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Discussion
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I don’t know if it’s just me but I always have a hard time putting into words how I got to a conclusion when I’m reading cards for people and myself. I have done readings for others and they have always resonated for people but when they ask about how I got to this conclusion or what a specific card means i kind of feel embarrassed because I can’t explain myself. I try my best and sometimes it doesn’t make sense regarding a single card but as a whole it just “makes sense” to me. Has anyone else had this problem? I’m also just not great at explaining things in general tbh so it could just be that. I think it’s interesting how accurate my readings have been but difficult because questions about the specific cards make me doubt my abilities to understand the situation because I can’t quite put into words. Does this just mean I should study more deeply?
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I have a hard time actually “reading“ cards
updated 3 years, 3 months ago 2 Members · 9 Replies
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While study is always helpful, I believe that practicing explaining the cards by yourself will aid you the most. There’s a big difference between thinking something and verbalizing it. A lot of mental processing has to take place to speak coherently enough to explain things to others. If you’re generally happy with ability to read, take this as an opportunity to improve in an area you might not have otherwise. Think of it as a gift from the universe.
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A good way to avoid having to explain the “what does this card mean” issue for you would be to explain that you are an intuitive reader up front. That you use the cards as a focus, but you are not a traditional reader. Managing expectations is something we all have to do in our readings. I had a woman once who demanded to know which card was her son. She had decided that he was the source of all her ills and left my table in a huff because if he wasn’t there, obviously I didn’t know what I was doing. I don’t know if she found someone to give her the answer she wanted, but she walked away from the advice she needed.
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SAME haha! Sometimes when im tired i just look at the cards and go “uh huh” like i know what you mean butttt im too tired to properly explain and develop my meaning
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Same for me! I’m more of an intuitive card reader rather than someone who memorizes the meaning of each card, so I can’t really explain how I read my cards. Not in a way that makes sense to the one I’m reading for, anyway. Lucky for me, not a lot of people ask me how I read a specific card or spread, but when they do, I just tell them that I intuitively got the impression when I saw the card.
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it takes experience and practice to really feel comfortable with verbally explaining the specifics of readings, my advice for you is just to continue reading, read for yourself, practice explaining it alone. it’s also not necessarily a bad thing to be a “big picture” oriented person, you could just let others know how that’s how you personally like reading.
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This just means that you’re following your intuition and it’s working great for you! Don’t stress about doing it “right.” Nobody does it the exact same way and we’re not supposed to. Keep following your intuition!
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I’ve come up with this too. Studying cards more never hurt! That’s the answer I got too.
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You’re intuitive and a big picture person it sounds.
It helps to set their expectations upfront about how you read. If they know what to expect they may feel more at ease with you. People sense when you’re honest and will trust you more if you say what’s true for you. Maybe the truth for you is people find your readings accurate but you read the cards as a whole rather than individually. That basically each card takes on a different context depending on its position and surrounding cards so it’s hard to just pluck one card and say what it means. It’s kinda like taking a grain of flour out of a bagel. It loses its meaning if you extract it on it’s own, but but the form it takes with the other grains of flour are what give it meaning. I don’t know if that’s accurate, I just gave that as an example. I actually work the opposite way by knowing what each card literally means. That is just a different method.
Being intuitive you’ll probably sense what other people want/need to hear and understand where they’re coming from, you might not be able to explain things well but you may know how to reassure them. It might be easier if you feel more relaxed/confident before a reading. I don’t know if you meditate or do grounding exercises before a reading, I find that helps clear my head, it may help to do some affirmations to increase your confidence or reassure yourself. I think regardless of approach or skill it’s not uncommon to have a sort of “imposter syndrome” feeling at times, and really that’s more about confidence and trust in yourself than your actual skill.
I can say what each card means because I’m very literal, but is it accurate? I don’t know. I know that the two of pentacles is about juggling from the picture on the card, but also that twos are about duality, decisions, opposing forces, etc. Pentacles are about the material, financial, earth. And I look at the question or position related to the card to give it context. I still have to look cards up sometimes because I forget their assigned meaning, that happens more often when I’m struggling to get the context of the card, I may actually know the meaning, but the act of opening the book and reading the definition again kinda takes my mind off the struggle and helps me regain my center. I think I sometimes get overloaded if there’s too much I’m holding in my head so I can let go of things with it being external “memory”. And sometimes something in the definition jumps out and I’m like yes, that’s it! That was what my mind was trying to recall! It’s not great to do in the middle of the reading with the other person present (which is why I like to do them virtually) but I like rereading the definitions while I’m reading cards. Maybe because it helps me think I am someone who needs to externalize things because I can’t hold them all in my head, I have to look things up and write things down on paper so I can see them. Paper takes on the processing that my brain can’t handle (could be that l have a more limited working memory than others). I can’t intuit the meanings like others can. I have read the cards on an off for years and I don’t think it’s suddenly going to magically change and I will become an intuitive reader, this may just be my way.
For me reading the cards is a struggle in a different way. It seems to me like the more accurate readers are often intuitive readers, but then I have gotten feedback that people find my readings were insightful or accurate, so I don’t know. Maybe they’re being nice? Who knows! When the readings are virtual they don’t see me with the book and notepad and I can take my time. There have also been rare times where my reading was wildly off base and I felt that even before the reading was over.
I read very casually so I’m not too worried if it goes sideways, the expectations are set at the beginning so people know that I’m far from an expert and I can get it wrong. I think the literalness does hold me back. I do expect it to be a continual learning process regardless of method or how much you “know”, and you have the chance to grow and refine your skills over your lifetime. I don’t know if there ever is a “destination”.
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Like most things it takes practice to strengthen that part of your brain for some people.
