Liz Worth ~ Tarot + Astrology

There are a lot of narratives in the spiritual, self-help, and motivational spaces that can lead you to believe that if something is meant for you, it will come easily.

It doesn’t help that it seems like everyone online these days is flouting six-figure businesses overnight successes: With the promise that if you buy into their secret formula or take their action steps, you can have that, too.

And we tell ourselves that if we start living our purpose, or find more fulfillment through our work, business or relationships, then everything will just fall into place.

No more struggle. No more pain. Just all easy, all the time.

And if we’re not experiencing ease, success, or alignment? Then something must be wrong.

The universe is conspiring against you ➡️ NOT ‼️

Life is not without effort. The universe is not bound by binary thinking that there is only one way, or one path, and if something isn’t coming easily then it’s not meant for you.

Most things are rarely easy all the time.

If...

I received a great question on Instagram a little while back: “What’s your feeling on clients recording their tarot readings?”

The first tarot reading I had was in the late `90s at a psychic fair. The reader recorded it on cassette tape (hellooooo nostalgia) and I went back and listened to it several times in later years.

Because that was my first experience with a professional reader, I always just assumed everyone recorded their readings, too.

But I soon learned recordings are not universal among readers.

In fact, a tarot reader who I have had numerous readings from never recordings their readings – and they’ve been in the business for decades.

I’ve also learned there are pros and cons to recording your readings. And logistically, it’s not always a feasible offering.

So here are some thoughts and learnings on the subject:

“Do readers have to offer recordings?”

NOPE! It’s always up to the reader to make this service available. It is an extra, and can come at a cost for rea...

Red flags are a hot topic these days.

And there a lot of good reasons for that. I bet we all have at least a handful of regretful or painful experiences that, in hindsight, could have been avoided if only we’d paid attention to the signs.

In service-based work like tarot reading, coaching, or other one-on-one offerings, there’s a lot of advice out there on how to attract your “ideal client.”

Because no one wants to sit down to read tarot for someone who turns out to be a less-than-stellar client, right?

Afterall, you don’t go into business for yourself just to feel like you’re being bossed around by a bunch of pain-in-the-butt customers.

Before I go further, I will say there’s a big difference between choosing “ideal clients” versus feeling like someone is a potential threat to your safety. Obviously, if you feel unsafe, that’s a red flag to watch for.

Outside of that, there are a lot of other recommendations out there about how spot client red flags from the start, such as:

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If you've been following my blogs for a while, you might have noticed some big changes around here since 2020... 

I used to write about astrology. A lot. Maybe you used to check in for new and full moon tarot spreads from me, or to learn about upcoming Mercury retrogrades... 

But not anymore. Why? 

I’ve been concerned about the impact of online content and social media on practices like astrology for some time now. As a result, I decided to re-evaluate my role and impact as an astrologer who also shares information online.

I discuss why I decided to step back from astrology over on Refinery29. You can read the essay here.

Until next time,

Liz xo

A few years ago, a question came to sit with me:

Do we focus too much on intuitive development in tarot?

I’ve shared before about some of the misconceptions I had about tarot early on. I felt so much pressure to intuit and download messages psychically that I didn’t take proper time to sit down and actually look at my tarot cards.

Which was a big misstep, but there is so much information the tarot lays right out in front of you. And yes, reading tarot can feel like a psychic experience, as it is eerily accurate. I’ve had clients ask me, “How did you know that?” when I hit on something so specific that I couldn’t have known otherwise.

But I just tell them as I see it: It’s all in the cards.

Still, I have spent time learning about other skills. I’ve studied mediumship and channeling. I’ve gone through a lot of workbooks and classes about intuition and psychic ability.

Has it helped me as a tarot reader? It probably doesn’t hurt – but I don’t think it’s been as much of an influence ...

From the outside, tarot might seem like it’s easy to learn: You get a deck of tarot cards, read along with the little white book, and away you go.

