First reading for others- feeling rather ambiguous

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 16 Nov 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

little	16 Nov 2002
I took the suggestion of a few of you, since I'm a bit too closeted to read for the people I know, and offered private-messenger readings in a chat room. I think I would prefer to be with people face-to-face. I see the tarot as, at its heart, psychological, a complex and mythic Rorschach test which is interpreted by the querent, and that's hard to see when I can't see their faces. It was easier with people who would give me feedback about their cards. But one girl- she was probably a teenager, I'd guess- wanted to know about her mother, who was in the hospital having a surgery. I drew the knight of pentacles as her future card, and told her that I thought it meant that her mother was safe in the hands of a doctor who was skilled at his work. And she was so happy, so sure that her mother was going to be all right, because I'd told her that. I'm feeling a little guilty. I mean, I think the cards are a way to look at your own heart, and I don't think the future can be predicted. And this poor kid was so confident. What if her mom isn't all right? Or what if she is all right, and now that kid thinks I have magic powers to predict the future or something? Because I don't. I'm just an insecure English teacher with a TV tray and 78 pieces of laminated cardboard. Then again, I was able to help reassure a scared kid whose mother most likely is in the capable hands of a good doctor, and make her feel a little better. I don't know- I guess I don't know what I expected, but I'm having mixed feelings about this. But at least I got to do what I wanted, which was try reading for other people.

HudsonGray	17 Nov 2002
That's part of the downside of reading for people. I talked with some readers at the Bastille Days festival, and they say they get questions about whether or not their husband will continue hitting them when he's drunk, what about the abusive boyfriend, etc. The tough ones will always potentially be there, even though 99% of the readings will be for people without the heavy problems. It's a hard one to prepare for. I found an excellent article online by a reader who had read for years at Renaissance festivals, she had some good advice. I'm not sure what the URL was, but I was doing searches under 'tarot ethics' I think, at the time. It hopefully should still be up somewhere. I'll see if I can locate it & post the URL here. Just do your best, always caution someone like that that you're seeing 'this' but that there are other factors that can change it, so they need to keep an open mind.

jmd	17 Nov 2002
I find much to agree with the comment made by Little that: 'the cards are a way to look at your own heart, and I don't think the future can be predicted', yet cannot fully agree. 'Looking through one's own heart' at a situation can, I sense, lead one into the spiritual realms where one can trully sense whether - in the case of the specific situation given above - some event is taking a particular course of action and the result is alright. When reading, I suspect that many of us find that some of the most difficult to balance are the natural (healthy) scepticism which permeates our thinking with the (equally healthy) trust of the spiritual small voice within - manifesting to us variously as image, confidence in an outcome, or tone. At the time of the reading, and especially as a teacher reading for a teenager (part of the reason I refuse doing readings for teenagers!), one wants to care for their well-being. Re-assurance is certainly what she came for. But also, the card gave you a clear sense with regards to the situation. Trusting that aspect is also as important - in my view at least.

allibee	17 Nov 2002
There is also the question of ethics in reading for someone under eighteen, as many times a more mature person can deal with guidance in a mature way - sometimes - whereas a younger, less mature person may have trouble dealing with what they are told. This is part of the internet law, I've been told, on a particular site that I have mentioned on here, though not neccessarily for the ethical reason mentioned above I hope I haven't confused you allibee

The First reading for others- feeling rather ambiguous thread was originally posted on 16 Nov 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.