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Divination Systems: Be Your Oracle
The Pesky Problem
of Projections
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by James Wanless, Ph.D |
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Though I have been a Tarot Reader for almost 30 years, I confess, why would anyone want a Reading from another? Don't get me wrong, I'm honored that someone values my insights and I like the business. But I confess to you that I don't go to Readers, knowing that consulting a Reader can be like giving away your own authority, judgment and power.
Many people are socialized to believe that others know what is best for us. How can anyone know us better than ourselves? Don't we have an inner voice that we can trust for guidance? Seeking out experts and gurus can perpetuate dependency and control from forces outside of us, which keeps us from being true to ourselves.
People tend to project the Reader as wise, responsible, compassionate, perhaps like a father/mother figure or a magical genie with extra-ordinary powers. While many think Readers (and therapists and counselors) are objective and understanding, here's another confession... all Readers project themselves into your Reading. There is no objectivity. Everyone looks at life and at another through the lens of their own values and experiences. So, who really is this person telling you who you are and what's going to happen?
If I were to get a Reading from another, I'd like to know who that person is. Just because they are "psychic" or have written a book or have a reputation, does that mean they are right for you? Before a Reading with anyone, I'd, at the very least, get an intuitive sense of their own wholeness and healthiness. And I would interview them, asking them their philosophy of life.
Every Reader has a bias. I confess that I tilt towards the belief that "anything is possible," though not necessarily easy and swift. I advocate that change is good, taking risks is imperative, and failure is ok. Knowing this about me, I strive for balance with my clients, understanding that some are not ready for change, or that security may be more appropriate than growth. Do Readers know who they are and how they project? Ask them.
More about projections...what the latest neuroscience of the brain tells us is that we all "read" people all of the time. Though we think it's our intuition that's feeling out a person, in fact, we are simply projecting from the memory part of our brain. For example, because a person looks or acts in a way that we remember from somebody before, we infer that's who they are. Maybe, maybe not. It's best to be open minded, and to keep in mind that, "I really don't know."
Picking a card facedown from the Tarot is invaluable as a tool for seeing the "real" person. The cards liberate us from prejudging the person. I confess that I deliberately and fiercely seek to stay away from any preconceptions, and let the cards themselves, along with my intuition, form assessments. Nevertheless, it is still a subjective judgment.
What's the value of having a Reading from another then? Treat it as an alternative information source. You can get insights about yourself along with different life scenarios and new possibilities. Readings can put your life in a perspective that gives you understanding and peace of mind. Readings can also confirm what you know about yourself and your path, and that is empowering and affirming.
Readings as information are only information. Ultimately, it's back to you to decide, to receive the counsel or not. This approach to a Reading gives you neutrality, a state of balance that requires self-accountability and gives you clarity.
Given the possible pitfalls of having a Reading by another, why not "be your own oracle" by doing your own Readings. This demands that you understand yourself and your basic personality style, for personality tendencies will color and cloud your own Reading.
We don't see what is, but who we are. Are you a "Harmonizer," a person who wants to get along, be a people pleaser, not rock the boat? With this bias, you tend to see everything as ok and going along fine. Are you a "Pollyanna," the eternal optimist who sees everything as good? If so, you will see the future as wonderful and joyous. Are you a "Critic," evaluating yourself and life from a negative point of view, thus projecting a defeatist, pessimistic Reading?
To achieve some clarifying objectivity in your own Readings, maintain awareness of your personality and perceptual inclinations. And then do what I have found to be most helpful in looking at the future. I call this "bracketing," a balanced way of foreseeing. First, look at the future from the positive point of view, how you would like it to look, your best case scenario Then see what you don't want to see about the future, the worst case scenario. Finally, picture the future as being somewhere in the middle between the best and worst cases. Generally speaking, the middle forecast is the"probable" truth, it being ok, neither as good or as bad as we project it.
But if you accept that middle probability, then that is what you tend to create. So, who wants that? We'd rather have it great. As we know, reality is subjective and is created by how we see it. We have choice about how we make up our lives. Choose the best case vision of the future, and know that it could end up ok (middle picture). Having previewed that it could all go wrong (worst case), be prepared with a fallback plan, and, more importantly, get energized to prevent that.
Yes, you can do Readings for yourself. But you must trust yourself and believe in your power to know what is best for you. Be aware of who you are and how you see yourself and the world with balance.
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James Wanless, Ph.D
Author & Creator of the Voyager Tarot Deck
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James Wanless is the creator of the best-selling and revolutionary Voyager Tarot Deck, a "modern classic" that has sold 250,000 editions since 1985.
A former political science professor with a Ph.D. from Columbia University, he has authored Intuition At Work, Way of the Great Oracle, Strategic Intuition for the 21st Century, and his most recent multimedia online study course and personal growth process entitled Way of the Seeker.
James Wanless has performed 7,000 Readings over a 28 year span while being a keynote speaker, corporate trainer, and teacher of creative intuition and symbology throughout the world.
www.voyagertarot.
com
www.jameswanless.
info
Phone: 1-800-676-1256
jameswanless@
comcast.net
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