Inaccuracies in Readings

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 21 Apr 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

sunflowr	21 Apr 2005
Just wondering why so many of my readings (that I do for myself, I mean) turn out inaccurate? For instance, daily readings. I'll pull cards and it wont have anything at all to do with my day. Just wondering why this is. These are usually just simple spreads too.. like 2 or 3 card spreads. Am I reading them "wrong", or approaching the cards "wrong"? Do I need a "ritual" of some sort? I don't usually do anything special other than hold a crystal in my hand while pulling my cards (usually fanned out). Oh well, just wondering what's up.

snowy25	21 Apr 2005
sunflowr wrote: Just wondering why so many of my readings (that I do for myself, I mean) turn out inaccurate? For instance, daily readings. I'll pull cards and it wont have anything at all to do with my day. Just wondering why this is. These are usually just simple spreads too.. like 2 or 3 card spreads. Am I reading them "wrong", or approaching the cards "wrong"? Do I need a "ritual" of some sort? I don't usually do anything special other than hold a crystal in my hand while pulling my cards (usually fanned out). Oh well, just wondering what's up. I hope this helps: You can do a ritual before or after a reading but you don't have to do it if it works for you without doing this. My advice is to always make notes of your readings so you know where the problems with this are. Also, it depends on the cards you get. Sometimes you'll do a reading about something but at that time something else is being overlooked and more important so the cards will show you that in stad of what you where asking them.

contradiction	21 Apr 2005
For many people, reading for oneself is the hardest. I rarely try to read for myself, for the reasons you stated. The problem is it is hard to be objective, when reading for yourself. You know what you want the cards to say, and if they don't say that, you try to make them say that. Some people are able to read for themselves, so there is hope. I agree, keep a journal of your readings, what you thought the cards meant, and what actually transpired. In time you might develop the ability to read for yourself.

Fudugazi	21 Apr 2005
What questions are you asking? Sometimes the trouble comes from how we frame our questions. But I agree with Snowy - it's also been my experience that a daily reading (1-3 cards) can show something underlying - sometimes internal even -that is overlooked and shouldn't be. It depends how aware we are of our surroundings, and how self-aware, whether we understand it or not. Tarot is a wonderful instrument to develop such self-awareness and awareness of and sensitivity to our environment. Noting the card down is good because you might get a brainwave several days later - "so that's what it was about!" Stream-of-consiousness thougths on the card itself, without specifically tying it to aything, can suddenly open a door. The other morning I got a card that seemed to have nothing to do with my life - really nothing! And in the evening, I was none the wiser. Then I realised - it's not about me at all! It's about the Pope that's just been elected. On that day, the card was reflecting my environment - wide environment! - and not my own personal life. Possibly because that morning before drawing my card, I had been listening to the news, which discussed the conclave and had wondered whether that day there'd be a new Pope! (I'm not even a Catholic:))

Elven	21 Apr 2005
Hi Sunflowr I can be so frustrating when we cant see the corelation between the card and the day. But there are a few things that may help: Pull only one card for the day - this can help you concentrate on one specific interpretation instead of many. If you like reading more than one card, pull 3 cards for the overall theme of the week as well. You could pull the card(s) in the morning and not look at it then, but later in the evening to see how it has manifested in your day. You could try a different deck for a while and see if you can make a stronger connection. Check your interpretation (text book) against what you are intuitively percieving, you maybe experiencing a broader perspective of the cards meaning which is a good. You can add this to the card. Write down what happened in your day anyway. You may go back to your writing later to find that your day and the card weren't that far off. If you are drawing the card in the morning and asking how your day will be, maybe draw one card in the evening to see how the day has been. What should you know about your day - the lesson - the enlightenment. Your frustration and worry may not be helping. Are you prepared for what you are seeing? If a card which you do not like comes up to you get anxious about the rest of the day? Try not to lean on or force the meaning, be relaxed enough to let the message flow to you, being attentive to the more sutle aspects of the card and the messge. A ritual to begin your reading process may help. Something to initiate the start, signalling to yourself you are about to read. Then a small thanks to close it at the end of the reading. Record your draw and write down what comes to you. Being clear and focussed at the begining of the draw can help exclude other things that are in your thoughts. Allow the cards to teach you, even if the lesson is slow to unfold. they're doing the best they can and so are you. You could consider putting the cards away for a week and coming back to them with a freash approach. Everyone looses their 'glasses' with Tarot every now and then, sometimes you just cant see properly. Hope this has helped a bit anyway, and you get back into sync with them. Many blessings Elven x

Al Si'ra	22 Apr 2005
I've had the exact problem esp. last week..But then i came to realize that my cards do not have to speak the way i expect them to speak..They have their own ways :)For example i might ask what's there to expect concerning my outer-social environment that day,but they might answer that i should really pay attention to my inner environment 'cause that's where i should expect "events" to take place;and if i don't think hard enough and refuse to see the message;then at the end of the day i might think that my question's been answered inaccurately..And i do that all the time ...So i believe that they really speak to us and answer our questions all the time but we should really have a wider perspective maybe?:)

purple_scorp	22 Apr 2005
Hmm, here's another way to look at it.....maybe you've got the interpretation right - but the timeframe wrong. I remember doing an exercise when I first started learning tarot - to gain a better understanding of the cards. I would draw a daily card and wait for its message to come to fruition. This sometimes took a day, a week, or even a month. I would not draw the next card until the first card had played out. If you journal your card and its interpretation, you can come back and revisit them at another time - to see if it was just that your timing was out. purple_scorp

psychic sue	22 Apr 2005
I have given up trying to do any kind of in-depth reading for myself. Its too hard to be objective. Most people have these difficulties I think. Sue

tarotbear	22 Apr 2005
The problem is that you are expecting three cards to 'mirror your day' ~ show you exactly what will happen every eight hours in your day ... and tarot just doesn't that day. When I did three-cards daily, I learned to understand that card one was my day up until I went to work ( I work 3 - midnight) , #2 was what to expect at work, and #3 was how my day would end -- not necessarily my work day, just the day in general. That is how I framed them to 'work' for me.

The Inaccuracies in Readings thread was originally posted on 21 Apr 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.