Timing...Okay, Really??

I know there are a lot (and I do mean a lot) of threads on timing, but I was looking back on my readings whether done myself or gotten from others and started thinking (watch out!). What is the purpose of trying to predict timing? More often than not it isn't accurate. You have a better chance with the weather. Sure you can say a round-a-bout time. For instance, I asked about something that would happen in spring. No I don't thing the reading was wrong or that the reader wasn't focused drawing from the source, but it didn't happen...yet. It reminds me of something Umbrae (yes, I'm quoting the great Umbrae again) and many of you have already said. Time is different for different people, places, and the universe. African time is different from American time (most definitely...we rush everything), carribean time is different, UK time is different. I think you get my drift. Sure some with Psychic abilities may hit the hammer on the nail, but really people, should we try and predict actual timing. I think we can say yes, something will happen quickly if we see the 8 of wands for example or the Chariot or just give a rough estimate. Why even bother trying to get it to an exact science and fool ourselves and the people we read for? Oh well, hopping off of my soapbox. Just wanted to hear other opinions. Please don't throw things!!

My view on timing is this: It will happen when you are ready. There may be lessons to learn or events that must be set in motion before such a thing may be possible. I don't believe predicting timing is possible other than the sense of past, present, and future.

Just my $0.02

I think timing is an important aspect of divination and one of the main reasons why there isn't as much scientific investigation in the area of divination--it gives no time. Unfortunately, timing is very poorly established in tarot, which is quite frustrating since sometimes you just want to know when and where something will happen exactly. I believe tarot naturally resists being a science because most of what happens in tarot is psychic.

I suppose we can say the metaphysical world does not follow the normal laws of the physical world; time probably operates more on an experience-level than an absolute level. I believe this is one of the reasons tarot is poor at timing--tarot is specifically designed to describe experiences, and with experiences, time is largely subjective.

Bringing in some occult experimentation here, Fenwick Rysen (not his real name), invented a servitor that acts on how the human experience of time is flexible. Here, the clock is what tells us objective time but how we experience this time is highly subjective. Sometimes getting three hours of sleep will leave you refreshed and energetic, whereas sometimes it feels like you only got 15 minutes. What really matters? The fact that 3 hours felt like 15 minutes or the fact that what felt like 15 minutes was actually 3 hours? Rysen's servitor acted on the former, stretching and bending human perception of time as opposed to the objective time kept by the clock: a long road trip now only feels like 20 minutes, 5 minutes of sleep feels like 3 hours, etc.

I believe tarot also acts according to the same experience values of time--which makes it impossible to measure how much objective time has and will pass.

I know that some readers seem to be able to predict events within a certain amount of time, but I've focused very little on timing myself. One time when I was doing the reading exchange, a person asked me what will happen within the next eight months. O_O I had never done a question like that before, so it was very interesting to experiment. I have no idea if I was "accurate", but as long as the person got something out of the reading, I don't think that being accurate is all that great.

"Great, glad I was 'spot on', but did you get the reading?"

Seeing a possible course of events in the cards is important. When you look at a map, you want to know where the roadblocks and short-cuts are, right? Unfortunately, you won't always know when traffic is going to get heavy or when there's going to be an accident, etc. You can get a little bit of a warning, but for the most part, it's up to you.

Timing takes practice, but it shouldn't be a focus, I feel.

Hi Heavensent,

What a coincidence, I was thinking about this same topic this morning! I have experienced readers that can tell you exactly when things are going to happen. I have also seen a few that will give you the initials of the people involved. So if you ask me, yes, I've seen that timing can be predicted. However, I think that it very much depends on the skills of the reader.

I don't think there's a general system either, but rather, that each person has an intuition on certain parts of the reading that will point out when events will occur.

I feel that I have a loooong way to get to this point! LOL

S.

Oh, time!

