Personal Bias

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 07 Mar 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

closrapexa	07 Mar 2004
I'm a very sentimental person, and I tend to see most readings as readings that relate mostly to feelings, relationships and things on the personal level. When I read for people I don't know that well, they want to know about money, career etc. I usually don't see these things. Is that a fault? Or is that that for the people I read for career matters aren't that dominant or important? Help!!

ros	07 Mar 2004
The more you read, the more you see. I had to learn to detach myself from my feelings & thoughts & just read. Just say what your intuition is telling you. It's practice but it works! Good Luck

ol_crazy_Legs	07 Mar 2004
Yes I musrt agree with Ros. Perhapes you dont read well when it comes to money and careers might be because thats all you trained yourself to read. I think you that you can do a reading on anything. It all just depends on how strong you intuition is.

Dark_angel	07 Mar 2004
Even money and careers have feelings and relationships at their core, so if you're picking up on that aspect, it could be that you're just very perceptive at seeing this side of things. I agree with the people who posted before me, practice makes perfect, so don't worry about it; you'll be able to detect other aspects more easily the more you do that kind of reading.

Astraea	07 Mar 2004
You might simply not resonate with career and money matters, either because of personal issues around those subjects or because you just don't find them interesting. I don't see anything wrong with specializing in relationship readings, and stating that up front. If you are drawn to that aspect of life, it will be reflected in confident readings that you enjoy doing. If you sincerely wish to become more adept at readings about financial and work issues (since they represent two thirds of tarot's Big Three: relationships, money and career), self-exploration and practice will be very beneficial. And, as Dark_Angel points out, most areas of life are fundamentally about human interaction, so you could use that as a lens through which to view your other readings. But I take this thread to mean that it is specifically romantic relationships that you find intriguing, and if that is the case, you undoubtedly offer very helpful counsel in that area.

Nevada	07 Mar 2004
When the landlord is rapping on the door and the rent is late because you spent it to buy groceries for the kids, money becomes both emotional and in a sense sentimental to most people. Money is a tool, but what that tool does for you can take on many dimensions and mean many things. There's endless variety to the feelings surrounding money. Career is an emotionally weighty subject too. What one does for a living is a huge investment of time, usually a third of one's life is spent at it, if not much more. It can take up half your waking hours. Career can also require a large investment of the self, one's personal energy. Friendships and romances can begin and end in the workplace. Some jobs keep people awake at night worrying. A surgeon or an airline pilot has a life or death responsibility to others. Even a job with no obvious value can, when you scratch the surface, take on great importance. What if there was no one to take away the trash, no one to launder a hospital's sheets? Most people I know take their work very seriously, especially if it's a career they've invested time and self in to any great degree. Everyone wants to feel that what they do is important, that it has value. They want recognition for what they contribute. Nevada

Star Spirit	08 Mar 2004
Oddly enough I usually don't "resonate" with career and money matters either. I'd much rather read about relationships and emotional things, but I guess that's because I'm an emotional person and I just find them more fun :)

Astra	08 Mar 2004
I had a similar problem to this, a few years ago, and only recognized it as MY problem after several years of giving readings that weren't what people were looking for. I had been picking up courses for a degree equivalent in psychology, and at the same time taking my own head apart. For me, the most important thing was buried issues which were sabotaging things for me, and while this was happening I was SURE that this was also a major problem for everybody, so when I did a reading, I dove in looking for that type of problem, no matter what they asked. The only good thing I can say about it was that I didn't do it while I was charging for readings, only when I was doing them for free (and that's a bad definition of "good"). The readings were generally impressive, and accurate, but they certainly didn't speak to the questions the people wanted answered. At the time, that didn't bother me, but I wish I could go back and apologise. About all you can do is to recognize what issues are of primary importance to you, and that they are likely to color the readings you do unless you are extremely careful about it.

miss_apples	08 Mar 2004
Ho Closrapexa, I am the same way, Im great at relationship and personal inner emotional readings but when I get asked for a career related/money reading I get really scared. But I do them and I just keep in mind when Im reading the cards what the question is and keep my interpretations of the cards along with the question. My advice is to actually practice by doing more financial/money readings or any other type of readings youre having trouble with. You know what they say, practice makes perfect!

