What was your worst Tarot reading ever

Darkmage

Some of my friends read cards, too. We'll swap readings, esp. after a couple of drinks. If we're off the mark, we'll know immediately--and if someone's incompetent, we'll find that out PDQ.

I've had a couple of bad readings through here. No negativity or being cursed or anything, just way off the mark. *shrug* It happens. No one bats 1000.

The worst reading I ever got was when I was a young teenager. I must have been 13? or so. This palmist gave me a free reading because I helped bus her table during lunch at some street fair. She told me I'd be married at 20 (didn't happen), have four kids (I can't have kids, thank God, but the irony is most of my long term relationships have come from sons that were part of batches of four kids!), travel the world (to some extent this is true) and I'd be very wealthy. Well wealthy never happened, at least in the time frame she gave. And then she proceeded to tell me that my hobbies at the time were Devil worship. My mother heard the whole thing--we had a great laugh at her expense on the drive home. Thing was, I was already reading Tarot by that time and had been for a couple of years, and I could probably have given a better reading with my extremely limited knowledge at the time.

I don't remember the reader's name. She's probably dead by now as she was elderly then. I do remember she was a joke of the first order, though.
 

ana luisa

My worst tarot reading was actually a non-reading. I was at a friend's house where a lady (an old friend of the family) was giving Lenormand readings to many. She seemed quite knowledgeable and the sitters were all very impressed. When I asked her whether she could do a reading for me, she looked me up and down and said: No, I can't read for you. And I believe nobody should. Trust me.
Needless to say, I was VERY intrigued, upset AND worried. Since I've joined AT, I've had many great readings from friendly and wonderful people here which comes to prove that this lady didn't really know what she was saying. :D
 

emilygrace

I had a really bad reading back in August.

It took place in the botanica next door to my apartment building. As someone who both just moved into the neighborhood and who practices both hoodoo and the Catholic faith, I decided to take a look and check out their oils and novena candles. Well, at the time I was specifically looking for a Saint Martha candle, and the only one they had was for the "black Saint Martha", the voodoo Lwa named Lubana who has absolutely nothing to do with hoodoo. Many botanicas put her candles and statues in stock, mistakingly assuming that she's the same St. Martha who's used in hoodoo- she isn't. But anyway, I was already annoyed enough with this major league screw up, so I figured I'd "test" the owners of the shop by asking what kind of offerings St. Martha likes. The male employee, a large Dominican-American man wearing a snapback, then said, "Well, she likes candles." Um, no sh*t. I was asking about offerings, stupid. Anyway, he then coerced me into having my cards read by the woman who owns the store, a young Dominican woman who looked to be barely over fourteen (she was actually a lot older though). He said if I paid $20 to have my cards read, he would "bless" my candle for free. I went with it and quickly regretted it.

The woman, dressed in a t shirt and jeans, then wrapped some absurd red cloth around her head, touched a rock and a couple of saint candles, and then proceeded to give me a reading with the Baraja Española, a Spanish fortune telling deck of forty cards. As she read for me, she seemed like she honestly didn't know what she was doing. I kept asking her questions, and instead of reshuffling and drawing more cards, she kept staring at the ones she had already drawn, looking for answers there. First she asked me my then-partner's name, and when she heard his very heavily hispanic name (like his name is really, really as hispanic as it gets), she automatically claimed that he was "immune" to brujeria from me and that he had an ex who was already working on him. She then said that because I'm clearly not hispanic, that my magic wouldn't be strong enough and that there was no chance. It's as if she believed that only hispanic people can do magic successfully. What a crock of poop. When I asked her if there were going to be other men in my life, since I supposedly had zero chance with this one, she pointed to the two court cards she had already drawn earlier and said, "Yes there will be others" with a smirk on her face.

I then left with my "blessed" candle. Honestly I think that all they did was rub it with their mass produced oil and then BAM threw some glitter on it. I never went back into that store, even though I have to walk past it every day.
 

Smiling

Fun thread, and I'm getting a lot of laughs here :D because some of it is so fitting to my experiences, too.

I've had some memorable bad readings! I remember there was one reader (who came recommended) and who claimed to be a medium and clairvoyant. In response to my question about what she saw re: a new job I had interviewed for, she began this routine of just staring off silently into space, then would say every few minutes "Hold on, hold on, it's coming in more clearly now..." and then would stare off again into space for another few minutes. After about 10 minutes of this, she finally came back into focus to look me in the eyes, and said "ok what I got is a Yes, Yes, you will get this job". And that was pretty much all she had to tell me! I kinda rolled my eyes at this point and shook my head, and decided to end the reading since it became obvious to me that she was just interested in collecting my payment!

And no, I did not get the job that I had asked her about. :rolleyes:
 

EmpressArwen

My worst reading...

