"Beginner" decks for professional readings

[TheLittleJackal]

Ok, firstly to clarify what I mean by beginner decks:

 

Exhibit A: The Simple Tarot, Beginner Version

Exhibit B: The Apprentice Tarot

 

Decks that have keywords on the cards, more or less, enough that they make interpreting the card without prior learning viable, or make recall of the card's fuller meaning easier.

 

So, my question is basically, what do people think of the idea of using these kinds of decks in a professional context? Both from the perspective of reader, and from the perspective of potential client. Incoming thought prompts, don't feel compelled to answer them all.

 

Are these decks off-putting? Do they imply that a reader is new or unable to read the cards? Would they encourage clients/you to seek someone "more experienced"?

 

What happens if a reader requests to use this deck in place of a deck you had selected/they had agreed to use for your reading? Eg: This deck reduces required mental strain of a reading and the reader is fatigued or ill, so they have to either delay your reading or use this deck. Would you prefer the delay?

 

If you feel negatively towards using these cards professionally, are there any potential circumstances that you could imagine that would mitigate that at all? Would it make a difference if the reader was using them as part of their brand identity, if it was one of their regularly featured decks? Or if they clearly had regular success with it? Would their reason for using the deck matter (eg illness vs newness vs laziness), or would you have the same feelings regardless of why they used the deck?

 

If someone does use one of these decks to complete a reading, could they substitute the same cards from another deck to create a "professional looking" picture for the client, or is this dishonest and misrepresenting the reading that was done, potentially to the point of being fraudulent?

 

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Personally, I like the Apprentice Tarot in particular, and believe it has real potential as a good reading deck. I believe that providing good readings is what's truly important. But I'm nervous about what people want, especially on a superficial level, especially as someone who'd be coming into this as a new business and relying mostly on that superficial level for quite a while. I understand that people love the individuality and magic of different decks, and like to feel as certain as they can be that they'll get what's on offer.

 

I also feel that misrepresenting what I'm selling is probably dishonest at best, and likely to get me caught out and ruined as a reader at worst.

 

So overall I'm personally probably against using these as professional decks. However, I'm asking about it because I have severe chronic fatigue, and having a deck that is less strain that I can fall back on or even use regularly would be game changing for me, potentially even be the only way I could reliably do readings within the kinds of time frames that seem popular.

 

Sorry for the long post, and thank you in advance for all your thoughts!

[Raggydoll]

I don’t think you’re image or integrity as a reader would be the biggest concern, I believe that the main issue would be that clients would focus more on what’s written on the cards and listen less to your words. It would be harder to introduce your own interpretations and showcase your particular style of reading. But if your reading style is very in line with what is written on those cards and you merely elaborate on what they say, then I think it could work. If people judge you then that is based on their issues and beliefs, it’s not a reflection on you. You know who you are and why you do the things you do. You need not be ashamed of your mental fatigue. I think it’s great if you’re able to find ways to work with your unique circumstances :love:

[Thoughtful]

You could always ask family or friends if they would like a reading.  Use the deck you mentioned and see what their reaction is.  Get some feedback from them after the reading as to how they felt with you using that particular deck.

They are really good tarot decks, they would have made my journey a lot easier in the beginning  :))

Also have you thought of working for an online tarot company? you would have no worries about anyone seeing the cards. You could work your own hours, so that you did not tire yourself too much.

[Saturn Celeste]

Ok, firstly to clarify what I mean by beginner decks:

 

Exhibit A: The Simple Tarot, Beginner Version

Exhibit B: The Apprentice Tarot

 

Decks that have keywords on the cards, more or less, enough that they make interpreting the card without prior learning viable, or make recall of the card's fuller meaning easier.

 

So, my question is basically, what do people think of the idea of using these kinds of decks in a professional context? Both from the perspective of reader, and from the perspective of potential client. Incoming thought prompts, don't feel compelled to answer them all.

 

In all honesty, I suggest these decks be used as a beginner deck, as a learning deck.  Also, are you thinking of doing your readings face to face or online?  Online is easier because even though they can read the inscriptions on the cards, they will also be reading  your own interpretation of the cards.  But if you want to do this professionally, it will take at least 50 actual readings before you would think of doing it for money.  It will take that much feedback for you to determine if you're on the right track with  your readings.

