Self-fulfilling opposites

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 23 Feb 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Sinner	23 Feb 2005
I've just had a really disappointing experience. When I did my weekly reading at the beginning of this week, where I draw one card for each day, I got a 10 of Disks for Wednesday. So I thought, great, today will be a good day for once! But now, looking back, Wednesday was a horrible day for me, I failed at certain problems that I was confronted with, and spent most of the day either in guilt or dissappointment. The point is, I expected the day to have some sort of benefit or lead to at least a small amount of happiness. So, either the cards were misleading, or that by doing the reading I've automatically doomed myself to avoiding the happy future since I'm no longer blissfully ignorant of underlying currents throughout the week. If you think about it, expecting a good day was a perfectly natural reaction to the reading so, by having that expectation, you're still making a change to yourself. This is what I've started thinking about recently. The incident also has me questioning my ability as an interpreter...

The Dreamer	23 Feb 2005
Hey, Sinner. That should probably make you happy (the idea that knowing about something ahead of time could cause you to change your behavior, and thus change the cards' predicted outcome)- since in a few recent threads you've been agonizing about whether some long term (bad) card predictions would neccessarily come true. Are you drawing these weekly cards specifically in order to test the tarot's predictive effectiveness? I know that for myself, the predictive effectiveness was proven to me well through such experimentation- but I rarely ask about anything more than a couple of days into the future. It may work differently for others. Sorry, can't help with interpretation- my style is to go strictly by whatever book I have chosen to use for whatever deck I'm using.

Fulgour	23 Feb 2005
Parallel Universes by Paul Hughes-Barlow It is characteristic of all high spiritual vision that the formulation of any idea is immediately destroyed or cancelled out by the arising of the contradictory. So, we have the uniting energy of love separating chaos from order – it is a paradox. "Love is the Law, Love under Will" is an inspiration from this insight. http://www.trans4mind.com/counterpoint/hughes.shtml

The Dreamer	23 Feb 2005
Hm. If everything cancelled everything out, then nothing would exist then. Seems like it's more a matter of things clashing than cancelling out. And the parallel universes thing kind of muddies the waters. It seems we all do agree on one universe of "consensus reality" (most of the time, anyway- except in purely subjective matters.) Interesting website, though. Sinner- I'm assuming that the cards for the other days of the week were correct predictions, in your opinion- and that is why the ten of disks stood out so much? And that you think that because you expected such a good outcome for that one, that you either misinterpreted, or actually prevented that specific outcome?

Fulgour	23 Feb 2005
The Dreamer wrote: Hm. If everything cancelled everything out, then nothing would exist then... Interesting website, though A search for a quote regarding the philosophy of opposites, and I did hope to find something especially apt for Sinner, led me to Paul Hughes-Barlow, an old friend I've not heard much from of late, and so I included this as a "chance" find. The Dreamer, you have captured the spirit of Sinner's plight. Let us hope your insightful interpretations will illuminate his.

Dark Inquisitor	23 Feb 2005
Sinner wrote: The incident also has me questioning my ability as an interpreter... Maybe you should stop pulling a card and consider shuffling for one instead and see if the accuracy improves.

SunChariot	23 Feb 2005
Sinner wrote: I've just had a really disappointing experience. When I did my weekly reading at the beginning of this week, where I draw one card for each day, I got a 10 of Disks for Wednesday. So I thought, great, today will be a good day for once! But now, looking back, Wednesday was a horrible day for me, I failed at certain problems that I was confronted with, and spent most of the day either in guilt or dissappointment. The point is, I expected the day to have some sort of benefit or lead to at least a small amount of happiness. So, either the cards were misleading, or that by doing the reading I've automatically doomed myself to avoiding the happy future since I'm no longer blissfully ignorant of underlying currents throughout the week. If you think about it, expecting a good day was a perfectly natural reaction to the reading so, by having that expectation, you're still making a change to yourself. This is what I've started thinking about recently. The incident also has me questioning my ability as an interpreter... Here is my take on that. Sometimes our readings answer the questions we ask and sometmes the universe sends us a message instead to show us something it feels we need to learn. When we ask the universe something, or the universal intellegence if you will, sometimes it answers you directly, and sometimes it just goes "Well the person is asking me that, but what they really need to know is this so I will tell them this instead." There was a lesson for you in the experience, I am sure, from the universe, and I don't think it is that you should give up on youself or on Tarot. Excuse me for saying this, and I hope you do not take this the wrong way, as I would never want to do anything but help, and this is what I see. That of course your knowing about the kind of day you are going to have could change things. And judging by how disappointed your were with the results, maybe the universe it trying to make you see that the kind of days we have is not that much connected to fate or what the universe sends you. But that when you said it was supposed to be a good day " for once", it shows that you do not often expect days to be good for you. And that could be creating more bad days for you than you need to have. Our futures are much much more created by our expectations of life and what we do with them than by "fate". We are each responsible for creating our own happiness. And I think fate, your higher self was trying to give you that message, for your own longterm happiness. Maybe it was a message of happiness, just not only for that day, but showing you the ultimate path to get there. A few great books on the topic that I have read resently, in case you are interested: The Art of Happiness, by the Dalai Lama and Don't Sweat the Small Stuff, and it's all small stuff, by (cannot remember who wrote it) LOL and I am just starting The Circle now by Laura Day, which promised to be a great book. Oh, and one more great book: Creative Visualization, by Shaktai Gowain, Truly hope some of this helps in some way:-) Bar

