Card recurrences

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

dangerdork	28 Oct 2002
I mentioned in other threads that I worked a booth as a "fortune teller" at a theater fundraiser last Friday (to my new Aeclectic friends, it went great, I'll wind up telling y'all all the details I'm sure). I noticed there something I've had happen in the past, and wanted to ask about other people's experience - what does it mean when the same card shows up over and over, when reading for different people? In this case, the people ranged from strangers to acquaintances to friends, to me as well as to each other. I was using different decks, and even a different spread in one case. In every spread but one, The Hanged Man showed up, and in the one that it didn't, the client (an acquaintance) mentioned that she just hated the HM card before we even did the spread. I seem to remember this happening before, on several occasions, where I will be at friend's and read for someone, and their spouse, and a couple occasions one of them will read for ME, and we all have the same card, even several cards, come up in otherwise unrelated readings. Has anyone else noticed this? I would speculate with the HM in particular, well, someone who goes to a carnival fortuneteller may well have problems or insecurities on their mind, and are seeking to gain a new perspective, and reassurance that things are not as bad as they may have seemed.... making THM the perfect card to describe this motivation that alll clients will have in common...

Diana	28 Oct 2002
edited

DarkElectric	28 Oct 2002
I agree with Diana. It has been my personal experience, that when this happens, the cards are sending a dual message, one for the querent, and one for ME! It seems thet they are shouting it out any way they can to get my attention, and the repeat card thing sure gets me to notice. Especially if it's an issue I am either conciously, or unconciously, trying to ignore.

MeeWah	28 Oct 2002
Dangerdork: I have seen the same card or cards appear when reading for a group of people at the same gathering. In your case, The Hanged Man could be representative of some common interest or bond shared by all of your clients--such as being members of the same group, organization or church. &/or as Diana & DarkElectric mentioned, it could have significance for you personally, either as a personal card or as a message to you--in which case it serves simultaneously within the individual readings & for you as the reader.

Umbrae	28 Oct 2002
There’s this woman at work I do readings for. Over and over she gets the same cards…but she does nothing to change her life. There’s a clue there.

HudsonGray	28 Oct 2002
I wonder if the card is representing you? The hanged man stands back & observes the world in front of him--which is what a reader is doing for the clients. Sorta strange it would come up all the time, but like they said, it could be a message to you too. (AND I just had it come up in one of my readings this week...........gee thanks).

dangerdork	29 Oct 2002
Maybe it COULD be for me. We could open up a whole can of worms there - how do the reader's personal vibes effect the cards that turn up - and what impact does thaat have when reading for strangers? I have been working on my own deck and have been totally immersed in the Fool and Magician cards, thus feeling quite "possessive" of the aspects of those cards - and neither showed up all night in 9 readings! I felt obliged to give everybody the little disclaimer about the Death card too ("If it shows up, it doesn't mean you're going to die"). That one didn't show up all night either...

nina	29 Oct 2002
Hello, I think it could be serving a dual purpose, as has been said. I have had this experience more than once. When I first started reading many years ago the Death card kept coming up weather I was reading for myself or others- and I used to read for others quite often. About ten years went by without me doing any tarot readings and now that I've started again The Devil and the 3 of Cups are following me around. I always feel like looking at the card and saying, "You again, what exactly is it that you want?" -Nina

Keslynn	29 Oct 2002
If certain cards keep coming up again and again, perhaps you should ask the cards exactly what message you're supposed to be getting? I know that Sinta was having the same problem and she invented her own spread to determine what the card was trying to tell her. I think she posted the results on the "Your Readings" forum. I keep coming up with the 3 of Cups Rx so I'm thinking of doing the same thing... :) Kes

dangerdork	01 Nov 2002
OK I think I need to try a clarification spread. Did readings in a pub last night, probably did 8-10 readings. Saw The Lovers in EVERY SINGLE SPREAD! Saw The World repeatedly too, at least 5-6 times. MANY recurrences last night, those were the most noteworthy. Here's an interesting twist too: I used 5 different decks, and #13 came up EVERY time I DIDN'T use a deck that calls it "Death." Like Connolly calls it "Transformation," Crowley calls it "Change," "Tarot of the Old Path" calls it something else... saw it every time, as long as it wasn't called "Death." Also, the first two readings I did were for a couple, boyfriend/girlfriend, neither asking relationship questions. (Used Celtic Cross most of the night BTW). Those two had FIVE CARDS in common in their spreads! Can't blame it on poor shuffling, I used different decks. Figure out the odds on that one.

Alex	05 Nov 2002
when you start seing the same card over and over again. Re-order and then re-shuffle before the next reading.

The Card recurrences thread was originally posted on 28 Oct 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.