Reading for yourself

[nisaba]

Is it possible that you just can't read for yourself?

I don't choose to read for myself, or for people I know very well.

When you know someone's life inside-out, you tend to have that knowledge in the foreground every time you turn over a card, and it influences what you say.

When you read for complete strangers, there is none of that foreground-chatter to get in the way of your intuition, and the reading flows much better, and is more accurate.

Every single time someone I know well asks for a reading, I refer them on to a reader I trust. These days I don't read for this reader and she doesn't read for me - we know each other too well. And I know myself pretty well, too, so even if I needed a reading I wouldn't be my first choice of reader.

 

[tarotbear]

First off, I daresay that 90% of us learn to read tarot by doing readings for ourselves on ourselves. After all, how can you read when there is no one else around? How do you practice? On yourself, of course!

That said - I believe the undercurrent of your question deals with the accuracy of reading for yourself. You may not have this happen at the beginning, but as you develop a proficiency with the cards it seems like you can read for others accurately, but you feel confused when you read yourself- cards don't make sense, the conclusions are impossible, or the whole reading is like it belongs to someone else or a different question!

I don't read for myself.

One - because I feel that I can influence the cards that will come up. Really. (Nothing like giving yourself a great reading!)

Two - I am too close to the subject to be objective. (Nothing exceeds like excess!)

Three - You will disregard negative things and focus on the best interpretation possible (Nothing like lying to yourself!)

My advice is to read for yourself only when you have to, and find someone you trust enough to give you an accurate reading the rest of the time.

 

[Sakabu]

I don't have problems reading but I use oracles a little differently. I already receive the intuition before I pick up the deck, but Tarot makes it efficient for me to pull my own emotions away from what I am feeling or picking up and helps me stare directly at it and tie up some loose ends. It's more a diagnostic thing/confirmation tool than a start from scratch reading.

When I read other people, it's basically the same too. What's helpful about the cards is that I've had moments where I might not understand what I'm feeling at all just based on a sense of self-skepticism and that's also been reflected in the cards. Sometimes it's a medical or spiritual issue that will come up which may also be saying my mind is taking a break which is why I am having weird dreams, seeing stuff visually that makes no sense, etc. Its just been extremely helpful for me this way... these past five or so years I've rarely used the cards to read others. I use oracles more for more self-health maintaining persons. You could call it energy work for me too since it also usually involves self-energy management. So I do recommend reading this way if you ever do overcome that barrier because it'll help build your confidence with yourself.

That said, when I used to read others more regularly, I have met a few psychics who could not read themselves and that could definitely be a block you've placed on your own intuition. Our spirit or self-defense mechanism tends to be smarter than us at times so it may block what isn't good for us even if we don't know that yet. That's one angle to consider.

Also, I have met people who have let spiritual tools and the 'psychic culture' take over their sense of good judgment and it has jeopardized their mental health. I mention this because when you view it from the other side, it could be your intentions or wishes are such that you are the type of person wants to develop a good working spiritual relationship with yourself, then it's possible you could be bottle-necking your own ability to read yourself as a means to manage or build that relationship in a healthy and productive manner. This is something I think you would usually kinda know? I'd think this would go away when you're ready to. I know I let my own spirit manage itself in this way instead of being an open conduit. If I'm picking up people or situations that may not just be very good for me to be picking up, I will get the sense where I will shut down in advance and get a visible stop sign that says "This situation isn't good for me. Do not proceed". Something to consider.

It could also be a confidence issue. Another way to look at it is that it may not necessarily be an inability to read yourself as much as it could be you are trying to read yourself too 'freshly'. If you're already an intuitive, you could be putting down the cards in such a way that you are rejecting your own personality and intuitive sense because you lack the confidence to see yourself objectively and so you're trying to see too much through a 'fresh lens'. This could backfire and be closing your intuition because you could be innerly rejecting what your intuition tells you. In other words, if you're already a little psychic and are skeptical about your capability to see yourself properly, then by telling yourself that you need the cards to spell it out to you, it's like saying take out my intuition, but I want the cards to spell it to me mechanically and do the talking for me. You've shot yourself in the foot when you said you don't have a good sense of self judgment, so I'm using the cards to 'fix that'. That would be counter-intuitive (har har) to you and Tarot I think, so why the cards might be reading more like 'jargon'.

It takes a bit of self examination to figure this stuff out. I would think some people might have a good sense to be able to tell what it is but maybe lack the trust to believe in themselves? These are a few reasons I could think of off the top of my head...

