After Your Psychic Reading: What to Do With What Was Said

This is the part nobody talks about, and yet it is the only part that really counts. A reading changes nothing by itself. What changes something is what you do with it in the days that follow.

Most people come out with a lot of information, remember one thing, forget it within three weeks, and book again. Here is how to avoid that.

Within twenty four hours: write it down

It is the most important step, and the one people always skip because they want time to digest.

Write down three sentences at most. The ones that made you react, not the ones you liked. The difference is essential.

Also write down what annoyed you. It is often the most useful information of the session. What resists carries the essential.

Write down what you did not dare to ask. That question is usually the real one.

Do it quickly. After forty eight hours, your memory has already rearranged the exchange around what you wanted to hear.

Within the week: one action, just one

Identify one concrete step, doable in an hour, that follows from what was said.

A conversation to have. A message not to send. An appointment to make. A boundary to set. An activity to pick up again.

Just one. The temptation is to change everything, and that never lasts more than ten days. One precise step, carried out, is worth more than five resolutions.

This is the point where a reading becomes useful or stays decorative.

A month later: reread

Take out your notes again. You will almost always find the same thing: what struck you at the time was not the most important part, and a remark slipped in along the way did all the work.

This rereading also applies to your own spreads, because it lets you turn impressions into verifiable observations.

The three post session traps

Clinging to one sentence

Especially if it hinted at hope. You repeat it, turn it over, and it becomes a promise when it was only a nuance.

The remedy is the journal. A sentence written next to nine others regains its proper proportion.

Waiting instead of acting

A reading that sets up waiting has produced the opposite effect from the one intended. If you come out telling yourself "now all I can do is be patient", something did not work, and it is often the initial question that was badly asked.

The questions that actually get answers on emotional ground are all about you, precisely to avoid this effect.

Booking again too soon

The reflex appears as soon as worry rises again, usually after a few days. It is the beginning of a cycle in which the relief gets shorter and the frequency increases.

One or two readings a year, around a real crossroads, is a healthy rhythm. If you draw the cards yourself, settle with a cool head the question of how long to wait before coming back to the same subject.

When the reading disappointed you

It happens, and it is not necessarily a sign that you were taken in.

Three causes come up. The question was too vague, and so was the answer. You were expecting a prediction and received insight. Or there was no chemistry, which happens as in any professional relationship.

In the first two cases, preparing differently changes everything the next time. In the third, change practitioners without a second thought.

On the other hand, if you were promised a result, given a date, or offered an additional paid service during the session, that is not disappointment, it is a fundamental problem. The criteria that set a reliable practitioner apart keep you from falling into the same pattern again.

Continuing the work on your own

Many people continue the process between readings, with a deck and a journal. It is an excellent follow up, and often more formative than the session itself.

The simplest exercise is to take the question from the reading, rephrase it in your own words, and ask it yourself a few weeks later. Comparing the two readings is instructive. If your reading was about a career or financial project, know that the right questions to ask about a career change and your finances can guide you through this step.

Beware, though, of self indulgence, which lies in wait as soon as you read for yourself on a subject that matters. The safeguards that keep you from only seeing what suits you are essential in this continuation. If you use tarot, a good understanding of the minor arcana and how to read them in a spread will enrich your interpretation.

If a card from the reading stays on your mind, take the time to explore its meaning further. The Emperor, for example, is often reduced to authority, whereas his meaning in tarot also speaks of protection and building.

The World often appears at the end of a reading, as an invitation to integrate what was said. Discover the meaning of the World in tarot.

This is especially true after a reading about a breakup: reread our article will he come back? What tarot can really tell you to keep your expectations realistic.

The real indicator of success

A useful reading is not measured by the accuracy of its predictions, since there should not be any.

It is measured by this: a month later, have you done something you were not doing before? A conversation, a boundary, a decision, even a small one.

If yes, the session served its purpose. If not, it is no big deal, but question the question you asked.

To place this post session work within the whole process, the general framework of a reading about your love life puts it simply: the exchange gives you words, the movement comes from you.