Have you ever seen something in a reading that made you uncomfortable?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 05 Aug 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

tao51	05 Aug 2004
I have done a few readings that I saw violence in a relationship. I read it carefully trying to present options. Sadly, I read about an assault and battery case in the paper. I did not want to come right out and say it but I knew the events that might occur. Sometimes I have seen addiction problems which I have carefully revealed. Once, I had the teenage son of a friend burst into tears when the cards showed his addiction. He is completing his graduate work in psychology. Some of the issues can be tough. They do not always spell happy endings. These readings can be a rock and hard place decisions.--Tao

rainstarhorizon	05 Aug 2004
Thankyou for this question as I've never been able to talk about it comfortably as in about it being a reading/ person I read for.... A lady, for that is how she presented herself- all very calm and poised, perhaps a bit unnaturally so, came to me for a reading. The reading instantly showed up bleak. I was shocked and almost lost for words though I could clearly see a very physically destructive man. I was reduced to muttering: "What has this man done?" I caught a flash of a very small house or room being destroyed aggressively but carelessly. I kid you not- at that instance she burst out with-"He's gone and utterly knocked down the toilet!!!...and I had to ask the neighbours if we can use theirs". As if this wasn't bad enough she then asks me- is he going to die in the next twelve months?! Because he's her husband and she doesn't want the horror of divorcing him. I couldn't see him dying tho he was clearly/ she verified it/ a big drinker. I decided to give her a hand massage and let her talk. I told her she should rest assured with the divorce proceedings she had started as I saw no redeeming cards for their relationship. When she stood up to go,I was shocked at how tiny she seemed when relaxed. She'd sat so stiffly earlier, I'd gotten the impression she was much taller. I still wonder how she is today a few months down the track. And no,I'd never met her before.

Aun	05 Aug 2004
Yes, I have experienced something like that... Once a young lady asked me over email if her boyfriend would come back to her... I pulled three cards with no positions, and I got the Devil, 8 of Pentacles RX and Page of Pentacles RX. The cards didnt make much sense and I posted them on the 'Your Readings' forum. I remember I got instant replies from Meewah and Marion, both saying "Oh boy, there is something bad going on here". I got nervous and started thinking how to approach the situation in my answer. I believe we must be ethical having the skills to communicate the truth in a non-threatening or scarry manner to the querent. If the cards came up like that, its because the querent must be aware of that somehow... big time!

Ace	05 Aug 2004
This is a poser of a situation, but it cannot be avoided. You did right, tao51, in revealing them carefully. I always remember a woman who hated psychics. Her husband had asked a reader about the outcome of some surgery he was about to have. She said it would go great. He died. This woman said to me: "I don't mind that she didn't warn us that he was going to die. I mind that she said it would be all fine and not to worry at all." So don't hide it, just be tactful if you can. Of course, this psychic may not have seen anything and just said something to say something, instead of telling the truth: that she couldn't see anything going wrong, but that she couldn't predict based on events that haven't happened yet. I try (and it is tough) to tell the truth in a reading. But the truth can hurt, and I hate that. Recently I read for a woman who was about 5 months pregnant. She asked about her pregnancy. I told her that she was might have some trouble towards the end (I don't remember the cards.) I was very worried even saying it. (I always warn that I am not a doctor.) She told me she already knew that, the doctor had warned her that might happen. This was NOT just a prediction of the future, it was based on what was happening to her body now. In the future, something was going on that would get worse, and possible be a problem. So there was a painful truth that was good to get out: it gave her further warning. Another example: at a party (!) someone asked about his unborn child. The child was, not to put too fine a point on it, dying in utero. I saw it and carefully brought it out, yes, he knew, he was asking me about it. I could not predict what would be the end result in this case, it was very touch and go. (And i told him so) Then I asked the cards, "what can I tell him and his wife that will be comforting?" and told him to tell his wife that SHE didn't cause this. According to the cards, she hadn't done anything to cause the baby to develop wrongly. It was just one of those things. (He told me then, that doctors had been asking and she had been worrying about what she might have done to cause this.) The thing is not to hide from the truth, but to ask the cards how a bad situation might be fixed or changed or coped with.

