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Tarot Cards: Using Them For Divination, Gaming, Etc.

A

Anonymous

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Hi, I was just wondering if anyone had any experience of tarot cards. I went through a phase of regularly consulting readers, and believed them absolutley. However on my last few visits I was given specific information (by 2 different readers), and a time span in which the said info. would occur. What I was told though hasn't materialised, and this has me now thinking that Tarot cards may just be a means of manipulation by clever charlatans, who tell you things you really want to hear. Does anyone on here read cards, and knows them to be reliable?
cheers
 
I’ve had quite a few readings – some of them have been near enough. Some of them have been laughably wrong.

Remember that the ability to go into a shop and buy a tarot pack doesn’t make someone a good reader. Nor does it give them the ability to see into you or your future.

The best reading I ever had was done by an elderly gentleman. He was spot on about a couple of specific things no one could know, or guess, about me. His forecast for me proved accurate, too.

The worst I had was the reader who told me my spirit guides were angry because I happened to be wearing jeans that day (I’m not scruffy, just more of a jeans person). Apparently I needed to invest in a whole new, sexier, wardrobe. Only I could have the fashion police berating my casual style from the other side.:rolleyes:

I did a reading for a friend once, and she said I was ‘scarily accurate’. But, then I’ve known her for years. Maybe my success was due more being able to sit down and focus on various aspects of her life and discuss them in a different way. I know her, I know the pattern her life has taken and the choices she is likely to make. All these things affected my interpretation of the cards.

As for the time thing, I’d say dates should be taken as rather vague indicators. If there really is a spirit realm, do you think they give a monkeys that today is Friday?

There are some good readers out there, who might just be fantastic at reading body language and making educated guesses about you, or may indeed be able to tap into whatever the mysteries of the tarot are. But there are also those who see it as a means of relieving you of your hard-earned cash and will tell everyone much the same thing. Pretty pictures on bits of old cardboard do not a fortune teller make.

So, my humble advice would be - enjoy going for readings, but take what’s said with a pinch of salt. If the nice bits come true; great. If they don’t; it’s not the end of the world. But don’t waste your days eyeing the calendar waiting for the day your tall stranger is due to come knocking. It might just be the fashion police.:)
 
I've been reading Tarot cards for about five years now, and my readings have been pretty accurate, but only when I do them for myself.

Over this last summer, I worked for Miss Cleo as one of her many "Psychic Friends". It's a scam. When I started, I was given a whole list of instructions about what I could and could not say, how to keep customers happy, etc. The basic gist of it was that I was to keep people on the line (and spending money) by whatever means necessary. Often, I wouldn't even do a real reading. I'd just tell the caller that I had drawn this card or that card, and then go into a long-winded explanation about what it meant.

My advice is this: Never pay someone for a Tarot reading. If you can, hit up a friend who reads cards. Most likely, they'll actually care about the reading, and about your future.
 
BitterTheClown said:
Over this last summer, I worked for Miss Cleo as one of her many "Psychic Friends". It's a scam. When I started, I was given a whole list of instructions about what I could and could not say, how to keep customers happy, etc.
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Oh pleasepleasepleaseplease post that list!
 
I wish I could, but I got rid of all the official materials after I quit. Basically, what it boiled down to was that at no time were we to give bad news or make predictions about tragedy and heartbreak. I remeber the recomendation that we should never use the Death card in a reading. Even though it's not an inherently negative card, people might react badly to it.

We had to get as much personal information as possible, including name, phone number, e-mail address, street address, birthday, etc, etc, etc. The point of all this was so that we could spam them, call their house, and send them all sorts of annoying crap.

There was lots of "legalese" we had to go through, like age-checking, verification that they called such-and-such number, etc.

Overall, it was a pain in the ass. I'm pretty good with cards, but I can't work under the kind of pressure the job requires. Also, I have a soul, and I don't like bilking people out of their money.

Sadly, most of the people who called were utter idiots. My favorites were the ones who would spend $5 per minute to talk to me, and then ask about their financial problems. People like that shouldn't be allowed to breed.
 
