reading for yourself, can you?

I read for myself regularly, mostly small draws and usually it's about things like what I could do or have done differently. Where or what should I be focusing my energy on right now. That kind of thing - I spend quite a few minutes to TRY to quiet my mind and when I succeed the energy is different. I read for few others - mostly a closet reader and I think the reads are accurate either way but I always document my reads for myself to reflect on later if I want to. The deck, which cards in what positions, any reference material I may have used if I'm a little muddy on things, initial reactions, that sort of thing. I love being a "student" and picking things apart so this works for me.

You can read for yourself, it is a personal choice. Many read for themselves for practice. Personally I do not read for myself, the main reason, my grandmother who taught me how to read cards many years ago told me not to read for myself. Her reason, you will get into a habit of second guessing yourself. You are too emotionally connected, you will be unable to hear the whispers of your intuition. She was big on intuition, not memorized meanings, although I did learn them from her. I was taught to read for others. Until my mother passed in 2005 I always had someone to read for me, although I rarely had my cards read. When I first came here I tried daily draws, found them not too interesting. I stick to reading for my clients and I stick my nose in here when I get a chance. If I did not have a family connection or teacher, I would probably read for myself for practice.

PAMUYA said:

my grandmother who taught me how to read cards many years ago told me not to read for myself. Her reason, you will get into a habit of second guessing yourself. You are too emotionally connected, you will be unable to hear the whispers of your intuition. .

Click to expand...

Hi Payuma, I am curious, can you elaborate on this? What do you mean by second guessing yourself? I see it in the way that you already know things (intuition) and doing a self reading can confused you about what you already know.

That is really interesting. But at the same time, don't you think that tarot could reinforce your intuition during a self reading?

Thanks to everybody for all of your replies!

tarot_quest said:

-Do you feel a different energy when you read for yourself?

Click to expand...

Yes. It's hard for me to explain though. I feel more at peace when I read for myself. There is a stillness that I don't experience reading for others.

tarot_quest said:

-Do you do it at a particular moment?

Click to expand...

No. It's whenever I felt the need to a week ago and was putting it off. That said, I rarely find myself with more than 20 minutes to myself and I need more time than that to read for myself 'properly'.

tarot_quest said:

-Are you accurate when you read for yourself (sometimes, always, more or less than when you read for others?)

Click to expand...

I'm either as accurate or slightly less so when I read for myself. When I read for myself I don't give myself the same "sit with it" time that I give my email clients.

tarot_quest said:

Hi guys!

I was just curious to know how you feel about reading for yourself? It would be cool to do not just get a -yes I can/no I can't- type of answer. So feel free to elaborate!

-Do you feel a different energy when you read for yourself?
-Do you do it at a particular moment?
-Are you accurate when you read for yourself (sometimes, always, more or less than when you read for others?)

For myself, I tend to be more negative! I often see the cards and I think Sh**! But when I take my time and I look at the cards for a while, I start to see relevant information.

I think that I am slower when reading for myself and I doubt more about the answer. Yes, it is easier to read for others but I love doing it for myself if I am not too stressed or emotionally involved with the topic.

What about you?

Click to expand...

Hello tarot-quest!

To answer your questions....yes I can read for myself. I read only for myself for the first 8 months or now. I considered Tarot an excellent problem-solving tool. I actually had no desire at all to ever read for others at the time, it was just my personal problem-solving too. But then people started asking me more and more to read for them and things progressed from there.

For me, the energy is identical if I read for myself or for someone else. There is really no difference at all. Since I do not ever try to connect to the energy of the querent, I work only to connect to the energy of the Divine (my angels) and to perceive the answer they are trying to tell me, it is the same energy I can connecting to no matter what the question is or who I am doing it for.

That energy to me is purely positive. It is pure love-based energy and will not tell me pessimistic things, ever. For me I know this going in, before I start.

So if I tried to read for myself and felt something negative coming up that would tell me I NOT properly connected to the energy that is giving me the answers. That woudl tell me I am not connected deeply enough to hear the answers properly. That would tell me to stop. It would tell me I need to take a break, go for a walk, doing some grounding exercises, meditate or whatever and come back and try again when I feel refreshed.

If anything I may find it easier to read for myself. As I know my own life better and can see the correlations immediately.

But also, as most readers I think, I can't read for myself on emotional topics for me. I have learnt that, it's too hard to stay objective. SO I just don't try to read on those.

Babs

Hi Tarot quest !
I think you phrase your questions in an interesting way.
I read mainly for myself because I am a semi-closeted reader. The few people who know about the cards will ask for the occasional reading but if I had to wait for those, I would not get much practice... I have had good feedback though. I have done a few exchanges here and learned a lot in the process. Emotionally speaking, it's a bit trying for me, as I'm hoping to do a good job. But as for interpretation itself, it's much easier. When I read for someone else, the answer will come crisp and clear. Most of the time the main difficulty resides in framing the very clear images that come to mind. If I have to describe these sensations in terms of energy, I would say it's like a cold and clear winter morning. Doesn't mean I can't get things wrong, of course, but it doesn't feel muddled.
I use tarot cards for introspection but also as a tool for fiction writing. The impressions I get from these two aspects are very different. I've had very different amounts of success when reading for myself. Sometimes I'm able to keep the necessary distance and the reading will flow; sometimes I can't understand anything about what the cards are saying and I need to think about the cards for a looong time afterwards to get it. (This has been positive too, it has made me ponder cards that I did not understand, like the three of wands or the positive side of the five of swords...) It's a more difficult process, often painful (for my brain or my heart, it depends). This is more the heavy atmosphere before a storm, but what a relief when the rain finally comes.
Using the cards for fiction writing is fun and liberating. There is no pressure at all - there is no right or wrong answer, whatever the card and the way I see it, it will give me ideas. It's also one of the ways I learned the meaning of the cards. I would shuffle the deck and make one long-winded story according to the way the cards came up.

