Strange as it might seem, a tarot reader provides one of the most essential services in the modern age. We act as advisor, confidant and therapist to our clients in ways that a professional counselor can’t. Some people believe that a tarot reading is more about the future and not about the present. But without a full understanding of the way that things are in the past and present, how are you to move forward into the future? A tarot reading is at its most basic level, a conversation and nothing less. But it can also be something much more. Indeed it is true that most of the questions that are asked of me relate to the sphere of life of relationships, and that in no way degrades or demotes the importance of the service. Some of the most important questions that we as humans have to ask ourselves relate to how we are getting on with our fellow man or woman, and it is only with the right attitude and understanding that we can move our lives forward and make relationships that work. Having the wrong attitude or perspective can be the singular factor that drives us apart from our partners or can lead us into relationships that are not going to work. Often the issue rests with communication, misunderstanding or the emotions of the individual taking over the intellectual analysis of the relationship and how that is going.

Some of the emotional issues that affect the relationship we call “soul” issues and sometimes we place them under the title of “soulmate connections” when we are speaking of a very strong sense of loving connection between two people. All of the social, emotional and psychological dynamics of relationships, including these ones that we call “soul” or “soulmate” connections are very complex and have to be understood of there is to be progress in the life of the individual or the relationship entity itself. The goal can be seen as or called “fulfillment”, but that is a term that has been used and abused many times over. We have to be rational when reading for our clients and not only see the outcome of the reading as an essential part of the whole reading experience, but also to use the conversation, the three way conversation between the client, the reading and the reader as being a way to gain insight as to how the relationship can go.

But what of the Tarot itself? Well, the history of the tarot is very diverse, and there are many religious theories of its origin, however the only thing that we can actually say about the tarot is that it is a pack of cards that was used to play a game called tarot, a game similar to modern day Bridge. It seems to be purely by synchronicity that the symbology of the tarot would fit in very nicely with the symbology of certain ancient occult orders and spiritual movements, and as such we have a rich history of interpretation of the suits of the minor arcana and the 22 major arcana cards.

Many people believe that it is the fall of the cards themselves that tells the future, or reads the energy field, but it is also the consultation with a person who has a deep knowledge of the meanings of the cards and how the interpretations of the symbology interacts with the questions of the enquirer that has the real power.

In these times a tarot reading is sold as an entertainment service and quite rightly too! But there is so much more to a reading than that. I personally regard a reading as an entertainment service with therapeutic benefit. But that is not all. During a recent fair, an enquirer came to my table and almost immediately I got visions of a massive industrial wool factory with many large looms making tonnes of cloth. I told the client what I was seeing and she replied that her mother was involved in the wool industry, her mother before her was a weaver and her mother before her was also a weaver. It would appear that at times there can be a strong correlation with the visions of the practicing psychic and the lives or family history of the client.