Why I write on my cards

Many years ago I was at a Psychic Fair in California and watched my first cold readers. These people were good at what they did but I noticed a savvy client getting a reading and noting that the cards didn't look at all like they meant what the reader was saying.

This situation gave me an idea to write keywords on the cards, to make them a part of the image so it didn't detract from what was on the card. I did this to not only encourage the client to look at the card, but to see how the whole thing worked together. I found throughout time that many of my clients loved this little touch and tended to come back for more readings, not just so I could read, but so they could really get what I was reading. I often heard them say that they often wondered if the reader just made things up that seemed to make them happy.

To this day, I have decks that I have keywords written on for client reading. Of course, I also have many decks without that I use for intuitive only readings, but I use the keyword decks with most in person readings.

I don't mean to say people should do this, but it's something to think about next time you see a cold reader scamming a client.

Here's a card from my Deviant Moon deck. I have both upright and reversal keywords written so they are easy to read in position. I don't have a scanner so had to do it with a pic. I know some people will think this is total blasphemy, but it works for the people I read for, they really love having some idea of how the reading is formed.

Wow...that is interesting....

I guess I'm most surprised that it makes the querent feel more comfortable....
I never thought about writing on my cards.... you did yours in such a pretty way..... : )

Love it. I wish I could count on my handwriting being readable, it sure wouldn't be pretty.

I can see that would make some clients more comfortable, and you did a nice job. I'm glad you put up a pic because when I read this, that was not what I had pictured in my head

Wow, thanks people. I was sure this old habit of mine would bring ire. It took many years to find a way to do it to look good, lots of mistakes, and yuck. I always have a non written copy of each deck I have written on. All of them are decks I keep with me at all times.

I'm glad the picture showed up OK, it was hard not getting too much glare.

Devil's advocate here...

What happens, though, when you are doing a reading and--(for example) knowing that an ill-dignified or "reversed", say, Two of Cups can "mean" unrequited love, dissolution, even divorce...yet your keywords on the card say Love, Partnership, Initial Attraction or the like? Wouldn't that interrupt the flow of your reading to take time to explain that any given card has a whole range of energy possibilities but in this reading today, I see it as...whatever?

It could be that the reader you saw that day was not scamming the client, but was reading the images intuitively--even if they didn't click with the client at that moment (which often happens, as we all know...)

I went to a reader once who read from a deck she had colored herself with crayons and had written keywords on, and my first thought was "Are you kidding? Is this a tarot deck or flash cards?" In her defense, she gave a terrific reading...but strayed quite a bit from the keywords she had written on the cards. Being a reader myself, I understood and did not question her intuition or wisdom...but had I not had previous experience with tarot, I would have come away from it scratching my head and would probably have used half the allotted time asking her about the keywords...

I guess I could just see that penning in keywords, while helpful for beginners to learn from, could be as big a hindrance--or moreso--once a reader moves further along on her tarot journey...

Just my opinion...

You are in titled to write on them, It's best to keep notes that you can see and read rather than going through a journal.

Good points Starry.

The group of readers at that fair were traveling cold readers, there was no intuitiveness going on except to fish out what the client was looking for. It was not a public event that anyone could pay a table fee, they were like a band of modern day Gypsies.

The way I do it, I make it so you can see upright keywords and then reversed in their proper positions. I do take the time to explain the whole picture and how I get to it as we go along. I also explain card combination's as well.

I didn't learn tarot with keywords so I don't know how it would affect a new reader, I didn't even know they had specific meanings until about ten years after I started reading.

It's OK not to like the idea though, I expected that and it's no problem for me. I just wanted to share something that my clients appreciate.

Most importantly though, is they understand that the readings are fluid and they keywords are just a general starting point for each individual card.

Yeah, I can see doing that. When I first started, back when dirt was new, I had a practice deck where I made notes on the back (on a piece of label paper, stuck onto each card) about keywords, imagery, etc. I didn't use them in readings, but for study purposes, sort of like flash cards.
I don't explain the whole process to clients as I go along. I don't say this card in this position means blah blah blah, partly because I am working on being smoother at making a whole of readings and blending everything together, if that makes sense. Also, I am reading, not giving lessons, so, if they want to know that they can sign up for a class or pay me to teach them to read. Either that or they can get a book and a deck and go at it like I did! It's not that hard to memorize meanings for the cards, etc, I don't think, and I have a memory like swiss cheese, so...
I dunno, I might be cranky today, but just my two cents worth.
I do think your cards look nice with the words on them. I guess if you are going to do it, that's far more elegant than what I did. That would be a good suggestion for teachers to use.

Silver Crow,

I forgot to add that I really like the way you did them on the Deviant Moon deck...it's almost like they were part of the artwork, and not intrusive at all (like the ones on the cards of the reader I had seen.) With my [bad] eyesight, I could hardly even read the words you had added.