Hey tarot_quest,

I can read for myself, and take great pleasure in doing so! It’s quite a different experience than reading for others though, for sure.

Different energy— yeah definitely, I know myself better than most other pepole, and that can make it tricky to only read the story in front of me. Or rather, I can read perhaps too many different stories at once! This is a really cool story telling exercise, and I can see how tarot readings can be a great fiction writing aid, but it can make getting a straight answer difficult.

Particular moments— I suppose yes, when my partner’s not home, and I have an hour or so of unstructured time. I usually duck into my office, grab a deck, and shuffle while letting my mind wander. I’ll lay down 3 or so cards, and see what sort of story unfolds, and if it’s relevant to me a the time. If I don’t see any relevance to me personally, I’ll try to read the images in their own context, e.g., where do the symbols come from in history, how do they relate to the world today, what can I take away from the comparison.

Accuracy— yes? I don’t read predictively, so I’m not necessarily looking for my readings to Come true, but rather if they Are somehow true or relevant to my current state. Usually I can find something to take away, but as tarot is not a science, I don’t really look for whether or not tarot "works."

"I think I am slower when reading for myself…"

Tell me about it! I’ll let a spread of 6-7 cards sit for a week, while I research images, look at repeating patterns, eye rhymes, furtive glances, etc. So much fun.

I see that you are a Marseille fan; I like to use the historical decks as well. I see tarot and other gaming packs as a kind of cultural "peoples' history" loaded with images and symbols that inform our visual lexicon of today. I use the cards to reflect on how I use that lexicon, and how I perhaps see myself through them.

tarot_quest said:

Hi Payuma, I am curious, can you elaborate on this? What do you mean by second guessing yourself? I see it in the way that you already know things (intuition) and doing a self reading can confused you about what you already know.

That is really interesting. But at the same time, don't you think that tarot could reinforce your intuition during a self reading?

Thanks to everybody for all of your replies!

Click to expand...

What my grandmother meant by this is when you read for yourself your own emotions can get in the way, and/or in your subconscious are hoping or looking for a certain outcome. If it is an emotional question it will cloud your intuition, your emotions are so loud it drowds out the whispers of your intuition. The same is true when reading for family or close friends, sometimes cards come up you do not want to see, you get that feeling in your gut, "how am I going to say this without hurting feelings or causing them upset". The same happens when you read for yourself, how can I twist this to give me what my ego wants? (you see this on AT all the time) Once you start thinking in this way, doing this over and over, day after day, twisting these meanings becomes a habit. Meaning you are reading from ego(wanting to please), not intuition and it could spill over to your clients readings. The cards themselves do not carry any power, all the magic is within you. The cards are only an aid to what you already have, I was taught this at my first lesson.

This is how it was explaned to me over 47 years ago, I was 9 years old when I started the process of learning to read cards(not Tarot, playing cards). Being right or wrong my grandmother was a magical woman to me, oh how I looked up to her. Of course I was going to follow her rules, and for the most part I still do. Remember I learned to read cards when there was no internet, or even books that were available where I lived. I learned how to read cards by word of mouth, handed down at least 4 generations that I know of. So for me it is out of tradition (which I know is filled with a lot of old superstitions ). I do have a deck from 1926 which was my grandmothers, which I treasure.

There is no right or wrong concerning reading for yourself. It is a personal choice. You must find what works for you and start your own tradition.

Hi Styx, mrpants and Pamuya!

I don't know how to multi quote within the same message so sorry for the wrong name in the title!

Styx said:

Using the cards for fiction writing is fun and liberating. There is no pressure at all - there

Click to expand...

That is a good idea. I never thought about the cards this way! I imagine all the fun you can have with it!

Styx said:

so I’m not necessarily looking for my readings to Come true, but rather if they Are somehow true or relevant to my current state

Click to expand...

Thanks mrpants! I think that I should try to do not do predictive events that goes too far. But I am surprised that sometimes it works!! And I find it fantastic when it does

Styx said:

This is how it was explaned to me over 47 years ago, I was 9 years old when I started the process of learning to read cards(not Tarot, playing cards). Being right or wrong my grandmother was a magical woman to me, oh how I looked up to her. Of course I was going to follow her rules, and for the most part I still do. Remember I learned to read cards when there was no internet, or even books that were available where I lived. I learned how to read cards by word of mouth, handed down at least 4 generations that I know of. So for me it is out of tradition (which I know is filled with a lot of old superstitions ). I do have a deck from 1926 which was my grandmothers, which I treasure.

Click to expand...

Thanks Pamuya! I really like your answer! Concerning the first part, I understand what you mean, yes our ego is looking for an answer, even if we try to be free from it! But I can't help myself, I love doing self reading to look at the cards and I am extremely curious as a person. So at the end, half of my self reading are a bit biased....!

Thanks for the details about you grandmother and how you started to learn tarot without books or Internet, it is fantastic!

I find it harder to read for myself, actually. For some reason, it takes me a while to comprehend exactly what the cards are saying (especially since I overthink and over-analyze it all with every aspect of the situation). I usually like to get a second opinion. It helps since I'm still pretty new at reading.