Old news

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 28 Aug 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Kitty	28 Aug 2002
Hello Everyone, I'm am sure that this has been asked many times in the past (old news to the tarot seniors :)) But could you humour me and provide your comments on.... How often can you, should you, ask the tarot the same question? I understand that when changes in your life or relationships it is a good time to look at the cards but what about when your life hasn't changed alot? Does that make any sense? :rolleyes: I have alot of questions about tarot at the moment I know. Seems that I have come to a point after studying tarot for about a year that I am confused about it all. Should probably have a holiday from tarot! Many thanks

Keslynn	28 Aug 2002
I'm not a tarot senior by any means... but I have played around with this question myself. At first, I didn't know any better so I did a reading about the same thing every other day. *lol* What can I say? I'm impatient. At least it was good practice, right? So then I realized that I could read all that I wanted to about it, but it wasn't going to change anything about the situation. It was then that I decided to take (I believe) Joan Bunning's advice and only read about the same situation when it had changed. It's up to you to decide when a situation has changed. Here's my idea. Usually the tarot will show you what will happen if you remain on the same or a similar trajectory. If something happens to change that trajectory in a significant way, then read about it. But once again, it's up to you to decide when a turning point has occured. :) Kes

the hermit	28 Aug 2002
the problem with your question is the question... what is it? is it you asking? or someone else? I do daily card draws (as do many others here), usually in the morning... sometimes 1 card, sometimes 3, sometimes a full spread, depending on mood... and question. Often I just draw 1 card and meditate on it for a bit... how might this fit in life right now? what might this mean to me? does this effect me? But to try and answer your question... General questions can usually be asked over and over... what's in store for today? anything to beware of? what do I need to be aware of? Specific questions... what should I do about x? should I worry about y? am I z? asked over and over can simply muddy the waters and put too much stress on you. I feel the same about complex spreads. I work on the KISS theory for both questions and spreads... Keep It Simple Stupid :D

jamesriouxctm	28 Aug 2002
Kitty, For predictive readings (i.e. "When is such-and-such going to happen to me?"), I find that doing many readings about the same question in a short span of time is a lot like looking at your watch many times within a span of five minutes. The time isn't really changing that much between glances. Daily readings are a different story - by definition they can and even should be done daily without any ill effects. (I have found, however, that weekly or even monthly readings are generally more accurate, in terms of predicting important events/moods. But maybe it's just because my individual days aren't generally that eventful!)

Fulgour	05 Sep 2004
...James Rioux, CTM author of A Matter of Timing There is a simple method which allows you to see timing information within most ordinary readings. Obviously not every reading will contain timing information; many questions do not require it and for some it is actually better that the question of timing be left unanswered. But whenever timing information is needed it will be provided and can be uncovered by a three-step method which I will outline below. (continued via link: ) http://www.ata-tarot.com/resource/timing.html

Apollonia	05 Sep 2004
My teacher once said that if one does a reading on the same subject several times in a row, the second reading will often turn out to be similar in meaning to the first, but after that you are increasingly likely to get cards that make no sense. She called this a "Foolish Child" reading, as in, "Foolish Child, I already told you the answer, and it is what it is. Now leave it be." (Said with a smile.)

Bosorka	06 Sep 2004
When I am impatient and asking same question over and over my cards start to give answers like - it is still not solved, the result is now unknown and all you need to do is to wait. Itīs too soon to answer. I really donīt like it, but my cards perhaps donīt like answering one thing over and over...;)

firemaiden	06 Sep 2004
Okay, come on you chickens, raise your hands, admit it... who here is a foolish child? Firemaiden: (raising hand) me, guilty. I confess, I did it, a lot, especially in the beginning, when I was testing to see if the tarot was really magic. :) Interestingly enough, the same cards did come up over and over again. I think it is interesting to lay out the same spread ten times in a row, and see what the incidence of repeats is. Those cards (the repeated ones) really get my attention.

