Hi! What about... 18 & 21? :)
18: Your opinion on the Tower, Death, The Devil, 10 of Swords and other ‘negative’ cards?
I think we consider these cards “negative” because they signify things like suffering or a lack of control, but they aren’t usually 100% bad. In particular, Death and the Devil don’t often have fully negative meanings - Death is just inevitable change, but it isn’t the end; the Devil isn’t necessarily evil, since it might be indulgence in a vice or freedom. The placements and the question being asked are far more important than the “raw” meanings of these cards!
(That said, the 10 of Swords is a card that has shown up in exactly one reading that I can recall, and it foretold great suffering. It’s rare for me to get a message like that, but it’s always a warning.)
21: 5 things you have learned from practicing tarot (about yourself, people, tarot, etc)?
Not everyone is going to be nice about it when a reading doesn’t go the way they were expecting. When someone isn’t ready to receive a message, it can be scary, and they might get mad or send a mean message... but that isn’t a reason to stop reading tarot!
There is always more than one perspective in a spread. It’s important to evaluate the different meanings between the cards to knit together an accurate, cohesive message that makes sense.
I love reading for cynics! It’s fun to hear their takes on a spread, since they can poke holes in my descriptions in a way that other querents might not. It makes me a better reader, since I have to flex different logical muscles!
Most people want to believe in tarot and other forms of divination. They want guidance and comfort. That’s why we have to be careful to not mislead or harm our querents - they want to trust their reader, so they will.
I’m very sensitive to criticism, so one of the most valuable lessons tarot has taught me is how to be wrong - how to be wrong, how to apologize, and how to grow without letting less-than-kind words hurt me.
(Whoops, these answers were kinda long. Sorry!!)
