How to use the Tarot for fortune-telling?

[Grizabella]

I am not criticising any person or category of reader, I am not even sure what the "fortune teller" label means from one person to the next as there is a broad spectrum of possible meanings out there (for all I know I am as much a fortune teller as you or anyone else here). I shy away from using such a label for myself because I don't want to be pigeonholed into whatever that might mean for someone. I am only trying to share what I know about cartomancy systems in relation to the OP and my past experience with some nasty overly specific predictions and how they affected me.

I like being called a Fortune Teller and I choose to call myself that. Lots of others do, too, for themselves. But it's a matter of personal choice, of course. I respect those who don't choose to just as much as those who do and it sounds like you do, too.

 

[IheartTarot]

I like being called a Fortune Teller and I choose to call myself that. Lots of others do, too, for themselves. But it's a matter of personal choice, of course. I respect those who don't choose to just as much as those who do and it sounds like you do, too.

To each his own, totally.

If it is not too OT, I would love to know what defines a Fortune Teller versus any other card reader in your view.

 

[Grizabella]

Well, to probably over-simplify somewhat, it's somebody who isn't afraid to predict "future events" without qualifying it with the declaration "but it all depends on the querent's actions and if it doesn't come to pass, then you've done something to alter the course". I don't think I've ever, ever pointed this out to a single sitter. This goes without saying---that they've altered the direction of their lives by changing their course of action---but the fortune teller knows that what's predicted can come to pass even very far into the future. Also, a fortune teller knows and admits they could be wrong a little sooner than some others, I believe. (Yeah, I know this will get people up in arms who don't call themselves fortune tellers but it wasn't meant to.) If they say something will come to pass two weeks from next Tuesday and it doesn't, they'll just say, "Well, I was wrong about the date then." But as many who tell fortunes can attest to, it doesn't mean that the event won't ever come to pass, only that their timing prediction was off. They can just calmly wait to see what happens. A fortune teller also isn't so apt to make personal judgments and doesn't usually dabble in counseling using the cards.

Each to his or her own. I just like telling fortunes, as do a lot of other people here. Others don't like to and that's fine, too. We have a counseling forum, so I thought it would be nice to also have one for fortune telling. Just as I don't have to go to the counseling forum because I don't use the cards for that, people who don't like using the cards to tell fortunes wouldn't have to come to the fortune telling forum, either. The mods have pointed out that our counseling forum doesn't get used very often now that it's there, but I believe the fortune telling forum would probably get more use than that one. (This is not at all a criticism of the mods, but just an observation on my part.)

Being in favor of having a fortune telling forum shouldn't morph into fortune tellers having to defend what they do as opposed to those who don't choose to do it, though. I see this thread kind of leaning that way.

 

[IheartTarot]

Thanks for the insight Grizabella! I have a better idea of where you are coming from now.

I didn't even know there was a counselling forum and I have just looked very hard for it without any success. Either I am blind or it is hiding very well.

 

[Grizabella]

I have to do something else right now but I'll see if I can find it for you when I come back if nobody else has done it by then. It may not be formally called a "counseling" forum, but I think it's a sub-forum to Talking Tarot, maybe.

 

[zannamarie]

I didn't even know there was a counselling forum and I have just looked very hard for it without any success. Either I am blind or it is hiding very well.

At one time there was a forum called "Therapeutic Tarot".

As per this thread, the forum no longer exists and the threads in it were folded into the Talking Tarot forum. (It's not a separate sub-forum.)

One of the earliest threads in the forum was defining "therapeutic" and is here.

Being in favor of having a fortune telling forum shouldn't morph into fortune tellers having to defend what they do as opposed to those who don't choose to do it, though. I see this thread kind of leaning that way.

This thread is about how to use tarot for fortune telling. As such, those who do fortune telling are asked how they do it. They aren't being asked to defend what they do. They've been asked to explain what they do so others may understand how they too can use tarot for fortune telling.