Fulgour	23 Feb 2005
Sinner wrote: So, either the cards were misleading, or that by doing the reading I've automatically doomed myself to avoiding the happy future since I'm no longer blissfully ignorant of underlying currents throughout the week. Surrendering to negativity is not the same as accepting it. Perseverance and commitment to improving our conditions, rather than giving up in the face of difficulty, does matter. Helping others is a good way to improve your own potential ability to achieve happiness... wanton contrariness doesn't.

Sinner	23 Feb 2005
Surprised with the swiftness of the feedback, I feel compelled to digress. The Dreamer, your opinions all make sense and your assumptions are logical. Of course its a benefit of foresight to allow yourself to avoid certain negative situations by changing yourself before its too late. But if that were true then the opposite would also be possible. If my good day was ensured as long as I didn't change anything and that good day had the best outcome, if I change the way things are, (perhaps by changing my expectations of the day) then the future can only get worse. You're right, the other cards in the spread have so far been accurate, but this one has just been a complete contradiction. Thats why I feel as though I've actually prevented the good outcome from occuring. Fulgor, what you said was quite thought-provoking, and I don't expect to understand it all immediately, but its possible that it may make things clearer for me. SunChariot, your theory is very interesting, and its something I've not thought of. It appears to make sense since supposedly all the cards laid out on the spread at any point in time were "meant" to be laid out like that so that the reader would arrive at a specific conclusion regardless of individual methods of interpretation. However, if what you say is possible, then if everytime a reader asked a question, theres a chance that "the universe" would provide a wrong outcome and lead to a total misinterpretation. If thats possible then there would be no way of affirming whether the displayed outcome is genuine or "a message", which would render a lot of tarot readings inaccurate since there would always be a chance of the opposite outcome from occuring. Its not that I disagree with you, but I'd still like to think of Tarot as a reliable resource. Also, I think you're right in the fact that my mindset has a significant influence on my outcomes. I'm sure optimists have more good days than pessimists. But this instance was an exception which it why it disappoints me. I was practicing a positive mindset that day and expected it to be a good day. Even when things started to seem grim I still tried to encourage myself, hoping that the good outcome would come at some point "later in the day". Well the day is over now, and my hopes, unfulfilled. By the way, its not a rare occurance for me, that when I look forward for something to happen, it never does, and when I think that things will progress smoothly, there are suddenly lots of difficulties. But do you really believe that this disappointment, which leads to pessimism is really essential for my long-term happiness?

WalesWoman	23 Feb 2005
Today was definately one of those days...one of the last places I went into had a sign, "I'm down to my last nerve and you're standing on it!" Finally something to laugh about because I'd just said that very thing to my daughter at the grocery store five minutes earlier. Since 10 is completion, maybe it was one of those "I've had it up to here with everything!" kind of days. Expect it to be a full one of whatever, anything and everything...the final straw! And thankfully it means, tomorrow will bring something new with it. If we just draw a card and only upright...you have to give the Tarot a bit of leeway.