 

Are these decks off-putting? Do they imply that a reader is new or unable to read the cards? Would they encourage clients/you to seek someone "more experienced"?

 

I think they are a little off-putting simply because they stifle your own intuition and insights into your reading.  The cards themselves are messages.  Do you really need a message from the cards that come with a message on top of that?  Use these types of cards now to learn the tarot but by the time you are ready to read professionally, you will have put these cards in the 'beginner' box.

What happens if a reader requests to use this deck in place of a deck you had selected/they had agreed to use for your reading? Eg: This deck reduces required mental strain of a reading and the reader is fatigued or ill, so they have to either delay your reading or use this deck. Would you prefer the delay?

 

You have to be honest with your sitter.  If you are fatigued, then it would be best health wise to delay the reading.  This also comes with learning how to deal with your sitter and practice will hone that skill.  But honesty is always the best policy!  Reading for money is a little more stressful than for yourself.  You have the pressure of 'giving them their money's worth.'  These types of readings are very important especially if you are starting out.  You want people to return to you so if they know you are straightforward with your business, they WILL return!

 

If you feel negatively towards using these cards professionally, are there any potential circumstances that you could imagine that would mitigate that at all? Would it make a difference if the reader was using them as part of their brand identity, if it was one of their regularly featured decks? Or if they clearly had regular success with it? Would their reason for using the deck matter (eg illness vs newness vs laziness), or would you have the same feelings regardless of why they used the deck?

 

Trust me TLJ, by the time you set up your business and get ready to go pro, you won't need cards like this.  You WILL move on!  I know it's really hard to learn.  But these cards are similar to a crutch.  As flash cards to learn the card meanings they are great!!  As a learning tool.  But to use them in readings for money, they will eventually become a crutch and be detrimental towards your development as a reader.  You WILL learn this stuff!!  We all had to start from the beginning and that's why we all really understand.

 

If someone does use one of these decks to complete a reading, could they substitute the same cards from another deck to create a "professional looking" picture for the client, or is this dishonest and misrepresenting the reading that was done, potentially to the point of being fraudulent?

 

Never mess with the cards you deal!  Not only do you betray your customer you betray your cards and give tarot readers a bad name. ;)  In order to go into business for yourself, go into it with the idea you ARE a professional, not 'look like' a professional.

 

---

 

Personally, I like the Apprentice Tarot in particular, and believe it has real potential as a good reading deck. I believe that providing good readings is what's truly important. But I'm nervous about what people want, especially on a superficial level, especially as someone who'd be coming into this as a new business and relying mostly on that superficial level for quite a while. I understand that people love the individuality and magic of different decks, and like to feel as certain as they can be that they'll get what's on offer.

 

TLJ, if you like these cards, then get the deck!  Start using it now in the lessons I give you!  You're in a really good place to learn right now.  Oracle decks often have the meanings on them, some more meaning is written than others.  I have a few tarot decks that I purchased when I was beginning that have meanings written on the cards.  It DOES help when you're learning and when you are fatigued.  They will especially help you to learn!

 

I also feel that misrepresenting what I'm selling is probably dishonest at best, and likely to get me caught out and ruined as a reader at worst.

 

So overall I'm personally probably against using these as professional decks. However, I'm asking about it because I have severe chronic fatigue, and having a deck that is less strain that I can fall back on or even use regularly would be game changing for me, potentially even be the only way I could reliably do readings within the kinds of time frames that seem popular.

 

Sorry for the long post, and thank you in advance for all your thoughts!

One thing to remember- it is YOUR business!  You control your hours and days.  Clients are really understanding when scheduling, if you are honest up front and let them them know there is always the possibility of delay, then they understand.  Also tell them you'll contact them should this delay happen.  But the turn around time is up to you.  I have a Past Life Celtic Cross combo reading that takes over 10 hours to do so it will be a few days before they get their reading.  That is all up to you!  The best advice I can give you now, is to get the deck and start using it immediately while you are learning the tarot.  And I promise by the time you have your confidence up enough to open your 'store' you will have moved on to different decks.  The RW deck is as clear as the written words on the Apprentice Tarot and you will find the more you move away from written words to images, you will uncover even more insights for your client.

[Grizabella]

I would advise you to not use decks with the meanings printed on them for two or three reasons.

