Everyone starts somewhere as a tarot reader

How do you know you’re ready to read tarot for others?

How do you know you’re ready to start charging for your readings?

How do you know you’re ready to accept that invitation to read at your friend’s party, or to give a talk about tarot at your local bookstore?

These are all questions that you will likely have about tarot at some point in your journey. When I started learning tarot, I knew I wanted to be able to read for other people. I didn’t know right away that this was something I wanted to do professionally (that came later), but I did want to be able to give readings that were intuitive, insightful, and accurate.

Knowing where you want to go with tarot, even in the short-term, is important, because it gives you a goal to work towards. When you know what you’re aiming for, you can focus your studies and practices in a way that will build towards that result.

But what often happens along the way is that it can be hard to know when you’re ready to start doing whatever it is you’ve set out to do with tarot.

This is where I notice a lot of readers getting stuck: They wait for absolute perfection in their readings to the point where they don’t notice how far they’ve already come.

Or they’re so fixated on a future version of themselves, looking at what they want to become, that they aren’t tuned into what they presently offer as readers already.

Yes, if you want to read tarot for other people, you do need some skill. Especially if you are going to start doing this professionally.

But at the same time, you have to remember that everyone starts somewhere. The reader you are during your first few tarot readings will be very different from the reader you will be once you have a hundred readings behind you.

Imagine how much you will change as your experience grows.

But you can’t get to your hundredth tarot reading if you don’t start with your first. Tarot is a craft, and the more time you spend doing it, the more skilled you become.

Study matters, too, of course. But at some point, you have to give yourself the opportunity to apply what you’ve learning.

Depending on where you are right now, that might come in the form of offering some practice readings to friends and family, or finding like-minded readers to swap readings with.

If you’re a bit further down the path and feel ready to charge for a reading, what’s stopping you?

There isn’t going to be a “perfect” time to take that next step, whatever it might be for you, because there is no such thing as a perfect tarot reader.

What you are able to offer to someone through your readings might be just right for where you are right now, and for where your sitters are, too.

As your experience grows, so will your opportunities as a reader.

But you have to start somewhere.

Until next time,

Liz

p.s. Are you looking for structured mentorship and accountability as you grow your tarot skills? I invite you to join me in Tarot Study Hall, where members are learning are how to give expert-level tarot readings through monthly practices, workshops, and more. Join here.