Stephen's Tarot Talk ~ Example Readings

Welcome Living Tarot Members! Here we'll share sample readings and approaches to adding depth and meaning to your readings for yourself or others.

I encourage you to ask questions and make comments! So, here we go, this is Session 01 ? A Relationship Reading. Because the reading exceeds 7500 characters it is necessary to obtain the complete reading in PDF form from the link below:

~Click Here To Download Complete Example Reading ~

Here is a sample of the reading we will discuss....

~ Received From The Seeker ~:

Name: Gelinda K.
Date of Birth: 12/29/1979
Gender: Female
Question: ? My boyfriend and I have been dating for two years and every time I talk about marriage or a deeper commitment, he changes the subject. I love him, but I am not sure what to do. Can you tell where this is going and if there is something I should know about him??

~ Response from the Reader ~

Dear Gelinda,

Thank you for sharing your question and selecting me as your Tarot reader. Before we get started I?d like to share a bit about my approach to the Tarot. I use the Tarot as tool for opening my clients to new perspectives and insights. The wisdom we reveal using the Tarot is always intended for the highest good of all concerned and the impressions I express are meant to be empowering to you. Regardless of the advice offered you are always responsible for making your own decisions. Finally, my readings suggest trends that aren?t carved in store, rather they provide you important guide posts for making potential changes to your current situation. Thank you for allowing me to share may approach to helping others through the Tarot. Now own to your reading!

~ Introduction ~

Here is what you provided me:

Question: ? My boyfriend and I have been dating for two years and every time I talk about marriage or a deeper commitment, he changes the subject. I love him, but I am not sure what to do. Can you tell where this is going and if there is something I should know about him??

From what you have shared it sounds like you want to move forward with your boyfriend in a meaningful and permanent relationship, but your excitement and energy isn?t being returned or reflected. For this situation I will perform a three card Tarot reading based on your forth Chakra ~ Your Social Identity which allows you and your boyfriend to love deeply, feel compassion, and from meaningful relationships.

The symbolism of this spread is shown below where the card on the bottom left is your 4th Chakra, the card on the bottom right is his 4th Chakra and the card in the middle is what you need to know about your current challenge to bond (see below).

~ Invocation ~

Before I begin I like to say the following invocation ?May the insights and advice we reveal provide Gelinda with the truth she seeks for the highest good of all concern!? Now let us form a question ?What does Gelinda need to know most about her desire to form a meaningful relationship with her boyfriend?? After a few moments of silence I will have shuffled the deck while meditating on your question, your name and your birth date.

~ The Tarot Layout ~

Below are the cards we drew:

Point 1 ? Your 4th Chakra ? 4 of Cups (upright)
Point 2 ? His 4th Chakra ? Major Arcana 0 The Fool (upright)
Point 3 ? What you need to know about your relationship challenge ? 7 of Cups (upright)



The Four of Cups tells me you are emotionally withdrawn from your connection with your friend. In fact, I sense you are having several conversations in your head about how its all his fault, which only deepens your anger and feelings of rejection. Two things that spoke to me in this card were 1. the sitting / crossed legged nature of the figure in this card and 2. the Cup in the Air. The first symbol suggests that your feelings are preventing you from opening up to him and that there may be a lot of finger pointing going on in your mind. There is a real communications breakdown and you might need to be the hero one more time in a calm and open way ? telling him what you really expect. The second symbol of a ?Cup In The Air? tells me there is an opportunity you have overlooked for changing how you both communicate. Its worth talking to a professional counselor about this with your friend to learn new ways of opening your lines of communications and making sure your friend knows exactly how you feel.

The Major Arcana Key Zero ? The Fool tells me your friend is extremely carefree and has a need to explore several aspects of his spiritual and personal development. In this situation the Fool represents someone who is youthful and not ready for making commitments. His actions may seem selfish and downright hurtful, but his gaze on the stars (not on the practical matters of where he is or could be going). The backpack spoke to me here, telling me he isn?t ready to move into your apartment or buy furniture or do anything that would tie him down. He feels he still has to learn more about the world even if it means doing things that don?t fit with your time schedule. Talk to him about what he hopes to do in the next few months, season or year. What trips would he like to take? Look for the love in his heart and what motivates and excites him. Are his ideas exciting and romantic to you? Do you feel a bond to the youthful and carefree nature he is sharing as you talk about what he likes to do. What are his feelings about spiritual or mystical matters? I suggest you approach him from his point of view before setting your expectations on him. Maybe, in his mind two years is just enough time before he starts opening up.

