MeeWah
Talisman said:
Succint & eloquent: "So mote it be!"
"You Read Tarot? OOoo DO ME, DO ME!!"
Succint & eloquent: "So mote it be!"
WaterSong
hello Talisman,
very good question...there are several reasons why people would feel unsure about charging and I beleive it's part of the evolution of a reader to get to the point where the decision is made...everybody has a different learning process and ways through which makes its own conclusions and set its own values and standards.
I don't judge who does not charge, because there are also Doctors that work for free in third world countries.There are missionaires that are doctors, lawyers, plumbers that decide to work for free or for a cause....and that's horable and legitimate.
There is not a simple answer...also Tarot reading is not as recognized as a "profession" in our society....many people would have some trouble putting a Doctor and a Tarot reader on the same level...and I have to clarify that I obviously disagree, but that's a fact.
So, also the way tarot reading as a profession is regulated in every different State is different...I don't have enough information but I take it that there are States in the USA where Tarot reading is still considered illegal.
I guess, with time and this kind of discussions, we will come up with a clearer set of rules, policies and standards.
Some peole have trouble charging because they see Tarot reading as a strictly spiritual tool...and this happens a lot outside of the Usa, where there are cultures that are not so focused on profit...and this is NOT a criticism, just another fact.In some cultures, like in some parts of South America, you will find people that live in poverty and read the tarot just for very little or nothing and they are happy to do so.It fits their beleive system.
So, many of these question need to have answers that also include people's value system, cultural back ground and personal beleifs.
So, I don't think this is only an issue of "I am right you are wrong", but to find a common ground and compare values and visions.
Blessings
very good question...there are several reasons why people would feel unsure about charging and I beleive it's part of the evolution of a reader to get to the point where the decision is made...everybody has a different learning process and ways through which makes its own conclusions and set its own values and standards.
I don't judge who does not charge, because there are also Doctors that work for free in third world countries.There are missionaires that are doctors, lawyers, plumbers that decide to work for free or for a cause....and that's horable and legitimate.
There is not a simple answer...also Tarot reading is not as recognized as a "profession" in our society....many people would have some trouble putting a Doctor and a Tarot reader on the same level...and I have to clarify that I obviously disagree, but that's a fact.
So, also the way tarot reading as a profession is regulated in every different State is different...I don't have enough information but I take it that there are States in the USA where Tarot reading is still considered illegal.
I guess, with time and this kind of discussions, we will come up with a clearer set of rules, policies and standards.
Some peole have trouble charging because they see Tarot reading as a strictly spiritual tool...and this happens a lot outside of the Usa, where there are cultures that are not so focused on profit...and this is NOT a criticism, just another fact.In some cultures, like in some parts of South America, you will find people that live in poverty and read the tarot just for very little or nothing and they are happy to do so.It fits their beleive system.
So, many of these question need to have answers that also include people's value system, cultural back ground and personal beleifs.
So, I don't think this is only an issue of "I am right you are wrong", but to find a common ground and compare values and visions.
Blessings
LTG2201
If I was in one of my ratty moods, I would probably bring along a few Death cards. I would give them a one card reading and gasp. 'The Death Card. I'm sorry. You will die!'. That'll teach them.
Unknownspirit
LolLTG2201 said:
But then everytime they see you afterwards they keep talking to you about how tarot was wrong because they are still alive.
Kiama
Talisman said:
Because for some people Tarot may not be just a job or way of providing a service - it is also a hobby and can be fun. So for someone who wants to have fun with Tarot during an evening, saying yes to a reading request would not be illogical. (Like me!)
Kiama
Talisman
Bless Tarot readers
'Lo all,
Well, obviously no one should be required to charge for a Tarot reading. If you do it for a hobby and/or just to help your fellow man along the way, that's wonderful.
If you've worked hard at your art, and feel you should be paid for consultation like any other service is compensated, that's wonderful too.
