April 10, 2025 • 17 mins
Today on CARD TALK, I’ll cover:
-recurring cards & messages in readings
-unclear answers in readings
-answers that keep changing
-tips for making your way through
Resources mentioned:
-tarot spreads to try: understanding your recurring card / dazed & confused / so you’re uncomfortable / curiosity & connection
-confusing tarot readings CARD TALK episode
-next level tarot lecture series
-tarot for troubled times by theresa reed & shaheen miro
For more on Meg, check out 3amtarot.com, and order your copy of Finding the Fool through Bookshop.org or your favorite local bookstore.
Find episode transcripts and more over on the CARD TALK website. And as a special thank you for CARD TALK listeners, click here to download a completely free, exclusive workbook for building your best personal tarot practice.
Love what you’re hearing? Support the pod with a one-time donation or recurring subscription, and please subscribe, review, and share with a friend or two!
CARD TALK is written, edited, and produced by Meg Jones Wall of 3am.tarot. Theme music created by PaulYudin.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
I'm Meg Jones-Wall and this is Card Talk, a mini
podcast for tarot basics andevergreen insights.
I'm here to help you build atarot practice that works for
you.
Glad you're here.
In today's episode, we're goingto talk about when a reading
messes with your head or whenthe tarot's fucking with you.
Essentially, this is part of alarger mini-series that I'm
(00:34):
doing here on Card Talkaddressing personal issues that
might come up within yourpersonal tarot practice
Questions you might have,challenges you might be facing,
etc.
Etc.
Let's get into it Now.
What do I mean by a tarotreading messing with your head?
Now, this could look like aparticular reading, like one
specific reading that delivers amessage that's tough for you to
(00:54):
receive, but it could also looklike a card or a message that
keeps emerging and is shakingyou up.
And, of course, there are someother ways that tarot can mess
with you that we'll addresslater in the episode.
But first, right here, up atthe top, I just need you to hear
that this is so fucking normal.
It is so normal.
The tarot is a really personalthing and tarot readings, even
(01:16):
if you're reading aboutsomething that doesn't feel
super vulnerable, can still endup getting to a very vulnerable
place Because we're bringing thecards, our fears and our hopes
and our ideas and our longingsand our concerns, and then we're
working to interpret theanswers in a way that makes
sense to us.
Now, sometimes the answersthemselves feel unclear or
(01:37):
confusing or opaque, which canbe stressful on its own, and
other times we get informationthat's the opposite of what we
want or what we were hoping tohear, which can bring up all
kinds of emotions like grief andrage and sorrow and
discouragement and whatever.
And sometimes a card that wedon't like or a card that we
have become annoyed with keepsshowing up.
(01:58):
Sometimes, when we see the samecard over and over and over, it
makes us feel like we're losingour marbles and that can feel
like we're getting trolled byour deck.
So what do we do in thesecircumstances?
What do we do when this keepshappening?
Well, let's talk about it First.
Let's talk about the repeatingcard slash, the repeating
message phenomenon.
Now, if you're not familiar,this is basically when, in your
(02:20):
readings, the same card keepspopping up over and over again.
Sometimes it's literally thesame exact card, and if it can
be a card like the tower, ortemperance, or the devil or
death, or one of the morechallenging cards from the minor
arcana, like the 10 of swordsor the five of cups, or if it's
just a card that you have astressful relationship with for
whatever reason, even if thecard itself doesn't always have
(02:43):
negative connotations, whateverit is.
Seeing the same card come upover and over again, whether
you're doing readings about thesame topic or readings about all
kinds of different topics, canget really annoying right, and
it can start to mess with youbecause it can make you feel
like you're missing something,or like the tarot's like
scolding you or yelling at youor keeps telling you something
(03:03):
that you feel like you alreadyknow.
Now I also want to expand theidea of this repeating card to a
repeating message, which is tosay, it's not like there's no
overlap in the cards, and sosometimes it might feel like
we're receiving the same kindsof messages or the same group of
cards or the same style ofcards, or basically like the
same advice or the same insightover and over from our readings,
(03:26):
even across time, or when we'reasking our question in
different ways.
