Readings: Online vs. Live

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 16 Feb 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

contrascarpe	16 Feb 2005
Sitting here in my hotel room fighting my latest bout with insomnia. Something struck me tonight - actually, have thought about it in the past, but for some reason it manifested itself more tonight. Many of us here do both live readings, and online ones. We exchange readings here for practice, fully aware that those we are reading for are "in the know". In other words, there are no misconceptions in the readings. It is as if you are a doctor having to be treated at a hospital or a therapist seeking help for personal problems. Live readings usually take a different turn. Most that we read for don't know what the pretty pictures signify (which is a good thing for me since I never follow a script - I read by intuition). Some have had their cards read often but few comment on how my style is different from their favorite reader ..... that part surprises me. So I pose the question - do you approach readings here differently than the ones you do for clients? I know I do. For example, when I am reading at Taproot, I know I am there to read. I do not have the luxury to say "I am not up to it today". If I am having a bad day, or if I am not grounded, I still have to suck it up and read. On ATF we can be more leisurely. I owe four Reflecting Pools readings going back to the Fall. The people I am reading for are patient because they understand the intensity of these readings and all the things going on in my life which have led to their delay. I also was going to do a couple of readings in my Circle of Stones group tonight, but by the time I got to the hotel I felt an energy drain caused by my workload on my day job (darn the need to make a living). Can anyone else relate to this? Or are you more disciplined than me and able to convert a reading here on ATF as if you were under the gun of having to do live readings? Dan

firemaiden	16 Feb 2005
Ah, insomnia... I owe people readings from a year ago... I can't compare online readings to live readings, because I haven't done much live reading. I read once for my (ex)boyfriend, a couple times for my mother, once or twice for Mimers in person... and sometimes "live" in chat. In each case -- especially with the people who had never seen tarot cards before (my ex boyfriend, and my mother) their reaction was so vivid and so immediate, that I sort of just let them talk. My ex saw the Six of Swords, and said "Oh! a return!", and two days later he had a job offer from his home town in Puerto Rico, and that's where he is now. With my mother it was similiar. She asked if she should organise a fifth concert for her Chamber Concert Series. I turned over the 10 of swords, and she immediately understood the implication that she would be snowed under with work. (She went ahead with the fifth concert anyway, and all is well but she is indeed quite swamped with work.) On line people can't see and respond to the cards. Its more mysterious... you have to connect to that person though some kind of voodoo through the ether...

contrascarpe	16 Feb 2005
firemaiden wrote: On line people can't see and respond to the cards. Its more mysterious... you have to connect to that person though some kind of voodoo through the ether... Thanks for your insight firemaiden. I centered on the above statement because it brings out another dimension to my question - since most of my online readings are on ATF (OK, all of them are), it adds another level of predjudice ...... if I pull the Three of Swords from the Baroque Bohemian Cats Tarot (as I have twice recently) and explain that the cat is holding the heart pierced by three swords, so to me that means the Seeker is nuturing someone, then how do I react to the "educated" seeker here on ATF who tells me I am wrong and that the Three of Swords is heartbreak, plain and simple? Luckily I have yet to encounter a live Seeker telling me that my take is wrong. Actually, there is probably nothing wrong with that in as much as it gets the seeker involved (a Tarot Rorschach (sp?) Test as it may), but if I am reading intuitively I figure their input may upset the flow. Hmm, looks like this thread may digress into a ramble on my part. Dan

firemaiden	17 Feb 2005
Well, my dear Contrascarpe, this has obviously never happened to me, for one, because noone would dare question the Great Firemaiden, and for two, because they know I am always wrong, I tell them before I start... :D :D In the case of the Three of Swords, in particular, I would direct to a couple threads which argue for a more positive view of this card: jmd's thread: 3 d'epées (swords): how may it be read?, offers an entirely different perspective on three of swords seen through the Marseille lense, as "communication" or a depiction of "the act" (of making love). In my thread: The Three of Swords - A good card? I offer the possiblity of this three being about "three-fold penetration" - as in -- being reached by another person in body, mind and soul. Such contemplations are of course, as Umbrae has often pointed out, on various threads, meaningless without the context of an actual reading, an actual sitter, and an actual spread. We could go on intellectualizing about the bazillion possible meanings for the cards until we are blue in the face, but a heart connection has to be made between the reader and the querant, the cards are only a piece of that process.

souljourney	17 Feb 2005
Well...I've read very little "live" but it's mostly been with people who have cards. The best most fun reading though are with my friends who never dealt with Tarot...they've seen it, but never been read for. They really like interacting and I love that. The readings have been really good. I like reading online though also. I always try to look at the person's profile so I can try to "connect" on some level with them. So it bugs me when people don't fill out the profile. LOL. I like what firemaidan said about trying to connect through the ether. I wasn't sure what I'd think of reading without the person being present, but it seems ok if you put some consentration into it. One thing for me about reading here, is that a great deal of the people are more experienced than I am, which helps my learning. SJ

tarotbear	17 Feb 2005
When I was on AOHELL, I had my IMs turned off since with a screen name with 'tarot' in it, I'd be deluged with tons of folks wanting a free reading - like I had nothing to do at that exact moment but give them my expertice without recompence. I did one that sneaked in before I could turn off the IMs that wanted the answer to a question THAT GODDAM INSTANT and was pissy that I didn't do this stuff (for free, I'll remind you) on demand! When I'd be in a chat room and someone would say 'TB - I'm trying to IM you but it says you are not online' I'd be nice and tell them to send me an email and I would send them what I called 'The Querent Letter' - something I wrote that tells them what I do, what to expect, and how it would be conducted. Basically, I would have them send me a photo, any info they wanted to give me, and their question, and I'd get back to them within 24 hours with a written reading that I had done at MY leisure. This is the only way I do internet readings. If you have a webcam, you can do live readings and show the querent their cards - if they have a cam, also. That way they can ask you questions.

Phoenix Rising	17 Feb 2005
Hi Dan I was thinking of starting a thread about this very question, yesterday. I actually prefer to do the online readings, because, I don't feel pressured with the querent in my face. Online ones i feel i can take my time, study the cards a bit, look at other combinations, and somehow typing it, it flows more easily. And I type or write differently to how I talk(if that makes sense) Whereas live ones, I miss alot, because I feel that the ones I'm reading for expect the reading to go boom boom boom. A friend said to me, well maybe your style is online. But to be able to do it live, is probably the ultimate, which I will be making more of attempt to do.

The Readings: Online vs. Live thread was originally posted on 16 Feb 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.