Tarot FAQ's and Tarot Ethics

Q. 1 - What is a Tarot Reading ?

Ans. - A Tarot Reading can allow us to explore alternatives; we may not have originally considered because we are so deeply entrenched that we cannot see the wood from the trees. It can enable us to make a possible plan of action to achieve the desired result. Tarot Readings can show us ways of handling situations, help us to understand and solve our problems with relationships, careers, financial matters, home and family life etc...

The Tarot is more than just a set of cards it is a book of life - a living picture book that changes every time we read it! It can help us to decide on the most suitable course of action; when to move and when to wait, or when to look in another direction entirely. Also it can show hidden agendas and solutions we may have previously overlooked.

The Tarot does not take away our free will or our ability to make the best choices for ourselves and it certainly doesn't predict a fixed unchanging future. We have free will and are always able to change the path we are on. A Tarot Reading gives us information; it does not live our lives for us.

Q. 2 - Does Tarot really work?

Ans. - Okay, if the cards indicate wealth and financial reward, should you run out and buy that new Armani suit or dress? Maybe, maybe not.  The reader’s skill of interpreting the Tarot involves the ability to remain objective, to accurately describe the message of the cards, and, with the Querent’s help, to put that message in the right perspective.

The cards are a great tool, but they are not so great at giving orders or pronouncing ultimatums.  The message of the cards, properly understood, gently (or not so gently, depending on the situation) guides you to arrive at the correct decision that already waits in your heart.  That does not mean the Tarot does this by providing an easy excuse to let you get your own way and buy that convertible!

Now, wait a second.  If the cards are showing what you already know in your heart to be true, why bother?  The answer is that the cards are in touch with a universal intelligence—our human collective unconscious—something we westerners are not always good at tapping into.  Like the dream world, that opens your mind as you sleep (Sigmund Freud called dreams the “royal road to the unconscious”), the Tarot cards awaken that place deep within you that is in touch with your human nature.

Tarot works when you look closely enough to get the real message, to both receive and understand it for what it really is. This means coming to the reading with an open and unprejudiced mind. Don’t assume anything—either as reader or Querent and be ready for anything. The true message of the Tarot might surprise you!

Q. 3 - How Does Tarot Work?

Ans. I would like to call on a really smart guy, psychoanalysis pioneer Carl Gustav Jung (1875–1961), to answer this question for us.  Jung was fascinated by the patterns of life and the way seemingly unconnected events were in fact connected.  He noted that every day of human experience is filled with what could only be called meaningful coincidences, or synchronicity.

Jung’s study of synchronistic events led him to examine ancient occult practices from astrology to the I Ching, and the Tarot was no exception. He found that the mysteries revealed by these practices were in fact not mysteries at all, but events common to each of us on our paths of life.  Jung called our common situations (and common recurrent characters) archetypes and believed that ancient fortune-telling methods revealed these archetypes to us symbolically.  He noted that although modern science “is based on the principle of causality,” occult methods look at the “picture of the moment.”  Jung concluded the pictures on Tarot cards are “descended from the archetypes of transformation.”

We agree with Jung that Tarot cards are a way for us to connect to the archetypal wisdom of the human collective unconscious.  The Tarot deck in its entirety is a portrait of the human condition, its potential, and its possibilities.

Shuffle the deck and deal with the cards: Your Tarot reading is a reflection of those possibilities inherent in your life and present situation.

Synchronicity is the principle of meaningful coincidence , studied in depth by psychoanalysis pioneer Carl Jung.  Jung also postulated that human experience could be categorized into common archetypes: typical patterns, situations, images, or metaphors that recur among all humankind.

What do dreams have to do with the Tarot?  A whole lot, it turns out.  The metaphors in our dreams and in Tarot cards have a lot in common.  Jung asserted that all humans share common archetypes, but that most of us can get in touch

with them only through our unconscious.  Dreams are one way of tapping into our unconscious thoughts, feelings, and awareness—and the Tarot is another.

