-- card: 25252 from stack: in -- bmap block id: 0 -- flags: 0000 -- background id: 25031 -- name: -- part contents for background part 7 ----- text ----- Tips On Interpreting Tarot Throws for Others The same things apply to Tarot reading as to any good stage magician's performance. Some tricks here borrow from the 'mentalist' school (mind reading, etc.) And a lot derrive from the good old P.T. Barnum School: Tell 'em what they want to hear! But please...DO give YOUR suckers an even break! The following tips may help you with your act... • Learn the cards. It helps immeasurably. You don't have to memorize meanings, but having some idea in your head of a card's meaning will help you "chat it up" to your Querent.There's no magic here other than the human mind can invent, but that doesn't mean you'll be wasting time studying the cards. The cards, in order, are an interesting thing to follow...there is a meaning, of sorts. The Major Arcana (or "Great Mysteries", cards 0 thru 21) are said to be the story of the steps of a person's progress through life, or toward wisdom, maturity, etc. There are clues here to the thinking of an earlier age, and other suprises as well...like "just plain fun" as a hobby, collecting the many varieties of decks. Don't look for Demons (the 'real' kind), however, because there simply aren't any here. (To the Squeemish: But... what about the Devil (#15), you ask ? Now, honestly, would you confuse a story _about_ a wolf with a real wolf, for instance. Surely, symbols can be scary! Have you ever been to a Disney Cartoon Feature, or ...say... read the Book Of Revelation in the Bible? Hmmmm... Why depict things like, say, The Tower ? It's part of real life. Read the meanings of the card and see.) • Embellish, always in the direction that the reading seems to take right off the bat at the "Covers" Card. Use the "Show Position Names" button for the meanings of the positions of the cards. • Be sure to maintain a positive attitude, since the Querent is expecting a path of some sort to be available to him or her. If bad things show up in the reading, make them suggestions, rather than absolutes. Advise caution, do not predict disaster! • Paint with light, hazy colors...do your best Gypsy Fortune Teller impression! Add in a good portion of Romance (in the sense of Emotion.) Make things as general as necessary to achieve the effect YOU desire. Avoid predicting the totally outrageous, however. • If you are reading 'live', use your Querent's almost certain verbal / facial interjections to model the further direction of your reading. Use eye contact to your advantage...and Act! You'll be suprised how easy this is to do after a bit of practice ...and how much it adds to the response! • Finally, and most importantly, DO NOT LET A READING LEAVE A QUERENT UPSET! If you see that your interpretation has badly disturbed someone, do everything up to, and including, revealing your bag of tricks, to reassure her/him. Be kind. Oh, one other thing... don't take your OWN readings seriously, either ...except while performing them! • Keep a reality orientation in real life, naturally! And, for the last word.... ...Fnord.