Whichever way you dip your cup in the spring it will never run dry.
But in either case, you're going to have to deal with "OOoo DO ME, DO ME!" Then when you tell us stories about it, that's been wonderful too.
~ Talisman
'Lo all,
Well, obviously no one should be required to charge for a Tarot reading. If you do it for a hobby and/or just to help your fellow man along the way, that's wonderful.
If you've worked hard at your art, and feel you should be paid for consultation like any other service is compensated, that's wonderful too.
Whichever way you dip your cup in the spring it will never run dry.
But in either case, you're going to have to deal with "OOoo DO ME, DO ME!" Then when you tell us stories about it, that's been wonderful too.
~ Talisman
catlin
@ Alissa: when I wrote my post I was missing your information with the role play character readings. I did not think you are a person who needs something like doing tarot to make friends, guess I expressed myself a bit clumsy here (I would have put it better in German than in English, I wish English were my mother tongue and not the language I mostly learned from German English teachers here in Germany).
However, I found out that some ppl tried to befriend me because I am into tarot and they hoped to sneak a free reading from me. You should have seen their face (mauth gaping!!) when I told them flatly that I pretty well know why they sneak around me.
Charging for a reading is ok for me because:
a) tarot decks, tarot books etc cost money,
b) I don't want to have a bunch of ppl around me who want to sneak free readings,
c) our material world makes ppl think that only things which cost money are worth getting,
d) I don't like ppl who try to tell me "Oh, I am too poor, I cannot afford a reading, please do me a free one." and I KNOW they have the money, they only try to fool me.
e) I devote time to a complete stranger to listen to his/her problems and to find a way to solve them.
f) PPl usually are more inclined to follow an advice they have paid for.
However, I found out that some ppl tried to befriend me because I am into tarot and they hoped to sneak a free reading from me. You should have seen their face (mauth gaping!!) when I told them flatly that I pretty well know why they sneak around me.
Charging for a reading is ok for me because:
a) tarot decks, tarot books etc cost money,
b) I don't want to have a bunch of ppl around me who want to sneak free readings,
c) our material world makes ppl think that only things which cost money are worth getting,
d) I don't like ppl who try to tell me "Oh, I am too poor, I cannot afford a reading, please do me a free one." and I KNOW they have the money, they only try to fool me.
e) I devote time to a complete stranger to listen to his/her problems and to find a way to solve them.
f) PPl usually are more inclined to follow an advice they have paid for.
Grizabella
**PPl usually are more inclined to follow an advice they have paid for.** (catlin)
I don't think this is necessarily true, but even if it were, I don't give advice expecting or requiring that it be followed. I just give it if it's asked for and let them do what they will with it.
The pushiest person I've encountered was a woman who gave the girls some clothes. (I'm raising grandchildren.) She then came over another day and when the kids mentioned that I read the cards, she said "Read for me!" I told her that I didn't really feel up to it right then but that I'd do it some other time for her, but she said "Oh, you can do it! Read for me!" I told her again that I didn't want to do it right then because I had a terrible headache. She told the girls to go get my cards. I finally just said, "I'm not going to read for you right now so you might as well stop trying."
That's the only really bad experience I've had with anyone wanting a command performance, though. Maybe it's because of this head of grey hair I have and the fact that I just smile calmly and firmly decline to read when I don't want to, keeping a good nature about it. I'm too old to let things upset me like that. I understand that some people get all excited and see it as a fun, frivolous thing-----why wouldn't they if all they know about it is that they've seen stereotypes about it? I also understand that some people get addicted to having readings done and try to get freebies if they can, because it's like a gambling addiction and they spend so much money on it that they have to try for freebies to satisfy the addiction. I likewise understand that there are those who have a reading and point out all the way along that none of it is true. Understanding all those things takes the irritation out of it and I can keep calm, unruffled and unstressed by what others think about it. Staying unstressed prolongs my life since stress kills. And I keep chugging along happily with my cards, reading for those I choose and not for those I don't.