A pervy guy who wanted to talk about my sex life. He kept calling me "Jacelyn"??? He said, "Jacelyn, you are very promiscious and will end up with stds." Um...I had only had sex with one person and even THAT had been 2 years before the reading. He kept askng me "Why do I get the idea that you are VERY adventurous in bed." Um...again ONE person...not adventurous.

Oh and my question was "How does my financial future look?" Maybe he thought I should be a prostitute?

As I was leaving, he asked if he could hug me so that he could soak up my vibrant sexual energy. Again...no sex in my life at this time at all. I said no and walked out...and oops, I forgot to pay. I later told the shop owner. He was appalled and never invited the guy back to read there again.

And hooray...still std free 17 years later. what a dick!
 

Padma

My worst reading...

A pervy guy who wanted to talk about my sex life. He kept calling me "Jacelyn"??? He said, "Jacelyn, you are very promiscious and will end up with stds." Um...I had only had sex with one person and even THAT had been 2 years before the reading. He kept askng me "Why do I get the idea that you are VERY adventurous in bed." Um...again ONE person...not adventurous.

Oh and my question was "How does my financial future look?" Maybe he thought I should be a prostitute?

As I was leaving, he asked if he could hug me so that he could soak up my vibrant sexual energy. Again...no sex in my life at this time at all. I said no and walked out...and oops, I forgot to pay. I later told the shop owner. He was appalled and never invited the guy back to read there again.

And hooray...still std free 17 years later. what a dick!

Apparently, he was reading his own cards, not yours! :bugeyed:
 

Smiling

Since I realize my last story was more about a bad psychic, not tarot reading, here's another story that actually has to do with a bad Tarot reading :D


I was always curious about psychic storefronts, the type where you see the sign outside advertising 'Tarot Card Readings for $10', etc. There are a few spread out around where I live, but growing up I'd heard and read so much negative feedback, and picking up too that it didn't feel right, I never went inside any of the shops. But all along, I was reading tarot for myself and friends, and remained curious.

Then I began working a new job in an area that was, for some reason, packed with these psychic storefronts. There was one in particular that I passed every day on my way home. My curiosity finally got the best of me, and I decided to go in and see what it was all about.

I stepped into a cramped, dark entrance and was met by a woman who motioned for me to sit in this velvet-covered chair by a small, circular reading table. As she sat across from me and asked me my question, she began to spread out a few cards. I can't remember what my question was, or even which deck she was using. But I do remember feeling like something was really off, since she felt to me very calculated, like she was sizing me up. I know I was also on the defensive, and I was checking her out as well!

At some point during her reading, she began to talk in a way that sounded rehearsed, about how I had a lot of negativity around me, and how she could help me remove it. Did I want her to help me, she asked? No, I shook my head, and all my walls went up. She asked me again, but realized that I wasn't buying into it, and the reading ended at that point.

So yes, a wasted $10, but my curiosity satisfied, I guess!:p

ETA: the 'psychic' storefronts I'm referring to have nothing to do with reputable New Age shops. I think one of the main agendas of these 'psychic' storefronts is to lure you in with the promise of a cheap reading, to then snag you into a moneymaking scam.
Then there are New Age shops, which are real stores that may also sell crystals and various items like books, jewelry, etc. and may even have authentic tarot readers available by appointment. I have gotten tarot and rune readings at 2 New Age shops, and they were both on target, authentic and reasonably priced. And at no point did they mention 'negativity that they could help me remove if I paid them more money'!
 

McFaire

These anecdotes are priceless! I know at the time in some cases they were quite distressing, but oh do they make great stories in hindsight!

I'm stunned that a paid reader would whip out a book during a reading. And in Disa's case, hand it to the querent??!! Oh my my. Yes, priceless.
 

Cocobird55

My worst reading was at a Psychic Fair. When I told the reader that I also read, she gave me a five minute lecture on why that never works. The readings I do for myself are always clear and helpful.

For the rest of the reading she was condescending, and the whole experience was unpleasant.
 

Holly doll

I've worked on a psychic line & those can be a real lesson on humanity & boundaries...

A client firstly tried to control the reading by telling me how incredibly sensitive she was, so any messages would need to be delivered in a manner acceptable to her sensitive state. She proceeded to argue & debate & twist my words & grew frustrated when I refused to be manipulated; she then demanded a time frame for certain events taking place, so I told her my thoughts on timing & potential shifts in outcomes depending on actions taken.

Some time passed & she phoned again, telling me how terribly insensitive she felt I had been when we last spoke, & demanded a reading - once again reminding me of how incredibly sensitive she was, I declined to work with her & recommended another reader, so she argued the point & insisted I read for her & the manner in which my work was to be done - this time around I explained that readings don't work that way & gently refused.

After 3 months she called again & told me immediately how inept & insensitive she felt I was, however she was willing to work with me, once again I refused & hung up...