I’m really excited to introduce a brand new feature on my blog “Talkin’ Tarot With…”. My goal here is to feature different tarot readers so that you can get a feel for the diversity of the tarot community! Each month, I’ll be asking various tarot readers 3 questions about their tarot philosophy and style, plus pointing you to their websites and blogs so that you can learn more about them! I hope you’ll find this to be fun and interesting!
I’m honored to bring you my very first guest – the fabulously talented and supremely sweet Donnaleigh! Check out her profile and answers below:
I first learned about Donnaleigh through her Blogtalk Radio show, Beyond Worlds – a show that features various tarot readers, mediums, healers, astrologers and more. I was really impressed by the quality of the show as well as Donnaleigh’s vast knowledge and warmth. I had the great privilege of being a guest on Beyond Worlds a while ago and it was so much fun! Since then, I’ve been an avid fan and it’s amazing how much I learn from that show!
Her weekend radio shows are at Tarot Tribe (available both live and in archives), and she co-hosts every Friday on Storm Cestavani’s daily podcast show, Psychic Friends Live.
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1. What is your philosophy about tarot reading?
The primary draw I have to continue tarot readings and what fires my passion so deeply is the powerful impact tarot has on people’s lives and their ability to control and change their future for the better. Through the cards — which somehow don’t seem come up randomly but rather show themselves very precisely and meaningfully — people can tap into the core of what is happening in their life, the patterns they have established, their roadblocks (to become aware and break through them), and receive advice on how to put their best foot forward for the highest outcome. Tarot seems to choose the cards randomly better than I could choose them on purpose. When people sink into their meanings with me, we develop a clear outline to tidy up their life situation, and we can create priorities, goals, and shifts for ongoing betterment.
2. How do you feel a client might get the most out of a reading with you?
I like to start by telling a client what the cards are saying without the client giving me too much information, to be sure we have a strong connection with what is about to happen in the reading. If they tell me too much, I worry they won’t trust the process. This “defining of their situation” is just a precursor to the most important part of the reading: sinking into outlining and manifesting their best future by recognizing potential choices and outcomes. This bonding process with their past and current situation helps them gain trust in the reading and connect with me as a reader. But it is the latter part of a reading that truly has the most power to change lives.
Once the initial trust happens, I feel that when a client then becomes participatory in their reading, especially if they see situations in the cards’ symbolism that I may bypass, the process amplifies and becomes “theirs.”
It is important to me that clients recognize the power of their own free will as well. Cards or readings do not dictate a certain infallible outcome or fate, but define potential goals and help us recognize yet-to-be manifested futures. The future is coming, and we are creating it now. When I feel people grasp their own power, start acting proactively, live deliberately, and have better clarity, I then see that they live on purpose. It is then that I feel they have received the most out of a tarot reading because they have taken hold of their own reins and begin to own their personal power by creating their own shifts rather than passively waiting for something to come to them.
3. What is your best piece of advice for an aspiring tarot reader?
a) Feel the passion as you learn, and don’t stress about “being wrong.” Practice on friends or with online with groups to gain confidence and put more meanings of each card in your back pocket, but feel the fire. Tarot can be a very magical and powerful process of self-growth, and when you ride the wave with passion, it becomes its own journey of joy –not just a way of getting you to another situation of joy — but a joyful process in itself.
b) I also suggest that people keep their readings for the highest good. Be sure that the questions you are answering deliver the querent to a sense of confidence and empowerment rather than a place of being a victim or feeling helpless. It’s perfectly okay to gently say no to answering a question if you worry the answer might be more than you could handle giving or your client could handle taking (i.e., health questions). Refer to the proper professionals when necessary (psychologist, doctor, financial advisor).
c) Trust what the cards say. Be honest, and trust what you see/feel/hear/sense. Your first impulse is usually the most powerful and honest piece of information. Listen to the additional pieces that come in — even if they seem unrelated to the original meanings of the cards.
d) Leave opinions and judgments out of a reading. The tarot reading should be a safe and neutral place for querents to say what is on their mind without any bias, judgment, or social pressure.
I’m Theresa Reed (aka, The Tarot Lady). I’ve been a full-time tarot reader for 30+ years — which, in my industry, makes me pretty badass.
I’m definitely not your average Tarot expert — I drop the F-bomb, I quote rappers, and I’m obsessed with pop culture + reality TV. Folks come to me for straight-talk + tough-love — without the woo-woo fluff. 
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