SunChariot	23 Feb 2005
Sinner wrote: But do you really believe that this disappointment, which leads to pessimism is really essential for my long-term happiness? No of course not. :-) But the point is to not let it lead to pessmism, to find another path. It could help your longterm happiness to learn to view things in a way that does not lead to pessimism. Creative Visualization explains it better than I can. It is a great book for showing how we can control our moods through our thoughts. :-) have a good night! Bar PS. It might be worthwhile at that to check for messages the universe is giving you in every reading. Sometimes there is a direct answer, but that does not mean there is not somerthing deeper hidden there as well. :-) A reading could have layers of meanings. Like a poem, that has as surface meaning, then there are all teh meanings hidden underneath, just a thought.:-)

SunChariot	23 Feb 2005
WalesWoman wrote: Today was definately one of those days...one of the last places I went into had a sign, "I'm down to my last nerve and you're standing on it!" Finally something to laugh about because I'd just said that very thing to my daughter at the grocery store five minutes earlier. Since 10 is completion, maybe it was one of those "I've had it up to here with everything!" kind of days. Expect it to be a full one of whatever, anything and everything...the final straw! And thankfully it means, tomorrow will bring something new with it. If we just draw a card and only upright...you have to give the Tarot a bit of leeway. makes sense to me, about 10 being the number of completion, and having had it up to here. Bar

Sinner	25 Feb 2005
10 usuallymeans completion, but for that particular experience, the 10 of swords would probably have described the day better. 10 of pentacles is supposed to be the completion of happiness and satisfaction. The message the cards gave me was completely contradictory. Is it time to realise that no card in a spread can definately be taken at complete face value?

Fulgour	25 Feb 2005
Sinner wrote: Is it time to realise that no card in a spread can definately be taken at complete face value? Tarot is like a mirror, and what you see is what you get. I do not wish to see myself in your reflection, you know?

Grizabella	25 Feb 2005
In the RW or Universal Waite, there's an elderly man sitting with his back to us, petting a dog. The younger people and the child aren't paying any attention to him, only the dogs are. I think this might be read as not being a positive in this card when it's upright, so was there anything about your day that might cause you to identify with this elderly man who seems forgotten?

Sinner	25 Feb 2005
Lyric wrote: In the RW or Universal Waite, there's an elderly man sitting with his back to us, petting a dog. The younger people and the child aren't paying any attention to him, only the dogs are. I think this might be read as not being a positive in this card when it's upright, so was there anything about your day that might cause you to identify with this elderly man who seems forgotten? hmm, the deck I used was the Thoth which shows 10 disks brightly decorated and at the bottom of the card it says "Wealth" so you can understand how I felt. As for the old man, I suppose the children looking away could represent all the work that I've been doing, working hard at it while not seeming to get much in return. And the dogs could be... I don't know, maybe cruel monsters that are hungry and about to to tear the flesh off my bones and feast on my carcass... ...Its the first thing that came into mind - I have a fear of dogs so...

The Dreamer	25 Feb 2005
Wow. Let's keep the dogs out of it, since you were using the Thoth which is without dogs. From The Tarot Handbook (which is about the Thoth, and which most Thoth purists dislike, but I like): 10 of disks- "Mercury in Virgo. The ability to communicate with an abundance of varied ideas or resource materials; an abundance of communication and information (Mercury) that is delivered in an organized, beautiful, balanced fashion (Virgo)... this is the gift of prosperous communication." Depending upon how you judge when the day ended, the communication which you had in this thread that day could perhaps have been characterized that way. Day's not over till you go to sleep, maybe. :)

tarotbear	25 Feb 2005
Sinner wrote: If you think about it, expecting a good day was a perfectly natural reaction to the reading so, by having that expectation, you're still making a change to yourself. The incident also has me questioning my ability as an interpreter... Oh - don't be so hard on yourself! Yes, we have conditioned ourselves to accept what we see - why else would we be readers - but it is difficult when the reader is also the querent; we tend to over-read for ourselves (being so close to the subject matter!) This is why sometimes it might be best to find someone else to do a reading for us, particularly if it is a matter of importance; we do not let our lack of objectivity compromise what we interpret. I have been in your situation many times - the cards said today would be a great day at work - and it sucked! Remember, my coworkers factor in to the effect, and with that many variables things find their own ways to go. Merely being told it will be a great day does not guarantee it, and neither does being told it will be a suck-ass day guarantee that, either! I would say that when you get a great reading but things dont live up to it - take it with a grain of salt -- preferably around the top of a margarita! :smoker:

The Dreamer	25 Feb 2005
Uh. Sinner's only 16. Probably shouldn't be drinking a margarita. ;)

Sinner	25 Feb 2005
lol! interesting suggestion, I suppose that cheered me up for a while. though the mysteries still remain. The trouble is, this is only confirming that my readings could potentially be completely wrong for myself. As if it wasn't hard enough to do a reading for yourself already. I think its impractical to rely on others everytime you feel you need a reading, but at the same time, if a self-reading is that influential then how could you ever accept a tarot message to be correct. It practically removes any chance of certainty that the message may have had. If thats true, then potentially any reading that I do for myself becomes invalid the moment I look at the first card.

