The Blank Spot
By Allan Ritchie
My journey with Rory’s Story Cubes is at a bit of a standstill. I am in the dead place where I find myself looking at a casting but I do not see the message. That moment when everything that I have done to understand the mechanics of the oracle fails and all I see are discordant images. Working with an oracle is traversing a maze of meaning and clues to arrive at the truth. There are times when the reader finds the way blocked and at a dead end. The prize of the truth and understanding at the end of the path presses us on but standing at the dead end is frustrating and disheartening. I struggle to make sense of the Story Cubes. I am at a point where if I am losing that determination.
This month I am willing to look at the challenges. I have encountered what some have called the “Blank Spot.” The blank spot is a point in the use of an oracle when the reader finds a mental silence at the sight of a reading. The blank spot is the distressing point when the whole is less than the individual parts. The yearning of the reader is to hear the voice of divination and get the spark of intuition. There is a moment of relish when the oracle connects us with the unseen. Once experienced it is like a drug that we crave and want to share with the client. I look at the blank spot again with a new oracle device. I refuse to give up so I am confronted to deal with it again.
Confronting the blank spots starts with understanding the cause. There are a few reasons for the blank spots. One reason is when the readings do not seem to correspond with the question. Second cause is burn out. Another reason is a lack of technique. Each is problematic and each has a very different resolution.
If a question doesn’t seem to fit the readings is a very common reason for the blank spot. You have the question in your mind then laid out the oracle but there is zero connection. When I am ask a question there are some assumptions. In a reading there are some typical of cards I am going to get in regard to certain subjects. Work questions I expect to see Pentacles and Wands. In a Relationship reading I know I am going to see some Cups. Even if you get cards that do not associate with the subject of the reading it can leave a reader scratching her head. Just as some clients have a preconceived expectation of the answer to a question a long time intuitive can also develop expectations as well. Sometimes as a reader I have to orientate myself to see the unexpected. If a reading doesn’t seem to have a coherent message it is frustrating. We press and try to make it fit and fight or surrender to the urge to pull a “clarifying card.” The blockade of the blank spot in these readings is frustrating and even more so if you have a client that is looking at you in the face for answer. We are stuck to build a reading based on what we can see and at the end this leaves us unsatisfied and dispirited.
Burn out is a real issue and that can derail a reader. There are two main causes for burn out. Becoming so immersed in the oracle, study and readings without proper balance can cause a reader to run dry. Like a tank of fuel that is used up and leaving nothing else to give. This fix will necessitate time off and recharging by a nice walk or a night out socializing with family and friends. I suffer from burn out on a regular basis. Awareness is half the battle and I accept that it happens. At times I need to set the decks aside for a season. Burn out can come from clients. Answering the same questions over and over with again is a frustration that can be overwhelming. We hear that if you do what you love then you will never work a day in your life. Pretty sentiment but making your hobby your source of income can take the thrill and whimsy out of it. In every profession there is a time for a vacation and you leave it behind for a time. Intuitive work is the same.
The blank spot I am facing is the lack of technique that I feel with the Story Cubes. At times it is like standing before a locked door. I know that there is a way in but the skills or the tools are not yet within my reach. If I had a student learning Tarot with this feeling I would be supportive and encouraging. When we are alone and face it though it is daunting and insurmountable. The lessons I am learning is that I have to accept what struggles there are and press on anyway. The struggle is real for many of us and even when we have trained, studied, taught and instructed the old patterns of working can run dry and we have to rediscover a new path. In the challenge we determine if pressing on is worth the cost. The daily discipline and rigor of slow advancement is a cost I am paying now in hope that there is a vault of truth to be encountered.
Trying
new things, doing the old things over and over for a long period of
time and not giving up is essential to mastering any new task, skill
or proficiency. Working with the Tarot effectively did not happen
quickly and I had forgotten. There were and continue to be many hours where I pour over the
individual cards to understand them. There are many books I have read and
courses I have taken and taught that built upon my experience Having completed thousands of reading s for both myself and clients has engrained in me the working nuances of readings. The multiple conferences I have attended enriches me by introducing new ideas and exercizes, they also keep me fresh and energized by sharing in community with others. This new tool will take just as longfor me to forge new territory.
Commitment to press on and keep up the work is essential to success. The frustration of the blank spot is part of the journey and the rewards await those who persevere.