 

The first reason is because it makes you seem not to be qualified to read for pay if you have the words on the cards.

 

For the second reason, even if you read only online, your clients will often have had readings from others and they're going to notice that you seem to be basing your reading on something besides the cards.

 

Third is that I personally don't think you're ready to go pro if you're still using a book or the words printed on your cards. Give it more study till you can live without that deck with the words printed on it. If you don't put in the time and study and then some time reading without pay to get experience with it, you shouldn't attempt it.

 

Even if you just do readings with cards with key words or a book, you're in danger of being found out and then, if you do put in the time and study and then start pro readings, you're still going to be giving yourself a bad reputation for not being a legitimate reader. Word of mouth is your best source of building a clientele for a pro status.

 

For another one, it also gives the impression that it's just a parlor game or the same sort of thing you'd get in a fortune cookie.

 

I may seem blunt but I have to tell you this honestly. If you ever do want to do readings professionally then you need to study and practice till you can read with a deck without written prompts on the cards.

[GreatDane]

I am going to look at this from the other side as if I were the Querent.

 

If a reader was using cards with the meanings on it and charging me, I wouldn't feel like they really knew the cards.  I would also wonder about how they were reading the positions of the cards.

 

EVEN if someone were practicing with me, I would want them to do it without meanings on the cards.

 

For me, a reader isn't about someone who just memorizes some key words (much less have them on the cards), but someone who makes sense out of the cards themselves.

[Little Fang]

I've heard of people getting really amazing readings done when the reader has had old cards with meanings on them, even if just scribbled on them themselves.  I don't think it would bother me so much, as a client, as long as the reading was good, told me what I needed, and was expanded from what the cards had written.

[TheLittleJackal]

First off, I deeply appreciate everyone's input so far, it's been very insightful! I do want to quickly step in though because I think there's been a misunderstanding, or perhaps a lack of emphasis on my part.

 

As I said at the tail of my post, I am basically considering this deck because I have severe chronic fatigue. This is not a deck I am considering because I am learning, or because I don't know the cards. I have my Classic tarot and my mentorship, which I'm taking very seriously, to handle that (or at least kickstart it). Now, don't get me wrong, I don't know the cards, but then again I'm not looking to go pro for some time yet! I have no intention of going pro before I'm ready. This is all a theoretical discussion even for me.

 

The reason I would like a deck like this isn't something that is solved by learning. Fatigue is often (and this is true for me) accompanied by brain fog. Brain fog is nasty, it basically leaves you grasping for the simplest things, sometimes unable to form basic sentences. I'm very lucky in that it doesn't transfer to typing except when it's very bad, but it can make thinking in general quite difficult. Learning the meaning of the cards won't solve that, and the point of the keywords isn't to avoid learning the cards or skip ahead of learning the cards. It's to skip (or ease) the process of recall, of remembering what I have learned, to serve as an anchor point when my brain is being particularly fuzzy or to make the process less draining when I'm very low on energy (you don't realise how hard on you the mere act of remembering things is until you've tried to do it running on empty!).

 

So what I'm asking here is not whether my need or use would be legitimate, because I know it would be.

 

What I'm asking is whether y'all feel, from one side of the table or the other, using this kind of deck would have an affect on paid readings at all (and thank you all very much for your input so far on that!)

 

I did also ask in a couple other places, and had the interesting suggestion that I (in the distant future when this is a thing) go with my regular readings set with a fulfilment timeframe that is realistic for me, whatever that may be, and then a separate, "rush" reading, that is specifically carried out with a deck like this (or I suppose it could be a deck of my choosing instead of the querent's). That way the querent knows what to expect, and is getting a much quicker reading out of it.

 

I thought that was quite a novel suggestion.

[Grizabella]

I know exactly how chronic fatigue works. I've got inflammatory conditions that also bring that "brain fog". I do understand what you're saying. For me, though, I just don't read for others if I'm fatigued because even with key words on the deck, I think it would taint my reading. That's just me, though.

 

<3

[GreatDane]

I totally get what you're saying and why, TheLittleJackal.

 

Just looking at it from the querent's side.

 

But if you're not reading IN FRONT of a querent, where they see the deck, I doubt would be an issue? 

