Abusing the cards

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 15 Feb 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

TrueStar	15 Feb 2005
Recently I become locked in a kind of loop. I would like to hear others opinions on this subject: a. Didnt you ever become obsessed with one issue and keep laying the cards on and on and on? b. How many times do you think the cards should be layed to ask for one issue? c. At what time the answer in the cards become fuzzy? d. Where do you find the line between acuracy and fuzzyness? e. Do you know what are the signs that arise (in the behavior and in the feelings of the reader) in this kind of compulsion? f. When you feel you have reached an answer by using tarot? I find this an important thing to know by newbies, because this can ruin tarot for many potential good readers. Daniel

dadsnook2000	15 Feb 2005
One reading should be sufficient to provide an answer of primary importance. If you find the answer to be "fuzzy" then, perhaps, the question was not framed correctly or narrowly enough. Unless you change or the situation changes, there may not be much sense in continuing to ask the same general question repeatedly -- this will lead to confusion in terms of how you read the cards and your confidence in them. Once you cannot trust your cards or yourself then you no longer have the Tarot to rely on. Dave

RedMaple	15 Feb 2005
I sometimes do two or three different spreads on the same question, since each spread might give me different details or perspectives. When something is an ongoing issue, I might do a spread once a week, or once a month, on the same question....generally seeing how things are going. Otherwise, I agree that one reading should do it. I have also found when I persisted in asking when I's already been given an answer, I got the same answer again, sometimes with several of the same cards. Eventually, though I just got nonsense. This eventually taught me respect, and cured any addictive behavior with the cards. I have found that what I sometimes really wanted to do was just be with the cards -- that is, shuffle, look at the images, study them, and that has taken the place of doing readings that aren't really necessary.

caridwen	15 Feb 2005
TrueStar wrote: Recently I become locked in a kind of loop. I would like to hear others opinions on this subject: a. Didnt you ever become obsessed with one issue and keep laying the cards on and on and on? b. How many times do you think the cards should be layed to ask for one issue? c. At what time the answer in the cards become fuzzy? d. Where do you find the line between acuracy and fuzzyness? e. Do you know what are the signs that arise (in the behavior and in the feelings of the reader) in this kind of compulsion? f. When you feel you have reached an answer by using tarot? I find this an important thing to know by newbies, because this can ruin tarot for many potential good readers. Daniel I had a friend who became obsessed with having readings done. I stopped reading for her in the end. But I have also done this, especially on love issues. I did one spread where the cards were all reversed telling me to stop asking the damn question because it was never going to happen. All the 'love' cards came out and they were ALL reversed. Stopped me in my tracks.:D My friend was probably prone to excessive worrying anyway and found it difficult to make decisions. It's far easier for that type of personality for the cards to tell you what to do rather than make a decision yourself. You can pull a single card daily certainly, but I would leave the big spreads for once a week or once every two weeks on an issue that's deeply troubling you. For something big I used special ways of laying out the cards that give me very clear answers but are exhausting to do, so I don't do them very often. The line between accuracy and fuzziness is in your head. You probably don't want to know what the cards are telling you or are looking for particular cards that tell you what you want to see. It could also be because you are agitated whilst shuffling and not centred enough to get a clear answer. If that's the case, just leave the question and even the cards for a week then do a Celtic Cross or specific spread which is quite detailed. Write down your question and the results and think about them for another week. Elements and small details will begin to sink in gradually over time. You could also post your reading here and see what other's think:)

Lillie	15 Feb 2005
There have been times when I would lay out the cards again and again, asking the same question is a strange and obsessive manner. In practical terms what I was doing was tryng to get the answer I wanted rather than the answer I was being given. In another way it was a symptom of mental illness and deep unhappiness with the situation I was in. It was also some bizarre attempt to force the future into the pattern I wanted, as though making the cards tell me what I wanted to hear would, through some form of sympathetic magic, actually create that future. As others have said, it does not work and after a couple of times the cards just stop saying anything sensible at all. The answer should be in the initial spread, and although some more cards may be laid for the clarification of issues raised it that spread, it does no good to ask the same thing over and over. I guess you have to accept the answer that you are given, and live with things the way they are, and the way they are destined to be.

Annabelle	15 Feb 2005
To echo what others have already said, I agree that it isn't a good idea to keep doing readings for the same question. I have occasionally done a reading on a question, and then afterwards done an additional reading to clarify a particular point of the question, but I do my best to avoid asking the same question twice in a row. As for when meanings are fuzzy vs. clear, allow me to give a personal example. This morning, I was doing a quick 3-card reading for myself about an issue at work. The cards I drew just didn't make sense to me at all. I was confused and discouraged and thought perhaps I just hadn't been concentrating enough when I drew the cards. So I shuffled very thoroughly and drew cards again. Even though I had shuffled, and even though my method of drawing is to fan the cards out and pick at random from the deck, the same cards from the first draw came up again on the second draw. So the second time, I gave the cards some more thought, put down the LWB, and just let the images speak to me. And suddenly it all made sense. It would have made sense the first time I drew them, too, had I only been a little more patient and focused. So yes, as the others have said, if you keep doing readings on the same question, you will often just get the same cards at first, and then if you continue, you'll get nonsense. If you feel compelled to keep asking the same question, you might find that your real need is to rephrase the question, or to consider the cards from a different perspective, or to simply put the cards down and try a completely different approach to the question or problem.

tarotbear	16 Feb 2005
One or two readings should give you the answer you need unless you are one of those people who likes to 'shop around' and try to get the best possible answer by checking out books until you find a meaning that you like the best. Not recommended - it's what beginners do. There is a difference when you do a daily reading as I do and more-or-less ask the same question about 'What kind of day can I expect to have today?' Every day is different. Every reading is different. Yes - today you asked a question of major importance for yourself and got some kind of gobbledegook answer. Of course you would ask for some kind of clarification and try another reading by focusing or changing the question, rephrasing some aspect of it, or plain asking - "Can I get an answer I can better understand, please?" If you've asked the question two or three ways two or three different times and got the same answer --THAT is the answer; why keep looking? If you got the same non-answer- give it a rest! that non-answer IS the answer. This isn;t like bothering you mother for a cookie until she caves in and gives you one!

TrueStar	16 Feb 2005
Thank you very much for your answers and support. I think the thread title was a little inappropiate. It should be "Compulsive behavior (="abusar" in spanish) with tarot", or something like that. caridwen wrote: But I have also done this, especially on love issues. (...) It's far easier for that type of personality for the cards to tell you what to do rather than make a decision yourself. Here you completely hit in the middle of the whole thing. Really wise words! In part, I have noticed I wanted to be replaced in the task of making the decision concerning to this issue, and put that responsibility on tarot. Lillie wrote: It was also some bizarre attempt to force the future into the pattern I wanted, as though making the cards tell me what I wanted to hear would, through some form of sympathetic magic, actually create that future.(...) I guess you have to accept the answer that you are given, and live with things the way they are, and the way they are destined to be. It also has some of this: I was unable to face things just how they are. dadsnook2000 wrote: Once you cannot trust your cards or yourself then you no longer have the Tarot to rely on. Recently I have done an "open" 3 card spread on the question "I am using tarot in an unrespectfull or frivolous way? I am doing right with tarot?", because I apreciate so much tarot as a source of information and a tool of self development and I felt really worry of losing it at all. I got this: 1. the Empress, 2. the Devil and 3. the Tower. I think there is a lesson to be learned from this about limits of tarot practice and how the answers it provides must be handed. Tarot is a tool, not an "infinite solution provider".

The Abusing the cards thread was originally posted on 15 Feb 2005 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.