Eco74	06 Sep 2004
I try different angles.. When I've asked a question, nothing has changed and I want something new to guide me along I rephrase or focus on one or a few parts of the whole. Alternately, look at it from another direction, going from "what should I be doing in this situation" to "how will this effect me" to "what effect will this have in my day to day life" to "where can I find help in dealing with this situation". Though a lot of repeat answers keep turning up anyway and I rarely come out any wiser since most of the time the cards tell me to "hang in there", to "wait for it" and to "see it already, it's right there in front of you so stop looking in different directions, face it already". Sometimes the different angles variety does give a little insight but most of the time I write off my failiure in "seeing it" to my own impatience and my hopes getting in the way of what's there and so I've turned more and more to twisting things around in my head, getting other peoples input and meditating on the situation and am more inclined to accept the first reading as "the whole" unless something changes or I need clarification on a specific area.

Trogon	06 Sep 2004
Quote: Originally posted by firemaiden Okay, come on you chickens, raise your hands, admit it... who here is a foolish child? Firemaiden: (raising hand) me, guilty. LOL... alas... me too! :| Kitty, I pretty much agree with all the others who've chimed in so far. Repeating the same reading on the same question over a short period of time is not very useful. I have also learned this from personal experience. However, lets say you do a general reading on something... say a "past-present-future" reading on a question such as "what's going on with my romantic life"... and it comes up that your client (a male) has negative feelings about women. You might consider having him come back in a few days, or a week, if he wants to, to take a closer look at that particular issue. Then, you might want to do a "issue-blockage-advice" reading, or a focusing cross. This way, you'll be helping him to address a specific issue which is a part of the overall question. In other words, if it is needed, change the focus of the reading to the individual aspects of the question on which you need to work. You're sewing a Tarot bag... that is the big picture... now change the focus to smaller details... what material will you use for the outside... for the lining? What color will it be? What about a draw-string? What kind of thread to sew it with? What type of stitch? These are all things which are a part of the big picture, but all decisions which need to be made individually. It can be the same way with a Tarot reading which shows the "big picture"... you might still want to do some focusing on some of the smaller details. This is all supposing, of course, that you want to make a change...

dolphingirl	06 Sep 2004
How to know when to do another reading on the same question? Well the rule I go by is "Only do a reading on the same question when something has changed since the last reading" Now that can be a change in attitude or a physical change. When I do a reading on something I try to see what needs to be done for the best possible outcome and help that change come about. After I feal that the cercumstances have changed from the orginal reading or something else has changed since the first reading then I could do another reading if I wanted to. I personally try to wait atleast two weeks to a month before revisiting a subject to give time for whatever outside forces that are at work as well as the subjects to change. That also gives me time to digest the reading I did and understand it better. Now the funny thing is that the longer I seen to do tarot readings the less likely I am to do them for myself. I used to pull cards for myself all the time and now I rarely do.

Kit	08 Sep 2004
This is similar to Tootsie's threadReading Too Much Is there anyone who has been able to resist every doing a "Foolish Child" when they didn't get the answer they wanted? It's only human weakness! :) Raeven

Kit	08 Sep 2004
Quote: Originally posted by firemaiden I think it is interesting to lay out the same spread ten times in a row, and see what the incidence of repeats is. Those cards (the repeated ones) really get my attention. Good idea~ but the more times I repeat a question, the more the feeling that the cards are getting really bothered by me builds. If cards have feelings, mine must be really :mad:. :joke:Raeven

Bosorka	09 Sep 2004
I found that my cards also like to show me what I want to see, when asking the same question over and over. It seems like my cards hope that by showing me that I will finally let them be...

Penelope	15 Sep 2004
Quote: Originally posted by jamesriouxctm The time isn't really changing that much between glances. Originally referring to himself as "The Black Shadow" and later using the brilliantly apt "The White Knight" James Rioux, Vice Pres., Canadian Tarot Network recently moved to Nova Scotia from New Brunswick. He is renowned for being the youngest, age 19, 2001, Certified Tarot Master. We await his Magnum Opus. :OL :TQW :OL

SongDeva	16 Sep 2004
Quote: Originally posted by jamesriouxctm Kitty, For predictive readings (i.e. "When is such-and-such going to happen to me?"), I find that doing many readings about the same question in a short span of time is a lot like looking at your watch many times within a span of five minutes. The time isn't really changing that much between glances. Fabulous. What a great way of explaining this!!!!! Not only has not much changed in the 5 minutes, but it acts to frustrate you more that nothing has changed. "Yup,you're still here, waiting." And anyone who's read again too soon can attest to the same reaction to the same information I'm sure. Sd

The Old news thread was originally posted on 28 Aug 2002 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.