Why I’m No Longer Reading Tarot for Others
The best reading is the one you give yourself
I’ve had some great readings from professional readers, and I’ve given out some pretty amazing ones myself. But lately, although more people have been reaching out to ask for a tarot session, I feel like it’s time to admit it’s not working for me anymore. Because I truly believe the best tarot reading is the one you give yourself.
Tarot, the way I use it, strengthens your intuition and builds intimacy with your higher Self. And I believe that when you invite a third party into this relationship, there’s a chance — not a guarantee — that you may end up outsourcing your personal power.
I see it all the time! When someone asks me for a reading to tell them whether they should stay or leave their relationship, the therapist in me gets super uncomfortable. Instead of having me tell you what I think you should do, I’m way more interested in hearing what you feel called to do, and then coming up with a plan on how to get it done.
I used to think I’m “doing tarot wrong” because I believed a good reader should tell the client what they need to know. But now I can admit that I was only doing what I thought I’m supposed to — not what was genuine for me.
If I allow myself to follow what I believe in, it’s really simple: my role as a reader is to be a bridge between you and your own wisdom, not to be the source of wisdom itself.
So here’s a list of things I’m no longer interested in, based on past readings I’ve done for others that left me feeling unfulfilled.
1. I‘m not here just to give you advice
The way I see it, a reader’s duty is to help you hear what your spiritual self is saying. They’re there to help you navigate the noise in the mind that’s drowning out the voice of the soul. They’re not there to speak for your soul.
And this isn’t to say that tarot readings can’t be helpful or supportive. They absolutely can be both, but I disagree that either of these is more important than learning to trust in your own soul’s guidance.
Instead, think of it as different tools for different jobs. Sometimes we just need a listening ear; someone to help refill our cup when it runs low. But if we become dependent on it, and if we never learn to trust ourselves first, that listening ear becomes a hindrance to our own self-development.
This is something I’ve had to reckon with in my own practice. When a client walks away after a reading with me, I’ve been asking myself, “do they just have more information to think about, or have I helped them build more trust in themselves?” And because the answer has been the former one too many times, it’s clearly time for a major shift.
2. I don’t want tarot to hinder your self-development
Here’s a handy little cheat sheet to determine whether a tarot reading is adding to or taking away from your spiritual growth:
- If it allows you to explore and think about things from a different perspective, it’s helpful.
- If you need your reader to tell you what to do because you feel too overwhelmed to make a decision yourself, it might be harmful.
- If you want your reader to tell you what your higher Self wants you to know, rather than learning how to communicate with it yourself, it might be harmful.
- If it’s designed to help you learn yourself better rather than trying to predict the future, it’s probably helpful.
- If you just want someone to tell you things will be okay, but you’re not ready to do the work to get things to that good place, it might be harmful.
3. I don’t want to misuse the tarot
Tarot is truly an incredible gift. It contains ancient archetypal wisdom so it can easily provide all the support + advice we need to navigate any situation. And I do mean any.
But like I heard someone clever say, whatever has the power to heal also has the power to hurt. And tarot used for the wrong reasons can lead to spiritual bypassing, unhealthy positivity, over-dependence, and increased anxiety.
Misused, tarot can end up eroding the same intuition it’s meant to be strengthening. It can make you dependent on other people’s opinions instead of learning how to search for the answers yourself. It can make you crave false assurances that everything you do will turn out okay, instead of teaching you how to move into the unknown with faith and courage.
Ultimately, instead of helping you live better, tarot can be used to run away from life. And I think it’s really sad for such a powerful tool to leave you worse off, instead of opening you up to a greater way of being.
Final Words
Tarot has existed in one form or another since the 15th century, and it’s a given that throughout that time there’s been numerous debates about what it’s really for. I like these debates. I think they introduce us to new ways of doing things, which is why tarot is still alive and kicking 600 years later.
Everything here is what I believe in based on my experiences. Part of being human is that your perspective can shift radically from one year to the next, so all this is absolutely true today but might not be five years from now. If you disagree with any part of it, rest easy in the knowledge that I may just evolve to see things from your point of view in the future.
