Q: Do you read for yourself and/or for others? Why or why not?
I started reading for myself back in 1999, and occasionally for husband or friends. Then I pretty much stopped until 2011, when I met a lovely lady originally from Yorkshire, who now lives in Caithness on the northern edges of Scotland. Sara Donaldson came to me through Twitter as an editor and book indexer (also my main business), but it turned out she was also a Tarot reader and genealogist. Through her, I ended up joining the Tarot Association of the British Isles (TABI) (I know there’s an American version as well, but this is where I started), taking a great free course and free reading apprentice program, and setting up as a professional reader.
It was definitely an eye-opening experience, reading for “strangers.” I had to take my woo-woo New Age view of reading (every reading a spiritual experience) out of the clouds and get down to Earth. Which is good. 
Most folks have more mundane and pressing issues to ask about than where they are in their spiritual journey, so I’ve received a ton of education over my apprenticeship and subsequent five years’ experience as a free reader for TABI (get your free reading here—or scroll down at their site for a professional reading for a reasonable fee).
Reading for self can be comforting, but has its drawbacks. Since I believe that we influence the cards with the quantum energies in and around us, reading for self can hold a bit of a bias; you can end up with the cards reinforcing your worries, for example, instead of giving you better alternatives. Some of this bias can be met with good specific questions or mental centering, but it’s hard to get away from.
In reading for others, I get a chance to be in a more neutral position with the energy and get a clearer reading of what’s going on. The amazing thing about my free reading experience has been the feedback from some readers that have indicated the accuracy of the reading, even though the questions are often pretty general. Gives me some validation on my worldview of how this works, and it’s been helpful for the querents, which is the main point. At first I was nervous and had some performance anxiety about doing readings for others, but I’m much more confident now; I can see the both the psychological and decision-helping value of the reading. I have also learned to call ’em like I see ’em and not try to always provide a positive spin no matter what. What most querents really want is a clearer view of their situation, and my mission is to empower them to make their own decisions on the information provided from my reading.
I still read for myself every day and give myself monthly forecasts as well. And now I read for others regularly on a professional basis (see my Readings section for my offerings in this regard).
How have you found readings for you in terms of accuracy and quality? And if you are a reader, how do you see reading for self compared to reading for others?
I found the questions for this series at a Tumblr account that no longer exists. A lovely person named Rhee started the thing. These are great prompts for telling stories about one’s journey through the world of Tarot, so I’ve started the series again on a weekly basis so you all can get to know me better, and also share your own answers to the questions in comments or links to your own posts. I’d love to hear from you!
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