Tarot Tip Tuesdays - No Excuses For Lack Of Practice

Whether you are new to Tarot and in the throes of building a connection with your Tarot cards or an advanced Tarot reader diligently honing your Tarot reading skills, I am putting out a Tarot tip a week to help you to consistently make Tarot a part of your everyday life.

So here goes your Tarot Tip for this Tuesday:

You could invest a lot of money and time in picking up tons of esoteric knowledge but ultimately, the litmus test for your ability to read confidently is just practice.  Lots of practice. One of the complaints I often got from Tarot students was that they have not got enough friends to practice Tarot reading wth, so here are ideas for you to create more practice opportunities for yourself beyond reading for family and friends.

Reading For Self

Of course there are just so many issues you could have in a day to spur you to pick your deck up to gift it a good shuffle.  However, beyond doing Tarot reading to obtain advice when you face a specific challenge, you could also shuffle the Tarot cards each morning to obtain a generic advice that could help you navigate your day ahead at the office.  Perhaps you might want to pick a Tarot card of the day  to guide your day in the morning and then when you are just about to prepare to get to bed, do a review of your day and write into your journal, what significance that specific card might have had for what you had experienced that day.  Something I often like to do myself, is to pick a card each weekend to what might be my biggest obstacle I could face in the coming week that could prevent me from getting to my goals.  Then I would cast a spread to uncover how I could manage that obstacle.  A particular spread could go like that:

1) What could I do for myself to deal with that obstacle?

2)  What external help or resource would I require to deal with that obstacle?

3) What might the outcome be when I deploy all means to deal with that obstacle?

4) If I cannot effect the outcome in the way I desire it to be, what advice can the cards provide for me to move forward?

Reading For Others

Another good source of practice beyond your family, friends and even yourself, is to volunteer as a reader for others.  There are several ways you can do this:

1) Approach a charity organization to offer your services as a volunteer Tarot reader for any of its fund-raising events it might have throughout the year. It could be quite useful if that charity organization is aware that it could call on you  whenever they organize a charity fair or bazaar for example,

2) TABI (The Tarot Associstion Of the British Isles),  FTN (the Free Tarot Network) and Biddy Tarot are often looking for volunteer Tarot readers  to read for free on their respective forum or website.  Being a volunteer reader is quite fun but the reading requests could get voluminous so you are advised to pace yourself, and do a lot of self care.

3) Another fun way you could get some practice time is to read for high-profile situations that you might come across in the news.  This could be news about a celebrity break-up, an economic debate, a governmental election, or news about a missing person.  I do caution you to do readings like these only as a form of practice and in private as I am a firm believer of doing a reading only with the expressed permission of another person that you are reading for. 

There are numerous ways to pack in more practice opportunities to hone your Tarot reading skills.  Now all you need is to commit to spending some time to do so everyday.

May your Tarot cards provide you with a full deck of possibilities throughout your day.

If you like this blogpost, do follow my blog at http://sungoddesstarot.blogspot.com and LIKE my Facebook page at www.facebook.com/SunGoddessTarot

About The Writer:

The writer of this blog post is a marketeer by trade, and a tarot card reader by accident. She was awarded a Certified Professional Tarot Reader qualification from the Tarot Certification Board of America (TCBA) and is also a certified numerologist.  She is currently running a Tarot consultancy based in Singapore called Sun Goddess Tarot,  which provides confidential intuitive readings combining the metaphysical disciplines of Tarot, Numerology and Astrology via face to face and emails as well as readings at corporate and private events and workshops.  A member of the American Tarot Association (ATA) and the Tarot Association of the British Isles (TABI), she is also a reader for the Free Tarot Network and mentors Tarot protégés on behalf of the American Tarot Association

Website: www.sungoddesstarot.com
Email:  Joanna@sungoddesstarot.com
Facebook:  www.facebook.com/SunGoddessTarot
Twitter: www.twitter.com/SunGoddessTarot

Tarot Tip Tuesdays - Code Of Ethics

Whether you are new to Tarot and in the throes of building a connection with your Tarot cards or an advanced Tarot reader diligently honing your Tarot reading skills, I am putting out a Tarot tip a week to help you to consistently make Tarot a part of your everyday life.

