Cult of Tarot Forum

I'm curious how the community feels about doing "past life" readings for themselves, friends & family, or paying clients.

I have a healthy skepticism of reincarnation but I don't reject in 100%. However, I don't think this is the kind of thing the tarot can accurately depict though it can make for some creative and entertaining storytelling. So if someone came to me and asked if I would do it for them, I'd probably say just that and if I was in the mood, I'd do a free reading for my fun and there.

I wouldn't feel right, however, doing it for money. There's a lot of kinds of readings my 2020+ sensibilities wouldn't feel right doing for money and this would be one of them.

What about you?

I feel similarly about the concept of reincarnation. If anything, I lean more towards some sort of non-linear time idea, probably influenced by my teenage reading of "The Education of Oversoul 7".

I have four "past lives" (for lack of a better idea of what they actually represent) that I'm aware of, one of which I was unintentionally "reminded" of through a tarot reading many years ago (the other three I just "know" ). The tarot *hit* notwithstanding, it's not a method I'd put any great faith in, certainly not in my hands, so while I'd be willing to have a go for curiosity's sake, it's not something I would ever charge money for.

What I flat out will not read for is anything to do with twin flame, soul mate, starseed, etc twaddle. And yes, I can see the irony in entertaining the possibility of the one concept while totally rejecting the others.

I've briefly seen the topic in lists of videos and blog topics etc. I do believe in reincarnation, but haven't seriously thought about doing a reading on it myself.

I'm not sure how I feel about it. I think it could be very tricky. There is no way of verifying if you are correct or not, and I think it could be problematic if a person's reading abilities are not very strong yet. I don't think I would do such a reading, but if I did I would make sure to create a well defined spread rather than a free flowing draw so that I could pinpoint relevant aspects more easily (whatever these were defined as beforehand). If not done well I think it could falsely give the querent ideas about who they were and therefore to some extent who they might be as a person now (depending on the individual of course).

That's just my initial thoughts.

There very well may be people who are gifted enough to do past life readings.

I'm not sure everyone who does them is so gifted.
There seems to be a number of people who believe they were Cleopatra.

But I don't mean to make a dumb joke about it. I think if you matched a person who had a real reason to want to know, say they had strong indications somehow of a past life, with an actually gifted reader of this kind, it could be a very interesting enlightening experience.

I've heard some really compelling stories from people. Lon Milo DuQuette I recall had a very interesting one about how he had died in a previous life and saw and felt indications of it in the present. I don't recall the whole story exactly but it was extremely convincing and I am sure many other people have them as well.

I would absolutely be interested in learning more- ie what type of spread would be best, questions etc. I can't say I firmly believe in reincarnation but I can't say its not true either..

Last night I watched the film, Little Buddha. (Keanu Reeves plays Prince Siddhatha/Buddha. With Chris Isaak, and Bridget Fonda) - a really good flick that puts reincarnation into perspective. It made me wonder if Tarot can answer these types of questions.

I've recently been working with whole deck spreads: 3 x 21 card spreads with a 15 card qualifier. As they are really just past, present, and future spreads, laid out in three rows of seven like an open book, (the three central key cards sit like the a book's spine).

Each reading takes me about a week to digest due to lack of experience, (the trilogy, with the 15 card index) takes about a month in total. But I'm sure this type of reading would be ideal for investigating reincarnation, because it uses all of the cards.

BlueStar wrote: ↑23 Feb 2021, 09:52I would make sure to create a well defined spread rather than a free flowing draw so that I could pinpoint relevant aspects more easily

I agree that defining card positions would be more helpful than just past, present, future. Or in this case, present, past, ultra-past.
I'd even try using real reference books in conjunction with the Tarots, if a time period were reached and clearly in focus. Although that may sound a little spooky, it might also be very exciting. And who knows, if it worked out well it could be profitable.

I saw this picture recently and wondered what it meant. It makes perfect sense now -
I think I was supposed to see it. Link

I'm on the fence about past lives. I think a lot of ideas around it sound like total nonsense, but I also can't reject the concept 100%. Trying to do a Tarot reading about it sounds like an interesting experiment -- like you said, if nothing else, it'd make for an entertaining story.

I don't know if I'd do readings like that for money, either. I don't think I have the skill or knowledge. I guess it would be fine if the person you're reading for understands that and just REALLY want to know what a reading would come up with.

Despite saying he doesn't like doing them, Andy Boroveshengra had a good past life spread on his blog a while back.... but I think it's been pulled, unfortunately.

Years ago, with a spirit of adventure and no expectations, I did a no-spread past life reading for a friend, asking what event in a previous life had led to the formation of a troublesome hang up in this one. The cards described an event, a set of circumstances, and my friend immediately recognised it from his childhood. So, despite the question, the Tarot, being the great sage that it is, said "Hey, forget about past lives, the problem started here in this one!"

I've had similar experiences with "soul mate'' type questions.

So, in my view, we should feel free to ask the cards anything we want. But we should also be prepared to receive an answer that might not fit with our expectations.

As for whether or not past lives are a thing: There are a number of scientifically trained researchers out there who are convinced they've accumulated enough verifiable evidence for reincarnation to make it a serious possibility.

Someone recently pointed me towards this guy: https://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/users/james-g-matlock

Regarding soul-mates, the idea has so much romance..... I want it to be true!

devin wrote: ↑12 Sep 2021, 09:02 Years ago, with a spirit of adventure and no expectations, I did a no-spread past life reading for a friend, asking what event in a previous life had led to the formation of a troublesome hang up in this one. The cards described an event, a set of circumstances, and my friend immediately recognised it from his childhood. So, despite the question, the Tarot, being the great sage that it is, said "Hey, forget about past lives, the problem started here in this one!"

This gave me a good chuckle. The Tarot really has a way to give you the answers you need, even if they're not what you expect!

dust wrote: ↑12 Sep 2021, 16:24 This gave me a good chuckle. The Tarot really has a way to give you the answers you need, even if they're not what you expect!

Yeah, I've come to see the Tarot as being a little like those cranky Zen masters that are always jumping out from behind corners and hitting their students with sticks.

devin wrote: ↑12 Sep 2021, 09:02
Someone recently pointed me towards this guy: https://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/users/james-g-matlock

Thanks for the link, the site looks interesting.