Family Tarot Reading?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 18 Oct 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Isis18	18 Oct 2004
Hello, I have been told by my grandmother and mother never to read the cards of your family, and never have. My best friend has asked me to read her cards, but I have refused as I consider her apart of my family, I wanted to know what other people thought about reading the cards of your family and friends?, has anybody done it before? Blessed Be!! Isis

Eco74	18 Oct 2004
The main problem is that it can be difficult to be emotionally neutral, which one needs to be in order to give correct readings. I don't trust myself to give readings to people I care about because of the tendency I have to be partial and twist and turn things til they have a positive slant. It just wouldn't make a fair reading.. There are many who do though, so it's not an impossibility. It's just difficult in many cases to keep the neutral piece of mind one needs to be accurate and open to the messages the cards bring forth.

dadsnook2000	18 Oct 2004
So, who are you going to practice on? If you need practice, experience and feedback then the family is one resource that should be supportive. If not, well, thank heavens for friends. If you strike out there also, try the library, subwayr coffee shop. But, you always have Aeclectic Tarot as a first and last resort. Dave.

Isis18	18 Oct 2004
Hello, I have read cards for friends before, but they weren't I was very close to. Usually when I read cards my twin sister is present in the room with me as it helps me concentrate and focus all my energy and the energy my sister on the cards. Thanks for the advice. Practice makes perfect,lol Blessed Be Isis

April	18 Oct 2004
I think as long as you can be honest and objective it shouldn't be a problem. Personally, I like reading for my friends (I don't get much of a chance to read for my family). I have one friend that I especially enjoy reading for because she does most of the talking. I pull a card and tell her what I think it means, and then she tells me what actually means. Then we wait a while and see who was right. :) But seriously, I don't usually have to worry about being objective with her, because she tends to work the cards out on her own. I read for her last week about the possibility of her moving away. I told her before we started, "I'm not really excited about you moving, so I might be a little biased." She wanted to go ahead anyway, so we rephrased the question to something like, "What can she expect when she gets to this new town?" Asking the questions as if she had already decided to go left no room for my opinion. I guess we sort of tricked my brain into being objective. Also, I know that if I'm not being entirely objective, my friends will call me on it. Peace, April P.S. If she does go I think I'll send her off with one of my decks and a good book. :)

Sheela-na	18 Oct 2004
I have a very small, but close, group of friends. When I introduced my deck to them, they were as eager to learn as I was. We, as a group, explored each card and different spreads. This learning experience not only gave us knowledge but faith in ourselves that we needed when we read for people outside of our circle. I had done several readings for my best friend of the group. Over and over again, I kept coming up with the cards telling me that she was going to have another baby, although this was not possible for her. Finally, for an unrelated matter, she went to the doctor and discovered that she had a serious condition that required a total hysterectomy. Looking back over the readings that we had done, we couldn’t believe how obvious it should have been to us. This beginning lesson thought me to pay more attention to how one card influences another.

The Family Tarot Reading? thread was originally posted on 18 Oct 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.