WalesWoman	25 Feb 2005
the dreamer wrote: From The Tarot Handbook (which is about the Thoth, and which most Thoth purists dislike, but I like): 10 of disks- "Mercury in Virgo. The ability to communicate with an abundance of varied ideas or resource materials; an abundance of communication and information (Mercury) that is delivered in an organized, beautiful, balanced fashion (Virgo)... this is the gift of prosperous communication." sinner wrote: But now, looking back, Wednesday was a horrible day for me, I failed at certain problems that I was confronted with, and spent most of the day either in guilt or dissappointment. It seems like with Mercury in Virgo...it could be a highly "critical" day, about nit picking, perfectionism which sort of sounds like how it turned out like. Hopefully, even tho' it seems like it sucked...that you learned from these mistakes and failures, something that will carry into the future from it. Blessings in disguise? I'm not familiar with Thoth at all, so I was wondering how it was on the family front? Did you all spend a nice evening together with your family atleast? Or have some sort of good communications going? I haven't done weekly spreads with a card for each day of the week. Maybe try looking at the whole set and see how they flow together, sort of like a story, it may have been trying to tell you something else too. Tarot sometimes seems to have a mind of it's own and will tell you what you need to know often much differently than what we expect. If there is something important, it says what it needs to no matter what you asked about. I'm learning that the more I do this.

wulfshado	26 Feb 2005
Maybe I missed it in the replies to this post but I wanted to mention that tarot readings aren't carved in stone, they're indicators and possibilities. The card for that day might have been very accurate, depending on your translation of the card's meaning. Maybe the 'good day' was referring to you learning some lessons that you needed to learn...in that sense the card was very accurate. Yes? Sometimes we make things way more concrete than they are, disks/pentacles are usually thrown over into the mundane areas of life like money and such. We forget that it's also a very mundane lesson to learn how to cope and/or deal with those issues. In other words, the card can be pointing toward the lesson around the mundane matter rather than at the literal matter itself. The other thing that struck me was that doing daily or weekly or whatever readings is a good way to learn the tarot and practice we have to be careful of sliding into the position where we become dependent on them. Being able to rely on a reading is one thing, expecting it to tell us everything that's going to happen is another. It's also a sure way to invite some Trickster activity into your life! Instead of doubting the reliability of the cards or your ability to interpret them perhaps you could, instead, broaden your interpretation of the card and the experience. Instead of jumping into a fearful and negative place, use the experience as an opportunity to broaden your experience and open you up to something that might not be clear now but that will reveal itself later on. Sometimes we nail things down as This or That and forget that there are other things that we're not able to see because we've limited the possibilities to just This/That. Maybe because you were relying on the readings you narrowed the possibilities being offered and presented to you. And now, you can go back and rethink the day to find broader, more inclusive meanings to what was being indicated. See what I mean? Wulfie

Keslynn	26 Feb 2005
Hi Sinner, It sounds like you're doing a fairly predictive reading to suss out your week. That's fine except that (as others have mentioned) many other factors can come in to change what you pulled from the day. Tarot readings predict based on what's going on at the time of the reading. If you or someone else changes things, then the prediction can change. Also, it's your future, engage with it. Think of a good prediction as a seed - you have to take care of it and nurture situations that will bring it about for you (which perhaps might include more confidence in yourself). One way to up your chances of having a good day and a more useful reading would be to make it more proactive. Sure, you can let the future happen around you, but you could also be doing things to make it better for yourself. So, I suggest that when you do a daily/weekly reading that for each card you also pull an advice card, which can tell you the best course of action to take in order to make it a better day. Of course, we're all going to have some crappy days, but if you're armed with something to do, an approach to focus on, it can help you get through it. If the card was good, an advice card will help you think of ways to exploit the good influences. :) Kes

Sinner	26 Feb 2005
thanks alot kes, thats really helpful advice, I'll try it next time this happens.

Fudugazi	27 Feb 2005
Fulgour wrote: Tarot is like a mirror, and what you see is what you get? In the Marseille, the 10 coins are even disposed as five and its mirror image. Very powerful. There's a thread running at the moment about dark cards. I added a thought that there are no dark or light cards, but all cards could be one or the other, depending on circumstances. Could it be that your Wednesday card was one of those, Sinner? Or I like Sun Chariot's idea that the Universe was sending you good vibes but force of habit in you - if you look at the world as only delivering unpleasantness - meant you did not take advantage of them. After all, 10 coins can also be seen as a card of knowing your good fortune, of appreciating it, of knowing when to take advantage of it. I don't know you, so it could be way off, but could that be the case, you think?

