Any of you ever use tarot cards or runes?

[ciscop]

yeah of course
that would be awesome

[NinjaPuppy]

[ciscop]

yeah man
there´s no rush
and thanks

[The Warrigal]

FWIW.

I have not bothered much with either astrology or numerology and I know nothing abouts Runes.

I am, although badly out of practice, experienced with various systems of cartomancy, some of which employ the classic Tarot deck and others the modern 52 card playing deck.

If the Tarot is your bag, then you have a wealth of different decks to choose from, some of them of very high artistic merit.

Therefore, if you wish to experiment in this field of divination or if you are just a mentalist looking for good prop then you are certain to find several Tarot decks that visually appeall to you.

There are also many books available on cartomancy, some of which are excellent and some of which are not.

However, I must concur with NinjaPuppy that the more you read and the more practice you actually get at card reading the more you will be impressed by it's accuracy.

(Ditto for dowsing, but that's another topic).

To put in my own .02 here, I think that the only real advantage that the 78 card Tarot deck has over the common one is that if you use the full deck you have a higher probability of coming up with an accurate forecast for the sitter.

However, it is my own policy when doing a reading for a friend or acquaintance to limit the forecast no further than six weeks ahead as it is my own experience that attempting to read further ahead than this results in answers too vague to be of any value.

Accuracy with the cards comes from practice and experience as NinjaPuppy has already said.

I also concur with NinjaPuppy that if that when one is in practiced with the cards, they don't just flow, but read damned near like print!

I am also in agreement that the instant a reseacher starts going to psychic fairs and/or charging money for this sort of thing they have ceased to be reseachers and have become "fortune tellers."

When a friend, relative or workmate, allows, - (usually requests), - that I do a reading for them, I think that they are helping me by first letting me do the reading, and thence by giving me feedback, - (even negative feedback), - of how the reading went.

When I have done readings for myself using the aforementioned six week ahead time frame I have found them to be most accurate.

[NinjaPuppy]

[Scepcop]

Ninjapuppy and Warrigal,

I've also speculated, based on experience, that some people are hard to read. Is that right? It's like their vibes are too confused or deep or there is a barrier to reading them.

Also, some psychics and sitters naturally open up a channel between them, while others don't, sort of like personal chemistry. Do you find that to be true?

I've found that sometimes a psychic who gives very accurate readings for others may only give me a generalized cliched reading with no amazing hits, for example.

Why is it that when a psychic charges for readings at a psychic fair, that they perform less well? Isn't making money a basic part of life? Why would it interrupt psychic energies?

And what if one got so good at it, like Warrigal mentioned, that they could read it like print? Then wouldn't it not matter if they did it at a psychic fair or not, since it's already become second nature to them?

Also, what's your take on that criticism that skeptics make about why psychics don't win the lottery or go to casinos and win money with their powers?

[NinjaPuppy]

[The Warrigal]

Hi Winston.

You ask some pointed questions and I shall endeavour to answer them as clearly as I can.

I have never encountered a person for whom it was difficult to do a reading regardless of their scepticism or lack of it, or wether I used common playing cards or the Tarot.

When I was new to this I would sometimes get a card spread that was as clear as mud, but I found out that the reason for this is that I neglected to ask the sitter to mentally phrase his/her question as unambigously as possible before shuffling the deck. - (They don't need to tell me their question and unless they insist on doing otherwise I prefer them not to).

I usually use a 42 card spread which although a historically well pedigreed layout is not much used these days, which is a pity in my opinion as it provides greater accuracy and detail than any of the other classic spreads which I have used.

Once in a VERY rare while I might come across a line which is either too cryptic for me to make sense of or leaves me confused as to how to articulate the line for the sitter, I just skip that line and go to the next.

Some people do seem easier to read for than others, which may be indicative of a good rapport between the reader and the sitter.

I would advise against trying to read if you are feeling very nervous or agitated though as this is bound to impair your performance.

On occassion, when I have been reading for myself and received one of those generalised and cliched forecasts, there has been nothing much outside of the routine going on in my life at the time, however, the busier I am the more detailed and accurate the reading seems to be, therefore I shall cautiously venture the opinion that the more active the sitter at the time of the reading the higher the probability of getting very specific answers from the card spread.

I can see no reason why charging money for a reading would degrade the quality of that reading but choose not to do so as I see myself as a researcher and feel some personal concern that if I charged for readings then I might feel under pressure to perform.

Like NinjaPuppy when have gone to psychic fairs it has been as a "customer."

I have met one or two professional readers who impress me as being very good, but overall my experience is that where professional readers are concerned mediocraty governs and that to date the most accurate readings that I have personally received have come from amateurs!

Psychic ability is uneccessary where the cards are concerned since one is using a coded system of divination which anyone can learn.

Regarding the common taunt that if you are psychic you should be winning lotteries is as NinjaPuppy has already said no more than a childish put down.

On might as well ask ask a Professor of Economics who works in a purely academic environment why he isn't living in a diamond studded yacht moored of Monte Carlo if he knows knows so much about the dynamics of wealth creation.

