Have you ever asked yourself that question? I know I have.

When I was learning the Tarot, fortune telling was talked about as one of the most evil practices known to man. Not only was it a bad thing, but it was degrading the true purpose of Tarot. Ah, but divination was different. That was a good thing. That was something that only true Tarot readers did; those elite Tarot readers who wouldn’t dare debase themselves with the gypsy practice of fortune telling.

If you were like me, you would have asked yourself, “what exactly is the difference here?”

Now I know times have changed and people don’t think about, or write about Tarot in the same they did when I was learning but still, fortune telling is not a word Tarot readers want to use at a Tarot Convention.

I once did an experiment where I advertised myself as a Fortune Teller and then, after a month or so, I switched to diviner. If I’m honest, I did this for financial reasons. I wanted to find out if the difference between these two words would generate more income. Or, as a side benefit, would I prefer to read for one group over the other. Perhaps the Fortune-Teller group would be easier (that was my reasoning anyway) to read for than the Divination group?

Sadly, the differences were none existent. As much as that disappointed me, it did raise the question, “does the distinction only matter to people who study Tarot?”

The Quiz

Here’s the question:

1. What do you think the differences between Divination and Fortune telling are?
2. Is there one?
3. If not, why do people prefer to use one term over the other?
4. Does the concept of Free-Will, or Free-Choice (to quote Arthur Waite) make a difference? Does it influence which term we use?
5. Is Divination the more politically correct term for the same things as Fortune-Telling?

I’d love to know what your thoughts are on this one. I’ll see you in the comments!

One last thing, you may be pleased to know that nowadays I simply advertise myself as a Tarot reader

(Theoretically) Related Posts:

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• What Everyone Ought to Know About Doing Great Tarot Readings
• New poll: Are you always honest with the client?
• What the Fuck is going on?
• Tarot Eon Quiz › Part II › Conclusion

I have to say that I’m really surprised by everyone’s responses to the last quiz. Pleasantly surprised. I learned a lot, and I want to thank everyone who took the time to share their opinion and leave a comment.

I know I haven’t left a response in the comments section yet, but I wanted to use this post as a way to respond to everybody, and explore some of the things that emerged.

Summary of people’s responses

One of the most interesting aspects of people’s responses was in the particular way they felt a Tarot reader was responsible. My overall impression of this shared view was something like this, “Hey look Doug, a Tarot reader is responsible; they’re responsible for letting the client know where they stand.”

I really liked this point of view. People were saying a Tarot reader is responsible, but they were also making it clear that beyond having a disclaimer, beyond explaining what a Tarot reading is, beyond explaining what a Tarot reading does, a Tarot reader can do no more. After that, the client themselves is accountable for their actions.

This is a fair and balanced view. We can take responsibility before we give the Tarot reading, we can do our best to explain some of the limitations and discuss some of the client’s expectations, we can do our level best to provide a great Tarot reading, but beyond that, we can’t be held accountable. The client has to take responsibility for any actions they commit after the reading.

Objectively, if we do our best to explain what the client can expect before a Tarot reading, even going so far as to have a disclaimer, then what more can we do? How much more responsible can we be?

The second trend to emerge asked me and others to look at this whole thing from a different angle (something that I personally loved doing). What they suggested was this, “If a client phones up a Tarot reader weeks after the reading saying how much better their life is and how it was all because of the Tarot reading, is the Tarot reader actually responsible for this?”

Good point! Personally, I don’t think so, but let’s explore this a bit further.

Success or failure

Whether or not a Tarot reader can be judged a success or failure is all down to the client; they tell us if we are accurate or not. Likewise, they also tell us if we were responsible for ruining their lives.

What’s interesting here is that it all comes down to the client’s perception of events.

Attribution theory

There is a theory in Psychology called Attribution Theory. Essentially, this theory tries to explain how people attribute their successes and failures to either internal or external causes. A classic example of Attribution Theory might be this:

A footballer, or soccer player scores a goal. What does he attribute to his or her success? Usually they will attribute their level of skill and ability as the reason they scored a goal. But what if they missed? What if they made a mistake? Usually they will attribute their failure to an external cause, such as wet grass, or an argument they had before the game, or even a bad nights sleep.

