Liz Worth ~ Tarot + Astrology

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...

How are you? October was a big month for me. After the stillness of the last few years, this autumn has felt like life has really come roaring back in so many ways.

I had the opportunity to read tarot at some great Halloween parties, and also at the closing party of Likely General, a shop where I read every Sunday for two years. I loved having that residency and loved part of the community that had grown around that store.

Likely General closed its doors at the end of October, and I’m glad I could be there one last time to offer a few tarot readings as we all said goodbye to the space.

One of the things I found myself reiterating throughout my readings in October was that we have choices in life.

Whenever I read at events, I know I am going to have some nervous sitters on my hands. People are often curious about tarot. When they see a tarot reader in the corner at a party, they might decide that today’s the day they’re going to finally give tarot a try.

But...

I’ve been knee-deep in one-on-one readings this month and it’s been a wonderful state to be in.

Reading tarot isn’t always easy, though: It takes a lot of concentration and care. Readers see and hear a lot. We help to move energy in people’s lives. It takes a lot of time to sit with it all, but there is also great gratitude that comes with this path.

One of the things I have come to learn through my work is that tarot isn’t always pushing you towards a big change.

Often, clients come in for readings expecting to hear that something major is about to occur. Or that they have some kind of big opportunity on the horizon.

And there’s nothing wrong with wanting change, or working towards it, especially if you feel like you’re ready for a new experience in your life.

But sometimes we have to remember that things might be OK just as they are right now.

Our lives all go through different seasons. Sometimes there are seasons of change, and others of...

What is the hardest question you’ve had to answer as a tarot reader?

In the time that I’ve been reading for other people, I’ve had my fair share of difficult questions.

Difficult, of course, is subjective.

Some people find questions like, “Is my ex coming back?” challenging because they are yes or no questions with an emotional charge to them.

Others find predictive questions difficult because their tarot reading style is less focused on the future and more on the present.

Tarot readers are always defining the boundaries of their work, and determining the best ways they can use tarot.

When I was starting out as a professional reader, there was a common piece of advice out there to turn down readings that didn’t feel like a good fit for your work.

There have only been a few times that I’ve turned people down, however. Sometimes, clients will come for tarot readings needing a type of support that just isn’t possible through tarot. Or,...

When you start reading tarot for other people, you quickly realize that a lot of questions people have revolve around the same few categories:

Work.

Relationships.

Money and security.

Focus and contentment.

And just as often, we can find ourselves asking variations of these same questions when we’re reading on our own.

It’s something that I’ve been asked about a lot over the last few years:

“How can I take my readings deeper? What else should I be asking about?”

And, “What can I do to get my querents thinking differently, too?”

I used to feel the same way.

But I’ve come to appreciate these “mundane” questions, and I encourage you to try to, too.

Because one thing I have come to realize is that these questions are what life is about: No matter what it is we are trying to achieve in our personal lives, many of us share common fears and desires at the end of the day.

Everyone wants to feel love, and be loved.

Everyone needs a...

Tarot and intuition seem to go hand in hand: At least that’s what a lot of us are told when we start working with the cards.

But finding the synergy between an intuitive hit and following the cards as you’ve learned them can be a steep learning curve as a tarot reader.

Maybe you’ve found yourself wondering that very thing: “When should I go with the basic meaning, and when should I go with my first impression instead?”

Sometimes what sits behind this question is the fear of getting a reading wrong by going too off track with your interpretation.

I don’t think there’s a perfect answer or pat solution to this: Sometimes, you just have to be willing to go out on a limb with your interpretation to see if it resonates. Practice, experimentation, and patience go a long way to building your relationship with the cards.

Of course, what works for me may be different for someone else – intuition has its own ways of manifesting within each of us....

I’ve recently been inspired by a tarot reader friend who has been doing big, deep-dive readings for himself each week to get a sense of what to prioritize in the days ahead.

I know it’s popular to pull a card a day, but sometimes that can feel like information overload with a lot to take in and not enough time to carry through on all of tarot’s messages.

I like the idea of a weekly tarot pull to set the tone for the week ahead. I find in general that I’m most effective and focused when I start off my week with a clear sense of my top priorities. A lot can happen in the span of a few days, but I can also waste a lot of time if I haven’t clearly identified what I need to be moving forward.

And these days, it feels like there is so much to do: I have new writing projects I want to make space for. I have my new Tarot Study Hall community to build upon. And I have been busy with the little vintage resale business my husband and I started last year.

...

One of my most unpopular tarot opinions is that intuition is not enough to be a tarot reader.

I know that goes against so much of the common advice out there when it comes to tarot reading:

“Just trust in the messages that come to you.”
“Go with your first impression.”  
“Listen to your instincts.”

And yes, self-trust is an important component of being a tarot reader: You need to be able to get to a point where you feel confident enough to rely on your abilities as a card reader.

But intuition alone isn’t the only thing tarot readers need to develop if they want to read for others. Whether you are working with paid querents or working up to that by doing practice readings on friends and acquaintances, there are a lot of other soft skills that can make or break the experience for you and your querents.

Here are three essential soft skills to develop as a tarot reader (alongside your intuition, of course):

Listening: Listening seems...

Do you feel like your tarot readings are “chunky,” moving from one card to another rather than synthesizing the full story? 

If you do, you’re not alone: It’s a common thing to get stuck on. There is a learning curve to tarot, and this is one of the bends that can take some time to move through.

The way a lot of us learn tarot is so focused on one card at a time. We learn that this card means this, that card means that. And when it comes time to put together a reading, we pull out a series of cards and try to add them together, only to realize our readings feel like they’re missing something. 

How do you start to summarize what’s in front of you?

How do you start to see the bigger picture of your tarot readings?

How do you stop sounding clunky in your delivery, and start articulating your readings in a way that sounds seamless and unique? 

Part of it starts with a willingness to try: To challenge yourself to push your readings to...

Have you ever had a really good tarot reading?

I’m assuming that since you’re reading my tarot blog, you’ve probably had some kind of tarot reading before – either from another reader, or one you did for yourself.

If you’ve received a reading from someone else before and you loved it, what was it that made it so good?

I’ve had many readings over the years, some better than others.

Some of those readings have been predictive. Some of them were oriented to the present.

Some were introspective and decision based. Others channeled messages from Spirit.

It’s not the approach alone that makes for a good reading, though. Interesting predictions can be exciting to hear. Accuracy and resonance counts for something, too.

But in my experience, what good readings have in common with each other is specificity.

A good reading should feel personal to the querent. It should hit on some kind of specific truth, or a personal dream or desire that is aching to...