can you receive too many readings?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 21 Jul 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

zorya	21 Jul 2002
in the time that i've been here at aeclectic, i've only had a few readings, from only two people. while the opportunity is here to get lots and lots of readings, i've chosen not to. i still study and use the first reading i ever received here (thanks umbrae). had i had more readings from more people, perhaps these original readings, which i have found to be so valuable, would have been forgotten in favor of a reading with an outcome that i liked better. some readings can seem frightening or depressing. these are the very readings that can most inspire us to make big changes. if we pay attention, and don't just shuffle them away to look for a brighter outcome, they can change our lives. so what do you think? can you receive too many readings? how long do you wait between readings?

Alta	21 Jul 2002
To me, tarot delivers very powerful messages, which go deep into the heart of the matter. Once you get a reading, it needs to be pondered for a while. The messages need to be drawn from it and hopefully acted upon. The I Ching has a specific hexagram, number 4, that frequently comes up when you keep asking the same question. It is a note of reprimand, to 'stop tugging at the teacher's robe'. I am not sure that I have seen anything similar in tarot, but I suspect the answers sort of get less and less clear the more you demand that they come out the way you want.

midnightmerry	21 Jul 2002
Hi Zorya. I do 'daily' three card readings- except on days that I just don't get to it!! :) The daily readings aren't to 'tell me what to do' as much to help enlighten me on the immediate influences I will be dealing with. Sometimes I like to do them at the end of the day, to throw some light on any areas I could do better on. I don't do major readings for myself all that often and I've never asked for a reading here, although I wouldn't mind exchanging a reading or two.

Kellinator	21 Jul 2002
For what it's worth, I have this experience all the time. If I pester my decks too often over one specific issue, they get mad at me and start spitting out nasty cards. I guess it's a call to work on developing my patience. ;) On the other hand, daily spreads are different, because their scope is so limited. It's much like a child saying "Are we there yet?" -- if the child asks all the time, the parent will get irritated.

Sam	21 Jul 2002
I think that if I over use my deck for related issues over and over, the readings stop making sense. So I think that you let your decks "chill" for awhile before reading with them again.

Umbrae	21 Jul 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Sam I...for related issues over and over, the readings stop making sense. So I think that you let your decks "chill" ... Dude...true that!

zorya	21 Jul 2002
i wasn't really referring to daily readings. i meant the big issues or "big" general guidance readings. the ones you might ask someone else to read for you.

amyel	21 Jul 2002
I think sometimes we may not understand or appreciate - or *want* to to appreciate or understand - the message in the readings we've received, and this causes us to get/ask for more readings, looking for something we either understand or are ready to accept...does that make any sense? Like you, I would sometimes love to have lots of readings, especially about situations in my life that I really want guidence or clarity on. Like you, I resist.

Diana	22 Jul 2002
edited

Jenny-Li	22 Jul 2002
I think the "too much" distinction relates to the degree of obsession, the day we feel we don't really dare to go out without "checking the cards" first, that's when I think it's too much... Part from that, I think the cards are very good at telling when enough's enough - when the readings get meaningless because you've just asked the same question once "too" many, that's when you might be better off giving it a rest for a while. I don't do readings for my self very often, and I generally ask for readings here when there's something I wan't but am not sure how to get there. I don't even do daily readings, because I felt they got meaningless too, I do my morning pages, and if something comes up there I sometimes draw some cards to shed light on that, and how I should relate to it, but most mornings I leave it. I'd rather have the cards tell me when something "real" is going on, forcing meanings to the cards on days when nothing really happens - to me it feels like it undermines the richness of meaning of the cards... Maybe that's just me thinking this way, but that's why I don't do readings too often, I think the readings I DO do, gain more "weight" this way! They make more sense and their message seem more powerful. Anyone else think like this? Light and love, Jenny :)

Dystopian	22 Jul 2002
How long is a good resting period? About a week?

wavebreaker	22 Jul 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Jenny-Li I think the "too much" distinction relates to the degree of obsession, the day we feel we don't really dare to go out without "checking the cards" first, that's when I think it's too much... Part from that, I think the cards are very good at telling when enough's enough - when the readings get meaningless because you've just asked the same question once "too" many, that's when you might be better off giving it a rest for a while. I agree on both these points. I usually leave at least a week between readings on the same subject, unless there are new developments in the situation. However, sometimes I have more "need" for a reading than other times: so one week I may be doing several readings on different issues, and then I might not be doing another reading for several weeks. When I do a reading for myself that is important to me and that doesn't make sense, I have other people look at it, for example by posting it here. I also write down all my readings in my journal, so I can look them up again. In many cases, I find it a lot easier to interpret my own readings after some time has passed, because I can usually look at the reading more objectively then.

Jenny-Li	22 Jul 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Dystopian How long is a good resting period? About a week? Someone mentioned letting the same number of days pass between readings as the number of cards in your spread. I don't like rules, but maybe you could use it as a general idea to keep somewhere in the back of your head...? Light and love, Jenny :)

Laurel	22 Jul 2002
Jenny-Li's comments struck it home for me as well. Anything can become an obsession, and when the tarot is a crutch and not a tool, you're getting too many readings and for the wrong reasons. Once a week seems like a reasonable average for complex, non daily, non meditational, non study readings. Laurel

lark	07 Oct 2004
Though I'd bump this excellent thread. It's a question I've been thinking about lately. As I have people who come to me and ask the same question over and over and sometimes just put a little different spin on the wording. I like people to wait at least a month between important readings, that way we can see if the energy has changed in their situation. Anymore thoughts on this topic? Have any of you done reading after reading on the same subject? What have the readings been like? Clear or murky?