[Rupicapra]

I find readings exhausting, and I don't suffer from any conditions, it is just hard work for me, so I do understand where you are coming from.

 

As a querent, to be honest, I think I'd prefer cards with less description, more images. But I love the imagery on the cards and exploring them.

 

Mind you, there are quite a few decks out that are definitely not beginner decks and they also do have a keyword on them, like the Wildwood or the Mythical Goddess Tarot. And I don't think people will think any less of you as a reader if you use one of those. If you are worried, it might be worth exploring those decks? Maybe less keywords on each card, but if one prompt is enough, then this might be a way forward?

 

 

[Wanderer]

I find readings exhausting, and I don't suffer from any conditions, it is just hard work for me, so I do understand where you are coming from.

 

As a querent, to be honest, I think I'd prefer cards with less description, more images. But I love the imagery on the cards and exploring them.

 

Mind you, there are quite a few decks out that are definitely not beginner decks and they also do have a keyword on them, like the Wildwood or the Mythical Goddess Tarot. And I don't think people will think any less of you as a reader if you use one of those. If you are worried, it might be worth exploring those decks? Maybe less keywords on each card, but if one prompt is enough, then this might be a way forward?

 

I'm glad someone else has said this, Rupicapra[/member] - I was starting to get a bit paranoid!  ;D

I know some people don't like cards with even a single keyword, but to me this doesn't make them at all simplistic. It may make their meaning slightly more immediately accessible for the querent (and reader), but that's just the first stage. Any decent reading will go waaay beyond that, and (for me, at least) explaining the subtleties of the meaning around that basic concept is a big part of what makes the reading powerful. If the card gives the querent a bit of a foothold to work from, that's no bad thing in my view.

 

On the other hand, cards that have lots of text on them, to the point of covering most of the context of what is then said... that would certainly be offputting to me. However, it's how the reader works with the cards that matters most; I suspect someone experienced with the novice decks could make even those work well, but if it looks as though they're just reading off the cards then that obviously isn't the most inspiring experience for the visitor..! It's also possible that some (perhaps sceptical) sitters would like the text-laden decks because they can then be confident that the reader isn't just making up the card meanings. There's always an exception...

[Jewel]

Cool questions.  I think it will depend on the querent.  Really visual people will want to explore the artwork, and if there is too much text on the cards my tune out.  I am one of those people.  But as mentioned above there are decks that offer the visual and the key words.  Another deck you might check out is the Osho Zen Tarot.  It is not a traditional deck, but the imagery is very evocative and it does have key words.  I find the imagery, like key words, can be very powerful in getting your brains attention.  The two decks you posted would not be decks I, as a querent, would ever choose.  But decks with good imagery and just a key word I have no problem with.  I have also found many decks with amazing imagery that just "talk" better than any deck with keywords.  The Victorian Fairy Tarot, The Fey Tarot, and The Fantastic Menagerie are 3 that come to mind where just looking at the picture and starting to describe the picture brings a "woosh" of ideas about the meanings of the cards.  On the other hand, you will run into querents that will enjoy the reading no matter what deck you use and how you deepen the meaning of the card.  As you noted, you only want to jump start your memory.  So it really all comes down to the personal preferences of your querent, no querent will be like another.  So you could offer the deck as one of the options and stick to that timeline idea you mentioned for querents that do not opt for those decks.

 

As to your question about providing your online querent pictures of another deck when you read with one of these I would say don't do it.  I have found that decks have unique voices and would not necessarily offer you the same cards.  If you use a particular deck for a reading share the images from that deck.

[Petalene]

For me, as a querent, I’d find it odd if the cards had a bunch of words on them. Something like Chrysalis Tarot or Vision Quest Tarot with one or, at most, two words on the bottom of the card, that wouldn’t seem weird. Although it would make it seem more like an oracle deck and it would throw me if the reader interpreted the card completely differently than the key word(s), especially if I knew nothing about tarot and it was an in person reading.

 

However, my one online reading, she didn’t say what deck she used, although she did reference some imagery in the RWS deck. I follow her on social media and I knew she got a new deck fairly shortly before I requested my reading so it may have been that deck. Either way, she let me know what cards she pulled and how she read them. I got the insight I was looking for so what deck she used was unimportant.

 

Just my two cents and YMMV.