Addicted to Psychic and Tarot Readings?

A woman emailed me this week and told me her “story” and then asked me if I thought it was possible to be addicted to getting tarot or psychic readings. Why she felt I would have this “answer” is also part of the problem. I’m not a psychologist. But I guess I do have an “opinion”.
Think about the whole self help movement or the wellness industry. Hundreds of books, CDs, classes, and groups can be utilized;. And they are. Its a billion dollar industry I would assume. Right now as I write this “The Secret” and the whole “Law of Attraction” is the BIG deal, meanwhile these companies bid on key words in the search engines and are making tons of money. The true secret is about how much money is made from it lol.

There are many people who feel “weak” or like they aren’t as important as they should be, so they seek all of those things to fill in some empty hole inside of them. Some people can be very addicted to all those techniques, but never end up truly applying solutions to their life. They can stop relying on their own common sense and follow someone else’s instructions on living life. They are often seekers of “the outside answer” or the quick fix instead of building their own personality, self esteem, and philosophy. If you think about someone you greatly admire, someone who really made a difference in the world (Albert Einstein, Thomas Jefferson, Susan B. Anthony) you’ll realize they were great thinkers, innovators, creators, and even rebels, but not gurus. I just don’t see Thomas Jefferson looking into a mirror daily reciting his affirmations: “I am good enough, smart enough, and dog gone it people like me. Can you?

People are seeking “growth” or preaching that we all need to make a “change” in our life in order to grow. The fact is that with age;.. growth and change happen NATURALLY. You become wiser, you become experienced. Our bodies change naturally over time too as we move into different life phases. Change is inevitable. Personal growth happens because it is necessary, and because your choices and actions allowed it. There is also usually evidence that appears in your life from growth that can be measured. For example: My household is making double the income I did 2 years ago. Does that mean that money is all that matters to me? No, of course not, but the evidence and the manifestation of my actions is measurable and has made a difference in my life. It is seen and felt, it allows me additional or new ways of growth too…. but that’s just one example.

The same is true with Tarot or psychic Readings I think. I feel it can at least be compared to the type of self help junkie addiction I am referring to. A tarot/psychic reading isn’t a problem solving technique. It’s a form of divination. A tarot reading can make a person FEEL better about a problem, a person, or a situation. But it doesn’t make you HEAL or GET better in some way and it in itself is not a solution. A person addicted to tarot or psychic readings wants to FEEL better usually.

If you rely on a fortune teller or psychic too often then you are making them your “guru”. It’s just not what they are intended for. A reading should be “fun” since technically it’s just another form of entertainment; not any sort of “therapy’.

I remember one woman when I worked on the 900 psychic lines years ago. She called me literally every single day for weeks at a time. She specifically sought my personal extension number to reach me, it wasn’t random. She wanted up to the minute reports on a relationship. Information on her boyfriend or spouse, what he was thinking and feeling blah blah. It was obsessive behavior in my opinion. The reading you got yesterday had a spiritual message for you, and that basic premise won’t change in 24 hrs I would tell her. What she really wanted was for me to tell her what she wanted to hear; not a real reading. She wasn’t actually seeking anything except confirmation on what SHE believed, assumed, and perceived. For all I know this man was a horrible person and all of her friends got sick of telling her the same things I was. So she came to me instead of annoying them any longer, hoping to get that one person who would agree with her.

I had a male client that did the same thing. Weekly he’d call and ask me about the woman he wanted to get back together with. She was his “soulmate” he believed and they had remained as friends after their break up. I’d read his cards for maybe 10 min each week, and he’d go on to tell me every detail of their contact since the last time we talked for another 40 minutes or so. He would literally describe to me a “look” she gave him and try to get me to tell him what it meant. Sometimes after the phone system disconnected his call, he’d ring me back to finish his details. The truth of the matter was he really just liked talking to me, getting a female perspective, and having a friend. I was reliable for him, I was on his side, and he could say anything to me because it was over the telephone which allowed a certain level of anonymous freedom. I made great money off these two people; but the readings were not genuine at all. This was one of the contributing factors that caused me to have a real moral dilemma for “charging” for readings and especially so in the “900 line” atmosphere.

