If you missed the first part of this series you can find it here.

Our conscious mind only sees a part of the picture. In the shadows of the unconscious the keys to understanding the whole of a person can be found. In the underground cave the Hermit finds the light he is looking for, and, transformed by that light the Hermit may return to the world to fulfill his destiny. When people come in for a reading, whether they are conscious of it or not, what they are looking for is located in this shadowy realm. Helping clients find this deep understanding can be paramount in leading them to breaking negative patterns, or navigating their future.

In the last post we talked about how to engage the unconscious. In this post we will explore what kinds of things might surface in a reading to cause me to direct the reading towards the murky waters of the unconscious.

Court Cards
I know that many people find court cards to be one of the most challenging aspects of learning to read. There are many ways to look at them and they can cover a wide range of people, personality traits, and challenges in a reading. When a Court Card shows up, and I feel it is talking about someone in the life of the person getting the reading, I might ask them who this card reminds them of. The more challenging the card is in the reading in terms of its message for the person the more likely I am to encourage their understanding to come from within them.

Let me clarify with an example. Say the person is asking about their relationship, which the cards show to be pretty negative. If the Prince of Cups shows up in the past position I would ask them if it reminded them of anyone. If they say no, I’d start to talk about the Prince and his troubles- addiction, violence towards women, etc. I would start gently and move towards the more traumatic parts of his nature. Almost always a point will arise where the client will recognize some previous abusive situation they have been in and usually draw the line between that past situation and their current one. Their unconscious has made the connection with their conscious and now they are open to whatever advice the cards might have about moving forward.

Now some folks might suggest just coming out and saying “Well here you are in an abusive situation again.” You can if you are sure the client can handle it. I certainly have used that approach. However, if it seems that the person has not drawn the connection already it can be hard on them to just toss that out there and easily create a blockade instead of clearing the road. Especially, if the part of them that is in denial is working hard to prevent them from making changes.

Failing to connect with the message.
Sometimes when I talk about a card in a reading the person comes back by saying that I am wrong. At this point I will often switch to questioning them to see if it is me that is off, the language I am using, or the person’s perception of the situation. Often, people will deny something and when you ask them about it their language will show that the reading is not wrong, but they don’t want to admit to themselves it is true. This is where the reader gets to play psychotherapist and detective all at the same time.

So let’s say we are reading for a person about their relationship – which they say is going great – but the card that falls for it is the 8 of Cups – Indolence. This card says that things are stuck, that perhaps the communication, love or sex life has become stagnant – maybe all three. It also suggests that the person getting the reading is not being open about their feelings – either because they don’t know them, or are afraid to speak up. Here is how the conversation might go:

Me: So it seems things are not flowing very well in your relationship?
Them: Nope its great we are really happy.
Me: Are you sure? The cards suggest that there are some problems.
Them: Nope.
Me: Ok… so tell me about them?
Them: We they are great, successful, busy, hard working.
Me: So what do you like about them?
Them: (pause) That they are successful and make lots of money.
Me: Do you see enough of them?
Them: Sure, I do… but well it would be nice to go out more like we did in the beginning.
Me: Have you talked about it with them?
Them: Well, they know. I think.
Me: You get lonely much?
And so on leading back to:
Me: So as I was saying the cards talk about the troubles in your relationship. I think they are a bit bigger than you first professed them to be…

And then I went on to the rest of the reading.

I think the simplest guideline to use for this technique is if you are blocked give it a try. You can be blocked in yourself, by the cards or, by the client. It could be deliberate or not, but by using this technique you can move forward and deeper.

Next post more questions, approaches and situations.

Did you enjoy this post? Can’t wait for what’s next?
Subscribe to the blog via email.

I promise never to sell, spam, or abuse your contact info. You can unsubscribe at anytime. ~ Andrew