Are you worried about getting a Tarot reading because you fear ending up in the hands of a charlatan? I have put together a list of 10 things the professional Tarot reader will not do to help safeguard your interests.
The three main marks of a true Tarot professional are:
- they have your best interests at heart
- the readings are empowering
- they help you formulate the right questions to help you move forward with your life
1. Ethics
The professional Tarot reader is transparent about their ethics. Any professional Tarot reader worth the name will have their reader’s ethics published on their website and in any leaflets they hand out.
2. Spiritual Discernment
Some clients consult a Tarot reader to ask about how to keep cheating on their husband without him finding out. There are many other types of questions clients may ask that would make the Tarot reader complicit in generating bad juju/karma.
A true professional will decline to read on this because they have standards, seek to genuinely help their clients and simply don’t want that kind of karma on record. This has nothing to with being judgemental, as some would claim, but everything to do with being spiritually discerning.
3. Professional Expertise
The professional Tarot reader never suggests a medical treatment or a financial investment. Expert advice in these areas are best left to the experts. A Tarot reader who is also an energy healer or alternative health therapist may offer advice regarding complimentary treatments but will be very clear on the fact that this advice is never meant to replace that of a medical professional.
4. Curse Removal
The professional Tarot reader does NOT take money off clients to reverse hexes or curses. This is one of the oldest charlatan tricks in the world. Unsuspecting Tarot clients will go to a reader who delivers a string of bad news and tells them this is what their future will look like because you have a family curse on your head. Luckily for you, they know how to reverse this curse… for a small fee, of course.
Please note that there are practitioners of magick who do offer to remove curses and hexes ethically. However, this is a practice separate from Tarot and unfortunately, as mentioned above, there are many charlatans who engage in these practices. Please be careful, use your discernment and ask around for recommendations until you find a practitioner you trust.
5. Time Is Money (Phoneline Psychics)
The Professional Tarot reader does NOT keep you hanging on the phone for as long as possible. Sadly, this practice is very common among psychic phone lines. Having worked for one myself and spoken with colleagues who have experience with psychic phone lines, it would seem many of them are indeed corrupt and some even employ people who aren’t Tarot readers at all. They act the part and have a script they use to keep you hanging on for as long as possible while the £££ pile up.
If you prefer a voice connection, I suggest finding an independent reader who offers phone or Skype/Zoom readings.
6. The Perils of Free Readings
The true Tarot professional does NOT do free readings. While a professional may occasionally do the odd free mini taster sessions to promote their work, they will not offer free full-length readings. No real professional can afford to do so. Professional Tarot readers pay their bills, national insurance contributions and taxes doing what they do. Most earn just enough to get by. It is not a get rich quick scheme for those of us who take our work seriously and many of us often have another stream of income to complement our reading business.
Full-length free readings are often copy-and-paste jobs or AI-generated to suck people in. This is definitely true in those cases where the free reading is followed by an email where you are told that something potentially bad is about to happen but to find out more you need to pay for your next reading.
Please respect professional tarot readers enough to NOT ask for freebies. Years of training and great sacrifice has gone into their labour of love. Would you ask your plumber or dentist for a freebie? Didn’t think so!
7. Under 18s
The professional Tarot reader does NOT read for children without the consent of a parent or legal guardian. This really is a no-brainer. Some will read for over 16s and others only for over 18s.
8. 100% Accuracy
The professional Tarot reader does NOT promise 100% accuracy. How to spot a charlatan in under two seconds: Reading ‘I am 100% accurate.’ anywhere in their promo material.
9. Refunds
The professional Tarot reader DOES have a refund policy. While I do know a couple of professional Tarot readers who would not agree with me on this, I believe they are the ones who end up losing clients over it long-term. Because nobody is 100% accurate and even Tarot readers have bad days, it is much better business sense to have a no quibble refund policy in place. It also gives new prospective clients peace of mind as they can try you risk-free.
It is so incredibly rare for me to have to refund anyone that I am more than happy to be offering this policy. All it takes to ruin an online business is one unhappy client with a penchant for writing scathing reviews.
Multiple Readings on the Same Question
The professional Tarot reader does NOT do several consecutive readings on the same topic. This is the second-fastest way to spot a charlatan. Charlatans feed on desperation and will keep flipping cards for you until you get the answer you want.
A true professional always seeks to empower their clients to be as independent as possible. They will happily turn clients away when they spot a common-sense solution to their client’s dilemma and share that wisdom free of charge.