Either way, this can be areally frustrating phenomenon.
Now, sometimes you might hearthis phenomenon of the repeating
card talked about with aparticular expression and you
will find, if you go far backenough in my own work,
references to this phenomenonusing this expression, which
(03:46):
I'll say once.
It's stalker cards.
I have been lovingly called inby a number of community members
that this particular expressioncan be kind of triggering or
insensitive to people who havedealt with actual stalkers.
So I have moved away from usingthat language in my own
practice.
But some of the resources youmight find that I've published
over the years will still usethat phrase, especially ones
(04:07):
where I was hired to write aboutit for a different outlet.
So just want to acknowledgethat if you're looking for
resources on that, using thatphrase might give you more
results.
But it's also worth knowingthat it can be harmful to
certain community members, so Itend to refer to it as the
repeating card phenomenoninstead.
But again, regardless of how yourefer to this experience, it
(04:28):
can kind of suck and it canreally start to mess with you
because again it can make youfeel like you're missing
something.
So I want to offer a couple ofpotential tips that you can use
to navigate this if this is athing that's happening to you.
My first suggestion, and theone that I find the most useful
in my own practice is to do areading on that card
specifically, which is to say,to keep that one card or a
(04:51):
couple cards if it's like amessage that keeps showing up,
to keep them out on your readingsurface and then do a reading,
perhaps using a specific spreador perhaps not whether or not
you're into spreads doesn'tmatter, it's totally fine.
But doing a reading where youessentially ask the cards what
am I missing?
What do you want me to know?
What do you want me to hear?
What do you want me to do?
Right, like what?
(05:11):
What do you have to offer me?
What medicine am I notreceiving?
Why do you keep showing up?
Basically, doing a reading likethis can be really helpful in
just feeling like you'readdressing the question head on,
and it might turn out that whatyou've been thinking, you've
been receiving or understandingas a message from that card, it
(05:32):
might be that the tarot wantsyou to know something completely
different, and so doing areading like this again, whether
or not you use a spread can behelpful in bringing some clarity
to the situation and justleaning in.
If you'd like a spread for thiskind of work, I'm going to link
one that I've written in theshow notes, but there are a ton
of spreads on this phenomenonbecause it's a thing that
happens to most people at somepoint in their practice and it's
(05:55):
also a thing that can be reallyactivating for folks.
So there's a lot of requestsfor this type of spread.
Now, you can certainly do areading like this on your own,
but I find it can be reallyhelpful, especially if this card
has been repeating over like along period of time, or showing
up really persistently.
Or again, if it's like reallymessing with your head is have a
(06:15):
friend do it or have aprofessional do it Literally let
someone else weigh in on theprocess and pull cards for you.
Sometimes, having that otherperspective or a different
viewpoint or just lettingsomeone else weigh in can bring
a level of objectivity andclarity that you just aren't
able to find on your own, and Imean this is true for things
(06:36):
outside of the tarot as well,but sometimes we're just so in
it that we can't figure outwhat's going on.
So bringing in someone that youtrust or hiring a professional
to do a reading for you aroundthis repeating card or repeating
message can be a helpful way toget some closure and move
forward.
I would also suggest justworking with this card outside
of readings.
Or, again, if you've got amessage that's repeating, if
(06:58):
it's like a few cards that keepshowing up doing a series of
journal prompts or having aconversation or doing a
meditation or doing someresearch, but engaging with this
card in some way outside ofjust seeing it as an answer to
your readings.
Sometimes pulling more cards isjust not the answer or just
doesn't feel good.
(07:18):
So pull the card out, do someresearch on it, look at some
different versions of the cardjournal around it.
You can find journal promptsfor tarot cards all over my work
in my conservatory, in my bookFinding the Fool, et cetera.
There's lots of journal promptsfor specific cards.
But I would really dive deepinto the history and various
meanings of the card.
The correspondences of the card,how the card has historically
(07:41):
shown up for you in the past canbe really helpful and just the
different ways that this messagecould manifest.
What else might this card haveto offer you that you're missing
or that you're hoping it isn'tsaying right?
I think we all do this.
Sometimes.
