Do you think Tarot only reflects only your own thoughts?

[pdmishh]

Hi there. I'm new to tarot so I'm learning a lot here . But I keep wondering if Tarot only "reads" my mind or only reflects my own thoughts, rather than the situation at large or all energies involved. So to those who are more experienced in reading than me, I'm wondering your thoughts about this? Especially in regards to self readings. Thanks!

 

[RiverRunsDeep]

Hi, pdmishh, and welcome to the forum! I usually only read for myself. In most instances, I find that the cards accurately reflect the current situation. If the cards seem to be reflecting my own thoughts and feelings, it is usually because I am upset or emotionally invested in the question I asked. In those cases, I give the cards a rest until I feel more settled, or I ask someone else to do a reading for me.

 

[emilygrace]

I agree with you, OP. I never read for myself for this exact reason. The cards only ever seem to reflect my fears and inner emotions and are virtually never accurate about the situation, unless someone else is reading for me. Also, oftentimes when I've read on a predictive question for myself, it'll just tell me what I'm feeling in the here and now- not helpful.

 

[pdmishh]

Hi, pdmishh, and welcome to the forum! I usually only read for myself. In most instances, I find that the cards accurately reflect the current situation. If the cards seem to be reflecting my own thoughts and feelings, it is usually because I am upset or emotionally invested in the question I asked. In those cases, I give the cards a rest until I feel more settled, or I ask someone else to do a reading for me.

Thanks for the reply! That's interesting because I definitely notice a difference in the clarity of the reading after I've given the cards a "break". And I can relate; sometimes if I'm doing a self reading, the more emotionally involved I am, the harder it is to get a clear/direct read.

 

[Nemia]

I wouldn't call it "only". Bringing my feelings, thoughts, fears, doubts, hopes etc to the surface, allowing me to focus on them, sort them, clean them etc is a great thing. I believe that we know many things without knowing that we know them.

Let's compare it to a drawer. Lots of things are stuffed in this old drawer, I HAVE these things, but I have no control over them, I don't even know what's in there. Taking this drawer, cleaning it out, putting things into place or fixing them, and putting everything in order with clear knowledge of what I have and what I don't have - that's what I do in a tarot reading.

I don't believe that tarot cards can tell me something outside of myself. But I believe that I have via tarot access to my inner wisdom that can help me get a grip on my life. Clearing out these old drawers that we store our old emotions, traumata, dreams, vision and beliefs in...

And that's why for me, self-readings work.

I also like using the cards not only for readings but for strengthening my resolve, affirmations, meditations etc., inspired by Nina Lee Braden's excellent approach. Picking the three cards whose energies I will need in different stages of a difficult project before me - for me, that's a great way to get control over my life, focusing my energies.

I did many of Braden's exercises. Which tarot cards characterize my mother, which our relationship, and which card would advize me best how to strengthen our relationship?

Just thinking about these questions and picking the cards gives me access of layers of wisdom and knowledge expressed in wordless symbols, like dreams.

No, I can't call my feelings and thoughts "only", it sounds a bit belittling to me. Ymmv of course.

 

[crystalrose]

Sometimes the cards will reflect the entire situation. Other times, it will show your thoughts, esp if your thoughts are the most relevant thing at the moment. Maybe it's your perspective that you need to be aware of and that's why you're being shown.

I'm so-so at reading for myself. Some thing I've predicted very accurately, others not so much. But I keep doing it because the only way to get better at self-reading is to practice. Plus I've actually asked my cards how to get better at reading for myself and gotten pretty good advice.

One of the tricks for me is to not ignore the discomfort I get when I see something in the cards I don't like. If something makes me feel unsettled, it's probably the truth of the situation more often than not. Also, I make predictions that can be verified to see whether they come true or not. I usually ask about small things that I'm not crazy invested in.

Sometimes I get readings I can't make sense of & then usually what I do is switch decks. For some reason, this gives me a fresh perspective. If that fails, then yea I go ask someone else. But there's no guarantee their reading will be accurate either lol.

 

[crystalrose]

I wouldn't call it "only". Bringing my feelings, thoughts, fears, doubts, hopes etc to the surface, allowing me to focus on them, sort them, clean them etc is a great thing. I believe that we know many things without knowing that we know them.

Let's compare it to a drawer. Lots of things are stuffed in this old drawer, I HAVE these things, but I have no control over them, I don't even know what's in there. Taking this drawer, cleaning it out, putting things into place or fixing them, and putting everything in order with clear knowledge of what I have and what I don't have - that's what I do in a tarot reading.


No, I can't call my feelings and thoughts "only", it sounds a bit belittling to me. Ymmv of course.

Exactly! It's good to see exactly what your thoughts & feelings are, right there in front of you crystal clear, b/c it can provide much needed insight into yourself. And once you have that awareness, you can change if you so choose. These thoughts, fears, hopes, etc are ultimately what are influencing your actions so it's actually very very valuable information to know what is driving you in a situation. Plus call me weird, but sometimes it's cathartic when the cards reflect back to me exactly what I'm going through. Makes me feel understood, in a way.

 

[ThusSpokeZarathustra]

Yes, absolutely. I personally believe a tarot reading only reflects the ideas, feelings, thoughts, fears, and energies within my own psyche. I'm seeing what I subconsciously want to see, and connecting what I subconsciously want to connect.

For this expressed purpose, I only do readings for myself. I believe that even for those who do believe tarot readings allow access to worldly energies, having the courage to face your own psyche is essential. You must be comfortable with your own darkness if you want to be able to help others with theirs.

 

[SwordOfTruth]

Idk, my decks are very fond of telling me things I dont want to hear. It gets super frustating. I kind of think it was just mirroring my own thoughts then I'd get more enjoyable readings more often....lol! I also read for others and well if my deck was only reflecting my own thoughts then why do other people tell me I just nailed their child's personality or come back to me 3 weeks later to report that what I told them actually happened?

And when you think about it, if a deck of cards is capable of reproducing what's on your mind then why stop there? If it has that power there really isn't any reason why it couldn't also pick up the energy of the other person involved or even of events. In my mind there are really only two options here.

Tarot is entirely coincidental, so the sequence of cards is meaningless and we just interpret them according to our own subconscious.

Or

Tarot reflects the energies involved and there is an unseen and as yet unproven mechanism that causes that.

I'm with the second belief because the first option does not explain how I can tell random strangers things about themselves and also events that haven't happened yet, but later do come true. Sure I'm not right 100% of the time but an 80% hit rate kind of points to more than coincidence to me.

 

[jumptothemoonyea]

Interesting question. Does Tarot reflect our mind or external world, or external world is our mind, and is our mind ours or we are plugged onto global consciousness matrix and tarot reflects the strongest node from where we are at the moment?