The Cons of Free Online Tarot Readings
So you want to get a quick and easy tarot reading and you don’t want to spend the $20-$150 to see a tarot reader. You go online and you type in a “free tarot readings” or something similar. A whole list of sites comes up and you get excited because you have a host of places to choose from, and-the best part is-they are free! Before you jump up and down about your fabulous find, there are a few things you should know about doing automated readings online.
The CONS:
1. You get what you pay for. That’s right: You get what you pay for! A free tarot reading generated by a machine may be objective, but it is not intuitive. It will never have the true subtlety and intuition of a live human being. There are readers who study tarot for 20 years and still strive to learn more because the tarot is a process and not a quick fix. So while you may not want to fork over the money for a live tarot reading, you might get a lot more insight and specific information by doing so (though it must be said that the quality of a reader and a reading varies greatly depending upon who is asking the question and who is answering and what mood you’re both in that day).
2. Many sites will minimize free offerings to get you to buy something. I’ve seen sites that will only give you a partial spread so that you are encouraged to pay for the whole reading. Other sites will only give you so many free online tarot readings or they may give you a few minutes free with a live psychic reader then try to get you to spend money on a long reading. Not every site is this way, but it pays to know which are and which will allow you unlimited free readings.
3. Your answers cannot be specific. If you want to know what man you are going to marry or if you are asking about the features of your new house or when you’ll get your promotion, an automated reading is unlikely to give you the fullest answers. A psychic tarot reader can use any card and twist and turn it over in her mind to see how the card applies to you with sometimes amazing results. She may look at one tiny symbol on a card and see that it relates exactly to the short, red-haired stranger that you are going to meet while traveling. Automated tarot readings are cookie-cutter print-outs of standardized descriptions which may or may not apply to you. Often you have to think about the online interpretation for a few minutes before you understand how it relates to your question. There is a lot more guesswork involved than in a live reading.
4. It’s easy to become addicted and keep asking the same question over and over because you didn’t understand or like the first reading’s results. You read the computerized interpretation, scratched your head and said, “Huh?” Or, maybe you saw the Death card or The Devil and you freaked out because you didn’t have someone there to explain to you what the card means. At other times, you’re just neurotic and you want to hear that you are going to date the “hottie” that you’ve been flirting with at the gym or at work. You didn’t like seeing the 3 of Swords card with its daggers poking through a bright red heart. You do another online tarot reading. Then you do another until you hear something you want to hear. This is not helpful and can actually be dangerous in some cases. At best, you are either confused or you are in denial. An automated tarot reading is not helping you in either case.
Free online readings can definitely be helpful if you are a beginner and you want to learn a little bit about tarot spreads but they can’t give you the full experience that you will get from a live reader. Use the readings to get quick answers to your questions or when you are on a tight budget, but always keep in mind what the limitations are. For the PROS of online tarot readings, see the The Pros of Free Online Tarot Readings.