Sinner	27 Feb 2005
knowing my good fortune? hmm.. I've certainly begun to appreciate what little good fortune comes my way after learning how rarely it appears.

SunChariot	27 Feb 2005
Sinner wrote: knowing my good fortune? hmm.. I've certainly begun to appreciate what little good fortune comes my way after learning how rarely it appears. Good fortune comes your way, as often as you expect it. If you expect and believe that it comes rarely then it will for you. Your attitude and the amount of good fortune you receive in your life are intimately connected. Which of course is good news. That means you can make yourself a life with a lot of good fortune, just by learning to see life in a different way. . Life is not something that is just happening to you. We all create our lives. You're in charge of yours, make it a good one. We create our futures through our unconscious minds to a great extent. When we think negative thoughts and beleive them unconsciously we attract negative vibes and things and events into our lives. When we think and beleive the world is a positive place, we attract more and more positive vibes and events into our lives. Attitude affects more than how you deal with situations, it affects what situations you will be given in your life to deal with. Whatever we beleive becomes a self-fulfilling profecy. There are many techniques to help you with that. I still stand by my books that I mentioned before on this. :-) Especially, The Circle and Creative Visuation. They explain it very well and credibly. Still suggest you read them. I still am only trying to help... But I know they woudl do you a world of good, both books would. Bar

Sinner	28 Feb 2005
Here's an interesting update: This Monday morning I did a reading for myself for the day and in the same spread I got, the 10 of swords, the Devil and the 7 of swords and most of the cards were reversed. Later during that day, I drew one card for the rest of the day and got the 9 of swords rx. Not more than half an hour after my first reading I managed to slip and fall down my stairs (don't laugh) and I sprained my neck. Even now I can only rotate my head so far... Later on that day, I was plagued with work which I continually put off and never got round to finishing. Aside from the blinding pain in my neck, I also managed to hurt my hands, knees and knuckles at various points of the day, and I was being continually annoyed by simmilar circumstances throughout the day which made left me quite irritated at times. I've had little sympathy from people around me and even my long awaited computer has just been delayed again. All this has happened, and the day isn't even over yet... this really does not seem fair... Obviously in this case, my predicting a bad future turned out perfectly true, even though I saw it coming and tried to prepare. So far: good card = pain bad cards = lots of pain I could probably learn from this somehow... First of all I've found that my interpretations were actually (unfortunately) hideously accurate. Secondly I suppose in hindsight, last Wednesday, the day I chose the 10 of pentacles for, which I initially thought was quite a bad day, would actually have been a fantastic day in comparison to this... All that occered were some dissapointments, so the difference in the level of pain is quite significant. Perhaps the cards were indicating that, maybe that day was the equivalent of a good day for me, so that every other day may include some form of horrible pain either equal to, or worse than that of last wednesday. In this respect, perhaps what waleswoman and wulfshado suggested my be closer to the truth in that the card was right, but I just didn't think of every single possiblity. Am I just being negative or does life hate me?!

The Dreamer	28 Feb 2005
Thought you were going to try to pull an advice card. I've had a fair amount of pain myself, and could easily conclude that life hates me. However, I don't hate life. One of my brothers seems to be a lot like you, in that he measures everything in increments of pain and frustration. He used to do a fair amount of divination, and recently decided that it doesn't make him happier to know what will happen ahead of time. Divination doesn't only have to be about prediction. I usually focus my readings now upon gaining greater understanding, and upon exploring what it would be like if I took different courses of action. I don't know how much is in an individual's control, and how much isn't. At this point, what I try to get from most of my experiences is something I can learn from it, and what kind of action to take in the future. I still think that you may have overlooked some positive aspects of Wednesday. One card does not encapsulate the day. Good stuff happens. Bad stuff happens. Pain and frustration are big obstacles. I feel for you. I hope life doesn't hate anyone. But you have to live it as well and happily as you can regardless. The question is, what can you do? And you know, it could be worse. (Now don't take that as an excuse to think of all the terrible things that may happen in the future. We're trying to learn and build something better here.) You've got the people here to listen to you, at least. Which is a lot more than I had years ago when a lot of crappy stuff was happening. We're all together in this. Probably most of the people who you were having little sympathy from today have been having personal problems as well. If we all see it as a matter of "fairness" things will only get worse. There are good things to see. Look for them.