I read Tarot Cards, back in the mid 1970's!!!!!

My impression was that most people, who wanted a reading, were willing to deceive themselves!!!!

I would give them a truthful reading according to the cards & they would come back the next week, convinced that I had said something totally different, according to their own preconceptions, considered that I was fantastic & wanted a further reading!!!!!

Sure, I could have kept them coming back to me, but, I had somthing called "self respect", not that it paid the bills!!!!

I'm, still not convinced that it really works, other than for the reader themselves, there are too many variables!!!!!
 
BitterTheClown said:
I've been reading Tarot cards for about five years now, and my readings have been pretty accurate, but only when I do them for myself.
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I'm sure I read somewhere, that you shouldn't read them for yourself as you won't be given a true reading. Or was I misled?:confused:
 
Yeah, it's a Cup of sh*te. Take my Sword for it. No Wands bothered about them anymore. Arcana think of one for Pentacles.. :confused:

:D
 
Could we do an experiment here? Is it possible to do a tarot reading over the messageboards? All we need is a willing participant to have their future read (not me, 'cos everybody knows far too much about me) and perhaps David/Bitterthe clown etc. could do the reading?

Might be interesting............
 
Although I've posted a lot here, most of it has been very general, so I'm prepared to be a subject for a Tarot reading experiment.

If anyone can tell me significant highs and lows in my life, in the correct order, and preferably also the years they occured or my age when they occured, then I might be interested to hear what they have to say about my future!
 
I'm sure I read somewhere, that you shouldn't read them for yourself as you won't be given a true reading. Or was I misled?
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Ive always heard the opposite - that you'll only get a really accurate reading if you do them for yourself. The reason we have Tarot card readers is to help those who no knowlege of the cards through the process. If you go to a really good reader, he/she will try to involve you in the process as much as possible, by making you shuffle and deal the cards yourself. The Reader's job is really only to interpret what the client puts down.
 
That's interesting BTClown. When I first tried reading them in the early eighties, I found the readings I did for myself were uncannily accurate! Even to the point of telling me things that were painful but true....
I had good results with other people too, but the most useful and revealing readings were for myself....
 
Hmm...I have been to 3 card readings and I think I went in to the session with a rather negative attitude towards the reliability of the reader and the eventual outcome.

David said;
My impression was that most people, who wanted a reading, were willing to deceive themselves!!!!
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Maybe I am not into the self deception thing.
None of the things that they said have come true in the slightest way!
Though my mother had a reader tell her that she could see in the cards or had the feeling one of her children would be moving into the family home 'rather suddenly'. 2 weeks later I had a 'mishap' where my car had somehow managed to roll downhill and smash into one of the front rooms! LoL
Not very funny at the time, I burst out crying from the shock of it, though in a roundabout way...it was fated to happen. (!?)

Want to try some online tarot?


Tarot.com

;)
 
BitterTheClown said:
Ive always heard the opposite - that you'll only get a really accurate reading if you do them for yourself. The reason we have Tarot card readers is to help those who no knowlege of the cards through the process. If you go to a really good reader, he/she will try to involve you in the process as much as possible, by making you shuffle and deal the cards yourself. The Reader's job is really only to interpret what the client puts down.
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I agree with you B The C.

But after you have shuffled the cards, the reader decides the spread, (the pattern in which to lay them out). So OK, this may be influenced by the question/s that need to be answered but variables creep in... sometimes, the reader shuffles the cards after the client etc... & so on!!!!!:confused:
 
I've read tarot for a few years, and I've found that I only get a reading that makes any sense to me is if I am very emotional about it, or if the other I am reading for is. Other wise, it can just seem to...I dont know how to say it...unorganised, the cards say to many things and its hard to pick out what is relevent. In that case, I think it is just not something that is supposed to be known. It also depends on the deck I use. I have one that I use for all my readings, but I've tried others and it made no sense what so ever. I dont see how people can pickout dates and the like, I have never seen a deck that gives you that much information! At most with certain spreads you can tell how far along it will be, but it is like anyother oracle: Veiled, as we are not supposed to know it all, just get a preview.
 
