Liz Worth ~ Tarot + Astrology

I'm curious: Have you ever used ChatGPT or other A.I. apps to learn tarot?

If so, how did it go? 

I ask because I've noticed more mentions of ChatGPT in relation to learning tarot and astrology this season. In 2023, I wrote a blog about whether we should be concerned that A.I. could replace real-life tarot readers and other diviners. At the time, ChatGPT was becoming more commonplace and there were a lot of murmurings in the tarot community about what it might mean for our industry as time goes on. 

People were, and still are, wondering: Will tarot decks with A.I. generated art become the norm? Will tarot illustrators be replaced? 

What if people turn to ChatGPT as an oracle? 

At the time, I wasn't too worried. I'm still not. 

Yes, we have to pay attention to technological advances. Whether we participate in them or not, it's always smart to stay in the know about where innovation is headed.

I've been hearing more and more about Chat GPT being used to create...

Do you ever sit down and reflect on how much has changed since you started making tarot a part of your life?   

When I think back to where I was when I decided to commit to this path, I can’t believe the difference between where I started and where I’ve ended up.  

I used to be searching for something that I couldn’t quite articulate. All I knew was that I had an inner discomfort, an ongoing sense that things weren’t quite what they should be.  

Back then, I had a challenging job in a downtown office. I used to walk to work every day asking, “What am I supposed to be doing?”  

That question led me to a series of readers. I consulted astrologers, cartomancers, psychics, channelers… Slowly, each reading chipped away at my big, nebulous questions:  

“How can I break away from the fears that keep me tied to things I know I don’t want to be doing?”  

“What...

If you’ve had a tarot reading with me, or taken some of my classes, you’ll already know that my go-to tarot technique is the three-card open spread.  

This wasn’t always my go-to technique: I used to swear by positional tarot spreads. The bigger and more complex, the better. I would even make custom spreads for my client work to personalize each session.  

But the more my client base grew, the more I had to adapt my tarot practice. I don’t know what triggered the shift, but it seemed like all of a sudden I was getting more clients coming in with longer lists of questions.  

I often found myself having to think on my feet during each reading, shifting quickly from one question to another, sometimes without any relation between topics my clients wanted to cover.  

It was no longer working for me to create custom spreads in advance: My clients wanted a reader who was adaptable, fluid, and flexible. Going in with one or two...

Most of my client readings are focused on work or relationships.

I think that’s pretty common for most tarot readers, as those are the topics that people are usually most concerned with.

But every once in a while, I get some really fun – and unusual – questions.

I was reading at an event in a small town a couple hours away. It was nearing the end of the day when a young woman sat across from me said, “I’m not sure if you can tell me this, but is my house haunted? Because I feel like it is but no one will take me seriously when I tell them.”

I had been asked a lot of questions before this, but it was my first haunted house reading.

I shuffled the cards like usual and had my querent pull a few. When I flipped them over, we both peered down at them and paused.

The Seven of Cups, Wheel of Fortune and the Hanged Man stared back at me.

It’s not always easy to navigate such a direct question: Asking “is my house haunted” is essentially...

Ever since the start of the year, I’ve been hearing more and more tarot readers talk about their struggles with imposter complex.

Imposter complex is something that gets all of us at one time or another. No matter how much work you put into your craft, and no matter how much positive feedback you receive on your readings, there will be days when you question whether you’re cut out for this.

One of the things I think is important to do when doubt creeps in is to sit within the awareness of it. Ask yourself: “Why is this feeling coming up? Where might it be coming from?”

Sometimes imposter complex rises up when readers are trying too hard to do something spectacular. That might look like an attempt to make a wild leap of a prediction, or it might come from pressure to impress a querent by knowing something they haven’t revealed.

When we try to force the uncanny, or when we assume we have to perform omniscient feats, doubt is often in the corners, waiting...

This year I want to roll out a ton of new tarot workshops, while also rebuilding my platform as an author. I have so many ideas I want to share outside of tarot, but I don’t want to let go of either aspect of my work: My writing and my tarot readings have to coexist.  

I have been writing longer than I have been doing anything else, and people have often asked me how I find time to create – especially on top of running a business.  

In all honesty, there is no “hack” or magic secret I can offer. I set my priorities and try to be realistic with myself about what is possible in a single day.  

Learning how to do that has been a process. It has taken me time to learn how to focus my energy and how to set realistic expectations upon myself.  

My natural tendency is to think I can accomplish way more in a day than is possible, and when I do that, I set myself up for failure. And that sends me into disappointment in thinking...

When I heard that Theresa Reed, aka The Tarot Lady, was releasing a tarot book about grief, loss, healing and other hardships, I was excited.

Finally: A resource that will help tarot readers take their skills beyond the usual Tarot 101 fare and learn how to work with common yet challenging topics.

If you have tried to learn tarot based on guidebooks alone, you might have found yourself hitting walls along the way. Standard card meanings can offer a stepping stone towards your foundation, but when it comes time to actually perform a reading and answer a querent’s specific concerns, those general meanings can fall short.

And yet so many people seek out tarot readings when they are facing challenges and looking for support.

That’s why Theresa’s work with The Cards You’re Dealt is so important: This book helps to fill a gap for tarot readers of all levels – especially those who read for other people, or who aspire to.

“Is this a good book for...

When I first started reading tarot for other people, I was actually surprised at how many wanted to know about love.  

I thought I would be answering different types of questions about spiritual journeys and personal transformations.  

But I quickly realized how important relationships are to people, and how much is at stake when we are talking about love, commitment, loyalty and companionship.  

Some of the hardest questions I’ve had to answer as a tarot reader had to do with relationships.  

They can be really complicated. Especially if the people involved are cycling through a range of emotions: One day they’re on, another they’re off.  

Divining a clear answer about a relationship is not always easy to pin down when the people in question can’t be pinned down in the first place.  

Another challenge can arise when clients are impatient about the answer: They feel like they’ve already been...

Whew! Is it just me, or is time flying by?

Sometimes I can’t believe how fast time is going. I’ve been noticing that lot of people are going through some major periods of re-evaluation in their lives.

There’s a lot of change in the air as many of us are rethinking what’s most important and looking at  what to de-prioritize in order to have more time for our families, friends, and ourselves.

Are you going through a big change right now?

When things are busy and hectic, and you’re feeling a bit (or a lot) unclear about what it’s all leading to, it can help to pull out your tarot cards and give yourself some space to reflect.

Instead of asking a predictive question, which can muddy the waters of the present even more, ask something like, “What can I do to stay true to myself right now?”

When you’re feeling pulled in a lot of different directions, it can help to come back to the here and now rather than getting lost in thoughts...

“What does this card mean?”

If you read tarot, chances are you’ve asked this question more than once along your path.

But one thing I’ve started to discourage tarot students from asking is that very question:

“What does this card mean?”

Why?

Because if figuring out a card meaning was the only thing standing between you and your tarot reading, you wouldn’t even have to ask that question.

Card meanings are everywhere. You can Google any tarot card and come up with all kinds of answers.

Or you can get a guidebook and look it up.

Or you can watch any number of videos on social media where people talk about their understandings of various tarot cards.

When someone asks what a card means, the problem isn’t that they can’t find that out on their own. Quite often, students who ask this question have already done their own studying. They already know something about the card they’re wondering about.

The problem is that the card...