But, I Already Knew That!

There are times when a tarot reading can feel mighty disappointing. Perhaps we wanted the bright flash of new information, or hope from interesting places. Why is a reading telling us what we already know? Why might we need to hear a confirmation of what we know is true? Why are we getting reruns when we want a sneak peak on what’s to come?
What is going on here and why does it matter? And, why might we feel let-down when this phenomenon occurs? What is going on with tarot and within ourselves that might feel like we have been had?

First, note that a reader telling you things you can instantly confirm (while boring) is the mark of a good reader. It takes far more skill for a reader to confirm what we know than it is to make up some malarkey about what may or may not happen 5 years from now.
It is frighteningly easy to give predictions in the long term that are impossible to verify. While the sitter is waiting for a husband with a first letter of “J” to show up 4 years from now the sitter will be long gone in most cases.
However, a reader who is talking about immediate issues: the micromanaging boss, the still living-at-home adult child, the husband who has been distant — these things, while they may be “what I already know” can be instantly confirmed for accuracy. Recapping known and salient information takes far more skill while illustrating that the tarot is in fact speaking to the sitter’s life and not just making up a bunch of baloney.
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Secondly, there could be a mismatch between expectations and the experience being offered by the reader.
Sometimes a “what I already know” experience means that the expectations of the sitter are different from the type of reader they have hired to conduct the session.
Historically, there has been an expectation for a showman style of psychic experiences. People have been trained to expect the ‘Big Reveal’, “OMG how did she know that?!” If we have an expectation that this style is the norm, that we’d be wow’d with information about the mystery of our lives, then a reader who is verifying known information may not live up to expectation. Does that mean the reader is bad or perhaps just a bad fit for what the sitter wanted?
“Don’t tell me about the fact that I have not dated for five years, when will I get married, though?!” We might expect to be told about a future date while the reader is confirming known information. Is tarot just for future predictions, or can we allow that it is looking at a person or a situation more holistically? Often, this has to do with the reader’s style and approach to sessions.
It is important to research what the tarot reader does and how she does it. Read her reviews; what do they say about her reading and intuitive style, these are often clues to see if her style is a match. Just like with any other service practitioner, it is important to find out if the provider will meet our base expectations before we buy.