Liz Worth ~ Tarot + Astrology

What does it mean to stay grounded when you’re reading tarot? (Or engaging in any other spiritual practice, for that matter.)

Like many things, the answer will depend on who you ask.

For me, groundedness can encompass many things:

• Staying humble and remembering that it’s not always about you;
• Finding a balance between logic and spiritual belief or faith;
• Developing sound judgment in decisions big and small; and
• Maintaining good energetic boundaries, so as not to get swept up in other people’s emotions or priorities.

Groundedness isn’t something only tarot readers should care about: It’s something everyone can benefit from cultivating in their lives.

But when you’re reading tarot for others, groundedness becomes particularly important. Because sometimes, you might have a querent who is struggling to stay present themselves. Or who needs some help discerning what’s true, and what’s not.

It’s so easy to get carried away with a thought, or let the imagination run wild thinking about a...

A lot of people talk about tarot through the filter of it being a "gift." Which implies there is some kind of raw, natural talent or ability inherent within a tarot reader from birth.

While raw talent is real, I see the same way I do music, writing, art, carpentry... any kind of skill, really.

Which is that it is a skill, and even raw talent benefits from some practice, polish, and knowledge of the canon in which it resides.

When I reflect of my own path as a tarot reader, I also have to acknowledge that a lot of what it took for me to get this far with it happened through a willingness to work on myself.

People skills are a big part of tarot reading.

I've met a lot of people in this world who claim psychic ability and strong intuition, but when you sit down to talk to them they have terrible listening skills, or say things that rub the wrong way.

Being honest with yourself, keeping your ego in check, and reflecting on beliefs or behaviours that aren't serving you - or others -...

Tarot reading brings a lot of ambitious clients to the table.

A common reason people turn to tarot readers is to gain insight into their goals. People’s dreams hinge on questions like:

“How can I help my business succeed this year?”
“How can I build my creative practice?”
“How can I become financially independent?”

And sometimes, these conversations can lead into questions about manifestation. Tarot clients wonder exactly what they should be doing holistically to achieve their dreams:

Should they be performing a certain ritual?
Or using affirmations?
Or visualizing their ideal outcome?
Changing their vibration?

There’s a lot of talk out there about manifestation. And like anything else in the New Age space, there are a lot of opinions, ideas, and contradictions to be found on the subject.

The word manifest also has several definitions. In spiritual contexts, it is often used as a verb, meaning to make something manifest – to make it known, or make it real.

When it comes to...

I haven’t been writing very much about current events or politics in the last while.

Occasionally I have shared thoughts about world issues in my newsletter, or on my social media. But on a whole, my weekly messages here are intended to be about tarot in some capacity.

And sometimes, I wonder if this gives the impression that I’m not noticing what’s going on, or what’s happening out there.

But of course I am.

We are in some tough times, and have been for a while.

And I know that it can be hard to know what to focus on, and what to think some days.

Whenever I start to feel disappointed in the world, or when I start to lose hope for the Earth, I remind myself of how creative and inspiring people can be, too.

Our world is so much more than just one thing: It is never all bad, because there are far too many iterations and possibilities unfolding simultaneously.

When I find my thoughts wandering too far into despair, I think of all the amazing art that has been created, and that...

Have you ever been in the middle of a tarot reading when, suddenly, an unexpected message pops into your head?

Or maybe you’ve been trying to answer a question, but the reply the cards are offering feels like a slight detour. It is an answer – even an acceptable one – but you’re not quite sure how it fits with the querent’s situation.

It's not uncommon to feel compelled to deliver a certain message that, to you as the reader, might feel a bit odd or unusual. Not because it’s irrelevant to the sitter (ideally, it should still relate to the context of the reading), but because you’re not sure how fits into the context of your querent’s life.

Tarot readers often have a limited view and understanding of their querents’ situations. Unless you’re reading for someone you know very well, you don’t have much to go on when it comes to the background of a question that’s been posed.

You also won’t necessarily know a querent’s beliefs, comfort zones, or sensitivities. So it can be a bit nerve...

