Professional tarot readers

Sulis

misser_piggit said:
I think its pretty lame the same 4-6 people showed up on this thread to criticize and insult. I've seen you some of you do this before to other new people. I don't give a flying rats ass what you think of me. And I'm pretty sure in my first post i made it more than clear i was intrested in the how you did it and not what i need to do.

Congratulations old timers. Point made.

Hi misser_piggit,

Please go back and read through the thread again, no-one has criticised or insulted you.. People here have given advice based on what you said…
I think re-reading re-peta-a's post above may really help you to see where people are coming from here. Here's a link to his post: http://www.tarotforum.net/showpost.php?p=4005286&postcount=36

You asked about reading professionally and you stated that you would only read for a certain type of person (that's fine, we all have our boundaries) but you also said you'd only read for people if they showed that they had grown spiritually between readings and had a certain ethical standard.. Seasoned professional readers pointed out that that is a naive and judgemental way of going into professional tarot reading and that having such a stance will negatively effect both your business and you.
That isn't an attack or an insult, that's good advice that many pro readers who started out and found it much more of a demanding and responsible job than they first imagined it to be, may well wish they'd been told when first starting out…
Please try not to dismiss those trying to advise you just because they're saying something that you don't necessarily want to hear..

Apollonia

misser_piggit said:
I would love love love to hear your stories of taking that first step. And advice! Everything and anything you want to share
Thanks for sharing i will be back in about an hour to share mine too but i haven't taken that step yet

misser_piggit said:
I think its pretty lame the same 4-6 people showed up on this thread to criticize and insult. I've seen you some of you do this before to other new people. I don't give a flying rats ass what you think of me. And I'm pretty sure in my first post i made it more than clear i was intrested in the how you did it and not what i need to do.

Congratulations old timers. Point made.

Hang on a minute there, young'un--you asked for, and I quote: "advice! Everything and anything you want to share

" so I shared some of what I wanted to share (not all of it, because believe it or not, in case you were sincere, I didn't want to totally burst your nice fantasy bubble and bum you out before you even began your foray into Tarot as a career). Maybe your definitions of "advice" and "everything" differ from mine. (I use the standard ones.)

Yes I'm incredibly old (60, gasp) and I've done this for a while now. Perhaps you should have stipulated that you wanted advice on how to create a long term successful Tarot career from young newbies only. I'm sure in that case you would have gotten many responses (alas, most of them of the "Well, I've never actually read for anyone in person, but if I did, I'd..." variety).

Dagnabbit, you've gotten me so consarned upset, I'm going to go gum some porridge and think back on my glory days when I used to do readings for Mrs. Lincoln.

ravenest

Apollonia said:
Dagnabbit, you've gotten me so consarned upset, I'm going to go gum some porridge and think back on my glory days when I used to do readings for Mrs. Lincoln.

< at the retirement home for old tarot readers >

"Well, consarn it Appollonia, actually ... sometimes I am glad I dont do public readings any more. No, its not like it used to be, and probably never will be again. All this commercialism has changed everything and I ... excuse me a moment ... "

< learns forward in wheelchair and whacks passing apprentice 'Tarot-True' Reader ( Reg. TM Inc. ) with his walking stick>

minotaur

Ways I have got clients in the past...

Walk in to a new age bookstore, tell them I read. They asked for a demo. I got hours there.

Did $2 mini-palm readings in another bookstore...got clients from that.

Got clients from psychic fairs...rent a booth and go to work.

Got clients from various classes I taught on new age subjects.

Went to theatrical agents and got listed as a party reader. Got work there.

In a tourist area a good way to get readings is find a tourist restaurant with a bar for people to wait for their table. You do readings for tips there. These are 3-5 card quick readings, more entertainment than serious.

I have never been successful in coffee shops but many people have.

In short, get out and meet people who might want readings. Figure out how to let them know you do readings. The key thing is a sitter wants a person, not a reading type. They may initially seek out a tarot reader but they are really looking for a counselor/friend who won't judge them.

Looking for emotionally healthy clients? Good luck. No one is that way. Everybody has something, some big mistake in their past they have covered up, some personal flaw that haunts them all their days. Some can't get past being a pleaser. For others it is the opposite problem, hostility. Maybe it is a memory once pleasant but now tinged with regret.

People do the best they can, the best they know how at the time.

Everybody got something. You, me, them...everybody.

It is the imperfections, and the acceptance of those imperfections in yourself (easier) and others (a lot harder to do) that allow a deep relationship to form. That acceptance also makes for a very good tarot reading.

