A Mind Influences Tarot Cards

I have a question. It is hard for me to use a pendulum sometimes is because my mind is very strong that I can actually influence a pendulum to swing in the direction that my mind wants it to be. For example, if a horizontal swing is a yes and a vertical swing is a no. If I ask if I get a job from an employer tomorrow, and I want to know the real answer, but in my mind wants a yes, so the pendulum will swing in a horizontal direction to answer a yes, but actually I will not get the job from that particular employer.

So, I wonder if anyone ever experienced that your mind can actually affect the tarot for certain cards to come out when you draw them, like a Three of Cups as a celebration of victory when the real answer should be Five of Swords as a loss ?

Thanks

Yes, I know what you mean about the pendulum. Very frustrating!

I don't believe my mind affects which cards are drawn, but I do believe my mind affects how I interpret which cards are drawn. So, I may interpret the cards more positively, or more to my benefit, than may actually be the case (if that makes sense!). If I am too emotionally attached to the outcome of a reading, I will usually delay the reading for a few days (until I feel more emotionally grounded) or I will have someone else do a reading for me.

I know for a fact that the mind can unconsciously direct the motion of a pendulum. I seriously doubt that tarot is similarly influenced.

sunstallion said:

I have a question. It is hard for me to use a pendulum sometimes is because my mind is very strong that I can actually influence a pendulum to swing in the direction that my mind wants it to be. For example, if a horizontal swing is a yes and a vertical swing is a no. If I ask if I get a job from an employer tomorrow, and I want to know the real answer, but in my mind wants a yes, so the pendulum will swing in a horizontal direction to answer a yes, but actually I will not get the job from that particular employer.

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That happens with everyone. Word of advice? Clasp your hands loosely together, with the fingers interleaved. Which hand has its thumb UNDER the other one? This is the best hand for RECEIVING, and has nothing to do with handedness except coincidentally. Us this hand for pendulum-work all the time. Second hint: don't do it freehand. Brace your elbow on a table and if possible lean the same forearm against a wall, so that you can't move your body unconsciously. Third hint: pendulums can recalibrate their swings at a moment's notice. Every time you are about to use your pendulum (and I mean EVERY time), hold it at the ready, and ask it to show you a yes-swing, Take note of how it moves - it probably won't be the same as last time. Then ask it to show you a no-swing, and take note. Only when you know what both swings look like on that occasion, ask your question.

So, I wonder if anyone ever experienced that your mind can actually affect the tarot for certain cards to come out when you draw them, like a Three of Cups as a celebration of victory when the real answer should be Five of Swords as a loss ?

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Not unless you know what order your cards are in before you start choosing them. That being said, it's never a good idea to do a reading when you have strong emotions - you might mis-read the symbolism (as a single card can mean many different things on different occasions).

sunstallion said:

I have a question. It is hard for me to use a pendulum sometimes is because my mind is very strong that I can actually influence a pendulum to swing in the direction that my mind wants it to be. For example, if a horizontal swing is a yes and a vertical swing is a no. If I ask if I get a job from an employer tomorrow, and I want to know the real answer, but in my mind wants a yes, so the pendulum will swing in a horizontal direction to answer a yes, but actually I will not get the job from that particular employer.

So, I wonder if anyone ever experienced that your mind can actually affect the tarot for certain cards to come out when you draw them, like a Three of Cups as a celebration of victory when the real answer should be Five of Swords as a loss ?

Thanks

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I don't personally believe Tarot works that way. I know Pendulums do. I tried to learn Pendulums for a long time but was never able to master it, as I could not manage to keep my mind out of the way.

But Tarot is different and works in a different way, in my belief. To use a pendulum you are HOLDING the pendulum which has to swing. You might PHYSICALLY unconsciously cause the pendulum to move in the direction of the answer you want if you can't keep your mind out of it. But it's a physical thing. YOUR hand is creating the movement.

In Tarot, the only effect our mind has is mental. There is no physical effect as we don't KNOW where the cards are in the deck that we hope to see. In a pendulum, if we want a positive answer we know how to get to that answer and it can cause us to unconsciously physically move in that direction. Even the tiniest little (pretty well imperceptible) hand movement can start things swinging in a specific direction.

But since in Tarot we don't KNOW where the cards are we might hope to see, I believe we have no influence over what comes up, through our thoughts.

That said, as a reader I believe it is best not to do a reading unless you can be objective enough to clear your mind and not hope for one answer over another. While I don't believe that influences which cards come up, it CAN lead you to misinterpret the ones that do.

That's how I see it, my beliefs,

Babs

I've always felt that the answers we're seeking through the act of reading already exist in the subconscious mind of whomever is asking the question and handling the cards, so my answer to your question is "I hope so!" (I think this is also why the cards sometimes seem to be addressing a question that wasn't consciously asked.)

