Ethics of Tarot

[6 Haunted Days]

Yeah...you're right...actually exploring one's true feelings for another is a great use of Tarot. I guess I just meant from the standpoint of a yes/no answer. "Sorry...you don't really love them," would be an extremely irresponsible answer to give.

Exploring the cards that come up with the querent and giving them some insight would be very helpful in that case.

I gues it also should be mentioned that the cards often will be their own moral compass. "Do I really love this person?" The cards might end up commenting on the querent's insecurities and how to overcome them instead of the yes/no asnwer they were hoping for.

Well tarot isn't known for it's great use in any yes/no question/answer....I always avoid those kinds of questions with tarot...it's easy enough to rephrase the question so it's not so cut and dried.

 

[cherryberry]

LOL. Refreshing point of view! I agree that sticking to a list of ethics is a bit tacky. The best advice is to go with your own ethics as you would in any other endeavor in life. It it seems wrong, don't do it.

It dont think 'ethics' are tacky at all after all we all live after our ethical values each day, so its as you said - very much so a question of 'doesnt feel right---> isnt right' But I still think its good to get remined of ethical values every now and then, because almost all of us have come across readers (even here who very much insist on their interpretation, and being very clear about it - how can anyone judge a situation of another person to 100% (being with or without the cards) as to say, 'thats how the cards are - thats how it is - THE END' So I think the ethical approach here is to really understand that *no one* knows it all and has the one and only answer, and an objective answer is impossible
So guidance yes - dead specific yes and no type-question - naahh!

 

[crystalball]

I am open to any question. By utilizing therapeutic "tools" of, for instance, mirroring, feedback, rephrasing, etc. I can better communicate the Tarot message to the Querent. We need to cultivate a higher degree of communication as well as trained listening in order to "hear" what the client is asking as well as what they're "really" asking, which many times are two different things. When I don't know the answer, I am honest enough to say so. Sometimes just listening can be of more value to the client than ten card readings!

 

[Centaur]

All those lists do is reinforce the public's negative image of tarot readers by giving the impression that tarot readers won't practice ethically without some strict governance by some higher body of power. That, in the eyes of the public, removes our individual opportunity to behave in an ethical manner on our own. It gives the impression that if we weren't governed "from above" by some power outside ourselves, we'd all be unable to restrain ourselves from being unethical and bilking them of thousands to remove spells, etc.

Is that then true of other regulated professions, for example accountants, solicitors, etc? Quite the contrary, I think that regulation provides security for the client. Regulation is there to protect people... because there will always be an unscrupulous person out there...

On the ethics of tarot reading in particular, I think it would be incredibly difficult to develop such a thing for reasons mentioned in my previous post.

But ethics are no bad thing...

 

[Splungeman]

"Am I pregnant? If so, who is the father?"

Would you take on that reading?

M_M~

If the querent asked me that, I'd probably look around, realize that I am on the Jerry Springer show, and try to get the hell out of there before being caught up in the melee about to ensue between the KKK pimp, the 400 pound ghetto woman, and the devil-worshipping ex-con dwarf boby builder.

 

[Poetic_Pirate]

[QUOTE Again, you might as well chuck the cards into your junk drawer and never look back, because relationships are what you're always going to be reading for and about
[/QUOTE]

i think that a reading about a relationship should have some sort of substance to it, not just "is he/she cheating on me" or "why isnt he calling me". those types of questions i feel are under the use of a tarot deck. i can understand asking questions such as "what is the next step we should take" or "my relationship feels at a low, should we continue with it?" these are okay questions to me.

but as far as ethics go, im thinking things such as not spying on people, not trying to see the (absolute) future. these are things that i feel you should not read for, but rather things that you should see yourself. i dunno, i feel that not everything needs a tarot reading to solve. i feel that a tarot reading is a stepping stone to personal enlightenment, not a crutch. and going along with this in mind, that is why i want to try to get people to contemplate ethics, so that not only do you not end up hurt in the end, but also so that you can somewhat find the answeres yourself, and resort to tarot if so you need to. but then again, im not a professinal reader, nor do i use my decks in ritual. my decks are my guides and my teachers...but once again, this is me ^_^

 

[Poetic_Pirate]

If the querent asked me that, I'd probably look around, realize that I am on the Jerry Springer show, and try to get the hell out of there before being caught up in the melee about to ensue between the KKK pimp, the 400 pound ghetto woman, and the devil-worshipping ex-con dwarf boby builder.

HAHA okay, that is FUNNY AS HELL! hehe thanks for the giggle lol ^_^

 

[Azarial]

I have no ethics code in regards to tarot. I will read for whatever question I want to know at any given time. However, If I read about someone else without thier knowledge, the information I get from the reading doesn't leave me and I will never use any information I get to cause anyone harm.

 

[Lillie]

Lillie - interesting answer
So, what if some young 17 year girl came to you and said: "So-and-so's just dumped me - will he come back to me?!"

What would you do then? How would you deal with that?

I'd lay out the cards and read them.
If I liked her.

I don't have any problem with questions like that.
They are normal and obvious.
Further more it is directly about herself and not any third person, although the boyfriend is involved the wording of the question points directly to her and her own experience and her own future rather than his, though of course no one lives in a vacuum and other people are involved in any question.

Also the question has no moral implication.
She is not asking how to force him to come back to her. She is simply asking a question, based on an event in the past, what will happen in the future?

Yeah, if I wanted to read for her I would lay out the cards and answer the question as simply and as plainly as I could.

Questions I wouldn't answer, either with the cards or without.
What is the best way to kill someone to get their money.
I have killed someone, how best can I cover it up and not get caught.

I don't like questions about third parties, not because I have a moral problem with them but because I find it hard to make a connection.
Every one has questions about third parties.
If you would ask a friends opinion 'what do you think he thinks about me?' then ethically it is equally allowable to ask the cards.
They are simply an extension of my mind, my thoughts, whatever.
If I would venture an opinion in 'normal' life, then I will also venture an opinion with the aid of the cards.
Because they are just a part of my normal life.

Of course if I don't like someone I won't read for them, unless I think the answer will be something they don't like, and then I will, just for the damn pleasure of it.
But hey, that's me, and I never said I was a nice person all the time.

 

[6 Haunted Days]

I'd lay out the cards and read them.
If I liked her.

I don't have any problem with questions like that.
They are normal and obvious.
Further more it is directly about herself and not any third person, although the boyfriend is involved the wording of the question points directly to her and her own experience and her own future rather than his, though of course no one lives in a vacuum and other people are involved in any question.

Also the question has no moral implication.
She is not asking how to force him to come back to her. She is simply asking a question, based on an event in the past, what will happen in the future?

Yeah, if I wanted to read for her I would lay out the cards and answer the question as simply and as plainly as I could.

Questions I wouldn't answer, either with the cards or without.
What is the best way to kill someone to get their money.
I have killed someone, how best can I cover it up and not get caught.

I don't like questions about third parties, not because I have a moral problem with them but because I find it hard to make a connection.
Every one has questions about third parties.
If you would ask a friends opinion 'what do you think he thinks about me?' then ethically it is equally allowable to ask the cards.
They are simply an extension of my mind, my thoughts, whatever.
If I would venture an opinion in 'normal' life, then I will also venture an opinion with the aid of the cards.
Because they are just a part of my normal life.

Of course if I don't like someone I won't read for them, unless I think the answer will be something they don't like, and then I will, just for the damn pleasure of it.
But hey, that's me, and I never said I was a nice person all the time.

Love ya Lillie! Your refreshingly honest and blunt posts are among the best...

I agree with your sentiments 100%.