Disagreeing with a reader's interpretation

[Padma]

Please tell me that you remember the cards involved? It would be extremely useful to see how those cards were interpreted differently.

Sorry - not a clue! It was over 30 years ago...my strongest memory is the first thing he said - "you aren't supposed to be marrying this guy!"

The one question I have is whether this was a face-to-face reading or a "remote" one. I only read face-to-face, where any such divergences of opinion can be discussed candidly and hashed out via a constructive dialogue. There may still be some bruised egos, but at least the air is cleared and a mutual understanding can be approached. After several decades of doing this, I still learn something from every reading, and it usually comes as a result of a shared investigation of the meaning of the spread. I've never felt that tarot readings are intended to be unilateral pronouncements, but rather joint journeys of discovery.

Beautifully said love the fact that each reading teaches, and how the sitter is a prominent part of the reading!

Emily said some good stuff too, about being attached to particular outcomes...

I can see how you'd think the Sun meant all would be well with that relationship, but that is not how tarot works, imo...in my experience, with all those rx cards, and what they were, and were they were, the Sun in the outcome position would also have told me you would indeed find love, just not with the guy you are currently with. It would be an "all may be well in the end" but not necessarily in the situation itself. Tarot has a weird sense of humour, and it has to work with a fairly limited vocabulary (at least viaually) so I never take cards at face value anymore....

Sun can also mean "getting burned" and "you will be really angry" (on fire, so to speak) so don't assume all will be peachy keen, just because Sun was the outcome card. It generally indicates positives, true - but if it was one of few positive cards in the reading, I would not immediately take it as a cue to a perfect ending of that relationship in particular. Just my view.

 

[DownUnderNZer]

I think some are just bad readers and its not about biases at all. Crap readers and simple as that...

My nephew, for instance, tried doing Tarot on me once and it was like he was pulling straw out of his ass.

One sister sitting in her lounge suddenly was connecting to spirits with all these messages. Nothing but pure nonsense. Poor thing...

And some with the Lenormand...unless they can read like me...no thanks.

Some are just bad readers.

 

[Padma]

And some with the Lenormand...unless they can read like me...no thanks

So...you are saying if people cannot read exactly as you do, they are bad readers?

 

[Cicas]

I can see how you'd think the Sun meant all would be well with that relationship, but that is not how tarot works, imo...in my experience, with all those rx cards, and what they were, and were they were, the Sun in the outcome position would also have told me you would indeed find love, just not with the guy you are currently with. It would be an "all may be well in the end" but not necessarily in the situation itself. Tarot has a weird sense of humour, and it has to work with a fairly limited vocabulary (at least viaually) so I never take cards at face value anymore....

Sun can also mean "getting burned" and "you will be really angry" (on fire, so to speak) so don't assume all will be peachy keen, just because Sun was the outcome card. It generally indicates positives, true - but if it was one of few positive cards in the reading, I would not immediately take it as a cue to a perfect ending of that relationship in particular. Just my view.

Thanks, Padma. I definitely understand your interpretation and I did try to kind of ignore the sun in the outcome position during my analysis of the other cards. I don't normally read with reversals, so that might be part of the difference in interpretation as well but I do see where this could indicate a lot of blockages. I am pretty resolute though in giving my all to this relationship, so at this point it is really hard to see myself walking away but as in your example, I know that we aren't always able to see what's truly "in the cards"
Overall I think what I found the most interesting about the reader's interpretation was the presence of the knight of pentacles as future love interest. There's rumor that a coworker has quite a thing for me and her description of KnP fit him to a tee. At this point I'm not interested but it is the thing that gave me the most pause.

 

[DownUnderNZer]

Some are reading them in a way that is different.

And some don't even answer the question really.

Someone (no longer here) told me once of a reading she got about a relocation move I think and the MAN and HEART came up. The reading was all about a new man and love not really a house move. It isn't Tarot and 3 or 4 years later still no man, but she did move.