I like Joseph Maxwell's explanation:

"Coming events cast a shadow before them; each individual has a presentiment of his own destiny, which may remain latent; the normal processes of consciousness do not include such presentiments."

He calls the ability to extract this information through tarot reading "the gift of vaticination," or "the faculty of being able to read the information possessed by the enquirer about his past, present and future."

He also has a longer passage about making proper use of the intuition, and the need for direct feedback from the querent in validating intuitive perceptions to ensure they're properly focused on the matter of interest.

sunstallion said:

So, I wonder if anyone ever experienced that your mind can actually affect the tarot for certain cards to come out when you draw them, like a Three of Cups as a celebration of victory when the real answer should be Five of Swords as a loss ?

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I may be in a minority by believing, or rather, having observed, that this can happen. A fairly common example is the person who keeps pulling a 10 of Cups or 10 of Pentacles "Outcome" in relationship readings when the only person that he/she has in mind is clearly (except to him/her) evading that kind of connection. It may be a mild, limited, mainly unconscious form of LOA, who knows, and perhaps relatively rare, but I'd still have to say that it occurs; I've been "guilty" of it, too, at times.

Also, I'm reminded of playing board games with my mother when I was a kid: While shaking the dice, I'd sometimes identify a desired number and then say with conviction, "OK, now watch -- I'm gonna get a nine!" (or whatever number), and then I would... Which happened often enough that she'd give me a stern look like I was cheating and tell me to stop. No "greater" influence was necessarily ever possible, of course, but it doesn't seem far from pulling "desired" Tarot cards even when what they describe isn't possible (which may be easier/more of a factor than we think, if we're not wary/mindful of this beforehand).

Overall, emptying the mind of expectations/desires/emotion does seem to be imperative when reading for oneself or about any topic that's close to the heart -- including the moment when cards are being shuffled and drawn.

When you want something badly your desires can affect the cards you draw. This is in part why a lot of people have trouble reading for themselves, they get the wrong cards or they get the right cards and interpret them to their liking. The reason being that you are accessing your subconscious knowledge when you pull and read cards, and so your desire can affect what cards you are drawn to pull because now your intent is secretly laden not with the desire to find the truth, but with the desire to see what you want to see. So your hidden desire is now affecting which cards you are drawn to pull.


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After reading some of the answers above, I guess you can say that the answer to your question has a lot of do with where you believe the answers come from in Tarot. Since no one knows for sure, all we have is out beliefs. And what we believe affects how we see this topic.

I can see how if you believe the answers are coming from inside you (your subconscious mind) then your thoughts could play a role. My belief is that divination is a communication with the Divine and that my answers come from there. So to me, regardless of my thoughts they know and will send the right cards to give me the right answer (of course there is still the danger of misinterpreting if I were to to go into a reading really want on answer over another).

So I guess I would have to say on the topic of if we can influence which cards come up in your mind... the answer to that is very related to where each of us believes the answers are coming from. If they come from one source the answer might be yes. If they were coming from a different source, then no. Since no one knows for sure where the answers come from, its just our beliefs.

But no I have never personally experienced that, where my thoughts were influencing the answers or where the right cards did not come up.

Babs

SunChariot said:

After reading some of the answers above, I guess you can say that the answer to your question has a lot of do with where you believe the answers come from in Tarot. Since no one knows for sure, all we have is out beliefs. And what we believe affects how we see this topic.

I can see how if you believe the answers are coming from inside you (your subconscious mind) then your thoughts could play a role. My belief is that divination is a communication with the Divine and that my answers come from there. So to me, regardless of my thoughts they know and will send the right cards to give me the right answer (of course there is still the danger of misinterpreting if I were to to go into a reading really want on answer over another).

So I guess I would have to say on the topic of if we can influence which cards come up in your mind... the answer to that is very related to where each of us believes the answers are coming from. If they come from one source the answer might be yes. If they were coming from a different source, then no. Since no one knows for sure where the answers come from, its just our beliefs.

But no I have never personally experienced that, where my thoughts were influencing the answers or where the right cards did not come up.

Babs

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My understanding of how it "works" is slightly more complex than it might seem. The subconscious has to get its knowledge from somewhere; I see it as just a channel that can be tapped to reach a higher source; it's mainly a "processor." That source is most likely some kind of Higher (or broader or deeper) Consciousness, I just don't put a name on it. Or I might simply call it "The All" since I see the idea of a "Personal God" as mainly a human invention to both placate and intimidate the masses.

Can the subconscious stream be hijacked by overwrought feelings? I don't see why not, in which case that's what the cards will answer most directly. But I nearly always see an undercurrent of more objective truth that won't be denied. The extent to which the querent wants to hear it varies.