My problem with tarot cards

[barnacle]

Each time you do it, you get different cards. For example, lets say I shuffle the deck and pick 5 cards while holding a particular issue in mind. Lets say I repeat this process 5 times. I usually get 5 very different readings. I don't actually have any tarot cards, I was just using tarot.com but I suspect I'd get the same results with a physical deck of tarot cards.

[Vashta]

It's an interesting question. My belief is that the cards (or any oracle for that matter) can tell you the most probable outcome given your question. Probability is usually in flux, and there are almost always other possibilities. If you ask the same question 5 times, and get 5 completely different readings, perhaps the issue is more complex than the spread you've selected can convey, or perhaps the probabilities are so in flux that an answer can not reliably be predicted at this time, because the variables are varying too wildly.

But there are plenty of other factors to consider too, for example, when you say you're holding the query in your mind, are you doing this consistently? Are you experiencing the same emotions, the same questions, the same wording, and all the subtle nuances in all the same order? I would be inclined to believe that the way the question is asked, down to the last detail, influences the reading greatly. Another question is of belief. To some extent, your belief in the cards' ability to predict influences the accuracy of the reading. If you believe, deep down, that the cards don't work, and you're looking for a way to disprove them, then you'll find it. This makes me inclined to ask why you're asking the same question 5 times? If this is for the sake of science, are you entering the experiment with any preconceptions of outcome? This alone can affect the outcome. If you attempt to demonstrate that light is a wave, you can do so, and if light is a wave it can not be a particle, but if you attempt to prove that light is a particle, again you can do so.

And yes, I am aware that my entire argument is based on the assumption that the cards do work

I appreciate that this probably doesn't answer the question Asking yourself those questions might help you find your answer, perhaps.

This is just my 2 cents

[Occultess]

Each time you do it, you get different cards. For example, lets say I shuffle the deck and pick 5 cards while holding a particular issue in mind. Lets say I repeat this process 5 times. I usually get 5 very different readings. I don't actually have any tarot cards, I was just using tarot.com but I suspect I'd get the same results with a physical deck of tarot cards.

The same thing happens to me with my physical decks. And I've heard of people doing readings and getting the same results if they did the same readings. But, I apparently don't have that ability. But, ofcourse these are professionals, and I am by no means a professional, so....maybe it just comes with a high amount of skill. And, yeah, like Vashta, I think if you worded the question differently or your mind drifted ever so slightly, that you could wind up with a different reading. Plus, I think it's possible that.....well, maybe since you asked it multiple times that maybe whoever it is that is in charge of the other end of your tarot cards is trying a different angle to get you to understand. Putting the answer another way. And sometimes I think my cards have basically told me to stop asking.

Tarotgoddess.com seems to give pretty good readings frequently enough. Ever tried there?

[Q789]

I don't feel too well at the moment so i shall say this in a quick manner.

Learn to trust your intuition, develop your intuition, and when you use the tarot- make a big ceremony out if it and GET IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME.

Also, study tarot, kabala etc Don't use that idiots 'Cat tarot' use a tarot deck by known experts.

Q

[Clockwork Ghost]

My opinion on Tarot is that the cards don't so much show you the future as they do look at things from a different angle. The best Tarot readings are therefore not ones that ask for an image of the future - that rolling maelstrom of chaos and causality, but instead ones that focus on looking inward and addressing aspects you hadn't previously thought of.

If you're doing five complete spreads for one question and the answers don't relate (note I didn't say cards as some spreads will be the same as others, albeit with different cards) then maybe you have a whole bunch of things you need to address in relation to your question.

But hey, its all about belief - if Tarot cards don't work for you but you feel you need a divination tool, then why not runes or the I Ching?

[Etar]

Had to resurrect this topic to say I got the same reading 3 times in a row as I asked the same exact question to be "sure". The moment it happenned I immediatelly thought of this topic.

[Zeon1985]

I'll second necroing this thread.

Tarot cards are not for divination specifically. A good deck has it's own soul, and can see things and events from a much broader angle than the reader can. "The heart of the cards" if you will. (Ues I totally went there)

Card reading also takes a connection to the cards and yourself. You wouldn't expect to be able to ponpoint a shot from a gun you've never fired at 300 meters would you? It takes dedication, patience, and getting to know your deck's quirks, styles, and reading method. I know for a fact that the old "past, present, future" reading style does not work for every deck and reader.