Reading the tarot can bechallenging for yourself,
especially if you're getting ananswer that you don't like, or
if you're hoping to receiveother kinds of information, and
(08:04):
so it can be helpful sometimesto use journaling or another
practice to get real withyourself about if there's
something that you're trying toavoid in this reading or a
message that you have not quitebeen willing to receive.
This can be a helpful way tokind of get over that hurdle and
really dive in so that you canreceive the message, and that
(08:25):
often helps the card not show upquite so often anymore.
Another way that a tarotreading can really mess with
your head is when it feels likethe answer that you're receiving
is unclear or like the readingthat you have done is now
bringing up even more questionsinstead of providing any answers
.
Now this happens to everybodyand can be really frustrating.
I have done at least one cardtalk episode that comes to mind
(08:47):
on confusing tarot readingsalready, so you can definitely
check that out to dive more intothis specific thing.
I also have an entire lectureseries called Next Level Tarot
that specifically looks atmulti-card readings and has a
whole series of resources andjournal prompts and spreads and
other exercises you can do fornavigating confusing or
(09:07):
complicated tarot readings ormoments when the cards aren't
making sense to you.
So please feel free to checkout those resources If that
would be helpful for you.
I'm putting links to all ofthat in the show notes.
My best advice for when it feelslike your tarot reading is
confusing is to spend as muchtime as you want to trying to
untangle it.
You know, looking at eachindividual card, thinking about
(09:28):
how the cards connect to oneanother, tying those card
interpretations back to thetarot spread positions.
If you're using a spread, takeas much time there as you want,
phone a friend if you need toand talk it through with them.
But when you're finished withthe reading, honestly, my best
advice is to walk away.
But when you're finished withthe reading, honestly, my best
advice is to walk away.
In my experience, when a readingis really confusing, it's not
(09:49):
necessarily because the cardsthemselves don't make sense.
It's because we're not in aplace to understand it or
interpret it, and so sometimesthe temptation can be to pull a
bunch of clarifying cards or toredo the reading or to try to
ask the question in a slightlydifferent way, and that rarely
brings more clarity.
I'm not generally a huge fan ofclarifying cards unless the
(10:11):
circumstances are reallyspecific.
I find that usually that canjust bring up even more
questions or lead to us beingeven more confused.
So, truly, if you find that areading simply doesn't make
sense, if it feels like thecards are completely random, if
it feels like the reading hasnothing to do with you, or if it
feels like you're getting someanswers but you're just really
(10:32):
mostly just staring at thesecards, wondering why you
bothered to ask at all, take apicture, write down everything
you want to write down and walkaway.
Take a little break from thecards.
Sometimes readings like thismake sense in a few hours, in a
few days, in a few weeks or evenlike a month or two from now.
So make sure you have a recordfor yourself of what the reading
(10:53):
is, but try to give yourselfpermission to just let it go.
I don't think I've ever had atarot reading that didn't
eventually click into place, butsometimes it takes longer than
we want it to.
So this is really a moment toshow yourself some compassion
and give yourself permission tonot understand what the cards
were communicating in thisparticular moment.
I know that sucks.
(11:13):
I appreciate that that'sprobably not what you want to
hear, but it truly is the bestadvice that I have for you If
this is your particularcircumstance.
The last thing I want to talkabout, the last way that tarot
can kind of mess with your head,is when it feels like your
answers keep changing, when itfeels like the tarot keeps
giving you different answers orpointing you in different
directions and this is aparticular phenomenon that can
(11:36):
happen when you just keeppulling cards.
Either when you keep pullingcards one after another on the
same reading as part of the samequestion, or when you keep
pulling cards one after anotheron the same reading as part of
the same question, or when youkeep doing readings about the
same question, trying to trickthe cards or hoping that if you
ask each day, the answer willsomehow be different.
Now look, the world is reallyhard and I'm not here to shame
(11:59):
you for your tarot practice, butin general, this is not a great
way to approach the cards,because it rarely works out the
way you want, unless things areactively changing in real time,
unless you were actively makingdistinctive and major choices
that are shifting thecircumstances significantly and
changing your options orchanging your feelings or
(12:21):
whatever.
