paying

crystaleyes

I think being payed for a reading is exploiting the very idea of spirituality. Its kinda like paying a priest for confession. Maybe donations but definitely no set fee. And as for the woman with the book I would venture to guess she was just never taught that reading the cards is reading the cards and not reading a book. We all have to start somewhere and it may help her to get the hang of the cards, however that whole idea of being paid is just so greedy. But that is just my opinion and I am entitled to my opinion.
 

Flavio

Hi Crystaleyes! welcome to Aeclectic Tarot!

I think is Ok to receive money for the readings, whether is called a donation or a fee, because the reader invest time and money to learn tarot, by this I don't want to sound as a "Tarot mercenary" I just want to receipt something fair in exchange for all the investment that lead me to be able to read Tarot.

Of course I can give free readings for friends and family, actually most of my reading are like that, but that is my choice and feel lucky to be able to share, but when I think on the people who do readings for a living it seems to me it is OK for them to charge the reading for their time and their learning investment.

Pay to the priest for the confession? actually is done, not right after the confession but during the mass service :)
 

Sophie

priests don't live off holy water...

...and tarot readers cannot eat their cards. Of course priests get paid! Maybe not for the individual confessions, but the Church pays them - and where does it get its money from? (the faithful, of course).

Some people live off tarot readings. It's their vocation, what they do. What are they supposed to do, but charge?

The question is - how much is reasonable, fair and not greedy? Depends on who you read for. What is greedy in a council estate is not in a mansion. It also depends on the length of the session, on your experience. It depends on the demand!

As for gifts - I fail to see the difference between accepting a bottle of wine and a banknote: except I would probably enjoy the wine more.
 

magpie9

Value for Value is not a bad thing. How to you suppose the Scales of Justice work if there is nothing on one side?
 

Rosanne

Hi CrystalEyes, Welcome to a great Forum. You live in a very beautiful part of the World and twice now I have paid megabucks to go visit there. I wish it was free to go see, but people need my tourist Dollar to survive and I need theirs when they come visit New Zealand. As for Tarot Readings and Priests I agree with Helvetica's Post, except in one small area- I would prefer the money to the wine. Hhhmmmm chocolate. ~Rosanne
 

GypsyMeli

Yes, according to the bible church goers are required to tithe 15% of their weekly earnings to the church. Of course not every one does, and it doesn't hurt not to tithe, but it is in the bible. That money does go towards paying the priests, nuns, etc. Depending on the denomination it will pay pastors, secretarys, etc. Then the church is always asking for donations for renovations, special events. And the catholic church charges to light a candle in honor of someone, so you're basically paying for a prayer.

So I have to agree that it is OK to charge for tarot readings. I do free readings for friends, but lately my friends have been sending other friends/family over to me. I am spending time reading for people I don't know and using up my time. I will not charge any time soon, but as soon as I have mastered the tarot I do plan to charge for extra cash.
 

crystaleyes

i see

i really see everyones point about tithing and such now that i can understand, making it a career I guess that is just a personal issue, thank you everyone for the insight, it helped to broaden my mind(which needs to be done sometimes)
 

crystaleyes

i'll get the hang of this yet

anyways thanks everyone for the insight into the matter, it has helped to broaden my thoughts quite a bit.
 

Asenath

I agree with Crystal, although I like the idea of charging a fee when reading for the public, too.

But like Gypsy Meli points out, the church has the notion of the tythe (15%? I thought it was 10% or did it go up with retaurant tips? Shows when I've last been back! ;) ) But I thought that the idea behind tything was it was that it was supposed to come back to you in some way, though I could have very well dreamt that idea up. At the very least you can always tell yourself that the money to whatever church you go to goes back to paying for the upkeep of the building.

In church you don't HAVE to pay, but if someone is asking for a donation I'd feel obligated to and if they're asking for a fee, depending on the price I may also be put off partly for the reason that Crystal states in her original post.

On a side note, I remember going to a church with a pretty large congregation and the collection plate went around at least 3 times. Thanks but no thanks.
 

Alta

I disagree that you can make a one to one correspondance between taking money for reading and tithing to support a religion.

A tarot reading comes with experience and study, as one learning a craft. A woodworker learns a craft and if they are a great woodworker, then it is deep in their soul. They get paid the regular way. Everything you do well comes from the spirit, not just tarot. And people get paid for what they have learned and what they deliver to others, the fruit of their studies. It is a red herring to say that tarot is a spiritual gift and thus must be given freely. Anything well done is a spiritual gift and society is regulated in such a way that you can exchange your talents for what you need to live.