From The Witch's Desk ~ Questions from You

 

I’ve been thinking about becoming a professional tarot reader. How is it different from reading for people for free? What do I need to know to read tarot professionally?

How is it different– reading for free versus reading professionally?

For one thing, there’s way more pressure! When a client is paying for a reading, they have to realize, and you have to realize, that they are paying you for your time, not the reading itself. When people are paying for a service like this, a lot of them automatically assume that they are going to receive some sort of super spectacular, eye-opening, occult, mysterious, right-out-of-a-movie experience. This is unrealistic. What they will receive is the information that Spirit is guiding you (the reader) to see, to pass along. What they will receive is universal wisdom from a Higher Source. What they very often receive is extremely good advice and insight from someone who is viewing their situation through the cards and from a vantage point that allows for a very unfettered unbiased view. What they also might receive (and this is just as amazing to the reader as to the recipient) is a message from a loved one who has passed. What they will receive is an honest insightful connection through a form of divination that has proven to be remarkably accurate and incredibly inspiring.

What do you need to know to read professionally?

First, and most important, you have to be thoroughly familiar with the tarot. You have to be practiced and comfortable reading for others. You have to have self-confidence in your ability to read tarot cards, and in your own intuition. You have to be able to read from a variety of tarot spreads, or no spread at all. You have to be able to do readings in less than perfect conditions– such as in large busy noisy environments with a million distractions.

You have to be able to have empathy for people, for all different kinds of people, even people with whom you might have nothing in common. You have to be totally nonjudgmental. You have to be able to look at every type of circumstance and not let your own moral, religious, or personal feelings touch or taint the reading. You have to learn to handle difficult people without loosing your cool, or your temper.

But most important…You have to really care.