[Scepcop]

Wow Warrigal, you do readings too? I thought you were just a "warrior" lol

Would you be interested in doing a reading for me sometime, like Ninjapuppy did, and then compare your results to hers?

That would be interesting. What info do you need to do a long distance reading?

[NinjaPuppy]

[Twain Shakespeare]

TAROT BEEN THERE DONE THAT

I had just meet Alexander Herndon when he first read my cards thirty years ago. I told him I wasn't interested because I was an atheist. He insisted, so I asked silently "How will the war of Armageddon end?" He started laying out the cards, laid out about ten, got pale as a ghost, and quit. He said the cards were coming it in descending order through the face cards, the way they would be described in a book.
A year later (1981) it had slipped his mind that was me, since we had just met then. He read them again. I asked "How will the year 1984 turn out?" He swore the same thing happened, and cut the reading short again after about ten cards..
Finally, a year later, having developed a theory, I got him to read them once more, after promising I wouldn't ask about the end of the world. I asked "What is my personal fate?" Same thing happened.
My theory was taken from Robert Anton Wilson, who claimed Tarot and I Ching had the same source.
The hexagrams, read in order, are allegedly the model of a human life. The Tarot was an allegorization of the same thing. A3rd claim that RAW made is that that allegory, inverted and written down in prose, is the basis of revelation. I didn't “believe” any of that. I just entertained the hypotheses. Got them a couple of drinks. Let them stay the night.
What intrigues me is the odds against getting the same sequence of even five cards three times, esp. in the context. Peace love and wisdom

[Craig Browning]

I'm surprised I've not seen this thread before...

I've read the Tarot since the mid and latter 1970s and been a professional Reader since the early/mid-80s.

Now, before we get all kinds of cynical rhetoric flowing (which seems to have already been barfed up earlier ) I am likewise a veteran of the magician's world and more than familiar with all the skeptical "explanations" to it all... most of which have been shared with the world by individuals who've never actually worked as a full-time Reader, nor have they studied any of the oracular systems in-depth... this is obvious when you have people like Joe Nichols saying that you don't need to know the meanings of the lines in a palm, what the cards mean, etc. I can assure you, in the real world if you attempted such stupidity the patrons of the psychic world would eat you alive.

My accuracy with Readings depends on the situation and now days, how I'm feeling; on a bad day I'm probably hovering between 75-83% on the scale whereas my good days can get me up into the lower 90% BUT, and this is the important thing cynics love to ignore, skirt around, down play, etc. The Tarot IS NO the same thing as Prophecy; it is Divination, which leaves the sitter with their free will e.g. nothing is carved in stone and any sense of foresight can be altered by the sitter, though it's not quite as easy as turning left instead of right when you leave the Reading. If something is supposed to happen in your life or affect your life as per the Reading, it will. BUT (again) there are variables, the biggest being if or not you are getting your Reading done by someone that does the cards by rote, based solely on their book meanings and methodology, OR are you getting a Reading by someone learned in the cards as well as a sense of intuition or empathic connection (a.k.a. "Psychic"). It is only with the latter that you are going to run into those harder-hitting, more influential "predictions" as they were.

Prophecy IS NOT the same things as Divination though a huge majority of folk misunderstand that fact; mainly due to dime story novelist & Hollywood's misrepresentation but likewise due to both, religious and skeptical rhetoric in which this contrast is deliberately obscured for the sake of proving personal/cult biased views.

YES, there are frauds out there as well as delusional air-heads that think they are Psychic or "gifted" in some manner, I will not disagree with such observations and will in fact sustain them. However, there are likewise those in this great big world who are not out to make a name for themselves, nor do they charge exorbitant fees for their work (most don't charge anything) and who are essentially what they claim; a sounding board available to help those that need the help and guidance. They are individuals blessed with some sense of insight or awareness that skeptics/cynics can readily explain away nor can the magician replicate... and before it's stated, NO they are not the sort that would subject themselves to the stupidity of some bloody series of tests, they view that sort of thing as being both, foolish and glory seeking, nothing more! These folks do not seek out the lime-light, most are actually reclusive and live a rather quiet, simple life.

So, when it comes to Winston's question; yes, the Tarot (or most any other oracle) can be amazingly accurate when in the hands of someone that understands said system as well as the supportive elements associated with it.

[Twain Shakespeare]

Third attempt, Craig, WarGal, readers, any thoughts on what my readings might have been, or meant? Inquiring minds want to know?

[Craig Browning]

[Twain Shakespeare]

Sorry Craig, third attempt referred to the computer trouble I was having. I did not expect the posting to succeed. Sincere apologies for the resulting confusion.

"TAROT BEEN THERE DONE THAT" posted above is my account of the three times the tarot was read for me. Each time the reader claimed the cards came out in the same sequence. That is what I would like a reader's take on. My reader was in his twenties, and in about stage two then three, of the training regimen you described. My experiences with divination have been too uncanny for me to want to importune casually.
Thankyou for inquiring when I failed to be clear, Craig. I really would like to know what you think, however dismissive or frightening it mught be. Peace