What I Wish People Knew Before a Tarot Reading

When people sit down for a tarot reading, they’re usually looking for one of three things: answers, entertainment, or a clear prediction of what will happen over the next year of their life.

Tarot doesn’t really work like that, which I'm very thankful for.

Tarot Is a Tool for Insight, Not a Fortune Cookie

Tarot is a tool that helps us connect with our higher selves. It reflects insight back to us rather than acting like a fortune cookie declaring, “You love Chinese food.”

A tarot reading is here to amplify your intuition, not to override it by telling you if you exactly what will happen if you choose to turn left or right.

The cards bring your own answers to the surface, they help you reconnect with emotions you have been pushing away, and they create a clearer path for you to choose your own direction moving forward.

Why I Ask for Your Zodiac Sign

When someone sits down with me, I usually start by asking their zodiac sign. Sometimes this gives me a bit of context, since I’m familiar with astrology, but zodiac signs, like people, are far more complex than just a sun sign.

Truthfully, I often learn more from how someone answers than from the sign itself.

There’s a difference between:

• Someone who casually gives their sun sign

• Someone who immediately lists their top three

• Someone who hesitates, braces for impact, or makes a face, often because they’ve been judged for that sign before (looking at you, Gemini)

That moment alone tells me a lot about how someone moves through the world.

But the main reason I ask for a zodiac sign: most people know the answer. It helps warm things up before I ask the harder question.

“Do You Have a Topic for Today?”

This is where people tend to show me something.

Some people completely freeze like they didn’t realize there was homework for a tarot reading and now they’re unprepared.

Some say, “Just a general,” which usually means: I don’t know how to put words to what I’m feeling.

Some offer a broad category, like work or relationships.

And some people list three or four topics at once, worried they’ll miss something important if they don’t say everything.

There Is No Wrong Way to Show Up to a Tarot Reading

Here’s what I wish people knew before booking a tarot reading: there is no wrong way to show up.

You don’t need the perfect question. You don’t need the “right” topic. You don’t need to know exactly what you want. A reading becomes much more powerful when you let yourself be a little honest about where your attention already is, but if you need to start with whatever the deck decides to bring up that's ok!

The Questions Tarot Is Best At Answering

Rather than trying to predict your entire future, tarot works best when we ask questions like:

• What am I not seeing clearly right now?

• What’s influencing this situation beneath the surface?

• What part of this is within my control?

These questions open space for clarity, agency, and self-trust.

Tarot Is a Conversation, Not a Test

A tarot reading isn’t something you can “do wrong.”It’s a conversation between you, the cards, and the part of you that already knows more than you think.

My job is to help you hear yourself clearly.