Confession time: I hate doing predictive tarot readings. I don’t like ’em one bit. I’ll suggest some possible outcomes of a situation when it comes up, sure, but the straight-up “will we get back together?” kind of stuff – I’m not here for it. That’s not where I shine – the thing that fascinates me about tarot is the analysis of a situation, the “why” instead of the “what.”

Sometimes predictions will come up on their own, but to get the most out of your reading with me? Ask me what you can do, not what will happen. (Hilary recently wrote a post about similar feelings.) Besides, I’m not the kind of person who even WANTS to know the future.

But I know plenty of amazing tarot readers who love doing predictive readings. They wear the badge of fortune-teller with pride. They’d be happy to tell you if your ex is coming back or if you should hit the road. That’s their thing, and they’re darn good at it.

The one thing I wish everyone knew about tarot is that it’s different for everyone and that’s okay. 

When I first started reading tarot for others online, I felt sick every time I announced that I was open for business because I knew that someone was going to ask me the “will we get back together?” question. I didn’t understand why it made me feel so uncomfortable. The reason I was offering readings to begin with was to help people, wasn’t it? Why couldn’t I make myself get excited about it?

The more readings I did, the more I realized – it’s because that’s not the kind of help I’m best at. My readings are here to help you help yourself. My goal is to be a listening ear and to give you whatever guidance the cards have to offer. That’s what lights me up – delivering the messages you need to hear in that moment, so you can create the life you want to have. Those yes/no readings just weren’t doing it for me.

But for a few months after I started reading tarot, I did them anyway. Why? Because it’s hard to explain tarot to someone who doesn’t know what it is, especially someone who’s just stopped by your inbox for a quick free reading.

People have an idea in their heads of what tarot and tarot readers are supposed to be, based on movies or TV shows or whatever. To say I didn’t do a certain type of reading, when I was so new to it and felt like I had to prove myself, felt like admitting I was a fraud. It was fun to read for people who already understood tarot, but the people who only found me because they wanted one of my free readings? I didn’t know how to concisely convey what I did and didn’t do, and there was a lot of self-imposed pressure to live up to what I thought their expectations were.

(Of course, I don’t do free readings anymore, and people not respecting my guidelines is a big part of why!)

It’s funny to look back on that now and remember how much I worried about what other people thought of my tarot practice, but it’s only funny because I’ve learned and seen enough to know that everyone has a different approach to tarot. Some people use the cards to communicate with the other side, some use them in spells, some tell the future, and some don’t believe there’s anything woo-woo about them at all. All of these beliefs are okay! What matters is that your tarot style works for YOU.

It’s completely understandable to worry, especially when you’re first starting out, about how your practice compares to others’. Just know that you don’t have to do it all. Find the system that works for you! There are plenty of types of readers out there – you’ll attract the clients who vibe with you. Never be afraid to set boundaries about your readings – I have my rules posted in my Etsy shop so I can easily direct people there if they have questions.

It doesn’t mean you’re a fake or that your readings aren’t legit just because you don’t do everything. It would be boring if everyone read tarot the same way! Just do you and don’t worry about what other people will think. You don’t want to read for rude people anyway – trust me.

How do you feel about predictive readings? Love ’em? Hate ’em? Let me know in the comments!