An important assumption of attribution theory is that people will interpret their environment in such a way as to maintain a positive self-image. That is, they will attribute their successes or failures to factors that will enable them to feel as good as possible about themselves. In general, this means that when learners succeed at an academic task, they are likely to want to attribute this success to their own efforts or abilities; but when they fail, they will want to attribute their failure to factors over which they have no control, such as bad teaching or bad luck.
Attribution Theory

The way that Attribution Theory can help us explore the question of a Tarot reader’s responsibility is twofold. First, it implies that a Tarot reader will attribute their success to skill, and failure to something outside themselves — such as, “The client didn’t follow my advice!” Second, it implies that the client will attribute positive events in their lives to either the Tarot reader or themselves, whilst failures will be attributed only to external factors, or worst case scenario, the Tarot reader.

Of course, I’m being very general here and real life is much more complicated (as is Attribution Theory), but for the simplicity of exploring some of the ideas that came out of the comments section, I think Attribution Theory fits nicely.

Conclusion

From reading other people’s opinions, and thinking about all the issues that were raised, I think the most robust approach we can take to being responsible Tarot readers is by providing a disclaimer. Objectively there isn’t much more we can do. Naturally, the more effort we put into screening the people we read for, the more likely it is that we will only read for people who understand our position on what a Tarot reading does.

Perhaps it’s also worth thinking about just how responsible we are for the positive, as well as the negative impact that our readings can have on other people? I know that positive feedback creates a sense of confidence for any Tarot reader (me included), but is this a blind?

Could it be, in order to truly deliver a well crafted Tarot reading that we need to take a step back from the outcome of our readings — both good and bad?

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• How to Create Breathing Room when a Tarot Reading has you Under Pressure

Are Tarot readers responsible for things that happen to the client after the reading? Or are we free from the burden of responsibility that is so naturally placed upon us?

We all live in a blame culture. If something goes wrong, we look for people to blame. Often times these people are just … well, …convenient. They’re scapegoats, pawns, or the subject of some sort of Jungian projection.

If someone chooses to murder a member of their own family, who’s to blame? Is it the social workers who have been involved with the family since 1925? Is it the neighbors for doing nothing? Is it their friends who watched knowing that it would end horribly but chose to ignore it? Or is it the person who committed the murder?

Do we blame the person who did the crime, or the people we trust (cough) to prevent the crime?

Okay, that’s an extreme example given that this is a simple Tarot quiz. Nevertheless, it’s a good place to start when we begin asking ourselves about responsibility, particularly that of a Tarot reader.

Bear in mind that if someone is vulnerable, it’s considered good practice to be responsible for that person. It’s a sort of “ought” — a sort of peer pressured expectation.

Examples of when things can go wrong

I have two examples that illustrate consequences that can occur from a Tarot reading. The first one is from a friend of mine and the second one happened to me. Both incidents occurred a few years ago, when we worked for a psychic phone line.

Example one

A regular client phoned him and wanted a relationship reading. She was in tears, upset, vulnerable and wanted (possibly needed) reassurance. And that’s what my friend provided. He dealt out a bunch of Tarot cards, and told her to go to her ex-boyfriend’s place, “you’ll have yourself a good time!”

She phoned him the next day. This is a transcript from the phone call (as my friend told me).

Client

Hi

My friend

Hey, what happened last night?

Client

(sob) He hit me … he hit me!!!

The Tarot cards in this case were all really good – Ace of Cups etc.

The next example happened to me.

Example 2

Client

Hi, can I have a relationship reading?

Me

Sure. Things don’t look so good at the moment, but I reckon it will all work out eventually.

Client

Thank you!

Four months later…

Client

Hi, do you remember me?

Me

…er…no!

Client

About 4 months ago you told me my relationship would improve. Because of your reading I ended up in a mental institute!

Me

Oh, sorry to hear about that. What happened?

Client

Well…

I should point out that I could tell this guy was vulnerable, I could tell that something wasn’t right. The cards were ambiguous and I made a judgement call.

Okay, I got it wrong. But that was years ago and since then I’ve consciously tried to refine my craft. But here’s the thing, was I responsible for what happened to that client? Was my friend? How accountable are Tarot readers?

What I want for quiz II

The purpose of these quizzes is to look at some of the more obvious, or self-evident aspects of being a Tarot reader and revisit them with an open mind. I know that this question is kind of obvious, but that doesn’t mean the answer is obvious. In fact, the more you think about anything to do with ethics, the less obvious things become.

