What was your first long distance reading like?

I'm more in the Ronald Reagan school of "Trust but verify," which is what he told Mikhail Gorbachev on nuclear disarmament. In tarot terms, Joseph Maxwell said it best:

"Harnessing the restless steeds of the intuition and making them do their work properly is the seer's principal difficulty. To do this, it is necessary to form a picture of how the sitter's thoughts and feelings affect him, or her, in order of importance and intensity.

". . . the best method is to inspect the spread of cards and then, in the way taught by experience and inspiration, give a general outline of the probabilities. Specific orientation occurs when observation of the sitter shows some matter of importance has been touched. This is an essential procedure because the variety and complexity of ideas stemming from each arcanum are immense. Moreover, the general sense of the reading, or part of a reading, will have an overall connotation that gives it relevance; without knowing what this connotation is, the cartomant, however gifted, may be in the dark.

"Intuition is a good guide, but in the interests of making a full and helpful divination, it is necessary to verify with the enquirer at each step if the intuition is taking the right path."

He makes perfect sense according to my own experience, which is why I choose not to operate in a vacuum.

Wow! You all are really giving me a lot to think about.

@celticnoodle
Thank you for the advice! I'm sure that setting up my environment to be relaxing will certainly help. It seems like it would be easier if I could hear their voice, but I would also very much like the ability to have more time to think the reading through and not feel rushed (in the case that they are charged by the minute). I also think I will be able to do long distance readings more easily for people that I have read for in person initially. I'm considering trying that with a friend who lives in Boston who I can video chat with. I have been doing a lot of journaling and reflection every time I do a reading for myself and for others. Each time I do, I go back and look at the card meanings after I have recorded my intuitive interpretation (because that always comes first!). This has been helping me not only learn but have more time to find new connections I wasn't aware of before. Through this process even more ideas and come up that are very surprising!

@barleywine
I agree with you on the client physically holding the cards. There is definitely something that feels stronger about a subconscious imprint, which is why I'm struggling with the idea. I think with a person that I have read for in person I will feel like the connection between the two of us has been made initially and I will be able to mentally revisit that space--I hope! I like your idea of the clients drawing their own cards in one fashion or another. Seems logical! I'm looking forward to joining in on the reading exchanges once I qualify. Also, I wholeheartedly agree that a reading should be more of a dialogue than a monologue. We get bits of information that can fill in gaps and enrich the reading, for sure.

@headincloud
I've never given much thought about the difference between mediums vs psychics. I wonder if there are more threads debating this topic. I'll have to check it out. I suppose that there is already an element of trust coming from the client, otherwise they wouldn't have extended the invitation for the reading. At that point I should just make the final connection by trusting that I am able to.

As a former English teacher, I have a way with words and I think that I could do really well with online readings. Due to a re-emerging disability, I had to retire early (at the ripe old age of 30) but it has certainly been a blessing in disguise! After feeling like I was flailing for a new life's purpose, I reunited with tarot and feel like I finally have some direction. I first focused on reading for myself and then realized that I just needed to return to the heart of why I started teaching in the first place--to help people on their life path.



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SonjaC said:

I think with a person that I have read for in person I will feel like the connection between the two of us has been made initially and I will be able to mentally revisit that space--I hope!

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That's an interesting thought. I always give my clients a business card and tell them they can e-mail me if they want any more information on the reading, but I've been back at it professionally for around ten months now and none has. Since the cards were already drawn, everything else is just clarification. I'm thinking, when I get to the point of doing e-mail readings "my way," I will offer one free, brief, limited-time follow-up consultation to both answer any questions about the reading and see where it could have been better.

Barleywine said:

I'm more in the Ronald Reagan school of "Trust but verify," which is what he told Mikhail Gorbachev on nuclear disarmament. In tarot terms, Joseph Maxwell said it best:

"Harnessing the restless steeds of the intuition and making them do their work properly is the seer's principal difficulty. To do this, it is necessary to form a picture of how the sitter's thoughts and feelings affect him, or her, in order of importance and intensity.

". . . the best method is to inspect the spread of cards and then, in the way taught by experience and inspiration, give a general outline of the probabilities. Specific orientation occurs when observation of the sitter shows some matter of importance has been touched. This is an essential procedure because the variety and complexity of ideas stemming from each arcanum are immense. Moreover, the general sense of the reading, or part of a reading, will have an overall connotation that gives it relevance; without knowing what this connotation is, the cartomant, however gifted, may be in the dark.

"Intuition is a good guide, but in the interests of making a full and helpful divination, it is necessary to verify with the enquirer at each step if the intuition is taking the right path."

He makes perfect sense according to my own experience, which is why I choose not to operate in a vacuum.

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I LOVE THIS! What book is it from? I googled it and I found _The Tarot_ by Joseph Maxwell. Is that correct? This philosophy is exactly how I feel about the process. We can see the archetypes and begin the narrative but if it isn't quite right then things can go wonky. However, I'm sure part of the time it is possible that the sitter might be in denial or unaware of the context of their situation... Hmm. I'm thinking about the difficulty that can arise from a client that "clams up" and how you go about doing your best to glean information. Probably body language, mostly?