Pulling cards multiple times aday or every day for weeks at a
time on the same situation,asking the same question, is
probably not going to feel goodand the more you do it, in my
experience, the worse it's goingto feel.
Everyone's relationship with thetarot was different, but the
few times that I have gottenkind of stuck in this looping
(12:43):
pattern, my cards got mad at me,like my cards straight up got
salty and they just startedgiving me the cards that scared
me the most.
They started showing me, youknow, catastrophe, giving me all
of these really rough, brutal,emotionally charged cards, and
fortunately I wasn't so deepthat I couldn't see what the
cards were doing, that the cardswere basically telling me to
(13:07):
fuck off, put them down and,like, make a decision or make a
change and not keep asking thesame question over and over.
But it can be really hard whenyou're stuck in this kind of
cycle or loop to feel like ifyou just ask one more time or if
you just change the language ofyour question a little bit or
if you just use a slightlydifferent spread on the same
topic, that you're suddenlygoing to get a different answer.
The hard truth is that you'reprobably not going to get a
(13:29):
different answer, but that thecards might get mad at you, and
that can be painful, especiallyif you're asking about something
that's really vulnerable orreally scary or brings up a lot
of difficult feelings.
Now, again to be clear, I'm notsaying this to shame you.
I'm not saying this to make youfeel bad.
We've all been there.
Okay, truly, we have all beenthere, but you got to stop
(13:50):
pulling cards and asking thesame question over and over.
It's probably not going to getbetter If you simply must have
an answer from the cards andyou've now asked the question so
many times that you can't seeup from down.
Honestly, I would consult aprofessional, truly, I would
hire someone.
I wouldn't just ask a friend.
I would literally hire someoneto do a reading for you and to
consider that the final readingon the topic unless it's
(14:13):
circumstances or the situationsignificantly changes by the
time.
You've done a lot of differentreadings on the same topic,
objectivity is gone and youmight not even remember the
first answer or the first answerthat really resonated.
So give yourself permission tohand the reins of the tarot over
to someone else on thisparticular topic and take that
(14:35):
answer as what it is untilsomething shifts or changes.
Now, I usually end theseepisodes with a tip or a trick,
but since this entire episodekind of was a tip and a trick, I
instead just want to wrap up byreminding you that this is very
normal.
The world is very hard and Ithink tarot can lend itself to
patterns or behaviors that mightsometimes support us and other
(14:59):
times lead us into this kind ofmessy, opaque, confusing place.
If we are already reallystressed about something, a
tarot reading that's not donewith a lot of precision or
that's repeating the samequestions that we've already
asked can really it really canmake us feel worse, and the
tarot really can fuck with yourhead if you're not doing it
thoughtfully and carefully andintentionally.
(15:21):
So I do just want to remind youthat generally turning to the
cards when you're reallystressed or having trouble with
clarity or feeling reallydesperate is not often going to
give you the kind of supportivereading that you might really
need right now.
This is when other ways ofworking with the cards, like
journaling or letting a friendread with you instead of just
(15:41):
reading by yourself, or otherkinds of practices, can
ultimately be a lot moresupportive than just sitting by
yourself asking the samequestion over and over.
I really want you to be safeand supported and encouraged,
instead of having the cards feedinto any sense of franticness
or fear.
And while I think that thecards are really well equipped
(16:02):
to call us on our bullshit, Idon't want you to get stuck in a
pattern that is causing youharm.
So please remember to use thecards with care, to use them
with respect and to also showyourself grace and compassion.
If you're finding yourself in atarot cycle that feels really
bad, please put the cards down.
Please put the cards down.
Take a break, get yourselffocused and centered.
(16:25):
Find a way to work with thecards that's going to be
supportive for you If you can'tput them down and really like.
Phoning a friend or findingcommunity to read alongside you
or read for you might be a lotmore helpful than doing this on
your own.
Please check the show notes.
I've got some spreads there.
I've got some resources there,both free and paid, to help
support you through this.
I've also got a bookrecommendation that might be
(16:47):
helpful for you as well.