Comments 9
I just came across this website while doing a search on bad tarot readings. I am an intuitive reader myself and just recently decided to have a reading from a psychic simply because I felt like maybe I am not looking at my situation objectively. Within an hour session the psychic only pulled 2 cards which she talked about very briefly. And mostly asked me questions about my situation, rather than giving me the information herself. Then it turned into an discussion/advice session on how to pursue my career, by working on clearing my blockages and doing emotional healing work on myself and so on. I already know all this. So after the session I wrote her an email and told her that this was more like a career coaching, guiding session which I didn’t ask for. And told her I don’t feel comfortable paying her the full rate but I still appreciate her time and I am ok with maybe partial payment which seems more fair for both of us. She emailed me back and pretty much defended her side of the story saying that she was guided by spirit to tell me I need to work on my self and that she that was my forecast for the year ahead. Now anyone could have given me advice on my career. She is a hypnotherapist as well so I am guessing she uses her therapy skills to make it seem like she is a psychic medium.
After her defensive response I now don’t even feel like paying her any money. But I am confused and feel bad at the same time for not paying. She sent me bunch of recorded audios on how to clear negative blockages etc and then attached an invoice with a small discount and asked me to pay that amount. Is she using emotional blackmail by sending audios to say look I am helpful and I deserve to get paid?
Any opinions you may have is greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Author
Hi Mina, this may feel like a subjective, sensitive and emotionally loaded situation but you actually have real consumer rights which apply to this situation. As a consumer, it is important to check the terms and conditions of the reader/psychic before choosing to see them so you know what their refund policy is but it’s not too late to do this. It should be published on her site. If not, she is simply not a professional. You also have local/national consumer laws which apply, so that’s what you need to check next. And yes, if she is sending you things that you didn’t ask for, she could be doing this to justify payment in full. Hope you can find a way of sorting this out in a way that feels fair to you. Blessings, Lisa
Hi,
This is the good blog for tarot reader and tarot business. If any one want to learn how to start a tarot business, then he should must follow these rules. For a professional tarot reader these are the good things. you can also visit livtarot.com to know more about tarot reading.
Love this. Just shared it on my Facebook page. Especially the part about a refund. Boy I have been so frustrated in the past to have paid a fortune for a 100% inaccurate reading. And if I contacted the person they’d be like “Well that is what spirit told me”. I have always in the back on my mind that I would give a refund if needed but never had needed to (except for one person who was abusive and she didn’t even ask for one, I just decided to give it)
Author
Thanks Carol. It’s sad but yes, we all come across abusive customers if we’re in the trade long enough… and I handled it the same way.
I've actually been thinking about that. Benebell Wen is also in favor of tarotists getting organized to make it possible to point out "That's not ethical!" when needed, and also spreading that it's not all wooey and mystical, but has logic, ethics and is analytical. I agree, a good site in Swedish for the Swedes would be a good start. Right now I'm buried in work and studies, but I'd love to see a Swedish "TABI" in the future. 🙂
Well, it is both. It is VERY mystical albeit the structure is logical and possible to analyse. However, analysing the cards with the intellect alone will make you a pretty poor reader. As with any healing modality you need to be balanced in your Elements and aligned with your Higher Self to do well…
I just recently found your blog, and I love it! I agree with your list, and it saddens me so much that there are charlatans out there fooling people who are going through a crisis. 🙁 I saw somewhere on your site you're from Sweden, så hej på dig! 😉 Hur känner du för "tarotklimatet" i Sverige? Det kanske var länge sedan du bodde här i och för sig… Men jag tänker ofta att tarot här är så "efter". Det känns fortfarande som om det handlar om spådomar om när man ska träffa en snygg mörkhårig man liksom. Vilket är trist, jag delar ju din syn på tarot utifrån ett holistiskt, rådgivande, perspektiv…
Mvh
The Tarot Girl
http://thetarotgirl.wordpress.com
Hej på dig! 🙂 Yes I agree, Sweden is far behind… as much as I don't like belonging to an organisation, I feel TABI has done a great job here in Britain when it comes to helping people understand what the Tarot is all about. So maybe you and some other cutting edge Swedish Tarotists need to start an organisation with an official website to help do something similar over there? Of course, you can make a difference as an individual too but it is easier to get somewhere when you join forces. I think one of the main problems is that any serious student of the Tarot in Sweden just goes on the English-speaking sites. There needs to be at least one decent hub for Tarot in Swedish, based in Sweden. Good luck!