What makes a reading "accurate" to you?

berrieh

Unless you subscribe to a more Zen-like outlook, then there is no past and no future... there is only right now. Right now is the only thing we have any influence over. We cannot change the past, it only exists in memory; we cannot change the future because it doesn't exist yet.

This is partly to play devil's advocate, and partly because I believe it to be mostly true.

Yes, I understand this theory, too. Though if there is only the moment of 'right now,' then there is no need to read Tarot, is there? (I didn't mean there was literally no Present...just no Present in, or for the purposes of, a Tarot reading.)

I do agree that the moment upon us is the only time we have control over, it's where our empowerment lies...however, if someone is sitting in front of you and receiving a Tarot reading in that moment, there's no use reading that particular moment...you know what is happening and also nothing major is going to be done, decided, or changed until it is over.

So, does this zen principle/philosophy suggest that the Sitter is wasting their present by focusing on the past and the potential future?

I confess I'm not very zen. Do you still read, with this philosophy, and how does it change your view of both reading and accuracy?
 

Sophie

I really don't agree about the present always being more useful than the future - what about my example above about a company closing in the future - directly affecting the querent's job? If that's not useful to know - for all sorts of practical reasons! - I don't know what is. Obviously, the querent will have to take steps in the present (CVs, finding out more about the market, finding out about legal rights, etc.) - but the point is to be prepared when that future arrives. A bit like being prepared when the hurricane strikes (in the future).

Ignoring the future is a fallacy. We can't do it. Ask anyone who has organised a big wedding :D
 

.traveller.

berrieh said:
Yes, I understand this theory, too. Though if there is only the moment of 'right now,' then there is no need to read Tarot, is there? (I didn't mean there was literally no Present...just no Present in, or for the purposes of, a Tarot reading.)

Why not? People will still need guidance, still have goals, wants, desires. The "Past" that you are reading is really the present reality of the querent. You are reading their baggage, the crap they carry around that for the most part, keeps them from making the most of right now. Perfect fodder for a tarot reading.


berrieh said:
I confess I'm not very zen. Do you still read, with this philosophy, and how does it change your view of both reading and accuracy?

I certainly do read, by focusing on the present and the possibilities inherent within the present. In most cases, the future is not predetermined, however we can shape our tomorrow by the choices we make today. If I read for someone's "future", I am really looking at probabilities, not certainties. In rare cases, I do receive visions of future events that will occur regardless of any external influence.


But ya know, I've always been a bit of an odd duck. :)
 

.traveller.

Fudugazi said:
Ignoring the future is a fallacy. We can't do it. Ask anyone who has organised a big wedding :D

No one is ignoring the future, the fallacy is living in the future.

Organizing a wedding or any other big event in the present doesn't mean the wedding or event shall actually occur. It is probability with a high likelihood of possibility. How many weddings get cancelled at the last minute?
 

berrieh

I certainly do read, by focusing on the present and the possibilities inherent within the present. In most cases, the future is not predetermined, however we can shape our tomorrow by the choices we make today. If I read for someone's "future", I am really looking at probabilities, not certainties. In rare cases, I do receive visions of future events that will occur regardless of any external influence.

That's how I read as well. I think we probably disagree in terms only, though not in ideas or spirit. What many people refer to as the Present is the Past to me, as it has already happened. Like you, I rarely see future predictions as certainties.

Yet it doesn't mean to me that all that matters is the Present. The Present is where we live, but the Past is who we decide to be and the Future (if we can garner knowledge of it) is what we can use.

Of course, I am a bit of an odd duck as well, as I think we can also change the Past. I have done it and seen it done any number of times. Tarot often helps me change the Past, by revealing more and showing me new ways to re-write my memories. If you begin to re-write your memories, you begin to re-write your life. (...I don't mean you can change the events or anything insane.) Which makes accuracy on the Past very interesting. It's why I usually choose to begin reading perceptions, rather than truth, and then I work backwards with a Sitter. (This assumes a Live reading, where I have the time.)

Of course, I don't believe truth exists. I believe what I read as 'truth' is more likely the best-possible-perception-to-adopt.
 

Aoife

berrieh said:
The Present is where we live, but the Past is who we decide to be and the Future (if we can garner knowledge of it) is what we can use.

Of course, I am a bit of an odd duck as well, as I think we can also change the Past. I have done it and seen it done any number of times. Tarot often helps me change the Past, by revealing more and showing me new ways to re-write my memories. If you begin to re-write your memories, you begin to re-write your life. (...I don't mean you can change the events or anything insane.) Which makes accuracy on the Past very interesting. It's why I usually choose to begin reading perceptions, rather than truth, and then I work backwards with a Sitter. (This assumes a Live reading, where I have the time.)

Of course, I don't believe truth exists. I believe what I read as 'truth' is more likely the best-possible-perception-to-adopt.

Yes!!!
 

autumnsdaughter

berrieh said:
Of course, I am a bit of an odd duck as well, as I think we can also change the Past. I have done it and seen it done any number of times. Tarot often helps me change the Past, by revealing more and showing me new ways to re-write my memories. If you begin to re-write your memories, you begin to re-write your life. (...I don't mean you can change the events or anything insane.) Which makes accuracy on the Past very interesting. It's why I usually choose to begin reading perceptions, rather than truth, and then I work backwards with a Sitter. (This assumes a Live reading, where I have the time.)

