The Hit List - On experience

In the instant gratification world we live in, it only takes a swipe for something to happen. So I guess it should come as no surprise that people expect that they can master a subject in ultra-short order and start profiting from that said “expertise.”

The idea of taking one’s time to develop a skill seems so passé. Which makes me wonder: if we’re in a hurry, do we really have time to know our craft? Can superficial knowledge without any real experience be “good enough” and worth paying for?

Perhaps if you’re a prodigy it might. But that’s rare. A fast walk through towards the so-called finish line cannot match skill honed by years of experience. While taking a leap of faith can be divine, jumping in before you’re ready can be disastrous.

Yet there are many who do just this with tarot and other healing modalities. They assume they can pick up a deck, learn a few spreads, and be ready to start charging the general public for their “wisdom.” This is a recipe for calamity.

An inexperienced reader is not prepared to handle the things that come with this line of work. Without putting some time in the tarot trenches, you may not be ready for the client who freaks out because they hated what you said, or the person who expects some parlor trick and 100% accuracy. You may not know what to do when a client needs to be talked off the ledge or reveals that they are planning on committing suicide and want the cards to tell them if they will be successful. An inexperienced reader may not know how to deal with the irate husband who threatens to come and beat you up because they didn’t like the reading you gave their wife. Or what to say when you catch a man pleasuring himself under the table. Or how to act when you go to a party in a bad area of town and the woman answers the door with a black eye and her abusive boyfriend sits down at the tarot table and wants to know if she’s cheating on him.

No. You won’t know about this because you’re probably expecting that the work will be fun, glam, and easy money.

You might get this idea from television shows that portray the work as some sort of party favor. Or you might be glamoured by tarot teachers (who don’t read for the public) promising you can learn to read the cards in a few weeks, get certified, and start making six figures while only working a few hours a week.

If you follow those Pied Pipers, you’ll be in for a rude awakening.

Because it takes time to be ready for this work. It takes time to develop your chops and to determine if you have the stomach for it. It takes guts to work with an unstable income when you have a family to feed. And it takes experience to know how to handle the many tricky sticky situations that will come your way.

This is why doctors have an internship. They know that their work comes with perils and drama. They have to be ready. Would you want to go to a doctor who never went through an internship and just took some online classes with little real-life experience?

Probably not.

Why should you go to anyone else who doesn’t take the time to learn their craft thoroughly either?

Recently, someone asked a friend how long it takes before you can go pro. They mistakenly mentioned that I said somewhere it would take twenty years. I never said such a thing. In various places, I have always been transparent about my own journey, which took ten years of study and practice before I launched my tarot business. That may not be the case for you. You may be ready after two years. Or maybe you’ll never be ready. Each case is different.

But if you feel you’ve had enough practice or think you have a gift, go for it. Do events, public appearances, work hotlines. This will be your baptism by fire. It will show you if you can handle what comes with the territory.

If you have the cojones and this is your calling, you’ll endure. If you don’t, you’ll learn quickly enough to stay with your safe day job. Tarot is not safe work. It is not some mainstream “easy money” gig. This is not work for those who enjoy hanging out in the comfort zones.

Tarot is work for the badass mothas who are ready to throw down those cards and THROW DOWN.

As my husband says: “I’m the tarot reader you want by your side in the case of the zombie apocalypse.” Why? It’s because I know what to do when the shit hits the fan. And that, my dears, only comes from experience.

Don’t rush your process. When you’re ready….you’ll know.

Flowers bloom in their own time.

Other stuff:

Join me for my next epic dining event: Dinner with the Stars – a 12-course astrology-inspired feast!

It’s coming! Check out my newest book: Tarot for Troubled Times! It’s a joint venture writing collaboration with my friend Shaheen Miro. It drops July 1st but you can pre-order now. YAY!

Get ready for 2019 with The Tarot Lady’s Ultra-Deluxe Superfly Astrology Guide for 2019!

The Lunar Alchemy Experience is an opportunity to tune into the extraordinary power of the Moon’s energetic cycles and your own “lunar self”. You’ll definitely want to get in on this goodness from Shaheen Miro!

Should you buy your own tarot deck? I answer that question over at Refinery29.

SHIT: Pussy Riot Says Member Pyotr Verzilov Was Poisoned.

Join the Network of Spiritual Progressives.

Denise Duffield Thomas shares the 3 essentials to making money online.

Steve Perry is back.

From Sasha Graham: Using the Tarot to Understand Your Self and Your Divinity.

Speaking of Sasha, we partnered up for this killer Back to Tarot School Instagram Giveaway. You still have a few days to enter!

7 Anxiety Symptoms People Often Mistake For Personality Traits, According To Therapists.

Tarot reader Angie Banicki is on Ryan Seacrest’s show: Hollywood’s Go-To Tarot Card Reader Convinces Sisanie to Sage Her Home.

Who to Vote for in the 2018 Midterms: A Complete Guide to Figuring It Out.

Loving this from Bari Tessler and Angela Raines: What the Enneagram can teach you about your money relationship.

You know it won’t be enough to stop the nomination: Woman Says Brett Kavanaugh ‘Attempted to Force Himself on Her’ in High School.

Benebell Wen shares the truth on what it costs to self-publish a tarot deck.

Get a peek inside Meryl Streep’s Tribeca penthouse.

A new approach to treating Alzheimer’s.

Uh huh: This Is The Deck That Will Get You Into Tarot Cards.

I love him: Is there anything weirder on YouTube than Alejandro Jodorowsky’s tarot readings?

How self-care makes your sex life better.

From the Numinous: Work your Saturn sign and feel as solid as a rock.

When you’re first learning the tarot, it can seem so hard. Fortunately, The Tarot Coloring Book breaks it down. Plus it’s fun to color the cards!

Cassandra Snow’s Queering the Tarot is ready for pre-order!

Definitely want this: The Tapping Solution to Create Lasting Change: A Guide to Get Unstuck and Find Your Flow.

Magic for the Resistance is out!

WANT: Carla Hall’s Soul Food.

OMG I need the Rebel Deck!

I’m eyeing this one up: Don’t Just Sit There!: 44 Insights to Get Your Meditation Practice Off the Cushion and Into the Real World by Biet Simkin.

Waiting for this: Unladylike: A Field Guide to Smashing the Patriarchy and Claiming Your Space.

My upcoming classes:

Astrology for Total Beginners: learn the basics of natal chart interpretation. This two-hour workshop will get you up to speed on what all that astrology stuff is about! Join me at Boston Tea Room. Date: Wednesday, October 10th. Location: Ferndale, Michigan.

Intuitive Tarot Reading at Boston Tea Room. Date: Sunday, October 14th. Location: Ferndale, Michigan.