You know that feeling when you are just NOT SURE about…..something and wonder if there would be any benefit in having for example, a Tarot reading. You have heard others talking about their experiences but still….you hesitate? You wonder about the process, perhaps look online and find a free site … you want to go deeper…but how do you know if a reader will be the right fit for you?

Have you considered interviewing the reader?  Question everything! I certainly do. I want to know who a person is, what they do, how they work, if they can provide what it is I am looking for and fundamentally, my deepest question is ‘Can I trust you?’ I think that trust needs to be earned. Sure, be open, but not naive. This led me to ponder what it is you might like to know about me, which led to an internet search on questions to ask a tarot reader and I came across several sites that listed the questions you should ask a reader, before deciding if you want to proceed. Once you have your answers, you have the information you need in order to decide whether or not this is a beneficial use of you 30 or 60 precious minutes.

So, for the curious among you, I decided I would imagine the kinds of questions that may be running around in your mind and answer them 🙂 one at a time.

1. Were you mentored, or were you self- taught?

Both. My journey with the Tarot began years ago, and was more out of curiosity than anything. I remember buying my first deck. It was in the local ‘crystal’ shop. I loved spending time there. It was full of sparkly things and lovely smells and things that made me feel happy when I held them in my hand. I remember looking at their selection of Tarot cards. I had been given several decks in the past when their owners moved on and took them in like unwanted grown up kittens, but now I wanted to find ‘The One’.

I looked first at the boxes. So many pretty images. I imagine how I would feel back then had Tarot been as popular then as it is now and realise I may well have walked out without finding ‘The One’; that knowing me, I would have decided there were too many options and walked out with a packet of incense instead.

Luckily for me, there were only a dozen or so decks. I still remember that moment (no this is not the beginning of some romance novella) when I first saw the Spiral Tarot Deck by Kay Steventon. It was the images on the box that I fell for. Ok, so far, yes it DOES sound like a romance story I know.

On the front was the Trump card Temperance, peacefully holding two cups; a golden energetic flow moving between them. She was so centred. The colours were so very pretty. On the back was the Trump card, Strength. Here a woman is kneeling next to a lion, one hand on its nose, the other cradling its jaw, an infinity circle above them.

Being of Celtic origin I was also drawn to the concept of spirals. And so the love affair began.

I was given books, I met people. I learned the language of the cards. I read, with myself as guinea pig, often arguing, often determined to prove them wrong…. but always intrugued. My understanding grew. I had found a portal.

I met a teacher on this new path; a woman with a spring in her step and a streak of purple in her silver hair. She had a peace, a joy, a certainty and as I watched the way the cards spoke to me through her, I realised there was more, much more to these pictures on cardboard.

You read Tarot don’t you Tara?

No…

Yes you do, you just don’t remember….

I guess I continued to play, enjoying the process; real princess energy. One day though, after I had been through my own personal Tower experience (another story for another day), The Hierophant card spoke to me. It told me that it was time to ‘get serious’, to go more deeply into the study of Tarot, to explore other esoteric mysteries and to learn the secrets of Runes.

And so it continued.

This last year, I have been reading for Biddy Tarot; a reciprocal platform where I and many of my kindred spirits, read for clients from all corners of the earth in return for feedback. I have learned so much more. So many times I would read a question and wonder how on earth the cards could answer, but they became my teachers. Time after time, they showed me how to arrange them, how to connect… how to interpret and how to be the messenger.

It is a journey and the love affair is still going strong.

 

Until next time…

Tara