So here goes your Tarot Tip for this Tuesday:

The code of ethics is a critical foundation of a tarot reader’s practice.  If you are intending to read tarot professionally, do draft  a set of code of ethics to which you should firmly adhere. When I had set up my consultancy, Sun Goddess Tarot, I did just that and mine went like this:

1) I will only speak the truth from what I have read in the cards

2) I will not judge you whatever the outcome of the reading may be

3) I will provide my sincere advice in the hope that you can uncover possible solutions to your situation

4) I will not accept questions related to lottery or other luck-based games

5) I will not offer any advice outside the scope of my expertise including financial, legal, religious and medical advice

Also, do ask for the code of ethics from your local or international Tarot community like the American Tarot Associstion (ATA) and the Tarot Association of the British Isles (TABI)  if you do have a membership to one.   

Whether you drafted your own or followed the code of ethics set by your Tarot community, always precede your Tarot readings by clearly stating your code of ethics to your clients.

I would never promise my clients that I could answer any questions they wanted, when they came to see me for a Tarot reading.  Clearly, not all questions could be answered with Tarot cards.  Moreover,  there are some questions that could border on crossing the boundaries within which my code of ethics as a certified professional Tarot reader had been set.  

Some examples of these are questions about pregnancy or surgery.  If you want to know how an impending surgery would pan out, or if you could ever get pregnant or when you could get pregnant or worse, what sex the baby may be, please do visit a qualified medical practitioner.  

Other examples includ financial/investment related questions  and questions pertaining to outcomes of legal issues.  If these are looming in my client's head, I would ask him or her to consult a qualified financial advisor or a lawyer respectively.

Above and beyond these, confidentiality is key.  As Tarot readers, we have a responsibility to our clients to ensure what had been discussed at the table remained at that table.  There is an unspoken trust between a client and the reader which should not be violated either way.

Over time, when you govern the line of questions that a client might ask with your code of ethics, you would find it much easier to focus on being advice-centric with your readings and there would be greater transparency when it comes to managing expectations between your client and yourself.

May your Tarot cards provide you with a full deck of possibilities throughout your day.

About The Writer:

The writer of this blog post is a marketeer by trade, and a tarot card reader by accident. She was awarded a Certified Professional Tarot Reader qualification from the Tarot Certification Board of America (TCBA) and is also a certified numerologist.  She is currently running a Tarot consultancy based in Singapore called Sun Goddess Tarot,  which provides confidential intuitive readings combining the metaphysical disciplines of Tarot, Numerology and Astrology via face to face and emails as well as readings at corporate and private events and workshops.  A member of the American Tarot Association (ATA) and the Tarot Association of the British Isles (TABI), she is also a reader for the Free Tarot Network and mentors Tarot protégés on behalf of the American Tarot Association

Website: www.sungoddesstarot.com
Email:  Joanna@sungoddesstarot.com
Facebook:  www.facebook.com/SunGoddessTarot
Twitter: www.twitter.com/SunGoddessTarot

What Does The Empress Card Convey About Being Your Own Brand?

My Skills As A Marketing Professional

I do not have 20 to 30 years of Tarot reading experience and I have not had many years of experience running a Tarot business.  However, I had spanned a career of almost 20 years managing brand development, marketing strategy and communications, with more than half of these spent at multi national corporations honing these skills and contributing to the growth of these organizations.

So what I could speak most comfortably and confidently about at the upcoming American Tarot Association's first Online Tarot Conference this weekend, was about marketing.  I agreed to do a presentation on Strategic Marketing Techniques For Tarot Businesses, because along my amazing journey with Tarot, I had the privilege and the opportunity to help support the growth of some of my fellow Tarotists' businesses alongside my own, with tried and tested tips that I had picked up along the way as a marketing and communications professional.