Q. 4 - Can You Read Your Own Cards?

Ans. - Most Tarot readers read their own cards every day.  Yes, they are pros, but how do you think they got to be pros? A serious student of the Tarot devotes a lot of time to reading her or his own cards—and coming to understand intuitively what those cards are saying.

Likewise, the best way for you to begin to study the Tarot is to pick the deck and then live with those cards for a while.  Spread them out.  Pick them up and look at them.  Lose yourself in the pictures.  It will help you become familiar with the Tarot and to explore your own emotions and reactions to the deck.

Do not commit the mistake of reading ahead the “meanings” of the cards given in the guidebook.  Those meanings are only launching points for your study of the Tarot, and you should not let yourself be limited by them—not now at the beginning of your journey, and not later on either, when you know the cards well.

Ultimately, Tarot cards are a tool to unlock your imagination, and how you read the cards—alone or with someone else— is up to you.

Q. 5 - Does Tarot Seal Your Fate?

Ans. - No.  Nothing “seals” your fate.  Your life path is a series of possibilities, branching off in one direction or another with each decision you make. A Tarot reading might suggest to you what could happen if you continue along a certain path, but it is up to you to take the responsibility of choosing your own direction, if you dare?

Much of the fear and superstition associated with the Tarot—and with all the occult sciences—is that they somehow do foretell the future and seal your fate.  Nothing about the Tarot is inexorable or inevitable.  What you do with what the cards show is up to you!

The Tarot reveals possibilities and probabilities, not certainties.  In fact, the only thing that is certain about life is that nothing is certain.  Fate is what you make it.

Q. 6 - How can a telephone Tarot card reading be as accurate as a face-to-face reading?

Ans. - Whether in a face to face situation or on the telephone, a Tarot card reading is not fortune telling or magic but an amazingly accurate look into past, present and future situations.  A 'reading' will help you to look at certain situations and offer advice on how to deal with them.

When I first hear the caller's voice, I will have already cleared my mind so that I can focus solely on the client’s voice and cards.  This in itself heightens my insight into the caller. I find that it is essential to make good voice contact and an exchange of names is also very important as this makes it far more personal. In my experience, many people prefer telephone readings as it gives them anonymity, and they will often be more open and receptive than at a face-to-face reading.  This is very important because if the caller's mind is open, the 'reader' can read and interpret the cards on a far higher level.

Q. 7 - How can you give an accurate reading if you are shuffling the cards rather than the caller?

Ans. - What I always say to people is, "I have the cards in my hand and I want you to focus your mind on the cards while I shuffle them for you. When you feel its right for me to stop shuffling please say and I will stop.”  When I have stopped shuffling, I then cut the pack into three, I then ask the caller to pick which pile they would like me to lay the cards form, left, right or middle.  This totally involves the caller and if they are serious about their reading, they will have concentrated very hard on putting their thoughts into the cards.  Then just like a normal face to face reading I lay the cards and read. I always encourage people to ask questions and try to get them to be as talkative as possible as you can perceive so much through talking.

Q. 8 - What are the other benefits of a telephone Tarot card reading?

Ans. - I have found that it is very easy to develop a rewarding and personal relationship with callers and they tend to seek your advice on a regular basis. The other plus factor of a telephone Tarot card reading is that the caller does not have to leave the comfort of his or her own home.  This is especially helpful for people who are housebound due to a variety of factors or for people who live off the beaten track with no access to private or public transport.  A telephone Tarot card reading abides by the same code of ethics as a face-to-face reading and aims to encourage optimum levels of practice.

Q. 9 - Does Tarot predict the Future?

Ans. - A study of Jung's concepts of archetypes and synchronicity, together with an understanding of the Quantum Laws, indicate that time is not a linear progression. This is because the future is in fact contained in the energy of the present. Thus a Tarot reading will show where your current vibrational energy patterns are and what possible future they may be indicating. They do not predict a future set in stone. Any changes in your energy state will be reflected in your Tarot reading.