So, with Lenormand I choose to read for myself or be selective.

Practice or learning maybe, but that is about it. And even then it would depend on who perhaps. Just depends.

There is one on here from Europe that seems similar and one that changed her nickname that tried a GT once...she did it rather well.

As for the ones learning...they are learning, but too many books and methods might cause confusion rather than a simple understanding.

Some habits I see like jumping the gun on things - causes me concern.

So...you are saying if people cannot read exactly as you do, they are bad readers?

 

[chaosbloom]

I agreed with most of her reading but she basically said that since the devil was present, I should leave the relationship and she said the sun was a future with someone else (she drew another card - knight of pents).

I understand a warning or a prediction but telling someone to break up and try to find someone else? Do readers out there really do this? That's entirely unscrupulous and in your shoes I'd be far less polite with her.

Overall I think what I found the most interesting about the reader's interpretation was the presence of the knight of pentacles as future love interest. There's rumor that a coworker has quite a thing for me and her description of KnP fit him to a tee. At this point I'm not interested but it is the thing that gave me the most pause.

Beware of self-fulfiling prophecies. Some reader told someone I know that his girlfriend at the time (and wife later) was having an affair with someone who owned a car of a particular color. The idiot believed the reader even though there was no such lover or car anywhere except the reader's wild imagination. That contributed a lot to many cracks already there and the marriage didn't last. It wasn't just the reading that did that but it certainly helped.

 

[junethird]

I think its true that we are all attached to certain outcomes. Its hard sometimes when you still feel connected to the person. But my advice would be to go on first impressions on the cards. The vibe you feel when you see the combination should be able to clue you in. Ive had good and bad readings. But ultimately ive learned to try and stay open and stick with short term predictions. Dont look too far off ahead. Stick with what you can change and influence now to get things going in your favour. Also you should keep in mind if its the readers deck of cards, you should keep in mind that their cards speaK to them. Certain 'cards' that predict 'good outcomes' to you when you pull the card from your deck, may not bring the same news to someone else.

 

[DownUnderNZer]

By jumping the gun...examples only and not just AT.

GT: Saying something like there is going to be a bad accident when only a small part is looked at and because the SCYTHE might be in the area where the PERSON card is located.

Or...even 9 cards: You will be pregnant within 4 weeks.

And the reader is not experienced with the cards or time frames etc. And might not be seeing other cards as blocks like Mountain or Scythe.

Am not hard core like some of the Traditionalists that were on AT, but I do see to some extent why they were fierce in their opinions. I had no problems with them as I was taught "Trad" then opened my wings. But I could hold my own as I could go from Trad to freestyle and sometimes reminded them (one in particular) what they had forgotten when pulling a learners GT apart one time there.

Some can't and some won't change or be flexible.

I do have concerns, but I was lucky. Some here are not. Books are not the same as a real person.

 

[dancing_moon]

In my opinion, the cards are always speaking to their owner, in their owner's language. If the reader was reading with her deck, chances are the Devil was communicating a different message than your Devil would have. If I had doubts about a reading done for me by someone, I might ask my own deck to relate the same message, only with cards understandable to me. Chances are, those would be different cards.

As usual with any advice, including Tarot, one needs to use one's discretion on whether to follow it or not.

 

[Barleywine]

In my opinion, the cards are always speaking to their owner, in their owner's language. If the reader was reading with her deck, chances are the Devil was communicating a different message than your Devil would have.

I hadn't really thought about this too deeply before, but believe it to be true. It's then the reader's obligation to interpret and translate the message into terms that the sitter can understand and hopefully assimilate. If that doesn't happen, there is no meaningful communication and nothing of value has been transmitted. That's my major gripe with one-way readings: the reader may be on an entirely different wavelength relative to the sitter's awareness of the underlying circumstances. This would not be inappropriate when something else really does lie at the heart of the matter, but if there is no "meeting of the minds" on this apparent disconnect and no subsequent illumination, I would judge the reading unsuccessful.