All right, that is all I havefor you today, but, as always,
thank you so much for spendingthis time with me, sending you a
lot of love and I will be backagain soon with more card talk.
Card talk episodes are alwaysfree for everyone to enjoy, so
if you love what you hear,please consider supporting the
podcast by subscribing,recommending Card Talk to a
(17:08):
friend or donating to help withproduction costs.
You can find episodetranscripts.
Learn more about me and join mysignature Tarot Conservatory
membership program through mywebsite, 3amtarotcom.
Thanks for listening and seeyou next time.
I'm Meg Jones-Wall and this is Card Talk, a mini
podcast for tarot basics andevergreen insights.
I'm here to help you build atarot practice that works for
you.
Glad you're here.
In today's episode, we're goingto talk about when a reading
messes with your head or whenthe tarot's fucking with you.
Essentially, this is part of alarger mini-series that I'm
(00:34):
doing here on Card Talkaddressing personal issues that
might come up within yourpersonal tarot practice
Questions you might have,challenges you might be facing,
etc.
Etc.
Let's get into it Now.
What do I mean by a tarotreading messing with your head?
Now, this could look like aparticular reading, like one
specific reading that delivers amessage that's tough for you to
(00:54):
receive, but it could also looklike a card or a message that
keeps emerging and is shakingyou up.
And, of course, there are someother ways that tarot can mess
with you that we'll addresslater in the episode.
But first, right here, up atthe top, I just need you to hear
that this is so fucking normal.
It is so normal.
The tarot is a really personalthing and tarot readings, even
(01:16):
if you're reading aboutsomething that doesn't feel
super vulnerable, can still endup getting to a very vulnerable
place Because we're bringing thecards, our fears and our hopes
and our ideas and our longingsand our concerns, and then we're
working to interpret theanswers in a way that makes
sense to us.
Now, sometimes the answersthemselves feel unclear or
(01:37):
confusing or opaque, which canbe stressful on its own, and
other times we get informationthat's the opposite of what we
want or what we were hoping tohear, which can bring up all
kinds of emotions like grief andrage and sorrow and
discouragement and whatever.
And sometimes a card that wedon't like or a card that we
have become annoyed with keepsshowing up.
(01:58):
Sometimes, when we see the samecard over and over and over, it
makes us feel like we're losingour marbles and that can feel
like we're getting trolled byour deck.
So what do we do in thesecircumstances?
What do we do when this keepshappening?
Well, let's talk about it First.
Let's talk about the repeatingcard slash, the repeating
message phenomenon.
Now, if you're not familiar,this is basically when, in your
(02:20):
readings, the same card keepspopping up over and over again.
Sometimes it's literally thesame exact card, and if it can
be a card like the tower, ortemperance, or the devil or
death, or one of the morechallenging cards from the minor
arcana, like the 10 of swordsor the five of cups, or if it's
just a card that you have astressful relationship with for
whatever reason, even if thecard itself doesn't always have
(02:43):
negative connotations, whateverit is.
Seeing the same card come upover and over again, whether
you're doing readings about thesame topic or readings about all
kinds of different topics, canget really annoying right, and
it can start to mess with youbecause it can make you feel
like you're missing something,or like the tarot's like
scolding you or yelling at youor keeps telling you something
(03:03):
that you feel like you alreadyknow.
Now I also want to expand theidea of this repeating card to a
repeating message, which is tosay, it's not like there's no
overlap in the cards, and sosometimes it might feel like
we're receiving the same kindsof messages or the same group of
cards or the same style ofcards, or basically like the
same advice or the same insightover and over from our readings,
(03:26):
even across time, or when we'reasking our question in
different ways.
Either way, this can be areally frustrating phenomenon.
Now, sometimes you might hearthis phenomenon of the repeating
card talked about with aparticular expression and you
will find, if you go far backenough in my own work,
references to this phenomenonusing this expression, which
(03:46):
I'll say once.
It's stalker cards.
I have been lovingly called inby a number of community members
that this particular expressioncan be kind of triggering or
insensitive to people who havedealt with actual stalkers.
So I have moved away from usingthat language in my own
practice.