Also undrrstand your deck may be telling you different possibilities, or different eays of looking at said query.

My own most current experience was interesting. I have a friend of a very trusted friend who has a very old dragon deck she's been using for a decade. Just by picking up the deck, you can feel the card's energy emenating. I myself have always been empathic, and decks for one open up to me most of the time. I made my own simple p/p/f reading, and the cards for past and present were spot on, without going into details about the future. Then I thoroughly shuffled the deck (about 5 mins of card sliding and shuffling) until I felt the deck was ready. The owner pulled the SAME EXACT CARDS.

We then read a specific query I had. Whilst shuffling, some of the cards flipped. The deck told me to leave them flipoed while shuffling. One card ended up in the reading. The other two were on the very bottom of the deck, and they turned out to be a warning not to rush into things.

So don't just pick up some cards and expect results. You literally have to bond with your deck, which can take months, even years. Also remember that answers vary as much as the future can. My suggestion is that when recieving different answers, note them and comoare. The actual results of that comparison may surprise you.

One more note: decks will screw with you if you're doing something they don't approve of, like "testing" them. 3 years ago, I watched a "know it all" shuffle, flip the first card and get "The Fool". Shuffled again, and got "The Fool" again. Thinking logically, he knew there was no way it could happen a third time, shuffled again, and pulled an upside down tower (bad juju). Thinking he won, the owner told him to pull the next card. He pulled "The Fool" again.

In the end, faith is the only thing that separates an idiot from a wise man. If you don't believe, then you'd be better off asking a magic 8 ball. Not being mean, I've seen some damned accurate ones.

With faith and preserverance,

Zeon

[captain_trousers]

Okay, this is just my opinion.
Tarot, like any other divination method, is a tool. When you take a reading, you are doing the divining, not the cards. As such, the cards are there to focus your intuition (or whatever you want to call it), but the actual reading comes from within you.

Whenever I've done multiple readings on a subject, I've got different cards but they've always carried basically the same meaning- just expressed differently. When you ask the cards the same thing again, you'll get the same information in a different 'frame' -if you didn't understand the first time, the card will try to explain it a different way.

[Zeon1985]

Whenever I've done multiple readings on a subject, I've got different cards but they've always carried basically the same meaning- just expressed differently. When you ask the cards the same thing again, you'll get the same information in a different 'frame' -if you didn't understand the first time, the card will try to explain it a different way.

That last sentence is what I'm referring to. I don't mean to say your cards are their own entity, but they do have their own quirks, ways of explaining things, and overall have attitudes.

All in all, yes, they are a tool, but a certain respect must be given to yiur deck in order to see results.

Zeon

[Wonder]

Okay, this is just my opinion.
Tarot, like any other divination method, is a tool. When you take a reading, you are doing the divining, not the cards. As such, the cards are there to focus your intuition (or whatever you want to call it), but the actual reading comes from within you.

Whenever I've done multiple readings on a subject, I've got different cards but they've always carried basically the same meaning- just expressed differently. When you ask the cards the same thing again, you'll get the same information in a different 'frame' -if you didn't understand the first time, the card will try to explain it a different way.

Exactly. Intuition is the key.

A card reading is not something a calculation from memorized meanings. It it intuition.

After a reading, you might feel its complete. Tadam.
You might feel more things have to be said, add cards.
You might feel more readings are needed, do them.

If you just repeat the same question over and over, the same thing will be said again and again in different words. A X information might be said by a huge variety of cards : intuition will tell you the meaning of the cards. Is Justice the meaning? or only number 8? or only the little detail over there?

A set of 10 cards, at a moment, can tell you the exact same thing as 10 other cards. Tarot is a support for direct intuition, just as anything can be. Some supports are more suitable than others tho, and tarot is a great one would it be traditionnal or unicorn-like or whatever.

[Patrikevna]

I have read this topic with big interest. It is a very interesting material for research!
But I dont understand - Why? For what purpose to ask a question five times in succession ? I dont see a sense.

If the problem is not very important for your life (and you may think - it is) tarot will propose you variants.
If it is a "nail" of your destiny, the cards will be the same, i think. But it seems to me such nails are rare enough.

[Moth]

I'm with Captain Trousers on this! All divination methods have the same basic structure: You pick a significant arrangement from a number of random objects, each of which has a highly charged meaning or set of meanings. It's a way of reaching your subconscious/intuition/whatever you call it.

Same way as dowsing amplifies your subconscious muscle movements.