Tarot reading has vastly changed my life and has provided me with many moments of clarity and deep insight.
But along the way, it has also shown me the importance of using my discernment and creating parameters and limits, both for my clients and for my own personal practice as a psychic tarot reader and witch.
If Tarot Is So Helpful, Then How Can It Be Bad?
Have you ever heard the saying, "Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing?"
Well, tarot and psychic readings are no exception to that rule.
And here's why.
When you first get a tarot reading, it can be a really powerful experience.
If you walk away feeling seen and understood by your tarot reader, with more clarity around the parts of your life that have been left with big question marks, and feeling inspired about your next steps, it can feel really good.
But that feeling isn't something you're meant to become attached to or seek out repeatedly.
That feeling is meant to inspire you to fly away on your own.
After a tarot reading, it's up to you to take the next steps and carry yourself, your perceptions and your feelings the rest of the way.
We, as readers, are merely a rest stop on your journey, offering guidance and consultation on how you might continue along the road ahead.
Think of it this way.
If you keep seeking tarot readings on a continuous basis, it's kind of like pulling out of a rest stop, getting three miles further down the road and, instead of thinking for yourself about where to pull in and rest next (or whether to keep going), you pull a U-turn and backtrack three miles to the same stop to process the same journey.
And now, you've gotten no further.
Give Yourself Time to Process Your Tarot Reading
Especially if you've had a larger tarot reading and spiritual consultation with a psychic reader, it can take a while to fully process that reading.
What was said? How does it impact you? How should your plan moving forward be approached?
Like most things in life, it takes time to integrate and implement a lesson.
If you get a tarot reading one week and the following week want to process that very same situation again with a different reading, you're not really giving yourself or life the space to take shape first.
Instead, walk away. Process what was said. Form your own perception and opinion.
Keep moving forward with those thoughts in mind, and take action or find acceptance.
Eventually, you'll build experiences and hindsight that give that initial tarot reading even more context and meaning.
Then, when you're ready, when you've turned a corner, started taking a new path, experienced a big life change or are facing a new big decision, you can return to tarot with a better understanding of how your journey has taken shape since your last reading.
This space is what keeps you in charge of your ship.
You Are the Master of Your Own Fate
One thing I often say when reading people for the first time as a psychic tarot reader is:
"We are the masters of our fate."
And:
"The choices we make today help shape tomorrow."
If you're not allowing yourself to make the little choices along the way, and are repeatedly seeking divination to validate every decision you make, you'll inevitably lose touch with the part of you that's meant to:
Live and experience.
Try, fail and succeed.
Pivot and try again.
Feel nervous and find inner courage.
Keep trying.
Instead, you can start to become fixated on feeling correct, always feeling aligned, always feeling assured, always feeling justified, and always feeling like you're on the precipice of something big or fated.
And simply put, there are big moments, and then there's a whole lot of life lived in between them.
Discrediting that middle part and being unable to guide yourself through everyday life without seeking spiritual counsel or divination isn't doing you a service.
It's hindering you.
You Can Use Tarot Every Day Without Becoming Dependent on It
Tarot cards are a really helpful reflection tool and can be used every day in a way that's actually healthy.
So let me explain the distinction.
Tarot readers and enthusiasts can play with the cards almost every day and still maintain a level of independent thought, personal processing and action that is entirely separate from the card pull they do.
This is where it's important to understand that a daily tarot practice is SO DIFFERENT from an in-depth divinatory psychic tarot reading session meant to break down facets of yourself and your life on a grander scale.
You couldn't pay me to do a Celtic Cross reading on myself every day.
It would be straight-up redundant and delusional work.
What a Healthy Daily Tarot Practice Looks Like
I often, with my morning tea or coffee, pull out a deck, give it a few shuffles and ask:
"What is a good energy to bring to today?"
"Help me find a mantra for today."
"What topic should I journal about?"
And that can be a nice little check-in each day.
It doesn't wildly reshape my goals or plans, or force me to reprocess the same situation for the tenth time.
Is it okay to ask your tarot deck questions about your experiences?
Yes!
But you must remain disciplined within yourself to recognise whether going to your deck is a way to healthily process and move through your feelings, or whether it's a way to escape your feelings and skirt responsibility for yourself.
Knowing When to Put the Cards Down
I've personally gone through a puzzling conflict with someone and later that day sat down and asked my cards:
"What about that situation was I not seeing clearly?"
"What is the best way for me to approach it now?"
"How can I best move on from that conflict?"
