How does Tarot work exactly?

[electric beauty]

I'm curious, because I did a reading for myself and it was very accurate. So accurate that I got aggravated at the final result (I did a celtic cross spread) and sold my cards on eBay! Well the cards were right. I am simultaneously fascinated and a little weary of the Tarot, because it seems so powerful. I was looking up videos about Tarot on YouTube, and I got thrown off by a comment someone left that it was "cold reading" and keeping people in the "dark ages". Thoughts?

[cedars]

It may come across as 'cold' (I really dont know what was meant by the word) if one is doing it for oneself or using an inanimate software or the like. Once a reading is given by a human, I dont think it will feel cold. It all depends also on how a reader delivers the reading to the querent.

And for you to get so 'frightened' of the cards and immediately dispose of them..... a bit drastic or what?
Would you, by the same token, harm or dispose of a psychic who gives you an accurate reading? What would you call that type of reading? Warm? Cold? Unaffected?

[Payewacker]

How does Tarot Work?

Hi,
Tarot is much of a muchness?

Most of the time "cold reading" is far better than what we may consider good. The reader has to always be "neutral" to be able to give sound advice. When you then do a reading for yourself, you need to distance yourself from what is "perceived" by you, to be good or bad for yourself.

To read cards effectively is not a matter of catching fish. The very real psychic intuition is at play and most of the times the reader would grasp from that ability to translate and interpret the messages that a querant "should" consider. Take note, "should" not must. Nothing is cast in stone.

The question asked, is most probably one of the most recurrent of all the others regarding Tarot.

We need to consider that we are dealing with psychic abilities, spiritual enlightenment and perhaps archetypical models. To a large extend, Tarot cards are described or meanings attached, which would constitute definite influences on mind, body and soul. Let's then say, if you read upright only, 78 archetypes exist and in upright and reversed, 156 different scenarios.

How do we now interpret or ascimilate, real life to a deck of cards?

Very Simple!

Your past, and what happened, is known throughout the spirit world. Being Psychic, means that the reader has a real conversation with spirit entities, not "ghosts and ghouls", or the scary stuff!! So, being Psychic to a great extend elevates the reader to a level which other people do not acheive in this life and on this planet, at this stage. .

Walking on thin ice here, your past, determines your present, which in turn predicts your future! If you are therefore prone to a certain cycle, chanches are, that it would be repetitive throughout your life, anyway?

The next question: How can the cards then be so correct? Consider this, spirits has the ability to manipulate certain objects as they please or asked to do. Your spirit guides in many instances will redirect traffic or anything other to ensure your safety! Do you for one moment think that they can't do it to a card? Another view. Each person has an Aura. When you get to a reader, these aura's would interchange information or let's say "vibrations". Therefore don't be amazed when a reader picks up a secret you've been hiding? Ask no questions you hear no lies?

What i'm getting to: Each and every person has the ability to redirect their lives to a great extend. Whitchever cycle you have started will merely continue to complete itself at or on it's own time! Some take one day, others years?

The cards is a tool for the reader to interpret the images clearer to you, the querant. In other words, instead of being the driver, the reader is only the navigator, the movement comes from the Psychic revelations, via the cards.

Reading a spread flat bang, is not how it happens, as the spread is opened, a picture starts to form, and from there, the puzzle is put toghether one piece at a time, until completed.

I hope you find some insight into the way i interprited your question

You know my dear, you are still very young and can truly become very accomplished? Don't bind yourself to pricklypears!

[electric beauty]

thank you! that makes a lot of sense. No pricklypears here. hehe

[Rhutobello]

Very good explained....and it show that the greatest "danger" or "Black magi" with Tarot, is the ignorance in the field, which might produce rumors and abilities, that no way can be done with Tarot, BUT which can be achieved inside ones own BRAIN, because that is our strongest tool for good or bad

Thx for asking...the only way for enlightening

[pirbid]

I decided to bring this old thread up again because I have often been asked this same question and not very long ago, either.

I must say I do not count myself among the lucky psychics, so I am out of league with Payewacker, for example. But I always thought that would not stop me from using this lovely tool.

The initial post by Electric Beauty resonated with me, since I also underwent a similar experience when I first became acquainted with Tarot some 25 years ago. Only the accuracy of my first clumsy readings did not drive me away from the cards, but rather made me look eagerly for the answer to the question of how it really works.