lunakasha	07 Oct 2004
Excellent discussion.... I agree with the idea that it can be frustrating and not a good idea to do frequent "major issue" readings; I personally like to pull a daily card more as a focus for the day rather than trying to predict how the day will go. If I have a specific issue that I need guidance on, I will read for myself with three or more cards, but I resist asking the same question over and over. As lark said, once a month seems about right for me...it may be different for other people of course. Yesterday I did a reading for a friend....it had been about a month since the last time I read for her. Not surprisingly, she asked the same questions as before, and a couple of the cards that came up in the first reading also appeared in yesterday's reading. This was interesting because she recognized them right away, and she saw this as a confirmation that she is headed in the right direction. I remember when I last read for this group of friends, they were very excited (first tarot readings for most of them) and asked me to bring the cards the following week. I told them that it might be better to wait awhile before the next reading....for the same reasons that have been mentioned in this thread. :) Luna

Ace	07 Oct 2004
I think it depends on the question asked in each reading. We all deal with clients who want to know if someone loves us or not and asks over and over again. Mainly because the answer is no and they don't want to hear it. But if you ask, is this the right track to be on? or another question altogether (NOT is he with someone else? but a whole other issue) then ask as often as you want. I make people wait a week before I read them, not because a week is a special number, it isn't but because a week is (IMHO) significant time for them to ruminate and get past the answer they have to hear. Sometimes I break that rule and read someone on the spot, usually a quick answer to a specific question. I tell people to call me again when the situation has changed. If it isn't changing, then they might want another reading to see what is blocking them still. Or maybe they shouldn't read again, since they STILL aren't going to get the answer they want to hear. You might ask the cards if it is time to read on the same issue again.

MeeWah	07 Oct 2004
Technically, one can get as many readings as desired or as the pocketbook will withstand. A throw of cards is like a snapshot of a particular moment in time. Each card represents an energy line or pattern within that moment. Energetic representations need time, work &/or action to complete. Successive readings on the same or similar blur those lines or patterns & affect clarity or resolution. Without work or application, repetitive readings are hollow, without substance. A reading is not a quick fix-it nor is it an instantaneous remedy for that which ails. Those who have asked the same question repeatedly oft heard the same or similar results or the results lack cohesion or clarity. The latter a clear indication of excess or obsession. Of getting readings perhaps for the experience or "the high" rather than for the meaningful. There are occasions where the same question elicits new or different information, which indicates that the same question can have its place. I discovered one client who phoned nigh daily for a quickie via phone in addition to the in-person sessions was also consulting other readers who charged far more. I advised her to save her money & to avail herself of the information she already had. I rarely do full-scale self-readings. Prefer to rely on the daily card or cards, the Year Card or the intuition as they separately or in tandem serve well. Otherwise, I prefer to do a throw on a special occasion such as to mark the change of season, on or about my birthday or during a Full Moon.

Maelin	07 Oct 2004
Well, first there are the daily one or three card readings - as stated by a number of people earlier, these almost 'don't count" since they are about today, so by defininition aren't asking the same question twice! At the other end of the spectrum are the major life readings. About 3 months ago I did a spread with the Hallowquest deck called Merlin's mirror, about who we show to the world, who we want to be, and who we are - that is about a once a year, or maybe once every five year spread! I have enough to ponder with that one ( ouch) for a long time. Then there are the Tarot gatherings - my good friend and I get together infrequently, but when we do, we do about 3 reading EACH a night, and yack about them till the sun comes up - but we are not asking the same questions, we are delving deeper with each round, getting at the why and the what to do about it. The problem doesn't seem to be one of frequency, but of asking the tarot the same question repeatedly - and as a mother, I can tell you that the cards probably get as exasperated as I do - and have been known to say - as have I " Keep asking, and you might not like the answer!" Best wishes

Sillanza	09 Oct 2004
So far, my principal client is my husband, and his principal question is his job situation. I try to read no more than once a month, but once a week if he's anxious is reasonable. This schedule has never failed to give appreciable results, even if they were only "shut up, you already asked that question."

Moonbow*	09 Oct 2004
When I first started Tarot and had my one and only deck (yes there was about a 4 month period when I had just one deck :)) I used to read just for myself then and I remember asking the same question over and over in the hope that I would get the answer I wanted. I never did. Sometimes, some of the same cards would appear but mostly, even with different cards the answer was the same. I can honestly say that I never got a different answer. The cards just would not change their mind, however many times I asked. I now rarely do a large reading for myself. I stick to daily's or weekly's. If I have an important issue I will do a large reading once only and see how it pans out. If reading for the public, like you do Lark, I would not feel comfotable being asked the same question over and over. I would feel like they are either testing me or the cards. I wonder how you deal with it, whether you tell them the answer has already been given, or that the situation has not had time to change or progress.

lark	09 Oct 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Moonbow* If reading for the public, like you do Lark, I would not feel comfotable being asked the same question over and over. I would feel like they are either testing me or the cards. I wonder how you deal with it, whether you tell them the answer has already been given, or that the situation has not had time to change or progress. If they come back over and over at the fair, I have a few options. I can do a short reading and see if the energy has changed and then let another reader finish off the minutes with another short reading. The readings 9 times out of 10 are almost the same. The confirmation from two different readers that the answer is still the same usually brings them back to their senses. Or I try to come at the question from a different angle or encourage them to look at a different situation in their life. That helps sometimes. If a client says "I'm coming back for another reading tmmorrow." I very gently suggest that they might want to wait at least two weeks between readings to give the energy time to manifest. But sometimes none of this works. Like what happened to you Moonbow* when you were a new reader. They just want a different answer. I have to be true to what the cards are telling me and I just tell them the truth, "nothings changed." "Do you have another question?" They sigh sometimes, and then off they go with another question. Tough Love :)

The can you receive too many readings? thread was originally posted on 21 Jul 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.