Reader's Perspective or Sitter's Perspective when conducting reading?

[Yineth]

[If a Mod finds this thread to be in the wrong section, please feel free to move it. Sorry ]

This might read off a little confusing, so bear with me please.

This is probably a common question asked, but when you conduct a reading for a Sitter (in r/l) which direction of the cards do you read?

Do you:

A) Read the cards as if you are reading for yourself? [The cards are faced up and you read them as if they are spread out for you]

B) Read the cards as if they are pointed towards the Sitter? [The cards are faced up, but you read them in the Sitter's perspective.]

Or do you have a different interaction method for you and the Sitter during readings? I often find it a little confusing for myself and my sitters when they look at the cards and mention things like, "Oh my gosh, why are they all upside down?" when the cards are right-side up in my p.o.v.

[Thirteen]

Originally Posted by Yineth

A) Read the cards as if you are reading for yourself? [The cards are faced up and you read them as if they are spread out for you]

B) Read the cards as if they are pointed towards the Sitter? [The cards are faced up, but you read them in the Sitter's perspective.]

Or do you have a different interaction method for you and the Sitter during readings? I often find it a little confusing for myself and my sitters when they look at the cards and mention things like, "Oh my gosh, why are they all upside down?" when the cards are right-side up in my p.o.v.

I think most readers agree that you always read the cards from your pov. Though the sitter may shuffle them (if you allow that) you are the one who lays them out, the one the cards are speaking to (you are the translator), so the cards are right-side-up or upside-down in order to get the message to you so you can deliver it, not right-side-up or upside-down for the sitter who can't understand them.

As for dealing with that little issue of the reader seeing the cards from the wrong perspective, it's perfectly all right to seat the sitter beside you or next to you (i.e. at the end of the table rather than across the table). You bought a beautiful deck with beautiful pictures, and there's no reason you shouldn't be able to show them off to the sitter. Nor be able to point to them and explain what you are seeing. Yes?

[Yineth]

@Thirteen:

I'm laughing at myself currently, because you're absolutely right, Thirteen. I think I'm still lacking common sense when it comes to reading for other people. I often heard that the cards should be interpreted from the Reader's perspective, but there were those handfuls who said otherwise.

I'll definitely consider suggesting to my sitters if they wish to sit differently during their readings. I feel most people I read for prefer to sit across from me, because of past representations (through media, etc) of how tarot readings were conducted.

Well, that's another newbie question out of the way

[JadoreHauteCouture]

of course towards me
however, when sitting at a table, you can sit down sitter next to you, not against you so that he/she can also see cards... but then the sitter can become more interested in cards themselves and their meanings rather than to your message for him... if you use darker decks, you can even scare your sitter...

[Sinduction]

It has been my experience that very rarely do my sitters care what the cards look like. I read with the cards facing me, usually with my sitter across from me. I don't like them to be too close because then they get in my space and in my way or they pick the cards up and it just irritates me.

So, what I normally do is, I have the cards facing me. As I read each card I turn it towards them. So if I'm talking about the first card in the reading I turn it towards them as I go on about what I see or feel or hear or whatever. Then when I go on to the next one, I turn that one towards them. It's also a great way to keep track of where you are in your reading, IF you don't use reversals!