"sanitizing" decks for public readings

"sanitizing" decks for party readings

I am new to the business of reading at parties. I have a particular concern and would love to benefit from your experience.

I was recently auditioned by the owner of a company that is in the business of providing readers for parties and events, and added to the roster of readers. My first job is coming up!

I've been reading cards for years (for both friends and friendly strangers) but am very new at doing parties.

I've been told that I am required to "sanitize" the deck - removing the death card, the tower, the devil, the 10 of swords... and, inexplicably (to me) the hanged man. the reason for this is to avoid freaking out anyone. (Oh, but I get to keep the three of swords, and the nine - but not the HM?! Buh?)

also, in asking for pro advice at a conference, I was told by more than one longtime pro to do this.

since my employer is requiring this of me, I will of course comply. but... it gives me pause. can you still do good readings when you're not playing with a full deck?! and how do I reconcile this with wanting to be as professional as possible? plus, the hanged man? that is such a good card, to my eyes!

I welcome any and all advice. I've attempted to search on this topic and have apparently not hit the right keyword (although bringing hand sanitizer is probably a good idea too, lol).

huh?

wow! I am really shocked. Is our culture that much in denial? I've got to say I probably would refuse to do the party, or to work with that promoter. To me, it is very important all the cards are in the deck. I think its okay for someone to pull the death card, and have the reader reassure them that most of the time 99.9999 percent, it does not mean physical death- and give a positive example of how it can work to our advantage. I think this is a reflection on our general attitudes toward viewing everything as black or white- or not wanting to face our shadow side- yes even at a party! the reader can remain upbeat and positive, and everything should be fine. Nobody is being forced to have a reading, right?

wow. again. I just never heard that request before. Maybe someone more experienced with parties will have a totally different view. Hope you can hear a range of ideas on this one.

3crows

Whoa.

Well I guess that would be the difference between reading for "entertainment" and reading for true "insight", right?

Why not try to book your own parties and gigs and read the way you feel most comfortable?

I am pretty shocked but not completely surprised anymore by these ridiculous rules. We have to tip toe around everyone emotions. As a compromise How about using a deck that is a non-traditional such as Osho Zen. For example the Hang man is the "New vision" card. But I do feel you could read with a partial deck though, there are other cards that would give you the information you need.

Wow.

Maybe you should find a deck like the Osho Zen or the MRP Fairytale that have the pictures so different from the traditional decks that they wouldn't recognize the Devil, Tower, Death and company. The Quantum Tarot is good for that...The Enchanted, too (although the Death is pretty obvious, the other "bad cards" aren't).

Now, that's very ridiculous. "Read tarot but only the good stuff"? You could make a Care Bears deck (but with no Professor Coldheart/Wizard No Heart/Evil Spirt etc. cards) and use it to read as well.

Or simply remove say cards and make it clear in your mind that it's only entertainment. Unfortunately, in business, we need to obey our employers even when we think they are being stupid.

Well, if you're going to be reading for children or pre-teens, I could see that you'd be required to do it. Maybe even elderly folks if they're not familiar with or fans of Tarot. I don't find anything so odd about that. The business you work for probably doesn't want to take the risk of offending the people you read for because that would mean they might not book again for another occasion. They'd be losing business that way.

I collect tarot decks but when I determined to read professionally, I scrutinized decks for "public consumption" issues and that narrowed the field considerably. I think it's too bad that the employer feels the need to have you pull those cards out, but I understand why.

What's too bad about it is that it's possible to miss some important news without those cards. Just this weekend, I read for someone and the 10 of Swords came up pertaining to her home. Since I watch entirely too many crime shows, even I took a sharp breath. But I was able to tell her that when she got home, she should check for dangerous conditions, that something potentially harmful was associated with her home.

When she went home, she found that there were not one but two gas leaks that could have been deadly and had them fixed immediately. She sent us all a happy note saying she'd had a "blast" this weekend. I was just glad there hadn't been a real blast in her house. I was using the Tarot de Whimsy and the 10 of swords looks like a dial and a jack-o-lantern with swords all around...deadly air.

OK, I could have taken the "scary" cards out of the deck for her reading. She probably would have found the gas leaks. Probably. I'm really glad she did. So is she.

If I were you, I would do what the employer asked. As Griz mentions, there are business reasons for the request. But for their consideration, I would offer that things like what happened to my friend are why the "scary" cards are in the deck.

Oh, and show them Magical Forest (Bug-Eyed Bunny). ALL those cards are scary!! (See other thread re: ghost of roadkill past.)

Best wishes.

Ghost of Roadkill Past??? How on earth did I miss that one? LOL Was there really a thread like that?

You know how politically correct people try to be, so that's probably what's behind the removal of "scary" cards. I don't agree with it, particularly, but if someone else is in control of the paycheck I'll be getting, then if I want to work for them, I just comply, I guess. Things like that are why I conceived of and started a couple of the businesses I started. I didn't agree with what people I worked for were doing and figured I could do it better.

I-I-I-I-I don't know. See I have 78 tools that I use when I give tarot readings. I don't sugar coat them. Afterall, life isn't sugar-coated. I think at one point, I would have to get up from their interview and smile and say sorry, but I don't work that way.

There will be another gig coming along. Hmmmm.

I suppose that if it is a demand of your employer, you have to comply, but I would personally not be comfortable doing so. I've actually never heard of a credible promoter making that sort of demand of readers.

What percentage of the fees for readings go back to the promoter? You may actually do better by booking dates on your own. If your intention is to try to build something of a customer base or improve your recognition in your area, there may be some advantages to staying with this person for a while before branching out on your own, but check your contract carefully to make sure that you haven't sign any sort of non-competition clause that will curtail your ability to work outside of the employer's structure, or to be able to see clients outside of his/her control.

Of course, you could exact your personal "revenge" by only using decks with, um, more mature adult content ...