Would you ever work as a professional reader?

Take a look at the tarot comics being posted on here, they really tell what it is like to be PRO! As for your question, I too am a pro reader. To get paid to read is to be a pro. Until I found a niche that worked for me, I hesitated. It is hard work to do in depth readings for a living. I think it takes a toll on the body, I knew it would be too hard for me to do enough to make a living at.

You MUST pace yourself and plan to ground and release early and OFTEN. It may never be a great living. I saw people at the psychic fairs I started with that made lots of money but the kind of readings they did...(it is all OK, you are fine and don't have to change, now come back in a couple weeks and I will reassure you again.) these were not what I could do. I tend to read and they are READ. Even if the reality is not what they wanted to accept, they didn't come back to me again and I didn't want them.

For me, that kind of pro would not and could not work. Nor could I be like Sonia Choquette-who was great at teaching using your intuition and writing about it. THAT might make you money, but not for me.

So find your niche and work it, but watch your health.

Barb

It's a long standing but unrealistic dream of mine to drop my current career entirely and become a professional tarot reader.

But where I live currently, I doubt it would be possible to make a living off it, and I don't want two jobs. I already have two jobs, in truth, though for the same employer (full time staff and part-time online faculty), and little time remains for anything else.

Anyway, setting my current reality aside, yes, in theory, I would work as a professional tarot reader if the opportunity presented itself.

Thoughtful said:

Hear, Hear

Not that l take to alcohol but you do get those kind of people once in a while. l love and prefer reading privately face to face, though l do work for an online company where you are regarded as a professional but self employed, that makes it much easier to work when your energies are good. When energies are low l do not log in. Its a way to supplement my pension and work when l want. When it comes to family and friends l would no way make a charge, l get lovely exchanges, such as hugs, gratitude, homemade cake etc.

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Heh, I'm not a heavy drinker, really. I have an inhuman tolerance AND I'm in that 25% of the population that will never know what a hangover is. So when I'm out, I pay close attention to how much I've had to make sure I don't inadvertently poison myself. :/

That's great that you use this as a supplemental income. I'm thinking about doing that, actually. Not the online thing, but people always want card readers for parties and stuff. And homemade cake is always a winner. I usually get sushi, but to each their own.

But some clients--I swear to God, I would have downed a full 750ml bottle of Stolichnaya in under a half hour if given a chance. Fortunately those people are few and far between.

I have been working as a professional tarot reader (which means I charge for readings) for over three years now. I have my own small business Three Swords Tarot where I do one to one readings at peoples homes or via email and facebook and i also run a stall at pamper nights, parties, psychic nights that sort of thing. I also work as a tarot phone operator for two companies. So i have my own business but also work as a free lance tarot reader.

Darkmage said:

Heh, I'm not a heavy drinker, really. I have an inhuman tolerance AND I'm in that 25% of the population that will never know what a hangover is. So when I'm out, I pay close attention to how much I've had to make sure I don't inadvertently poison myself. :/

But some clients--I swear to God, I would have downed a full 750ml bottle of Stolichnaya in under a half hour if given a chance. Fortunately those people are few and far between.

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Well l just stay with the coffee though not to much or else l would pinging off the walls

In the past week l have had two very impolite callers and that's putting it mildly! Last year l had a male caller who said he was about to jump of the roof then started screaming like a mad thing. So the coffee machine went into overdrive. Not to put people off, the majority are sane and charming

As for defining it, I'd say a professional reading is one that's paid for, but a professional reader is one who reads (or aims to read) pretty regularly, at least weekly. And a professional attitude, as nisaba says, can be taken by anyone towards any activity. (Ditto professional ethics.) In my irrational part, being A professional involves reading for people you don't know through anything else; they know you only as a tarot reader.

I don't think the definition really matters here.

tarotbear said:

Have I been paid to read Tarot cards? Yes, I have. Would I like to be paid to read Tarot? Yes, I would. Would I like to read Tarot cards to be paid? Not so much.

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Live to eat, or eat to live. That's what you're saying, isn't it?

Darkmage said:

Heh, I'm not a heavy drinker, really. I have an inhuman tolerance AND I'm in that 25% of the population that will never know what a hangover is.

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25%?! I've never met anyone who didn't envy me that same capacity and impunity - anyone at all.

