Is Tarot Certification Necessary? Some thoughts:
A few people have asked me my thoughts about tarot certification programs in recent months.
This conversation can get quite heated in the tarot community.
I have shared thoughts before about certification here, and still feel the same way by and large. To sum up some of my earlier thoughts, my main reason for being wary of “certification” is that there are so many ways to read tarot, and different systems and correspondences.
While I have come to sense that tarot card meanings tend to be shared knowledge among readers, tarot techniques stand apart from that – and are not universal.
Some readers will swear by the esoteric correspondences of the Golden Dawn and teach that you must use astrology, Kabbalah and more to truly read tarot.
Others, like myself, will tell you to leave all that stuff to the side and just focus on the cards.
Some tarot readers focus on intuitive and psychic development, others don’t.
And then there’s the question of what happens...
Do You Need To Be Certified to Read Tarot?
So you want to learn tarot – great! Personally, I think everyone can benefit from learning how to work with the cards, or from exploring other divinatory systems. It all leads to deeper self-awareness and unexpected awakenings.
As an aspiring reader, you might be wondering if taking a tarot workshop or course will be a good investment.
The short answer is: Yes. Taking tarot classes with the right teacher can absolutely improve your skills.
But do you need to take a tarot certification program specifically? My short answer on that is NO.
Here's why:
There are a lot of options out there to help you learn. But like anything, it’s smart to know who’s teaching the class, and what they’re promising you’ll get from it.
There is no one, true governing body for the tarot world. Unlike academic institutions that can create standards and processes, tarot is different. This is work that has been handed down through the centuries. It’s intuitive,...
