How to Troubleshoot a Tarot Reading when it makes no Sense

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how to help people with their Tarot readings. I started to write a post covering a technique that I claimed would, “… Blow your mind!” But the truth is, no single technique is ever going to miraculously produce good readings, like so many things in Tarot, the circumstances will determine its success. And more often than not, it’s a combination of techniques that, when combined together, produce the best insight.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m a massive fan of techniques and I use them all the time, but what I’m saying is that there is more to learning the Tarot than just techniques. On top of techniques we have to learn the right attitude, how to relax, how to enjoy it and how to flow with it. All these additional skills combine to let the intuition of the Tarot reader flow.

So, yes we have techniques, but we also have so much more. Techniques can be learned in a relativity short space of time, while all the other personal attributes that a Tarot reader has to acquire will develop at its own pace.

So, rather than write about a killer technique that’s going to blow your mind, I thought I’d write about something that is a little bit more useful — how to troubleshoot when a Tarot readings doesn’t make sense.

Troubleshooting & The skill of asking questions!

How do we troubleshoot a Tarot reading? In a nutshell: Ask questions.

When something is confusing it is often because we don’t understand it, and the best way to translate confusion into something that makes sense is to ask questions.

I’ve recently talked about using rationality as a way to access intuition and asking questions is kind of similar; not identical by any means, but it does rely on the logical mind to get things flowing again.

If a reading gets to the stage that we need to do some troubleshooting then its because our intuition didn’t pick up on anything, or we blocked it somehow, or we had an aversion to certain cards, or we had expectations for what the spread will say. Whatever the reason, approach it by asking yourself some questions.

Here is a list of five questions to ask yourself next time a Tarot reading doesn’t make sense — and five solutions.

1. Do you have expectations?

Expectations are the killers of good Tarot readings. They destroy objectivity and impartiality.

When we do readings for friends, family or ourselves, we tend to have expectations (hopes even) for what cards should appear where. When that doesn’t happen, we can get confused.

Objectivity and impartiality aren’t easy things to develop. The truth is, humans can never be completely objective or completely impartial, all we can do is expected the unexpected.

Enter each Tarot reading with an open mind.

2. Are you having an adverse reaction to certain cards?

We all have Tarot cards that are difficult to understand or cause an adverse reaction in us. Take a moment and ask yourself, “Why does this card irritate me?”

More often than not, the reasons that the card produces such an adverse reaction is because you’re not being impartial. Sure, from a psychological perspective the adverse reaction would hint that you need to work with the character represented by that card, but on a practical level, you’re not being impartial.

Next time a Tarot card produces an adverse reaction in you, stop for a moment. Recognise that this card is producing an emotional response that is clouding your ability to interpret the other cards. Allow yourself to fully feel whatever emotions that card has invoked in you and then, let them go.

3. Are a minority of Tarot cards conflicting with the majority?

Regardless of what Tarot spread you use, there will always be a minority of cards that conflict with the majority. What do you do?

Combine the cards that are confusing you with the outcome card.

As an example: let’s take the 5 of Swords and the 9 of Swords as the cards that are confusing me with the Ace of Wands which, in our example, shall be the outcome card. A possible interpretation is to say that a career opportunity will be successful, despite attempts by a colleague to thwart it. Expect the use of underhanded methods, the
consequences of which will live with the client for a long time.

I solved my confusion by using my imagination to isolate the difficult minority. I combined them together with the outcome card, produced a snippet of a story and then, having done that, I would reintroduce them back into the overall reading.

Effectively, you combine the cards together so that they form a story. Don’t read these types of cards separately or in isolation; definitely don’t read them according to just their position within the spread. Always approach this problem by combining the cards together to form their own story, from there you can reinterpret the rest of the reading accordingly.

4. Are you confused by a bad card landing in an outcome position when all the other cards appear favorable?

As always, ask how objective or detached you’re being.

On a more practical level, try and interpret the card as something external to the client. The best way to get to grips with any Tarot card is to read it literally. If the outcome card is the 10 of Swords, then the object of the client’s question will result in failure and the ruin of their plans. Try not to read the 10 of Swords as a psychological process that the client is undergoing. Reading that way will add to your confusion. The 10 of Swords has appeared for a specific reason — to let the client know that it will fail. This is not as bad as it seems. It actually creates the possibility for free-choice. Look to the other cards to determine what things the client can do to alter the outcome.

If you’re faced with the dilemma of reading the cards as psychological processes or actual real world events, then always, always read them as objective events — never psychological.

5. Are you confused by contradictions within the spread itself?

This is another common cause of confusion. This type of problem tends to occur more when the Tarot reader uses a positional based spread as opposed to a linear based spread.

Consider the following examples:

• The spread has a position called, “What are your strengths?” Now, imagine how confusing it might be if the 5 of Swords was dealt?
• The spread has a position called, “What are your weaknesses?” Now, imagine how confusing it might be if the Sun card was dealt?

These types of contradictions will happen all the time when you read with positional based spreads. The first thing you have to do is convert the card from a passive force, into an active one. In the case of the 5 of Swords, the person’s strengths are their ability to defeat their enemies at any cost. In the case of the Sun, arrogance and vanity might be their weakness.

Remember what makes a great Tarot reading!

Learning how to troubleshoot a Tarot reading helps to develop the right attitude. This is such an important part of Tarot reading that I can’t stress it enough. It’s the attitude you bring to the reading, your objectivity, your impartiality, your ability to relax, your ability to trust, your ability to enjoy it and to flow with it, that makes all the difference. Having the patience to troubleshoot will strengthen those qualities and over time, make you a better reader.

(Theoretically) Related Posts:

• Improve your Tarot Readings Activley with the Rule of 2 — Guaranteed
• Tarot and Astrology: going back to basics with a look at perception
• If There Is One Technique you Must Learn — This is it!
• Which Tarot Deck is the right Deck to learn with?
• The Tarot Location Challenge

Tagged as: Tarot Card Combinations, Tarot Lexicon, tarot reading