I feel weird saying this about Tarot😶‍🌫️🌚

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Hello Tarot Friends,

Happy Full Moon (tomorrow). This year keeps rollin'.

Scroll down for the December Tarot spread plus video⬇️

I feel weird saying this about Tarot -- but I'm gonna say it

A new botanica opened up in my neighborhood.

A botanica, for those who don’t know, is kind of a Hispanic crystal shop — but generally scarier than your standard love and light crystal shop.

You know the kind of place, lots of black 7 day candles, Santa Muerte at every turn.

Yes, I’m Hispanic, but I grew up white, so crystal shops are more my jam.

But this botanica felt different.

Bright.
A lot of Santa Muerte to be sure, but more on the crystal shop side of things.

The owner was making rosaries when I walked in.

I commented on the non-scary atmosphere, and from behind a large mound of blue and black hair, she said she purposely made it not scary.

I bought some frankincense, and before I knew it… I was sitting down for a reading. I figured, why not?

I wasn’t expecting anything terribly profound,
but I figured I get some reassurance out of it.

What makes for a good, memorable reading

A powerful reading only needs one thing:
The moment where the truth actually lands in the body.

I call it The Settle.

I’ve been reading random people at parties and events for 12 years now and the settle is easy to recognize.

The little drop.
The release of the shoulders.
The exhale.
The leaning back.
The soft “Oh… okay. I see.”

It’s the moment clients remember.
It’s the moment that changes something inside them.
It’s the moment paying clients come back for (I’ve got a few of those too).

Do I land the settle 100% every time?
No.
Nobody’s perfect, but if you think maybe you’d like to read for others, read on.

As with everything, less is more

Here’s the part I feel uncomfortable about. I’m not trying to diss or criticize this woman. I’m not trying to make myself out to be the be all of all readers. Her intentions were good, but if she were my student, I would have some feedback. So here it goes.

Observation 1: No question

She didn’t start with a question.
Not “What brings you in?”
Not “What’s going on in your life right now?”
Not even the gentle, reader-to-reader staple:
​“Is there an area you want to focus on?”

I love, love, love questions to start the reading.
However, you don’t HAVE to start with a question. My suggestion is if you don’t have a question, then pick 2 or 3 cards to start with or that stand out. Say, what this looks like is [fill in the blank]. Does that make sense?

If the person says no, or maybe, poke around a bit more until both of you are on the same page.

Observation 2: very large spread and using only the Major Arcana

So here we are with no question and 22 cards in front of me.

And those 22 cards are the entire Major Arcana!

In my opinion, the Majors are the spice of the reading. Too much spoils the broth. But everyone has their own techniques, so if you use all majors and can make it work, great! I know it can happen.

But I do question such a large spread — especially to start out. 22 cards is a lot to make sense of. In my opinion she did herself (and me) a disservice by biting off such a large chunk.

Observation 3: No space in the reading

She talked fast.
She talked nonstop.
She talked in circles.

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Over and over.
No matter what card she pointed to.
No matter what example she tried to pull in.

I asked, gently,
​“So what’s the overall weather of this reading?”

She paused.
Blink blink.
I could tell she truly didn’t know.

She was overwhelmed by her own spread.

So I narrowed it down again:
“What does this mean in a business context?”

She didn’t miss a beat.
She just repeated it again:

“Don’t get taken advantage of.”

In my opinion, she didn’t give herself enough space to work with.

As with so many things, less is more.

In my opinion, you can give a damn good reading with 3 cards. But as I said, this is MY opinion.

I felt truly bad when I walked out. For her and for me.

For her because she had a chance to give me some insight, but got in her own way.

For me because I just spent a chunk of change on a reading that flopped.

Technique and technicality aside…

The reading didn’t work because she wasn’t actually reading me.

😑She was reciting meanings.
😑She was performing tarot, not practicing it.
😑She was saying what she knew, not what she noticed.
😑She wasn’t checking resonance.
😑She wasn’t in conversation with the cards, or me, or the moment.
😑She wasn’t taking any risks.

She was reading the cards…
but she wasn’t reading the energy, the context, or the person in front of her.

There was no courage in it.​
Just technical correctness, I suppose.

And technical correctness, as it turns out, is the fastest way to make a reading forgettable.

Taking a risk and reading with boldness

For a good example of this, see

​Read Like the Devil.

So how do you take a risk and read with boldness?

You get there through presence.
Through noticing.
Through attunement.
And through saying the thing that feels risky but true.

That’s the part no one teaches.
It’s the part certification can’t give you.
It’s the part readers are most afraid to do — and the part clients are unconsciously begging for.

Some readers memorize meanings.
Some give safe advice.
Some avoid going too deep because they don’t want to be “wrong.”

But the readers who make a living…
The readers clients return to again and again…

They’re not accuracy-led.
They’re not performance-led.
They’re not caution-led.

They’re risk-led.

⚡They name what they notice instead of what they know.
⚡They let the card adapt to the moment.
⚡They say the thing that feels risky but true.

And they create The Settle nearly every single time (nobody’s perfect😉).

A tarot reading isn’t a speech.
It’s a conversation.
A co-creation.
A truth that emerges between you, the client, and the field around you.

And if you’ve ever wondered whether you’re “good enough” to charge for your readings…

Maybe it’s not a skill problem.

Maybe it’s a courage problem.

And courage?
That’s something we can practice.

Every day.

Come practice with us inside the Tarot Underground Circle Membership👇

December Tarot card spread

Well it's time to pull a monthly spread for December so here you go! Last month ya'll!

And if you'd like a quick walk through you can watch me do one for myself on YouTube.

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-Cassandra the Card Reader
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