@ wolfheart: Re being overwhelmed / boundaries. If you've come across that thing of visualising a bubble or egg of light/power (gold, pink, silver, electric blue, whatever works for you) or a cloak which you make sure is strong around you before interacting with someone else's emotions... use it! Even better, someone suggested to me that in counselling-type situations (including just listening when a friend needs it), picture the same thing but in a figure-of-eight shape, which puts them in one "bubble" and you in the other: still connected, still giving them support, but not within the same space so you're not "breathing their air" as it were. This stuff does work. In fact it's essential. Also spend some time on shedding their energies afterwards - google ideas and find one that works for you and doesn't feel ridiculous. When I find someone difficult to shed, I use a thing I saw once, which is shaking your hands as if shaking off water droplets from them, visualising the other person's stuff sinking into the ground - where it will find its way to where it's useful. Or picture it flying off into the atmosphere, where again it becomes available to who needs it. (Even anger energy, even vindictive energy, will become something that's needed somewhere.)

@ ravenest: I'm so impressed! I always thought those little cubes of tofu came from tofu trees.

I do free readings, working from several sites that direct people to my email account. I currently do thirty readings a week on average, but recently capped it at thirty maximum so as to ensure that I could respond within a week.

I get all kinds of questions - I ask for specific questions, and try to ensure readings answer the question (though obviously much of the answer comes from interpretation of it by the recipient). Some questions I receive are heartbreaking, and are hard to answer at times.

In regards to being paid for doing readings, people have offered me money but I turn them down. What I do I do altruistically, being paid would make it seem too much like a job.

I love tarot and divination as a hobby, I worry going pro in it loses the hobby element. Can you keep it as a passion and do readings for lots and lots of people and make money? I know some of my wonderful professional reading friends do! But it takes work! I have a slight worry about losing my love of it.

At this stage in my learning I can't say! I would like to be more experienced in divination first before making people pay for readings, as it currently is I would never take money for readings. I also can see this very much about confidence as well! For me, it's a we shall see in future

danieljuk said:

I love tarot and divination as a hobby, I worry going pro in it loses the hobby element. Can you keep it as a passion and do readings for lots and lots of people and make money? I know some of my wonderful professional reading friends do! But it takes work! I have a slight worry about losing my love of it.

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There's loads of advice on the internet about making a living from a hobby - most articles expect the hobby to be a craft of some kind, knitting or painting or jewellery-making. I've read lots of them and they address exactly this. It's possible to get past this and not lose any of the enjoyment, the hobby element.


I nearly said in my other reply here, that if anyone did ever offer to pay, I'd be ok with that! I typed it and then took it out of my post yesterday. Then... someone I've read for on here PMd me and offered to pay for another reading...!!! Talk about timing.

I don't feel remotely ready to set up a website, to offer the service, to call it "something I do" - I've been on-and-off wondering about taking the step and I'm a long way from it - but as I expected, I'm happy to say yes when someone wants it! (You never know if you WILL feel the reaction that you THOUGHT you'd feel while it was still hypothetical.) There's a big difference between "making people pay for readings" as you put it, Dan, and allowing them to.

I moved from Omaha late last year but while I was there I was a street reader. (BTW thanks for the comics shout-out Ace hahaha....I do the Tales From A Street Reader comics).

There's a combination of elements to consider. How much money you make depends on your level of investment & what you're willing to do.

* Do you WANT to sit out on the curb for days on end?
* Can you handle reading for person after person after person?
* Would you rather just read at parties now & then?
* Can you do something extra to supplement your income like, MAKE CARDS or write a book?
* What will you do to market yourself?
* How much money do you need to live on?
* What demands do you have on your time, like, kids?
* Can you read over the phone, through emails, etc?
* How diverse are you? (ie, reading palms, scrying, oracle cards, past lives, auras, reiki, medium etc)
* Can you do anything technically different like, make apps or websites?
* Would you be willing to work for someone who had a Tarot shop or could you invest in your own Tarot reading shop & have other readers work for you?
* Do you have any helpful connections, such as, people who could help you do a speaking tour or get on a radio program or set up an event?

Basically what I'm trying to say is, I think it's unrealistic for most people to think they can just sit at home & make a living off reading Tarot cards. But, as with most areas of profession, if you're creative enough to do what it takes & expand into areas that seem to work, it's definitely possible. One day, I'll write a book hahaha! (probably indie with no publishers)

One other thing. For me personally, I don't look at what others are doing & try to do that. Nobody tells me how to do anything. I think of things, & blunder through it like a dork. I don't compete with anyone, I just try to do what works for me, regardless of what anyone else might think of it. I hope you're able to find the path that works for you and makes you happiest.