Tag: Tarot

Starting a Tarot Business

So, you love tarot you and you want to start a business. Rad! There’s no right or wrong way to do this. I can’t offer a formula for success, because everyone is different. And your differences are exactly where your business should start.

I created a tarot deck and printed one copy for myself back in 2011. At that point, I had no intention of starting a business. I was just fascinated by the archetypes and the images, and I wanted to see what reading from my own deck was like. Eventually a year later I printed a few copies for sale.

The place I started doing readings were bars and music shows, because that is where my peeps were at. My first venue was the Empty Bottle in Chicago. At the time, I was performing with my band Laughing Eye Weeping Eye (the name stuck for me!), and I took the pre-show time to provide very cheap readings. I also read on other nights when other local bands were performing. I think I was charging $5 – $10! Total tarot newbie was gettin’ her walking legs!

I had no tarot network. I had no training, other than the books on tarot I was reading. I had some social work experience, so I knew how to talk to people – but I was otherwise totally just taking a risk.

So, the first step to starting a tarot business is in being willing to take a risk and put yourself out there.

Where is your network? Start there. Think of where you work, and what you do for fun. Can you get some experience through any of these networks?

Yes, you will eventually make a website and get the online presence going. And charge more than $10. But the only way to get comfortable doing readings and to find your voice is by doing a lot of readings.

Events, or social places are great because you are often hanging out in a casual environment. And people are curious about tarot – and are generally pretty cool with the chance to try something out in a low pressure environment. It’s a win win. You get experience, they get a low cost reading.

Are you worried your readings aren’t good enough? Eventually you will get over this, but often it’s just a matter of doing a lot of readings and having some experience under your belt. Doing a lot of readings back-to-back at a few events or social gathering tends to help you get over this a lot faster.

When you are reading under the gun like this, you kinda forget the danger.

Now, let’s talk about the practical aspect of getting your business live and out there in the world. You want to start a blog, get your instagram, twitter, and facebook live. You want to do newsletters, you want to do events. You want to run through the streets screaming, “I AM HERE TAROT, TAROT HEAR ME ROAR!”

It’s an exciting moment, but all the above things at once are a recipe for disaster. Take on too much to fast, and your business will fail. Start slowly, and focus on one thing at a time. A great place to start is to begin writing. What drew you to tarot? What is your philosophy about life, and what do you believe in personally? These two things will intersect. There you go, you are already developing your business philosophy.

Another thing that people are often not prepared for is the sharing of energy. This is a service profession. You are working in a capacity to help people. Self-care is soooo important. I cannot stress this enough.

We are drawn to the tarot because it is magical. But once you start reading for other people, you are sharing your magic with other people. Suddenly, the tarot is not just your magical thing anymore, it’s everyone else’s. Are you ready to share your magic?

The only way to share tarot and the magic you have with others is by keeping some of your own. You NEED your own magical time. Have a tarot deck that you only use for yourself. Have magical items that you don’t bring with you to events. Meditate. Do spellwork for yourself. Go to classes, take online classes, continue to learn and grow, and do things for yourself.

I recommend taking at least a year or two to do tarot part-time, before expanding to full-time (if that is your long term goal). Make sure you really like it and get a sense of what it is going to be like, and where you want to focus. Just like anything in life, developing your business takes time and energy. Patience, persistence, a love for what you do, and some good ‘ol elbow grease is where it’s at (sorry, I’m terrible. Elbow grease?!?!)

I hope you have found this blog entry helpful. Blessed be, tarot friends! I wish you the best of luck on your journey!

 

 

Moon Phase Divination

The dark dark night does not leave us blind. The Moon is the essence of hope and longing. Her light is the desire to prevail, to mourn and love, to glow within the vast reaches of the cosmos. To live in dark times, to shine no matter how bleak. This is the power of the Moon.

When I created the Creatures of the Moon Oracle Deck, I decided to commune with the Moon in a deeper way. One aspect of witchcraft and the Goddess that I love is how prominent the Moon is in power; both as a symbol of the Goddess, and as an energetic catalyst for spellwork.

While I had personally been working with the Moon in a loose way (a secret lover?) I wanted to get to know her better. If I was going to devote a full side of my deck to her, so I had to know what she wanted to say.

I combed the Witches Bible, and my Raven Grimassi Books. I talked to High Priestesses. I searched for anything I could related to the Moon’s phases, and there wasn’t much out there (the Many Moons workbook series came out shortly within my own Creatures of the Moon release!).

Mainly, I was wanting to know about the Maiden, Mother, Crone aspects of the Moon. Ya know, the good ‘ol Triple Goddess (Triple Moon) most of know.

What I found in my search were the traditional answers. The Maiden is the energy of growth, youth, and learning and she is the waxing Moon. The Mother is the full moon and the aspect of fertility. Crone is the waning Moon, the aspect of death, wisdom, and change.

But what did this mean for the cycle of the Moon as a whole? And how many days did each aspect apply? If the Mother aspect was the day before during, and after full Moon, what about the Moon days following before we reach Crone (New Moon)? There were some gaps in days and Moon energy in everything I read about the Moon.

After some serious thought and laying out my thirty Moon cards (I test and work through concepts before getting all finalized), I saw the number 3. 30 cards. Three faces of the Goddess. Roughly 10 cards and Moon days each.
So, I created a divination system for the Moon that allowed the Goddess to be equal in all of her 28.5 – 30 days.

This means, in working with the Moon – both in my cards, and in real time – the cycle can provide distinct aspects of energy and divinatory meaning.

 

 

Waxing Days 1-10  are the The Maiden. They are the child at birth, but advances to teen and young adult in the first third of the cycle.

Waxing Day 11 – Waning 4 are the Mother. This is the young woman who advances to wisdom and some level of mastery in the second part of the cycle.

Waning Days 5 – 14 are the Crone. She is the ultimate master, the teacher, the one leading us into the unknown in the last part of the cycle.

So, during the Maiden phase of the Moon, we should be aware of what our inner child is showing us. The energy of the Moon implores us to test, learn, make mistakes, and grow. The Mother encourages bringing out, more concretely, our creations into the world. The Crone phase and period is where we rest, withdraw, and reflect on what we’ve done as we prepare for the next phase.

In working with the Moon-side of my Creatures of the Moon Deck, we can draw cards to see which aspects of the Goddess are most prominent in our lives now. The Moon becomes our teacher.

Note: Did you notice the New Moon is missing? She is the Enchantress aspect of the Goddess! If you haven’t yet, get the Creatures of the Moon Deck and Book to learn more: https://www.rebeccaschoenecker.com/shop/divination-tools/creatures-of-the-moon-oracle-deck/

Here is a reading based on the Triple Goddess that is from my Creatures of the Moon Deck and Book. You can use this deck, or tarot cards for this reading. If you use tarot cards for the reading, my suggestion is to shuffle your deck, and once you cut the cards, place (and read) tarot cards 1-4 as shown in the below directions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

P.S. This post reflects years of research. Please share, but make sure to reference me! Blessed Be.