What does it mean when the cards I pull do not fit my intuition?

@naavi2020   Hi, since no one else has spoken up, I have a suggestion (even though I'm not a big Tarot person...)

When you read the cards, are you going with the "official" meaning of the cards as stated by a book or other reference? If so, I would suggest that instead you go with the gut feeling you get when you look at the card.  That may be more in tune with your raw intuition.  

@ana

Thank you. Yes I am going with my feeling for the cards not the official book meaning.

My own developed meanings.

Posted by: @naavi2020

@ana

Thank you. Yes I am going with my feeling for the cards not the official book meaning.

My own developed meanings.

 

OK, well that rules that out, then.  Maybe someone else will have a better suggestion.

@ana @naavi2020

I am new to the cards (took Jeanne's class earlier this year) and for me, actually looking at the book interpretation for a particular card is helpful (Thoth deck.) I find that I will get a card, follow my eye and what catches my attention and note that, then look at the book for further interpretation. I often will read the text and a word or one phrase may pop out and resonate with me and I will go with that. 

So, maybe just noticing in the card what strikes you at that moment, for the specific question you are asking? This may not be the exact way you have interpreted the card in the past?

Hi @naavi2020.  Maybe the cards are trying to tell you something about how you interpret your own intuition.  I'm getting the feeling that you should start looking for more nuance in your own readings, ie, something seemingly bad in the short term may turn out to be for the best in the long run.  When you pull cards that seemingly contradict what your gut is telling you, ask for guidance from Spirit on reconciling the two. Hope this helps. ❤️ 

@naavi2020 this is such an important question you are asking. 

@frank I feel you are on to something core here that could be a breakthrough in reading cards when you wrote,  "Maybe the cards are trying to tell you something about how you interpret your own intuition."

Thoughts:

1. reading cards gets tricky if the target (the subject or person that is being read) triggers the card reader. It's called countertransference in therapy when the therapist has personal issues that arise and blind the therapist. 

2. You mentioned that some short term outcomes can make way for better outcomes. I notice that issue when giving readings - so I throw more future cards to see how things unfold.  

3. I also see a deeper meaning in what you wrote, which is the reader needs to be more self aware. The reader needs to ask herself, what was I really asking underneath my question? What emotions were feeding into my question?   

4. Finally, I often throw cards and find I need to sit back and wait for the energy to tell me what is going on.  I sometimes turn to the trees outside my window and ask them for insight, or I listen to spirit whispering to me. The cards can sometimes get too tangled in thoughts that are floating around the issue. It's not that the cards are wrong.  All those thoughts are part of the issue and it can be helpful to see them.  But they don't help me with a bottom line or simpler wisdom. So I sit back and find it in the trees, a vision, or in a whisper in my inner ear.

@naavi2020 I’m new to reading the cards as well.  I also took Jeanne’s intuitive class back in March.  I follow my eyes to the cards and most of the time the cards will tell a story and I often see deeper into the cards like faces and timeline etc.  Follow your intuition and write it down perhaps spirits is telling you something beyond your questions.

share the love and light 

@share. Love what you wrote. When I first started reading cards, they would sometimes seem to be saying that I was asking the wrong question! The I Ching would do that too.  It was almost a rebuke to the reader. But mostly it was the cards reflecting back what I had asked. I'd get mad and throw the cards on the floor saying, you just gave me the question I asked! What kind of cards are you anyway!

Then I'd breathe and realize I needed to look at my inner process during the actual formation of the question. The question can be loaded with the reader's or the client's own issues, conflicts, fears, hopes,  and the cards sometimes start reflecting that and it can hold a treasure trove of insight for the reader.

Posted by: @jeanne-mayell

2. You mentioned that some short term outcomes can make way for better outcomes. I notice that issue when giving readings - so I throw more future cards to see how things unfold.  

Thanks, Jeanne! This reminded me - yes, sometimes throwing an additional card or two for "clarity" or "future outcome" as Jeanne said can help see how things unfold and progress, as opposed to just looking at a single card.

I don't read cards, but my take on this is simply that if the cards are more positive than your "internal" take on the situation, maybe you need to explore more intimately why your take is so negative.  Too often my own internal negativity (I'm a Capricorn, so sue me! ? ) sees only the short-term "bad" effects without looking at the overall picture and seeing that the situation will actually work out positively.  It could also be that you are either not connecting well with your client or with the cards.

But...as I said, I don't read cards, so take what I say with about a pound of salt. ? 

 So many insights coming to me now. Here's another one:

1. The cards are primarily a visual tool so some people who are not so visual might not do well with the cards but I find I can move into other senses.   Your eyes become the portal for your intuition. A good card reader doesn't just rely on the eyes, but can use the cards to become aware of all of their senses that are reading the situation. When I read the cards, I start with what I see, i.e., color, body language, movement, symbols in the images on the cards. But then I start feeling other sensations, emotions, like the attitude of a character on the card, temperature, like the coldness of armor on the Chariot, touch, like a stabbing of the sword the Queen of Swords wields.  Even aroma.  I also pick up the nervous energy of the cards, i.e., peace, jitters, fear, joy, laughter.  

2. Denial: Sometimes people deny what I'm seeing. That is difficult for the reader. But what if you are reading your cards on a subject you know and have emotional investment in the answer, well, then you can be in denial. 

@naavi2020

I have read a lot of Crowley and he says somewhere (can't remember exactly where, or I'd cite my source better) that you will always pull the cards you are meant to pull; this isn't a direct answer to your question but may provide some comfort :)

Card reader here- I agree with what people are saying. You have to sit with them sometimes and let the story kind of unfold for you. You also have to be open to what they have to say, even if you don't like it. @Sistermoon has it right- you always pull the cards you're meant to pull. I always tell people before I read for them, are you ready for and open to the answer, no matter what it is? 

@sistermoon @naavi2020 @writerjenny @cc21 @share Love your posts, so helpful.

So @naavi2000, you are a seasoned Tarot reader and intuitive.  You have thrown cards on someone and you know in your gut that those cards are wrong. But you can't get wrong cards, I believe. What you can get are cards that show you what that person is telling himself, and you know that the truth is different. People operate on many levels.  If that person is not really living in his body, then he's in denial and maybe showing he's happy or having a blast, when in fact he's in denial and covering up a trauma that is operating. I trust your gut, and I would not throw out the cards.  Use both.