BTP1: What I Wish I Knew When I First Started Reading Tarot

BTP1: What I Wish I Knew When I First Started Reading Tarot

BTP1: What I Wish I Knew When I First Started Reading Tarot

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Welcome to the Biddy Tarot Podcast! I am thrilled to bring you this weekly podcast where you'll learn how to connect more deeply with your intuition and live an empowered and enlightened life, with the Tarot cards as your guide.

Join me and my guests as we share our very best tips and strategies to help you read Tarot with confidence.

In this very first episode, I share my personal journey with Tarot and what I wish I'd known when I first started to read Tarot, to encourage you on your own journey with Tarot.

In this episode, here's what I'll cover:

How one spur-of-the-moment Tarot reading ignited my life-long passion for the cards
How I learned how to master the Tarot… and the one thing that almost derailed me
Why I left a six-figure corporate career to become a Tarot reader (and why I will never look back!)
How Tarot is so much more than staring into a crystal ball and telling the future
What you absolutely need to know when starting your Tarot journey

Now, let’s get into it!

[Tweet “What I Wish I Knew When I First Started Reading Tarot @biddytarot #tarotpodcast “]

Additional Resources

Learn more about Tarot through our online courses
Discover the Tarot Card Meanings
Read more about Tarot on the Biddy Blog
For the most up-to-date Tarot Tarot fun, follow Biddy Tarot on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram

Transcript

Introduction

Brigit: You are listening to the Biddy Tarot podcast and this is Episode 1: What I Wish I Knew When I First Started Reading Tarot.

Intro

Welcome to the Biddy Tarot podcast, where you will learn how to connect more deeply with your intuition and live an empowered and enlightened life with the Tarot cards as your guide.

Listen as Brigit and her guests share their very best tips and strategies to help you read Tarot with confidence.

And now, here is your host Brigit Esselmont.

What We’ll Cover in Today’s Podcast

Brigit: Hello, and welcome to the very first episode of the Biddy Tarot podcast. I am so thrilled that you’ve made it here, and I can’t wait to be part of your journey with the Tarot.

Now, I created the Biddy Tarot podcast because I wanted to reach out to people across the globe, and really inspire them to connect deeply with their intuition with the Tarot cards as their guide.

I have seen first-hand how powerful the Tarot cards can be, and I really want to share that with you, dear Listener. And I really want to support you in your journey with the Tarot.

I reached out to the Tarot community because I wanted to make this the best podcast it could be in the Tarot space, and what I found was, number one, you were absolutely dying for a Tarot podcast that was really high quality, and something that you could listen to each week. And the feedback that I also got was that you are looking for a mix of shows with myself, and also shows with other people who are reading Tarot – but not just the Tarot experts – people who might have some skills and talents in other areas that we know that we can integrate into our Tarot practice.

So the Biddy Tarot podcast is going to be a mix of shows with just me, and also guest interviews as well.

Now the other thing that is really important is I want you to be able to walk away from these podcasts with some clear ideas and techniques or strategies that you can implement in your own Tarot practice. So you will find that many of the episodes in the Biddy Tarot podcast are tutorial style podcasts, because, again, I really want you to have that action that you can do straight after a podcast that is going to help you read Tarot with confidence.

And, finally, my goal is to produce this every week – so you are going to get one Tarot podcast filled with goodness every week. Now, of course, at the start I am going to put out a couple of extra ones, but ongoing it will be once a week.

Now, make sure that you subscribe to the Biddy Tarot podcast in iTunes. And the really cool thing is, if you do this on your phone – if you have got an iPhone with iTunes installed – you will be getting that podcast every time it comes out – it will get downloaded directly to your phone. So whether you are out for a walk, or you are just relaxing, you can tune in and get all of the Tarot goodness that you need.

Now lets’ get into today’s session.

My Story: How it All Began

To begin with I wanted to get us to know each other a little bit better. Now some of you I do probably know already, but others might be new to the Biddy Tarot space. So I am going to share with you my journey with Tarot from when I first started reading with Tarot, all the way to now as the owner of one of the most popular Tarot websites on-line, which is BiddyTarot.com.

Plus I am going to share with you what I wish I knew when I first started reading Tarot, because I bet it can help you too as you create your personal relationship with the Tarot cards.

So, let’s get into it.

You know, when I was a teenager I was really interested in all things spiritual. You might even be surprised that I spent a good two years being a devout Christian and reading the Bible pretty much every single day. I was just so curious to understand more about Christianity as a religion. But at the same time I was also exploring things like Buddhism, Paganism, Wicca – and, of course, the Tarot cards came into that as well.

