On platitudes

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 14 Oct 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Alex	14 Oct 2003
A sitter jumps off a cliff, and during the fall, calls you from the cell phone asking for an emergency reading "what's gonna happen when I hit bottom?" So you throw your cards (just a 4-card spread because you gotta be quick) and get, let's say, The Tower, Death, 10 of Swords, The Devil and The Fool. So you say to your client "don't worry, you're on the way to a brand new phase in your (spiritual) life. Remember, in order for something new to begin, something old has to die. It will get worse before it gets better, but ... see the morning raising in the background, in the 10 of Swords? That signifies that a new day always rises, even if you're not there to see it. Hang on, and get ready for a big big change!" My question is, as a reader, are you aware that some of what we deem as a profound philosophy conveyed by the Tarot, can become a circumstantial platitude? How do you personally avoid being shallow, just stating and re-stating the obvious, while hiding behind a curtain of profound truths? When everything else fails, when you don't know what to say that could help that human being in front of you, do you resort to platitudes and open-ended high impact statements? Do you feel bad about it, guilty, or you consider it's the other's job, to make sense out of anything you say, as long as it is "true"? Thanks Alex.

jmd	14 Oct 2003
As I keep falling and hear this, I exclaim: but you said it was a four card spread... why the fifth!?!? The ground is reached before I can hear the answer... But seriously, I wonder if a reply which contains a depth of interpretative spiritual insight could really be deemed a platitude. It is certainly important that the reader is able to speak in ways meaningful to the other, and with time, the general more philosophically rich statements of interpretation may be recast in quite specific and situationally relevant forms. At other times, however, it may be for the person to hear what has been said, and allow them to see is significance with time...

Alex	14 Oct 2003
It was a 4-card but before you hit I thought I still had time for one more... Alex. Quote: Originally posted by jmd As I keep falling and hear this, I exclaim: but you said it was a four card spread... why the fifth!?!? The ground is reached before I can hear the answer... But seriously, I wonder if a reply which contains a depth of interpretative spiritual insight could really be deemed a platitude.

matfav	14 Oct 2003
Most readers come from the heart and truly help people. A small tiny percentage come from the mind only and presents mind paradoxes that only confuse and erode the true understanding of this deep and profound key to metaphysical wisdom that Tarot provides. Your question in my opinion and without prejudice to you in anyway whatsoever, is such a paradox.... and as such, is unanswerable by metaphysical wisdom and tarot. Your question can only be caught in the mindswell of endless opinions, paradoxes, and endless chatter that can only reside in the mind void of any connection to the heart or spirit

Lady Mary	14 Oct 2003
As a reader (even as a friend or a lover) you normally can't "safe" people. If someone decides to jump and is in the process of jumping what can you do? Unless you're a heroine of course. Then maybe you can use your magic and miraculously come to their rescue or even wake them from death. As a reader you've the cards and your intuition and knowledge how to interpret the cards in a special spread for a special querent with a special quest. That's all you can do. You can't live their lives. You can show them a possible way or possible consequences. Be honest. If you see it in the cards, tell them it'll hurt terribly when they hit the bottom. And: Sometimes it can be better to jump and lose one leg than to sit on your butt for the rest of your life.

Dark_angel	14 Oct 2003
When I'm reading, I try not to be crushing (eg. "the new business you're plunging all your savings into and all your time and energy?... well, it's going to fail and you'll go bankrupt...oh, and your partner's having an affair"), but at the same time I believe it's important to be honest about what you see - the cards show that moment in time, and the future based upon it, so the querent may, by changing their approach to matters, change their future; I don't believe the future is set in stone (I think I've read too much Stephen Hawking, I'm coming to the conclusion that all time is fluid and malleable). Instead of the example above, I'd suggest that, although they're enthusiastic about their new venture, they shouldn't put all their eggs in one basket and should make sure they have other things in their life, especially people, in case things don't turn out as well as they hope; and they may have been neglecting their partner recently because of the effort they've been putting in at work, so they should work to redress this balance and increase communication between the two of them. You might say that that's a platitude, but I just consider it tact. In any reading I think, "what would I say to my best friend in the world?" and I say that. If people ask us for advice, we have to be honest, but we do not need to be brutal. xxx

isthmus nekoi	14 Oct 2003
It all depends on the querent, I think. For some ppl, I think such concepts regarding change really do hold substance. But you're right, for others - especially those in pain - this can sound very removed and worse, trivializing. If I'm telling the querent about something potentially traumatic, or if the situation is already unfolding, I prefer to focus on how to deal w/the situation. As for how to break the news, I think the querent must be ready to receive the info, so you have to do it carefully. How 'brutal' or 'whitewashed' you say things all depends on the receptivity of the querent.... I've learned a lot about this after talking to my father about how he's dealt w/patients w/terminal diseases. For example, if there is important info, tell it first. If you tell someone something important after you say 'you have cancer', it's not going to sink in.

Alex	14 Oct 2003
Paradoxal is the fact that "profound truths" are more likely to become platitudes than ordinary statements. They just have to be spoken too often. One needs not to have any "connection to the heart or spirit", in order to turn truths into platitudes. One needs not even to belived these truths in order to turn them into banal effec-phrases. My questions comes out of a concern for the ones who may trust you or me on an important issue in their lives. Having had tons of platitudes spoken right on my face, many times, I know how shallow some statements can sound, when you really need something "real" being spoken to you, something from the heart or spirit, not some pre-memorized puddle-deep platitude just because the reader can't find anything to say that is appropriate for the situation. Appropriate, not more, not less. Alex. Quote: Originally posted by matfav Your question in my opinion and without prejudice to you in anyway whatsoever, is such a paradox.... and as such, is unanswerable by metaphysical wisdom and tarot. Your question can only be caught in the mindswell of endless opinions, paradoxes, and endless chatter that can only reside in the mind void of any connection to the heart or spirit

Marion	14 Oct 2003
Alex, those same doubts plague me almost everytime I read. And the worst was one time I read for someone. I really just got one clear, no kidding thing out of the reading. Her hubby was a momma's boy, and oh yeah, mom showed up as Queen of Swords. Everything else was mush. But the hubby and mom-in-law message just unleashed a torrent of words that lasted nearly two hours and ended with her telling me I was brilliant. I felt terrible. Other than those two things, everything I said sounded like a platitude to me. btw the way, I noticed the 5th card on the way down too. Very thoughtful of you to pull that extra card. What was it? The Fool you say? :D :D Sometimes I just go on faith that the querents know their lives and I don't, and maybe the 'concepts' (ok, platitudes) can be expressed in their lives in a certain way and they'll see that.

Alex	14 Oct 2003
Marion, You make a good point. I may have forgotten to mention that, by the work of my own mouth as well, many deep truths have had their time as platitudes... I wish I can find my way out of it little by little... more and more... and just have the guts to say, when I see nothing, can't connect, that I just see nothing, cant' connect... However, a few times when I read or heaard people's feedbacks, I have noticed that open-ended statements had found their way to that person not because I knew what I was doing, but because those people were so desperate that they gave my words the right meaning. I wish however that the discussion concentrates more on the issue of "saying platitides when you got nothing else to say, and expecting that the other person will "benefit" from it. One of the problems you have mentioned, that of not knowing exactly how to verbalize something... and while trying, getting the meaning from the querrent ... is slightly different as I see it. I think the latter is a valid way of going, i.e. honestly trying, the first one may be not be, however. Oh well, I'm happy to know others think about it too. Alex.

The On platitudes thread was originally posted on 14 Oct 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.