Do you think that many people see what they want to see in the cards?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 30 Apr 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

yve	30 Apr 2004
When you are reading for someone who doesn't themselves read tarot, have you found people who want to hear a certain answer or message? If they don't hear what they want, become defensive, or perhaps they go to someone who tells them what they want to hear. On the other hand, can many of us tarot readers only see the message in the cards we want to see? If we read for someone who knows tarot, is it possible that they don't want to hear what we say the cards are saying, and perhaps they only want to see the message they are expecting? Personally, it would be more difficult to deal with a client who knows tarot, and won't listen to what our interpretation of the cards are...hmmm, this discussion can have many possibilities and perspectives...

Marion	30 Apr 2004
yve, I got tangled up just reading that lol :) Do people see what they want to see and hear what they want to hear? Everywhere, everyday, anyhow. It seems to almost be the human condition to modify reality to fit our preconceived ideas. :D

hedgecub	30 Apr 2004
Definitely. As Marion said, it's human nature to look at life, the universe, and everything through whatever lenses we choose. A good tarot reader will do their best to be honest with themselves and their client, but sometimes even the most honest person will find it difficult to face the truth.

WalesWoman	01 May 2004
I would say definately, we see what we want to or read into it the way we want to from what ever frame of mind we are in. That's why I like "your readings" so much, or doing comparative readings, getting interpretations from a different slant. But when reading for someone, it isn't possible to do that, so if they choose to interpret it differently then what you think it really means...what can you do besides say, "I suppose it could mean that, even though I believe the message is pointing toward this" I guess in that case it is in the eyes of the beholder, and only time will tell.

Rusty Neon	01 May 2004
Yes. Tarot has no set rules of interpretatiion.

zoso	04 May 2004
My mother had a reading done by this nice lady who read out of her house and taped the session (a little over an hour) about six years ago. Just recently, I resurrected the tape and listened to it a few times and it was surprising what details she was right on with. The best part was when my mom, who was there inquiring about a love affair, twisted her explanation around to improve the outcome. The Lady clearly was saying it wouldn't work, but my mother only heard what she wanted. I remember six years ago when she told me about the reading, it was a whole different story! I actually found the tape because I had gotten my own reading, and the Lady had dealt me some cards concerning my mother. I called my mom right after to tell her and she said, "Well, what was this lady's name?" and when I read the business card, she started laughing because it was (you know who.) :) Ah, what a small town this is :)

closrapexa	04 May 2004
Well, we're all human, and its natural for every reader to read differently and with a different point of view. It is not only natural, I feel it also important for a reader to have some of emotional investement in the reading, i.e. drawing on past expereiences to understand what is happening in the Querent's life at the moment. Otherwise we would just learn the LWB definitions by heart and then recite them. The problems arise when people can't see past their own lives and judge other people by their own standards. That is what the reader must find a way to transcend. This question is getting more and more important to me as I read for more and more people. Sometimes I ask myself what the hell am I doing? What if I tell people the wrong things biased by my own life. But then, there is no true objectivity anywhere, least of all in Tarot. Thats why, indeed, I have trouble reading for myself. There are issues I cannot deal with on my own, and I must have some one else tell me.

cartarum	04 May 2004
we can most certainly see what we want to see. and occasionally, for me it can be downright disturbing if i find something that is particularly bad. if we get the slightest hint about something, then the rest of the reading will take the shape of what you fear or want. i just make myself the fool reversed when i read. and i clear my mind, and dont read when i am bothered by death or some thing else.

mysticali	05 May 2004
I often find that someone comes with an 'outcome' in mind - they are looking for a specific answer from your reading and ethically you can't give the answer if you don't see it in the cards. That's my most tough dilemma in reading -I guess - where you want emotionally to help someone and give them what they want but on the other hand it wouldn't be right. I hope that makes sense!

jmd	05 May 2004
I would have thought that most people who tend to read or who come for readings are quite open to see what different ways of looking at the situations arise in the cards, and are thus generally quite open. There are also some, however, who seem to want to be told what they want to hear - and only that. Of course, these are also probably the same individuals who would also go from doctor to doctor until they hear (if ever) what they want to hear. There is of course another sense that the question can be viewed, as wonderfully illustrated by others: one is somewhat generally locked in to viewing the world from the perspective of the conceptual belief framework and coloured glasses one generally constantly wears... one's Gestalt. It would be a rash reader, however, who interrupted another reader to 'correct' them in their divinatory narrative, and to the interrupter's loss!

Khatruman	05 May 2004
Quote: Originally posted by yve ..have you found people who want to hear a certain answer or message? If they don't hear what they want, become defensive, or perhaps they go to someone who tells them what they want to hear. ... Of course! Is that not true of life in general? When the universe, experience, life (call it what you will) gives "messages" in events, advice from others, reactions or actions of others, people will only get out of it what they are willing to understand. When someone believes that "life sucks", that person is only going to see what they want to prove that his theory of the universal suckiness of the world exists. Have you ever known someone who, when you say, "My, you look great today!" will turn that into, "Are you trying to say I usually look crappy?" People see what they want. Some of us are gifted enough to be able to see other perspectives, we just need to learn to not be so egocentric.

The Do you think that many people see what they want to see in the cards? thread was originally posted on 30 Apr 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.