A funny/sad reading story

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 17 Jan 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Jen	17 Jan 2004
So, I was at my friends house (she's living with her parents) and we were working on sewing some tarot bags. My friend isn't into tarot, but I read for her sometimes. One of her brothers and his wife came over to pick something up and they saw one of my decks on the table and started asking some questions about it. The wife seemed kind of excited and told me she'd never had her cards read. I new she wanted a reading, but I wasn't sure I felt comfortable reading in an environment that wasn't my own. The wife kept going on and on and my friend shocked me by volunteering me and saying "Maybe Jen will do a reading for you." and then walked off. So I agreed to do a reading for her. I excused myself to the restroom before we started so I could do some grounding and centering in private. The wife’s question was: Will my counselor return? I didn't know anything about this women, so I just assumed she really liked this counselor and that's why she was asking. I laid a celtic cross and started reading. This reading was totally agonizing for me because I seemed to be "striking out" on every card. She was looking at me like I was crazy throughout the whole reading. This counselor appeared to be a man who had left very abruptly - she continued to look at me like I was insane. At the end of the reading I apologized that the reading didn't make sense to her and she just shrugged her shoulders. When the couple left my friend asked me how the reading went. I told her it was horrible and she said, "Well, what was her question?" I said, "She wanted to know if her counselor will return." My friend looked at me quizzically, then said "Noooo....she (the wife) has a slight speech impediment......she was asking you, "Will my CANCER return?" OMG!! I felt horrible, yet was laughing in disbelief at the same time. My friend explained the wife had had cancer and they thought she was going to die. She spent a lot of time in the hospital, people were always praying over her and her cancer miraculously disappeared one day. She explained the whole experience had affected her brain and left her with a slight speech impediment. I told my friend she HAD to call her (the wife) and tell her I misunderstood her and how sorry I was. So she did and strangely the wife didn't say much or didn't seem to care. Oh well. :) Funny story. Anyone else have stories like this?

Dark_angel	17 Jan 2004
D'oh! That must have been a bit embarrasing for you. "Your cancer is a man, who has left very abruptly..." Actually, that does seem to make sense in a way. Cancer can be very invasive and destroys the tissue around it,rather like Man can damage our environment. Also, could she have had a cancer which tends to be found in males? And her cancer did leave very abruptly. So you weren't that far off in that respect; it's just the metaphor wasn't clear.

Aerten	17 Jan 2004
Wow... *is slightly shocked* That's rough, but still, humorous in a rather sad way! I wish I had a comparable story, but I don't think I know enough about tarot to read for other people (I've only been into them for about four years).

miss_apples	17 Jan 2004
OMG...I would feel so bad! However...at least now you know that your reading wasnt wrong. I mean...it sounds like her cancer did leave abruptly. Too bad you couldnt redo the reading for her.

WalesWoman	17 Jan 2004
Did you journalize this spread? If you did then you could look at it again, get new improved inisghts since you now know what her question really was.

full deck	18 Jan 2004
What would you have seen if you had not known the question (or thought you knew) before hand? Would it have made a difference?

Jen	18 Jan 2004
I didn't take notes on what the spread was. That night, when I was looking back at the situation, things did show up in the spread that could have been related to her hospital stay and medical issues. But the main issue for me was what I was saying to her made no sense to her because I was talking to her about a "man" that looked to be the "counselor" she was asking about. Maybe a different querent would have been able to put two and two together, but I don't think she did.

Emily	19 Jan 2004
Hi Jen, Maybe you could re-do the reading at your home, on your own, just to get a clearer view of the question. Its a shame she didn't realise that you hadn't heard her properly. Is she someone you are likely to meet again? She might ask you again to do a reading for her. I don't really like health questions, especially for something as serious as cancer.

MoreMagic	19 Jan 2004
Embarressing, yes, but these things happen. But if she does let you try again, I have to add that reading for someone with cancer is pretty hard under the best circumstances and I generally won't do it. The only exception - I read regularly for one of my closest friends in the last two years of her life. She never asked and I never attempted to "foresee" for her. We stuck to asking the cards for information on how she could best use her energy, and I must say we got consistent and helpful support from the readings. Looking back, I can now see how the advice gradually shifted from working on her physical strength to working on her spiritual strength, but at the time it all seemed optimistic and helpful to her.

Jeanette	20 Jan 2004
Oh, my goodness, that is funny (but sad, like you pointed out)!! I guess your discomfort with just doing the reading, let alone the misunderstanding, will make you reluctant to do more readings, but please don't stop! Keep trying :) More Magic, I think your approach to your friend's condition was wonderful! I don't use tarot cards to predict any future even, but instead as a tool to try and get better insight into current events/situations. I'm sure you were a great comfort to your friend, helping her come to terms with what was happening to her.

The A funny/sad reading story thread was originally posted on 17 Jan 2004 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.