Here's my personal Top Ten of Recurring Questions ... and how to read them.

>I think many times querents may not examine the underlying emotions behind their questions, because looking deeper into themselves either frightens them, or they have very little experience with viewing things beneath the surface. It's a lot easier for a client to ask a reader a somewhat superficial question, than it is to face an unspoken fear, (or possibly guilt,) that it was some action on their part that caused the problem in the first place.
Taken from a comment written by TurbulentAsparagus32

Querents, if you have trouble wording your question you can find a list of open-ended questions further down.

Quick reminder for busy readers:
Most questions about "them" are really questions about safety, worth and certainty. If you address that layer, the reading becomes far more useful than attempting to describe the feelings or thoughts of a 3rd person.

Surface question in normal font, underlying feeling in italics**.**

1. How does he or she feel about me? Underneath: I feel unsure and want reassurance that I matter.
2. Will they come back? Underneath: I am not ready to let go and I am scared of the final rejection.
3. Is this my soulmate or twin flame? Underneath: I want this connection to feel meaningful and destined.
4. Why are they pulling away? Underneath: I feel anxious and am looking for a reason that is not about me being unwanted.
5. Does he or she miss me? Underneath: I want to know if I am still (emotionally) significant.
6. Is there a third party? Underneath: I feel insecure and fear being replaced.
7. Will this turn into a relationship? Underneath: I need clarity because I feel stuck in limbo.
8. Should I reach out first? Underneath: I am afraid of rejection but also afraid of losing the connection.
9. What are their true intentions? Underneath: I do not fully trust what I am being shown.
10. When will I meet someone? Underneath: I feel lonely and worry that love is not coming.

Here are 10 reframed open-ended questions that invite insight rather than yes or no reassurance:

1. How do their actions and communication patterns make me feel over time?
2. What would need to be different for me to feel secure and respected in this connection?
3. In what ways does this relationship feel healthy, mutual and emotionally safe?
4. What might their current behaviour be showing me about the dynamic between us?
5. What am I hoping to feel by knowing whether they miss me?
6. Where are my trust concerns coming from, and what would help me feel more stable?
7. What behaviours from both of us would naturally build towards commitment?
8. What is motivating me to reach out right now, and what outcome am I hoping for?
9. How well do their actions align with their words, and what patterns do I notice?
10. What areas of my life could I nurture so that I feel fulfilled regardless of relationship timing?

These kinds of questions slow the loop down. They move the focus from chasing hidden feelings to understanding lived experience and personal needs.

We are getting a lot of “how to start reading tarot” posts, which is repetitive and clutters the sub.
From now on, beginner posts will be removed/comments locked.

If you have further questions, please use this thread instead.

Helpful previous posts:
- how to start tarot reading
- Tarot keeps giving me the same answer
- How can I start in the world of tarot?
- I'm a beginner and I'm confused!
- Need help with Tarot- Reading Material/ Videos?
- Reversed card meanings
- Some resources about old tarot decks

Seasoned readers of the tarot have commented on all of these posts. They've shared their insights very generously, and I appreciate their efforts. Amongst other topics, those posts and comments deal with topics like:

• Choosing your first deck
• Memorising or learning cards
• Avoiding overwhelm as a beginner

Cheat sheets:
How to start learning the tarot in 30 seconds
How to start learning the tarot [crash course]

Happy readings, y'all 💜

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Hi everyone,

I wanted to share something special with all of you.

For almost five years, myself and u/Fortune_Box sent Reiki to this community nearly every Sunday (and quite a few Saturdays with u/otakuscientist too). What started as a simple offering grew into one of the most meaningful experiences of my life. I am profoundly grateful for the friendships and community we built here together. 

About a month and a half ago, I passed the baton to Master Storm and Master Phoenix, who now lead the Sunday Gratitude Reiki sessions. They also run the GratitudeReiki.com website alongside the wonderful Space Croissant Crew of 36 Reiki Masters.

Running ReikiShare is a labor of love, but it was also a lot of work for one person. Over the years, I learned many things about healing, compassion, gratitude, forgiveness, and what it means to truly love ourselves. 

Eventually, I realized I needed to put those lessons on paper so I could share what we do here with a broader audience.

The result is my first book, The Inner Mediator.