VioletEye

misser_piggit said:
I think its pretty lame the same 4-6 people showed up on this thread to criticize and insult. I've seen you some of you do this before to other new people. I don't give a flying rats ass what you think of me. And I'm pretty sure in my first post i made it more than clear i was intrested in the how you did it and not what i need to do.

Congratulations old timers. Point made.

wow. i know i'm a bit late to the party here, but it's rare to see someone so insulted - for that, i'm sorry, misser_piggit.
but like RunningWild, i went back in the thread to see what i had missed that had been so outrageous, and couldn't find it. (?)
i thought it was an interesting thread; i'm not sure exactly who the "old timers" are and just what it was that was so offensive, but this response of yours seems pretty defensive.
my advice: take the advice! i really think there are some well-thought-out responses here, there's a lot to chew on, and from experienced readers.

in particular, i think Sulis has a good point:

Sulis said:
Hi missed_piggit, I think this is your problem (above).. You see it isn't your reading, it's their reading. You're just delivering the message..
Once we start thinking in terms like 'it's my reading, my rules', you're letting your own ego take over… What someone does with their reading is entirely up to them and if they don't want to use it to help them to grow or improve their morals or ethics then that's their choice and it has nothing to do with you…

i think what people are saying is that you need to figure out who you want to read for; if it's self-readings for meditation, or select clients to your liking, then so be it. maybe that's what makes you happy. but if it's for the general public, be prepared to take on the crazy! in a good way, i mean ~ i like a little crazy in my coffee...

nisaba

VioletEye said:
wow. i know i'm a bit late to the party here, but it's rare to see someone so insulted - for that, i'm sorry, misser_piggit.
but like RunningWild, i went back in the thread to see what i had missed that had been so outrageous, and couldn't find it. (?)

Perhaps the moderators removed it. Quickly, because I didn't see it either.

It is an interesting topic - how we have travelled from self-readings to reading for others. There are some interesting stories here - the thread is worth re-reading to see how different people got their different start.

I like that some of the more experienced public readers felt relaxed enough to offer pointers about how miser_piggit might maximise reading-potential by softening some of her hard-edges and being a bit more open to the diversity of opinion: it was disappointing to see the reaction.

I remember when I started reading in a new-age shop I was in a decade or so ago: I rocked up to the shop and asked the owner if there were any available shifts. She asked me for a reading before she made any offer - it was the first time I had been auditioned, so to speak, and it felt odd. I could have told her what she wanted to hear. She had two shops in two different suburbs, and based on the cards in front of me, I told her she was spreading herself too thin and might need to close one of the shops. She denied it flatly. I was given a shift in one of the shops, and worked there for several months before things changed. One of the changes was that she couldn't keep running both of the shops and closed one of them. She never saw how that fitted in with what I'd said before, and I didn't draw her attention to it. A year or so after I'd moved on, I noticed that, sadly, the second shop had closed down, too. I believe she went back to Sweden, leaving her Australianised teenager behind.

In retrospect, I don't know why more of the new age shops where I've worked didn't do auditioning readings up front, although in the fullness of time I ended up reading for all of their owners. It seems to make sense. In one place where I worked for well over twelve years, I turned up just to say hello on a day that wasn't mine, and found a new reader sitting in the reading-space - reading the very basic RW how-to book! If she was doing readings for people paying $50 a time, I'd expect her to be way past reading basic beginner's texts - perhaps reading more arcane Tarot books.

gregory

nisaba said:
Perhaps the moderators removed it. Quickly, because I didn't see it either.

I think the issue she took exception to is the idea that selecting your clients isn't what most of us felt was a good idea, and that I for one felt that judging their ethics was not the best way to read for them. I don't think anything was removed so you'd notice.

I think what was expected as answers was this kind of thing - how you started - but there were quite a few posts - including mine - which suggested that it was quite important to look at one's POSITION ion it all before starting at all.

I think Sulis' post expressed it best:

You see it isn't your reading, it's their reading. You're just delivering the message..
Once we start thinking in terms like 'it's my reading, my rules', you're letting your own ego take over… What someone does with their reading is entirely up to them and if they don't want to use it to help them to grow or improve their morals or ethics then that's their choice and it has nothing to do with you…

I think if you go into reading professionally thinking as you are doing now, you'll fail because you'll be doing it for you and not for the people who are coming to you for help.

I really do think that our job as readers is to deliver the message that we see in the cards and no more.. I think not judging or expecting things from our clients is really very, very important.. That's not to say that you can't refuse to read for someone if you think that you can't relate to them for any reason whatsoever, personal boundaries and integrity are very important but leave the judgement and the ego at the door and strive to become a good messenger and that's it..

