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I've clicked on the big blue box!! I felt compelled!!!

Looking forward to receiving my book........


Sean

Well done Sean! Should be with you Saturday or Monday depending on the posties! Let me know what you think.

Some here would call me a shut-eye, too, when it comes to Tarot. I use the Tarot for serious spiritual/occult purposes including meditation and divination. I'd be very happy to give someone a serious Tarot divination, but wouldn't want to use it for fun readings or as part of a show, any more than a Christian mentalist would want to use a crucifix as a pendulum.

I would be perfectly happy to use other sorts of "oracle card" decks, though, since I don't believe in them in the same way. Animal oracles, angel oracles, and the like.

I have a set of "Wisdom of the Maya" oracle cards that are very striking -- each card is a photo of a stone carving made in the Mayan style especially for the set -- and come with a hardback instruction book. This set can be found really cheaply in remainder shops and the like. It's a great introduction to Mayan culture and mythology, if nothing else. The meaning of each card tends to boil down to "things go in cycles", so essentially if you're having problems they'll get better, or if times are good you should turn the circumstances to your advantage while you can.

I also have an animal oracle card set around, but can't remember its name right now. (Neither the Druid nor the Power Animal Oracle.) The cards are lovely and not too big, and the meanings are very gentle and uplifting, making it excellent for light, fun readings. Each card also has a summary of its meaning printed right on the face, so there's less to memorise!

EDIT: Just dug out the animal cards. It's the "Animal Messages" deck by Susie Green, and the cards are a lot bigger than I remembered! (Even bigger than my Tarot.) I had also forgotten that the animals are grouped by habitat -- animals of the air, water, trees, land surface, burrowing, and living in both land and water. The meanings of these "suits" can also be brought into play, especially if there's a preponderance of one type.

As a learning prospective mentalist in his incipient stages, I don't think I have anything else to add to all the wonderful advice that's already been poured out in this thread.

Even if you build your character around someone else, make sure it's "your character", aka you. You may find this confusing, or even hard ( like I did.. ) . Even if you perform the most basic effects effectively, your audience's response will be better than you showing a hand breaking difficult sleight moderately.

Never forget that your audience has actually come to see you. I have posted my experiences performing as a learning mentalist/magician and you could probably learn from my mistakes.

http://www.talkmagic.co.uk/ftopic31377.php
http://www.talkmagic.co.uk/ftopic31302.php
http://www.talkmagic.co.uk/ftopic31235.php

Hmm. One strand of my work is as a Tarot reader. Part of what I do within that context is certainly Cold Reading (with capitals), but not all.

A reading is not just about what I say, all experienced readers know that it is a conversation, and one that has definite resonances with a counselling session. Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that it's in any way equivalent, just that there are similarities.

So along with using the cards as a crib, as has already been acknowledged, we're also reading the person as much, if not more than the cards. It's quite common for me to find I want to say something, do so, and then find something I can pin that thought on in the spread, thus reversing the traditional "I see this in the cards" process.

If, when I do this, I am departing from a traditional interpretation of a card, well, so be it. The client is not aware of that, generally speaking, and in any case will accept my interpretation (otherwise they'd be giving me a reading!).

The point being that it's never wise to be too rigid in our work. Our clients, well mine anyway, want our emotions and our empathy, not a robot. I'm sure we all accept that.

The key issue is, perhaps, that belief or non-belief notwithstanding, we have a duty of care toward our clients, and so even when a reading is completely Cold we must be reading the person and taking note of what we find.

Jan