I was looking over some of my old notes and came across a spread I'd worked out based on an article by James Wanless that was in turn based on an article in TIME Magazing.
The TIME article, "Where Doctors Go Wrong" discusses the hazards of doctors making what seem to be scientific diagnoses that are often intuitive assumptions based on projection of their own experiences and views.
(I gave up on a general practicioner a few months ago because he was incapable of seeing the list of drugs prescribed by my rheumatologist without informing me that I should drop one of them because "my uncle tried that and it didn't do a single thing for him.")
So Dr. Wanless, Ph.D, who writes numerous articles on Tarot and intuition, saw this and wrote about what sort of pitfalls this reality holds for those who work with intuition, published in The Meta Arts (Red Flags for Intuitives). At the time when I'd first read it, I was going through some angst over my first querent that I just flatly couldn't read for - it felt like wading through molasses to make sense of the cards, and I'd come away with a ball of tension and a strong hope she'd never come back for another reading again. And I was fairly sure that only a part of that had to do with negativity on her part, and a good part of it had to do with her situation just rubbing up against my own world view the wrong way - either way, it shook me that I couldn't deal with her without dredging up the worst sorts of judgmental jerkism in me that I'd ever felt.
So, I used Wanless' bullet points to work out a spread to help understand my reactions and blind spots... and it worked well, I tactfully declined to read for her again, and have gotten a lot more able to cope with the notion that not all readers can or should try to read for all seekers, and while detachment is an important trait to have when reading for others (or for oneself), it's not always possible.
Looking at the spread now, it still looks good - not only would it be useful as a follow up spread for when someone his having difficulty making sense of a reading, but t would be useful for all sorts of situations where someone might be missing the full picture and wanting to understand why.
It doesn't explain the issue or offer an outcome or advice - it simply shows were the distortions are and why, and in order to get any use out of it, a person must be willing to apply this information themselves to get a more accurate idea of what's really going on.
Here's the spread, then, which I've simply got labeled with the title of Wanless' article, but which might also be called "Intuitive Filters" to highlight those things that lead to misinterpretation of a situation:
Q: How am I going wrong in understanding this issue?
1. I see what I saw before
What experiences from the past are affecting my understanding?
2. I see what I just saw
What recent experience is affecting my understanding?
3. I see what I want to see
What desire of mine is affecting my understanding?
4. I see how I am
How is my current state of being and environment affecting my understanding?
5. I see who I am
What personal values do I hold that are affecting my understanding?
As I did last week, I'll be doing a reading with this later on today with the Da Vinci Tarot before I put it away.
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