Using My Skills To Market My Tarot Business

When I mentioned numerous times before that I loved welding my skills as a marketeer with Tarot, I finally understood why and how the Universe had conspired to make me the conduit of learning to help some of my fellow Tarotists who are either starting, or in the midst of growing their Tarot businesses.

Building Brand Authenticity No Matter The Brand Or The Business

One thing I had always been guided by in every decision I had made as a marketing and communications professional, was the goal of building brand authenticity.  When I was working at an insurance company Aviva,  I was adamant about constantly communicating proof points that affirmed Aviva's brand positioning then, of Nobody Recognizes You Like Aviva.   We did so when we managed the Aviva Ironman 90.3 sponsorship to imprint in consumers' minds that the company was always in every life-stage of each and every one of its customers, perseveringly holding the hands of its customers to meet their evolving needs.  We also did so when we sold targeted health products aimed at young families because we knew that a birth in the family meant joy, elation as well as anxiety amongst parents about how best to protect their children and themselves. We recognised the needs within that segment and wasted no time developing products and communicating their benefits to this segment of new families.

Just like that experience of managing Aviva's brand, the same principle applies to one's Tarot business.  When I established Sun Goddess Tarot off the back of a period of negativity in my life, I was determined to stay true to my expansive zodiac sign of a Leo which was ruled by the Sun.  I wanted to bring positivity, light and optimism to my clients with my Tarot and Numerology skills.  My brand, my reading style, my advice-centric Tarot techniques and even the way I engaged my clients ( what I call here, my brand voice) all had to be driven by my brand intent.  I wanted to stay true to myself.  What I lacked in-depth experience as a Tarot reader, I made up for it with every intent to genuinely bring sunshine to my clients when they needed it most as I slowly and steadily grew my skills and experience.

The Empress Card's Message About Brand Authenticity

I am going to use the Empress card as my muse when I talk about brand authenticity at my presentation.  I see the Empress as the Earth Mother, deeply nurturing and very much in-tune with herself.  She creates abundance in everything she touches.  She is highly intuitive and very connected to the spiritual realm yet maintains grounded-ness in the material plane.  She is highly creative because she is so in touch with her feminine side, lending beauty to everything that she creates.

I urge fellow Tarotists particularly those who are in the beginning stages of building their Tarot businesses, to leverage the energies of the Empress. Nurture and grow your brand by keeping it authentic. Your brand reflects you.  While there are many great Tarotists we can learn and emulate from, they have their own unique ways of communicating their brand intent to their customers, and so do you.  Learn from them, but not copy them because you would want your clients to know and trust your brand only because you are the one behind that steering wheel.  Unleash your creativity and know that creativity knows no boundaries. Try and try again different marketing techniques and never be afraid to learn along the way and finally deploy the best technique that fits your business best. Follow your intuition.  You know what is best for your clients and how best to build that affinity between your brand and your clients.

When My Job As A Marketeer And A Tarot Reader Became One

I can clearly define how long I have been a marketing professional.  My involvement with tarot is less clearly defined.  From the time I was a young girl causing trouble at the neighbourhood playground, till the time I was involved in helping large multinational companies build and manage their brands,  I knew I was good at reading people intuitively.  For years i wrote this off as being "good at my job'.  Once I had the confidence to start Sun Goddess Tarot as a business, I took a leap of faith and allowed my two selves - financial marketeer and tarot reader - to become one.

ENROL FOR THE ATA ONLINE TAROT CONFERENCE HERE

What I have touched on within this blog post is just a highlight of what I will be covering at my presentation on Strategic Marketing Techniques For Tarot Businesses at the American Tarot Association Online Tarot Conference 2013 held on 26 October 12pm EST or 27 October 12am Singapore time.  Do enrol by clicking onto this link http://www.wiziq.com/course/32291-ata-online-tarot-conference-2013

Acknowledgement:  I would like to take the opportunity to acknowledge the fantastic creative work of a friend, Nadim Van der Ros, who supported me through this nerve-wrecking experience of getting me ready for this upcoming presentation.

