How to use the Tarot for fortune-telling?

[Grizabella]

Well, I certainly think it could very well be done that way by some readers. I thought JSNYC was just asking how it's done and making a guess how it might be done. That's how I took it but I might be wrong. I don't know how others do it, but it might be interesting to try what he(or she) suggested.

I'm just self-taught. I was only beginning when I came to AT and I never did see much discussion of fortune telling. I've only seen the "reflective" kind of stuff here and not much about fortune telling and how others do it. That's why I'd so much like to see a sub-forum. I just do what I've taught myself. I'd love to have a place devoted to fortune tellers because then we could learn more and rub elbows, I guess you could say, with like-minded folks who do the same thing. I started out wanting to be a fortune teller and no matter how much I've learned here about the other kind of readings, I've never lost that desire to just go with old-fashioned fortune telling. I still do it, or what I hope it is, but I do it as I've taught myself, not as having had any real background in it or experience with it like some people whose family it's been in for generations.

I know Lillie is a devoted user of her beloved Thoth deck so I thought she probably used that deck for it. Maybe other divination tools, too, but that particular Tarot deck. I use several different Tarot decks myself. I've got a collection of Lenormands I'm hoping to get more into and I like to use the Tea Leaf cards, too, sometimes.

I'm headed off for bed now, but I'll come back to this thread first thing tomorrow to see what's developed.

 

[Pen]

Ah. Now I thought we were talking about something completely different. Instead of 'reading' each nuance of the cards imagery, one has a set meaning for that card which is concrete and predictive. For example: Ace of Wands - Now is the time to start. That sort of thing.

I just thought that JSNYC was suggesting doing that with one deck, taking a rarely used deck in one's collection and assigning set answers to each card then reading with it for predictive purposes.

I think I got the wrong end of the stick.

Me too. I've always had the impression that the fortune teller relied entirely on the set meanings of the cards with no room for interpretation. Not sure why I thought this. Fortune cards, LeNormand etc. seem nearer to this idea than tarot. Then there's fortune cookies - no 'teller' involved...

Pen

 

[Aerin]

Me too. I've always had the impression that the fortune teller relied entirely on the set meanings of the cards with no room for interpretation. Not sure why I thought this. Fortune cards, LeNormand etc. seem nearer to this idea than tarot. Then there's fortune cookies - no 'teller' involved...

Pen

Ah, you see I always thought that to be a fortune teller you had to be psychic and not rely on the specific cards at all. Which is why I assume I can't do it, and anyway I'm still not convinced it would be a good thing - I'm not keen on an absolute fate in the same way as I don't like it when people tell me I HAVE to do something a certain way when I can't see the sense in it.

I have LWBs that do that "You will meet a mad with dark hair next Saturday and you will get a cold" sort of a thing.

ETA: Or a MAN even.

 

[NikkiB]

Prediction has been a big thing in Tarot for me personally, I think it has a very valuable place in reflection, certainly I have used it to help me through difficult times, identfying things in me that needed attention and what to do about it, but like others I combine the two most of my readings have an outcome and I will use it to ask specific questions about the future. I think how well I interpret the cards is the issue about whether it comes true or not, also if there is something I dont like i will use the cards to see how I can change it what my options are, whats changable or not changable and why such as Karma needs to be fulfilled or something.

for me as a newbie to reading, I am exploring the cards, how to use them but I suppose I was initially guided by my basic understanding/beliefs which was that Tarot was for fortune telling, the other self ie, where I have been using it for self delvelopment was a surprise to me and something i'd not considered...

 

[AJ]

Personally I don't believe in 'predictive' readings, but I do them when the question asks. I see both types all the time here, I can't see the need for another sub-forum to confuse members and make more work for the mods They'd have to be switching posts back and forth all day long. And would they have to wait for the answer to see if it was future related or past related?

Read however you want...where ever when ever.

The only complaints I remember seeing refer to newspaper expose kind of stuff, not how we read.

 

[zannamarie]

If I say a year and it doesn't happen in a year, then I was wrong in the time I predicted. I'm not going to claim success if it's three years later, as you seem to hint that I (or others) might do dishonestly.

