Tarot with Lady Saoirse- Tarot Ethics
Bright Blessings,
Technically, reading the cards doesn’t have any ethics attached with them, but when you read cards for somebody else there are ethics. There are no hard and fast rules for what is right and for what is wrong when you’re a reader, and most of us decide for ourselves what we feel is correct. What it boils down to is how you feel about things. You may already have your own code of ethics for Tarot, and you don’t even know it yet. If you don’t consciously have an established code of ethics for your Tarot reading you can ask yourself a few questions. Once you have the answers to these you will know what your personal ethics are.
How do you feel about doing a reading about someone that isn’t there?
We have all wondered what somebody thought about us. We have all wondered where a new relationship is going. We’ve all wondered if somebody was being dishonest with us or not. However, not everybody who’s asking about someone who isn’t there asks such simple things. Sometimes people want to know if an ex still thinks about them or exactly what is going on in somebody else’s life. Some readers will not answer these questions because they say that it’s none of their business. How do you feel about the privacy of people who aren’t there? If you’re not sure, ask yourself how you would feel if someone was getting a Tarot reading like that about you. If you feel like it’s an invasion of privacy you have every right to refuse to read about people who are not there.
How do you feel about giving people bad news?
The ugly truth is sometimes when people come to you to get a Tarot reading, you’re going to have to tell them something that they’re not going to want to hear. If they’re asking about their health, you might tell them their health isn’t going to be good. They might be asking about a relationship that’s on the rocks, and you may have to tell them that the relationship will end. They might ask about a new job, and you can see in the cards that that is not going to go well. They might ask about their finances, and you can see in the cards that they’re going to have some financial woes. How do you feel about telling people this bad news? Some of us are very honest and tell people the good news as well as the bad news. Emotionally, not everybody can handle giving this bad news. If it makes you uncomfortable you can just read for yourself and not read for other people. You can also tell them that you’ve got bad news for them and ask them if they want to hear it before you deliver it. Delivering bad news is a big part of being a Tarot reader, and you’re going to have to decide how you feel about that as well as how you’re going to deliver that bad news.
How do you feel about telling people that what they’re doing is wrong?
I will never forget this one woman who came to me for a reading. She was married, not working, and was a stay-at-home mom of three boys, some of whom had special needs. She had been unfaithful to her husband, and the guy she cheated on him with dumped her because he said he did not want to be involved with someone who was married. Personally, I thought she was a despicable human being and she needed to focus on taking care of her kids instead of screwing around, but that was absolutely none of my business, so I kept that to myself. What she came to me for was magic spells to force the guy to continue the affair. Some people will gladly give love spells for such a thing. I don’t believe in that. I flat out told her the man had told her no and she needed to respect his right to choose. She left very unhappy with me and quite frankly I don’t care. It is not my place to judge somebody what I’m giving a reading, but when somebody tries to take away somebody else’s right to choose I draw the line. You will have to decide how you feel about telling somebody no or that what they are doing is wrong.
How do you feel you should be compensated for doing a Tarot reading?
Back when I first started reading, I didn’t believe in being paid. Now, I do. If you decide that you want to read professionally you will have to think about how much money you want to charge for it. Most of the readings that I give are through the shop where I go a couple of times a month to read. As of writing this, when I read at home, I charge $2.00 per minute. Sometimes I give a free reading, or I give a discount when I want to. I don’t remember how I decided to charge $2.00 per minute but that is my rate. I look at it this way. Psychotherapists typically charge over $100 per hour and giving a Tarot reading involves a lot of counseling and psychology. I have found people are more respectful of me and my time when I charge money. If I give out free readings, I am taken for granted. If I know someone who is in crisis mode I will reach out and help them, but that does not entail a Tarot reading. Those are my reasons. Decide for yourself if you are going to charge for readings and how much you want to charge.
How will you deal with it if the person you’re reading for has different beliefs than you?
