Ethics on Where to Read Cards

[direwolf336]

I can see both points to this issue, though I believe that I would agree more with 214red concerning the freedom to be able to read or look at your cards anywhere. I was at a hotel a while back and having breakfast in the cafe and I noticed a young kid playing a card games like Magic or something similar to that...Of course it meant nothing to me what he was doing, so I suppose I would view the Tarot in a similar fashion.

When I go to coffee shops, so many people are doing different things...I have been going to Panara Bread to study my cards..I have not noticed anyone looking at me weird or really even paying attention to me....So again, I think its ok for this....However, as a hotel managers responsibility to make sure all the guest are comfortable, I can see your point. Though I think only if you had a complaint. I know that if someone asked me to put up my Tarot cards, without a complaint, I would be pissy about it...and probably continue to read until they threw me out, but that’s just me..

 

[Seafra]

When I go to coffee shops, so many people are doing different things...I have been going to Panara Bread to study my cards..I have not noticed anyone looking at me weird or really even paying attention to me....So again, I think its ok for this....However, as a hotel managers responsibility to make sure all the guest are comfortable, I can see your point. Though I think only if you had a complaint. I know that if someone asked me to put up my Tarot cards, without a complaint, I would be pissy about it...and probably continue to read until they threw me out, but that’s just me..

Please don't stay at my hotel. LOL

Seriously though - I'm sorry that you can't see that a property manager's position is to anticipate any discomfort of their clientele and act accordingly. It is part of the job description.

I hope that if a card reader is asked not to read on private property that they will respect the wishes of the owner/manager of the property and put the cards away with a smile. What we do under such circumstances reflects on our fellow card readers.

Why cause unnecessary disorder? Be the instrument that creates understanding.

ETA: Matter of fact I used to be a librarian. I wouldn't have said anything to anyone reading cards unless they were making too much noise. Again, part of the job description.

Oh -- also -- I was a waitress. I would have been thrilled to have you sit at my table and read. Just don't take the table for a long time if the place is busy and not order anything and make sure you tip your waitpeople !

 

[Grizabella]

Well, it has to do with conducting yourself with class and showing consideration for those around you. Just because you want to shove something in the face of a population who doesn't like it, that doesn't make it right. That's your problem, not theirs, you see. Being blatantly disrespectful of the policies of the hotel doesn't reflect well on Tarot readers in general nor you in particular and we all lose ground.

But back to the original question---if her mother isn't against Tarot, then I'd just agree to go to her place for the reading if that's what she wanted. She obviously wants a very private reading and that would give her the most privacy and comfort.

 

[divinemsm]

I can see both sides as well. As a manager, you have to look at the overall comfort of all your guests, even if that is at the inconvience of a few guests. But, by the same token, I have seen people reading their bible and doing bible studies everywhere. I equate my cards to their bible because it is a part of my faith. I try not to read my cards somewhere that would make the people around me uncomfortable. In this respect, I try to be considerate. However, I can't recall anyone ever asking me if their bible study was making me uncomfortable. So, I am torn on this subject. I am lucky enough to live in a community that has a pretty neat little bohemian-like coffee house that I can do readings at, as well as some very nice parks. Parks are a good alternative. Public ordinances do not apply if you are not charging money for your reading (found that one out from a lawyer friend), but it is still a good idea to check your local and state laws as far as "fortune telling" in case they are stricter than the ones where I live.
Best of Luck!!

 

[nisaba]

So I suggested that we go to a restaurant or the library to do this and she was very much against this saying that it was to personal of a thing to do in public.

I respected her and did not try to talk he into it, but I was curious about what people think of this in general about readings in public places.

I read in public places all the time. In fact, I find it better than particularly quiet places (I wouldn't choose a library, for example. My pick would be coffee shops and hte like: the hum of talk from teh other tables plus the clatter from teh kitchen creates a noise "screen" ensuring that your words won't be overheard, and making the energies flow nicely because most people in such places are really enjoying themselves.

In homes, pople are often self-conscious.

In quiet places, you can be overheard and that can feel unpleasant. In too noisy places they can't hear you. Your suggestion of a restaurant was probably the best for energy and for privacy - tell her I said so <grin>.