Yes, I do believe that a person can be addicted to getting tarot or psychic readings. But most of them aren’t really addicted to the “cards” or the “reading” or the adviser of the service. Typically they are getting something else out of the situation for themselves, and that’s true for any type of addiction.

I have known tarot readers who felt they could do a card a reading on a person that wasn’t present and think they could READ their motivation, thoughts etc. And truly believe it without any doubt or question! Or some people learn how to do their own readings for instance and make 90% of their choices based off it. And no, I am not joking or exaggerating. I don’t read my own cards; I feel that I can “influence” the cards too much. I can very easily allow my energy to influence what I want to see too. I believe I can make the cards agree with my emotions and that just makes it self serving. I always get someone else to do a reading for me, I want their objectivity.

A tarot reading is divination, and divination is a touch different then fortune telling because it involves more “ritual”. Divination has a spiritual element involved yet the terms are still a little interchangeable. Divination is something every culture has done throughout history and basically continues to do even in modern times. It has never gone away or lost it’s “popularity”. Why? Because there are so many seekers, people who want comfort, people who want the “answer” to what is a mystery to them. Divination tools are interpreted rather then “factual”. A reading is only as good as the person who can interpret it TO you. And seriously this is true for a psychic that uses no divination tools too. They must interpret images, sounds, visions, etc. They can misunderstand them, and do so probably more then they’d like to. A lot of normal “human” error comes into play. This is often why something may appear “wrong” to you from a psychic or a reader. The message may not be translated to you properly, clearly, explicitly etc. Much is dependent upon the reader’s life experience, cultural experiences, education level, verbal skills etc. Also what YOU the querent is capable of understanding comes in to it also. The reader can be as clear as a bell to 1000 other people, but maybe not to you personally.

So let’s suppose a reader tells you there is money coming your way in 60 days time. People always want to hear that, maybe it’s only a $500 windfall coming your way. But who wouldn’t get a thrill out of hearing that? Then you “hope”, “wish”, “daydream” and even “fantasize” about it happening. Getting this kind of information COULD come true of course. But maybe it doesn’t;. and even if it doesn’t it still made you “high” from the fantasy. It made you feel good for 60 days. So sometimes even if a tarot reader or psychic is wrong, we still get something out of it.

Let’s also think about this too, again, maybe it’s just my personal opinion. I see tons of tarot readers and psychics who advertise what they do as “advice”. Think about it. How often in your life has a friend asked you for your advice and actually taken it? Or what about you? Didn’t you ever have a relationship, a work problem, a marital issue and received advice from someone else? Did you take it? Surely you know someone who has had a bad relationship and they continued in it, did stupid things etc while everyone sat back KNOWING they were in trouble. When they do not listen to the advice; eventually you stop offering it. We’re human; it’s natural for us to seek the advice and opinion of others. But we’re all also ego driven and still think we know better. We ALL do it. But I am not sure I want to pay for advice all the time. I’m not sure that one sided advice is even helpful at all.

I believe in the Tarot wholeheartedly. But even I have must maintain a certain level of skepticism to be really honest with myself. If I do not; I lose a little bit of my own intelligence and my faith in myself to make competent choices without a “tool” as my crutch. I also must allow my faith in a higher power outside of myself that may not want me to know the answer I want right now. Or perhaps the higher power wants me to learn a lesson the hard way rather then the arm me with knowledge. Maybe some things are just better left “unknown” to us. Sometimes the “mystery” is best left to be unfolded by me alone, and with nothing else but the great wide abyss. Our lessons have a purpose and they aren’t always going to be revealed or even easy to understand. Personally, I have not had my own cards read in YEARS now. I grew past it in some way; it helped me to build up the confidence to not need to know the future for every step I take. It taught me how to analyze situations from different angles on my own. I use the cards all the time, but more for ritual purposes. Sometimes I give readings to friends but it’s more just to for fun now. Like a hobby where I get to be creative.