But some of the resources youmight find that I've published
over the years will still usethat phrase, especially ones
(04:07):
where I was hired to write aboutit for a different outlet.
So just want to acknowledgethat if you're looking for
resources on that, using thatphrase might give you more
results.
But it's also worth knowingthat it can be harmful to
certain community members, so Itend to refer to it as the
repeating card phenomenoninstead.
But again, regardless of how yourefer to this experience, it
(04:28):
can kind of suck and it canreally start to mess with you
because again it can make youfeel like you're missing
something.
So I want to offer a couple ofpotential tips that you can use
to navigate this if this is athing that's happening to you.
My first suggestion, and theone that I find the most useful
in my own practice is to do areading on that card
specifically, which is to say,to keep that one card or a
(04:51):
couple cards if it's like amessage that keeps showing up,
to keep them out on your readingsurface and then do a reading,
perhaps using a specific spreador perhaps not whether or not
you're into spreads doesn'tmatter, it's totally fine.
But doing a reading where youessentially ask the cards what
am I missing?
What do you want me to know?
What do you want me to hear?
What do you want me to do?
Right, like what?
(05:11):
What do you have to offer me?
What medicine am I notreceiving?
Why do you keep showing up?
Basically, doing a reading likethis can be really helpful in
just feeling like you'readdressing the question head on,
and it might turn out that whatyou've been thinking, you've
been receiving or understandingas a message from that card, it
(05:32):
might be that the tarot wantsyou to know something completely
different, and so doing areading like this again, whether
or not you use a spread can behelpful in bringing some clarity
to the situation and justleaning in.
If you'd like a spread for thiskind of work, I'm going to link
one that I've written in theshow notes, but there are a ton
of spreads on this phenomenonbecause it's a thing that
happens to most people at somepoint in their practice and it's
(05:55):
also a thing that can be reallyactivating for folks.
So there's a lot of requestsfor this type of spread.
Now, you can certainly do areading like this on your own,
but I find it can be reallyhelpful, especially if this card
has been repeating over like along period of time, or showing
up really persistently.
Or again, if it's like reallymessing with your head is have a
(06:15):
friend do it or have aprofessional do it Literally let
someone else weigh in on theprocess and pull cards for you.
Sometimes, having that otherperspective or a different
viewpoint or just lettingsomeone else weigh in can bring
a level of objectivity andclarity that you just aren't
able to find on your own, and Imean this is true for things
(06:36):
outside of the tarot as well,but sometimes we're just so in
it that we can't figure outwhat's going on.
So bringing in someone that youtrust or hiring a professional
to do a reading for you aroundthis repeating card or repeating
message can be a helpful way toget some closure and move
forward.
I would also suggest justworking with this card outside
of readings.
Or, again, if you've got amessage that's repeating, if
(06:58):
it's like a few cards that keepshowing up doing a series of
journal prompts or having aconversation or doing a
meditation or doing someresearch, but engaging with this
card in some way outside ofjust seeing it as an answer to
your readings.
Sometimes pulling more cards isjust not the answer or just
doesn't feel good.
(07:18):
So pull the card out, do someresearch on it, look at some
different versions of the cardjournal around it.
You can find journal promptsfor tarot cards all over my work
in my conservatory, in my bookFinding the Fool, et cetera.
There's lots of journal promptsfor specific cards.
But I would really dive deepinto the history and various
meanings of the card.
The correspondences of the card,how the card has historically
(07:41):
shown up for you in the past canbe really helpful and just the
different ways that this messagecould manifest.
What else might this card haveto offer you that you're missing
or that you're hoping it isn'tsaying right?
I think we all do this.
Sometimes.
Reading the tarot can bechallenging for yourself,
especially if you're getting ananswer that you don't like, or
if you're hoping to receiveother kinds of information, and
(08:04):
so it can be helpful sometimesto use journaling or another
practice to get real withyourself about if there's
something that you're trying toavoid in this reading or a
message that you have not quitebeen willing to receive.
This can be a helpful way tokind of get over that hurdle and
really dive in so that you canreceive the message, and that
(08:25):
often helps the card not show upquite so often anymore.
