AUTHOR’S NOTE: Taking a cue from my current study of the I Ching, I’ve jotted down a few thoughts about the proper mindset to bring to a tarot reading, and the significance of unfavorable cards in a spread according to their traditional meaning and/or as-dealt orientation.

The “god of gibberish” (or deity of incoherent babble) soon makes itself known to those new to the art of tarot reading, driving them crazy and also propelling them straight into the arms of “clarifier” cards that often confound more than they clarify. When I was a beginner (an experience now lost in the mists of time) I endured my fair share of “gibbering idiocy” from the cards, usually accompanied by bouts of vacant-eyed, open-mouthed gaping at the spread on the table. What I learned over the years is that the tarot engages us at the same level of profundity or superficiality that we bring to our inquiry. Feed it nonsense and it will spit out irrelevant twaddle.

If we pose frivolous “idle curiosity” questions on matters that have no legitimate bearing on our lives, we are likely to receive equally inane answers that speak (if at all) only to insignificant aspects of those affairs, and the reading may instead deliver a cheeky slap-in-the-face for our audacity in asking about them in the first place. (There is a premise in horary astrology that the querent must have a pressing “need to know” before the reading can commence.) We definitely want to avoid insulting the oracle if we expect its cooperation, and it isn’t shy about letting us know when we cross the line. (As testimony I submit all of the online moaning from novice readers over why the cards are being mean to them when all they want to know is what Joe or Mary “thinks or feels.”).

Unless we are neophytes working to hone our fledgling talents, a tarot reading should be a serious undertaking; as Marcus Katz has said, “the oracular moment is sacrosanct.” We should take the time to carefully shape our thoughts around the topic of interest so that, when we concentrate on our question during the shuffle, we wind up with clear signals and not chaotic static in return. Like many psychic practices that involve subconscious input, the tarot may toy with us if we aren’t sincere enough in our approach. This doesn’t mean being exceptionally solemn in our comportment (I often bring humor into my narrative) but it does imply showing a healthy respect for the act of divination.

The subject of negative indications in a tarot reading is a contentious one. While “trivial goals” and “bad cards” aren’t mutually inclusive, there is little doubt that one can beget the other. Current wisdom is that “there are no bad cards, only opportunities” (Dr. James Wanless). But I’m neither an optimist nor a pessimist when it comes to prediction, just a meticulous realist. I’m not sure we should push our luck and downplay their presence or try to trivialize them when they show up in a spread, so I always “take them under advisement” as cautionary even when the rest of the cards suggest there is little cause for concern. Less-auspicious cards (whether by core meaning or reversed orientation) may be telling us that the time isn’t right to pursue our objective if we have the luxury of waiting for a more favorable occasion, and if we choose to proceed anyway we may encounter ambiguous or unsatisfactory results. Obviously, if our circumstances won’t permit delay, we have to make the best we can of the situation.

When the cards pulled are ominous, I draw a deep breath, take two steps back, and come at them from a different angle that allows me to examine what there is about the matter that warrants such a pessimistic outlook. I’m not always immediately enlightened, but it’s a reasonable place to start when there is no recourse except canceling the reading (which is essentially an admission of failure). Quite often the querent can shed light on what I can’t fathom about any exceptional conditions strictly from looking at the spread. I’ve always believed that seekers are far more prescient about their private reality and its future development than I am, they just don’t know it yet, and it’s the goal of their engagement with the cards to nudge them toward conscious awareness (also known as the “Aha!” moment). “Bad” cards may just be the goad that produces it.