So, you’ve discovered this amazing new hobby and you want to share with your friends and family right? Unfortunately, it’s not always as simple as it would be to tell your mom about your new gardening hobby. If it is for you, you’re very lucky!
Stigmas around Tarot
While the popularity of tarot is always increasing, there are still some parts of the world where tarot isn’t accepted by most. In the Midwest US for instance, a lot of people consider it evil. Yes, you read that right, literally evil. Others even think tarot is nothing but a scam. It can be intimidating if you don’t live in an area where it’s understood and accepted to come out as a tarot reader, even to friends and family.
When NOT to Come Out as a Tarot Reader
So, when is the right time to come out as a tarot reader? Well, there are a few things to think about first. The more important question being, when is the WRONG time.
First, is it safe for you to come out? I know to some this question may sound ridiculous, but for certain people, it’s quite literally not safe. Only you can answer the question for yourself.
Are you a teen stashing a tarot deck under your bed living in a strict religious household? If so, you might want to wait. Do you live in a small, Christian community in the Midwest? Or another country where it’s looked down upon by the mainstream religion? You can come out as a tarot reader any time, you can even open a tarot reading shop if you want to, but you may need to prepare yourself for potential backlash.
Is it worth it to you? If so, that is awesome! We definitely need more people to have good experiences with tarot, and we need more people to learn how helpful it can really be, before we can get rid of the stigma in areas such as this. But if you don’t feel like that’s something you can or want to handle, that’s okay too.
When and How to Come Out as a Tarot Reader
If it’s safe for you to come out as a tarot reader, now what? You could start by asking your friends if they’ve ever gotten a tarot reading. See what they say and how they react. Be prepared for all kinds of different reactions. One thing I noticed very quickly after becoming more open about tarot is you never really know who already loves it and who thinks it’s complete BS. Sometimes people will surprise you! Either way, it helps to prepare ahead of time for what you want to say in both scenarios. Try telling skeptics how it can be used in ways other than divination. They may still be skeptical after your conversation, but they will probably seem more intrigued than before.
If you’re not quite comfortable advertising your services yet, you can always see if you have a local metaphysical shop. Not all of us do, but IF you do, that can be a great place to start if you’re interested in reading professionally, but not quite ready to tell everyone it’s something you do. Generally, the people you don’t want to have the conversation with yet aren’t going to be stepping into a metaphysical shop searching for a tarot reading anyway.
And the last option is skipping in person readings all together and opting to read for others online. One of the greatest advantages to this in our current situation is being able to maintain job security when unexpected things in the world happen, like a pandemic. It’s true, many in person only readers were temporarily out of a job (and some still are) when shops had to close. Going to phone, video chat, and email readings is a great way to extent your reach to people all over your country, or even the world.
Online is also a great option for anyone worried about not having enough interest in their services because of where they live. You don’t have to worry about that when you join the online tarot community. You have a wide range of individuals from all over the world you can read tarot for. This also allows people in your personal life to support you too, if they want. But if you don’t feel comfortable telling them just yet, you don’t have to.
Give people a chance before you stay in the tarot closet for life. You never know who might end up loving tarot as much as you do. You may just end up changing some preconceived notions along the way.
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