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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9 comments… Let's discuss
Hi Douglas
Great points made here. My thoughts on “taking responsibility for good and bad” is the same thing I always chat about – non-attachment. If you are taking full responsibility for the “good outcomes” that leads to egoism. If you are taking full responsibility for the “bad outcomes” then you are taking away the client’s responsibility for their own lives/outcomes. Really, you don’t get to do either. A tarot reader must remain neutral and objective. Just do the job and not worry about the outcome. Easier said than done, right?
We all like the flattery that comes with a compliment for a job well done; we all ponder how we could have better served the client when things don’t go so well.
I like your posts very much – they help tarot readers really think about what we are doing and I think many of us appreciate that prod in the back!
Shanti Om,
Theresa
Hi Theresa,
Thank you for your kind words
I do think that non-attachment is a vital component to giving a Tarot reading, but as you say – “We all like the flattery that comes with a compliment for a job well done; we all ponder how we could have better served the client when things don’t go so well.”
It’s such a fine line to walk isn’t it – to be as non-attached as is possible, yet still reflecting on ways in which we can improve our work.
However, no matter how difficult it can be at times, it should always be something we strive to do. The more we try, the more we learn.
Thank you for your comment
What’s funny about this post is the backlash of doing a Tarot reading. You can discuss expectations, explain the scope of your work as a Tarot reader and the nature of a reading, but still people might come to you again, thanking or baming you.
I find it easier to understand the reaction of clients if I grasp their motivations for a reading in terms of winning and losing. Regarding cognition, afect and neural pathways, these are not two sides of the same coin. People hate to lose much more than they love to win. I feel that most often clients ask me to help them not lose; they fear losing and that’s the trigger for asking the tarot’s help. A client might come back blaming you if he/she felt the experience of losing more than the experience of not winning. So, imho, it’s not so much about the positive or negative impact of the information we share, but the quality of the client’s experience.
During a session, I address the issue in these terms directly with the client if I feel he’s in competition not to lose. I believe it protects my work and my relationship with the client.
Hi Pedro,
Thanks for sharing your opinion.
Great point! This is another way of perceiving the whole subject in a different, perhaps even better way. As you point out, the quality of the client’s experience is something that is very important. This is also something that I did not explicitly mention. I didn’t make this as central to the debate as perhaps it should have been.
I also liked the way you explored the two concepts of winning and losing; particularly the way you show how the fear of failure is much more powerful than the need to win. Of course, this all links into how you assess the client and their motivation but what is particularly interesting is how you make that the focus of discussion – not expectations of the Tarot reading itself.
You make some very good point about just how exactly should we be engaging with the client? Is discussing expectations the best way, or is discussing their motivation? Regardless, focusing on the quality of the client’s experience, making that our responsibility could very well sidestep many of the issues raised by me and others.
Thank you for the great comment
IMHO we may be putting too much emphasis or attention on ourselves and not enough on the cards. Without a doubt, our interpretations as well as our interactions with other people come from who we are and where we have been. However, we need to trust the cards. We are not professional counselors. We are not therapists. We are not social workers. We are Tarot readers. And as readers, are we trying to read an individual or are we trying to read cards? Can we keep bias and “spectatoring” or self-consciousness to a minimum, keep the intellect at bay, and just read the cards intuitively, as they fall?
Hi Sarah,
I do agree with you. In fact, this is one of the central themes behind most of my posts.
One of the major complications, in my experience, of doing a Tarot reading is all that other stuff that goes with it. Usually, this other stuff involves some kind of ethics, or requires the Tarot reader to have some kind of ethic in order to respond to the situation appropriately. Part of the reason for exploring some of these ethical issues was to share in what other people found useful, in the hope that something that someone else says might help us manage these things more effectively.
One the one hand I think you’re right – I share the same view and more often than not, that is how I handle most real readings that I do. But on the other hand, ethics is still a factor. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to work on our own reading style to get into a more effortless state. In fact, that is the second reason for these quizzes – to help refine our craft.
Yes, I think we can. However, I also think we need to be fully aware of the ethical issues that can arise and to have some kind of method for managing them. If a particular situation arises where the Tarot reader doesn’t feel comfortable reading for the client, that will impact on their level of detachment and intuition.
Thank you for the comment
Oh Douglas, I like Theresa’s response very much too!
Funny enough, something similar to this happened to me the other day with a long-time client of mine. The cards were right, but I was tired and my energy was “off” due to coming down with the flu bug. However, I wasn’t entirely wrong. It isn’t like the exact opposite happened from what the reading said. But I will say a LARGE (and thankfully pleasant) surprise happened that I didn’t even see originally. In hindsight, I knew the cards energetically pointed right to that outcome. Why didn’t I see the obvious?
Perhaps it was meant to be a surprise to my client too? Maybe if she was expecting that outcome, she wouldn’t have acted genuinely surprised and in doing so could have greatly compromised the entire experience? Who knows?
Hi AarTiana,
There is definitely something to what your saying!
My own experience of this is slightly different. Often my emotions will change just before the start of a reading. Sometimes I’m nervous, other times I’m confused and forgetful etc. Anyway, what I’ve noticed is that those feelings are the same as the clients. Now I’m not sure if I’m picking up on their feelings or they’re picking up on mine, but what’s really interesting is just how often it happens. I think this must relate to some sort of connection being made with the client.
…so I’m certain that the element of surprise was a shared experience precisely because of this connection you had with the client
And how knows, maybe there is something much more profound going on that nobody is entirely aware of.
Dear Tarot friends,
This is a belated response to a very important topic to me, ETHICS in Tarot reading. Around the time of this original posting, I had published an article on this topic in “Tarosophist International” magazine (volume 1/issue 7), excerpted from my subsequent book “An Introduction to Transformative Tarot Counseling.”
Doug – your summary and conclusions successfully cover many of the main ethical considerations for readers who perform predictive or fortune-telling style readings.
What I challenge readers to consider is whether predictive or fortune-telling readings set clients up to EXPECT advice, answers, and life choices to be made by the reader, not the client. It is a stereotypical assumption that readers tap into a higher source for guidance than the client, thus putting the reader and the reading in a greater position of authority. Many readers prescribe a response to the reading based on the literal question asked and the reader’s interpretation of the cards.
What if the interpretation and the response originated with the client, not the reader? This follows a more “Tarot Counseling,” client-centered approach to working with clients and readings. This style of reading releases the reader from responsibility for the conclusion of the reading for it comes predominately from the client, with the reader’s support and guidance. I find this approach to be much more ethical and clearly sets authority and responsibility for the reading in the hands of the client, not the cards or the reader.
I love these discussions and encourage us all to experiment, discuss, and refine our personal reading styles.
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