tabi said:
My own personal take on this is his own reaction to tarot to begin with. I will NEVER read for or asking any question involving my mom. She believes them to be evil and refuses to even look at any or have them in her home. Which this is her belief and she is welcomed to it. I know that she would not like or want me to do any type of reading even out of curousity that involves her. Now if it is someone that is expressively interested or simply netural then yes I would.
However if you're not sure whether it is ethical or not; why not simply ask him to let you do a reading to see if he will be able to sell the house. Hence enabling you both to have a more open talk of why the selling and if he will be successful with selling it if that is truly his wish.
I am in the same boat with my Mom, she thinks they're evil so I make sure they're not out when she comes, and I don't take them to hers (although sometimes the Pocket Thoth is still in my handbag when I forget to take it out) but generally I respect her wishes and would not read for or about her.
However, I would still read about other people in a nosy way, and I think being a witch/ forteller of future events is an unfair advantage over others and if we think we can just do white magick and 'good' we are deluding ourselves. By doing spells to get that job, you may be shoving someone else aside who deserved/ needed it more. By doing divinations about any situation we are setting ourselves a head start which is unfair to others. I think it's silly to draw vague lines in the sand. It's different if it's a situation where you know very well that someone you care for would be deeply affected in a negative way by the knowledge of your having done a reading for them without permission, but generally, I don't worry too much about a situation which won't affect him if he doesn't know.
That said, I don't do too many trivial readings about people's business with the tarot. On the rare occasion I am interested in someone's petty affairs, playing cards would be more suitable to the task. Also, I don't like to use the Tarot for 'nosy parker readings', I prefer to reserve them for bigger issues.
I suppose when it crosses the line from trivial to important is directly related to your feelings about the person. If you care a lot about them, then it's not trivial is it? But if they are just a neighbour I would use playing cards. As the witch Dame Alice Kyteler puts it:
If you want to know about philosophy, go and knock on the front door and ask the Philosopher. If you wish to know what transpires in the Philosopher's household, knock on the back door and ask the scullery maid.
Wise words!
Zoe