I quoted your post so you could see to what I was referring. I'll quote it again to see where you said the timing was wrong and that made the fortune teller appear wrong, but you're saying "the cards" (ie fortune teller since the cards don't read) were really right.

I just thought I'd add that sometimes it will appear that a fortune teller has it wrong, but what's wrong is that the timing is off and that the events will unfold exactly as the cards have shown, but just at a later time. Sometimes at a much later time.

If the timing was wrong, then the fortune-telling wasn't correct. If a fortune-teller didn't specify a time, then the querant would have no reason to say the fortune teller was wrong in the first place so a time must have been either specified or implied.

- - - - - - - -

Griz - I've re-read your posts as I have difficulty understanding what you are calling fortune telling despite the fact you are quite vocal on AT about how you feel you are one of a few who fortune tell. All I can see is you saying is you believe one either tells the future or they "counsel". If that's the case, then I think most people on this forum are fortune telling as there's a ton of predictive readings done. People might not call themselves a fortune teller (as I do not label myself as such), but that is what they are doing. I do predictive readings on a regular basis if the question I receive is about the future. (And did so multiple times in a recent reading thread I had!)

I think that people under the misconception that it's like that would learn a lot if there were a fortune telling forum. And I also think they'd find that there's not such a big stretch between what they do and what I do and what Lillie does and others who tell fortunes.

If there isn't a big stretch, then that's probably why there isn't a separate forum for it.

There have been numerous threads doing readings about the upcoming month(s). If fortune telling is just telling the future, how could the resulting reading be anything but fortune telling?

There are also numerous threads about how to use tarot cards to predict timing. If one is predicting timing then one is foretelling the future, aren't they?

I think there's lots of fortune telling done on this forum. It's just not done under the "label" of fortune telling.

- - - - - - -

For those of you who say you are a fortune teller (question not directed at anyone in particular):
If someone asks you a question that has nothing to do with timing (example: How can I get along better with my kid?), do you make a prediction anyhow because you are a fortune teller and that's what fortune tellers do?
Or do you answer the question asked making no future predictions? (and thus not do fortune telling)

My impression of a fortune teller is someone who will always be making a future prediction which may be why I don't use the fortune telling label.

 

[Aerin]

Well, hmmm, so I do read about the future but more from a "weather forecasting" point of view than a "this will defintely happen" point of view. I also don't do timings because I tend to be relating things to the near future not the far future.

I don't really consider this predictive though. Maybe someone else would???

 

[Pen]

Ah, you see I always thought that to be a fortune teller you had to be psychic and not rely on the specific cards at all. Which is why I assume I can't do it, and anyway I'm still not convinced it would be a good thing - I'm not keen on an absolute fate in the same way as I don't like it when people tell me I HAVE to do something a certain way when I can't see the sense in it.

I have LWBs that do that "You will meet a mad with dark hair next Saturday and you will get a cold" sort of a thing.

Funnily enough, I don't think it would be a good thing for me personally. There's a part of me that draws back from actual prediction - an awareness perhaps of the danger of the self-fulfilling prophesy.

But if (as there seems to be), a feeling of discomfort among the predictive readers that would be eased by a separate place specifically for them (as there is a section for oracles and oracle readers), it might not only help them but be an interesting place to visit and learn.

Hope I'm not going OT here.

Pen

 

[Wendywu]

I must admit that in the Reading Exchange there are more threads asking about what will happen in the next week, or month, or on someone's date than there are asking for help in understanding a situation.

The Reading Exchange Circles tend to the reflective, understanding type of readings though.

 

[Pen]

Another assumption - perhaps a wrong one - is that no questions are asked. The fortune teller draws the cards, the meanings are specific and they relate to the future.

Perhaps a definition is in order to clear up a few common misconceptions - unless fortune telling can be anything anyone wants it to be - in which case no need for a separate forum perhaps.

Just looked up fortune teller: A person who claims to tell future events. No surprise there then.

Maybe 'claims' is the key word here.

Another thought - but tea leaves don't have specific meanings - it's all about what the 'teller' sees.

Just thinking 'aloud'...

Pen