Cards facing you or the querent?

[MysticMoonlight]

When reading for others face-to-face, what is your preference for laying the cards, facing you or facing the querent/sitter?

I've used both ways but really prefer to have them facing me. For me, it to feels more harmonious and seems to help my intuition flow much better.

How about you?

 

[Grizabella]

I face them toward me, of course. I'm the one doing the reading. If I were teaching a student of Tarot, then I might face them so we could both see them, but the reader is the one who needs to see them. The sitter wants answers to their concerns, not a lesson in Tarot.

I don't mind if the sitter wants to see a card better or something like that and moves the card so they can see it better. A reading isn't "this card means this and that card means that" though. We do that here because it's a learning forum. A card reading for a sitter outside of AT just wants their questions and concerns addressed and the cards speak in terms of combinations of cards a lot of times. To sit and say things like "this card is the King of Cups and means yadda yadda" and "the next card means yadda yadda" isn't giving a good reading. A truly good reading is one where the reader pulls it all together and tells the sitter what those cards mean as a whole, if that makes sense to everyone.

 

[MysticMoonlight]

I face them toward me, of course. I'm the one doing the reading. If I were teaching a student of Tarot, then I might face them so we could both see them, but the reader is the one who needs to see them. The sitter wants answers to their concerns, not a lesson in Tarot.

I don't mind if the sitter wants to see a card better or something like that and moves the card so they can see it better. A reading isn't "this card means this and that card means that" though. We do that here because it's a learning forum. A card reading for a sitter outside of AT just wants their questions and concerns addressed and the cards speak in terms of combinations of cards a lot of times. To sit and say things like "this card is the King of Cups and means yadda yadda" and "the next card means yadda yadda" isn't giving a good reading. A truly good reading is one where the reader pulls it all together and tells the sitter what those cards mean as a whole, if that makes sense to everyone.

Yes, it makes perfect sense to me. Early on, I did try a few readings with the cards facing the sitter, just so I could know, without a doubt, exactly how I preferred doing readings for others. It didn't take me long at all to discover my preference. The flow when facing me was remarkably better, indeed.