I have been reading Tarot Cards for 8 years. I only own 2 sets as I will only buy a set that I don't have to think about buying. I have only ever given any form of to a friend. It suprised me when I did and I told her to ignore the timeframe in which I said everything would happen. I said that everything would be sorted out within 3 months. I didn't know at the time of saying this that her was exactly 3 months away. Scarily enough I was right to the day. The cards did not give me the timeframe, the best way to describe it would be that it was just a feeling and I couldn't get 3 months out of my head all the time I was reading the cards.

Sometimes I have given really scarily accurate information that I have not known prior to the reading. I always say to everyone I do a reading for that they should take it with a pinch of salt. I would hate to think that someone made possible life changing decisions on the grounds of what I said.

I'm also guilty of making off the cuff comments to friends, only to have them come back a week or a month later a remind me of what I said and how it came true.
 
tarot cards

the point of the reading is not about the tarots or such .You could technically read your "future" in a deck of UNO cards or poker cards.I know a lot of tarot readers and it's not the cards that matter, but the cards are a tool to help them understand about the person receiving the reading because as someone typed already some people tell you too much without even realising it.
Semi historical parenthesis:
Tarot cards were originally "developed " in Italy but not as reading cards but a simple card games (infact in the south of Italy they still play card games with them) and after they were hijacked due to the alledged mysticism and to the fact that most people thought they came from Egypt.
Ergo next time you play poker check the cards you are dealt because you never know:D
 
Tarot cards are just a tool through which energy is channelled. People use whatever they find easier to understand. I have a friend who reads Runes but cannot read tarot cards. It is down to the individual to use whichever is more natural for them, whether it be cards, runes, crystals, stones, personal objects. Everything can channel energy through it.
 
I used to do a bit of tarot reading mostly for myself but it kept telling me what was going to happen and I eventually decided I'd rather not know !
 
I do Tarot readings, mostly for myself but I've done them for other people too. I think the important thing with doing a reading for yourself is that for it to be worth doing, you have to be prepared to be brutally honest with yourself, which can be very difficult. If you're looking for the answer to a specific question, you mustn't convince yourself you've got the answer you want rather than the answer you have.

I always say you shouldn't ask questions you don't want the answer to, and that's for life in general, not just the Tarot :D.

Incidentally, I once heard (but can't remember where) that you should never buy your own Tarot deck, but should get a friend to buy it or give one to you- anyone else heard this?

And what decks are people using? My favourite was the Crowley Thoth Tarot- I always got good (i.e. accurate) readings for it, but I gave my deck away to a best friend as a thankyou present.
 
I make my living reading tarot cards and drawing up astrological charts, and have been doing this for some 15 years professionally.

I've also heard that one's first deck of tarot cards should be given to you. In fact, I still use the first deck I was given to do readings for other people. When I was around 16 I became friendly with the chap who owns the shop StarChild (now in Glastonbury). He's a 'wizard', as he calls himself, and gave me his own personal tarot deck.

When I asked how long I could have them for he replied "For as long as you need them." which struck me as an odd thing to say, but a few years ago I suddenly realised that I didn't need to know my future anymore - I make my own future.

However, as long as there are people, they're gonna want to know their futures.

For reasons of self-enlightenment, I use Crowley's Thoth deck, and never use these for other people's readings.

A few years ago I was asked to do a reading for someone on the spur of the moment. However, I didn't have the cards with me. But I figured I'd have a go anyway, and did a really accurate reading for someone without using the cards.

It got me thinking. Now I'm sure that what I'm doing is 'reading' people. Not entirely sure how, but I imagine it has something to do with instinct, intuition and subtle body language. The cards are tools, really, to guide the intuition, imo.
 
I agree with the intuition thing- it's not like the bits of cardboard themselves can know the future, is it?

When doing readings for other people, I use it as a way to get them to talk about what they are thinking, and use the cards to guide the conversation.

When doing it for myself, its a chance to try and step outside myself and look at things objectively- bloody difficult that!

