What Do You Expect From A Tarot Reader?

Hi everyone, i am not sure if this subject has already been discussed, but after a few posts i've seen lately it got me wondering, what is it you expect when you go to see a tarot reader? Before i knew anything about the cards, i always expected the readers i saw would tell me things i didn't know, things about my future. Now that i know about the cards, and do readings for people, i STILL expect the same from the readers i see, i still expect psychic revelations from them. I don't think there's 1 time i have been for a reading, and not expected some kind of intuitive( at the least) or psychic/ clairvoyant kind of reading. In fact, when i have had readings from people who only read the cards from a deep knoweledge of the meaning of the cards, i found it a real let down, 2 dimensional flat and boring. So, i am curious to know, what is it, you really expect when you have a reading?

I'm the opposite of you: if I were to pay for a tarot reading (which I only did once, long ago, as a young university student), I would prefer for the reader to interpret the cards from the stance of archetype analysis; psychological insight; and a mixture of "traditional meaning knowledge" and intuitive image reading.

I would be disappointed if the reader seemed to be intuiting information based on something other than the cards (such as clairvoyance or "ESP," reading of body-language, etc).

If I wanted a "psychic" reading (which I don't generally have an interest in for myself), I would prefer to visit someone who does not work with tarot.

Tarot fulfills the part of me that is interested in archetypes, psychology, human behaviors, visual art and images, and so forth.

All I expect from a reader (or a swap) is a new angle on the situation I find myself in, with perhaps some hints on how to con duct myself to get the best out of my options.

Tarot is great stuff for that.

I think what people want when they go to a tarot reader (and Im talking about the layperson, not us) is the future loud and clear. Not self-help wishy-washy guff about empowerment and what a creative/sensitive/gentle person they really are...

They want to hear about the future.

Which is why I find it odd when people deny tarot as Fortune Telling (dirty word). That's what people want; the more gypsy-ish, the spookier, the better!

nisaba said:

All I expect from a reader (or a swap) is a new angle on the situation I find myself in, with perhaps some hints on how to con duct myself to get the best out of my options.

Tarot is great stuff for that.

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Just wondering, does that apply to a face to face consultation too? The reason i ask, is because on here, when i do a swap or get readings, my expectations are different (which i just realised), but when i get a face to face consultation i expect more, maybe its the money factor i don't know, yes i agree tarot is brilliant at helping to figure out the best options and giving new perspectives.

I had already been reading for many years before I ever paid for a reading. I was on the verge of moving from Halifax to Ottawa for a new job and I think that all I wanted was reassurance. She did a CC with two cards in each position, I had never seen that before. I thought that it was a nice balance of 'where you are now' to 'where you are going'. To me the reader needs to be able to nail doubt the present, because most of us are not that self-aware. Once we understand our present motivations and reactions, the future is often right there, at least in sketch form.

One thing I discovered that I hate is when the reader just pretends to be psychic. Another reading, less than 5 years ago. There was a Psychic Faire here and I had never been, and had promised myself a reading. The man assured me that it was purely psychic reading and that he laid the cards as props. He laid a lot, five or six rows. Too bad for him that despite being all mystical and holding my hand for a truly uncomfortable period of time, I could easily see that he was reading a story off the cards, row by row. So readers, don't pretend to be one thing when you are another!

So expect the reader to actually read the cards, and to make me understand the present in a way that I had not understood, in other words, to shift my perspective.

Alta

Alta said:

One thing I discovered that I hate is when the reader just pretends to be psychic. Another reading, less than 5 years ago. There was a Psychic Faire here and I had never been, and had promised myself a reading. The man assured me that it was purely psychic reading and that he laid the cards as props. He laid a lot, five or six rows. Too bad for him that despite being all mystical and holding my hand for a truly uncomfortable period of time, I could easily see that he was reading a story off the cards, row by row. So readers, don't pretend to be one thing when you are another!

So expect the reader to actually read the cards, and to make me understand the present in a way that I had not understood, in other words, to shift my perspective.

Alta

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Yeah i think thats why theres so much confusion, a lot of psychics whether real or not, use cards

For a ‘substantial’ paid reading I expect the same – substantial output.


1. ACCURACY, whether the tarot card reader is just reading the cards or using this in combination with their intuition/psychic awareness.

2. A reader that understands the client is there because they want answers to ‘their questions’; not answers to questions the reader wants to ask.

3. Accurate insights into life issues that currently are of concern and/or are important to the client.

4. Honesty about what they, the reader, sees in the cards .... and what their psychic awareness (if relevant) is telling them.

5. Accurate insight into how the client might be able to solve ‘the problem’ .... insightful/practical/novel suggestions on how the client might approach an issue differently.

6. A reader that can answer yes/no and timing questions.

7. Insight into the future - most people just expect this is a given when they pay for a reading. What’s important is now .... and what immediately follows now is tomorrow, which is the future.