After many years doing readings for myself and others -though never professionally-, I found a possible answer that seems to be working in my case. I believe we make the most of one of the basic functions of the mind -in this case, the seeker's-: which is sorting out and paying attention to only that information which is relevant to our present situation. That's the reason why you only notice powerful motorbikes in passing while you are young and a rider, but as soon as your wife gets pregnant -or you yourself- you only notice big family cars. By this I mean that readers usually provide the seeker with a lot more information than they are really aware of. Since their mind automatically discards everything not relevant -so as not to clog the mind with useless facts-, they get the feeling that most of what they heard was spot on. Even the bits they recall which puzzle them do so because they resonate in some unconscious level still not fully admitted to themselves, but which will make them think and find out later on.

I also found the answer to why the cards seem harsher when reading for ourselves than for others. This last is easy: when reading for others we are translating what we see into a story that the seeker may easily grasp, and we naturally use words and phrases meant to convey kindness and positive thinking along with the information. But when reading for ourselves there is no such mediator, so we see the harsh meanings of the images as they weave together before our eyes. And, of course, we are usually kinder to others than talking to ourselves.

Hope this explanations based solely on my own observations help alleviate the doubts of those still not very familiar with Tarot. And, of course, I welcome discussion from those with different views on this subject.

So, anybody?  :smt002

[Cascade of Light]

I'm curious, because I did a reading for myself and it was very accurate. So accurate that I got aggravated at the final result (I did a celtic cross spread) and sold my cards on eBay! Well the cards were right. I am simultaneously fascinated and a little weary of the Tarot, because it seems so powerful. I was looking up videos about Tarot on YouTube, and I got thrown off by a comment someone left that it was "cold reading" and keeping people in the "dark ages". Thoughts?

Cold reading is frowned upon. To be fair it is very hard to 'cold read' on a forum. It is of course possible to glean information if the poster has a long history of posts to read through but otherwise there is very little information to be picked up this way, as the reading is usually given in full rather than in stages like in a chat room, and without the querent present.

This is from Wiki and is really quite a good summation of cold reading.

Cold reading is a series of techniques used by mentalists, illusionists, fortune tellers, psychics, and mediums to determine or express details about another person, often in order to convince them that the reader knows much more about a subject than they actually do.[1] Without prior knowledge of a person, a practiced cold reader can still quickly obtain a great deal of information about the subject by analyzing the person's body language, age, clothing or fashion, hairstyle, gender, sexual orientation, religion, race or ethnicity, level of education, manner of speech, place of origin, etc. Cold readers commonly employ high probability guesses about the subject, quickly picking up on signals from their subjects as to whether their guesses are in the right direction or not, and then emphasizing and reinforcing any chance connections the subjects acknowledge while quickly moving on from missed guesses.

So as you can see it is bad practice and has led to many challenges of fakes and charletons that take money but do not actually have any knowledge or special gift.

Anyone can read Tarot, if they learn how to. Just learn the meanings and then ask the question and shuffle, then deal. The cards tell the answer. However, people that are purported to be psychics add a different dimension of knowledge to the reading and so can be far more accurate, uncannily so. Which can lead to concern about spying or cheating when the psychic is in fact just tuning into the querent and their energy field.


Cassie x

[pirbid]

I definitely agree it is nearly impossible to 'cold read' in this forum: most of the time I don't even know the person's gender and, as Gem showed us -she liked to start the year quite young and 'grow' as the moths went by- , there is nothing to guarantee that the date of birth they enter is the real one, so forget about the age and sign being accurate -though most probably are-.

As for feedback, we usually get it after the whole reading is given, and that's only if we are lucky!  :smt002

[Cascade of Light]

In fact just to add to the idea of Cold Reading being used, I just visited the picture forum and of course that would be an ideal area to focus on and use information that has been confirmed in other reading areas of the board. I suppose we all doubt at first when we are given a reading that is accurate and tells things that only we can know or that we feel is spot on and the reader is a complete stranger. But there are many ways of doing things.  I think that for these reasons I actually prefer giving readings to complete strangers, people that I have never met and will most probably never meet, and the only contact has been via email or messenger. Then the information given has to be real and cannot be gleaned from alternative sources that could lead to an accusation of cold reading or fakery?

