Ack! Help! Reading on the spot!

[sleepingcat]

So, it seems I get to read for my office at the weekly meeting next friday....

But I'm not very good at reading at parties or for people on-site because I'm so slow.

What can I do now I'm in a situation were I should read on the spot so quickly? I have a little over half of my deck's book-meanings memorised, but I prefer to touch the LWB as little as I can.

Should I just jump with first instinct and punge in? Or should I nudge the readings to make sure there's a work-appropriate filter in place? I'm leaning towards the latter just to play it safe.

How do tarot ethics work in these situations?

 

[Staramber]

If other people are going to be watching you read (apart form the sitter) then I think you do need to do a bit of filtering if something very sensitive turns up. If you wouldn't say it in a public conversation I don't think it's right for a public tarot reading. Perhaps mention it later in privet?

As for keeping it short the only thing I can think of doing is keeping an eye on the clock, stick to a three card spread and don't get distracted by follow up questions.

 

[Grizabella]

Don't over-think your readings. First impressions are important because they're usually right on.

As Staramber says, be discreet if others are watching and listening to the readings and you see something come out that shouldn't be said in front of a crowd.

If this is going to be a "oh let's all get readings, it will be a hoot" kind of thing, then I'd keep it light and just do a quick once-over kind of reading for each person.

As for being new and having memorized all the meanings, my advice is to just try not to freeze up with stage fright if you can't remember some of what you've memorized. Relax and let the pictures speak to you because they won't lie to you.

 

[Thirteen]

Keyword

Should I just jump with first instinct and punge in? Or should I nudge the readings to make sure there's a work-appropriate filter in place?

1) Okay, first question: card meanings aside--Do you understand using cards in a spread? If not, then all you can do is say to folk that you're keeping things short because there's so many people and you want to get to all. SO, you'll only be turning up 3 cards for each person--past, present, future.

And as advised, keep it light, easy, fun, for both you and the people you're reading for. This is not the kind of situation for serious problems or advice.

2) If you have been practicing with spreads, then you need to pick 2 spreads to use at this party. Make them SMALL spreads, only a few cards: (1) A general spread, (2) A love/relationship spread.

These are the two questions you'll get asked the most. General "What's my future?" and love "where's my love life going?"

3) Next: You need to pepare with the Keyword method, which is perfect for this situation. You give each of the majors a Keyword--like for the Magican you give the word "create"--so when you see him, you know it's about creating or making things. HPS = "decide" (because she sits between the pillars, the moment of a decision?), Empress might be "I grow" there in her garden, Emperor might be....? "Control" perhaps? You get the idea.

Likewise, you connect the first ten majors/keywords to the minors. So, Aces = Magician
HPS = 2's
Empress = 3's etc.

Cups = emotions
Swords = communication
Wands = passion/ambition
Pentacles = work/body

Ace Swords = "create" communication, meaning that it's been created, but it's still small and unfinished.
3/Cups = "grow" Love--meaning that the small love there is developed

This is quick and dirty reading, but it helps in such situations. It allows you to avoid having to search through the LWB for the meaning of each card. Memorize the first ten majors with Keywords.

Now you don't have to remember what the minors are. You see 8/Pents in the "Past" position--you remember the keyword for Major #8 (Strength) and connect it to the "work/body" (Be strong in work/body?). You look at the picture, see the guy pounding away there at 8/Pents...you can pretty much elaborate from there as to what it means in regards to what the person has been doing in the past, no?

Fill in the blanks (including the rest of the majors and court cards) with intuition and with what the image on the card says given the question/situation you've been asked about.

Does this make sense?

 

[sleepingcat]

Staramber and Solitare*, thank you for the advice, it was very encouraging. ^_^ Feeling a lot better about this already.

Thirteen- that's a wonderful system, i'm gonna start studying for it right away. Thank you!!!

 

[Thirteen]

Thirteen- that's a wonderful system, i'm gonna start studying for it right away. Thank you!!!

It works very well for doing exactly what you need it to do--allowing you to learn all the the cards quickly and have some idea of their meaning without needing to refer to the books.

But, as a caveat, it is a very shallow and temporary system. Like a life preserver, it'll keep you afloat for the moment. But when you move into the deeper seas of tarot study, you'll want to rid yourself of it and really learn to swim. Otherwise you won't be able to delve beneath the waters and discover all the wonders and lost treasures that are there

Do let us know how the party goes!