READING TAROT FOR YOUR FRIENDS

READING TAROT FOR OTHERS:

I am humbled by the number of people that have willingly allowed me to look into their secrets to help untangle their problems as well as help them get what they want. Even when dealing with skeptics! When you finally make the change from reading tarot for yourself to reading tarot for others, the portals you open don't just concern you. You are taking the ancient art of cartomancy and making it available for others. Even though the tarot is readily available for everyone, it takes discipline and dedication to this art to be ready to help others. In a way, it helps with your karmic work as well as builds up some dharma, should you be doing it right. Keep it simple, keep it direct, and most importantly, answer their questions. Don't let the querent walk away with doubts in their mind. Offer them clarity!

It is important to maintain the notion that tarot is a game present when talking to other people. As mentioned in A Different Kind of Religious Tolerance, it is important to keep that notion in mind when approaching the subject of tarot with others.

TIPS FOR READING TAROT FOR YOUR FRIENDS:
♡ Ask their spiritual guides for permission to read. This practice is very important, and it is the one that most tarot readers overlook. Think of it as an equivalent to entering the querent's house when they are not present and re-arranging the furniture in their house. In the world of metaphysics, one should ask for permission out of respect. It is said that we could the querent things that they are not meant to hear and that could affect the spiritual work that the querent's guide is doing.

♡ Engage them. This is not a monologue. It will give you a better measure of accuracy as well as an opportunity to click with the querent more deeply.

♡ Don't assume that you know all the details. Remember that even though you may already be familiar with the situation, it is not likely you have been told the full story. Furthermore, it could be possible that the querent isn't even aware of everything. The purpose in this situation is to find insight and disclose secrets that may be floating around. If you go into it with the notion that it should be easy because you have already been told much of the situation, it is known as bias.

♡ Everyone is entitled to their secrets. Don't disclose what you find out to others. It is an honor that someone you know entrusts you with all of their secrets, and you should treat it as such. Sometimes people think it's okay to talk about the things you see because the cards "have made it public". The fact that you had access to that information does not mean you should share it. You're dealing with somebody's personal life.

♡ Remind them that they can change their destiny if they don't like it. We are channelers of messages, but those messages are never final. The querent has the choice of changing what they have just heard. Each person carves out their own path.

♡ Encourage them to reach out for their dreams. If you sense hesitation or insecurity, and you find that the cards are screaming for them to go on (The Fool, The World) in most cases, motivate them! Sometimes all someone needs is a final push in the right direction.


I hope you have found this article interesting whether you are a novice, an experienced reader, or a curious voyeur. If you should have any questions, feel free to comment!
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READING TAROT FOR YOURSELF

To be honest with my readers, I find that I stray from reading tarot for myself. Not because of negative things that could happen, but because it feels as if the reading will ruin the surprise for me. I have learned to take undesirable circumstances as life lessons and reminders that I need to push forward to accomplish my goals. To me, those undesirable circumstances are just part of the process to get where I want to go. They are not final unless we accept them to be so.
Sometimes it is better to accept the element of surprise, simply because it keeps things interesting for me. I find that if I were to suspect things before they happened, I wouldn't enjoy them as much or anticipate them. It's true that mystery keeps us motivated.

However, you're reading this because you want to read more accurate tarot readings for yourself. I'm going to share some pointers on how to do so. The approach to read for yourself is different from reading tarot for friends because of an obvious reason: You know all of the fact up until this point. Your friends don't necessarily fill you in on all the minor details of their life. It goes further when you read for people you're not very well acquainted with. This means: No bias!!

When someone else is reading for you, it means that you have employed them to use their intuitive skills to assess the situation for you. This provides an unbiased approach as well as to see possibilities were you have not been able to before. When you read for someone else, it is the other way around.

TIPS FOR READING TAROT FOR YOURSELF:
♡ Don't skip any cards. This happens especially when you want to skip to what's happening in the future. You'll get to it eventually! Enjoy the ride. Remember that the general look into the past will definitely serve to shed light on things happening in the present and in the future that may not be as clear. If you know why something is happening, you are more likely to have a better grasp on it.

♡ Don't assume you already know the circumstances the cards are trying to clarify for you. It would be a mistake to assume that you already know the details of the whole situation just because one card apparently hints out to something that you may already know about. Remember that the tarot has access to secrets that are otherwise being kept from you, and if you're not careful, you might end up interpreting these cards incorrectly.

♡ Play devil's advocate. Assume roles and mindsets that you usually do so, but within reason. It might provide solutions to your problems that you haven't previously encountered. It also makes for a nice way to gain perspective without losing your own perspective.

♡ Have an open mind to possibilities and surprises. Sometimes you'll find things out that you're not sure you're ready for. It's just something you'll have to face. It won't be a good enough reason to get confrontational unless you have physical proof of what you're reading. Regardless, whatever unexpected surprises you may uncover along the way will provide insight as well as time for preparations.

♡ Adapt card meanings to the situation, but never warp them. Cards don't mean just one thing in all situations, they are versatile enough to stretch into a number of meanings. The only way to know what one card means for sure in your current reading will be the clues provided by the cards surrounding it. You will be able to tell whether a new romance will last or dissipate, if the new guy you're crushing on likes you just as much or not, etc. It all depends on the theme of the situation, and where it is leaning to go.

♡ Learn to identify the people involved in your situation. Court cards provide behavioral and even physical attritubes of the people you deal with, but they don't always stand for the same person. The cards are as versatile as the archetypes they represent, as you will come to see. Certain decks see the same people differently, so if you have more than one deck, it would be interesting to check each one for the same situation and compare.