Over the past several months, I've been reading articles in Scientific American on this subject. What I've read confirms my intuitive notions about it, that there's no absolute with regard to time. Normally, what we think of as "time" is the duration of one activity compared to the duration of another. One can pick a standard, such as the decay of a radio-active particle or the rotation of the planet on its axis, but in a very real sense the choice is arbitrary.

So, when I think of time in the tarot, I think of it as the measure of the completion--of a project, state of being, whatever. And, there's always a problem connecting that with another time-measure, such as numbers of planetary rotations (days, months). Since I don't like problems, I try to avoid making statements like "oh, you'll meet someone in a month or so." Instead, I look for clues elsewhere in the spread or the person.

With myself, I can make a pretty good guess about how long something is going to take. With others, I make inquiries (e.g."well, how often do you meet new people?") and look for signs that the process may be speeded up or slowed.

I don't ever purposely go looking for time predictions. On rare occasions, though, if a time frame comes to me, I'll include it in the reading, but I word it as "I sense that this could happen ________" giving a time such as "by spring" or "in the fall" or whatever time frame has been given to me as I read the cards. So far, I've never been given any time frame such as "next week" or "tomorrow" or anything that narrows it down to anything other than a season. And as I said, I don't purposely go looking for time frames. If someone asks me to do that, I tell them I don't do readings specifically looking for time frames but that if something is given to me within a reading, I'll tell them. Usually it's not given.

This is an interesting subject. I think a lot of problems with timing stem from a misunderstanding of it.

Sometimes a person may do a reading then sit back and wait for it to happen. But oftentimes events don't show up exactly as we think they will. More often than not, the circumstances of our lives materialize through a process of co-creation. Recognizing our own role in this process is crucial. An opportunity might present itself, but if we don't recognize it at that time for what it is, the opportunity is gone, and we sit waiting for something that has already arrived and left.

By the same token getting in too big of a hurry, thinking the timing is right when it really isn't, can also create problems.

I'm with Abrac on that, that co-creation is a very important part of how and when things happen in our future. I don't do timing questions as a rule because it is hard to get an accurate reading. For me, this is mainly because the future is so changable. And sometimes we can change it inadvertantly, without realizing it.

Like if someone was really looking forward to something and was putting a lot of energy into it (helping co-create it in that sense) and then you do them a reading that says this event they are looking forward to will happen next week...their whole attitude towards it could change, even without them realizing it. They may stop thinking about it in the same way, start sending out different energy, or relaxing enough to stop thinking of it altogether...And then that could push the event much further into the future.

For me, so many things we do can change the timing of something, I prefer not to ask timing questons. If someone wants an event to happen, I would happily ask what they can do to bring it about sooner, but I would not ask "when" it will happen, because it is too "iffy", too many things can change that. And of course we can consciously choose to change it as well, not just accidentally....


Babs

Hi!

Abrac and Babs, I think that you're right when you say that if we tell about timing, the person may just wait for things to happen when they should be working on them. But I think that also there could be an analysis of time for both, events that are out of the control of the reader, or events that the seater has to control to reach the objective that they are looking for. In the case of latter, the reader should be skilled enough to ensure that the seater understands that the entire reading or parts of it depend on his or her doing.

So for example, a person goes to a job interview and wants to know if they will hear back from the potential employer. Let's say that the reading comes up that yes, that they will hear within the next week, but that the seater will have to be insistent, perhaps communicate often with them so they will give an answer and the interview will not fall into the cracks.

Then, there are other ocassions, such as a student waiting for a result of a meaningful college examination after he or she has already sat for it and also wondering when they will know the results. The reader could come up with a certain prediction of the result and timing, circumstances that are already out of the control of the seater because he or she has already sat for it and let's say there's nothing they can do to change scores right now. I've seen certain cases work this way.

This makes me wonder if in the end timing is not a general topic, but more of a case by case basis. This then would make sense if we think that different aspects in a person's life have different timings.

Timing is a great mystery for me, but topics like this make tarot so fascinating! Thanks for sharing your viewpoints!

Best,

S.