Question -

I have a friend who's been doing tarot readings for me. As much as i would love to believe what she says about what will happen in my love life, so far, her predictions, or at least her interpretations of the cards, have been wrong. But other times, when she did readings for her sister and her mom, she was frighteningly accurate. What’s going on?

Answer -

It is very likely that your friend is being subjective in reading for you because she likes you very well. Perhaps the difference between you and her family is just that; she can "afford" to be more objective with them, and she does not want to risk your friendship with unwanted news from the Tarot. Many readers fall prey to this kind of conundrum when reading for family or friends, and especially if a reader tries to read the cards for their self. Every reader will, at one time or another, encounter a situation in which objectivity is challenged, regardless of how long they have been reading.

My suggestion is to ask your friend to read "possibility" or "current facts" rather than future for you. It is often very easy to predict on your own what will most likely happen when these facets are revealed clearly before you. Also, when working with the malleable future it is easier to change the events if they are unappealing.

If your friend does not know how to omit "the future" or "the outcome" from her readings with her current spread, then you can find some spreads that may be easier to use for checking possibility at:

http://geocities.datacellar.net/fullcircltribe/Tarot/tarotspreads.html

I am recommending the "Beloved Spread" if the readings you are asking of her involve yourself and a current partner, and the "Celtic Cross with items (Variation)" if either you are not reading about a current relationship or you think your friend might benefit from a more general layout -- which is based on one of the most popular layouts, but adapted to reflect possibility and evidence instead of "the future".

As the above website is a shared resource with far more spreads on it than i can recommend in your situation, i want to cleanly steer you away from the "Ghoti Spread" for your friend since it requires INTENSE objectivity and might only compound any pressure she could be feeling to please you or give you excellent news.