The Third Card ? What the challenge is between you both. The seven of cups shows several choices, many of them just a fantasy at this point. The fact that we drew two cups in numerical progression tells me your joint journey involves growth of both of your emotional identities (your connection to each other through feeling, sensation, sex, and emotional satisfaction). ... THE REST IS PROVIDED IN THE PDF...


*~*~*

So, this is an example of a professional email reading. I?d love to hear your thoughts. Over the next few days, I hope to share teaching points from this reading.

Brightest of Blessings to You!

Stephen Schwartz
Certified Professional Tarot Reader
Visit My Website

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Stephen,

Thank you for beginning this Example thread for our busy learners and practitioners, at my request. I had hoped you would do this, and I am delighted. It would have been harder to use this, if it had been tucked into ASK ASK ASK, Member Practice Reading. This is a better place for it, and then our newly-emerging Stephen fans can see how you do it, and follow your style.

One day soon we will have a professional arm, LivingTarot.org/net, and perhaps you and others will be able to work with us there, for profit!

We have several members who have found us from the Worldwide Tarot Message Board. I was delighted to discover that the Meetup members who are categorized as Waiting, (which means they joined Meetup but their group was cancelled for lack of an Organizer) are able to use the Mail function and the Posting function, and found their way to the Worldwide Message Board. Magus 777, in Australia, found us that way, and so has Meg, our new member, who lives in the US. People need a way to participate, until they have found or formed a Live Meetup in their own town.

I will read your post very thoroughly later tonight. For now, thank you for doing this for us.

I hope our readers will take the opportunity to participate with you. It is a great way to learn!

Hello!

You have had a few days to look of the sample reading posted at the beginning of this thread. I’d like to point out various aspects of the reading and why they are important to any reading you do.

~ The Question ~

What is the right amount of information to ask for or provide for a question?

The first part of the reading I’d like to focus on is the question. In this example, you see a client who provided a fair amount of background information to the Tarot reader. The amount of information in this example “feels” about right. It might be nice to know the first name of her friend. For example as you see in the reading, her friend is constantly referred to as “your friend”. Because I am somewhat empathic, I like to connect with my client and others involved. Simply saying their names helps me tune in and really helps set both the client and reader at ease. So asking “May I have the first name of your friend?” is perfectly acceptable.

What a professional reader shouldn’t do is ask for more information than what is really needed, otherwise it gives the impression you are going to use that information – not from the perspective of truth emanating from the Tarot (or any other metaphysical or spiritual means), but rather in a divisive way. Depending on how well you know your client, you may only need to know the core aspects of the question.

If you are reading for another, some people will provide you with lots of information while others are very tight lipped. There are two schools of thought on this. The first is the client doesn’t want to reader to taint the reading by knowing why they came for the reading. The second is you wouldn’t show up to a doctor’s office and ask her/him to play the “Guess why I’m here?” game (smile). Being skeptical of just any Tarot Reader you find randomly on the internet is fine and healthy, but once you have done your research and selected one, my advice is not to play the “Guess why I am here game?” if you want detailed information back. You want to provide your reader with the “right amount” of information to form an intelligent and highly targeted question and to set expectations on what you want to gain from the reading. That is about all you need to provide any reader. For example, “I want to know why I am having trouble with Joe and what I can do to improve things?” is a pretty good questions. On the one hand “I want a relationship reading.” or “Joe is constantly cheating on me. We fight every night over where he has been. I think he is having an affair and am afraid he will give me AIDS.” – are two levels of detail that just feel inappropriate for most readings. An good professional reader understands an expects some skepticism, but that is best addressed through a free consultation first, or a solid referral from a friend, etc.

Does it matter how we (reader and querent) form the question?

Yes! When reading for yourself or obtaining a reading, unless it is a general reading, forming the question you want to address is very important. Forming and stating your question places your will and intentions out there for the universe to help solve. It certainly helps place your mind (and the mind of your client for live readings) into synchronization for receiving inner guidance.

So, what's a bad question?

When will I win the Lottery?
Should I marry Hazel?
How's the best way to do away with my mother-in-law?
Is Harry gay?
Does Shirley wear falsies?

All of these questions have problems with them in my opinion and should be rephrased to be self empowering and to address things from highest good of all concerned.

The first question is a blatant fortune teller question and doesn’t address aspects that the client can control. There is no “trend” to address. A good rewording of that question my be “What does Joe need to know and do concerning his dreams to be wealthy?”

The second question “Should I marry Hazel?” cannot be addressed by a Tarot reader or any professional. It is best addressed by you and Hazel (smile). However, you can address the relationship? “What do I need to know concerning my relationship with Hazel?” This opens the Tarot to addressing issues involved in the client’s subconscious and affecting their relationship rather than being a “Yes or No” response.

