Heron

About my tarot reading

An intuitive Tarot card reader (and a poet and life-long student of astrology) with many years of study and experience, endorsed by the Tarot Association of the British Isles (TABI), and a keen collector with many decks to choose from, I offer thoughtful and carefully-written readings by email, at no charge.

Numerous testimonials are available. To ask for a free reading, just email me at herontarot@live.co.uk

While I am always perfectly prepared to carry out a serious reading for you that will simply tell you whatever the Tarot cards seem to want you to know, in order to gain the most from a Tarot reading, I would urge prospective sitters to read this extract from How to Phrase Tarot Questions, by James Rioux & LucyD :-

"The question you ask of the Tarot reader is paramount in determining the response the Tarot cards give you. In mathematical terms, the accuracy of the answer is a function of the accuracy of the question. The most precise your question, the more precise of an answer you will be given. If your question is vague and general the answer will be likewise; if there are many details in the question, expect a very detailed response.

Of course, your mindset at the time you formulate the question is important as well. If you are nervous and anxious, even if these feelings have nothing to do with the question at all, the Tarot cards will give you an answer that is jumpy and erratic; an answer that is consequently harder for the reader to interpret. A clear mind is useful. This does not mean that you have to practice Yoga or meditate before asking a question, though I suppose it could not hurt! All you really have to do is let go of your worries for a few moments...and ask.

It must be said that belief is an essential component in the formulation of a good question. You must believe not only that the Tarot can give you an answer, but that it will. Without this belief, the whole operation is void. You must also be willing to at least consider the advice given to you by the reader, and not dismiss it as the ravings of a deluded fool. The Tarot only works for those who are willing to listen. An interpreter will interpret only if there is someone for whom to interpret; otherwise they stay silent. If you do not want to be helped then there is no way the Tarot can help you.

So if you want to be helped, and you believe that you will get an answer, you are ready to ask a question. There are also some general guidelines for asking questions of the Tarot.

The following "Seven Deadly Traps" were cited in a recent article in the American Tarot Association's Newsletter (Volume IV number 4, August 1999). Adherence to these tends to vary from reader to reader but it would be best to keep these guidelines in mind when formulating questions. Some readers do not care about these, and others will not answer questions that violate any of these. It's really a matter of personal preference, but for the sake of completeness I'll list them anyway.

1.Questions with Should, Would or Could.

2.Questions about other people (Who will, Who should, Who...).

3.Questions about time.

4.Questions about being (Is my girlfriend cheating on me?).

5.Questions about why something or somebody did something.

6.Questions about what will happen in the future.

7.Questions about health, wealth and legal problems.

I have a few personal additions to this list that I think will apply to many readers - but certainly not all. It must be said at this point that none of these rules really applies to every single reader, but you should probably formulate your questions as if they did. It makes things much easier for everyone involved, in my opinion.

1.Either ask a question or make a request. Both are valid; saying "What does the future hold for me?" and "Tell me about my future" are the same to the Tarot. "The issue is my future" is another good form. But don't give the reader a two-page description of your situation and not ask a question or make a request.

2.Avoid questions that have a yes/no answer. "Will I get back together with my old boyfriend?" is a severely limiting question because there are only two possible answers: yes, or no. A slightly better question would be "will I get back together with my old boyfriend, and why?" "Tell me about my relationship with my boyfriend" or "the issue is my relationship" are probably the best forms for this particular request.

3.Avoid questions starting with "will I" if the matter is a choice you have to make. A lot of people ask "will I marry (someone)?", and they will be told that it is really up to them whether they get married or not. Tarot reading can easily answer "who is the best husband/wife for me?" or "why can I not find a good husband/wife?" but "will I" tends to cause problems. Of course, "will I get a promotion?" is a valid question, in my opinion, because that is up to your employer, not you. When the choice is yours, do not use the "Will I" form.

4.Keep your options open. Asking "when will I find a new lover?" is a restrictive question because it rules out the possibility of an old lover returning. A better question would be "when will I find love?" or maybe "when will I find love, and with whom?" Of course, all of these are time questions, so the best form would be, once again, the "tell me about..." form which assumes no answers or time periods.

It is easy to see that asking a question is not quite as accurate as making a request. It depends on the reader, but generally, the request form will eliminate preconceived notions about the outcome of the reading, and will give a reading that is more insightful for the reader and more helpful for the questioner.

Lucy D:

If you've never had your cards read, you probably have a lot of questions. I know the first time I had mine read I wasn't even sure how to 'do it'. Luckily for me, the woman reading for me was

so matter-of-fact, so easy to talk to, that I wasn't concerned for long.

If you're thinking about getting a reading but not sure how to go about it, let me just say a couple of things. Experience on the part of the reader and a real comfort level on your part, are two of the keys

to getting a good reading. Once you have satisfied those two criteria (through conversations, testimonials, etc.), you're on the right track.

It's good to have a question you'd like to explore the possible answers to. This gives the session focus and a purpose. Extremely general questions like, "what's my life purpose" or "am I on the

right path" won't get you a very good answer. Instead of the first question above, you might say, "I'm in a job that I really don't like, but I dream all the time of traveling for a living. Will I get the chance to follow that dream?" This type of specific

question will elicit a good answer.

Also, if you're working out a larger problem, there are a couple of things to be aware of. The first is this: your reading should give you tools to address the situation right away. When you leave, you

should be able to implement them quickly and expect good results.

However, if your problem has been going on for a long time and you've been resisting the need to deal with it, you might want to keep this in mind: the first reading you get on the subject will get you off the dime, so to speak. If you implement the tools discussed in the reading, your life will begin to change. But I cannot stress this enough:

Every time you take an action, your possible future outcomes change.