One day, an evangelical Christian came in for a reading and he brought us pastor with him. He wanted to see what a Tarot reading was like, and he was absolutely terrified. He sat and shook the entire time. His pastor was more concerned about his anxiety than whether he was going to hell. It was an interesting experience, and I can’t say that I regret giving the reading. I’m really glad that I did. They both had evidence it was not devil worship and I helped provide that understanding. I have done interfaith work, and I believe that god is too big to fit into one religion. It does not make me uncomfortable to read for someone whose beliefs are different from mine. You may decide that you only want to work within your own faith community, and that’s OK. How do you feel about it?
How do you feel reading about medical issues?
Some people flat out refuse to do readings about people’s health because they feel that it is far too risky. I have had people ask me for readings to see if they were pregnant or to ask me what the growth inside of a baby’s mouth was. I told them they needed to go to the doctor, and I would not read about it. Try going to a doctor and telling them that a psychic told you that you had a particular diagnosis, and you want them to give you a prescription for that. They will give you an earful. Another time, a woman came to me asking about an injury from a car accident, and I could tell Exactly where the pain was and that it was something that was going to go away soon. I told her that she needs to go get some chiropractic work done and that pharmaceuticals were not necessary. A Tarot reading is not a replacement for a doctor visit nor is that a replacement for a counseling session with a psychiatrist. Some people will not read about medical issues at all. I read sometimes, but sometimes, I stay out of it. You will have to decide how you feel about that.
How do you feel about counseling?
As I said earlier, Tarot ratings entail a bit of counseling. People are going to ask you what they should do about their career or about a relationship. They are going to ask you what they should do about a conflict they’re having with somebody. They’re going to ask you what they should go to college for, and they may even ask you for guidance with their psychic abilities. As a reader, you have to be comfortable guiding people through these things. Tarot readers are not people who do weird mystical things. A lot of what we do is hold people’s hands and help them come up with the plan to get through day-to-day life. Are you going to be blunt or are you going to sugarcoat things? Most of us do a little bit of both. How do you counsel and do you even want to? Only you can decide.
I know these questions are not the only questions to ask when you are discovering what your own ethics are about reading, but this will get you started. The longer you read the more in touch with how you feel about these ethical topics you will become, and you will let these ethics guide how you read.
Before you go off and give your next reading, let me thank you. Not everybody can be a reader but a lot of people need you. It can be stressful, and it can be annoying when people tell you their entire life stories. It can be beyond frustrating when people refuse to take your advice and come back and ask you the same question countless times, but they won’t do anything to help themselves. Being a reader is not for wimps, and it is a form of service to the divine. Your conscience will guide you as a reader and people will come to know you for your ethics.
May you be blessed for your good work as a reader.
Blessed Be
Lady Saoirse is a practicing witch, and initiated Wiccan of an Eclectic Tradition.
A recovered Catholic, she was raised to believe in heaven and hell, that there is only one god, and only one way to believe. As she approached her late 20’s, little things started to show her this was all wrong. She was most inspired by the saying “God is too big to fit into one religion” and after a heated exchange with the then associate pastor of the last Xtian church she attended, she finally realized she was in no way Xtian, and decided to move on to see where she could find her spiritual home.
Her homecoming to her Path was after many years of being called to The Old Ways and the Goddess, and happened in Phoenix, Arizona. She really did rise from her own ashes!
Upon returning to Ohio, she thought Chaos Magic was the answer, and soon discovered it was actually Wicca. She was blessed with a marvelous mentor, Lord Shadow, and started a Magical Discussion Group at local Metaphysical Shop Fly By Night. The group was later dubbed A Gathering of Paths. For a few years, this group met, discussed, did rituals, fellowship, and volunteering together, and even marched as a Pagan group with members of other groups at the local gay Pride Parade for eight years.
All the while, she continued studying with her mentor, Lord Shadow, and she became a Third Degree High priestess in 2022. She belongs to the Black Dragon Clan. She is a member of the spiritual family at the Magical Druid in Clintonville, Ohio. She has been with PaganPages.org since 2016 and writes for Green Egg and Spiritual Blossom. She has written for Mysticsense.
