Seeing the Signs

Framing Your Question

Sometimes you come to a reading with a generalized sense of anxiety.  There’s no particular question, you just want an answer.  An answer to what?   You don’t really know.  All you know is that you need to know what you don’t know.

I feel like this quite often.  I don’t know what I’m doing or where I’m going.  I have had an argument with a friend and I feel frustrated.  I have writer’s block and cannot break through.  I have errands to run, but I am agoraphobic; I need to know if it is okay for me to leave the house.  I shuffle my tarot cards or I start making tea for a reading.  I still don’t know what I want to know but I know I have to find out.

The first thing I need to do is prepare myself for a reading.  I like to cast a simple circle by lighting incense and setting it in the east, lighting a candle & setting it in the south, placing a cup of salt water in the west, and lastly, a crystal in the north.  I sit in the middle and meditate until I feel settled and hopefully serene.  Serenity doesn’t always happen.  Sometimes I play music but I prefer the sound of the chirping birds.

When I feel ready, I lay out my cards or I sip my tea and swirl the tea leaves or toss the coins … whatever I am doing.  Even without a set question, answers come.  Sometimes, it is an “Aha!” moment.  It’s “Oh so that’s what I was missing!” or even “DUH!”  But sometimes I stare at the cards or the tea leaves and I am even more confused than before.  Even though I am tempted to just pick the cards up and start over or pour another cup of tea or re-toss the coins, it is important to write down whatever it is I have in front of me right now.  Even though it seems like I don’t have a clear answer, it may be I am not able to see it right now.  I have gone back to readings weeks, months, even years later, and the meaning of the reading has jumped out at me.  So be sure to always write your readings down, date them, and revisit them.

After a reading, thank the spirits who helped you interpret the reading, even if you don’t feel you gained very much.  You always have gained something, even if you are mired in confusion.  The reading stays with you and as you sleep, the images will play out in your dreams.  As the answers come to you, so will the question.  And as you learn to frame your question, you will get a better reading, and a better answer.

Many blessings!