I’ve shared this story a lot before, so if you’ve heard it already, I hope you’ll humour me for a moment.

When I got my first tarot deck, I had very skewed expectations about what would happen when I opened up that card pack.

I had (wrongly) assumed that as soon as I flipped over a few cards, I’d somehow know exactly what they were telling me.

Even though I had no idea what exactly I was hoping to find out. Nor did I consider what kind of messages tarot might even give me.

I had a vague idea that I’d get a glimpse of the future. But I was also in high school at the time, keeping a relatively routine schedule between going to a co-op in the morning, classes in the afternoon, and a part-time job after school.

What kind of big reveal was I hoping for? I had no idea. My life was pretty predictable at the time.

But I wasn’t questioning myself at the time, or thinking much about the how or why of tarot.

And unfortunately, the pressure I’d put on myself to feel like something was immed...

One of the most common questions people have about reading tarot is, “How do I connect to the energy of the person I’m reading for?”

From my experience, there’s nothing special you need to do when you’re reading cards for someone else. Your tarot deck contains all kinds of answers and information.

Knowing how to read your cards is what’s important. You don’t need to psychically reach into your sitter for answers that are already present in a reading.

If you were doing a purely psychic reading, however, without any divinatory tools involved, the answer might be different.

But if your aim is to read cards, then that’s where your focus should be whenever you are interpreting a message.

When you are giving a reading, you don’t need to “connect” to someone else’s energy as though you’re hooking into them – all you need to is a listening ear and a willingness to communicate. Just like any other conversation, there is no special ritual you need to enter into to begin reading tarot.

Some...

Do you ever feel like you look down at certain tarot cards and feel stuck for new things to say about them?

It used to happen me to all the time. I’d spent so much time carefully memorizing card meanings and keywords that it started to get in the way of my growth as a tarot reader.

Why?

When it came time to sit down and do a reading, I realized I was blocked from coming up with my own interpretations because my head was so full of other people’s tarot meanings.

On one hand, I had to give myself credit: I’d set out to learn the card meanings, and I’d succeeded. But I didn’t realize that it would end up getting in the way of putting tarot into my own words.

I also didn’t realize that card meanings are just jumping off points with the cards. There are so many layers and aspects to tarot that meanings alone can’t fully capture.

Yet there’s so much emphasis on learning those meanings, as though they are a means to an end.

In reality, they are just the beginning – a stepping stone tha...

Have you ever pulled out a few tarot cards, looked down and them, and felt that they just didn’t want to be read?

Maybe the cards that showed up weren’t the ones you were expecting to see.

Or the cards didn’t seem to fit the question you asked, so you took it as a non-answer.

Or you just felt totally disconnected as soon as the reading started.

These things can and do happen when we’re reading tarot. And it’s easy to assume there’s something wrong with the reading. Or that the timing is off. Or there’s no connection between you, the cards, or the sitter.

But I actually think that tarot always provides an answer. No matter what cards are pulled, and no matter how you might feel during the reading, there is information right there on the table.

I know my perspective on this isn’t one that everyone holds. But I’ve yet to meet someone I couldn’t read tarot for.

Have I pulled sets of cards that were challenging to interpret, though? You bet. Tarot sometimes feels like a big puzzle. Whe...

“How do I know if I’m using my intuition?”

This is a question many of us ask at some point in our lives. In the tarot world, the spiritual community at large, there is a lot of emphasis on intuition as a means to tune into, and tune up, your perception.

But learning to trust yourself is a life-long process, and one that can be in flux for many reasons.

I’ve met so many people over the years who felt down on themselves because they weren’t sure if they were connected to their intuition. They questioned whether they were aligned enough, or spiritual enough.

And sometimes, they questioned whether they were worthy of pursuing practices like reading tarot.

Many of us have moments when we question whether we’re seeing a situation clearly.

Sometimes you might be mulling over a tough decision and you can’t hone in on a clear answer. Other times you might miss a red flag in a situation, which causes you to doubt your perception overall.

Learning to trust yourself takes time. And clarifyi...