At its heart, the book is about learning to love yourself one body part at a time. It combines self-compassion, intuition, gratitude, forgiveness, and a little bit of whimsy. It invites readers to acknowledge the consciousness of their bodies and develop a kinder relationship with themselves. You guys knew that already. We've been doing this together every Sunday here on r/reikishare for almost 5 years. 

In many ways, ReikiShare and the Space Croissant Crew inspired the book and continue to inspire me to work. There are more books coming.

If you'd like to read The Inner Mediator, it's now available on Amazon. And if you have Kindle Unlimited, you can read it at no additional cost.

I've also started sharing content on TikTok and YouTube as username: CarolMediator and would love to connect with you there. I am doing daily Ho'oponopono on video for the body parts.

We also have plans for this coming Sunday. I will be reading the book live on Tiktok while we're doing Reiki Share here, starting at 1 pm EST. I will then upload the recording to YouTube.

Thank you for all the Sundays we shared together. You guys mean the world to me. 

With all my love,

Carol 

Scavenger Hunt!

Focus on a question or ask for a message. Pick your favourite deck and give it a good shuffle. Once you're done, cut the deck and find

Something blue 🐳

The first card that comes with something blue is your answer!
If you want more input, keep going through your deck and look for the next card that comes with something blue.

Please share an image of your card/s and tell us what you see. A keyword or your first impression would be good enough!

Happy readings, y'all. 📘

On "Tools Are Crutches" and "Always Trust Your Intuition"

These two ideas have been floating around a lot, coming up especially in the wake of the recent Lenormand discussions, and I wanted to address them together because they're really two parts of the same misunderstanding about how divination actually works (process that is - I don't claim to know, or care really, how it actually works).

Tools are not crutches.

A crutch is something you use because you can't do the thing without it, and the implication is that you should be able to, so leaning on it is a kind of failure. That framing doesn't hold up here. Tools make certain things possible that would otherwise take far longer, require far more effort, or simply not happen in a useful or reliable way. A skilled carpenter doesn't apologize for using a router. A surgeon doesn't apologize for instruments. The tool isn't a substitute for skill; it's what allows skill to operate at its full range.

The same applies to a card system, a spread, a chart, a pendulum, some bones, whatever your preferred method is. These aren't training wheels you're supposed to graduate out of; they're structures that let you access and organize information in ways that free-floating intuition often can't manage on its own, at least not quickly, not consistently, and not in a form that's actually accurate and free from all the little biases and filters we use in our daily observations of life.

Intuition matters, but it has to be grounded in what the tools are showing you.

This is where the second idea runs into trouble. "Always trust your intuition" sounds wise, but in practice it can become a way to ignore the reading entirely and just say whatever came to mind first. That's not intuition working with the system. That's intuition instead of the system, and those are very different things. Divination vs. Channelling or Psychic Readings. Most people haven't developed the skills to do the latter accurately.

Your gut is a real source of information. When something lights up for you in a reading, that matters. But the question worth asking is: where in what you're seeing does this feeling live? What card, what position, what combination is your intuition responding to? Is this a real intuition or just a hope or fear? If you can't answer these accurately, you're not reading intuitively. You're just making things up.

Real intuitive reading is a conversation between what's laid out in front of you and what you're picking up. The cards don't lie there passively while you do all the work, and your intuition doesn't override what the cards are saying. They work together. When they seem to conflict, that tension is often the most interesting part of the reading, and worth sitting with rather than defaulting to one or the other.

Here's a concrete example of what that actually looks like. If your intuition is saying "family is involved here," that doesn't replace the Devil card. It explains how it's manifesting. If you feel like someone is lying, but the relevant indicator doesn't appear in the cast, you've got extra information, not a different reading. It sits alongside what the tools are showing, filling in the gaps, adding texture. It doesn't replace the meaning; it specifies it.

Where this goes sideways.

I see this pattern a lot with newer readers, and I want to be fair here because I think it usually comes from a genuine place. People want to see what they're hoping for, or sometimes they gravitate toward the scary interpretation because it feels significant, feels like proof they're picking up on something real. Both of those pulls are understandable. But if you're getting a strong intuitive hit that "he really does love me," and the spread is showing fights, deception, and harm, the intuition isn't wrong to notice the love. It's just incomplete without the context the tools are providing. Those things can both be true at the same time. He might genuinely feel something, and also be in no condition to act on it in any healthy way. That's not a contradiction. That's the reading, and the intuition helped fill in a piece of it rather than replacing the rest.

