GoddessArtemis said:
Let me rephrase my last post, in response to MercyMe's response. The questions were about Me, but in relation to someone else, in a romantic situation. Basically, the opposing outcomes have been either: yes, things will work out between you two in the end; or no, forget it, it will never work.
Oh, but those are both true given the right set of actions/circumstances. Because even if you do X, Y, and Z perfectly, the relationship is made up of two people and given your partner's responses and actions and feelings, anything can happen. Can things work out between you and your partner? Sure they can. Will they? I don't think ANY tarot reading can answer that. I think outcomes that depend on other people's actions are sketchy at best. They can predict *likely* actions based on feelings and responses in the past and present, but absolute outcomes? No.
Tarot is presenting a set of potential scenarios. IF you do this and your partner does that THEN the outcome is (fill in the blank). However, if you choose this your partner may decide to do that instead and then you'll end up with (fill in the blank). Where relationships are concerned there really is no definitive "outcome" because relationships are as alive and changeable as the people in them. Tarot relationship spreads are most useful for the querant when she desires to look at all the angles, to examine things she may not have thought of, to uncover her own hidden desires or agenda. They help assess the relationship and help us to sort through our own thoughts and feelings and goals concerning the other person and the relationship.
Given that, I'm often confused as to how two such separate outcomes can co-exist. In reality, they cannot.
I think "outcomes" where predicting what other people will or won't do are tenuous at best. And what does it mean, anyway, when one says "Yes, this relationship will work out." Does it mean you stay together and are therefore technically in a relationship but unhappy? Or does it mean you will work out your differences and part on amicable terms and remain friends forever? The relationship in both scenarios "worked out," although maybe not in the way you had envisioned. So yes, both outcomes can co-exist. It depends on what you mean by "relationship" and "worked out."
I'm not doubting the readers' abilties; the question here is more the Tarot itself and how reliable it is. I've been studying for nearly 20 years, on/off, and even I get mixed results myself. What could that mean?
I think it is about the readers' abilities, though. Which is not to say anyone read the cards "wrong." I think in order to get the most from a reading, especially a relationship reading, the reader and querant need to be very clear about what they are seeing/thinking. This means talking. What exactly *does* a positive outcome mean? What would you like to see happen? Given the rest of the spread and the cards and their positions and the thoughts and feelings you've had during the reading, does it seem likely that the outcome of "all's well that end's well" is truly accurate? Or could that glowing card be pointing to a different kind of ending, still positive, but different than you'd been hoping or imagining? Rapport. Discussion. If the reader is not skilled at asking pointed questions or guiding the querant into this type of possibilities-thinking, the reading may not be as rich and meaningful as it could have been. Is it the cards' fault or the reader's?
~Mercy