Tarot Ethics

[Zephyros]

I have ethics regarding myself in the sense that I won't kill a person or steal or stuff like that. But my ethics regarding Tarot are actually quite low, by other people's standards. A Tarot reading just isn't like installing a hidden camera in someone's room and has never given me that kind of information, so I don't worry that much about the ethical side of it. However, I do have double standards and the kinds of readings I do for myself I will usually not do for others because I can't recommend it as a good course of action. But I'm the reader and I allow myself to "sin" because I know the deal and how fraught with uncertainty such a reading can be.

I do however use it to my advantage, like asking before a date what "energies" the person will respond to, or before a job interview what will land me the job. Both of those can be considered snooping but the way I see it, an ability or power should be used, used well and used often.

I also lie to querents on occasion. I mean, I don't tell people one thing when the reading says something else, but recently I was asked to do a reading for a friend who had his new boyfriend with him. They had been dating something like less than a month and they both asked me, in the presence of the other, about the future of their relationship. I didn't see good things but I told them I saw nothing about their relationship at all. I didn't feel it would be right to intervene so early, and with both of them there I felt that keeping my mouth shut was the more tactful thing to do. Sometimes telling the whole truth can do damage.

 

[Ruby Jewel]

Yes, because you can use a shovel to do many things depending on what you are getting out of it. You can dig a hole to bury the dead, you can use a shovel to plant a vegetable garden and you can even hit someone over the head with a shovel to inflict pain and/or death.

Tarot is an esoteric element that has a lot more depth than a shovel or spoon. It is not exoteric, but is being used by many to do so. If you feel that it holds no more power than a shovel, then that is what you will get back. The symbolism and wisdom has been carefully handed down from generations of occultists. There is a subconscious realm combined with a conscious realm that encompasses each card and that's just the surface details....

But to each their own.

Of course, that is one person's analogy regarding a grammatical error in the posting which has been corrected. I have to ask if you read all the posts as this "spoon/shovel" thing has nothing to do with the subject of this post. Certainly nobody advocates using the tarot like that.

 

[Redfaery]

Of course, that is one person's analogy regarding a grammatical error in the posting which has been corrected. I have to ask if you read all the posts as this "spoon/shovel" thing has nothing to do with the subject of this post. Certainly nobody advocates using the tarot like that.

Since you've clarified your question, I think I can answer more clearly now. I agree that Tarot reading must be guided by the reader's ethics and morals, inasmuch as *anything else* in life should be.

If you feel that reading for a third party is flatly unethical, you are WELL within your rights to refuse. Just as you would be within your rights to refuse to snoop (for lack of a better term) more mundanely.

That said, I personally would not do a reading on a third party, more for practical reasons than ethical ones. I just don't think I can do those with much accuracy.

 

[Ruby Jewel]

What I find rather interesting here is the fact that some feel it necessary to use "derogatory" terminology to justify their opinion. I feel that detracts from the issue at hand. The ethics regarding reading for a third party is not a personal opinion. There happens to be two prevalent schools of thought that approach this question rationally and logically without taking it personally. Let me quote from a book written by a professional reader, "Fortune Stellar, What Every Professional Tarot Reader Needs to Know" by Christiana Gaudet.

"'A third-party reading' is when a reader gives information to a client about someone in the client's life who is not present at the reading. Questions like 'What can you tell me about my brother?' And 'Do you think my friend will find a job?' are questions requesting third-party readings.

Here, there are two prevalent schools of thought. One says that the reader should only read for the person who is present and has requested the reading. Reading for a third party might be an intrusion of privacy. Some readers feel they can only see the third party through the eyes of the client and therefore feel it is not an impartial and valid reading. Others may feel that it is not ethical to look into someone's life without their knowledge and permission. The other viewpoint is that to really know a person you need to know the people in their life.....

A reason that some readers refuse third-party readings is that there are occasional client's who enjoy feeding readers misinformation to see if we can perceive their untruths. They may say "Tell me about my sister," when in fact they have no sister. Clients may also ask about important people who have passed on, without revealing that the person in question is dead."

In setting up a professional practice, she advocates developing a code of ethics by which you will abide. Charging fees is another controversial area that comes under the code of ethics.

