The person I'm dating (has been a bit tumultuous lol) highly disapproves of my interest in astrology, tarot, etc. and basically tells me it's a "cheap trick", and those who do tarot readings are "playing God", have no right to give advice to people they know nothing about, etc...
Honestly as far as astrology goes I've become pretty confident in my knowledge, and I would not feel at all "unethical" looking at someone's chart and giving them advice based on upcoming transits. But I have to admit with tarot (still very new to learning about how tarot and astrology actually relate) sometimes if when doing readings for others the outcome is especially negative, I hesitate to explain it to the querent because I don't want to make too much of an impact on their actions and perceptions (especially if the cards are actually "wrong"??)
So I'm sorry I'm still a beginner and questioning my "faith" a bit lol but I guess I'm just wondering what other more experienced tarot reader's responses are to these types of opinions... Seems to be the general consensus and I don't have much evidence to justify my experiences or beliefs in it
Ethics are a personal thing to a large extent. Your bf may have different ones from you on Tarot...but that does mean yours are unethical or not right for you personally,
Well if you don't feel certain inside yourself that the right answers will come up in Tarot for you or that you can interpret them rightly, my thought is you may not be ready to read for others until you reach that point. Maybe unless you tell the querent first that you are just learning and are not yet sure of your accuracy level. That would be a different case of course.
Yes, the things you tell someone in a reading can affect the querent very much, Some people get more affected than others. But people generally come for readings because something is bothering them and they want help. They may be a little vulnerable at the time.
Yes, if you ask a question the cards may sometimes tell the querent what they want to hear and sometimes the news is not what they want to hear. When we start a reading we don't know what will come up. But it is our job to pass on what we are told.
But there are two things, maybe more, to remember here. If we are talking about a reading about the future, as you seem to be, even if something "negative" shows up in cards about the future that does not mean that this thing will in fact happen. I feel it is our responsibility as readers to explain this to the querent: that when we ask the cards about the future ALL that they can do is tell us where we are heading at the precise moment in time the reading was done.
That does not necessarily mean that is where things will end up. The future is not usually solid or set in stone. We can usually change it. The future we are heading towards now does not necessarily have to be the same future we are heading towards a half and hour later. Forewarned is forearmed as they say. We can change the future if we are not heading where we want to be. But we can only change the future if we know where we are heading. That is where you come in , You as a reader provide that knowledge that is necessary before change. There can be no change until YOU show the person why it is necessary.
Let's say for example that A is in a relationship with B. And let's say they are fighting,. And A is being all proud and saying that they will not apologise to B first as they were not the one who started it...etc and they are not going to make the first move. No way,. no how
And let's say they have a reading on the future of the relationship and the cards say that the relationship will end because too much time went by with no communication and B went off to find someone who can understand them and talk to them.
So A gets a reading that says the relationship will end. That does not mean it will end, if you see where I am going. it just means that where the relationship is heading NOW is towards that ending.
At that point A has a choice. They can think about if their pride really means more to them than the relationship instead and is who apoligizes first really more important than saving what they have.
And at that point they can run over and take B in their arms and apologise from their heart,. And if you did a reading 5 minutes later if you did a reading, the cards might well show a wonderful future behind then.
And that is what Tarot is. It is not telling someone that their relationship that they value will end, it is giving them the chance to save it, to prevent that which they don't want from happening to them. With the knowledge that the cards give we can change the future.
Next point, LOL, if you have to tell bad news, it's all in the delivery. Tact and caring are important skills in my opinion. The wording is very important, Some ways of hearing hard news are easier to deal with than others. And yet all can express the same basic truth.
My viewpoint is that we are hear to help and never to hurt as readers and any reading should be helpful and never leave the querent feelings worse than before it was done.
That means that if you tell them something that is coming they do not wish for you find suggestions on how to prevent it., Even if you have to pull another card to ask how they can do that. And you leave them with hope and faith in life.
Those are my rather long views on what it means to be a reader, LOL
Babs