Do you believe in tarot readings?

[BeeB29]

I’m usually the most skeptic person you could meet. Not spiritual at all. Never give it much thought.

A friend of mine has recently bought some tarot cards and a book. I don’t think she really knows what she’s doing and is just reading it out of a book.

She persuaded me to do some. Some of the things that were said has unsettled me. I won’t go into detail. First time I’ve ever done anything like it.

I’ve gone a compete skeptic to frightened overnight that something bad is going to happen. Already had a terrible year losing a family Denver and a friend and nearly losing somebody else recently.

I’m worried it was predicting my future and terrible things might happen.

Please tell me it’s complete nonsense which will make me feel better 🤣

I don't believe in it.

I went through a phase aged about 18 where I got a deck and a book and was doing the same.

I was absolutely making it up (and not claiming otherwise) according to what the booklet told me - the reality is that we want to read more into what we hear than is there. I scared a friend and I regretted it and stopped. It really is bollocks.

It’s total nonsense OP!

I have some friends who use them for personal meditation purposes because it helps them think about their issues, but please don’t believe they are magical or able to predict the future - it’s simply not true. There is absolutely nothing in it, and you shouldn’t let it worry you.

No, it’s made up nonsense.

It's all bs

It's utter complete and toral nonsense!!! And rather 'unethical' of her to read someone she knows! She'll have interpreted the card meanings through the lens of her knowledge of your life.

It’s complete nonsense, designed for the impressionable, the suggestible and the gullible.

No it’s complete and utter nonsense.

Sadly the people who do believe it tend to be vulnerable and fully exploited for material gain for their “readings”.

Thank you. Some of it was quite accurate about letting go of the past, struggling to form friendships but I guess this is quite broad and true for a lot of people and most of it did sound like nonsense. I’m in such a foul mould today thinking I have to change my ways the like cards said 🤣 I’ll try and relax!

Do your tarot cards. Then do them again. Then do them again. Unless the same exact cards come out on the three times then I wouldn’t worry about it.

Its like horoscopes.

"There are challenges to overcome but a friendly face will help... "

• could be the dog licking up dinner spilled on the floor
• could be the librarian who helps you with your uni assignment
• could be the nice custody sergeant your first night in a police cell
• could be the first responder pulling you out of the wreckage of the plane.

The meaning in it is what you choose to see. Basically, it's bollocks.

There is absolutely nothing predictive about them. They are good at reflecting your own stuff back at you so they are like a mirror rather than a sat nav. I've used cards at mind, body and spirit fairs and the amount of stuff people tell you through body language, how they are dressed and what they actually say is astonishing. I'm not claiming to predict the future, only to use them as a way to start a conversation. What was very telling was a couple of tarot readers/psychics came onto my Christian stand one year and I could tell them they were psychics because they were holding themselves rigid trying not to let me cold read. That freaked them out a bit.

Yes - I had my cards read years ago and everything that was said was true. I had my cards read by a professional reader who was also a medium. I paid £20.00 for the reading at an event with other people and she was highly recommend.

I don't think that buying a pack of cards and a book and doing it yourself is the same though. You could sit there all day doing yourself multiple readings but you're only reading what the book says. Your friend hasn't had years of practice and study into the true interpretation of the cards. Also different tarot card books will tell you different meanings. I wouldn't take your friends reading seriously, a shop bought set is just something you would do with friends over a few glasses of wine for a laugh.

a couple of tarot readers/psychics came onto my Christian stand one year and I could tell them they were psychics because they were holding themselves rigid trying not to let me cold read. That freaked them out a bit.

What cards did she pull OP? What spread was it?

Try not to worry.

Cards are for playing solitaire, poker and shit-head :-)

Logically I don't believe them, but I have also done readings that have come completely true so 🤷‍♀️😁

I would certainly not worry about a reading from someone who's a complete novice that they are just reading from a book. Did she even cleanse the cards before your reading?

It's all nonsense and designed to make you think it is referring to specific things in your life whilst your brain skips over the bits that don't make sense.

It's all confirmation bias. People who go to these "readers" are already looking for something; answers, hope, reassurance. They will see it everywhere and in everything.

Notice that all these readings, horoscopes, and so forth are all very vague and could be interpreted in any way the recipient wishes. No-one is ever told "your dog will get hit by a car at 3pm next Tuesday" or "you'll win £25 in the premium bonds in August".

It's all "a windfall is on its way", "you will face great adversity", "new opportunities arise", "you have a secret admirer". It's all made up appeasing bolleaux.

I do tarot readings but the first thing I tell people is that they CANNOT predict the future because like the double slit experiment as soon as you observe something a change is effected by the mere act of observation and in addition I tell people that ultimately they alone have the power to steer their own lives.

I use the Croley deck because it is simple - it is based on archetypes and the journey of the Fool through life. Humans live by patterns and have done for eons alongside trying to make sense of a world that often doesn't make sense.

Mostly when I do readings it turns into a sort of mutual counselling session, exchanging experiences and discussing strategies - the card images and descritions can trigger things in the subconscious and help with expression.

I always, always tell people that the cards a psychological tool and I really wish people would stop with the supernatural element.

'Tis bollocks OP! I've had a lovely pack of tarot cards for years. Beautiful and fascinating to look at, yes. Have they ever accurately predicted my future? Nope!!

If it was real it'd be lauded and investigated massively by the scientific community. It's NEVER been shown in any kind of decent trial to be anything more than hokum.

When people have "genuine" experiences of it being correct, it's a coincidence.

Once went to a lovely woman's home for mine read.
Omg I didn't sleep for weeks.
She knew way way too much. Stuff I hadn't even told the friend I had gone with. We drove back in silence. Parked my car up.
And walked to the pub.
I won't ever scofff...

I once accidentally convinced someone - beyond a shadow of a doubt - that I was genuinely psychic and told her things that I just couldn't have known.

It was New Year's Eve, it was at a party, everyone was at least a little drunk and I was reading people's "future" for shits and giggles out of ... a deck of poker cards of all things.

It stopped being fun when someone took it seriously and - even when I explained to her exactly what I'd done - still remained utterly convinced that I must have powers that I might not even be aware of myself because there was no way I could have known.

That's obviously bullshit. No, I hadn't known that she was, in fact, a lesbian and had recently gone through a difficult breakup. I had a queen of spades lying on the table and said something along the lines of there's a woman in your past. Someone who plays or used to play a very important role in your life. And I think there may have been some very emotionally upsetting moments there. The thing about this pertaining to her ex partner was all her - I actually used to say stuff like that to everyone I "read" because that's invariably true about almost everybody and their ... mother!

Long story short (and point of the anecdote): just because a reading feels insanely accurate, that doesn't mean it's not still entirely made up.

If a drunk corporate executive reading poker cards at a party can accidentally come across as convincing, just imagine what an experienced professional who actually aims to be convincing can do! Especially once they're no longer simply cold reading.

Anyway, I've stopped reading poker cards since this happened - even for fun. The notion that someone would take it seriously scared me.

Tarot cards are just a way of looking at a situation and gaining some insight. They reflect your own thoughts. They can't predict the future!

To predict the future- absolute load of nonsense.

To help you tease out or explore some of the thoughts and feelings you’re experiencing in a situation by seeing what they bring to mind- yes.

Lots of things can do that- meditation, prayer, runes, talking to a friend.