Have you ever seen a tarot reader in their element? Shuffling the cards, laying out a spread and finally flipping them to reveal what the cards hold? It’s an experience that keeps you at the edge-of-your-seat. Perhaps you’ve also imagined being the person with the answers and the insights.
If you’re nodding your head to this statement, then you’re in the right place. This is a tell-all about how you can become a tarot reader, what skills you need to be a tarot reader and most importantly, it will answer if you CAN become a tarot reader.
Like any other profession in the world, the role of being a tarot reader comes with its own skill set.
Skillset Of A Good Tarot Reader
Intuitive Abilities
A tarot reader is only as good as their intuition. Tarot reading is all about the intuition you have about your client, their responses, and the spreads. Beyond the textbook knowledge of the deck and the symbols, being able to provide tailored insights into your client’s situation is key for a good tarot reader.
Knowledge Of The Cards And Their Meanings
This is quite obvious. Being a tarot reader, all your cards should be at your fingertips and what meaning each hold. That is to say you should be in a place where you can interpret any spread without having to refer to your guidebook or scratching your head in thought as to what it might mean.
Great Communication Skills
The entire job profile of a tarot reader is to communicate with their clients. Be it for interpretation, questioning or even your greetings, tarot readers need to be good communicators so that they can convey their messages in a clear and concise manner. You certainly don’t want to further confuse your client by not using the proper communication skills.
Critical Thinking
Learning the meaning behind the symbolism in the cards is not all. You should also have a good knowledge of card placements and what each of them means. It’s not enough to just attach the textbook meaning to your card and interpret it the same for every single spread. Every spread might have the same card show up but in different locations and for different topics. You should know how to break down each situation and add meaning to the spread accordingly.
High Emotional Intelligence
Being sensitive and attentive to the emotions of the client and yours is crucial in a reading session. You’re basically acting as the guide for the client at this moment and you hold and lot of responsibility over them in terms of their mental and emotional state.
Hence, it is important for tarot readers to have a high EQ so that you can create a safe environment for your clients to feel comfortable sharing their information.
Knowing Different Spreads
As a tarot reader, you need to know your spreads. And while there are tons of spreads and it’s virtually impossible to know each one without drawing a blank, you need to have at least 3 safety spreads that you know like the back of your hand.
There are going to be different clients with different questions and problems and with it, different solutions. It’s not enough to only stick to one type of spread and work with that through every single client.
Different situations require different approaches and thus, having at least 3 different spreads in your arsenal is a good technique to never be stumped when faced with an unfamiliar situation.
Besides, different spreads can have vastly different meanings even though the same cards might appear. Depending on the topic and the client, your interpretation of these cards will shift and change as you see fit.
Good Problem-Solving Skills
When you go into a reading, you can never predict how a client is going to react or respond. Maybe they will take it on the chin or they might start analyzing the situation or some might even have a total breakdown. Your role as a reader is to help your clients find clarity in such situations and guide them toward the right path by encouraging self-reflection.
Tips On How To Get Started As A Tarot Reader
Develop Your Mission Statement
Like with any other business, a mission statement will help clearly define your goals for this role as a tarot reader. Whatever your intentions are as a tarot reader, understand it on a deeper level and use it ethically to always deliver on your promises as a professional.
Develop Ethical Boundaries
The lines are blurry when you look at the holistic approach of tarot readings. But there should always be clearly set boundaries as a professional working with clients.
This is important for both parties as you don’t want to unknowingly land yourself in trouble when you are just doing what the client asked of you. Likewise, your client will also need to respect your personal and professional boundaries before, during and after a reading.
Join A Community
There’s much learning in being with like-minded individuals with whom you can share your woes, ask questions about the profession, and share experiences with each other. Having the support of your community in the work that you do can be very empowering and can even offer inspiration.
Practice Everyday
From the time you decide to become a tarot reader to the day you retire, always be practicing and always be learning. You can do readings for yourself or your friend and family to help get the real-life experience of how it is going to go down when you have real clients. Practice can help hone your skills and create an even stronger connection with your intuition.
Learn About Different Cultures
As a tarot reader, you will meet people from all walks of life. Cultural awareness will enable one to make sense of the situation at hand and avoid offending your clients unknowingly or other miscommunication that might arise from the difference in culture.
