Plenty of Tarot readers, palmists etc regularly do readings for themselves. Whether it's something they take seriously and choose to take note of, or whether it's a light-hearted curiosity about what might come up, to one degree or another we've all given it a shot. I must say, I think I do my own cards and runes much less than the average reader. I have other, more consistently effective ways of offering myself counsel and advice, plus I have a feeling that I do bend the meanings and messages too much into what I desire to be the case and find it difficult to be objective. There are certain questions I'm too afraid to ask because I know that the messages which could arise might send me onto an emotional path I'm still too fragile to commit myself to. It's important to pick the right time to think in any depth about your most private issues and when it comes to using divinatory tools -which force you to look at everything from a different angle and with great intensity- that moment hasn't really arrived for me.I think it's important for readers to acknowledge, before doing their own readings, that it's not easy to be neutral. We can often find ourselves always seeing the best of worst in things, depending on our nature, rather than finding a balance between the two. We have hopes and expectations that drive just as deep as any querent experiences them, but when reading for ourselves there is very little distance and this makes perspective ten times harder to obtain. So, first of all, make sure you're ready and that you're not going to end up an emotional wreck if the cards you're hoping for don't come up. Next, make sure you're ready to read the cards faithfully and not proceed to pretend that the cards you wanted came up! Respect the process and it will respect you in return. If you've done a good reading and you feel it was a fairly balanced, realistic representation of the situation, you might want to ask other readers for their viewpoints out of interest or for clarity. Likewise, if you keep coming up with the same interpretation no matter which cards you've pulled, it's definitely time for some confirmation from an outside source.
It's one thing to use divinatory tools for comfort and clarity during difficult times, but quite another to use them to actively delude yourself or stop yourself from making any forward progress. If you're concerned that you might be using Tarot, Runes or some other method to procrastinate or delay the inevitable, put it down and pursue another form of support. Doing your own readings can be considered healthy and challenging. You're pushing the boundary, encouraging yourself to leave your own desires and hang-ups behind and embark on an impartial observation of your own life. There are few more interesting experiments in Tarot in particular. But the dangers have to be accepted.
(If you're concerned that you may be forming an unhealthy addiction to a divinatory method, read, 'when do you know you're addicted?')