Front line Tarot reading is rarely black and white. It’s rarely obvious what the ethics are — especially after you’ve worked for a couple of years, particularly on the phone lines.

Now, I’ve learned a lot since the last quiz, and rather than try and do both ethics and practical tips as part of the one quiz, I’ve decided its much better to focus on one or the other. For Quiz number 2, I want this to simply be about the ethics.

I know ethics can get heated, I know that some people can feel very strongly about ethics but my vision (perhaps idealistically) is for everyone to share their views – and to feel comfortable sharing their views.

Quiz

Is a Tarot reader accountable for the actions a client takes after a Tarot reading?

1. Yes, a Tarot reader is fully accountable.
2. No, the individual is responsible for their actions.

Remember, what we are trying to do is figure out the most robust approach to ethics and responsibility. I’d love to read your thoughts, opinions and ideas on this question. Let’s learn from each other

(Theoretically) Related Posts:

• Tarot Eon Quiz › Part II › Conclusion
• Eon Quiz and Robust approaches to Tarot Readings
• New poll: Are you always honest with the client?
• Is there a difference between Divination and Fortune Telling?
• How to Create Breathing Room when a Tarot Reading has you Under Pressure

This is an image of Petra. Symbol of a great, robust structure that stood the test of time, exactly the kind of amazing craftsmanship that we should all aspire to as Tarot readers.

I thought that now would be a great time to reflect on people’s responses to the first Eon quiz. The quiz itself had nothing to do with health; rather, it was designed to test, or see how robust we are as Tarot readers, when confronted with such a question.

I’ll start by looking at a few of the general trends that developed in the comments section, offer my own opinion on those trends, and finally offer some decisive tips to help you confidently take on a health question.

This preparation will set us up for the next post, which includes an example health reading, a list of possible techniques to use with an underlying emphasis on finding the most robust one.

The trends

There were four distinct trends that developed in the comments section.

1. Ethics, and ethical concerns: The ethical issues that some people felt surrounded health related questions, involved, as I understood it, the potential consequences for the client themselves. If a Tarot reader predicts wrongly, the impact on the client could be very counter-productive. Perhaps even damaging?
2. Third-party readings: This links into the ethical debate. Is it ethical to do a third party reading if we don’t have permission from the third party in question?
3. The question: Rather than answer the question directly, ( “will my husband make a full recovery?” ) some people felt it was good practice to reword the question. In this case, rather than ask, “will my husband make a full recovery?” It could be changed to “What do I need to know about my husband’s health?” Or, “What can my husband do to improve his overall health?” The overall thinking, as I understood it, was to empower the client.
   1. Psychological approach: There was also a very general trend towards moving away from predictive Tarot readings. The focus, rather than being on “predicting the future health of her husband” was more of a blend of spiritual/psychological & counselling approaches. The motive being simply to empower the client.
   2. Lack of confidence: Another reason for using this approach, as I understood it, was due to a lack of confidence in either the Tarot reader’s ability to accurately make predictions, or, a lack of confidence in the Tarot as a predictive tool.
4. Legal reasons: An interesting trend amongst most of the comments, at least through implication, was the legal ramifications of answering such a question. I found this very interesting … simply as a reflection of our current society, and the current understanding of social responsibility, confidentiality etc. In many ways, we, as Tarot readers, have to protect ourselves legally. I don’t like it, but it’s par-for-the-course.

My opinion & what I’ve learned

Yes, I think it’s important to make sure we cover all the relevant legalities. Yes, I think it’s important to tell the client we’re not medically trained. Yes, I think it’s important to empower the client, but what I think we all have to be absolutely clear about is our own motives.

In my opinion, as soon as the client asks you to do a reading on health, or for a third-party, then you, as a Tarot reader, have to know whether or not you’re going to answer them. Is the question they’re asking, ethical, or unethical?

This may sound obvious, but I think this is something we have to be absolutely clear about. If you think the question the client is asking would be unethical, then don’t even deal out the cards. Tell the client that the question is unethical. If you think that it is ethical, then answer the question. There is no grey area; it’s black and white. Either it’s ethical, or it isn’t. If it’s not an ethical question, then don’t answer.

