Reading for yourself-Intuitive vs What I Want to Hear

Cynthia_H

Good day all:

I am a newbie who primarily reads for herself (other than this forum) and would like to become a more intuitive reader. For the past few years I have been studying the books and meanings about the cards. Without the background and experience that many of you folks have, I often find that when I ignore the "book meanings" (which I know have many applications and subject to a vast array of interpretations) and just go with my feelings, I get an unusually high number of readings with the answer I want.

Does this go away with experience or do you have any tips how to overcome this conflict ?

Cheers, Cynthia.
 

Barleywine

I don't read for myself much any more, but these days when I do I go more for "tone" than detailed "substance." There is an old caveat: "Don't put too fine a point on it" that is good advice when reading for oneself. For example, I might ask "How will today go?" rather than "What will happen today?)
 

Cynthia_H

......I go more for "tone" than detailed "substance." There is an old caveat: "Don't put too fine a point on it" that is good advice when reading for oneself.
.....good advice, cheers, Cynthia :thumbsup:
 

barefootlife

I also don't ask specific questions when reading for myself. Another thing I do is to really look at the way that the cards reference each other instead of reading them individually. That helps point the way to which meaning that card might be speaking to. (that helps in all readings, of course) But the non-specific question helps the most - it lets the cards say what they will and helps keep you from steering your reading to the 'right' answer.
 

magicjack

I have been reading more for myself than I use to. If I go with the original cards I pull and stop there because they eerily come out correct. So, if your going to read for yourself I personally would stick with the cards you pull the first time and no more. I think it's apple and oranges reading for yourself and reading for others.
 

Cynthia_H

I also don't ask specific questions when reading for myself. Another thing I do is to really look at the way that the cards reference each other instead of reading them individually. That helps point the way to which meaning that card might be speaking to. (that helps in all readings, of course) But the non-specific question helps the most - it lets the cards say what they will and helps keep you from steering your reading to the 'right' answer.
Thanks barefootlife, I'll give the non-specific question :?: a try along with reading the cards together rather than individually.

I have been reading more for myself than I use to. If I go with the original cards I pull and stop there because they eerily come out correct. So, if your going to read for yourself I personally would stick with the cards you pull the first time and no more. I think it's apple and oranges reading for yourself and reading for others.
Hi magicjack, I do only pull the cards once. And you are too true, before joining this forum I had never read for anyone other than myself and reading for others IS totally different :surprise:.
 

euripides

This is something I think about quite a bit, as I'm (always) trying to figure out what I should be doing, and I'm never quite sure if I'm just seeing what I want to see.

Having said that, I think it's important to *look at the cards* with or without the LWB; with a true Rider Waite tarot, I keep the traditional meanings in mind, and often check a source to see that I'm remembering them correctly. With a derivative deck, I'll look at the LWB. Sometimes the LWB meaning does seem to diverge from the impression I get from the card art itself, and generally I'll prioritize the card - the artist has usually created art to express the meaning, while the LWB writer is often simply trying not to plagiarize.

I don't think 'intuitive' means 'making it up as you go'. Otherwise why bother with cards? It means responding instinctively from your own store of long-forgotten myths, faith and fairy tales and connecting them with the images and symbolism of the cards, and applying that to things happening in your life.
 

Barleywine

I don't think 'intuitive' means 'making it up as you go'. Otherwise why bother with cards? It means responding instinctively from your own store of long-forgotten myths, faith and fairy tales and connecting them with the images and symbolism of the cards, and applying that to things happening in your life.

This is one of the better descriptions of intuitive reading I've seen. In many ways, intuitive impressions are a "conditioned response" to the images, often echoes of forgotten or half-remembered experiences that rise to the surface under the stimulus of the cards. These inspired linkages might even be fragments from the collective unconscious, but mostly they would seem to be rooted in the personal subconscious, or at least channeled through it. I would add cultural acclimation to the list of source materials that underlie our intuitive responses. Psychism also shouldn't be discounted, but that falls into the "why bother with cards" category.
 

headincloud

Most I think tend to read what they want to hear rather than what's being presented in the cards but by keeping track of readings we can see what was true or not with hindsight. I think distortion is an essential part of learning the tarot, part of the course and is something we get over as we become more self attuned.
 

rwcarter

Being able to read for oneself as dispassionately as one might read for another is a skill that takes time and experience to build. If you're too close to a situation to be able to objectively (which is probably a better word than dispassionately) read the cards, then you shouldn't read for yourself (or at least you should examine whether or not you're seeing what you want to see). Ask yourself for each interpetation, "Would I say that if I didn't know as much about the situation as I do?" or "Would I say that to a complete stranger?" If the answer is "No" then you're seeing what you want to see.

Rodney