Ooops, now what?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 07 Jan 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

FaeryGodmother	07 Jan 2005
Has this ever happened to you? You've just done a really good reading, gotten amazing insights, maybe even the grateful thanks of a querent and you looked down and ooops! One card is still in the box... What do you do? Does it invalidate the whole reading? Or do you take the forgotten card as a special meaning? Here's hoping I'm not the only dingbat to have ever done this... FGM

Moonbow*	07 Jan 2005
This hasn't happened to me - yet! :) But I would say 'everything is as it should be'....... if the card was left behind - then it was meant to be, it wasn't needed.

tarotlova	07 Jan 2005
I agree with Moonbow, but you could also read this card as added meaning to the whole reading itself if you feel it need's it. Blessings

WolfSpirit	07 Jan 2005
This has only happened in daily readings for myself, when I forgot to put the cards from the day before back into the deck...oops. But if the reading went really well and you got good insights (as you say), I think it does not really matter. You felt you had given a really good reading. You can trust your feelings in this :)

Fudugazi	07 Jan 2005
Yes it has happened a couple of times for me - and once for a querent. I never thought of recording it. Maybe I should as it could be significant, though of what I don't know. Any ideas?

jmd	07 Jan 2005
...so what card was left behind in relation to the reading? and how does it seem to perhaps give additional insight into the situation?

WhiteRaven	07 Jan 2005
It's happened to me on a couple of occasions and I thought perhaps that the reading might be invalid...but then I thought...things happen for a reason, so I just left it at that. I didn't read into the card as an extra message perse... I only do that when I'm shuffling and a card or two will fly out.

fairyhedgehog	07 Jan 2005
I would see it as that card deciding where it wanted to be ... So I would look at it, and see if any thoughts came to me, but I would expect it to be the one card that definitely wasn't part of the reading. It was determined not to be! (Disclaimer: yes, I know I'm anthropomorphising but it's a way of thinking that works for me in relation to Tarot. It doesn't have to be taken literally. It's part of the playful approach to Tarot that works best for me.)

Moonbow*	07 Jan 2005
Someone once said to me that after looking at the spread, you then have to look at what is missing from the spread (I think it was Mooncat2 - excuse me if I am wrong) for additional meaning....... :)

FaeryGodmother	07 Jan 2005
Thanks everyone for your replies. I'm glad the consensus is that it doesn't invalidate the reading. :) jmd wrote: ...so what card was left behind in relation to the reading? and how does it seem to perhaps give additional insight into the situation? I wasn't refering to a specific occasion where this happened just that it has happened to me (not very often!) and I was wondering what this had meant for the readings. Thanks again. FGM

stella01904	07 Jan 2005
MM ~ Well, what's happened to the card? It's escaped notice, gotten left out. SO, (and this is a purely personal decision) I would go ahead and read it in that context. This is what the consultant might be neglecting, or not noticing, tuning out...BB, Stella

Fulgour	07 Jan 2005
FaeryGodmother wrote: I wasn't refering to a specific occasion where this happened just that it has happened to me (not very often!) and I was wondering what this had meant for the readings. I too thought there had been a specific occasion, and wondered the same thing... But then, what about 2 cards sticking together, or laying out your spread in the "wrong" order? There might be a situation too where you later discovered that you had given the meaning of one card for another, like Temperance for the Lovers. As with an overlooked card, mistakes do come with the territory. Appreciate the experience as part of what it means to endeavour.

Alta	08 Jan 2005
I assume if it stayed in the box, it wasn't needed. I would never feel the reading was off because of that, and nor would I give any significance to the card.

Sinner	09 Jan 2005
This has actually happened to me once aswell: I was doing a reading for a few a friends and as I was shuffling my deck, the cards suddenly slipped from my hand and fell on the floor, when me and my friends picked up the deck again, and I did a reading for both of them, they were both pretty accurate. When I got up to leave after the reading, one of my friends pointed out that there were still some cards on the floor under my seat. I had unknowingly done the reading while excluding the Sun, Strength, Justice, Judgement and the 8 of cups cards from the deck. But the reading seemed to make sense so I assumed that it was meant to be.

The Ooops, now what? thread was originally posted on 07 Jan 2005 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.