 

[Trogon]

I for one do read for myself. But I mostly only do a certain "type" of reading for myself. In general terms, I mostly do readings to help me with understanding myself, my abilities, my thoughts, motivations, and so forth. I use the Tarot for self-exploration I guess.

So, for example, I will be soon doing a reading for myself about a certain issue I am having at home - I'm not going to ask "what is the problem" (pretty much know that), or "what does the future hold" (this will come with my understanding) - rather, I will be asking "why do I feel the way I do?" By gaining some insight in the root of my own issues, I will gain insight in how to deal with those feelings and move ahead. Now, I will also be doing a reading for myself soon to help me with moving back into using the Tarot and picking up my spiritual journey (after a hiatus of a few years) - I will be doing a reading on what some of the root causes of my dropping it were, where I am now, and what I need to keep in mind as I move forward.

I find that the Tarot is a very useful tool for self-exploration. A way to focus myself in much the same way as meditating. And, in fact, I generally combine my Tarot readings for myself with meditations on what lessons I have learned (or need to learn) from the reading.

Do I always "get" the reading right away? Not always. Sometimes it may take some time and maybe even another reading (or more meditation) to help me clarify what it is I need to know. Sometimes, I do get like you and feel blocked regarding myself. In such a case, I make good notes of what cards I pulled, what the reading was about and any first impressions I might have had. Then, as Soaring Eagle suggests above, I'll revisit it later on.

Another type of self-reading I used to do on a fairly regular basis is a 3-card daily reading about what challenges I might face and what lessons to learn through the day. I've also done very good readings (using a layout I designed) for trainer-trainee relations when I had been assigned to train a new dispatcher (I've been a police dispatcher for 25+ years now).

One important thing that I do feel I should mention is that I do keep my self-readings relatively simple. I do not use a Celtic Cross spread for myself (in fact I hardly use it at all). Rather the majority of my self-readings use only 1, 3 or 5 cards. I find that using shorter spreads, especially three-card spreads (which I find to be extremely adaptable), helps me to focus on the real heart of the matter. Back when I was first starting out, I almost completely discouraged myself by trying to use the CC for self readings. It was much too complex for me as a beginner and was extremely confusing for self-readings.

Perusing the "Tarot Spreads" forums (http://www.tarotforum.net/forumdisplay.php?f=56) will get you some very good suggestions on easy to use spreads for personal growth and other self-readings. You can also see a lot of variations on 3 and 5-card spreads which should help you as well. As I said, 3-card spreads are very adaptable - let's say you want to do a reading about ... ... how to do readings for yourself! You could do it in a small pyramid, 1 card at the top, 2nd below to the left, third below to the right. 1st card; Basis of the blockage - what the blockage is. 2nd card; perhaps past influences (or maybe outside influences if you think there might be some). 3rd card; an aspect to work on so you can move forward.

As you can see, that would be much simpler to work with, easier to interpret and much easier for you to learn from. Such a 3-card reading can also be repeated more often, with excellent results, than a 10 or (in some cases) 11-card Celtic Cross. Such a reading can be repeated every few weeks, or even weekly, as you move forward and begin to work through the blockages. As with any Tarot reading (and as others have already mentioned), repeating the same reading too often may simply result in almost identical meanings, or in you forcing the cards to give the answer you want. However, as you work with the Tarot and connect with it more and become more in tune to yourself, you will find that you can repeat a reading like the one above as you progress and you may find it helping you to move on to other steps.

The hardest part in all of this is just learning to be objective about yourself. None of us is perfect, but even so, there is still strength and goodness in us too. I suspect that you may have started picking up the Tarot with some idea of improving yourself and/or helping others. Don't give up on that ... the Tarot is a wonderful tool to allow us to do just that. You just have to learn to listen to it.

If I may make the suggestion, if you can afford some $8 Aus., I highly recommend the Aeclectic Tarot "Tarot Spreads" e-book; http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/ebooks/spreads.shtml -- There is also the "Personal Growth Spreads" e-book for about $6 Aus.; http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/ebooks/personal_growth_spreads.shtml -- In fact, there are a few other e-books available for VERY reasonable prices from A.T.; http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/ebooks/ You'll get some extremely useful Tarot spreads and you'll be supporting the AT community - and no, I don't get anything from these books (though I did contribute one spread) - I just think they are excellent sources and excellent values.

I do hope this, rather over-long, reply has helped. Believe it or not, it has helped me. Every time you ask a question, you learn. Every time you answer a question, you learn even more. I look forward to your answers ...

 

[Trogon]

Another thought ...

