The difference in throwing - Reader or Querent?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 18 Apr 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Moongold	18 Apr 2003
It occurred to me today that there are parallel processes in tarot reading. The Reader throws the cards in response to the question and then commences to interpret them. What influence does the Reader have on the actual throw? S/he has a clear influence on the reading. I understand this. However, what is the role of the Reader as a channel for the actual throw? If the reader is blocked in some way, would that influence the throw? And if the Querent is blocked in some way, how is that going to show in the actual throw? In face-to-face readings, is it customary for the Querent to throw the cards or the Reader? In the few face-to-face readings I have done, I’ve always gotten the Querent to shuffle and throw the cards. On the Internet of course this can’t happen. The thrower and the interpreter are the one person. In face-to-face readings, this is usually different (I think). Am I making sense in terns of the difference, or is it merely academic quibble? If the Querent threw the cards, the energy would go through her and it could be different. Is the result likely to be different? Hope the question is clear. I think the question is fundamentally about the energy flow and its impact on the cards drawn and therefore the reading Moongold

Major Tom	18 Apr 2003
I think I know what you mean. :confused: The key element to any divination system is randomness. I think it's entirely immaterial who shuffles and lays the cards when there's no blockage. Blockage in either the Reader or the Querent will affect the reading, but having said that, I think any major negative effects would only come through the Reader. That is, the person 'interpreting' the cards. Wednesday night I gave a face-to-face reading to a man who had telephoned for an appointment. He didn't have a question to ask and he'd never had a tarot reading before. He wanted to see what I could come up with. :rolleyes: I shuffled the cards and asked him to cut into 3 stacks. I collected the stacks and layed the cards in a Celtic Cross. I picked up three main themes during the reading. 1)His wife was ill and needed a rest from the myriad things she'd been doing - possibly a holiday. 2)He is about to come into a significant sum of money. 3)He's got to decide what to do with that money, that is, take his wife on holiday or reinvest it or a bit of both. During the entire reading he kept saying "no", but I carried on saying, "this is what the cards tell me". After I'd summed up and asked if he had any questions, he went through and confirmed everything I'd told him! Turns out his wife suffers severe arthritis and was exhausted by various minor family emergencies! It also turns out that he has a life insurance policy that's about to mature! Did his blockage effect the quality of the reading? Perhaps, but not much. It might have been a different story if we'd both been blocking. It's my firm belief that it's the Reader who makes the difference in the quality of the reading. It really doesn't matter who shuffles and lays the cards. What was the question again? :laugh:

Alex	18 Apr 2003
in more than one book, to let the client shuffle and shuffle another deck separately, then lay the client's cards, and the ones you have picked, in order to compare them. If the cards tell a totally different story, then there is a problem. They are not being sincere or else they are so distressed as to prevent a good reading from happening. I am just repeating what I've read, though. Don't know if that works but it relates to your question. Alex.

sagitarian	18 Apr 2003
primarily, all i do is face-to-face readings. i am 10 times more blocked on the phone, and even more so on the net. my system is, i hand the querent the deck to be used in the reading (currently that would be my faeries oracle deck). They shuffle, as they do so, i tell them to think of their question, or if there is none, then keep shuffling while not concentrating on any thoughts, but dont block thoughts either. i immediately thereafter get them involved in some kind of small talk conversation to help them with this. When they are done shuffling, i take the deck back and then lay the cards out into whatever spread i feel more right to do. Then the reading begins. Most often, when i am blocked the most, i find that it stems from the querent not truly being opened to what the cards have to say. The more skeptical they are, the less information i pull, or blocked i feel, mainly b/c they don't want to hear it. The truths that lay within are less intense, like i can feel there is a deeper message they should be hearing, but i am blocked myself to "hear" what that message is. Readings in this situation usually turn out pretty lame, generalized, with nothing personal, meaningful, or directly related. In otherwords, just about anyone would be able to fit into the reading it's so generalized. Once in a while, i will get someone who is "blocked" (they don't want to hear) but they will hear the message anyways. These people usually react in the way of being scared. Sadly enough, i had one lady that BOLTED out the door, as if running to save her very life. All i did was use my empathic intuition to tell her about her relationship with her daughter, and what happend earlier that morning, only that they had got into an arguement. If i feel like i am the one who is blocked, then simple enough, either they are not meant to hear the message (i know it's there, but i can't "recieve" it, but i can "feel" it there) or if i am blocked due to my own emotional (or spiritual) negative emotions (energy) then simply enough, i shouldn't be reading. That will come through with the fact that i simply just won't "get it", that is, the cards won't make sense, they won't relate, the message(s) is(are) unclear, etc. i think that being blocked can happen for both the querent and the reader, but different results when it happens is what i have found inside myself. The last type of blockage is the worst kind...Not trusting your intuition to tell you what the cards are saying. This takes time to develope, as does your personal self confidence in trusting this self confidence when reading. The message is so vague at first, unclear, and mostly all you do see is what picture lies on the card. The temptation to pull out the book and look it up for clarity, which is a good start, but at some point, it's a good idea to put the book down and just allow yourself to feel what they are trying to tell you, see what images stand out and what those images may mean. What would you think of those symbols if you dreamed them? Since they are your cards, they will use symbols that you understand, and how you understand them will effect what message needs to be given to the querent. When completely intuned with the cards, it is perfect, their message is perfect and clear.

The The difference in throwing - Reader or Querent? thread was originally posted on 18 Apr 2003 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.