About The Writer:

The writer of this blog post is a marketeer by trade, and a tarot card reader by accident. She was awarded a Certified Professional Tarot Reader qualification from the Tarot Certification Board of America (TCBA) and is also a certified numerologist.  She is currently running a Tarot consultancy based in Singapore called Sun Goddess Tarot,  which provides confidential intuitive readings combining the metaphysical disciplines of Tarot, Numerology and Astrology via face to face and emails as well as readings at corporate and private events and workshops.  A member of the American Tarot Association (ATA) and the Tarot Association of the British Isles (TABI), she is also a reader for the Free Tarot Network and mentors Tarot protégés on behalf of the American Tarot Association.

Website:www.sungoddesstarot.com
Email: Joanna@sungoddesstarot.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/SunGoddessTarot
Twitter:www.twitter.com/SunGoddessTarot

Add caption

The Empress Card  - the beginnings of my very own Tarot deck.

A work in progress and a labour of love developed 

from the visions of a friend and I

I Am Not A Channeler, I Am A Tarot Reader

  Difficult Questions

In my experience as a professional Tarot reader, I have had my fair share of difficult questions.  Examples of questions like these were “What do the cards reveal about my spirit guide?”, “Should I get a sex change?”, “How can the cards help me win my court case?”.”What can the cards tell me about getting rid of my lover’s wife?”

My rational mind often urged me to compartmentalize these questions. If the questions fell within one of the following categories, I would either attempt at rephrasing the question or might even decline answering that question.  These were 1) questions that violated my code of ethics, 2) questions that required my using Tarot cards to read the thoughts of a 3^rd party who had not given me the permission to do so, 3) questions that required my using Tarot cards to channel messages from the dead.

I do get a lot of questions from clients asking me to use Tarot cards to provide them with messages from a relative or friend who had passed on. Now, I know of friends who were gifted with the ability to channel messages this way.  However, I certainly did not think that  I had  that gift.  That is why I am a Tarot reader, not a medium or a “channeler”.

Crossing The Line

Last week, a new client , Sarah (not her real name to protect her privacy) emailed me her question, “ What messages can your Tarot cards uncover from my son, Tommy ( also not his real name)?”  I could sense from the tonality of that question, that Sarah’s son had passed on and perhaps she was having problems dealing with the grief.  So I told her quite simply that perhaps she should be contacting a medium or an expert in his or her field who could better provide an answer that could help her.

We exchanged more emails with each other for awhile with my repeated assertions that I was not a medium and  only a medium could answer her question.  In between the email exchanges, I was drawn to this woman’s desperation for some light and comfort and I immediately picked up my Tarot deck, shuffled it and pulled out one card – the Knight of Pentacles from my Radiant Rider Waite Tarot deck.

Knight of Pentacles

The Knight of Pentacles from the Radiant Rider Waite Tarot deck had an image of a Knight seated on a plough horse, holding on to a Pentacle, looking intently at it as if in the midst of deliberating long term plans. He is set on diligently putting in that extra effort to work the land with a solid focus of achieving his goal.

I had a “conversation’ with the Knight of Pentacles when I meditated on the card.  in the card, I had a vision of Tommy as the Knight of Pentacles, in his 20s, getting on the horse and was about to embark on his task of “farming his land”.  He was not able to finish the job before he passed on so through this card,  he was asking Sarah to continue with the effort, encouraging her to keep her head down, and be conscientious about doing what she needed to complete the job and to do it well. He wanted Sarah to be focused on that goal – his goal that he had before he passed on.  He hoped Sarah would not give up and encouraged her to be religious about meeting all expectations of what she needed to do to accomplish the task.

The Knight Urged Her To Follow Through To Attain Her Goals

When I shared my interpretation with Sarah, I was so nervous because I did not want her to think that I was possibly on drugs, or perhaps a charlatan hoping to earn a quick buck with a short reading. However, her response to me brought tears to my eyes.  I am sharing  her response to my one-card reading here because this experience taught me to trust in the Universe that when the Universe presents me with an opportunity to bring light to someone, it would not leave me without the means to carry out my purpose.