I find that keeping a tarot diary helps in learning. Throughout time, it will serve to assess how people around you change according to the majors or court cards that represent them. It's very interesting to see how a parallel world applies to ours!


COMING UP:
Next time on Samhain moon I am going to teach you about readings with people you know. The final installment to this verbal triptych will teach you how to read tarot for strangers.
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THE DAILY SPREAD

Even though tarot is a subject I deal with and talk about on a daily basis, I find that it currently takes up less than 25% of the content on this blog. Maybe it is the fear of perpetual redundancy or of overwhelming my readers with too much information manifesting. Going against so many more sources already appearing on the internet...

Here I am! Ready to talk to you about the Daily Spread.

THE DAILY SPREAD:

CARDS:
♡ 01 - 03; Morning.
♡ 04; Mid day.
♡ 05 - 07; Afternoon.
♡ 08 - 10; Night.
♡ 11 - 13; Summary.


STEPS:
♡ Shuffle your cards thoroughly.
Do you reverse some cards, or do you leave them all right side up? Is there something specific that you want to know about? This spread is best used in general terms of the day, or when you have an important project happening that you want to know about.

♡ Lay the cards down.Turn them over and get a good look at the whole picture. Is there a majority of Cups? Swords? Wands? Pentacles? How many Major Arcana present?

♡ Begin reading from the very left.Card one—also known as recent past and upcoming present—and start adding up to the story the cards are telling you. You will find as you go that one card can spill into the next, and by reading them in order, you are weaving together your very own story for the querent. Don't be too theatrical! They just want the truth, not to be scared.

♡ Ask for feedback.
Once the conversation is finished and all the messages have been delivered, give the querent a chance to share his or her feelings during and after the reading.


It has come to my attention that a great deal of you get lost whenever I talk about tarot. It could be the demo readings I offered directly after explaining each spread, so I'll leave a little leeway between each reading and a demo reading. If you're feeling confused, please comment on my entries and let me know what's up!


Remember that on the right hand side you can access older tarot spreads under the Divination keyword in my Labels category. Save the templates for when you need them and use the spreads on your tarot adventures!
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K.VALERIO;; DESIGN + ILLUSTRATION

I’ve got a major special treat for you guys today!

 
Those of you familiar with my fixation for hand made things are likely to understand how excited I was to receive this. Rarely do I receive jewels like these in the mail. My friend and colleague Keyla Valerio has included me in the delivery of her self-promotion, which is looking nothing short of badass! That red envelope is a nice touch!

Keyla Valerio is an illustration graduate from Ringling College of Art and Design with a strong background in graphic design. Her design skills make appearances in her illustrations, but they are mainly used as a promotional skill. She has had work in Ringling College of Art and Design's annual "Illest of Illustration" art exhibit, Best of Ringling (awarded the Senior Illustration award in 2010), and a portrait featured in our 'Perspectives' magazine.

♡ Kosmonaut
♡ Seasons
♡ Behance
♡ E-mail

HOROSCOPE ICONS

What I have found after testing the horoscope & zodiac time and time again is that whether or not the vast majority of my readers believe in it, — and I think you do, because otherwise you wouldn’t be here reading this, — is that they resonate with many characteristics of their zodiac. And hey, I’m not saying it’s to the T for everyone out there, because not even I come off as a 100% Libran… and I can vouch for having doubted and tested it multiple times before. Think of the horoscope & zodiac realms as you think of the tarot: archetypical, general, a guideline.

While Astrology remains a science and art, it can also be seen as a crash course into intuitive practices. It will help decipher what to expect from a general audience/individuals you interact with. The beauty of the zodiac is in the variety of personalities from the distinct moon signs and ascendants accompanying the original sun signs. Through the research I have been doing on my spare time, I have found some degrees of influences that severely change the composure of the sun sign. The sun sign is the sign that you are born under and identify the most with, such as Leo, Scorpio, Aries... But the moon sign, ascendant, and 12 houses all shed a different light into your personality. If you'd like to know more about your own inner workings, I suggest getting a natal chart drawn out for yourself.

If anyone is curious, I will gladly take a look at their natal chart and interpret what the positions of their houses mean. In this manner, daily and monthly horoscopes are also able to be deduced!
   
Time and time again I must remind you all not to believe everything that you see out there on the net. There are many crazies out there trying to sell you their made-up whims, passing them on as legitimate truths when in fact they’re not! Always check for legitimacy yourselves—don’t buy all the junk you’re being sold!

HOROSCOPE ICONS: 
Since I'm already on the subject of horoscopes, I thought I'd introduce my readers to one of my latest projects—a set of 12 horoscope icons illustrated for my client, La Gitana Patricia. The process of creation has been going on for a little under a year now, but I'm proud of myself for how it came out. So, so happy!

CLIENT: Encuentros Mágicos - La Gitana Patricia
PROJECT: A set of 12 horoscope icons for press and web.

They are up on the Illustration tab just under my header, and I'll explain what's going on in that network of links soon enough!

HOROSCOPE IMPRESSIONS:

The last I'll share with you today is a video on zodiac impressions as done by Xena's Hudson Leick. She looks stunning while she acts out a few encounters with the 12 signs of the zodiac. At the very least, you'll laugh at some of the ludicrous things she says!

COMING UP:
On my next post I am going to entertain you with some of my own impressions from the zodiac thus far. I have Hudson Leick to thank for that idea!
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