My friend (the one I gave my Thoth deck to) doesn't agree though, and doesn't think you should even tell the person who's doing the reading what your question is. I suppose for as many people who do the tarot there are that many interpretations of it, and ways of doing it.
 
Speaking of getting people to talk, I've found that, more often than not, people who want their tarots read really want to get things off their chests.

For instance, if I mention, say, "problems at work", they're off, telling me all about their work hassles or whatever. It can be quite emotionally draining, trying to remain vigilant whilst listening to people offloading but, hey, it makes money.

I prefer drawing up astrological birthcharts, though. This can be done without meeting the client at all and is amazingly accurate. Did my bank manager's chart last week and she said it was "spookily accurate." Haha, now I know all her secrets! :)
 
Whenever I do readings for people I always tell them not to tell me if they want to know the answer to a specific question or if they just want to see what the cards willl say. I always ask afterwards what they were asking or thinking about when they were suffling the cards. However I don't expect them to tell me.

I have always bought my own sets and I find that I have a really good connection with them. I would never let anyone else use my cards for a reading.

At one point I have an angry spirit :mad: in my house, it stayed in the same room where I kept my cards. I kept telling my friend that somebody had been playing with my cards and I couldn't use them anymore, even though I was clensing them everytime I tried to use them. I was unaware at the time that the spirit was there I just had a very negative attitude whenever I was in the house. My friend came round and cleared the house for me. After that I clensed my cards once again and I was able to use them again. I was glad that I could use them again as I didn't want a new set.

:)
 
I guess you need to question the motive of the reader. I once witnessed a reading carried out by a guy who really fancied the young femail who was having the reading (unfortunately for him, she had just started a relationship). Of course, he was telling her all about "a new boyfriend in her life", "disasterous consequences", and "a secret admirer", etc etc. This was all dressed up with "meaningful" looks and pauses - it was absolutely outrageous!!
I once did a reading for a couple I knew, and both readings told of nothing but divorce/separation, all the cards supporting each other in this, with no alternative interpretation. This was very embarrassing, as they were, I beleived, in a very stable relationship, and I remember muttering something to the effect that "the cards arn't working tonight". About a week later they had split up, and told me later that they had only just agreed to end the relationship when I did the reading. Apparently, when I left they started arguing over which one of them had told me, as they had agreed to tell their families first, and at that point, had told noone.
Tarot cards can be very accurate at times, but equally way out at others. A friend uses them for all his problems, but he sees them simply as a tool to get him thinking all around the matter, says it works for him!
 
My eldest child is a professional clairvoyant and likes to use the tarot.
Her first cards 'came' when she was about 11.
She'd asked me where she could get some as she wanted to try them. Next weekend I was wandering round a car booty and there was a brand-new pack, unopened, lying on the ground! I picked it up and asked the nearest stallholder if they were his. 'You have'em, love!' he said, and I took'em straight home to Daughter.

I was taught to use ordinary playing cards by my spooky aunt (Ta, Val!) to tell fortunes and did so for years.

If Daughter senses that a person coming for a reading has no clear idea of what to ask, she uses a different method which doesn't require a question. There are several other oracles to consult. Daughter often uses tealeaves, which clients find delightful as they usually remember Gran doing the same!
 
escargot said:
..... Daughter often uses tealeaves, which clients find delightful as they usually remember Gran doing the same!
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Isn't it a pain, nowadays, cutting open teabags?

More seriously, a one-time GF was told that 'Robert' was an important person in her life, according to the Tarot. She didn't know a 'Robert' - except she did, but only by his nick-name....:eek:
 
Hahaha Derek, nah Mate, we use traditional tea- very Luddite, I know!

You can also use coffee grounds.

Are you a schoolteacher, by the way?
 
escargot said:
.....Are you a schoolteacher, by the way?
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No, I'd only subvert the little bas... erm, darlings....

Mind you, I know a few teachers, and I'm not sure I'd be any worse...:cool:

Although with some of the current PC ideas ... no, I couldn't.

'Why is the school roll falling?' 'Capital punishment in Beardie's classes....'
:D
 
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