MandMaud
I'm not interested (in this thread) in how people prepare to read, incense or rituals or the cloth or shuffling method. I'm not talking about whether you need to be "in touch", in the right frame of mind, to read accurately or wholesomely. I'm talking to anyone who does find they need to be, and my question is about when you can't.
Being tuned in, or not being. Actually it's not a yes/no, an on/off, black/white thing (in my experience). But the degree to which you're tuned in and how it affects the reading - that's my theme.
When I'm not feeling very "settled" I find, of course, it's harder to centre and reach that stillness that I'm calling tuned in. That goes without saying. I'd like to say that I do meditate and have enough experience of tuning in to talk about it; I'm a healer (wondering whether to try and make some living from it, but that's another question entirely) and so on. So I am not asking for the basics, find a comfy place to sit and turn the phone off, focus on a gentle scene in your mind... y'know.
Looks like I'm having trouble getting to the point. Bear with me. This waffling is how I find the point.
For example: I may sit quiet a minute or seven, consider aspects of the subject, and begin shuffling, which settles me further, and feel very well tuned in. Then while deciding how to lay down the cards, I am distracted by the positioning and find I've put the spread on the table while I wasn't at all focused on the subject of the reading. Or the other way, I keep slipping in and out of tuned-in-ness during the shuffle, but feel/hear the right connection as I set the cards out and begin to read them. Or sometimes I don't feel really connected until I'm gathering them up afterwards to shuffle and put away.
Part 1 of my question is whether you get this.
Part 2 is whether, if this happens to you, you can still trust the reading. I don't trust myself to be finding a reliable truth if this has happened while I read.
Part 3 is what to do about it. Less coffee and more meditation isn't really what I mean...
I have wondered whether I just should be reading (trying to read) less often. But I don't even get the cards out every day. Beginning to think about trying Lenormand, now I've found out that's for everyday, mundane subjects whereas tarot can get deeper. It's hard to practice since my life isn't eventful and the few events that grab my attention are repetitive (the household finances and my son's teen tempers, rarely anything else). Maybe I'm trying to get a "deep, important" vibe going for things that aren't deep or important.
I have also wondered whether I ought to be bothering at all, or maybe this is signalling that I'm wasting my time. I know my mother's take on it would have been that I subconsciously don't really want to connect.
But I have found that the sense of being totally disconnected (from everything - the world, and the world-beyond or whatever you call it, and people) is an indication that there's extra "stuff" stirring, extra energies. For example it may happen for a few days and later I hear that a lot of significant stuff was going on astrologically at that time. Etc. I have my theories on that (which is yet another thread ).
I'll be very interested in your thoughts on this and your own experiences.
ps. When I came here to ask this, I found Cidel Willow's and thought it was the same question http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=214402 ... but mine's not about self-consciousness, or the consciousness of being inexperienced (or inexpert). I decided mine is different enough to merit a different thread. Sorry if you don't think so too.
And I hope I've got it in the right forum.
Being tuned in, or not being. Actually it's not a yes/no, an on/off, black/white thing (in my experience). But the degree to which you're tuned in and how it affects the reading - that's my theme.
When I'm not feeling very "settled" I find, of course, it's harder to centre and reach that stillness that I'm calling tuned in. That goes without saying. I'd like to say that I do meditate and have enough experience of tuning in to talk about it; I'm a healer (wondering whether to try and make some living from it, but that's another question entirely) and so on. So I am not asking for the basics, find a comfy place to sit and turn the phone off, focus on a gentle scene in your mind... y'know.
Looks like I'm having trouble getting to the point. Bear with me. This waffling is how I find the point.
For example: I may sit quiet a minute or seven, consider aspects of the subject, and begin shuffling, which settles me further, and feel very well tuned in. Then while deciding how to lay down the cards, I am distracted by the positioning and find I've put the spread on the table while I wasn't at all focused on the subject of the reading. Or the other way, I keep slipping in and out of tuned-in-ness during the shuffle, but feel/hear the right connection as I set the cards out and begin to read them. Or sometimes I don't feel really connected until I'm gathering them up afterwards to shuffle and put away.
Part 1 of my question is whether you get this.
Part 2 is whether, if this happens to you, you can still trust the reading. I don't trust myself to be finding a reliable truth if this has happened while I read.
Part 3 is what to do about it. Less coffee and more meditation isn't really what I mean...
I have wondered whether I just should be reading (trying to read) less often. But I don't even get the cards out every day. Beginning to think about trying Lenormand, now I've found out that's for everyday, mundane subjects whereas tarot can get deeper. It's hard to practice since my life isn't eventful and the few events that grab my attention are repetitive (the household finances and my son's teen tempers, rarely anything else). Maybe I'm trying to get a "deep, important" vibe going for things that aren't deep or important.
I have also wondered whether I ought to be bothering at all, or maybe this is signalling that I'm wasting my time. I know my mother's take on it would have been that I subconsciously don't really want to connect.
But I have found that the sense of being totally disconnected (from everything - the world, and the world-beyond or whatever you call it, and people) is an indication that there's extra "stuff" stirring, extra energies. For example it may happen for a few days and later I hear that a lot of significant stuff was going on astrologically at that time. Etc. I have my theories on that (which is yet another thread ).
I'll be very interested in your thoughts on this and your own experiences.
ps. When I came here to ask this, I found Cidel Willow's and thought it was the same question http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=214402 ... but mine's not about self-consciousness, or the consciousness of being inexperienced (or inexpert). I decided mine is different enough to merit a different thread. Sorry if you don't think so too.
And I hope I've got it in the right forum.