SunChariot	28 Feb 2005
Sinner wrote: Am I just being negative or does life hate me?! No life does not hate you. I've been where you are now. I had a few years in my life that were like that in the early 80's. I married the wrong man who beat me every day, and I started to have a series of the kind of "luck" that you feel you are having. Everything seemed to be going wrong, one thing after another. But I did get past it and I want very much for you to do so also. Bar

paradoxx	28 Feb 2005
Right now Mercury is in Pisces, for me drawing the 10 of pentacles indicates that the theme of that card will be present throughout the day. With mercury in opposition to this card's astrology reference tension in the translation is going to be expected. Don't feel to down on yourself, when Mercury first went into Pisces I was knocked down with stress, migrane, and stomach nausea (that last one threw me for a loop, a lot of people caught something, I seemd to have more than one thing). It does indicate that Mercury's latest shift was not a nice one.

Sinner	28 Feb 2005
Maybe I was jumping to conclusions slightly... I guess my pain isn't as bad as alot of other people. It likely that this could be just a painful phase which will pass, though I really needed to clear up a few things.. Thanks for your support though, Bar and Dreamer, although I wasn't exactly looking for sympathy (much) its nice to know people care. I know I was being negative because I was trying to make a point. If the 10 of pentacles appears and the exact opposite happens, is it as a result of my actions after the reading or was it meant to be? Why wouldn't the opposite happen if the 10 of swords appears? I can appreciate its not a simple concept but the answers so far have been very insightful. By the way paradoxx, that was a fascinating astrological explanation. I wouldn't have thought that astrology could have quite the impact that you described but it seems to make sense. I really wish I knew more about astrology's applications to the tarot, since, as it is I'm fairly confused as to the details of how all the signs interact with each other and what they mean individually.

The Dreamer	28 Feb 2005
I maintain that perhaps the exact opposite of ten of pentacles perhaps did not happen on that day (if the interpretation which I quoted above is used- I don't know about all of the rest of your day, that day, of course.) I know that the only way that I've been able to be sure of interpretation is to have a preset source book of interpretation for a given deck before answering a question. I don't know what your interpretation style has been, or how it has worked for you previously. You probably need to figure something out for yourself in that regard if you want to be able to read accurately for yourself. Your comment, Paradoxx, also made me wonder when Mercury went into Pisces? I'd like to review some of my own current events in light of that.

Keslynn	28 Feb 2005
Sinner wrote: If the 10 of pentacles appears and the exact opposite happens, is it as a result of my actions after the reading or was it meant to be? Why wouldn't the opposite happen if the 10 of swords appears? I can appreciate its not a simple concept but the answers so far have been very insightful. Well, now we're getting in to philosophical/theological territory so people's answers are bound to vary. It all leads to how you think the future is created. Is everything fated to be by some higher power? Or do you make your own future completely under your own power and choice? This might be an issue you want to meditate and/or journal about because it's going to affect how you read the tarot, and it's going to play a big role! What do you believe? Who do you think is in charge? I personally fall somewhere between the two - complete free will and complete fate. I believe that the future can be foretold based on current trends and the way you usually react to things, but I also think that if you are aware of what you do and the things around you, you can often change what your "fate" was. For me, if I get a "bad" card, I walk away wanting to change it. In that moment, making the decision that I didn't want that future, it's already changed to some degree. That's just my opinion though. Your opinion may be totally different and that's okay. If you're of the school that things are fated, then the tarot is going to predict what will happen and there's not much you can do about it right? If you believe that you can change it, then what you do makes a difference. That also means that you can make yourself a better future by taking a more positive outlook and looking for ways to enhance good predictions and potentially modify bad ones. I've personally met people on both sides (complete free will or complete fate) who were miserable and some who were happy so I don't think either way is necesssarily better. See what you think about how the universe works. Like I said, I personally believe that you play some role in how things go so I agree with The Dreamer and Bardia that a more positive outlook will help. Think it over. Try advice readings and journaling. See what happens. You may even want to try the kind of reading that Rachel Pollack does in "Forest of Souls" - asking bigger questions, for example, about the nature of God/dess. And for goodness sake, life does not hate you!!! Hard times come to everyone, some worse than others. Each challenge can either defeat you or awaken your warrior heart. It's your choice. :) Kes

paradoxx	28 Feb 2005
Mercury entered Pisces on the 16th of February and will enter Aries on March 4th.

The Self-fulfilling opposites thread was originally posted on 23 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.