Sarah said that my interpretation touched her deeply and she strongly felt that her son, Tommy had indeed brought us both together in this odd way so that he could encourage her to doggedly pursue her dreams no matter what happened.  You see, Tommy died in his 20s of a drug-related issue.  He had been suffering from a chronic illness that caused him to be unemployed for quite a long time.  Due to his unemployment, he did not have insurance that could help cover his medical bills, hence he could not take care of his own health better.  Sarah got him some counselling help which had provided him with much needed support, and he was finally accepted for a job.  However, he was asked to take a drug test before he could be finally accepted for the role.  So the week before, he tried to get off the drugs and that was what had impacted his health and caused his death. It was really sad because he was ready to start afresh with a new job and diligently get his life back on the right track.

Sarah felt that through the Knight of Pentacles, Tommy was urging her to be dogged about pursuing her dreams.  Sarah was at that time learning to read the Tarot cards, and her concentration was affected by the period of grief she had suffered from the death of Tommy.  To add to the issue, Sarah too had the same chronic illness Tommy had.  So he was trying to reach out to his mother to encourage her to be rigorous about taking care of herself and her future, and that she should be conscientiously working towards her goal of being a proficient Tarot reader, never ever giving up her faith in herself.  Tommy wanted her to follow through with what she had already started with her Tarot reading skills and she asked me if I could be her mentor.

I Am So Grateful

This was only a one-card reading, but it was one of my most gratifying.  I felt so happy that the card that I picked had provided Sarah with so much comfort and hope to carry on with her life in the way that she had planned.  Frankly, in bringing Sarah and I together, Tommy did not just help Sarah, he had helped me too, 

You see, I often doubted my skills and restricted my potential as a professional Tarot reader because I had confined myself to the rigidity of what my mind thought I was capable of.  This experience reminded me that my skills was a gift from the Universe and it was a gift given for a specific purpose to bring hope and light to people who needed it.

It was also interesting to note that when Tommy brought Sarah and I together , there was another reason  too.  You see, my husband suffered from the same chronic illness that both Sarah and Tommy had suffered from.  Sarah became visually impaired because of that illness and our meeting had given her the opportunity to urge me to put that pressure on my husband to be proactive about taking care of his health. David was never good at following the doctor's orders and had always been carefree and footloose about his diet and sedentary lifestyle. With Sarah sharing her experience with the illness, I was even more determined to help support his journey to better health.

Finally, Tommy had possibly reached out to me as a Tarot mentor to play a role in helping Sarah with her journey of learning Tarot.  I was glad to do so.  The thing I enjoyed most about Tarot, was mentoring my protégés.  Having mentored on behalf of the American Tarot Association, the Free Tarot Network as well as having run my Tarot mentoring sessions here in Singapore, I can testify to the fact that when I see a protégé growing in his or her proficiency and love for Tarot, it feels like bliss.

So thank you Tommy, for being  my Knight of Pentacles, encouraging me to keep on doing what I love to do most..

About The Writer:

The writer of this blog post is a marketeer by trade, and a tarot card reader by accident.  She is currently running her Tarot consultancy called Sun Goddess Tarot based in Singapore. She is a Certified Professional Tarot Reader qualified by the Tarot Certification Board of America (TCBA) and is also a certified numerologist. A member of the American Tarot Association (ATA) and the Tarot Association of the British Isles (TABI), she is also a reader for the Free Tarot Network and is a mentor for the American Tarot Association.   She can be contacted at www.facebook.com/SunGoddessTarot or www.sungoddesstarot.com

A Focused Question Please

Upholding Ethics As A Tarot Reader

I love Tarot. When I chanced upon my intuitive gifts and discovered my purpose to bring light, clarity and assurance to the people around me, using my Tarot cards, I came in contact with numerous clients from all over the world, and from different walks of life. Over time, these clients have become more than clients, They became friends. I care a lot about my friends and when I do a Tarot reading for them, it's with the genuine purpose of holding their hands through life's challenges, the way any friend would walk with me through difficult times.