Another thought on this topic occurred to me while I was sleeping last night. You might also want to try some different decks for your self-readings. It may be that your spirit guide, or your intuition, or whatever, just wants to have a deck which you can dedicate to reading only for yourself. Just a thought. (And at least this post was short! )

[Edit to add;] Just thought of something else as I was reading the other replies ... you can also take your reading and post it in the "Your Readings" forum; http://www.tarotforum.net/forumdisplay.php?f=17 - you could get probably get some objective feedback to your own interpretation of the reading.

 

[Vixxia]

One thing you could try is a tip I got from Mark McElroy's book 'An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Tarot'. He says that when reading for yourself and worrying about being objective enough that you should ask yourself 'what is the best possible interpretation of these cards?' and then 'what is the worst possible interpretation of these cards?', and then ask yourself what would be the interpretation that would fall mid-way between those two extremes. It's much more likely to be objective that way.
As for your feeling flustered by the cards, maybe the spreads you've been using are too large or complicated? If you're doing a lot of Celtic Crosses or similar, try some three-card spreads, or at most the Minor/Little Cross. That way you won't have lots of images and meanings vying for your attention, and the meaning as a whole will have a better chance to stand out.
Let us know how you get on if you decide to continue reading for yourself

 

[poivre]

What do you guys think? Is it possible to truly not be able to efficiently read for yourself?

I'm unhappy with the readings for myself but...
if I write them down and go back to them a week to a
month later, I can see what I was trying to explain to myself!
Sometimes the reading were quite accurate but just couldn't
understand it at the time...because I was living it.

The other day we had an issue at work.
We had a break so for fun I read for a lady. The next
morning when I went to work, the uproar began.
I had went to get coffee the day before and the three coworkers got
into an argument and it was over before I got back and I knew nothing
about it.
In the reading, the issue was all there and I didn't know a thing until
I thought about it...and in hind sight...the reading
was telling me what went on when I left for coffee!

Sometimes or a lot of the time it is just hard to
talk and listen to yourself at the same time!

 

[GryffinSong]

...I use the Tarot for self-exploration I guess...

This. I read for myself all the time, but not at all for predictive purposes. I read to get clearer on my motivations, or on what's bothering me, or on areas for personal growth. I read to tickle my intuition into giving up some of my subconscious thoughts, fears, hopes, and inspirations. This kind of reading is wonderful for oneself.

I can see where you'd find predictive readings difficult for yourself, but quite frankly I don't tend to read that way at all. I figure the future will take care of itself if I'm doing the best that I can. And the cards can help me do the best I can.

 

[VGimlet]

I also am okay reading for myself, but I do more of a 'what do I need to know about today' sort of a thing. I rarely read about big issues.

I can't read at all for my husband. He, as a non-tarot reader, can read better for himself than I can. So I avoid it.

Like Nisaba, I read better for people I don't know. When I read for an acquaintance or stranger the cards and my inutition kind of do their thing. When I'm reading for family and friends I have to make sure I'm separating my personal knowledge about them from the cards and intuition combo. I feel that kind of stifles the whole reading sometimes. Not sure if that even makes sense, LOL.

 

[JCSeawright]

I hope this is the right place to post this!

Alright, so I have a question. I tried searching the forum but an error kept popping up so I'm just going to post it. I'm sure it's been asked before

Is it possible that you just can't read for yourself?

I can read for others just fine, the people who I read for in person keep coming back because my readings are accurate enough. But when it comes to reading for myself, I'm either too impatient or mentally blocked to it. I always end up getting flustered by the cards, they never make sense together and then I end up getting frustrated. Or all I see is happiness and rainbows, but I know it's because that's what I want to see.

I go get my cards read by a close family friend who is incredible at what she does once a month and everything she says happens. And nothing she ever says is even near the ballpark when it comes to my personal readings.

So I've come to the conclusion that I can't read for myself. I can read for those close to me, for strangers, even ABOUT other people. But other than that...I just draw a blank and get angry because nothing makes sense. I'm sure all of you can relate to a time when the cards just didn't make sense and your mind was just a jumble of thoughts when you looked at them.

What do you guys think? Is it possible to truly not be able to efficiently read for yourself?

Its more difficult, i agree. Ive learned though that only a few things can i count on to tell me anything pertaining to the 'future' chariot+tower = i need to get my butt to a mechanic, OR im going to have an emotional break down (its almost always the dang car!)

or empress+9 of swords... my mother is going to drive me nuts today lol

but on a serious note i try to ask more for advice than anything and ive found it better to have someone else who i trust read for me who doesnt know me as the judgement isnt clouded, i tend to see in my cards what i want to see and or not see what i dont want to see. I suggest if your wanting advice out of cards to buy an oracle deck, they are IMO very helpful at figuring out issues and helping you on a positive path.