How Do You All Handle Medical & Legal Questions?

[RickInBakersfield]

Recently I was reading the tarot on a big website (not a tarot site) and I got a lot of medical and legal type of questions asked.

I was told by my tarot books to stay away from these types of questions, so I told the possible querents in my OP that I wouldn't be answering these types of questions. But I still got them anyway.

 

How do handle a question like, "Will I live?" or "I am going to the doctor next week and will I have some good news?" If you tell them "Sorry I cannot answer medical questions." Won't that just piss them off?

 

I guess my question is, "How do you handle these types of issues?" How do you give these people some hope with your readings?" I think you've got to be real with someone who has a medical issue, how do you deal with it?

 

Thanks in advance.

[gregory]

Full disclosure - I don't read for money anyway, so these things matter less to me than to someone who makes a living by reading.

 

Even so - I don't do them. I don't have the expertise; it's dangerous. If it pisses them off - too bad; better than killing them or leading them towards losing a case, You could always say - if they don't like being refused - "would you ask me to perform surgery/defend you in court if you need it ?" How will you feel if you read the cards, and say "yes you'll have good news at the doctor" because it looks that way - and they come back to tell you that he told them they will lose the baby they are carrying ? Or that they have some awful disease ?

[Natural Mystic Guide]

I do read professionally.  When someone has this kind of question, I do a disclosure -- in writing or recorded.  I.E. I am not a medical doctor.  I do not diagnose, prescribe or treat medical conditions.  I do then continue to give them whatever advice comes up that is more general.  I always recommend that they follow the advise of their doctor, lawyer, or financial advisor.  Sometimes the general advice can be helpful.

[DanielJUK]

I think this is about boundaries, we have to make our own personal boundaries. What do we feel comfort with in reading? What are our limits? Readers in this place all have different boundaries that work for them.

I think the line is personal to each person and also it's not like a brick wall, it's fluid and bendy, we take each question and reading as they come. But it relates to professional reading but also reading not for money, it's to protect us. As well as what we feel comfort about, it's about protecting ourselves legally and ethically. In some countries, it's against the law to diagnose medical conditions if you are not a qualified person, I would say go and see a medical professional for this. For a lot of professional advice matters, the reader shouldn't be going to a tarot reader, it might be cheaper but you pay for someone's expertise in the matter.

Also there are ethical dilemmas, on the old forum, someone asked me to read for their terminal illness and how long would they live, really what is the future? I felt very uncomfortable about it and decided to decline, I felt it was like opening a pandora's box ethically. The reading would affect us both, what happens if it told them something they didn't want to hear and how would it affect me, thinking about it forever more? A line for me is that I don't read on deaths, of people or humans, I don't feel comfortable on it.

 

We can always refuse to read for someone, politely just say no, I am not reading on that. They might be annoyed but it's your boundary. People will ask literally anything they want if you let them.

I find when people ask for professional advice, you can offer a future reading, like "what will happen in this situation in the next 6 months?". For example, someone wants to ask about buying a property but they really need professional legal advice. A general reading about how it would go would be okay and covers you. The issue might appear but you can go over it in a general way. It looks like you will be happy and get the house or it's not going to work out or you will get the house but it will be a nightmare, that is generalised advice. I don't think readings always give hope and people shouldn't turn to them for that, like maybe positive affirmations or some rituals would work better. The readings tell them what they need to know, whilst we can read them in a way to give options and hope, it's not guaranteed it will be what they want to hear. Being real is important to me.

 

 

14 hours ago, RickInBakersfield said:

"How do you handle these types of issues?"

 

• You can always refuse the reading if you don't feel comfortable reading on it, say no
• You can change or adjust the question / topic to meet what you do feel comfortable reading on
• You can offer a general reading on the topic, to see generally how things will play out going into the immediate future

[Chariot]

A really good book that deals with this question is Theresa Reed's "Cards You're Dealt" - How To Deal When LIfe Gets Real.
 

She has had years of experience dealing with clients asking awkward questions about health and other important issues, as well as dealing with these issues herself.  While the book is mostly about using tarot to help you, the reader, with your own unsettling issues, there is lots of advice along the way about how to engage with these kinds of questions when doing a reading for somebody else.

Theresa does NOT ever diagnose or offer legal advice.  Full stop.  She will refuse to do this at the outset of a reading, and reminds us that while the tarot is reliable most of the time, we can and do mis-read the signs sometimes, and can give a mistakenly optimistic reading or an erroneously negative one.  However, Theresa does have ways of helping a client who is concerned about health or legal issues.

