What Is The Purpose Of A Tarot Reading?

Many people think of tarot reading as a frightful thing. You enter a small dark room and a strange person tells you your fate. This type of thing occurs mostly in old movies and the sideshows of carnivals from the past. The important thing to know is that the future hasn't yet been determined and tarot is not about what is going to happen to you.
So what is it about?
Well there are different types of readers and they use it different ways. It is used as a method of divination. And what does divination really mean? From Merriam Webster:

Definition of divination

: the art or practice that seeks to foresee or foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge usually by the interpretation of omens or by the aid of supernatural powers

: unusual insight : intuitive perception

As you can see there are two definitions. The first does indeed speak of  fortunetelling. I'll talk about that in a bit but first I'm going to talk about the second definition.
What is intuitive perception? This is related more to the way I do the majority of my tarot readings. I don't tell the client what is going to happen to them. Instead I try to uncover information which they are not consciously aware of. In this way they can make better decisions.

Remember that anything you do that takes away your personal power or makes you rely on someone in ways you don't understand is probably not a good idea. I like to empower a client to help them get the result they want.

So where does this information come from? I think there might be almost as many answers to that as there are tarot readers. I will talk about psychic readers, intuitive readers, and readers who use the cards as a counselling tool.

I use a bit of each of these although I do not call myself psychic. I am an intuitive reader and a tarot counselor. You can find readers who use the term psychic. Some of them are seers or they may work with spirit guides. They may go into a trance, although that is more associated with gazing or scrying. They may use the cards as a method to activate channeling - contacting entities from the spirit realms. I'm not against any of those things but that's not really how I work.

Here is how I do it, and I am basing this next bit on a piece I read in a Robert Anton Wilson book and if I could remember where I'd credit it directly. He described it so well. It has to do with a quantum mathematical function known as the wave function collapse. This means, simply, that when a card is chosen there are many possible cards it could be, but by choosing it and by observing it, all of those potential random cards it could be become a single card.
In other words there are seventy-eight cards in the deck I could choose from, but in observing the card there is now a single card.

And what causes this one card to be chosen? Well I believe, and science states that everything is connected. If I am doing a three card reading for a client, past - present - future, then I will ask that client to concentrate on the cards. Then I tune in, using my intuition, and I mix up the cards. Finally, I draw the cards and lay them out in the predesignated positions. (I'm skipping over many fine points I'll cover in other posts.) And I believe that the client "thinking about" the cards set a wave function collapse into motion and determined, along with my intuition, which cards I would draw.

At that point I will start reading the cards. Sometimes I start with logical analysis of the symbols or the meanings that I already know, but I try to turn off that logical left-brain thinking. The good stuff comes from the intuitive right-brain.

Again, readers are very different. Some want a lot of information before they start. I don't. This isn't because I think it's cheating. (If you don't trust your reader, don't have a reading done.) No, I don't want to know anything because it keeps me in that logical left-brain thinking.

I'll talk more in another post about how I do the reading but I want to stick to the purpose in this post. Simply put, the purpose of a tarot reading is to glean information which you may not consciously be aware of, and use it to make the most of your situation. Sometimes this information is hidden in your subconscious mind. Sometimes it's even deeper in the collective unconscious.

So is there any "fortunetelling" in my method? Well, yes a little. But most things don't just happen to us. We usually have some choice. I think that there is a way the universe wants things to happen. There is a direction things are going and it's more likely they will go that way than another way. But a better question than "am I going to get another job," is "what can I do to maximize my potential to get another job?"

Do I ever see "bad things" in the future, present, or past? Well, yes, sometimes I'll see something like a problem in a relationship. But I'm going to leave you with this to tell you why I think it's better to know:
Imagine that you're on a boat traveling down a river. You're floating down the stream as the current carries you along. But there are many bends in this river. It might have a narrow part where it goes very fast. Maybe there are vines hanging down and you can hear animals on the shore. Is that a snake in the tree? Wait! Was that a crocodile? And oh! you've just passed a nice place on the shore to get out and make a picnic. The waters going faster and faster and you can't see around the bend! Think how much better it would be if you had a map.
That boat is you, your situation, your life, and that river is time. The tarot reading is your map. There might be a waterfall around the corner and you really ought to know! And there might be opportunities you've dreamed about, and you're missing them because you're going too fast, not focused, and you don't have a map. So that is the purpose of a tarot reading.
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New Years Spread - Five Cards

This is a simple five card spread that can be used for the new year or any transitional phase in your life. This is a variation on a past - present- future spread reading from left to right.
In these readings I tend to start with card 1 in the center giving some general information about the current state of things. What's happening right now?
Card 2 reflects on past events giving some insight into what might have led to the current state. It can also tell us what things are influencing us now. In a regular past - present - future reading I'd look more for influences. They might be positive or negative.
In a transitional reading I'm looking particularly for things which are no longer serving their purpose.
Card 3 will give a general theme for the upcoming year.
This is not just for a new year. It can be a new moon reading, or any new beginning or transition. A new job, new relationship, or anything that represents a beginning.
Card 4 is placed beneath "what is happening now." I like to use placement like this as a key to the cards function. Because it is beneath you can use it a few ways. And you really should always modify spreads to make the most sense to you. It will help you intuitively grasp the information you're looking for if you're comfortable with the card's placement symbolically.
So this can mean "the underlying circumstances" as it might in a Celtic Cross reading. Or, as I prefer it in this spread, it is subconscious or hidden knowledge. Think dreams, subconscious, things that the client knows but may not be aware of. It can also show things which will be revealed over the next year.
The important thing is too have a clear idea of what you want it to mean going into the reading.
Finally Card 5 placed above can be a message from the higher self. This is a little different than the dream self or subconscious self. I prefer to see the higher self which is the client's ideal self, a form which they are becoming in their spiritual evolution.
You may ask for a message from an angel or a spirit guide. Again, don't be afraid to modify the spread to suit yourself. But the idea is that this card is "above" and so the message here is advice coming from a higher place. 
Feel free to post questions below. And contact me for a personal five card reading if you're interested.

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