Or, you just feel your way through a reading, letting your intuition guide you.

Right?

Well, actually… there’s more to learning tarot than memorizing the card meanings you find in the little white book that comes with your tarot deck.

And while intuition can certainly influence a tarot reading, it’s not always so easy to figure out what our intuition is telling us, or how (or if) intuition even works. I’ve had many people come to my tarot workshops who admit they “don’t believe they are very intuitive” and are hoping tarot might help develop that part of themselves.

So don’t take it for granted that simply owning a tarot deck and flipping a few cards will somehow reveal an insight or answer that wasn’t available before.

If you want to read tarot…you have learn how to do that. It doesn’t usually just happen by magic.

But don’t be...

A couple of weeks ago, I got an email that sounded like it should have landed in my spam folder instead of my inbox.

I didn’t recognize the name, and the subject line was vague: “Checking in” is all it said.

Still, I opened it anyway.

The email was short and read: “How are you doing? Are you busy? I need a little favour from you.”

I was about to hit delete, but I wanted to make sure this wasn’t a past client or student who perhaps had a question about something they’d purchased from me.

So I searched their name in my inbox, and an old message came up. The name suddenly rang a bell: It was a neighbour who lives in my building, and who I chat with whenever we run into each other.

But her surname had escaped me, having only seen it once before when she had emailed me in 2018 about donating some old books to a rummage sale.

I went back to her email. “Are you busy? I need a little favour from you.” The thing was, I was busy. I had a couple of hours to finish some homework for a class...

Do you follow any tarot readers who do group readings, or forecasts for the collective?

Or maybe you do readings like this yourself.

From tarotscopes to daily draws, to card of the day readings that are broadcast across all kinds of social media channels, collective readings seem more popular than ever.

I’m not sure if it’s just me, but I seem to be seeing these types of posts more than ever online right now. Maybe lockdown inspired more readers to get online.

But what I’m also seeing, and hearing, is that the lines seem to be getting blurred when it comes to how people are interpreting these collective readings.

The way I see it, a collective tarot reading is similar to following your horoscope. You check it to see what’s up, and take a little bit of inspiration from it if it makes sense to do so. And if it doesn’t, you move on with your day and look forward to seeing what tomorrow’s message may be.

I used to write horoscope columns and offer collective messages and readings her...

Earlier this year, I was doing some research within the tarot community.

I surveyed tarot readers at all skill levels to find out why they love tarot, and what they most often use it for.

You know what surprised me the most?

Seeing the huge disconnect between what tarot readers use tarot for, versus what tarot clients want and expect in a reading.

What do I mean by that?

I’ve read tarot for over 3,000 people and counting. And you know what the majority of those people have had in common?

They wanted help making decisions.

But when I asked tarot readers what they use tarot for, less than 5% of respondents said they use tarot for decision-making.

So here’s a tip: Tarot clients don’t necessarily think like tarot readers.

I know that not everyone wants to read tarot for other people, and that’s totally fine.

But if you do want to read tarot for others, I strongly recommend developing tarot skills that will help you serve your querents and clients best.

All of what I teach as a...

Ever tried to predict something in a tarot reading and wondered when it will come to pass?

Or maybe you’ve read tarot for someone else and they really wanted to know the timing of something.

Has that happened to you before?

Does the thought of not knowing make you nervous?

Do you avoid predictive readings so that you don’t have to give a direct answer?

I used worry about these things, too.

And I was often confused about them, because so many people use tarot for predictive purposes, and yet it’s common to be discouraged from using tarot for predictions at all.

“Tarot can’t do this, and it can’t do that.”

But is that true?

I don’t believe it is.

In fact, the very first tarot reading I ever had was a predictive reading – and the messages I was given that day were still coming true 10 years later.

Wild, right? 

Of course, this isn’t to say that a tarot reading is a promise or contract: It can be a glimpse at the potential of what’s to come, or what may unfold if you go down...