As for pay, if someone comes and asks me for my opinion of some kind of crisis in their life, I'm not going to say, "Oh, that'll be $50 because I've spent a lot of years of my life learning the answers to life's problems and I won't share with you unless you'll pay me for my hard knocks and experience." (Believe me, the hard knocks and experience cost me a lot more than studying tarot!) I don't think that's how the Universe works. I'm much more inclined to help in whatever way I can, including reading the cards about it, without holding out for the almighty buck. If I'm reading at a party or in a booth or such setting, then I charge, but not outrageously even then. I make more by putting out a donation bowl, actually.
I'm not haughty about knowing the cards. I didn't take up the study to make money or to "be somebody" (not that anyone here did, either, mind you) or to make money. I took up tarot because that was the next step on my spiritual path. I do believe it's okay to charge for the skill when appropriate, just like I charge for my beadwork or writing or my art work. But I also give those things as gifts when appropriate or when Spirit moves me. Everything is part of my spiritual path when push comes to shove, and giving freely of my goods, myself and my skills is a huge part of my belief system.
I don't think this is necessarily true, but even if it were, I don't give advice expecting or requiring that it be followed. I just give it if it's asked for and let them do what they will with it.
The pushiest person I've encountered was a woman who gave the girls some clothes. (I'm raising grandchildren.) She then came over another day and when the kids mentioned that I read the cards, she said "Read for me!" I told her that I didn't really feel up to it right then but that I'd do it some other time for her, but she said "Oh, you can do it! Read for me!" I told her again that I didn't want to do it right then because I had a terrible headache. She told the girls to go get my cards. I finally just said, "I'm not going to read for you right now so you might as well stop trying."
That's the only really bad experience I've had with anyone wanting a command performance, though. Maybe it's because of this head of grey hair I have and the fact that I just smile calmly and firmly decline to read when I don't want to, keeping a good nature about it. I'm too old to let things upset me like that. I understand that some people get all excited and see it as a fun, frivolous thing-----why wouldn't they if all they know about it is that they've seen stereotypes about it? I also understand that some people get addicted to having readings done and try to get freebies if they can, because it's like a gambling addiction and they spend so much money on it that they have to try for freebies to satisfy the addiction. I likewise understand that there are those who have a reading and point out all the way along that none of it is true. Understanding all those things takes the irritation out of it and I can keep calm, unruffled and unstressed by what others think about it. Staying unstressed prolongs my life since stress kills. And I keep chugging along happily with my cards, reading for those I choose and not for those I don't.
As for pay, if someone comes and asks me for my opinion of some kind of crisis in their life, I'm not going to say, "Oh, that'll be $50 because I've spent a lot of years of my life learning the answers to life's problems and I won't share with you unless you'll pay me for my hard knocks and experience." (Believe me, the hard knocks and experience cost me a lot more than studying tarot!) I don't think that's how the Universe works. I'm much more inclined to help in whatever way I can, including reading the cards about it, without holding out for the almighty buck. If I'm reading at a party or in a booth or such setting, then I charge, but not outrageously even then. I make more by putting out a donation bowl, actually.
I'm not haughty about knowing the cards. I didn't take up the study to make money or to "be somebody" (not that anyone here did, either, mind you) or to make money. I took up tarot because that was the next step on my spiritual path. I do believe it's okay to charge for the skill when appropriate, just like I charge for my beadwork or writing or my art work. But I also give those things as gifts when appropriate or when Spirit moves me. Everything is part of my spiritual path when push comes to shove, and giving freely of my goods, myself and my skills is a huge part of my belief system.
WaterSong
hello Lyric,
That's such a beautifully balanced position
I loved your post
blessings to you
That's such a beautifully balanced position
I loved your post
blessings to you
vision777
i have been in those weird esposiodes before. . thats why i don't tell people who can't keep a secret that i read cards.
