Liz Worth ~ Tarot + Astrology

One of the hardest things to do as a tarot reader is to feel like you’re the bearer of bad news.

People come to readings with a lot of hope. Sometimes they want to hear that a rough situation is going to turn around, or that an old flame is going to reappear in their lives. 

But it isn’t always in the cards – at least not as far as you can tell once the reading has started. 

I once had someone get quite upset with me when I told her that I didn’t see what she wanted me to see. 

“I’m not here to lie to you about what I’m seeing,” I finally had to tell her. “Would you rather I do that?” 

This wasn’t a defensive question – it was honest. I genuinely wonder if some clients want readers to just tell them what they want to hear rather than interpret the cards as they are. 

More often than not, though, people are open to receiving whatever may come. Even if the news is disappointing. 

...

In some of my recent readings, a few of my clients have asked, “How much information should I tell you?”

This question doesn’t always come from a desire to stay secretive or to test a reader: I’ve actually found it’s the opposite a lot of the time.

People come to tarot readings because they are trying to work something out within themselves.

Sometimes they are at a difficult or confusing crossroads.  Sometimes they are trying to make sense of an illogical scenario.

I’ve always seen myself as a neutral party for my clients. I’m not here to steer them in any one direction. I’m just here to listen and to understand what will be most helpful for them to take away from our time together.

If that means they want to explain where they’re coming from with a question, or they just want to talk things out for a minute without anyone jumping to conclusions, I can be that person for them.

You never know what a querent is going through....

I can’t figure out if January is going by fast or slow. On one hand, I can’t believe it’s already January 22. 

On the other, I feel like I’ve been slowly easing myself into the year. A couple of weeks ago, I had shared here that I was scheduled for dental surgery.  

But when I was at the dentist’s office two days before the appointment, I learned of a major miscommunication in regards to this procedure. My gut told me to hold off and seek out another opinion, which is what I’ve decided to do. 

Luckily this isn’t an urgent issue: I am grateful that I can take my time with it. 

I thought I would feel more relieved, though: No surgery? No pain? No recovery? Great, right? But I was mentally and financially preparing for this treatment for months. Having it suddenly come off my calendar really threw me off for some reason: All of that energy spent building towards something that might not even be right for me. 

It...

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,...

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...

A lot of people ask me how I transitioned into professional tarot reading.

Everyone gets here in their own way. For me, the leap happened in 2015 when I was working at a national non-profit.

My five-year work anniversary was coming up later that year. A few of my co-workers had already celebrated similar work milestones that year. We had stood around a grim boardroom with slices of cake sitting precariously on paper plates.

All year, I kept thinking to myself, “I really don’t want to be working here by the time my five-year party rolls around.”

I was burned out and disillusioned, and I knew that I had to get out.

I’d been doing tarot part-time on the side, reading at parties and taking on private clients when I had time. I felt strongly that tarot was something I was supposed to be doing, and I wanted to make more space in my life to offer more readings to more people.

The only problem was that my day job took so much out of me that I had no idea how I would...

Declaring yourself a tarot reader and officially offering your services can be an exciting and nerve-wracking experience.

Some readers take a long time to come out of the “tarot closet,” as the saying goes, and there can be a number of reasons for that: Lack of support, fear of judgement, or living in a religious community top the list.

But putting your stake in the ground and making tarot a visible part of your life can still be a challenge even if you are supported through the process.

No matter what your beginnings in tarot look like, tarot is a path that will continue to challenge you to define, clarify and uphold your boundaries every step of the way.

It will also push you to realize that you can’t sustain a business off of your social network alone – even if you have friends and family who are eager and excited to support you.

In fact, those close, enthusiastic relationships can bring their own sets of challenges when you start building your profile as...

A lot of people are surprised when I tell them I don’t spend all day reading tarot.

“Isn’t that your job?” they wonder.

But that question itself says a lot: Many people are used to thinking about work as a single job – one role or job title that you’re assigned.

When you’re self-employed as a tarot reader, you’re actually doing a lot more work than just reading for clients.

Being self-employed means making time to manage many moving parts along the way. There are administrative tasks, marketing efforts, and a lot of unexpected decisions to make on an ongoing basis.

There are also ups and downs, emotional rollercoasters, and imperfect days.

Here are three truths that you will have to accept if you are running a tarot business (or any other service-based business, for that matter.)

1. People will unsubscribe from your mailing lists and channels.

All of the big advice out there says to build a mailing list (which I recommend,...

"How much should I charge for a tarot reading?"

This is one of the first questions people often ask when they start to read tarot professionally.

Charging for a tarot reading is a big step: It is a move that can change people’s perception of you.

Someone who is willing to pay you for your time is more likely to see you as a skilled craftsperson. They are invested in what you’re doing because they have some skin in the game.

When a client isn’t paying for a service, they don’t have anything at stake. It can be the worst reading, or the best reading, but either way, they’ve got nothing to lose it ends up being a bad experience.

But there is a "but" here, which is this:

There is actually a time and place to read for free – and a way to make it feel like a fair exchange. And that’s when you’re in the learning phases as a tarot reader.

I didn’t charge a dime for my tarot readings for seven years, because I was gaining experience.

I did offer...

When I started learning tarot, my goal was to be able to read tarot for other people.

I’d been getting all kinds of readings – palm, tarot, psychic, Akashic records – for years.

I had long been fascinated and awed by the way each reader seemed to hit on things that were so true and personal for me.

I cherished each of these experiences and wanted to be able to help others in the same way.

As soon as I could, I started reading tarot for friends and family, and eventually strangers. Over time, I built up my skills enough to feel confident charging for my readings.

When I first started my tarot business, I had certain visions of how it would all go. But I soon realized that, like many things in life, there are always surprises – and learning opportunities to grow from.

One of the things that I had to grasp was that tarot clients don’t necessarily think like tarot readers.

One of the biggest ah-a moments I had around this came up around tarot...