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SonjaC said:

I LOVE THIS! What book is it from? I googled it and I found _The Tarot_ by Joseph Maxwell. Is that correct? This philosophy is exactly how I feel about the process. We can see the archetypes and begin the narrative but if it isn't quite right then things can go wonky. However, I'm sure part of the time it is possible that the sitter might be in denial or unaware of the context of their situation... Hmm. I'm thinking about the difficulty that can arise from a client that "clams up" and how you go about doing your best to glean information. Probably body language, mostly?


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That's the one. The quote is from the back of the book, in the "Tarot and the Psychology of Divination" section. Most of the book is full of heavyweight, high-octane, arcane numerological pondering, which I enjoyed up to a point, but this and the section on the minor arcana meanings were the most useful.

As far as clamming up, I've found that they're usually eager to talk about themselves (if not the exact details of their particular problem) once I get them comfortable that I'm not going to poke too strenuously into their private lives unless they first give the invitation. I always start by just explaining the cards in broad terms and see how they react; if I see a nod, I dig in, but if I see a shrug (figurative or actual), I'll gloss over that card and perhaps circle back around to it later when more of the context becomes clear. But if the sitter is content with a general life-reading, that's what they're going to get. Sometimes they ask which approach I recommend: specific question, single life-area overview, or big-picture life reading. I tell them that the general life-reading may touch on many different areas that we can explore as we come upon them.

I had this same question when I started doing long distance readings, but got some good advice from members of this forum. It was to trust your intuition.

It is my belief that Tarot is nothing more than a communication with your higher self through playing cards. Your higher self is tapped into all that is, and knows everything there is to know. As long as you can maintain a strong connection to your higher self, and minimize the influence of the ego, you can ascertain any information about anyone. Who touches the cards, who you can see or hear, or the location of the querent makes no difference since the reading is always between you and your higher self. It is much more beneficial to spend your energy meditating, eating clean, and avoiding 3D matrix illusion traps than worrying about the ordering of your spread if you want to grow your Tarot skills.

We all have our own understanding about how tarot "works." I came up through all the New Age hype right from the very beginning when Jung was the god of all things metaphysically sacred; some I still buy, much of it I found to be so much fanciful conjecture. I call it the "Piscean pipe-dream" and the "false Spring" now. My touchstone through it all was Aleister Crowley, whom I still think of as tarot's "one true genius." I've followed my own path going on 45 years now, so a little technology isn't likely to sway me.

Beancrew49 said:

I had this same question when I started doing long distance readings, but got some good advice from members of this forum. It was to trust your intuition.



It is my belief that Tarot is nothing more than a communication with your higher self through playing cards. Your higher self is tapped into all that is, and knows everything there is to know. As long as you can maintain a strong connection to your higher self, and minimize the influence of the ego, you can ascertain any information about anyone. Who touches the cards, who you can see or hear, or the location of the querent makes no difference since the reading is always between you and your higher self. It is much more beneficial to spend your energy meditating, eating clean, and avoiding 3D matrix illusion traps than worrying about the ordering of your spread if you want to grow your Tarot skills.

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Very true! And also the answer that I anticipated! I trust my intuition for the most part but I know that it's developing as I experiment and practice. I try to think about the Moon card whenever my ego gets noisy. I guess I was just more so wondering what fumbles people may have experienced and how they prepare themselves before a reading. There's this great thread that I've been reading that a woman wrote years ago called "The Cafe Reader" and it's about her first experiences reading in a cafe. I found this really helpful because she is detailed about not only the events (with confidentiality kept intact) but her emotions as well. She even talks about what materials she brings with her--things I certainly wouldn't think of on the first go--like tissues! I've been planning this pubic approach to draw people in that I don't know so I can exercise my intuitive muscles differently and I feel a little bit more prepared now. Do you have any tips and tricks on how to center yourself before a reading?


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Barleywine said:

We all have our own understanding about how tarot "works." I came up through all the New Age hype right from the very beginning when Jung was the god of all things metaphysically sacred; some I still buy, much of it I found to be so much fanciful conjecture. I call it the "Piscean pipe-dream" and the "false Spring" now. My touchstone through it all was Aleister Crowley, whom I still think of as tarot's "one true genius." I've followed my own path going on 45 years now, so a little technology isn't likely to sway me.

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45 years is impressive! I feel fortunate to be able to converse with someone as experienced as you are. I'm curious about what turned you away from Jung and why Crowley is your preferred foundation. I have a friend who only uses a Thoth deck. I'm still building my library but I have a basic working knowledge of both philosophies.


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Remote viewing is not the same as Mediumship.

Like if we were on the phone and I said to you: "Mate! Go and turn the kettle off on the stove it is boiling over and by the way the cat is on the bench getting into its Whisker biscuits whilst your back is turned".

That is remote viewing.

One of my Japanese friends is the BOMB DOT COM at it, but alas in Japan there are no real places to go to for support or advice etc.


DND

Barleywine said:

My personal feeling is that a remote reading where the querent doesn't physically participate in the action at all is more akin to mediumship than having them in the same room and involved in the process. It seems more like psychism to me, unless we aren't talking about the same thing here. But then I consider tarot at its best to be an interactive art, a dialogue and not a monologue.

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