Of course, I don't believe truth exists. I believe what I read as 'truth' is more likely the best-possible-perception-to-adopt.

This hits home for me. Absolutely. We get to tell our own story, and the way we tell the story can have a huge impact on the future. Attitude really is everything, because once you see the "bad" thing as an opportunity to refine your idea of what would be better, you can find the best in everything. I love how tarot can give us hints about where we might benefit from rewriting our stories.
 

Sophie

berrieh said:
Of course, I am a bit of an odd duck as well, as I think we can also change the Past. I have done it and seen it done any number of times. Tarot often helps me change the Past, by revealing more and showing me new ways to re-write my memories. If you begin to re-write your memories, you begin to re-write your life. (...I don't mean you can change the events or anything insane.) Which makes accuracy on the Past very interesting. It's why I usually choose to begin reading perceptions, rather than truth, and then I work backwards with a Sitter. (This assumes a Live reading, where I have the time.)
Yes - we can change the past. I've experienced that too. Time is a great deal more flexible than many people think. In that context, "accuracy" would become - "what the querent recognises and claims" as a deeper truth for past, present and future (however one defines truth), knowing that the truth can change, alongside anything that is human.

I've often wondered about the problem of denial in querents, including in myself when I am the querent (for my own readings, or for other people). Is it an arrogance to say someone is in denial, as was stated earlier? I don't think so, but at the same time, there is a season for all truth and patience is needed for that truth to emerge inside the querent. It has happened to me not to want to accept something a reader said, only to realise that it had merit later on. I am sure this happens with other querents.

For that reason, I ALWAYS question myself and go inside to listen to what my inner voice is telling me, whenever my immediate response to something a reader tells me is - "NO!", accompanied by a wind of fear and pain. It often signals my own denial, and - oddly - the accuracy of the reading (at least that part of it), no matter how unwelcome. That goes for past, present and future.

But because anyone can only ever lead their own life, all we can do for querents who give us that fearful and painful NO! is to share that discipline of self-questioning with them as gentle advice - we can't force-feed it to them and impose our accuracy, if indeed our reading is accurate and not way off-course, which can also happen. But the NO we receive in that case tends to be more poised and confident, less laced in fear.
 

berrieh

I've often wondered about the problem of denial in querents, including in myself when I am the querent (for my own readings, or for other people). Is it an arrogance to say someone is in denial, as was stated earlier? I don't think so, but at the same time, there is a season for all truth and patience is needed for that truth to emerge inside the querent.

I think it's arrogant, yes, because it's essentially disregarding the Sitter's truth. The Sitter's perception may not be the only perception, but it is a valid perception and their current truth. (I am not speaking to true delusion, which does exist but which is pretty few and far between as Sitters go, and you can usually spot them before you ever read for them.) I think if a reading completely disregards a Sitter's current truth and reality -- and especially if it says things that contradict that truth and reality without addressing them -- then it is inaccurate.

Yes, truth can change, but that I believe both the reading and the Sitter's reality/truths belong to the Sitter. And I don't think there is one true truth... I certainly wouldn't give the cards or a Reader that kind of power over a Sitter to tell them that they hold the one and only version of the Sitter's truth.

Now, I think a Reader can help a Sitter change the Past, but they have to start with what is true for the Sitter and respect that before they can begin to suggest alternate truths.

Of course, I think this is especially true for 'feels.' If someone tells me how I feel, and it's incorrect, I consider that extremely inaccurate. So, I think language is extremely important in a reading. I often find -- within a reading -- that how a Sitter feels and what's really going on around them don't mesh. Does that mean the Sitter is in denial? Not really. It means they don't have the entire perspective, and I assume that's part of why they came for a reading. So, we get to that, but I try not to disregard their truths along the way.

For that reason, I ALWAYS question myself and go inside to listen to what my inner voice is telling me, whenever my immediate response to something a reader tells me is - "NO!", accompanied by a wind of fear and pain.

Yes, there is, an "Oh, no!" NO! that sort of signals denial, but I've also had many a, "Yeah...that's not it" reading in my day and I'm sure I've given dozens or possibly more, too.

I hate it when Sitters go the and go into the, "Well, this could maybe fit if..." because those never turn out to be true. It's just me getting my wires crossed. So, when reading in-person, I now literally stop if a reading isn't going well. No money exchanges hands, I apologize, I say I'm not feeling it, and we part before I get in too deep. If there's major dissonance, I've never found that it worked out well, personally, on either side.

I've been surprisingly right on the Future, but I don't think I've ever been surprisingly right on the Past... to where a Sitter disagreed but later agreed, nor have I ever felt that way in a reading. But if others say that's happened to them, then I suppose it's possible.

The greater issue here is communication. I suppose a Reader could be somehow accurate but not good at communicating, yet I think a reading is communication, so I wouldn't consider it accurate if it was communicated improperly. There have been times I've gotten 'something' and I feel like the sensation/impression was correct, but I translated it all wrong for someone. I consider that being wrong.
 

tmgrl2

Just a comment, berrieh....about "rewriting the past" through how we remember....reminded me of a tenet in A Course in Miracles.

Once we learn a lesson, once we "get it, " then it is as if we have always had it...in others words it simply is now...

I like that concept, since it includes forgiveness and eradicates guilt, gets rid of replaying old tapes, old mistakes.

I got. I have it. Move forward.

terri