Hello! This episode is a little off balance because we got a new kitten! Please pardon some of the random noise. Here I talk about doing readings for other people, setting boundaries, and a couple tips for reading in a group setting. Transcript: Hello, and welcome to the Antifragile Tarot podcast. I am your resident cardslinger, Susannah, here on another witchy Wednesday to talk your ear off. This week, I am going to be talking about reading tarot cards for other people. I do want to issue a brief apology in advance; last week my husband and I adopted a new kitten, so she's a little rowdy and there might be a little bit more background noise than normal, since I'm recording this in my living room and there's nobody else home so I can't just lock her up. I spent last weekend reading as Antifragile Tarot at the JC Oddities Market in Jersey City, which is where I'm based. I've been reading professionally for about a year now and I've been reading tarot cards for about 15, but one thing that a lot of new readers struggle with is whether or not they should read their cards for other people. I personally think there is really no wrong way to be a tarot card reader. I think that you are just as valid if you only read for yourself, or if you won't take money for tarot card readings, or if you only read for other people, or if you only read with Spirit guides, or if you never read with Spirit guides... I don't think that any of this makes you any less legit or anything like that. Some people have strong opinions about this kind of thing, but I try not to-- but one thing that new tarot card readers often come up against is when they should start reading for other people, if you are of a mind to do so. Now, if you read cards and you don't keep this a secret, people will start asking you for readings. It's just what happens. And if you are not a professional reader, you'll definitely want to give some thought to how you're going to go about this, and if you want to go pro that's also something I'll be covering today. So, when you start reading cards... if you're just reading for yourself and your friends, and you're keeping it very casual and you're not claiming to be an exper,t I would have no problem giving tarot card readings as soon as you get your deck. I don't care if you're still reading the meanings off of Biddy Tarot or using the little book that came with your cards, if one came with your cards, I don't think that's a problem. I don't think it's a bad idea-- in fact, I think it's some of the best practice you're ever going to get. I gave pretty good readings right off the bat even though I wouldn't have considered myself a professional reader in high school. And I look back at readings I did and they were pretty spot-on, so I was very happy with that and I don't see why anyone else wouldn't have that same experience. But you definitely don't want to start offering pro readings if you're still relying heavily on books. Again, I don't think that pros should never look at meanings; when I'm doing ab reading for somebody, especially some some of my more in depth readings like my 12-spoked wheel reading, I sometimes look at resources because the cards have so many different meanings and sometimes I'll get a sense of something that doesn't make any sense to me, and I will start poking around about what this means and I will realize that this makes perfect sense knowing some more context about the card. But I definitely would not recommend that you start charging people money if you are not yet feeling like you can look at any card in the deck and know exactly what it means. However, that doesn't mean you shouldn't read for other people. It can be really fun to sit with your friends and go over cards and talk about what they mean to you. So definitely don't be too intimidated to do that. You can also join lots of groups or tarot card reading exchanges... littleredtarot.com, which is one of my favorite resources, has a lo
