Questions to Ask Tarot Readers
Use this before you have chosen anyone, on two or three readers at once. It asks about training, specialism, consent, and the subjects they will not touch, so you can lay the answers side by side and see who is actually thinking. Fees and cancellation terms are covered on the separate page about what to ask a reader before paying, and how they work a spread has its own list here too.
The questions
Open any question for the note
How long have you been reading, and how did you learn?
Why ask it
The second half is the informative part. Self-taught from books, a long apprenticeship, and a weekend certification produce very different practices, and years alone tells you little.
Do you read full time or alongside other work?
Why ask it
Not a quality signal in either direction, but it shapes availability and pressure. Someone whose rent depends on rebookings has an incentive worth being aware of before you sit down.
What kinds of questions do you read best?
Why ask it
Most readers have a genuine specialism: work, relationships, grief, or plain reflective sessions. A reader who claims equal strength across everything is describing marketing rather than practice.
What do you refuse to read on?
Why ask it
The single most useful question on the list. An experienced reader has a real list, usually including health, pregnancy, and third parties. An empty list is the answer you should worry about.
Have you ever turned someone away, and what was the reason?
Why ask it
Everyone who reads for strangers has met a person they should not have read for. A reader with a real example, and a reason they can articulate, has a working sense of when the answer is no.
Who did you learn from, and do you still read alongside other readers?
Why ask it
Isolation is where odd practices grow. Someone who swaps readings, goes to things, or has people who will tell them they were wrong is subject to a correction a solo practitioner never gets.
How do you respond when a client tells you a reading was wrong?
Why ask it
The two poor answers are that the client misunderstood and that the timing has not arrived yet. A reader who can simply say a reading missed is describing a practice rather than defending a product.
Do you ever tell someone the cards have already answered and they do not need to come back?
Why ask it
Saying this costs a booking, which is exactly why the answer is informative. Readers who have never once said it are not in the habit of turning income down.
How much do you want to know about me beforehand?
Why ask it
Both approaches are legitimate, but they change what you can conclude. If they want a great deal of background, remember that a reading which reflects it back is not evidence of much.
Do you read for people who are grieving, and how do you approach it?
Why ask it
Grief brings people to readings and it is where the most harm gets done. Look for care in the answer, and for a clear line between reflecting on a loss and claiming contact with someone who has died.
Would you tell me if you thought a reading was a bad idea today?
Why ask it
Some days you are too raw to hear anything usefully, and honest readers will occasionally say so and reschedule. Nobody who always says yes has your interests first.
How do you handle a reading that turns out bleak?
Why ask it
Look for a described practice rather than reassurance. The two failure modes are sanding difficult material down to nothing and delivering it flatly with no thought for the person hearing it.
What is the most irresponsible thing you have seen another reader do?
Why ask it
It gets you their private standard rather than their public one. A reader with a real answer has been paying attention to the trade, and the example tells you what they are careful not to do.
What do you do when a client wants you to read for a third person?
Why ask it
Everyone gets asked this, so everyone has a policy. A reader who will freely read an ex, a colleague, or a partner in detail will do the same to you at someone else's request.
What is your policy on medical, legal, and money questions?
Why ask it
The right answer is a referral. If they offer to read on a diagnosis, a court date, or which investment to make, you have learned enough to leave without booking.
Are you comfortable saying that you do not know?
Why ask it
Uniform confidence across an hour is a warning rather than a credential. Readers who can name the parts they are unsure about give you something you can weigh instead of something you can only accept.
Has a client ever complained, and what did you do about it?
Why ask it
Anyone reading for years has had one. The useful part is the response, since offering an apology, time back, or a change to how they work all describe a practice that can absorb being wrong.
Do you post readings, screenshots or client stories anywhere?
Why ask it
Readings appear on social accounts more often than clients realise. Ask what gets published, whether it is anonymised, and whether you would be asked first, and say plainly if the answer should be never.
If I decide not to book, will I hear from you again?
Why ask it
One follow-up is courtesy. Repeated messages, or a warning that something in your enquiry needs urgent attention, is a sales technique and a fair preview of what the sessions would be like.
What should I expect to walk away with, and what should I not expect?
Why ask it
Ask it last. The second half is where a reader either sets honest limits or promises certainty, and the answer is a fair summary of everything the previous questions were probing.
Choosing a Reader
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
How to vet someone
Ask the screening questions before you pay
Most of this list belongs in a short message or a five-minute call. Readers who answer plainly and without irritation are usually the ones worth booking.
Read what they publish, not just their reviews
How someone writes about difficult subjects tells you more than testimonials do. Look for whether they mention limits and referrals anywhere, or only outcomes.
Start with one short session
Book the shortest thing they offer before committing to a package. Anyone reluctant to let you try a single reading first is selling a plan rather than a practice.
Note how they respond to being questioned
Asking why a card was read a particular way is normal. Defensiveness at that question is a better predictor of a poor session than any credential they list.
Reasons not to book
A curse, block, or negative energy that needs paid clearing
Unverifiable bad news followed by work only they can do is the oldest structure in this trade. It does not become legitimate because the first reading was cheap.
Guarantees about outcomes
Promises that someone will return, that a job will come through, or that a pregnancy is coming are not readings. Nothing about them can be checked until it is too late to matter.
Willingness to read anyone without their knowledge
It suggests no working ethic about consent, and it means anything they tell you about a third party is worth nothing. It also means someone could commission a reading about you.
Urgency and escalating prices
Pressure to book immediately, larger packages presented as necessary, and warnings that expire are sales techniques. A reader with a full practice does not need any of them.
Practical points to settle first
- Total price, including anything described as optional.
- Length of the session and what happens if it runs over.
- Cancellation and rescheduling terms, in writing.
- Whether notes or a recording are provided.
- Whether you may record or take notes yourself.
- What personal details they want in advance, and why.
- What they do with your details after the reading.
- Whether they read in person, by video, or by message.