Hello, friends, I hope your week has been going well! I'd like to have a discussion about the ethics of secular reading, and about what it means to be a secular reader. But before that, here's some useful context.
I've been reading tarot for about 10 years now, mostly for myself and occasionally for other people. It started as a spiritual practice when I was into Paganism, disappeared when I became an Atheist, and has reemerged now that I'm Agnostic. I wasn't unaware that people could engage with magick, rituals, or tarot without approaching it from a spiritual mindset, so discovering that an entire community existed for the sole purpose of secular practice left me shocked and intrigued.
To clarify: I am not spiritual at all, my Agnosticism leans heavily toward Atheism. I maintain an open mind, but do not believe in the spiritual or supernatural.
Because of this, my approach to secular tarot more closely resembles a complex Rorschach Test than traditional practice. I inform querents of my beliefs, explain how I prefer to work, and then confirm they still want a reading. Once the reading begins, I ask querents if the images feel connected to their question or situation, and if they get stuck I offer personal interpretations in hopes of sparking dialogue and self-reflection. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but the feedback I received was overwhelming tilted in one direction: Querents wanted my interpretation, regardless of the outcome.
I think it's important to stress how commonplace this occurrence was. 99% of my readings contained some variation of the sentence, "That's cool, but what's your interpretation?". It became clear that most people weren't interested in using tarot the way I personally practiced. This desire transcending the deep conversations we engaged in, and seemed linked with the idea of a getting a classic tarot reading.
It's also important to understand how much I value being ethical toward other people. Forget tarot for a moment; I'm not a therapist, and I would never claim my suggestions or ruminations should be used as therapy. I understand that talking to someone and self-reflection can be therapeutic, which is why I'm unafraid to share my thoughts with others. I was hoping tarot would be a vehicle for those kinds of interactions.
After mulling it over for a long time and talking to the people I did readings for, it became clear that my input was desired. But what kind on input could I give that didn't amount to a "shot in the dark"? Sure, I could look at the cards and play an elaborate game of connect-the-dots with the meagre information I had about their situation, but it seemed highly inefficient considering the alternative of self-reflection on my querent's part. And if they were spiritual, was it disrespectful to deny them readings based on my lack of spirituality?
Eventually I came across a video series on YouTube by Tom Benjamin, a sensitive and open-minded individual who reads tarot for divination purposes. I quickly fell in love with his methods for reading the cards, which involve a lot of intuition and drawing parallels between modern life and tarot imagery. His videos became a staple for my personal practice, but I couldn't justify doing it for other people because reading intuitively seems counterproductive to simply expositing my opinion or offering solutions I find valid. It certainly seemed less important than the querent's own reflections.
Tom did say something that stuck with me. To paraphrase: "The querent already knows the vague stuff. They came to you looking for answers, for specificity. So give them answers." While I don't believe in the idea of just throwing out answers based on a series of cards, there may be some wisdom in offering something tangible, even if it doesn't make sense or add up.
To summarize and clarify, I'm on the fence about how to approach tarot as a practitioner for other people. Here's a list of questions burning a hole in my head. I would love to hear your opinions, thoughts and beliefs:
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Is it ethical to read cards using my own interpretation, rather than asking for the querent's?
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If yes, wouldn't it be more helpful to simply offer my opinion on the situation? Aren't you just taking a shot in the dark, rather than providing targeted support?
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If no, what do you say to the querent and why?
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In your own words, how do you read secularly for other people?
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How would you respond to a situation where someone requested a 'classic reading' based on their beliefs?
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Do you think tarot readings are helpful, regardless of whether they're correct? Why?
Please note that these musings/questions are completely devoid of divinatory connotations. I outright refuse to do predictive readings, especially about unknowable futures and other people's thoughts. To me, tarot extends no further than me and the querent's perception.
Thank you all so much for taking time out of your day to read my ramblings, I'm genuinely looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
