Hi Friends,
At this point I’ve been reading cards for many years.
I have come to realization that most Tarot teachers talk only about cards, their meanings and combinations. But hardly ever do they give advice on how to really become a PROFESSIONAL, what things to avoid and how to get over the fear to tell the truth.
This is what my blog posts are about.
I’ve made my mistakes and I’ve learned my lessons. I’ve went through a lot of education, taking in information from different Tarot educators all over the world.
But you know what, making mistakes is totally normal. And you who doesn't make mistakes? The one who doesn't do anything.
The mistakes we will talk about are typical for beginners and those who chose to study Tarot by themselves, without taking any formal education. And it is quite difficult to become a professional if you choose this path.
So, what are these common mistakes?
1. RELYING ON YOUR INTUITION TOO MUCH WITHOUT KNOWING THE CARDS WELL.
There, I’ve said it. You are probably surprised now because you thought that the key to success in Tarot is your intuition.
I will debunk this myth and tell you that ANYONE can become a good Tarot Reader because your intuition is only ONE of the things that will lead to your success but NOT the most important one.
First and foremost, you need to know your CARD MEANINGS and you need to know them really well.
And I mean really well. To the point if someone wakes you up at night and asks what does 8 of Cups mean you will be able to explain the card in details.
And I am not talking about the general meaning of the Card such as “moving on from what no longer serves you because clearly something is missing.”
You need to know how this card shows itself in different areas of a person’s life. What does it mean in relationship? What about finances? What if someone is looking to make a career move?
You need to know the detailed meaning of the card in THE MOST ASKED life situations, especially love life since it will attribute to around 80% of ALL your READINGS.
Only when you master your card meanings and not only know them but also understand the cards, why they have these specific illustrations and what meaning is behind them, you can tap into the intuitive part.
What do I mean by understanding the cards?
Whatever deck you selected to work with, you need to understand what are the most important Elements that are illustrated on the card and how they connect to its meaning.
Going back to 8 of Cups example. You need to be able to explain why there is Cup missing and how this relates to an emotional well-being of your client.
When you know the cards well enough, you should practice developing and improving the intuitive part. The more you practice reading cards, the more you will "train" your intuition.
The consistent work with Tarot cards will train your intuition. Eventually, you will be able to create a complete "picture" putting together all the cards in the spread.
However, be careful not to mix intuition with your fantasy. The intuition will not work until you work through every card, know how this card play out in different areas of life and until you know the correspondences of elements and how they interact with each other in a spread. More on that below.
All this is a FOUNDATION to your intuition.
Check out this great book to help you on your Tarot journey!
2. IGNORING OTHER ASPECTS OF TAROT ASIDE FROM GENERAL MEANINGS
If you thought learning Tarot is just memorizing card meanings, I am going to disappoint you here. It’s much more than that. But this is also what makes Tarot so amazing. Tarot is transformational.
You should not ignore things like astrology, colours, numerology and four Elements. And here is why.
For the purposes of this post, I will use elements as an example. We know that there are 4 elements in Tarot: Water, Fire, Air and Earth. These are four Tarot cards group of 14 cards of Minor Arcana. Each Tarot suite corresponds to the Element of Nature that gives that suite certain qualities and characteristics.
Depending on the Element of each card, the interaction of that card with another can be harmonious, opposing or neutral.
You need to understand that the way elements are positioned in the spread will not change the meaning of the card but will either increase the qualities of the card, making it stronger or the opposite.
If you have Water elements card beside a Fire element card, even if the cards are both good, the message they carry will be significantly weaker.
Do not. Ignore. Your elements, guys.
This may seem complicated and too much work and thinking but the sooner you start understanding elements and applying this information in your readings, the better will be the quality of your reading.
At the end, you will always go back to realizing you should have learned them earlier, so better start right away.
3. GIVING TOO MUCH OF YOUR OPINION INSTEAD OF READING CARDS.
Guys, let’s get real. Often Tarot readers are also psychologists, marriage counsellors and financial advisors. We are all of that.
But we should not forget why a person came to us instead of all of those above. People trust Tarot. They trust US to RELAY the INFORMATION CARDS ARE SAYING.
This is very important and often forgotten. I went once to an almost 2 hours reading where I only saw two spread done. The rest was just a conversation and advices from a point of view of a person that didn’t even know me.
Should you skip giving advices all together? No, of course not. But you may want to wait for your client to ask for one.
In my readings you will never hear me saying “I think you should.” No one cares about what I think, in my opinion. I always read cards. I am here as a messenger and to help deliver the MESSAGE OF THE CARDS to my clients.
Yes, my clients ask me for an opinion, but I always try to explain that this is what I would do based on my morals, goals and upbringing. And ALL of those may be completely different from my client’s situation.
I’m going to give you an example. You client’s husband is cheating on his wife. She’s in tears asking you what to do. You tell her how horrible this is and that she should definitely break up with him. She listens to you and does exactly that. Well, her family is now done, she’s left alone with her kinds, she already forgave her husband a thousand times and is now blaming YOU for ruining her life forever.
What you should’ve done instead? Read. Your. Cards.
“Your husband is cheating on you but whether you should leave him is your choice based on your life circumstances and how you respond to cheating.” Done.
Never forget about a free will. Everyone has a power to choose and learn their lessons.
Moral of a story? Always go back to your cards and let them be the foundation. This way your clients will never go back to you and say that you gave them an awful advice that ruined their life or relationship.
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