Out On A Limb

The Anna.K Tarot

I'm going to go out on a tiny limb and predict that among those reading this blog the majority will be tarot readers checking out what another reader has to say, people learning tarot, or people thinking about going into tarot. A smaller percentage of readers will be followers who like reading and learning about metaphysical or occult topics, enjoy tarot talk, but would rather go to a tarot reader than be one.

I went to a tarot reader once. I had already been reading for a few years when a college acquaintance said she heard of a woman in the city who read cards in her home and was the real deal. My friend did not know that I also read the cards, as I hadn't known her very long and I didn't get into it with her, but I got a kick out of the idea, and sort of thinking about it as doing research, I agreed to tag along for a tarot card reading. 

The whole thing felt kind of seedy. It was a run down section of town, her son let us in. We sat in her living room waiting room with a half a dozen other individuals, waiting to get our cards read. The readings were quick and though I was last in line, within about twenty minutes it was my turn. I was ushered into a curtain and bead-draped room where the reader was dressed up in stereotypical Madam Fortune type garb. I had no question for her and opted for a general reading. She laid four cards in no particular pattern and proceeded to tell me that I would have a few kids and that my husband (I was wearing a band on my left ring finger) was not good enough for me and that I was going to leave him when I eventually became famous. She mentioned my husband a few times, said the name coming to her was Sam, but deciding not to tell her that I was unmarried and not even going steady with anyone, I was a stinker and let her go on about it. For giggles and grins I wrote her prediction down in a journal or I otherwise would have no recollection of the reading. I wish I had also written down what the cards were that day, but I do remember realizing that what she was saying was not remotely reflected by anything I saw in the cards and I wondered who the heck wrote her material.

When I regrouped with my friend, whatever the reader told her filled her with excitement and she rattled on about the experience the entire way back to campus.

Despite recognizing Madam Fortune was a fraud I learned two things that day; 1) that Madam Fortune was not afraid to go out on a limb, and 2) there are people posing as readers who prey on the gullible.

Both points stuck with me and I applied those lessons every time I did a reading thereafter. 1) Every time you do a reading you go out on a limb and 2) only say what you see in the cards, do not make stuff up. If you don't see it, don't say it.

Unlike other forms of intuitive or psychic channels, a reader's tool are the symbols, numbers, and pictures often with esoteric and astrological assignations on a deck of cards. After connecting with the client either by written, vocal, or visual stimulus, a question is made on behalf of the client with the intent of interpreting the results to the best of the reader's skill set. It's a skill set that requires knowledge of the cards as well as intuitive understanding of how it all links together.

When a client asks for a general reading that covers career, romance, finances and social circles, the reader is totally going out on a limb. We are given no information. Without a specific question there is no prior knowledge to attach to or build from. For this reason, many readers will insist that the client ask a specific question. 

In recent months, the majority of my clients are people I have never met in the flesh. I do not know (nor do I ask) if they are married, divorced, employed, unemployed, have kids, nor do I know any details of their lives. I just know they are trusting me to lay the cards on their behalf and read them.

Think about the difficulty and how daunting a task that is to accomplish with accuracy. 

I don't know how I do it, but I'm glad I can. 

That's the magic and the beauty of the cards, they're always relevant.

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