Do motivations & emotions taint impartial results?

[Brilliance]

Generally speaking, the problem of bias will be in the interpretation of the cards rather than in the cards themselves.

I agree.

 

[nisaba]

EyeAmEye and Nisaba: Very interesting. So you do believe that our motivations or intentions could cause certain cards to come up? Do you think that hidden fears could cause certain cards to come up as well?

Nono, nothing as complicated as that. Just if I have any backstory, if I know anything about the client, it becomes hard to separate my own thoughts and feelings about their situation from intuitive thoughts. I stutter and stammer. If I have never met them before and know nothing about them, then there is none of my own thinking to get in the way, and the reading flows freely. It's that simple.

For example, could a deep fear of losing someone cause one to pull cards that confirm that fear even if the person is ultimately going to live a long, healthy life? What is your opinion?

It could happen, depending on your belief-system. But nothing is pre-ordained. When someone is in their twenties, there is nothing to say that they will or won't live to ninety-four. If they are on-track to die young by smoking or drinking too much or driving too carelessly, a reading might reflect that - then they could well mature a bit, break any addictions and drive more carefully, and live to ninety, making that reading "untrue". The reading wasn't untrue or inaccurate. The person merely changed the course their life was on.

My job as a reader is not to predict life-events that WILL or WON'T happen. My job as a reader is to discover the best potential in a person's here-and-now and get them to consciously make the most of it; and identify the risks in there here-and-now, and get them to minimise the risks.

So if I read for someone twice a few months apart and the first reading is full of warning signals, and they come in for a second reading after some time and the second reading is clear and happy, it doesn't mean I was wrong the first time around: it meant I did my job well and got them to improve their life.

 

[gregory]

Yes. It's as simple as that.

I read best when I read for total strangers. I read okay for friends, until I get too close to them. I read badly for people I love. I can't read at all for me.

Exactly. I won't read for myself - I KNOW I will find a way to hear something that I'm OK with. I also avoid reading for friends or family, as I usually have a view on whatever it is and I am pretty sure that will mess with what I see.

 

[LindaMechele]

I mean, what is it really that we tap into when cards show truth?

And I guess that is the heart of my original question. Do tarot cards read universal truth? Are the cards somehow pulling the truth from somewhere that we do not understand? Or are they reading us, or pulling through us? Or is it a combination? If either of the latter, then I would be concerned that I could accidentally influence the cards. It is fascinating and compelling, is it not?

Very. Part of me wants to analyze it, take it apart to look inside and find out what makes it tick. Another part of me wants to leave it alone because it's most times more fun not knowing.

 

[tealily]

Generally speaking, the problem of bias will be in the interpretation of the cards rather than in the cards themselves.

Quoted for truth.

The biggest danger of being a tarot reader is not doing a BAD read - it's in doing readings for yourself where you're not in a position to read objectively *shudders*. One-way ticket to insanity; you'll learn self-discipline pretty fast!

 

[Lovingmom]

Such wonderful insights. Thank you all.