8. Insight into the past (if this is what the client specifcially wants). To be honest I don’t think the majority of people really care much about the past unless it’s a case of the client wanting to test the reader (and if they want to waste the reader's time it's their money).
The past is gone and there is nothing the client can do to change it, other than to gain some understanding from it – when this does help to clarify a current situation then I need and would want these insights.
Sometimes readers are ‘too keen’ to talk about the past in order to impress the client with their psychic abilities and that they know their stuff with the tarot cards – just a waste of the client’s time and money in this instance. Do I really care if the reader knows that I have three sisters or that I had lunch with them yesterday ... or that my dog’s name is Oreo? What’s the relevance? .... unless there is something going on with Oreo or the sisters that I really need to know about. Why waste a client's time with what they already know.

9. An EFFICIENT reader - i.e. not one that spends 1/3 of the appointment time on a minor issue, when the reader made it clear at the start of the reading they have ‘x’ specific questions they want answered in their allotted appointment time.

10. A reader that gives the client information they should be aware of – e.g. a warning about a health issue or something of this nature.

11. A reader that doesn’t book back to back readings with their clients. One that does inevitably leaves clients waiting or even short-changed with their reading (yes this happens).

12. A reader that isn’t a strict clock watcher. When a client is asked to pay $100, $120 or $150 for a 1 hour reading, an extra 5 (or even 10 minutes) to ensure all the client’s questions are answered shouldn’t be an issue. Not a big deal imo, if this isn’t a case of someone taking advantage of the reader and it’s just a case of how the reading has panned out. More questions naturally arise from discussion anyway. Nothing worse than when a respectful client leaves feeling they have an ‘unfinished’ reading, and when the fee they have paid is more than adequate.


In a forum setting where readings are done with no money exchanging hands, one ought to just be extremely grateful to the reader without any expectations they will fulfil a certain criteria, as long as they are adhering to forum rules.

Le Fanu said:

I think what people want when they go to a tarot reader (and Im talking about the layperson, not us) is the future loud and clear. Not self-help wishy-washy guff about empowerment and what a creative/sensitive/gentle person they really are...

They want to hear about the future.

Which is why I find it odd when people deny tarot as Fortune Telling (dirty word). That's what people want; the more gypsy-ish, the spookier, the better!

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Amen! Standing ovation!

And I personally don't want somebody going card-by-card saying "this card means this, and that card means that." Weave them together for the message in the cards, for heaven's sake!

I don't want someone sitting there purposely trying to spook me, on the other hand. I do expect a fortune, though, and it sounds like I'd have a tough row to hoe trying to find one among today's new readers. If what the reader has to say seems spooky on its own, then fine, but don't make stuff up just to try to spook me. It won't work, for one thing.

LeFanu is right about that being what the public wants. Especially if they've never had a reading before. Anybody who's never had one before has probably gotten a little disappointment if they go to a new reader but just thought they must have been mistaken about what a reading is and now either don't get anymore readings or else keep going to their reader because it's better than nothing or they do feel it's at least some help and enlightenment. But that kind of help they could get from their best friend.

I really hate to see an old tradition dying. There were plenty of genuine (still are, but they're probably older) readers who dressed up and did readings who didn't scam people and I think there are lots of people who are afraid to go with that anymore because there's so much looking-down-the nose at that type of reader among the new readers. And I'm sorry, but I think many readers who push the "wishy-washy empowerment stuff" (hey----he said it first, I didn't ) started doing that because they didn't want to put in the time and effort to develop their "other" sense to learn more than book meanings. At any rate, I think it tended to make newcomers afraid to do fortunes and dress up for fear of ostracism from the rest of the Tarot community.

I especially don't want somebody giving me their opinion of what the cards say and their opinion of what I should do. Tell me what the cards themselves say and the advice the cards themselves have for me as you've "divined" it.

Would anyone step up and accuse me or Magpie of being frauds? Maybe, but if so, they've got a lot to learn. Both of us are the dress-up and tell a fortune type and it sounds like LeFanu may be, too. I don't always dress up, but I think it's fun and I do when I feel like it. Other professions "dress up" and are recognizable for what they do, so why shouldn't I? Think of the butcher, the baker, the nurse, the doctor, etc.

Grizabella said:

Amen! Standing ovation!

And I personally don't want somebody going card-by-card saying "this card means this, and that card means that." Weave them together for the message in the cards, for heaven's sake!

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Yes indeed. And what people wear would not influence me at all. But I do NOT expect fortune telling. I look more for something like a weather forecast. "This" is likely to happen, so you might be wise to carry sunscreen (or an umbrella....) but if you stay in the house you won't get wet/sunburned.

Options and advice from which I can make choices and decisions. My decisions are mine to make, based on what I am told; a reading is not set in stone and it is highly dangerous to believe it is - IMHO. Also lazy.

"Oh well, we will be getting back together in three weeks, so until then I can carry on as I am..." Yeah - RIGHT ! (NOT !)