 

[Ruby Jewel]

I have ethics regarding myself in the sense that I won't kill a person or steal or stuff like that. But my ethics regarding Tarot are actually quite low, by other people's standards. A Tarot reading just isn't like installing a hidden camera in someone's room and has never given me that kind of information, so I don't worry that much about the ethical side of it. However, I do have double standards and the kinds of readings I do for myself I will usually not do for others because I can't recommend it as a good course of action. But I'm the reader and I allow myself to "sin" because I know the deal and how fraught with uncertainty such a reading can be.

I do however use it to my advantage, like asking before a date what "energies" the person will respond to, or before a job interview what will land me the job. Both of those can be considered snooping but the way I see it, an ability or power should be used, used well and used often.

I also lie to querents on occasion. I mean, I don't tell people one thing when the reading says something else, but recently I was asked to do a reading for a friend who had his new boyfriend with him. They had been dating something like less than a month and they both asked me, in the presence of the other, about the future of their relationship. I didn't see good things but I told them I saw nothing about their relationship at all. I didn't feel it would be right to intervene so early, and with both of them there I felt that keeping my mouth shut was the more tactful thing to do. Sometimes telling the whole truth can do damage.

Thank you for this honest and objective analysis of the question. It is exactly the type of answer I was hoping to encounter. None of us are perfect. We often must make decision during the process of a reading and that is why I feel it helps to create a "bottom line" standard of ethics for ourselves. It helps to understand how other readers go about doing this, and what their "bottom line" standards encompass.....and why.

 

[think]

The ethics regarding reading for a third party is not a personal opinion.

So you are explicitly declaring that reading on third parties is unethical, and that this is not a personal opinion?


ETA: I think it's unethical to be needlessly judging, prejudiced and presuming as a reader. Obviously this is my personal opinion, I'm not quite sure what else you wanted to discuss here.

My friend is a therapist. She gets clients go to her and talk about their husband, their parents, other friends. The therapist discusses these issues and what possible reasons they may have for behaving that way. Is that unethical? The third parties are probably not aware they are being discussed. There are many more examples in professions everywhere. Law, education, all sorts.

I happen to believe that tarot taps into the subconscious, not that it has any mystical, occult basis. So if I ask you as a reader to tell me what is going on with my sister, you will only be able to tell me what my subconscious already is aware of.

 

[CrystalSeas]

I find the words
"snooping"
" contributing to the querent's obsession"
"highly unethical as a professional practice"

pretty derogatory to start with. I'm not sure how the thread can get more derogatory. They describe common practices of may members of this forum both on and off line. Are you suggesting that this forum itself promotes highly unethical practices?

I also think that "That is my take on it" is pretty clearly a personal opinion.

 

[think]

I find the words
"snooping"
" contributing to the querent's obsession"
"highly unethical as a professional practice"

pretty derogatory to start with. I'm not sure how the thread can get more derogatory. They describe common practices of may members of this forum both on and off line. Are you suggesting that this forum itself promotes highly unethical practices?

I also think that "That is my take on it" is pretty clearly a personal opinion.

Agreed!

 

[Zephyros]

Moderator Note:

Before this thread heats up I remind everyone to respect other viewpoints as well as the people making them. In a discussion about ethics it is natural that some opinions would be seen as unethical and that's okay. Just keep the conversation about ideas and not people.

Thanks,

Zephyros

 

[Ruby Jewel]

So you are explicitly declaring that reading on third parties is unethical, and that this is not a personal opinion?


ETA: I think it's unethical to be needlessly judging, prejudiced and presuming as a reader. Obviously this is my personal opinion, I'm not quite sure what else you wanted to discuss here.

My friend is a therapist. She gets clients go to her and talk about their husband, their parents, other friends. The therapist discusses these issues and what possible reasons they may have for behaving that way. Is that unethical? The third parties are probably not aware they are being discussed. There are many more examples in professions everywhere. Law, education, all sorts.

I happen to believe that tarot taps into the subconscious, not that it has any mystical, occult basis. So if I ask you as a reader to tell me what is going on with my sister, you will only be able to tell me what my subconscious already is aware of.

I feel this is a serious issue for a professional tarot reader to consider. I'm not asking for your personal opinion, but your professional opinion, if you have one. I'm not concerned with therapists inasmuch as most readers are not trained in professional therapy, thus I have no professional opinion regarding that profession.