Today I’m going to talk about a question that’s been asked many times. Yesterday, a client rang up and was trying to decide whether or not to book a reading and she asked, “well how do I know if I can trust that the reading’s true?”
How can I trust if a Tarot reading is real or fake?
Well, of course, there aren’t any guarantees that any reading will be 100 percent correct. That’s the first thing I think it’s actually important to say.
Even with really, really experienced readers, sometimes we don’t get everything right. This is not an exact science. Nobody can guarantee being 100 percent right, and neither should they, and if they do, then I would treat them with some degree of suspicion, but experienced readers should have a pretty good strike rate.
Can I trust Tarot readings on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube?
So, how you can judge it? How do you know when the premise of a reading is reliable? It’s going to depend a lot of the time on how it’s delivered. You can get readings from TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, they are coming out of the woodwork. There are free computer generated readings. There are readers on phone lines. There are readers who send the readings by text. There’s a million different options because Tarot is becoming more and more popular as a way of trying to get some clarity and trying to get some information, and rightly so, because it can be really valuable if used properly.
Social media platforms are where readers are doing a really quick fire approach. So they’re taking loads and loads of cards and they’re talking really, really quickly, they might be talking about star signs. They’re going to be making very specific predictions, but on a very generalised level.
Those readings are designed to keep you hooked in. They are designed to play into the needs of people who are probably emotionally quite fragile or in need of some reassurance. One of the tell statements is, “if you’re seeing this, it’s because you’re drawn to it, so it’s true.”
I have a great deal of issue with that. It’s really not helpful. It’s true, there are overarching energies that affect us. I do a general monthly reading and I’m looking at overarching themes and it’s up to us all to observe those scenes and see how they might apply in our lives, so we can use the information intelligently and in a way that’s going to serve us best.
But if somebody is making very specific predictions about what’s going to happen in your love life, as part of a really generalised smoke screen of card after card after card after card, you’re just hearing nuggets that you think might apply to you. I would back away from that as being in any way a reliable source of information.
Any non-personal Tarot, psychic or mediumship reading which appears to be telling you specific stuff is going to happen in your life should be treated with real scepticism. People want to get viewing figures. People want to get subscribers, and these readings are a seeding ground for numbers.
Are computer generated Tarot readings real?
It’s complicated! Mostly, they’re entertainment readings as much as anything. But still interesting, because on the face of it, if you’re focusing on a question and you type that question in and you allow the computer to randomly select a series of cards, that may produce some worth.
The computer is shuffling in the same way that I or any reader, would shuffle just using your intention as the fuel, and you may well say that perhaps there is a validity to it. If you’re providing the attention, then it would be the same as you drawing the cards.
Now, it’s a very broad church. It’s always interesting to see this on a case by case basis The other problem with them is that what comes back as the reading itself, is often just giving you the generic meanings of the cards. So therefore, again, the reading doesn’t have any context.
It’s really hard for you to figure out what the reading is actually telling you, right? It can leave you more confused than ever before. Also, individual cards don’t work in readings in a vacuum. We’re not just looking at one card at a time, we’re looking at what the themes are, we’re looking at how the cards work together, and what the overall patterns are.
That gives us the context of the reading and allows us to go deeper, to look at what’s happening underneath. We can ask follow up questions, which a computerised reading can’t do. And if you don’t have the skill to interpret the cards, even on the top level, just knowing the book readings can be a very frustrating thing, that then leads to you trying to get clarity by asking more and more questions, which ends up leading to more confusion, not less..So again, it can often do more harm than good.
What about phone lines? Now, phone lines are interesting. It really depends on the quality of the phone line and the readers they are using. I know for a fact, there are some readers on phone lines who are just using books to give readings. Honestly, you can only tell by trying the reader and seeing how it feels.
Now, I always work for the maxim that you know the truth when you hear it. If somebody’s telling you something that it just feels like you want to know without giving you any background information, without them having any other insights into what’s going on around it or what the context is without being able to back it up, it’s probably cause for you to treat it with some scepticism. You know when it feels right. I mean, I think that’s the bottom line here, isn’t it? It resonates. It feels right. What’s important for the reader then is to be able to justify that position to be able to tell the client how the energy is going to lead up to that point.
Even if you go, “well, no, there’s no way he’s going to call” or “there’s no way that’s going to happen,” if the reader’s worth their salt, then they’ll be able to give you solid ground. They’ll be able to give you context.
They’ll be able to give you reasons why this is how it’s happening. As I said, this is not an exact science.
How much should I share in a Tarot Reading?
You are part of the reading. Your energy is important within the reading because a reading is a co-creation. Now that’s not to say that you need to tell the reader anything specifically, but if you sit there like a brick wall, you’re going to be blocking the process.
You at least have to lean in when the reader’s getting it right and just allow that reading to take shape. Sometimes in readings it’s hard for the reader to find the context of what they’re saying. And for you to just help the process along a little bit by saying, “yes, that makes sense to me,” it allows the reading to gain more depth.
It isn’t entirely necessary, though. I’ve done email readings for people that I haven’t even spoken to. But nevertheless, it’s useful to be able to get a bit of ground for the reading, a bit of context to allow the reading to really be useful.
So I suppose my answer is, don’t trust scattershot readings.
Also don’t trust anything that’s just card meanings from a book. I’ve actually seen readers at events or fairs who have a book they are consulting. That’s not a professional reading. I’m really sorry, but it isn’t. They shouldn’t be charging money. If anybody is using a book and charging for money, my advice is to walk away. My advice to readers who need to have books beside them is to get properly trained. Not good enough. I’m sorry, I’m going to be strict on that.
So you as the client have got to be able to apply your own best judgement. Put your sensible head on, work with a reader you trust and stay with them.
Just because they get to know you doesn’t mean that the readings are less valid, in fact I would argue quite the opposite. Readings can gain more depth because you’ve already covered the preliminaries; your situation is playing out over time and the reader can help you navigate through that. But you have to have your sensible head on here. You have to be the arbiter of what makes sense to you or not.
So, I hope that helps a little bit.
So if you have a question you want to ask, just jump in and let me know, and I’ll do my best to answer it in the most honest way I possibly can.
It isn’t entirely necessary, though. I’ve done email readings for people that I haven’t even spoken to. But nevertheless, you do need to be able to get a bit of ground for the reading, a bit of context to allow the reading to really be useful. So I suppose my answer is, don’t trust scattershot readings.
Don’t trust anything that’s just card meanings from a book. I’ve actually seen readers at events or fairs who have a book. They’re reading from a book. That’s not a professional reading. I’m really sorry, but it isn’t. They shouldn’t be charging money. If you’re using a book, you shouldn’t be charging money. If anybody is using a book and charging for money, well, get properly trained, okay? Not good enough. I’m sorry, I’m going to be strict on that.
So you’ve got to be your own best judgment. Put your sensible head on, work with a reader you trust and stay with them. Just because they get to know you doesn’t mean that the readings are less, in fact I would argue quite the opposite.
Readings can gain more depth because you’ve already covered the preliminaries; your situation is playing out over time and the reader can help you navigate through that. But you have to have your sensible head on here. You have to be the arbiter of what makes sense to you or not. So, I hope that helps a little bit.
So if you have a question you want to ask, just jump in and say so and I’ll do my best to answer it in the most honest way I possibly can. I hope to see you soon!