Testing the cards

[illumine]

Hi guys,

I'm on a roll with my posts.

I have a weird feeling the cards are not being...ahem, honest with me. It could be that because I badgered them about the same situation over and over and they just refuse to work. But lately, they've been making sense and I really pick up on things....but I can't shake off the feeling that I'm being fooled. I keep getting happy cards about an unhappy situation, card combinations that look like oppositions (sun + 5 of pentacles---hot and cold, in RW deck). I know I'm only a beginner and this could just be a matter of me NOT GETTING IT.

Can I test the cards? By testing I mean, say, asking a question about the past and seeing if the cards pick up on it? Or asking "how do I feel right now"...there are probably better ways of doing this....has anyone tried? I need to see if they are attuned to me. I read some suggestions on sleeping with them under the pillow? Purifying them, etc.

--muchas gracias. Illumine.

 

[nisaba]

I have a weird feeling the cards are not being...ahem, honest with me. It could be that because I badgered them about the same situation over and over and they just refuse to work.

Very likely. If you keep asking the same stuff, all that tells your deck is that you don't believe it. So why, if you don't believe it, should it give you accurate answers? It might as well give it the nonsense you obviously expect from it.

But lately, they've been making sense and I really pick up on things....but I can't shake off the feeling that I'm being fooled. I keep getting happy cards about an unhappy situation,

Encouragement? "this too will pass, and going through this experience will lead to better things"?

card combinations that look like oppositions (sun + 5 of pentacles---hot and cold, in RW deck).
The Sun is having the resources, the Five Pentacles is a warning that you need to be careful with the resources you have - not opposition at all, just good, sensible advice.

Can I test the cards? By testing I mean, say, asking a question about the past and seeing if the cards pick up on it?

You can test a maths professor, too, by asking him what two times five is. Or an artist, by asking them what colour your tee-shirt is. Don't expect either of them to be impressed, or to give you accurate answers.

there are probably better ways of doing this....has anyone tried? I need to see if they are attuned to me. I read some suggestions on sleeping with them under the pillow? Purifying them, etc.

<sigh> They don't ha ve to be "attuned to you". I have 73 decks, some of which I use very rarely. They work. I just did a reading exchange with one of our very own, where I used a brand-new deck straight out of the box that I hadn't even shuffled or looked at (and knew I wouldn't like before I bought it, but that's another story), and it was so accurate and cut so close to the bone that she gave me her feedback in a PM, outside of the thread.

What you're experiencing is not a problem with the deck (after all, if it is made of cardboard and has little pictures on each card, there isn't a problem), but a crisis of your own confidence.

You need to work on your own trust issues here - then everything will fall into place for you.

 

[Nineveh]

Hi guys,

I'm on a roll with my posts.

I have a weird feeling the cards are not being...ahem, honest with me. It could be that because I badgered them about the same situation over and over and they just refuse to work. But lately, they've been making sense and I really pick up on things....but I can't shake off the feeling that I'm being fooled. I keep getting happy cards about an unhappy situation, card combinations that look like oppositions (sun + 5 of pentacles---hot and cold, in RW deck). I know I'm only a beginner and this could just be a matter of me NOT GETTING IT.

Can I test the cards? By testing I mean, say, asking a question about the past and seeing if the cards pick up on it? Or asking "how do I feel right now"...there are probably better ways of doing this....has anyone tried? I need to see if they are attuned to me. I read some suggestions on sleeping with them under the pillow? Purifying them, etc.

--muchas gracias. Illumine.

If you feel as if you've exhausted the cards you should read for someone else. Try someone who you can trust...who won't deny the outcome. I would do this for a few more times before I start to read for myself again just for the sake of comfort/confidence.

 

[illumine]

73 decks......DAMN. way to go.

Yes, I tried reading for someone else and it went well, I *think*---it made sense to them and rang true.

 

[shadowdancer]

you will on a regular occasion get what is commonly deemed a 'happy' card in an obstacle position, and by the same token could get a 'difficult' card in a position indicating the way forward. And yep some pairings really make you throw a loop

It has happened to me, and you head scratch a bit. Does it mean there is NO way forward, or there are NO obstacles? mmm... not always.

I have just been re-reading my James Ricklef book and he reminds me to look at the fine detail in the card. Is there a gesture or something that may indicate the subtely of the problem or obstacle, even though overall the card is usually positive?

Example: Lovers card is usually an okay one. Yet I have had this appear a few times for underlying issues or obstacles. With one particular deck (Deirdre of Sorrows) it shows one person looking rather reticent to accept the extended hand of another. That could be where the obstacle is, and is where I would need to really look at one aspect of the card to understand this tiny gesture is the key, not the fact it is the Lovers card and all the lovely key phrases that may be associated with it.

This is just a quick example which I have found works for me. Others may come in with other views.

Or, is it a case of breaking down the numerology aspect and using those associations to delve deeper?

I think you may have hit the nail on the head though. If you have asked the same thing over and over you are going to become confused. The cards may be trying to not so tactfully tell you to move on to a different area Or ask different questions around the issue.

Sleeping with them under your pillow will make no difference (IMO) but may lead to a sleepless night because you were uncomfortable, and possibly some slightly dishevelled cards when you retrieve them.

I certainly wouldn't want to test the cards. If you ask a daft question you may get the daft answer and what would that have proved? If anything it may make you doubt yourself more, or doubt the cards even more. What a shame to risk affecting what could be a corking relationship between you both

Davina

 

[shadowdancer]

Don't forget, if you get readings you can't make head nor tail of you do have the readings forum to throw them open for discussion. It is important you give your take first and why, then see what others come up with. YOu may find you were on the mark already and have nothing to worry about.

Otherwise you may find when you get this difficult ones which seem out of place, another viewpoint or opinion may make you see something in the card that you had overlooked. It is great when you get those 'eureka' moments, and they really do stay with you and help you should similar cards make similar appearances in the future.

Davina

 

[nisaba]

73 decks......DAMN. way to go.

<cackle> You think that's special? Let me introduce you to Gregory's collection ... <evil grin>

 

[adamssa]

Slight tangent here...But I too keep getting "happy" cards about an unhappy situation. I have been periodically (every few months) asking the cards about different elements of the same very unhappy situation for awhile now. The cards consistently tell me it will work out. Since the cards are SO consistent, I am assuming that I am the one misreading the situation. Maybe this is the case with you, if it is happening over and over again?

 

[illumine]

hey adamssa,

yea, that's pretty much what i feel is happening....and nothing "happy" is occuring so i'm waiting for these cards to kick into the real life but they don't. but as shadowdancer said, there are subtle notes to each card...like the 9 of pentacles showed up alot. i thought it was a nice card, flourishing, grand, strong...but the more i looked at it, the more the richness of the card got on my nerves: in my RW deck, the lush garden behind the woman became sort of stoic, a done deal, it's not growing anymore, it's developed and cultivated. Her independence became loneliness, even if she's finding comfort in it, the bird on her glove her only friend.

i guess look to the flipside of happiness and the answer may be there. ?

 

[illumine]

nisaba.....! wooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwww. okay, yea, you've got nothing there in comparison to Gregory's!