Talkin' Tarot With Fred West

Talkin’ Tarot With is a monthly feature designed to introduce my readers to different tarot readers from our wonderfully diverse 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 like to hand pick tarot readers that I feel are talented and interesting.

I am always in search of fun playmates – especially those who are of the tarot kind. One of the people who embodies a playful and tarot-riffic spirit is Fred West. When I first met him at a conference, I was immediately struck by his gentle and friendly vibe (I’m very energy conscious especially when face to face with someone – which is why I always prefer seeing someone’s grill in the flesh).

Fred has been reading cards since 1981, when a tarot deck, originally intended for his brother, mistakenly ended up in his pile of Christmas presents (fate!). He took to it immediately and would practice on his friends constantly. Fred says: ” In college, I found tarot to be an excellent ice-breaker, and I would do readings to get beer money.”

After college, he was reading less but his interest got renewed through the power of a local tarot meet up. Fred became heavily involved and even formed his own local group. This led to working as a professional, especially parties and the festival circuit, and teaching.

Fred lives and works in San Diego (not just as a tarot reader but also as an IT guru!). If you’d like to get in touch with him for a party or tarot consultation, you can find him on Twitter as @FPW_Consulting

I always ook forward to seeing Fred at upcoming tarot conferences – he is like a big ole tarot hug and always a pleasure to be around.

Check out his answers to my questions below:

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1. What is your philosophy about tarot reading?

Fred: I feel that my skill set is much more of a philosophical approach to Tarot, and less of a predictive style. A reading is a great way to gain insights, find validation, or acknowledge choices that the client has already made.

For me, the magic in Tarot is when the connection between Reader and Client is so strong and the associations just flow like water in a river between two relative strangers.

Speaking is a huge part of Tarot, but I finding Listening to be an even more important tool. You need to listen to your Clients as much as tell them what the cards are saying, Often times, the answers are to be found in what the clients are not telling you.

2. How do you feel a client might get the most out of a reading with you?

Fred: I strive to make the reading process a two-way communication. The Client who comes with a specific question will benefit extremely well from a session. I also recommend taking notes, and asking a lot of questions. The reading is not about what I know about the cards, or what my intuition tells me to say, but where the Client finds the associations in their life.

In an effort to carry the reading into a client’s everyday life, I try to find a project or task that I’ll ask them to do; a bit of homework so to speak. Hopefully when they complete the homework, it will reinforce the ideas and thoughts we discussed during the reading.

3. What is your best piece of advice for an aspiring tarot reader?

Fred: I love, love, love, working with folks that are new to tarot. I understand their apprehension of trying to memorize the cards, and then do a reading for complete strangers. They get a little freaked out by the process of laying out the cards for complete strangers; you’d have thought I asked them to do public speaking.

The best piece of advice I can give to folks is to just say what you see, and don’t second guess yourself.

A lot of students that are new to Tarot, are always trying to say “the right thing”, but they don’t understand that it is up to the Client to make the associations in their own lives. The Reader only has to make sure the Client understands what the Reader is saying.

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Big props to Fred for making time to chit chat with me! Get in touch with Fred on Twiter at @FPW_Consulting

Blessings!

Theresa