This past week I saw a really interesting tarot tweet come through on one of the tarot re-tweeting account.  After following the link and reading the post, which mostly just consisted of a video clip and a lot of really conflicting comments from readers, I noticed that the post was quickly removed from the site where the link led to (which was really interesting).  I wanted to share it though because it was really interesting and to see this pop up on a website that was reposting things from around the net about tarot.

The video clip is called “Tarot Reading is Bullshit”.  It comes from a British television show called “Bullshit Detective” which was on in 2007 (apparently only for one series/season) and is very much in the same line of show as “Penn & Teller’s Bullshit” if you’ve ever seen that.  The host, Alasdair Jeffrey, goes to three different tarot readers trying to prove that tarot reading is not a method of getting real or accurate information about the future and that tarot readers are not psychic and have no “special powers”.  Here’s the clip; watch this, it is interesting and does show some very important things that both readers and those going for readings should be aware of.

The whole process of finding a good reader is just that, a process.  A lot of readers do use these “cold reading” and “fishing” techniques and essentially use mentalist techniques to gather information about the sitter in a reading session.  Looking at the way a person is dressed, their jewelry, observing how they speak and hold themselves.  These little things that we never think of consciously can give a lot of clues to someone who knows how to observe and interpret that information.  Some readers are not intuitive or psychic readers.  Like one of the readers in the above clip says, anyone can really learn how to read the cards in a few days, especially if they have the ability to retain information and memorize things quickly and easily.  That’s how some people learn and read tarot, just by a matter of learning and memorizing the meanings of cards and then being able to interpret them to the given situation.  Then you have those that use their intuition and learn to tap into that deeper, psychic self and use the cards more as triggers to be able to bring messages and guidance to the sitter.

Knowing what kind of reader your reader is can be hard to figure out.  Personally I find it hard, as a reader myself, to have tarot readings done by other professionals in person.  Online or over the phone I find it easier, but for me personally readings in person are tough.  I tend to look at the cards and I start gathering my own ideas and interpretations and I am conscious of the “profiling” that some readers do.  I think if you know the cards and you read yourself when you’re sitting at the table with the cards and the reader on the other side and you see something completely different in them than they do it can be difficult sometimes to sort out in your head if it’s because on a psychic level they’re picking something else up or if there is something in the way that you’re dressed, the way you’re holding yourself or the way you’re speaking that is causing them to draw these conclusions.

I think watching some of the things that the host in the show points out with these readers make for good points.  If you’re in your 30s or 40s it’s pretty unlikely that you haven’t had a bad relationship that’s effected you terribly at some point.  It’s also pretty likely that you know a strong male in your life that has either dark or light hair.  When you get those very wide ranging options to pick from does feel like someone is throwing out a line and seeing which one hooks you in.  The same can be said for someone that asks a lot of questions, that should be an obvious clue.  The other thing that is a really good point made in the clip is that, since you don’t know what the future really holds, you can only judge the predictive information based on the past and present information.  If you’re sitting there feeling that the information about the past isn’t quite right and doesn’t seem to hold a lot of weight how can you really feel solid about the information about the future?

And I can’t help but make a bit of a befuddled face watching the woman swinging the pendulum in the video.  If I were getting a reading from someone that utilized a pendulum like that in a way that looked clearly like she was moving it intentionally (or maybe it’s just me), but I would stop listening at that point I think.

I guess the point I’m trying to get at is yes, tarot reading can be bullshit if the reader themselves is a bullshit reader.  And don’t mistake the fact that they are out there!  But there are good and honest readers out there too.  If someone specifically reads as a “predictive” reader, someone that is “fortune telling” and letting you know what will happen to you in the future, you might be dealing with someone that is a bit of a BS reader.  I personally think that when you go to someone that bills themselves in a certain way you can’t be all that surprised when you get a certain kind of reading.  I also believe that when someone goes into a session totally wanting to debunk or not really believing that the session is going to provide any useful information or accurate information then they block off the energy that many intuitive readers work with and that can essentially end up giving the person exactly what they want; a bad reading.

Tarot, with most serious and intuitive readers, is used more as a tool for looking for solutions in the patterns and problems in our lives and giving guidance for the future.  Not telling you what the person you’ll marry will look like or things like that.  So knowing a little about your reader can go a long way in proving whether or not your going to be happy with your sessions.  That really can make all the difference between whether or not your tarot reading (receiving or giving) is bullshit.