Whether or not there should be fortune telling forum/sub forum is a different topic and thus should have its own thread if people wish to discuss it.

 

[IheartTarot]

As per this thread, the forum no longer exists and the threads in it were folded into the Talking Tarot forum. (It's not a separate sub-forum.)

Thanks zm! I am relieved to know that I am not blind.

 

[JSNYC]

Since I recently wrote in a post stating that I don't apply the "fortune-teller" label to myself, I just wanted to add a quick reason why. First of all, my "standard spiel" when I read for someone for the first time is to tell them that "I or the cards absolutely do not predict the future, what we are doing has nothing to do with predicting the future". These people come back to me and tell me that what I said "came true"... which makes me wonder if they listened. Other than my first reading, I have never felt my readings were especially "predictive". Obviously the people that I read for didn't feel that way. Of course, I consider “what obviously lies in the immediate future” (based on present conditions) not to be “predictive”.

I have been reading Tarot less than a year, so you may be right Grizabella, maybe some of it is about fear; a fear of the responsibility that I mentioned above, especially due to how new I am at this. And that may be part of the reason I asked, how is it done? I think what I have heard is that I "stop" at the (vague) subjective part of the reading, whereas a “fortune-teller” takes that subjective/intuitive impression and turns it into a concrete/tangible prediction (through intuition, magic, psychic powers, or whatever), in other words, they take it one step further. I say that because it seems that the way in which we read the cards is quite similar, it just seems that you provide more “detail”, even if that means you could be "wrong". Or am I missing the whole point again?

The other thing is, you have to trust what your little voice is telling you and not second guess. Granted, you're gonna be wrong a lot of times, but you're gonna be right as well. That's where practice comes in and reading constantly. You learn to "Trust the force, Luke."

This is certainly quite similar to how I feel.

Additionally, I am also hearing that it should be “fun”, and not always a “deep psychoanalytical process”, which I would adamantly agree with! I also agree with your statement that “others” may be more unwilling or unable to admit when they are “wrong”. And just a personal note, I would rather be called a “fortune-teller” than a “counselor”! I find the latter label rather repugnant.

Lastly, I thought I would mention, I just realized that there is a forum named "divination", which would be almost empty except for the dream analysis posts.

 

[Grizabella]

Well, that explains why I couldn't find the forum in my quick look before I had to get busy with other stuff. It must not have been used very much, I guess.

I think that's a good point, JSNYC. So many people do consider it to be a method of fortune telling that it's a hard image to shake from the general public's mind, even when a reader tries to impress on them that their point of reading isn't to tell a fortune. It's just such a long-held tradition that that's what Tarot is used for and the idea of using the cards more in a counseling or non-predictive way is much newer. It could also very well be that in spite of you, the cards are still giving a "fortune" to the sitter. You've not had that intent, but even so, the cards have done it anyway.

I don't know that we provide more detail, necessarily. I think it's more that we've learned to relax, have fun with it, and not get so wrapped up in thinking we have to be "right". We've learned to listen to that little voice, if you want to call it that, and to give our voice to it without worrying that what we see and say won't come about or that we're going to look stupid or not have a huge "accuracy" rating with our readings. If we're right, we're right. If we're not, we're not. No big thing either way. It's especially no big thing if we're not---because for one thing, we know that we may seem not to have gotten it right when in actuality, it could be just the timing that's off. And if it's not the timing that's off and we're plain old wrong, that's okay, too.

Of course, experience does lead to more knowledge, so I guess in that respect we might be seen as giving more detail. In another respect, though, I think we may actually give less detail. When I was really new to this, I tended to run on and on just trying to hit on something, if you know what I mean. Now that I've done it awhile, I tend to be more concise, I think.

 

[IheartTarot]

HedgeWytchery

I remember HedgeWitch's page where she did playing card meanings. What I can't remember is whether they were very specific and/or predictive. Is her page still up on the net somewhere?

There is an internet archive version of the HedgeWytchery playing card meanings.