If you think it is ethical, but still don’t want to answer the question, then that’s okay. That’s a confidence issue, and one that can be worked on. It’s also something that we have to be completely honest with ourselves about. It serves us no purpose if we confuse a lack of confidence with ethical concerns, or at its darkest, we actually hide behind ethics, because of a lack of confidence.

In answering the “question”, the choice is yours and it’s based on your own moral code of ethics. It’s that very code of ethics though that you need to be clear about.

Psychological approaches

I don’t like a purely psychological approach to Tarot readings. I think this goes against the role of a Tarot reader and, more importantly, Tarot readings. We make predictions. That’s what we get paid to do. If the client really wanted counselling, they would go and see a “trained” counsellor. They choose to visit a Tarot reader because they want a prediction of the future, because they want to know what’s going to happen, because they want information unavailable through traditional channels.

People like to discuss their feelings and that has its place within a Tarot reading. The point I’m making is that they come to us because they want a glimpse into the future, the role of a Tarot reader, not amateur psychology.

I often incorporate some psychological elements into my readings, but no more so than I would when discussing something in normal conversation; “he’s moody”, “she’s worried about stuff and with the price of fuel going up, it’s just adding to it”, “he’s a thieving swine” etc.

I’m not a psychologist and I’m not a counsellor. I treat the Tarot on its own terms. It’s irrational, and doesn’t need to be justified by anything outside of itself.

The Question

The Tarot won’t answer the Tarot readers rephrased question, it will only answer what the seeker wants to know. The Tarot reader is only acting as a translator between the Universe and the seeker. In fact, in my experience, it doesn’t even matter if you do change the question, the Tarot will still tell you what needs to be known ( sometimes, even the client doesn’t know what they need to know ). How many times have you done a reading, only to discover it’s not about the client (or based on their question, or your rephrased question) but rather it’s about their mother, say? It happens to me all the time.

Rewording the question, in-itself, achieves nothing. The Tarot will answer however it chooses to answer. Empowering the client happens through the reading itself, not through any external self-imposed approach. Treat the Tarot on its own terms and things will fall into place. It just takes a little bit of trust.

I only ever ask the client if they have a question in an effort to help the client relax. I know it has little baring on the reading, and so I don’t really care what they ask. I’ll deal out the cards and tell them whatever the cards show me.

Rewording the question

Philosophically, rewording the question is still asking for a prediction. What’s the difference between asking, “Will my husband’s health improve?” and “What do I need to know about my husband’s health?” In both cases, the Tarot is still making a prediction. It’s still projecting from the present outwards and into the future.

Are people more comfortable with this approach because it reduces their perceived risk to themselves, as Tarot readers? Does the rewording of the question remove a sense of responsibility on their part?

A sense of responsibility

Responsibility is part of being a Tarot reader. Taking risks (because it’s all so irrational) and treating the Tarot on its own terms is part-and-parcel of being a Tarot reader. We can never know if we’re 100% correct. We can never know because the whole process is irrational anyway. Part of being a Tarot reader is accepting this; accepting that if we get it wrong, we can potentially exasperate the distress the client already feels – perhaps even adding to it?

The use of psychology in Tarot reading has its place. However, even Jung brought the supernatural into the clinical world of Psychiatry – in certain circles, it cost him his reputation, because it was deemed irrational.

What I’ve learned

I’ve learned that it’s important to understand your own ethical or moral position before a client even asks a question. I’ve learned it’s important to understand the difference between ethics and having confidence in the techniques used to answer questions. I’ve learned that empowering the client is very important, but the extent to which we, as Tarot readers, can do that, is still something I’m thinking about. I’ve learned that thinking about the legal issues, and being prepared to respond to them, is perhaps one of the most important factors to ensuring a robust Tarot reading.

A robust approach to health questions

First, decide if it’s an ethical question or not. Is this question ethical? Do I feel comfortable answering this?

If the answer is no, stop immediately and end the session.

If the answer is yes, then answer fully, honestly, and completely. Treat the Tarot on its own terms, and even be prepared to do a reading on a subject other than health. What the Tarot thinks is important, what the Tarot reader thinks is important, and what the client thinks is important, can’t always be reconciled. By ensuring we constantly question our approach to a Tarot reading, we bring ourselves that much closer to refining our craft.