Then I processed it, whether I liked the answers or not, and did myself the service of not digging further.
I didn't try to pull more meaning out of a passing experience, make it about validating myself or use the cards to escape the truth of the scenario.
When would that very same situation become unhealthy?
If I then went back to the cards every time something similar happened to confirm my thought process, validate my feelings, find certainty in uncertain circumstances and try to rid myself of anything unexpected.
Which, quite simply, is a delusional way to live.
We Cannot and Should Not Have All the Answers All the Time
This is the sticking point I come to when certain people want me to be more predictive and tell them they're going to meet the love of their life.
I'm sorry, but my tarot readings are not about telling you with 100% certainty that something is going to happen to you.
My tarot readings are about peering into your current situation and exploring potential future outcomes so you can move intentionally towards what you want out of life.
And potentially avoid barreling yourself towards things that don't support the life you want.
And guess what?
Nuance is a constant in life.
These things are not black and white, so seeking answers as if everything that will happen to you is somehow predestined is an existential cop-out.
Life is full of variables, choices, other people, unexpected circumstances and opportunities that haven't even presented themselves yet.
A good tarot reading should help you navigate those things, not convince you that you already know exactly how everything is going to unfold.
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When Is Seeking a Tarot Reading Not a Good Idea?
There are certain circumstances where I would genuinely encourage you to put the cards down for a while rather than book another psychic reading.
1. When You're Asking the Same Question Over and Over
You've already visited a tarot reader about the same circumstance, hoping for a new answer without having done anything yourself that would suggest the situation has changed.
If nothing has changed, why are you expecting an entirely different answer?
2. When Your Happiness Depends on a Specific Future
Your happiness depends on being validated that the future you dream of will come true.
You need to form your own relationship with joy, and it can't depend on a very specific vision of the future.
Because I can guarantee you, without even pulling a single card, that you won't be happy if you cling to outcomes happening only as you've envisioned them.
3. When You're Avoiding Doing the Hard Thing
You don't want to do the hard thing that needs to be done, so you get another reading in the hopes that you won't have to.
Sometimes we already know what needs to be done.
We just don't want to do it.
Another tarot reading isn't necessarily going to make that any easier.
4. When You Only Want to Hear What You Want to Hear
You want the reading to affirm you more than open your eyes to the truth.
This one is a given, but if you want the cards to blow smoke up your ass, I'm sorry, but they simply won't.
5. When You Want Someone Else to Make Your Decisions
You want something outside of yourself to make decisions for you.
Tarot is not the final say, and your tarot reader is not the final say.
Any reader who plays God and acts as though their advice is the final boss to your best life is full of shit.
We are not going to tell you what to do.
That has to come from you.
We may suggest ways of approaching your next steps, but you need to be your own North Star, or you'll be spinning your wheels and repeating cycles like it's Groundhog Day.
6. When You've Just Had a Reading and It Didn't Satisfy the Itch
Maybe ask yourself why that reading didn't do it for you.
Did you not feel connected to the reader?
Did your discernment tell you it wasn't accurate?
Did you simply not like what they said?
Did they use fear tactics, and you want to understand why?
Whatever it may be, you need to ask yourself whether your reasons are sound and logical.
Maybe the reading left you more confused, and seeking someone else could genuinely bring clarity.
But be so for real here.
If you want another reading right away because it didn't give you what you wanted to hear, didn't provide a definite yes or no, or didn't take responsibility off your shoulders by telling you it's the universe's fault that you're stuck, then I would reconsider whether your reasons for booking another tarot reading are realistic.
When Tarot Becomes Escapism and Confirmation Bias
If you're giving yourself readings, or going to other readers for in-depth tarot readings about the same person, situation or part of your life that feels unclear, I want you to really ask yourself whether it's helping you.
Because it's possible that tarot has become something you're escaping through rather than something you're using to move forward.
For every message that confirms a belief or desired outcome, you claim it.
For every message that doesn't, it goes in one ear and out the other, and the situation is still just "unclear."
At this point, you're cherry-picking with tarot and fulfilling the psychological effect known as confirmation bias.
What Is Confirmation Bias in Tarot?
Confirmation bias is when you favour information that confirms what you already believe or want to be true, while dismissing information that challenges those beliefs.
You might claim the cards that confirm your desired outcome, or interpret certain messages in a way that validates your experiences, while discarding the rest.
Even worse, you might unconsciously stop absorbing anything that doesn't align with what you want to hear.
But What About "Take What Resonates and Leave What Doesn't"?
