What exactly does a Tarot reader do? What is the job outline? How does one define the profession of being a Tarot reader? Back in 2005, while reading cards for the celebrants at the South Portland High School’s Project Graduation, an 18-year old student asked me if I, as somebody he understood to be a mystic, knew ahead what was going to happen in my life. I understand the issue in trying to understand something you haven’t experienced, but the query reminded me how alien the idea of reading Tarot cards is to some people. No, I am not a mind reader. No, I can't tell you your fortune (whatever that suggests). No, I am not here to tell you what you need to do or what is your destiny to accomplish.
Doing a reading is not even about being right. The longer I'm employed with folks and the Tarot, the more I understand it to be about having whatever conversation permits a customer to make their own best selections. It's an fair pleasure to help people discover (and then create) what makes, for them, a contented life. Often through a reading comes the memory jogger that we all have intrinsic value, and that our feelings and emotions really count for something. We do know what we're doing, even if we feel awfully lost. We will trust ourselves : what a concept! Often it becomes my job to buttress these ideas, and to be the voice of support and motivation. In cases like these, my “TWUID” (Tarot Employees Union ID) badge would say, “Jeanne Fiorini, Professional Believer in People.” (Often referred to as a ProBIP.
) Occasionally it requires regular conferences with clients, as their stories unfold, to help maneuver the twists and turns of fledgling authenticity. The ongoing voice of encouragement helps people stay on task, be true to themselves, centered, and on guard against the negative influences of sceptics. Here the Tarot reader moves into a Level II class of Personal Pep Squad (PersPepS), sans pom poms of course. I've learned tons about life thru the discipline of Tarot. It has changed the course of my life in profound ways, not the least of that has been learning how to think and behave like an optimist.
But it is a case of survival to be taught how to think positively, to believe in the best possible end result instead of the worst, and to hold that miracles can and do occur and that life can be wondrous. These are belief selections, but have also been reinforced by real events. You've probably heard the expression, “I’ll believe it when I see it”, how about “I’ll see it when I suspect it”? I earnestly, wholeheartedly, and decidedly know that we have the capacity to make the life we truly need, and it is important for clients to hear that message with the specifics of their particular reading. Here, the Tarot reader has become– a get my cape, hands on hips — Optimist for Hire (OpFH). To this point, the allotted roles, and the hats and badges that go with the job, are enjoyable and a privilege to maintain.
But if you are intending to do this work, you will have to develop a good set of bounds. Guidelines must be defined around issues like this as what times (times of the day and of life) are appropriate to consult the Tarot, which personality types are best served by not poking around in the unconscious, what forms of questions you are willing to address, and which are best left unproven. You will need this type of clarity because folks do sometimes ask you to be an OnDeMag (On-Demand Magician). This situation isn’t good for anyone. As well as OnDeMag, here are a few more Tarot reader job descriptions to avoid : The 7-11 (always open and available for business) ER or Psychiatric Ward Substitute Daily Existance Micro-Manager Mom But let’s get back to the cool stuff. For me personally, one of the greatest things about being a Tarot reader is that it is a job where one gets paid for being emotional.
All my life I have been the person who has the leakiest tear channels inside a 50-mile radius. Sensitivity is tough to squash at holidays, graduations, college plays, etc, where regularly I’ve found myself displaying all my emotions as well as those of everybody else in the room. Very rarely did it ever feel really nice. It's a personal victory to have found a livelihood where folk require someone sensitive and tuned-in to feelings and impressions. But please don’t call me a Pro Feeler, people might get the incorrect idea. A good reader knows the best way to listen, to what's asserted, to what's carefully, and to what's unsaid.
All the small bits of info from one’s head, heart, intuition, physical, and unknown kingdoms, need to congeal into something that makes sense, or else there’s no point in ordering too many business cards. It often takes a bird's eye view to see the complete picture, and an objective bird at that. Therefore in some ways, it's a reader’s job to complete the dot-to-dot diagram (be a ConDot-er) so that a reasonable picture can appear. It is electrifying work, sometimes challenging, but is most often rewarding and a privilege. I want to see an organisation for Tarot readers called the Tarot Workers Union, mostly because when you are saying the acronym T.W.U. Aloud, it sounds like “true,” in a Madeline Kahn Blazing Saddles sort of way. And the quest for that which is real and true, is, basically, what the Tarot is really about.