Tarot Tip Tuesdays - Learn To Say No

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: 

If you are a newbie to Tarot reading, you would find yourself always on a lookout for  opportunities to practice your reading on friends and family.  You might even consider volunteering to be a free reader for credible Tarot-related sites and organizations like Biddy Tarot, Tarot Association Of The British Isles (TABI) and the Free Tarot Network. You might even be willing to provide a mini reading or 2 when randomly asked by strangers.  Just be warned though that you might open yourself to a floodgate of recurring querants who might be totally dependent on the advice that your readings provide.  You might also be faced with a huge volume of reading requests which you might not have the capacity to cope with.  So here are some tips to help you say no when you are not able to cope with excessive amounts of Tarot reading requests.

Learn To Say No

• When you feel exhausted or not grounded enough to take on more readings, please have the courage to say no.  Tell them to contact you at a later date scheduled in a way which gives you enough time to ground yourself or have a good rest. 

• If the querant calls you incessantly for readings, even when you have already provided him or her with the advice that he or she needs, then do let him or her know that the best time to come back for a reading might be a month later.

• If you are not able to take on anymore readings at that specific time, do direct your querants to other free Tarot reading services available at some of the reputable sites and organizations I had mentioned earlier.

• Explain to your querant that you need time to recharge after completing a list of readings.  This would only make you a better reader, ready to take on your querant’s issues once you have regained your energy.

• You might want to set your boundaries upfront.  Let your clients know what objectives you serve when you provide a reading and how soon later he or she could call you again for another follow-up reading.

• Sometimes, it could be very encouraging when a querant tells you that your last reading for him or her had been spot on.and this might be used as a lead-in to garner more free readings from you within a short time frame.  Yes, it is a confidence-booster but remember, the reading is not about you.  It is all about the querant.  To serve the querant better, you will need to assess if you are ready or if the timing is right for you to provide her with more readings following his or her last one.

Remember, you have the free will to say no when you feel that you are getting too many reading requests.  Self care is so important so you will need to meditate and ground yourself regularly. Take breaks in between readings so that you can recharge yourself.  By the way, I had also made the decision once to say no to a client who requested for another free reading just because previously, he was rude, obnoxious, and had no decency to even say thank you after I had delivered that reading to him.  Yes, I have free will.  If I think the querant’s energy is toxic and not worth my time, I would definitely stick to my guns and say no if you are not ready  or not comfortable about doing a reading for someone.

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 an intuitive reader by accident who deploys the combined modalities of a Tarot, Numerology and Astrology overlaid with her Clairvoyant and Clairsentient skills to deliver her readings with authenticity. 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 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 - 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

Re-telling The Story Of Beauty And The Beast

To celebrate the Autumn Equinox, many of my Tarot blogging friends wrote some beautiful blog posts which regaled us with stories about the myths surrounding Autumn. They also created Tarot spreads inspired by these myths, and shared some of their life’s lessons and transformational experiences that were an eye-opener for me. 

One of the Tarot bloggers Chloe McCracken from Inner Whispers took that opportunity to create a myth-inspired Tarot spread based on the story of Beauty and the Beast.  Do read her blog post here,http://innerwhisperscouk.blogspot.sg/2013/09/mabon-blog-hop-mythical-things.html.

Beauty And The Beast Tarot Spread

I loved the story of Belle and the Beast.  I watched the movie a gazillion times and could even play the song on my piano just by listening to the soundtrack for the very first time.  However, doing a Tarot reading with a Beauty and the Beast spread was another thing all together.  I used it on a reading for myself and was utterly bowled over.  I wished more Tarotists could create simple Tarot spreads like what Chloe had done.  
This was how the Beauty and the Beast Tarot spread went:

1) What is my heart’s desire at this time?
In the case of Beauty and the Beast, Belle wanted a single red rose which symbolically represented her desire for true love.

2) What price will I have to pay for it?
Belle had to leave her family to stay with the Beast in his castle.  That must have been a frightening experience for her.

3) What lesson will I learn in the process?
Belle learnt that true love was  about far more than appearance.
So, I applied the spread to my question which was "What insights could Tarot provide  about the direction for Sun Goddess Tarot?"  I used Barbara Moore's Book of Shadows Volume 2 - So Below Tarot deck for the purpose.  It was not a myth-inspired deck but it was calling out to me to be used for this spread.
What Is My Heart’s Desire At This Time: 8 Of Wands

The 8 of Wands reflected my desire to take action on some of my ideas that had been stewing in my mind for Sun Goddess Tarot.  The journey I had taken in the past few years was remarkable.  I saw my Tarot reading skills growing as I started learning from more teachers, mentors, and fellow Tarotists.  Being part of the various international Tarot communities had widen my perspectives on Tarot and when I was interviewed by established Tarotists, invited to contribute articles for established Tarot organizations, encouraged to share my knowledge and skills at various forums and asked to mentor other budding Tarotists, I started to gain even more confidence and assurance that the path I had taken, though difficult, was a very rewarding one.   

These experiences fuelled my intentions to take Sun Goddess Tarot even further. I was now ready to weld my 17 years of marketing experience with Tarot to guide other Tarotists to market their Tarot businesses with traditional and non-traditional marketing strategies that I had learnt and deployed over the last 17 years. The action-plan was to create a curriculum around marketing strategies for budding Tarot businesses.