Just musing now lol

Cassie x

[Cascade of Light]

I decided to bring this old thread up again because I have often been asked this same question and not very long ago, either.

Glad you did

which is sorting out and paying attention to only that information which is relevant to our present situation. That's the reason why you only notice powerful motorbikes in passing while you are young and a rider, but as soon as your wife gets pregnant -or you yourself- you only notice big family cars.

Or completely forget about motorbikes and get fascinated that so many prams pass you by and everyone seems to have a baby lol?

I also found the answer to why the cards seem harsher when reading for ourselves than for others. This last is easy: when reading for others we are translating what we see into a story that the seeker may easily grasp, and we naturally use words and phrases meant to convey kindness and positive thinking along with the information. But when reading for ourselves there is no such mediator, so we see the harsh meanings of the images as they weave together before our eyes. And, of course, we are usually kinder to others than talking to oursel

Yes, we see the answer before it is put into pleasant wording and terminolgy that we would give to the querent. We see the bare facts and so it is important to bear this in mind. For this reason keywords come in very handy those and I also find that using a deck whose sole purpose is for self readings helps too. That way the cards of this deck have only one meaning and that is used.

So, anybody?  :smt002

[pirbid]

Mmmm... In your case, that personal deck is the Legacy of the Divine? Btw, since I still have a long wait ahead, please tell me, is it living up to your expectations? Do you find it better than the previous two Ciro Marchetti's?  :smt007

[cedars]

I like the usage of the word 'cold reading', but I am not sure if I completely understand it.

In my readings, but not all of them exclusively, I try first to link in with the unknown seeker, having a forum ID as my only point of connection. I do not really pay much attention to the place and date of birth. That does not do it for me. When I link the way I described, I invariably get images and symbols which can be indicative of a situation and one that perhaps only the seeker may understand. I feel I get more of a 'contact' - if you wish to use that word - with the seeker and his/her situation. Sometimes, I have to admit, nothing comes through.

Then I go to the cards. I love the cards. When all else fails, they are always around to shed light. I have been told to discard the cards and do it 'naturally'. But I love the cards. I cant discard them. The add more detail......

My penny's worth on the topic

[pirbid]

Hi, Cedars. I just read some of your experiences in Psychic Reading. I also hope you won't abandon the Tarot, you are so good at it.

I wasn't too sure either what 'cold reading' meant at first but, after browsing the other posts on the thread, it seems to be a common practice on face to face readings: gathering information from the person in front and his/her reactions to any little thing you say, to confirm you are on the right track. As you see, it's nearly impossible to do on this board.

You have the advantage of picking up psychic clues, which many of us do not. But I am sure you have also encountered seekers little acquainted with Tarot who express surprise -if not even a little distrust- at the uncanny exactness of a reading.

That is why I had to devise an explanation to put them at ease when they ask me how I got the information, although in my own case, I am pretty sure it works more or less that way, since I see nothing before I lay the cards down.

Great topic this turned out to be! I love it when we get so many opinions  :)

[Cascade of Light]

Mmmm... In your case, that personal deck is the Legacy of the Divine?

No it isn't lol, the deck I use to read for me and only me is actually one of two decks, a Rider Waite clone, Mary Hanson deck or a mini Rider Waite. The Mary Hanson figures are hand drawn and so it give me a sense of fiction and make believe? RW well everyone has to have one lol? The small size is easy to use and carry around too

Btw, since I still have a long wait ahead, please tell me, is it living up to your expectations? Do you find it better than the previous two Ciro Marchetti's?  :smt007

The Legacy is a very interesting deck, I am not saying anymore  :smt020

[cedars]

I will not abandon the tarot my dear friend. Whilst I would like to develop in psychic and clairvoyance modalities, tarot was my first love.....  and if we know anything about first loves...?

Cassie and Pirbid: I was in London Covent Garden yesterday and went (like pilgrimage) to my two favourite shops that sell from cards to crystals and everything else. My favourite is the Mysteries Shop........ but I did not find the Legacy deck that you both talk about. Although I am not good with 'change' I really wanted to see this particular one.

Cassie, if it is not too much to ask, would you mind posting some of the pictures here? Not the whole 78 of them

Oh, Cassie, I like the way you said: RW, everybody has to have one. I am still very attached to the RW deck.