VII. Be Confident but Considerate in All Readings.
The Tarot is both a map of our journey and the compass for its navigation.
It illustrates the characters, situations and patterns that arise through creation.
One card can change everything. Many Readings can be ignored.
So, the cards can be our constant companion on the Way.
Remember then, from the very beginning, to read the cards. Read them as well as you can, mindful of the moment and all moments.
This will never be any different, from the beginning to the end.
Extended Commentary
The act of reading tarot cards is a practice. As with any practice, it can come naturally, be taught and learnt, be improved and changed over time. Tarot is its own teaching and each reading teaches us more about reading as surely as it teaches something about life. As the Oracular Moment is Sacrosanct, so we cannot determine the impact of any particular reading. We should aim to be as comprehensive, consistent and congruent as possible. We should not omit anything, be true to the cards and apply them to the situation as fully as we can. This means that we must therefore consider clearly how we deliver such information – to ourselves and to others. We do not second-guess the cards, but we can be thoughtful about our communication.
Practice
We turn today to how we read for others as well as ourselves. However, in the way of these Principles, we are also going to install a few ideas during the practice.
Ask the cards, “What is the most difficult but useful thing you can tell me at this time?”
Shuffle your Deck. Say your Verse.
Lay out three cards in the full knowledge that it may be difficult for you to hear the advice that the cards can offer you.
Allow the cards to sit with you all day.
Do not try and read them deeply.
Listen to any first impressions or feelings but do not consider them to be the absolute answer.
Spend time considering them.
Do not rush.
This is not a competition or a race.
There is no correct answer, nor is the answer particularly important.
The important thing is to hold the emptiness and allow the cards to provide their answer within it.
Do not seek to read the cards – allow them to speak to you as you go about your way.
At the end of the day, return to your cards. If you have no answer, no problem. You have successfully completed the exercise by allowing the cards their time.
If you have an answer, no problem. Allow it to sit with you and decide what action you might take as a result of hearing a difficult but useful suggestion from your companion.
EXAMPLE
10 of Pentacles + King of Swords + Wheel of Fortune
Without going into too much detail – as the point of this exercise is for you to wait for your own lesson from the cards – eventually, this reading was about my attitude to security (10 of Pentacles vs. Wheel of Fortune). It was indeed a difficult but extremely useful piece of advice to hear and act upon.
TIPS
Having laid out the cards, walk away from them several times and come back to them. This is an exercise.
Turn them back face-down and turn them back up again.
Look at them one at a time and in pairs.
Intermediate/Advanced Exercise
Repeat the same exercise in the same way but with a different question:
“What is the most difficult yet useful thing you can tell me about my relationship to …[choose a person or situation, or “money” etc.]?”
Each of the 21 Principles will build together and give you absolute confidence in reading tarot in three weeks.
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