Rephrasing the question is one way to approach the issue.  Instead of a will-I, should-I kind of question regarding health or finances/legalities, etc, she would turn the question around to,"How can I find out what I need to know," or 'What would be helpful for me to do just now," etc.   (The advice might be to see a doctor to get a checkup, just to clear up any doubts, but that isn't the same thing as scaring the client with predictions of gloom and doom.) This kind of thing.

However, sometimes a client will come to her knowing they are going into hospice soon, or already knowing what their diagnosis is, or has found out their ex spouse is taking them to the cleaners during the divorce settlement, etc.  Then the guidance can take another turn, focusing on getting support for the issue, focusing on the kinds of things that are important to do now— maybe things that will lift spirits—or issues that can be left alone for now ...things like this.  Sometimes the client is worried about the people 'left behind' and a reader can help them deal with this issue. Etc.

I think if you are careful, as a reader, and get lots of practice framing the right questions, you probably can help people with medical issues.  It's a frame-of-mind thing, rather than a diagnosis or treatment thing. 

Edited August 25, 2024 by Chariot

[Misterei]

On 8/24/2024 at 1:39 PM, RickInBakersfield said:

Recently I was reading the tarot on a big website (not a tarot site) and I got a lot of medical and legal type of questions asked.

I was told by my tarot books to stay away from these types of questions, so I told the possible querents in my OP that I wouldn't be answering these types of questions. But I still got them anyway

 

I guess my question is, "How do you handle these types of issues?"

LOL welcome to the real world. It astounds me how Tarot has been overtaken by the Thou Shalt Not read on medical or legal crowd whereas most Lenormand books include Medical interpretations without a second thought. But I digress.

 

I read on all these questions -- CAREFULLY.

• Local Laws. There is a past thread on a similar topic where a poster from Germany was discussing the laws in Germany vs. USA vis a vis fortune telling, counseling, medical questions and all of this. Try to find that thread. If you are in USA, be familiar with laws applying to "practicing medicine without a license" and similar laws for legal.
• Protect yourself. State clearly you are NOT a doctor / lawyer / expert. I nearly ALWAYS encourage the person to consult the appropriate professional. Much as @Natural Mystic Guide recommends in her answer.
• Medical care is so convoluted and f^cked-up in the USA that many times Tarot *is* a valid way to navigate the complexities. I.e. getting a second opinion, try a different doctor or hospital. Change your insurance plan if possible, etc. etc. et.
• Similar for legal. I feel it's ok to say: The cards are looking good for you to win your case. Or: The cards are showing some real problems with your case. Often the questions are legal adjascent i.e. stay with your current lawyer. Cards show he/she is ok. vs. You may wish to consider getting another lawyer. I have made both recommendations based-on what the cards say.
• Death & Dying is tough. I think if anyone is asking "When am I going to die?" my answer would be, "Ask God. I'm a tarot reader." But I've never gotten that. Mostly people are dealing with a known situation and it's more about how to support them to prepare for death or to prepare for the death of the family member.

On 8/24/2024 at 3:35 PM, Natural Mystic Guide said:

I do read professionally.  When someone has this kind of question, I do a disclosure -- in writing or recorded.  I.E. I am not a medical doctor.  I do not diagnose, prescribe or treat medical conditions.  I do then continue to give them whatever advice comes up that is more general.  I always recommend that they follow the advise of their doctor, lawyer, or financial advisor.  Sometimes the general advice can be helpful.

100% this.

11 hours ago, Chariot said:

However, sometimes a client will come to her knowing they are going into hospice soon, or already knowing what their diagnosis is, or has found out their ex spouse is taking them to the cleaners during the divorce settlement, etc.  Then the guidance can take another turn, focusing on getting support for the issue, focusing on the kinds of things that are important to do ...

Exactly. This is how it normally plays-out IRL.

 

For example, Cards say this divorce is about to get ugly. Get a lawyer NOW. vs. the cards are generally positive. you may wish to try mediation first. Consult a professional mediator to ask if it can be kept at that level.

 

In both cases the Reader advises to consult a LEGAL professional. You're just helping the client navigate. In this scenario, the Mediator can tell the client the legal nuances, [i.e. this case must go to court, so you need a lawyer vs. this case may benefit from mediation].

Edited August 26, 2024 by Misterei