Issues of Scale and Misinterpretation

[girlville]

Over the course of few readings I have noticed a couple of trends. First, I ask big life altering questions and I interpret my outcomes in big life altering ways only to realize the next day (retrospectively) that maybe the tarot was commenting on something mundane. A good example of this is the 8 of wands - rapid movement. I'm thinking, per my question, "Yes! Finally someone is reading my manuscript" and the next day I think "I wonder if it simply represented Liz dropping in unexpectedly to ask how my writing is going."

The second trend I notice in my readings is extraneous information. A couple of days ago I had an outcome combination I became certain (intuition) represented an affair, the Devil and the 5 of pentacles. It was a question regarding my own relationship. The following day I had (a very emotional) breakfast with a friend only to learn her husband of 11 years had admitted an affair and her marriage was over. Now I'm not sure it was about me at all.

I wonder about how to stop/identify this kind of misinterpretation (if you think it is misinterpretation). How do seasoned readers gage the weight and trajectory of an answer?

 

[REsubmerged]

This happens to be frequently.

But I've learned that if you ask a general question or no question at all, you'll get a general answer.

It could also be that your mind is focused on your manuscript and it's hard to gain perspective.

Maybe be more specific with your questions...

 

[girlville]

Good Questions/Bad Questions

This happens to be frequently.

But I've learned that if you ask a general question or no question at all, you'll get a general answer.

It could also be that your mind is focused on your manuscript and it's hard to gain perspective.

Maybe be more specific with your questions...

Since you mention the quality of the question, can you give me an example of a bad question and then the improved version. I know that questions shouldn't be yes or no. I also know that timing is tricky. Do you specify timeframes as a matter of course? i.e. 'what will happen with X in the next 3 months?' or do you have some other technique.

 

[REsubmerged]

Yes, I never just say outcome. I always put a time frame on it.

I'm not against yes /no questions. I love them.

Instead of saying: "how does X feel about me? "
Ask : "does X have romantic feelings towards me?

Because I have associations with each card from doing so many readings over the past several years, I will have certain cards in mind that it's want to see in a given question. So for the question I gave in my example, I'd want to see the Ace of Cups, Knight of Cups, or 3 of Cups. Don't want to see pentacles or swords. Maybe the Wheel of Fortune would say he's developing feelings...


Another thing is I tend to stay away from choosing one card for answers or positions. I draw 2-3 gives context and depth , it makes answers less ambiguous

 

[girlville]

Yes, I never just say outcome. I always put a time frame on it.

I'm not against yes /no questions. I love them.

Instead of saying: "how does X feel about me? "
Ask : "does X have romantic feelings towards me?

Because I have associations with each card from doing so many readings over the past several years, I will have certain cards in mind that it's want to see in a given question. So for the question I gave in my example, I'd want to see the Ace of Cups, Knight of Cups, or 3 of Cups. Don't want to see pentacles or swords. Maybe the Wheel of Fortune would say he's developing feelings...


Another thing is I tend to stay away from choosing one card for answers or positions. I draw 2-3 gives context and depth , it makes answers less ambiguous

Thanks for your help. And thanks for mentioning that you expect (hope for) certain cards to answer certain questions. I can see the start of this impulse when I read, I know it's natural and comes with experience, but also worry about influencing outcomes. After all who really knows what energies are at work here.

 

[Starri Knytes]

It sounds like you may not be completely zero'd in on, or focused on your question.

You haven't really told us anything about your process. How do you prepare for a reading? Do you meditate, light candles?

How do you focus in on the question? Do you search for a special spread that addresses your issue, do you write your own questions?

Do you read in a designated area that is free of distractions?

If you don't know what energies are at work, who are you asking to assist in bringing forth the answers?

I apologize if that seems like a lot of questions, but tarot is more than just throwing down cards and assigning a meaning. If the cards seem to be general, perhaps your posture or commitment to reading is to casual/void of the proper respect.

If you don't mind sharing a little more info perhaps we can work together to figure out where the problem lies.

Bright and Magical Blessings
Starri

 

[rwcarter]

Over the course of few readings I have noticed a couple of trends. First, I ask big life altering questions and I interpret my outcomes in big life altering ways only to realize the next day (retrospectively) that maybe the tarot was commenting on something mundane. A good example of this is the 8 of wands - rapid movement. I'm thinking, per my question, "Yes! Finally someone is reading my manuscript" and the next day I think "I wonder if it simply represented Liz dropping in unexpectedly to ask how my writing is going."

Umm, how do you know it wasn't about someone reading your manuscript? Just because someone read it yesterday doesn't mean that they're going to contact you today. It could take weeks before you find out that a particular company is interested in your manuscript.

The second trend I notice in my readings is extraneous information. A couple of days ago I had an outcome combination I became certain (intuition) represented an affair, the Devil and the 5 of pentacles. It was a question regarding my own relationship. The following day I had (a very emotional) breakfast with a friend only to learn her husband of 11 years had admitted an affair and her marriage was over. Now I'm not sure it was about me at all.

Nothing can be said to counter a reader's intuitive flash, but affair isn't the first thing I would think of when seeing Devil and 5P. Are there other interpretations can you can think of for that combination of cards that answers the question you asked?

I wonder about how to stop/identify this kind of misinterpretation (if you think it is misinterpretation). How do seasoned readers gage the weight and trajectory of an answer?

You have to make sure you're not just seeing what you want to see in the cards. When you arrive at an interpretation ask yourself if you would give that interpretation to a stranger for whom you were reading. Of course you know more about situations concerning you that you read about, but there is such a thing as knowing too much to allow yourself to be objective about what you're seeing in the cards. Some people aren't able to read for themselves since they can't remain objective about what they see.

Rodney

 

[gregory]

You have to make sure you're not just seeing what you want to see in the cards. When you arrive at an interpretation ask yourself if you would give that interpretation to a stranger for whom you were reading. Of course you know more about situations concerning you that you read about, but there is such a thing as knowing too much to allow yourself to be objective about what you're seeing in the cards. Some people aren't able to read for themselves since they can't remain objective about what they see.

Rodney

This - very much. I don't generally read for myself for that very reason. If I DO/when I DID, I would have to remind myself very firmly that even if my friend had suddenly made a ghastly discovery - I had NOT been reading about her, so that has NOTHING to do with the cards I'd drawn.

It's like reading for a friend when you know her man has been seeing someone else - one's attitude colours what one sees and one WILL be "tempted" to see that he is a bounder and she should dump him. But the cards MAY actually explain what has been happening and how it can be fixed. We won't see that, because we KNOW better, and we know - as friends - what she "should" do - and we will see in the cards what we would tell her even without them. But that may not be at all what they show - if we can disengage from our own feelings - which yes, is hard to do.