Now, what about when readers say, "Take what resonates and leave what doesn't"?
I can totally understand the confusion around this.
It's a disclaimer that tarot readers online, particularly those doing general tarot readings, often use at the beginning of their videos.
It's intended to discourage you from blindly taking every reading as though it's specifically meant for you, regardless of whether it actually applies to your life or situation.
There is a lot more nuance to this topic than a single blog can cover, but I'm going to hold your hand and gently slap you across the face when I say this:
NOT ALL THINGS ARE ABOUT YOU!
You have to realise that general tarot readings are not meant to direct your life decisions.
They're meant to open up your eyes and your mind, encourage you to reflect for yourself, use your discernment and maybe, just maybe, find a little self-awareness that's helpful to you before carrying on with your day.
These little general readings are often full of great nuggets of advice and can really get the gears turning.
That's the point!
They aren't some divinely specific, pointed message meant just for you, telling you to quit your job or dump your partner.
Come the fuck on, people.
When a Personal Tarot Reading Might Actually Help
If you see a general tarot reading that seriously makes you think about the state of your relationship, and that self-reflection leads to more question marks, uncertainty, fear and feeling stuck, then perhaps it's time to seek a trusted tarot reader for a one-on-one reading.
If you haven't had an in-depth tarot reading before, finding someone you trust to conduct a session specifically catered to you and your circumstances can be a really helpful way to navigate those questions.
And that's something I absolutely encourage. You can check out my offerings here.
Why Am I Telling You to Get Fewer Tarot Readings?
Honestly, I'm not telling you what you have to do because, once again, I'm not God.
I'm not you.
I'm merely stating my opinion as a practitioner who refuses to see people on a one-on-one basis more than once every three months, or once per turn of a season (with some exceptions).
My Personal Ethics as a Professional Tarot Reader
Let's say you meet me at a psychic fair and I give you a 15-minute Clarity session.
Or perhaps you book a 15-minute Clarity session with me, and afterwards it opens up a newfound understanding of your situation.
Now you wish to do a deeper reading with me to process that further, along with other aspects of your life or questions we simply didn't have time for.
That's reasonable!
It allows us to expand upon something we've already started exploring.
But if you book a one-hour Winding Road session with me and then try to book another one the following week, I'll kindly let you know that we can reschedule for later, when more time has passed and life has been lived, or cancel the session and return your funds.
As a tarot reader, my own ethical code is to never depend entirely on tarot for my sense of self.
And I would never suggest that you depend on it either, even if doing so made me more money.
Because that's not ethical, and it's not moral in my opinion.
It may seem foolish of me, as a psychic tarot reader with a business to successfully run, to turn away business.
But I was brought to this work to help, not harm.
That will always be my North Star.
And that's why I'm writing this blog post: to warn people about the risks of becoming dependent on tarot readings and divination, and the slippery slope of losing touch with your own autonomy and free will.
Tarot is an amazing tool, and as the saying goes, "With great power comes great responsibility."
I see it as my responsibility not to abuse the power tarot can have over people.
Because once something is overused and abused, the gift gets lost in the power trip.
Let Me Fully Expose Myself Here
I never want to take credit for, or steal from you, the chance to embrace the great unfolding of life.
So no, I don't like to give yes-or-no answers, and I don't say with 100% certainty that something will happen, that someone is meant for you or that someone isn't meant for you.
Because that is quite simply stealing from you the most beautiful part of life:
When things open up or expose themselves, and you get to choose how you approach them.
When I make predictions about potential outcomes, it's to empower you to feel prepared for life's twists and turns.
But I also want you to remain open to being surprised by how things happen, and trust yourself to be the one who knows what's best when that day comes.
Tarot is a way of understanding yourself so damn deeply that you have a point of reference to go:
"Is this good for me, or is it not good for me?"
And then you get to choose with a sense of autonomy and empowerment, knowing that I, as a reader, support you and will be happy to hear all about it in a few months' time if you come back for another session.
So, Is Your Tarot Practice Empowering You or Holding You Back?
Ask yourself:
Do I just like to pull cards to feel more attuned to myself, understand my blind spots, strengths and desires, and make more integrated, intentional choices in life?
If so, then hell yes!
Do you.
But if you're pulling cards to avoid making decisions entirely on your own, if you want to hear only good things, affirm a victim mentality or hopelessness, or simply hear that everything is going to get better without putting in the effort or taking the steps to get yourself there, then I would, as a professional, suggest that you put the cards down for a while.
Form your own opinions and thoughts.
And just live.
