - how can you know ? You canīt - it would take that you had loads of info bout querentīs life, and you usually donīt get that. In my experience it is not very often that courts or majors are real persons, itīs the quality of personality itīs all about. If however they have given a question specific about tehm and another person, I determine which cards in the spread that signify them. This is done 90% by intuition and merely 10% from how the cards refelct on eachother, how they work together in the layout. Only if I have a card that really LOOKS like a person, I write something like " this could be a person relatet to your life in this or that way" but still I focus on the energies from the card. I find it kind of annoying to get a distant reading which is focused on greeneyed/darkhaired or whatever ppl in mylife -it could just as well be a side of my own personality. If you do a close reading, where querent sit next to you - ask - tell the qualities of the personality and ask if they have any one near that this could be and is relatet to the situation/issue. Gives you the answers you need and them the feeling of being active in creating and developing their reading/life. So to answer your question - yes I have difficulties in determine the " who" aspect in a reading - but I find it often to be irrelevant "who" that is. Hope you find your answer in this.

Ramses	21 Jan 2002
Thank you all, folks You really helped me find a better way to understand my readings on that matter... I really agree with the one who said that you need to interact with the querent...I do it all the time...and itīs also true that sometimes, even the querent canīt help much ....well, may it raises another question...and Iīll sure be posting it later.... Thanks for all the help....

The Does anybody else have problems identifying people??? thread was originally posted on 20 Jan 2002 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.