Star Spirit	08 Mar 2004
Quote: Originally posted by miss_apples Ho Closrapexa, I am the same way, Im great at relationship and personal inner emotional readings but when I get asked for a career related/money reading I get really scared. But I do them and I just keep in mind when Im reading the cards what the question is and keep my interpretations of the cards along with the question. My advice is to actually practice by doing more financial/money readings or any other type of readings youre having trouble with. You know what they say, practice makes perfect! I agree with miss_apples. I think a lot of us are just more emotional people so we find it easier to understand those types of problems when we do readings. At least that's how it is for me. But I just have to keep practicing until I feel more comfortable with financial matters I suppose..

lunakasha	08 Mar 2004
This is a very interesting discussion...it made me think of a recent reading that I did for my brother, which I think reflects that most issues are multi-dimensional, regardless of the specific question being asked.... My brother came to me, obviously very distraught, nervous. He asked me to do a reading for him about work issues....he had been training for a new position at the restaurant where he works, and in three days he would be "on his own" for the first time, as a prep-cook. He told me that he is afraid he will screw up badly and disappoint his boss...but that he really wants this job and feels he could do it well, if he has enough time to get comfortable doing it. First I gave him some sisterly advice: don't be so hard on yourself, talk to your supervisor and let him know that you really want this job, ask him what you can improve on, etc...finally, I went to do his reading (which he decided would be fine for me to do "on my own" and then share with him later). Using the Navigators deck, I pulled three cards: The Ace of Pentacles, Lovers and Wheel of Fortune. Reading these cards was like a revelation for me, as a relatively new reader and using these particular cards, which I'd heard were not easy to interpret. Yet for me, in this reading, it was clear as a bell. Ace of Pentacles represents new beginnings in career, business or money matters. The figure on this card looked very confident and poised as he threw his pentacle in the air...Control, confidence, new beginnings. Lovers: in this decks, the lovers are actually two aspects of the same person, rather than two different people (man and woman). It literally looks like a shadow of the person is lifting itself out of the original body, moving toward a lighter, happier place. You are discovering who you really are inside, the person you are meant to be. Do not be afraid of change, for in the end you will find happiness in self-acceptance. Wheel of Fortune: This card was the most powerful for me. It shows a horizontal disk, slightly tilted, with several figures upon it. One of the figures is a man on a unicycle, with both hands full (juggling) and a look of sheer panic on his face! This figure to me represented my brother, at work, juggling too many things at once, and terrified of dropping them! Yet I noticed his feet were steady, and that made me think: You're OK, you're not going to fall....trust your feet... When I shared this information with my brother, I emphasized the importance of trusting himself, having confidence that he would not fail/fall (Wheel) and that this is a new beginning for him professionally (Ace of Pents) and personally (Lovers). The cards really did tell the story, and I was just amazed!!!!! I asked my brother to meditate on this reading and the cards (which I photocopied for him) the night before his big day.....he called me that night to tell me that he had a GREAT day and that everyone, including his boss, praised him and told him they were very impressed.... My point is that, even though on the surface the reading was directed toward work/career issues, the underlying problem had more to do with emotional issues (fear, anxiety, lack of confidence) than anything material or tangible...it is all connected on some level. We need to keep this in mind when we read for others, to be sure to communicate whatever comes to mind, whether it seems relevant at that moment or not. :) Luna

DesertHowler	10 Mar 2004
Quote: Originally posted by closrapexa I'm a very sentimental person, and I tend to see most readings as readings that relate mostly to feelings, relationships and things on the personal level. When I read for people I don't know that well, they want to know about money, career etc. I usually don't see these things. Is that a fault? Or is that that for the people I read for career matters aren't that dominant or important? Help!! I found that I have to move outside myself when I do readings and concentrate on the question. The way I do this is to write the question out. The client and I discuss the question and make sure it is really the question. This is the way I focus. I do, however, find that there are a lot of relationship issues hidden in the issues concerning career and finances. I try to show how these realtionship issues relate to the question asked. DesertHowler

The Personal Bias thread was originally posted on 07 Mar 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.