So my truthful answer to this woman who wrote me is: you need to ask yourself what you are REALLY addicted to. Maybe it’s just fluffy feel good talk from a reader, like a friend. Is it your desire to hear the answer from another person that YOU assume, believe in, or want to hear? At what point do you get that “rush” of excitement? Where is the thrill for you? When you figure that out, you’ll know the answer. My judgment of you means nothing.

My post isn’t meant it knock anyone down who practices, or reads the tarot. This journal is my own sounding board where I just get to post my own deep thoughts. I believe a tarot reading can be beneficial; but only if you have a really well rounded reader and a truly open mind yourself. In my own personal experiences I felt that at 50% of the readings I gave fell on deaf ears or were like the examples I gave. For me, and in my experiences, it was self esteem destroying to perform a reading for someone who did not really want my message. I really have tons of respect for the tarot readers who do it as a career because they obviously have the ability not to feel that way. I am too much of an empath sometimes lol! It is just not my personal path and I grew from learning that lesson. However, those things apply to me alone, and I do not speak for anyone else! The internet is certainly full of “lofty opinions” and mine is no different.

Books I suggest if you want to learn about cold readings and the tricks of the fortune telling trade
The Skeptic’s Dictionary: A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions

Acting Psychic: How To Spot A Fake

The Naked Quack: Exposing the Many Ways Phony Psychics & Mediums Cheat You!

Write Your Life Story

One way to begin spiritual growth is to write and reflect on your life story. It’s kind of like taking a good long look at yourself by everything you’ve lived into a written story. The only way to growth is by learning and reflection. If we do not know our own story then how can we truly reflect? When someone knows they are dying for instance, they often spend time doing their own life review, and in essence I am talking about doing the same thing.

Situations and experience can shape us, from childhood, or even the impression other people leave on us. Our own actions and choices certainly shape us too. There is no way to grow past those situations, experiences, impressions, actions, or choices if we do not truly reflect on them.

Writing your own life story can be powerful, I first did it about 15 years ago, and it allowed me to move past the troubles of my early twenties. If you think about it, we have learned lots more about the psychology of the human race more from great literature then from a psychology book. Story telling, mythology, the bible, poetry, music, art, and film are all examination processes of humanity. They are all examples of “reflection”, sometimes they are the reflection of one individual and sometimes they are reflections of society.

Try writing your own life story, reflect, and find the meaning. Make it an ongoing project and use all the abilities you were taught in school or that you know from films or literature. Anyone can write a story; the excuse that you aren’t a writer isn’t valid. It’s easy to write about your life story - you’ve already experienced it all. Then be sure to read it so you really can reflect.

The Mythological Goddess Test

I find these tests silly but one of my pagan gal pals pressured me into it LOL. So here is what I scored as.

Freya, twin sister of Frey, is a member of the Vanir family, the Norse clan of Fertility Gods. Like her counterparts, Aphrodite, Isis, Venus, and Ishtar (Greek, Egyptian, Roman and Indian mythology), she concerned herself with sex and all that goes with it.

She was quite fond of cats, by the way. In fact, she was said to travel about in a magnificent chariot drawn by her two regal black cats named Bygul and Trjegul (Pronunciation? You’re on your own…) that were rumoured to be possessed. After serving Freya for 7 years, the cats were rewarded by being turned into witches, disguised as black cats. Even many of her personal traits seem cat-like. For instance, she always wore a brilliant jewel studded collar symbolizing her authority over the fiery aspect of sexuality.

Besides being the Goddess of love, cats, the moon, magic, and of course sex, Freya was also skilled in a form of magic called “seithr” (meaning “sayer” or “seer”) which consisted of putting oneself into a deep meditative trance so that the secrets of the future might be revealed. She also owned a feather coat which she could use to fly between the worlds.

Cute eh? There ya go Gigi I did it just for you. Here is the link to The Mythological Goddess Test if you like these things.

Edit: ok I had to update with this test that I took willingly. Much more my style.

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