And it was not taken on board or appreciated.

Grizabella

The post in which she was offended is still there. I found it. And it's just basically that she's feeling that the same 4-6 people were posting negative things. The post is #23.

Barefoot Fool

gregory said:
There is a professional tarot subforum - you may find what you need there as of July 22nd, when it will be open to all members (Till then it is subscribers only). But I would be very surprised if ANYONE had gone directly from self-reading (if by that you mean reading for yourself) to reading for the public for money.

SURPRISE!

I did! I did! I did! It was good fun. Today was my 2nd day. My brother got into an art fair and at the last minute, he asked if I wanted to join him & sell my tarot deck (The Tarot of the Absurd). So I said yes of course. He lives 6 hours from me and it's been the first 2 days in my life leaving my toddler with someone else (my mom) but I figured I have to start somewhere.

My goal, honestly, was to sell more decks, but I did a lot better doing readings than selling decks. I made a little (totally awesome) sign that says "Tarot Readings Here" and bought an hourglass-shaped sand timer. Personally, I don't want to talk to people too long, because my goal is actually to sell decks, so I'm only giving 5-minute readings. They cost 5 dollars. Some readings go longer, some go shorter, depending. Mostly I wanted an out if I got stuck with a real talker. I covered a folding card table with a piece of black cloth and put a nice silk scarf on top of that. It looked good. There was nothing to offend anyone except those people who are generally offended by tarot cards anyhow.

What I was really amazed about was my level of self-confidence, seeing as I've never read for anybody, not even friends. I was also amazed with the level of customer satisfaction I received. I made up my own method of reading that works for me. I know my cards inside and out and I'm comfortable with most any personality because I've spent an awful lot of time around weirdos. Like myself. There was only one person whom I felt I needed to turn down, tho honestly I would have done a reading for her if she would have been willing to pay for one. But she wanted to know who was sneaking into her house and steeling things, in particular whomever took those glasses for which she had to wait 9 months for medicaid to pay for, and I told her upfront I can't answer that kind of question. Maybe you can, I don't know, but I sure can't.

But Gregory, I've been looking for that thread and I can't find it. Whereat can it be? Because really I'm talking about myself here & I want selfishly to share my story with all sorts of tarot people who might pat me on the back (or tell me I'm a fool) & so I can love them all the more.

RunningWild

Barefoot Fool said:
SURPRISE!

I did! I did! I did! It was good fun. Today was my 2nd day. My brother got into an art fair and at the last minute, he asked if I wanted to join him & sell my tarot deck (The Tarot of the Absurd). So I said yes of course. He lives 6 hours from me and it's been the first 2 days in my life leaving my toddler with someone else (my mom) but I figured I have to start somewhere.

My goal, honestly, was to sell more decks, but I did a lot better doing readings than selling decks. I made a little (totally awesome) sign that says "Tarot Readings Here" and bought an hourglass-shaped sand timer. Personally, I don't want to talk to people too long, because my goal is actually to sell decks, so I'm only giving 5-minute readings. They cost 5 dollars. Some readings go longer, some go shorter, depending. Mostly I wanted an out if I got stuck with a real talker. I covered a folding card table with a piece of black cloth and put a nice silk scarf on top of that. It looked good. There was nothing to offend anyone except those people who are generally offended by tarot cards anyhow.

What I was really amazed about was my level of self-confidence, seeing as I've never read for anybody, not even friends. I was also amazed with the level of customer satisfaction I received. I made up my own method of reading that works for me. I know my cards inside and out and I'm comfortable with most any personality because I've spent an awful lot of time around weirdos. Like myself. There was only one person whom I felt I needed to t urn down, tho honestly I would have done a reading for her if she would have been willing to pay for one. But she wanted to know who was sneaking into her house and steeling things, in particular whomever took those glasses for which she had to wait 9 months for medicaid to pay for, and I told her upfront I can't answer that kind of question. Maybe you can, I don't know, but I sure can't.

But Gregory, I've been looking for that thread and I can't find it. Whereat can it be? Because really I'm talking about myself here & I want selfishly to share my story with all sorts of tarot people who might pat me on the back (or tell me I'm a fool) & so I can love them all the more.

Congratulations Barefoot Fool! It IS fun, isn't it? (Here, let me be the first to pat you on the back

Professional tarot readers

Sulis

Apollonia

ravenest

minotaur

VioletEye

nisaba

gregory

Grizabella

Barefoot Fool

RunningWild