cartarum	05 Aug 2004
i have seen things i want to forget.

blackroseivy	05 Aug 2004
I haven't done a whole lot of reading like a lot of you have... Good to know what to do in those situations! For me, just going into the bedroom area is uncomfortable enough...!

tmgrl2	05 Aug 2004
tao, I like the way you worded your question...".uncomfortable." When I hear people say, "What do you do when you see ....or do you ever see....BAD things...I don't ever think of a card that is drawn as being "good" or "bad." Uncomfortable, yes. I haven't done that many live readings, but the Tarot gives guidance and guidance coming from a place of love and caring finds a way to speak to the person in a way they can absorb and understand it. I have many more reading miles to travel though to speak from the voice of "experience." terri

Kath	05 Aug 2004
One reading sticks out in my mind that I did as part of a tarot reading trade. When I flipped the cards over, all I could think was ‘what the hell is going on?’ Some of the cards were the lovers reversed, the devil, 8 of swords. It was a very troubling reading. Because it was via email, I tried to word things carefully, but I did tell the lady that my first impressions were that something was very wrong with her situation. She said that she was in fact in a very bad relationship.

Emily	07 Aug 2004
I think most of us have had uncomfortable readings - One of mine was for a friend of a friend in an internet chat room. This man asked about his relationship. I only did a three card past, present, future. The first card I turned over was the Devil, then five of cups and the last card was Death. Seeing the five of cups was in the present - I did a clarifier and got the 4 of cups. I thought that maybe he was having problems in his relationship. He sat and let me do the reading, then told me he thought the tarot was a waste of time, there was nothing wrong with his marriage, his wife loved him, would do anything for him, worshiped the ground he stood on. I was by this time thinking that perhaps his wife was one of the Stepford Wives and that he was in complete denial. I was glad this reading wasn't face to face. I did chat to him again briefly a few weeks later and he asked for another reading - I said No.

tao51	09 Aug 2004
Now talk about creepy! You were indeed fortunate for not having him know your face! I had a creep like that several years ago. I told him that the cards probably were needing to be cleansed. They did not require this but it got him away. I sensed strong violence in him and judging from the bodly language it probably was well-founded.--Tao

ferrous	10 Aug 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Ace Another example: at a party (!) someone asked about his unborn child. The child was, not to put too fine a point on it, dying in utero. I saw it and carefully brought it out, yes, he knew, he was asking me about it. I could not predict what would be the end result in this case, it was very touch and go. (And i told him so) Then I asked the cards, "what can I tell him and his wife that will be comforting?" and told him to tell his wife that SHE didn't cause this. When you say that you asked the cards, did you draw another card to clarify?

full deck	10 Aug 2004
Mostly it happens if I just read for myself and then the card choices and positions are such that they defy the imagination. When I make mistakes or don't really have the facts, I need to be real about it and deal with it.

Ace	12 Aug 2004
Quote: Originally posted by ferrous When you say that you asked the cards, did you draw another card to clarify? Yes. I did. I don't remember the cards I got, but they said something about not at fault. they told me what to tell him and I told him.

Alissa	12 Aug 2004
Definitely. And I've had conversations I didn't want to have with perfect strangers about abuse (physical and sexual) as well as personal relationship issues, often. This is the hardest part of the task of picking up a deck, or reading a palm, without a doubt. My nature is to sugar coat things... Pollyanna it up. When reading, I try to fight agaist this instinct, and simply tell it like it is, or like I'm getting it, which can mean really going out on a limb. However, I find most people are quite reassured when they hear the Truth come from the cards, and not a pretty, dressed-up version of a reading. Although painful and/or uncomfortable to discuss, the Tarot brought it up... not me. And so it needs discussed. I also frequently tell people that "I like to give you anything and everything that enter my perception, and that may include things that are really off base. I just want you to know that." If you experience psychic flashes when reading, you know how whacky and disjointed those images can be. Give it a voice anyhow. That's why we read, isn't it?

The Have you ever seen something in a reading that made you uncomfortable? thread was originally posted on 05 Aug 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.