Young Voices In Tarot – Elliot Czaplewski

Years ago, I walked into a local tea shop and noticed the sign for tarot readings.  As I was led into the back room, I was surprised to see a very young man sitting at the tarot table.  He gave me a thoroughly enjoyable reading and we’ve been friends ever since.  In fact, Elliot Czaplewski is kind of a friend of the whole family – he’s a fellow musician like my son and they went to college together.  Yes.  I am old enough to be his mother.  Don’t let our age gap fool you though as Elliot is a wise and reliable tarot reader and he’s helped me out of some jams when I couldn’t read for myself and needed a different perspective.

What’s really unusual about Elliot is that he started reading as a pro when he was still a teen. This is almost unheard of.  He even had a shop at one time called Athena’s Oracle but closed that down when his passion for music became top priority.  Elliot is currently in grad school for oboe but he still serves his tarot clients via the phone (or in person when he comes to visit).

Over the years, we’ve shared readings, clients, laughs and Starbucks.  And recently, he shared his feelings with me about what it’s like to be a super young tarot reader.

Read his answers below and you’ll get a feeling why Elliot is so very special to me:

1.  What age were you when you started?

Elliot: I started at age 15.  I found a deck that someone had thrown away in a house we used to live in and I started playing around with it.  My family freaked out and thought I was going to hell!  And then my brother came back from Germany and bought me a Connolly Deck.  It was so magical to look at the book and study and memorize!  I found it fascinating.  I went professional at age 16.  I had just quit a job working at the Pick and Save and thought screw this.  I went to a tea house and ended up reading for the owner and got hired on the spot.  I was getting $20.00 for a reading and thought it was great – but also felt guilty as in “are people really paying me for this?”

2.  What drew you into tarot?

Elliot: Other young people didn’t get me because I stopped and reflected. I usually kept to myself.  Tarot was just so magical to me.

3.  Why do you think more young people don’t get into tarot as a profession?

Elliot: Tarot doesn’t feel “legitimate” which may be why young people don’t get into it.  They are afraid of what their peers may think, their parents or people in the community.  Young people want to fit in and you don’t want to be seen as weird or abnormal.  You don’t know how people are going to react or if you’ll be treated disrespectfully by people who never got a reading.  I’m living on the fringe of society.

4.  What are some of the stumbling blocks that you faced as a young reader?

Elliot: This is the only job I’ve had since I was 16. When I first started reading, some people would look at me like I was a scam artist or treat it like it was fun and not work.  I didn’t feel legit when around professional people.  I didn’t believe in my abilities and worried that I was scamming people.  It took time to develop confidence.

5.  How have you been treated by the tarot community?

Elliot: I don’t talk to them much.  I’ve never been taught or mentored.  I’ve had to learn on my own.  But overall, the people I have met have been kind to me.

6.  Have you faced any prejudices because of your age?

Elliot: Yes!  But as soon as they sat down and talked, there were mine!  I love being underestimated because then they are always surprised.

7.  How do you think we can get more younger people interested in tarot?

Elliot: Something has to be in popular culture in a way that is positive.  There is a jaded viewpoint and it’s cool to be cynical. What’s not cool is messages about spirit.  We need to change that.

8.  What would be your message to younger readers?

Elliot: You have to connect to the client.  It’s all about people.

If you’d like a reading by Elliot, you can contact him via email at: elliotoracle@gmail.com or by phone at: 414-841-44526.

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Blessings!

Theresa

This concludes my Young Voices In Tarot series.  I’d like to encourage more young people to get involved with tarot and to consider it a career path that can be rewarding and meaningful.  I’d also like to encourage more older readers to reach out to the younger ones and give them a hand.  This can be an isolating line of work and as Elliot said we are “living on the fringe of society”.  If we can connect the young and the old and create real community, this journey in tarot will be a little less lonely.