Another way that a tarotreading can really mess with
your head is when it feels likethe answer that you're receiving
is unclear or like the readingthat you have done is now
bringing up even more questionsinstead of providing any answers
.
Now this happens to everybodyand can be really frustrating.
I have done at least one cardtalk episode that comes to mind
(08:47):
on confusing tarot readingsalready, so you can definitely
check that out to dive more intothis specific thing.
I also have an entire lectureseries called Next Level Tarot
that specifically looks atmulti-card readings and has a
whole series of resources andjournal prompts and spreads and
other exercises you can do fornavigating confusing or
(09:07):
complicated tarot readings ormoments when the cards aren't
making sense to you.
So please feel free to checkout those resources If that
would be helpful for you.
I'm putting links to all ofthat in the show notes.
My best advice for when it feelslike your tarot reading is
confusing is to spend as muchtime as you want to trying to
untangle it.
You know, looking at eachindividual card, thinking about
(09:28):
how the cards connect to oneanother, tying those card
interpretations back to thetarot spread positions.
If you're using a spread, takeas much time there as you want,
phone a friend if you need toand talk it through with them.
But when you're finished withthe reading, honestly, my best
advice is to walk away.
But when you're finished withthe reading, honestly, my best
advice is to walk away.
In my experience, when a readingis really confusing, it's not
(09:49):
necessarily because the cardsthemselves don't make sense.
It's because we're not in aplace to understand it or
interpret it, and so sometimesthe temptation can be to pull a
bunch of clarifying cards or toredo the reading or to try to
ask the question in a slightlydifferent way, and that rarely
brings more clarity.
I'm not generally a huge fan ofclarifying cards unless the
(10:11):
circumstances are reallyspecific.
I find that usually that canjust bring up even more
questions or lead to us beingeven more confused.
So, truly, if you find that areading simply doesn't make
sense, if it feels like thecards are completely random, if
it feels like the reading hasnothing to do with you, or if it
feels like you're getting someanswers but you're just really
(10:32):
mostly just staring at thesecards, wondering why you
bothered to ask at all, take apicture, write down everything
you want to write down and walkaway.
Take a little break from thecards.
Sometimes readings like thismake sense in a few hours, in a
few days, in a few weeks or evenlike a month or two from now.
So make sure you have a recordfor yourself of what the reading
(10:53):
is, but try to give yourselfpermission to just let it go.
I don't think I've ever had atarot reading that didn't
eventually click into place, butsometimes it takes longer than
we want it to.
So this is really a moment toshow yourself some compassion
and give yourself permission tonot understand what the cards
were communicating in thisparticular moment.
I know that sucks.
(11:13):
I appreciate that that'sprobably not what you want to
hear, but it truly is the bestadvice that I have for you If
this is your particularcircumstance.
The last thing I want to talkabout, the last way that tarot
can kind of mess with your head,is when it feels like your
answers keep changing, when itfeels like the tarot keeps
giving you different answers orpointing you in different
directions and this is aparticular phenomenon that can
(11:36):
happen when you just keeppulling cards.
Either when you keep pullingcards one after another on the
same reading as part of the samequestion, or when you keep
pulling cards one after anotheron the same reading as part of
the same question, or when youkeep doing readings about the
same question, trying to trickthe cards or hoping that if you
ask each day, the answer willsomehow be different.
Now look, the world is reallyhard and I'm not here to shame
(11:59):
you for your tarot practice, butin general, this is not a great
way to approach the cards,because it rarely works out the
way you want, unless things areactively changing in real time,
unless you were actively makingdistinctive and major choices
that are shifting thecircumstances significantly and
changing your options orchanging your feelings or
(12:21):
whatever.
Pulling cards multiple times aday or every day for weeks at a
time on the same situation,asking the same question, is
probably not going to feel goodand the more you do it, in my
experience, the worse it's goingto feel.
Everyone's relationship with thetarot was different, but the
few times that I have gottenkind of stuck in this looping
(12:43):
pattern, my cards got mad at me,like my cards straight up got
salty and they just startedgiving me the cards that scared
me the most.