I was also hungry to learn even more, expand my skills to other different metaphysical disciplines beyond the courses I had already done in Numerology and Astrology.  And even within these disciplines, I was not done studying yet.  My little mind and my time was limited.  I needed to expand my reach beyond Singapore but I felt I could not do enough on my own.  So I had planned to create a partnership with a couple of fellow Tarotists each specializing in their respective metaphysical disciplines, who were as hungry as I was and even more determined than I was to touch as many people as they could beyond our shores, to bring these people light.  The action-plan was to launch this partnership within the next year.

What Price Will I Have To Pay For It: 9 Of Wands Reversed

One of my greatest fears was the heavy responsibilities I was already piling upon myself.  I did not have much resources, let alone deeper and wider metaphysical skill sets unlike my counterparts who generally had 20-30 years of experience under their belt.  So I worked with whatever I had.  I did not want to take on too many projects and courses as I was afraid that I would be juggling too much and with the given responsibilities at my current job as a marketing professional at a multinational corporation and my commitments to my family, I was not prepared to give too much of myself and my time.  However, the Autumn season was possibly the best time for me to think about how one could harvest what they sowed.  If I had not made the effort to sow the seeds of growth and expansion with a clear vision of where I wanted to be in the future with Sun Goddess Tarot, I would of course not have much of a harvest. 

I believed I saw the light when I picked this card.   I had to be prepared to sacrifice my time and resources to build the type of business that Sun Goddess Tarot deserved to be. I needed to be prepared to take calculated risks.   It would take a lot of hard work, courage and plenty of personal time especially weekends to nurture this business through research, studies, business development and marketing.  I had to be prepared to reach out further by working on speaking engagements, workshops and webinars.  I also had to write more. I had been so erratic with my writings, that I only wrote when there was a Tarot blog hop or when I got truly inspired by something, like Chloe’s very simple Beauty and the Beast Tarot spread, or when I got struck down on the road by lightning and saw a vision…just kidding.  This erratic way of sharing my skills had to be replaced by discipline. 
That would be the only way to ensure that I could turn my ideas into viable action plans so that I could manifest my goals for Sun Goddess Tarot.

What Will I Learn In The Process:  The High Priestess

I need not have to write on.  This card was that “lightning” that struck me on my head.  I woke up with a jolt at that point because as professional Tarot readers, that was what we aspired to be – The High Priestess.  Throughout these few years of running Sun Goddess Tarot, the demands of my everyday life, my day job, my clients and my family, were the chatter in my head and the cacophony of routinal activities that caused me to be “stuck” where I was in terms of growing even more depth in my metaphysical knowledge and spirituality.  This card indicated that as I worked to grow and expand Sun Goddess Tarot, I would be learning to listen to my inner voice more, trusting my intuition more, and hence deepening my intuitive skills in the process. I believed that with effort and time, I would be establishing a new and more profound relationship not only with my Tarot cards but also with my clients.
I knew that in time, my growth as a Tarotist, would not just be driven by the educational experiences and classroom lessons that I had been going through all these years.  It would be driven by my trust of and surrender to the Universe.

A Transformational Lesson Indeed

I have Chloe to thank for, for opening my eyes to the fact that a simple Tarot spread could draw a profoundly impactful reading for me.  I would definitely be trying this spread on my clients in the future.

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



Taken from Walt Disney's Beauty and the Beast



30 Day Tarot Challenge Day 11: What spread do you use most often/prefer and why?

30 Day Tarot Challenge - Day 11: What spread do you use most often/prefer and why?

I love the people at Tarot Association of the British Isles (TABI).  Even though I am just a tad slower in catching on to anything from this 30-Day Tarot Challenge, to understanding the mechanics of a Tarot Blog Hop, right through to understanding what Lenormand cards were, they had always made me feel welcomed into the group.  

Most times, I try to catch up with them by wrapping my head around some of their discussions as best as I could.  So let’s take the 30-Day Tarot Challenge as an example.  After feverishly completing the first 10 days of the 30-Day Tarot Challenge in 1 night, I posted it on the TABI Facebook page and realized that most of them were just slowly enjoying the blogging journey of that challenge, and were just on Day 1 of that challenge.  And they were going to complete that challenge slowly and steadily one day at a time. Doh.  I wished I wasn’t such a “ninny head”.

Anyway, if you’re new to this blog, do check out what this challenge is about.  The link to the 30 Day Tarot Challenge can be found here http://78keys.tumblr.com/post/36652622634/30-day-tarot-challenge.

The topic for Day 11 is “What spread do you use most often/prefer and why?"

I don’t really have a preferred spread.  I tend to go with my intuition and create a spread off my head in response to the querant’s question.  It is not uncommon for me to use more than 5 spreads in a session with my client in that hour, depending on his or her questions.   

However, it has become a habit for me to start of the consultation with a high level numerological assessment then I overlay that with a basic free form spread of about 3 -6 cards, reading it as an integrated storyboard to get some insights into my client’s situation.  Thereafter, I might then start to design the various spreads according to the more focused questions that he or she asks in that session.

Many times, I may meet a client that has difficulties framing his or her question. So, what I may do then is that after the numerological assessment, I may pick a significator to represent the client, shuffle the cards and cut it into 4 piles representing Earth, Air, Water and Fire each.  When I find the significator in a particular pile representing that element, it always tells me what the most immediate or pressing concern for my client with regard to his or her issue is, for example, finance, job, relationship or it may tell me what is the key driver that is impacting my client, for example, he or she may be wrought in mental anguish and anxiety due to the fear of a perceived outcome.

I like to keep the choice of Tarot spreads less rigid, go with my gut instincts and let the universe guide me as I respond to my client’s question.

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 endorsed as 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

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