The same goes for the other direction. Getting a strong sense that the spirits are furious with you and the situation is dire, when the rest of the reading is providing a lot of nuanced commentary that doesn't support that interpretation, is worth pausing on. Maybe there is something angry in the picture, but the broader reading might be telling you how to address it, what the debt is, where to start. That matters too.

Trust your intuition, yes, but walk it through some logic before you run with it. It should expand and specify what the tools are saying, not replace it. When those two things are actually working together, that's when readings get genuinely useful.

--- CLOSED ---
I found my players, thank you!

I'm currently running a Curse of Strahd campaign with 3 players, looking for a reliable 4th player who can make it on time.

The campaign places an emphasis on storytelling, roleplay, and character development. Combat is not the primary focus, and we generally favour the rule of cool when it helps creating memorable moments.

Session Time: Sundays at 06:00 AM GMT
Roll20 for the maps, discord VC.

The party has recently arrived in Vallaki, making this a good point for a new character to join the adventure.

The atmosphere is that of a gothic-horror-comedy. We're a beer&pretzel / weed&candy group that enjoys getting invested in the narrative. A good sense of humour and a willingness to engage with the group are important, as well as taking the story and your character seriously when the moment calls for it.

We can work together to create a level 4 character that fits both the setting and the story so far. If you're interested, send a DM with a little information about yourself, your TTRPG experience, and the type of character you'd like to play.

Here's my personal Top Ten of Recurring Questions ... and how to read them.

>I think many times querents may not examine the underlying emotions behind their questions, because looking deeper into themselves either frightens them, or they have very little experience with viewing things beneath the surface. It's a lot easier for a client to ask a reader a somewhat superficial question, than it is to face an unspoken fear, (or possibly guilt,) that it was some action on their part that caused the problem in the first place.
Taken from a comment written by TurbulentAsparagus32

Querents, if you have trouble wording your question you can find a list of open-ended questions further down.

Quick reminder for busy readers:
Most questions about "them" are really questions about safety, worth and certainty. If you address that layer, the reading becomes far more useful than attempting to describe the feelings or thoughts of a 3rd person.

Surface question in normal font, underlying feeling in italics**.**

1. How does he or she feel about me? Underneath: I feel unsure and want reassurance that I matter.
2. Will they come back? Underneath: I am not ready to let go and I am scared of the final rejection.
3. Is this my soulmate or twin flame? Underneath: I want this connection to feel meaningful and destined.
4. Why are they pulling away? Underneath: I feel anxious and am looking for a reason that is not about me being unwanted.
5. Does he or she miss me? Underneath: I want to know if I am still (emotionally) significant.
6. Is there a third party? Underneath: I feel insecure and fear being replaced.
7. Will this turn into a relationship? Underneath: I need clarity because I feel stuck in limbo.
8. Should I reach out first? Underneath: I am afraid of rejection but also afraid of losing the connection.
9. What are their true intentions? Underneath: I do not fully trust what I am being shown.
10. When will I meet someone? Underneath: I feel lonely and worry that love is not coming.

Here are 10 reframed open-ended questions that invite insight rather than yes or no reassurance:

1. How do their actions and communication patterns make me feel over time?
2. What would need to be different for me to feel secure and respected in this connection?
3. In what ways does this relationship feel healthy, mutual and emotionally safe?
4. What might their current behaviour be showing me about the dynamic between us?
5. What am I hoping to feel by knowing whether they miss me?
6. Where are my trust concerns coming from, and what would help me feel more stable?
7. What behaviours from both of us would naturally build towards commitment?
8. What is motivating me to reach out right now, and what outcome am I hoping for?
9. How well do their actions align with their words, and what patterns do I notice?
10. What areas of my life could I nurture so that I feel fulfilled regardless of relationship timing?

These kinds of questions slow the loop down. They move the focus from chasing hidden feelings to understanding lived experience and personal needs.

The Cat

After almost 40 years of reading tarot, I think there are "missing cards" in the deck. Not because the system is incomplete, but because some human experiences keep slipping between the meanings we already have.

The one I'd add would probably just be:
The Cat.

That moment when reality itself becomes questionable.

The Cat would represent:

• interruption,
• refusal to cooperate,
• absolute independence from your expectations,
• and the reminder that not everything in life exists to become meaningful.

The advice of the card:
stretch,
scream at 3am,
demand something,
refuse it when offered.

Maybe wrestle with the carpet.