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Ordered this yesterday so should have it soon

Tree readings... HHMMM, sounds interesting.


Sean

Just a bump really to revive a dead thread!

This falls against Portrait reading, hand writing analysis etc.

Being trained in handwriting analysis I can say that this is pretty spot on for high level concepts.

He does a good job of giving you the primary symbols. I use it a lot when I'm bored and someone says, "oh yeah... do a trick." typically those people don't know me very well.

If your good at body language reading you can take it to a whole new level and start picking out specific details of their right now and leave them wondering where the tree defines them and they define themselves.

All in all pretty "fun" and light hearted I do enjoy doing it.

--Infy

Waters wrote:Tree readings... HHMMM, sounds interesting.


Sean

I've been doing Tree Readings since the mid-80s (at least), learned the method from an old Gypsy and there was little to nothing known about it in around the magic world other than mention in a Richard Webster book and various posts I'd made over the years. Now everything claims to be an "expert" and to tell you the truth, the CD in question is over-priced and grotesquely incomplete... at least that's my take on things, maybe I'm just being biased

Craig Browning wrote:I've been doing Tree Readings since the mid-80s (at least), learned the method from an old Gypsy and there was little to nothing known about it in around the magic world other than mention in a Richard Webster book and various posts I'd made over the years. Now everything claims to be an "expert" and to tell you the truth, the CD in question is over-priced and grotesquely incomplete... at least that's my take on things, maybe I'm just being biased

Well ok,

I'll give you that there is probably 75% more content that one could comment on based on the tree's I see. The dvd doesn't go into every aspect of reading but it does cover the basics right?

Pressure, general tree types, branching, detail queues.

The signature bit is woefully lacking on depth but it covers the basics:

Slants, Legibility, Totality.

Over priced? It was I think 20 bucks for me which is pretty typical for a DVD.

Meaning I think that anyone that watches the DVD could essentially pull off a decent hit rate based on the content on the dvd. I don't think they could do it as a performance.

The dvd is presented more as a parlor trick which I think it fulfills the roles.

No it does not cover swoops or swirls. It doesn't cover crosses and dots nor does it really touch on angles or height.

I'd love to discuss with you area's you think should be included or were missed in the dvd as I'm applying what I know from handwriting analysis to tree analysis.

--Infy

I've been working on (in what little spare time I have these days) a book that will finally outline the whole system with my own discoveries, what I was taught by Mr. Buckland and some of his associates as well as perspectives from a handful of others.

The price thing was based on a complaint I'd heard from someone that (supposedly) got gouged at $45.00 on the thing when it was being so heavily promoted a few months back. From what I've managed to sit down long enough to view of the material as well as what I've heard in feedback from others, both those that do readings and those that don't, the material was found wanting.

My project will give a bit more of a historic overview to the system that is based on both, the folkloric and clinical (psychological) points of view and with the blessings of a few special "linguists" in our world, some other valid points of deeper interpretation will be made.

I don't know if this was your project Infy but I'm certain you can understand how someone known for doing a very rare style of Reading, that's used it as his Bread & Butter more or less exclusively for years, would be a tad defensive upon finding someone popping up from "nowhere" and tipping even the rudiments of such things. It may seem petty to some, but it is something I've been working with for a very long time and creating a solid study guide around the system, a pet project that I've been developing for some time now.

Craig,

I can absolutely see your point. To which I agree the material on the DVD is bar material at best. I don't see anyone being able to use it aggressively professionally.

However I think its a standpoint of what we expected. You having vested much time effort and skill into perfecting the style expected something representative of that level of commitment.

It appeared to me to be marketed as a, "Hey neat sidebar." or "Quick way to break the ice." in which I think it serves that purpose.

I'm now intensely curious about your project. I will wait expectantly to review it when it becomes available.

I mean folkloric and iconic linguists vs psychological science comparative sounds like I will learn a lot.

Let me know when its in the wild

--Infy

I would agree on the point that it's more of an Ice Breaker bit, along the lines of my It Ching Palm manuscript (gives you an easy-in for doing casual palm readings but based on the old wives tale about Itching hands).