Hell, I've been known to slap a few cards down on the greasy bonnet of my car when picking it up from the mechanic when he asked a passing question!

 

[Seafra]

I equate my cards to their bible because it is a part of my faith.

What faith incorporates tarot?

Let's not split hairs here. If someone was reading a book on Tarot there's no problem. Doing a reading? That's different.

 

[214red]

i think people think i am going to be setting up a stall, anyone watching me reading thinks i am simply studying, i dont set up an altar or use a spread cloth!

i always behave appropriately, but if i want to read and i have the same right as another guest thats simple. i don't cause disorder, other people with issues pick bones if they want to, but not me, i sit, i read, i write. if the place has a policy that tarot reading or card games (or any forms of divination)as banned i wouldn't be there with my cards, if it doesn't then i will if i want to.
if the owner of an establishment said it made them feel uncomfortable i would put them away and just not come back again, respect is a two way thing.

i respect their establishment by not calling attention to my reading/studying ,and in return i expect the same from them. if your taking money for readings your doing on other peoples property then they have every right to expel you, as your conducting business on their premises.

Back to the q, its hard to find a private place to read without paying for a room in a building, do you have friends that you could use their place? i still think a picnic bench in a park away from people is an easy option, but thats because i cant think of private (free places). maybe a booth in a restaurant away from town so she wont know anyone that can possibly overhear.

 

[Seafra]

Hard to believe that people think an owner/manager of PRIVATE property has no say at all re. what goes on there. This isn't John Lennon's utopia.

As I said earlier -- reading as in reading a book, no problem. Taking your cards out and doing readings -- problem.

This discourse has disintegrated into rebellion over a cause I do not understand. How unfortunate. I'm done when I read:

"if the place has a policy that tarot reading or card games (or any forms of divination)as banned i wouldn't be there with my cards, if it doesn't then i will if i want to.

 

[direwolf336]

"Just because you want to shove something in the face of a population who doesn't like it, that doesn't make it right. That's your problem, not theirs, you see. "
Grizabella

Well I don't think sitting by yourself or with a another person reading or studying your cards is "shoving it in the face of the population". I think we are talking about quietly doing your own thing and not disturbing anyone. If the manager came up to me, asking me to stop, I would ask "why, did someone complain?" And if the answer was no, that's what would piss my off. Again you might as well tell someone they can't read their Bible, The Book of Mormon or even a playboy in the lobby. Can you image if I went to the desk and complained that someone was reading the Bible in the lobby and I would like them to stop. I imagine they wouldn't listen to me....Isn't that what America is about? For those of us living here of course.

 

[Thirteen]

Please don't stay at my hotel. LOL

Funny thing, but thinking back on it I *have* done readings in a hotel lobby. I was not asked to stop by any of the staff, but then I kept the readings to a quiet back area (there were little individual tables and chairs), and I was part of a convention of people all fine with tarot cards and unlikely to complain.

I think it has a lot to do with the lobby layout itself. If there are little islands of tables and chairs where people can have "private" conversations, then it's often okay, as it would be okay for people at such islands to pray or do a quick, minimalist religious service. Where it runs into trouble in a hotel lobby is when the other people there can't escape it. When everyone is sitting next to one another or when the areas are open to all and people are very much mixed at those tables and chairs because there aren't a lot of them. So you have to share. Your reading is going to take up room on that shared table. What you say is going to be overhead by those on the chairs around it. It becomes discourteous.

I remember being in a hospital lounge when a close relative was very sick and my family was all there worried. A group of people decided to hold a prayer for some other sick person and took over the lounge. I was very angry about that. There were a lot of them and they weren't huddled in one corner of the lounge, but rather encircling most of it and if you stayed, you were forced to endure their religious service, as it were. It wasn't fair to the rest of us who were pushed out of that lounge by this service, as if this sick person's relatives had more rights to that lounge than we did.

Likewise, I think for a hotel lobby. How much will you be encroaching on others? As with the breastfeeding, it's courteous to be discreet about such things not only for the sake of the querent and the reading, but also to not make others feel that you're imposing on them. We all have to be more neutral if we're crowded together on the same couch as compared to having our own table and chairs.