Because I care a lot about my clients, governing my Tarot reading with a set of code of ethics is very important to me.

As a Certified Professional Tarot Reader, I hold very strongly to my ethical codes. I am governed by the ethics of my certification from the Tarot Certification Board of America and am proudly adhering to the code of ethics upheld by the American Tarot Association and the Tarot Association of the British Isles at which I am a member. There are some things I am more finicky about and these are the code of confidentiality and that I do not answer questions bordering on offering health, financial and legal advice, preferring to leave these to professionally trained experts in their respective fields of practice. I care a lot about my clients, so the code of ethics are designed to protect them as clients, and to uphold my professionalism as a Tarot reader.

A Focused Question Please

There are also other things I am finicky about in my practice as a professional Tarot reader. They are not part of the code of ethics but I adhere strongly to them as well. For example, I am really strict about the need for clients to provide me with a focused question and not expect me to do a "general reading". Like the code of ethics, my being strict about this has to do with 1) my caring immensely about my clients so much, that I refuse to "fluff" a generic interpretation out of a Tarot spread for him or her and 2) I have way to much respect for my Tarot cards.

The Tarot is a powerful tool, but it must be used properly and with respect, not only for the knowledge it contains but for its ability to connect with the deepest recesses of our inner wisdom. Although the Tarot can be successfully used to answer mundane or practical questions, its highest value is as a guide to genuinely help people who are going through real adversities in their lives. That's why I always ask clients to provide a specific question focused on an aspect of their lives or on a pressing issue that they may have, so that the Tarot cards can provide a focused answer to help support my clients in need.

I have immense respect for my Tarot cards and the intuitive gifts that the universe has bestowed on me that I am determined to use them only to serve the higher purpose of holding my clients' hands through challenging times. So please don't ask me for a "general read" because the cards are not like the rabbit in a magician's hat, to be pulled at whim whether for pure entertainment or as a test of my Tarot reading skills. I believe that if one could prioritize time between multiple commitments in life, then one should be able to prioritize issues amongst a slew of challenges life throws at him or her. So please, if you don't have any issues, I am genuinely happy that you are so blessed. However, don't waste a Tarot reader's time by asking him or her to do a general read. Instead, allow the Tarot reader to spend time and energy on helping another client with genuine issues resolve one.

Also, another thing I don't do is to put out a Tarot spread to do a reading about celebrities and various aspects of their lives. I don't care why Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise split and I don't care for Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez. Doing a Tarot reading for anyone without expressed permission is downright rude.

Don't Get Me Wrong

Please don't misunderstand my intentions. I don't let pride get in the way of my genuine love for helping my clients. My Tarot cards are way too clever. If I let my pride get in the way of the practice, the cards and my intuition will never open a world of clear options and answers for my clients and me. And if I was in it for the money, these strict adherence to the code of ethics and my beliefs would never creep into my practice. They would have gone out of the window along with my clients and my consultancy.

I am in it for the pure intent of using my gifts from the Universe to provide my clients with clarity and assurance.

“Professionalism is not about adherence to the policies of a bureaucracy. Professionalism is about having the integrity, honesty, and sincere regard for the personhood of the customer, in the context of always doing what is best for the business. Those two things do not need to be in conflict.” ~ Eric Lippert, software expert, author.

About The Writer:

The writer of this blog post is a marketeer by trade, and a tarot card reader by accident. She was awarded a Certified Professional Tarot Reader qualification from the Tarot Certification Board of America (TCBA) and was recently certified as a numerologist in Singapore. A member of the American Tarot Association (ATA) and the Tarot Association of the British Isles (TABI), she is also a reader for the Free Tarot Network and is a mentor for the ATA.

She can be contacted at www.facebook.com/SunGoddessTarot or www.sungoddesstarot.com