Years ago I was working coffee houses in around College Campuses, the Tree Drawing became a huge bit of popularity with the kids, my handling being a bit psychometric, in that I would "blindly" match up the drawings to the person that created them (without the aid of markings, btw). I even found myself doing a couple of "Team Building" lunch dates for Wal*Mart in that they use a drawing exercise with their potential employees that is literally "read" for the sake of profiling and getting a grip on the individual... but then big companies have hired folks based on the bumps on their head, their astrology and in the past 30 years that I'm aware of, hand-writing styles (which is probably becoming passe in that no one seems to know what penmanship is now days, let alone silly things like proper spelling, punctuation, grammar, et al).

I'll have to think long and hard about this, but it might be interesting to create a couple of learning threads within a closed access environment (of course) that delves into the idea of the various Reading systems. Mandrake did the Tarot not too long ago, maybe you and I (possibly a few others I can think of) could share our two cents on some of the other oracles... including the Tree and Graphology???

Now that I've said it, let's see how many respond in the affirmative when it comes to said thoughts.

Hi Craig,
Purchased this a little while back and found it really iteresting, tried it out a few times and I was quite surprised how well it worked, although most of the people I trieid on I knew pretty well anyway.

Wathed the DVD again yesterday after reading your comments on this thread and the one thing I picked up on was the amount of negative aspects focused on in the readings, neorological disorder, deep trauma, miscarrage, strokes, divorce.

I know it would lie with the individual performer but are these negatives necessary in a reading? or would it be a case of trying to balance it with positives.


Paul

I trained as a bereavement counsellor a few years ago and remember one of the excercises they had us do was to draw a tree. We were given a blank sheet of paper, some crayons and an instruction to "draw a tree". That was it. After the initial amusement, we all set to and it was amazing to see how different they all were. I found it fascinating.

I can't remember the details now, but the trainer gave us some general insights into what the drawings may mean for each individual and what it said about our personality. It was extremely interesting. This thread is the only time I have ever encountered anything relating to tree reading since!

Craig, if I wanted to learn more, would you recommend the book by Richard Webster? I know he goes into some detail about various types of reading, including trees. As I'm already interested in Tarot, I thought this might be worth looking into a bit more.

All the best,
Wishmaster

Richard's book on Reading Variations really doesn't go into detail, this video being about the most concise thing out there. That said, I deliberately sat down and watched it today from start to finish and to keep things brief, I can see where most of what it offered stems from a more clinical perspective than I'm used to. Though I do have questions around some of his points and interpretations, from the analytical/psychological foundation he's coming from, it makes sense. In other words, the system he presents is similar in some ways, to what I do but nowhere near the same creature.

As per my suggestion above, I've been outlining things today for a discussion and learning situation tied to the real art of both, developing the skills and being a Reader; I do beg of your to not get what I'm presenting with what so many now days refer to as "Cold Reading"... there's a bit more to it.

I bring this up in that one side of what I hope to share in this "series" will be some insights to how I was taught Tree Interpretation along side some of my own nuances that I've discovered over the years.

Hey Craig,

Feel free to ping me via pm if you have specific questions on the clinical interpretations.

To answer Paul,

My feeling from his presentation on negative effects in the video was primarily to get you to avoid accidentally opening an emotional wound and having your client give you an aberrant reaction (that's fancy talk for freaking out).

I.E. This here means you are a positive thinker, This here indicates you feel grounded to your friends and family. Here you can see a lot of intensity around a past event which as very integral to your development as a person.

Vs.

This appears to be an emotional event for you perhaps a miscarriage or the death of a child.

IMHOP if you are an entertainer then you should entertain thus steer very well clear of negative emotional inferences during a reading. Additionally its important to note when you are dealing with someone who has a lot of trauma or negative experience. Not too often but on at least 2 occasions I've just dropped the reading after looking at the tree. In one case the person had just been diagnosed with a terminal illness. In the second a person was contemplating suicide pretty seriously after losing their job.

In the end its in the performers hands obviously but the only time I bring up those strong obviously highly emotional nuances is in therapy.

--Infy