
Tarot with Lady Saoirse- Reader Ethics- How Personal Should You Get?
Bright Blessings,
Something interesting came up recently that I wanted to discuss with you, especially those of you who are readers. In our communities where we read for people, quite often we get what can be called “Frequent Flyers”- those people who come to us often. Not only do they come into our personal workspaces, but they’re typically a part of the greater Pagan or Psychic community that we belong to. We will see them at Sabbat celebrations, festivals, and at the shops. We will have some of the same friends as them, we may even date some of the same people. So, it is completely understandable that you will become very comfortable with one another. If they come to you for readings often, you will know quite a lot of personal information about them.
Just how much personal information should they know about you though?
That’s a tough one in our communities. Let’s face it- we are not Christians. We may be professional readers who got certifications and ordinations from our clergy, but we don’t go to conventional universities to get our degrees. We don’t typically belong to larger groups within groups that have national or international links with other groups. Truthfully, a lot of us really are antiestablishment anarchists. So, there’s not always well-established codes of conduct or boundaries that we have to keep. Still though, how close do you get to the people who you read for if you are a professional?
That’s something that you are going to have to decide. Do you keep your personal life completely separate from your professional life as a reader, or are you just one of the gang? One thing that I see in our communities is a lot of readers are just one of the gang. Not everybody is that way though. Some people have their friendships separate from their relationships with their clients and they maintain a very professional demeanor. They don’t discuss their personal lives on the job. They show up, do their job, and then leave. They may allow clients to interact with them on their social media pages, but they’ll never sit at the dinner table with you if you are a client.
Other people do their readings and then hang out with whoever is available to hang out. They will share the things that are happening in their personal lives including triumphs and struggles. They will discuss their dreams and aspirations, and they will be open to discussing things with you that some other readers won’t. So, which of these two ways is the right way to be?
I don’t exactly know how to answer that question. I’m somewhere in the middle. The people who I am closest to are not people who I charge for services. Some of them aren’t even Pagan. I’m not available to the community very much outside of the times that I show up to the shop and do my readings, but a lot of the people who go to the shop often are on my social media pages and they know some of the things that go on in my life because I talk about it online. I don’t get out like I used to because I don’t drive anymore, and my husband works a nine to five job. A lot of the times when he is not working are devoted to us doing the errands that we need to do. Besides that, I work a day job and even if I did drive, I would not have time to hang out all the time like I did when I was younger. Besides that, sometimes, I’m just old and tired, so leave me alone!
I also don’t want the people who come to me as clients to feel uncomfortable by me dumping my life story on them. When I share certain things to clients it’s to let them know someone else understands. There are some things that you will never ever hear from me or know about me unless you are one of my closest long-term friends though. I am certainly not going to broadcast it to my clients. I have seen plenty of other readers do exactly that though, but I am not here to criticize them. Some clients are repelled if you tell them too much about yourself and others feel comforted because they feel like you can understand them better.
Each of us has to decide how much about ourselves we share with clients and our general communities, and nobody can decide that for us. There is just one thing that you need to keep in mind when you’re deciding how much you want to share- we are in the digital era and the Internet is forever. What you say on the line might be found years down the road to help against you most people reading this article aren’t going to be rich, famous, or high profile enough to worry about anything like that though.
So, what do you think? How much professional distance is it ethical to keep between you and your clients who you do psychic readings for? Respond please. I’d love to hear from you.
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 and is a Priestess of the Temple of the Goddess. 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, SpiritualBlossom, and Mysticsense.