They started showing me, youknow, catastrophe, giving me all
of these really rough, brutal,emotionally charged cards, and
fortunately I wasn't so deepthat I couldn't see what the
cards were doing, that the cardswere basically telling me to
(13:07):
fuck off, put them down and,like, make a decision or make a
change and not keep asking thesame question over and over.
But it can be really hard whenyou're stuck in this kind of
cycle or loop to feel like ifyou just ask one more time or if
you just change the language ofyour question a little bit or
if you just use a slightlydifferent spread on the same
topic, that you're suddenlygoing to get a different answer.
The hard truth is that you'reprobably not going to get a
(13:29):
different answer, but that thecards might get mad at you, and
that can be painful, especiallyif you're asking about something
that's really vulnerable orreally scary or brings up a lot
of difficult feelings.
Now, again to be clear, I'm notsaying this to shame you.
I'm not saying this to make youfeel bad.
We've all been there.
Okay, truly, we have all beenthere, but you got to stop
(13:50):
pulling cards and asking thesame question over and over.
It's probably not going to getbetter If you simply must have
an answer from the cards andyou've now asked the question so
many times that you can't seeup from down.
Honestly, I would consult aprofessional, truly, I would
hire someone.
I wouldn't just ask a friend.
I would literally hire someoneto do a reading for you and to
consider that the final readingon the topic unless it's
(14:13):
circumstances or the situationsignificantly changes by the
time.
You've done a lot of differentreadings on the same topic,
objectivity is gone and youmight not even remember the
first answer or the first answerthat really resonated.
So give yourself permission tohand the reins of the tarot over
to someone else on thisparticular topic and take that
(14:35):
answer as what it is untilsomething shifts or changes.
Now, I usually end theseepisodes with a tip or a trick,
but since this entire episodekind of was a tip and a trick, I
instead just want to wrap up byreminding you that this is very
normal.
The world is very hard and Ithink tarot can lend itself to
patterns or behaviors that mightsometimes support us and other
(14:59):
times lead us into this kind ofmessy, opaque, confusing place.
If we are already reallystressed about something, a
tarot reading that's not donewith a lot of precision or
that's repeating the samequestions that we've already
asked can really it really canmake us feel worse, and the
tarot really can fuck with yourhead if you're not doing it
thoughtfully and carefully andintentionally.
(15:21):
So I do just want to remind youthat generally turning to the
cards when you're reallystressed or having trouble with
clarity or feeling reallydesperate is not often going to
give you the kind of supportivereading that you might really
need right now.
This is when other ways ofworking with the cards, like
journaling or letting a friendread with you instead of just
(15:41):
reading by yourself, or otherkinds of practices, can
ultimately be a lot moresupportive than just sitting by
yourself asking the samequestion over and over.
I really want you to be safeand supported and encouraged,
instead of having the cards feedinto any sense of franticness
or fear.
And while I think that thecards are really well equipped
(16:02):
to call us on our bullshit, Idon't want you to get stuck in a
pattern that is causing youharm.
So please remember to use thecards with care, to use them
with respect and to also showyourself grace and compassion.
If you're finding yourself in atarot cycle that feels really
bad, please put the cards down.
Please put the cards down.
Take a break, get yourselffocused and centered.
(16:25):
Find a way to work with thecards that's going to be
supportive for you If you can'tput them down and really like.
Phoning a friend or findingcommunity to read alongside you
or read for you might be a lotmore helpful than doing this on
your own.
Please check the show notes.
I've got some spreads there.
I've got some resources there,both free and paid, to help
support you through this.
I've also got a bookrecommendation that might be
(16:47):
helpful for you as well.
All right, that is all I havefor you today, but, as always,
thank you so much for spendingthis time with me, sending you a
lot of love and I will be backagain soon with more card talk.
Card talk episodes are alwaysfree for everyone to enjoy, so
if you love what you hear,please consider supporting the
podcast by subscribing,recommending Card Talk to a
(17:08):
friend or donating to help withproduction costs.
You can find episodetranscripts.
Learn more about me and join mysignature Tarot Conservatory
membership program through mywebsite, 3amtarotcom.
Thanks for listening and seeyou next time.
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