If the answer is, yes, I want to, but I lack confidence in my own abilities, don’t worry about that. In the next post I will focus on an example health reading. This will work us through some of the common place techniques that are available to us as Tarot readers. The goal will be to work out which is the best tool for the job. This post won’t be complete without your valuable contributions, and as always, I look forward to seeing you in the comments

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Over the last couple of months, I’ve been wondering what interests me most about the different ways we can read Tarot cards. Is it the use of Elemental Dignities that interests me? Is it the use of card counting, the Opening of the Key, or the different methods that are used to read Court cards? Or is it my Principle of Reinterpretation?

The answer, unfortunately, is no to all of the above.

This is whats been troubling me lately. Have I finally lost interest in writing about the Tarot?

Inspiration & Direction

Thankfully, like a lightning bolt, a moment of inspiration hit me and I remembered what interested me most about Tarot – and to a lesser extent, why I started blogging.

What interests me is a continuing development of my skills. I want to continually strive towards a robust approach to Tarot reading under all conditions (idealistic, I know ). What interests me is learning through other people, hearing different opinions, reading people’s responses to the posts on Tarot Eon. What interests me is working with other people to discover a truly robust set of techniques for approaching a Tarot reading.

What is a robust approach?

For me, a robust approach to a Tarot reading is an approach that utilizes a variety of conflicting techniques; conflicting techniques that can be wielded by the reader to handle any unforeseen circumstance. A robust approach to me, is one that allows a Tarot reader to adapt to the reading with confidence and knowledge – confident that they are using the right ‘tool’ for the job. Essentially, a robust approach, is one that is flexible enough to adapt to unforeseen circumstances, while still allowing the reader to decide, and use, the most ‘meaningful’ or ‘structured’ techniques available for that particular reading.

There are many tools, but only one job

Each technique that we learn as Tarot readers is awesome. There are no ‘bad’ techniques. There are only the right tools for the job.

Each Tarot reading (the job) is unique, and we have to understand what tools are appropriate for a particular job. Now, there are thousands of ways to approach a Tarot reading, but some ways are better than others. This is the art of being a good Tarot reader; this is the craftsman’s approach. One tool does not work for all jobs.

…and this is what interests me the most. I’m interested in becoming a craftsman – someone who knows what the right tools are for a particular job, and how to use them well. Someone who takes pride in the small details, the creative details; those details that will be invisible to all but a handful of clients. This is the mark of a great craftsman, and this is the mark of a great Tarot reader.

A professional who practices a craft with great skill – a professional whose work is consistently of high quality
— Definition of a craftsman

How do we become Craftsman?

I have no idea

But, we have to start somewhere … right?

This is what I propose. Every so often, I’ll post a quiz, asking each of you what you think is the best technique to use, given the circumstances. I’ll start this series of posts with some simple questions to begin with, and get progressively more challenging. Now, here’s the exciting part for me … I won’t always have an opinion. I won’t always know the right answer (not that I think that such a thing exists anyway). I’ll be learning right along side you, developing my skill set with each quiz.

I’ll also write a follow-up, detailing the trends that develop in the comments section.

I don’t know how many of these I’ll actually write. It all depends on the popularity of the quiz

1^st Quiz

Okay, let’s kick start this idea with a quick quiz.

Situation:
The Tarot reader is being asked to divine the health of the client’s husbands. It turns out the husband is seriously ill, and the client wants to know if he’ll make a full recovery.

What is the best way to handle this? Is it…

1. Tell the client that it’s unethical for you to answer?
2. Look at the distribution of the Elements. The more Fire cards in the future, the more vitality her husband will have?
3. Look towards traditional cards of healing, such as the Sun, Star, or 9 of Wands. If they aren’t present, tell the client her husband will get worse? If they are, tell the client, her husband will get better?
4. Look towards cards of poor health, such as the Tower, Death, 10 of Swords, 3 of Swords, 4 of Swords etc. If they are present, tell the client her husband will get worse?
5. If the cards clearly indicate good health, or bad health, will you tell the client?
6. …something other than the above?

Remember, there are no right answers. What we are trying to do, is figure out the most robust approach to a situation like the one described above. I’d love to hear all your thoughts, comments and views on this. Maybe, this kind of open discussion will help all of us to become better Tarot readers I’ll see you in the comments

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