The third question or anything bordering on the illegal shouldn’t be addressed. A more subtle for this question that should also be avoided is “How long do I have to live with this cancer?” unless you are licensed medical doctor and have examined the client.

The forth and fifth question is an insult to someone involved and not for the highest good of all concerned. If you were married to Harry, then the question could be rewritten to “What do I need to know about my concerns over Harry?”, but if he was your neighbor, it really isn’t the work of an ethical reader to use that Tarot in this way.

What is a good question?

Any question that asks for truth and the resolution of things for the highest good of all concerned. A good test is to ask yourself if this question honors the golden rule. Would you like someone asking this question about you if it involves another? If it involves a situation then is the question phased such that it empowers me with information I can actually act on and learn from?

I trust you enjoyed this first review of the sample reading! I hope to work my way through the reading sharing lots of interesting information. If you have a personal question you don't want to share with the board, simply send me a note via the MeetUp members link.

If you would like to be notified when I post more discussions to this thread, simply check the "Track this discussion" button at the bottom. That way you will be notified when I post a new discussion point.


Brightest of Blessings to You!

Stephen
Certified Professional Tarot Reader
Learn More About Me

Stephen -

What wonderful information you're sharing. About questions, I try to get the client to reword questions involving other people so the question, therefore the answer impowers the client. For instance, "How does he/she feel about me?" can become "What can I do to improve this relationship?". There are enough factors in life that we can't control, a boss, a medical situation, another's feelings, etc. that I try to get the client involved in what they can do.

Suzy

Susy,

Thank you for the post and sharing your thoughts! That is an excellent example of rewording a question that empowers the client.

Just about any topic can be reworded to enable the querent or client to obtain wisdom that empower them on things they can actually affect - their attitude and actions.

Steve

Hi Steve,

Can you believe it, I STILL have not been able to get up into this thread and read your example layout! Good grief! I am very interested. I have been going gun-ablaze for a week, and have not been able to enjoy my LTM.

I will return! I want to get a comment out here, or a question, before you post the next example.

I appreciate your enthusiasm!

I got your last three emails and have not had a chance to reply. I saw the one about the Poll, too, and I am looking forward to reading it. It really helps when you use the subject line so descriptively in our off-Board emails, since I can quickly find you again on a certain topic when I get a minute.

Stay tuned, signed,

A Fan

Hello Ferol,

No worries! I wished I had time to attend the "Very Tarot Christmas" coming up this week.

I plan on posting my next focal point concerning this example reading that covers "Selecting The Right Tarot Layout" later this week.

Brightest of Blessings!

Stephen

Dear Stephen,
I loved reading this Sample reading and the further inputs you have put on this thread. As someone who is still very much in the process of learning the wonderful art of Tarot i found the information on how to phrase a question very useful indeed. The other thing that interested me was the way you said you meditated on the lady's question and her date of birth..... Could u tell me how you co-relate that with a live reading and how that information is important is that context. Thank you... I will be watching this thread for more useful tips and knowledge!
Warm Regards
Ayesha

Stephen, this is so helpful. I have never read professionally and when I read for someone on the board it as feels very choppy. Please continue with this great thread as I know we will all learn so much.

Carolyn

Dear Stephen,
I loved reading this Sample reading and the further inputs you have put on this thread. As someone who is still very much in the process of learning the wonderful art of Tarot i found the information on how to phrase a question very useful indeed. The other thing that interested me was the way you said you meditated on the lady's question and her date of birth..... Could u tell me how you co-relate that with a live reading and how that information is important is that context. Thank you... I will be watching this thread for more useful tips and knowledge!
Warm Regards
Ayesha

Hello Ayesha,

Sorry for the delay.. I was out of town for several days. Thank you for your question!

This is a very simple and abbridged example of how I do a reading. I didn't include much of my technique as much as a general approach. Yes, I do recommend you incorporate general mediation or prayerful thought in your reading at the beginning. Many professional psychics, mediums, channels, Tarot readers, religious figures ... etc. recommend an innovacation at the beginning of anything that is intended for truth.

"State your name and age. We ask your name as to tap into your vibration and age." - Lazazus channeled by Jach Pursel.


There are many other intuitives, psychics, mediums, open channels that recommend aligning your thoughts and energy with truthful thoughts and intentions. One way of aligning your reading with someone remote is to say and/or think their name and age to align your session with them....

What is important is that if feels right to you and is done in a spirit of honesty and truth.

Keep flipping those cards!

Stephen