When I was around 17 I went and had my first Tarot reading. I was in Sydney at the time, and my best friend and I were about to head over to Germany for a high school exchange and we wanted to find out what might happen. I remember in this Tarot reading the lady had told me, “Ooh, you are going to meet your first boyfriend there. It is going to be amazing.”

And I remember that the Emperor card had come up.

And, lo and behold, I go over to Germany and I do meet my first boyfriend over there. I just thought, ‘Wow, there must be something in these Tarot cards! I have got to learn how to use them.’

So what I did was I started to teach myself how to read Tarot. I surrounded myself with all of the best Tarot books; and at that time the online communities were starting to build up as well, so I would jump on-line and just immerse myself with as much information as possible about the Tarot cards.

At the same time I created Biddytarot.com as a way to share what I was learning. I was collecting copious amounts of notes on what each of the Tarot cards meant, and I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be neat if I could share this with other people who were interested in reading Tarot?’

And that is how Biddy Tarot was born!

But as the years started to go by, and as I was more and more meticulous about having to know every single thing about the Tarot cards, I started to feel a little bit frustrated and stuck with my Tarot reading. I realized that I was getting into this phase of trying to memorize the Tarot cards. And maybe you can relate with this, if you have been learning Tarot, you think, ‘Maybe the first thing I have got to do is just try and memorize all 78 Tarot cards.’

But the trouble is that when you get into this memorization phase, you are actually missing the really key part of reading Tarot which is trusting your intuition. The more that we try and get our Tarot card’s meanings right, and try and commit them to memory, we actually lose touch with intuitively reading the Tarot cards.

So when I had this realization, it was at a point where I had been doing Tarot readings, but continually consulting the book – and, asking “what did the book tell me about these Tarot cards?”

Again, the problem was that I wasn’t trusting my intuition. So I finally decided to put the book down, and I learned how to read intuitively. And, I tell you what –my readings transformed big time from then! I had more clients. I had way more positive feedback. People were stunned at how insightful and accurate the Tarot readings were from that point onwards.

Most importantly – I was having more fun when I was reading the cards more intuitively.

So with more clients, and feeling really good about my Tarot readings, Biddy Tarot started to really take off and grow. I was offering Tarot readings to people all around the world, and also sharing what I was learning about the Tarot card meanings.

Now let’s jump forward to 2012. 2012 was a pivotal year for me. It was a point at which I started to see Biddy Tarot really take off, to the point at which I realized it had the possibility of being a thriving business.

And in 2012 I finally decided to leave my day job – my corporate job. I was working in a bank in Human Resources, and it was not –absolutely not – meeting my needs on a more personal or spiritual level. So I decided to leave, and I committed full-time to Biddy Tarot. And I have not looked back at all.

Biddy Tarotis now attracting close to three million visitors a year – which is amazing! I cannot even get my head around that.

But what is beautiful is that I can then inspire three million people to read the Tarot card, and to integrate Tarot into their life. I also offer Tarot courses and guides to help people learn how to read Tarot with confidence. I coach people onhow to build a thriving and successful Tarot business, because that is something that I have done over these last several years, and I really want to help other people who want to take a similar path to create success for themselves.

Also at Biddy Tarot we offer Tarot readings. Now I don’t do so many Tarot readings myself anymore these days, but I do have a wonderful team who offer Tarot readings at BiddyTarot.com.

I think what’s even more exciting is that I have reached almost a thousand students who have learnt Tarot with me through my two programs: Master the Tarot Card Meanings; and Read Tarot With Confidence Those are two on-line training programs that really help people get into Tarot, and start using it in very proactive and empowering ways.

I feel really proud of where Biddy Tarot has come, and it has also been a reflection of my own personal journey with Tarot. Now I am in this wonderful position where I have been able to blend what I love doing – which is Tarot –to make it my primary income, my lifestyle, my work.

It has been a wonderful journey to this point – and I certainly hope that carries on.

What I Wish I Knew When I First Started Reading Tarot

Now I know that this all probably sounds like a bit of a dream come true, and it is, but I tell you what, it wasn’t always this way. When I first started reading Tarot I felt quite confused, overwhelmed, and frustrated. And maybe you feel this way as you are learning to read Tarot, too. This is why I really wanted to share with you what I wish I knew when I first started reading Tarot,because hindsight is a beautiful thing.

I wish that I could take who I am now, and scoot back 15 years to meet myself at the beginning of the journey and say: “Hey Brigit, there are few things that you need to know” It would have made my journey a lot easier!

So to help your journey with Tarot be easier, I wanted to share with you six things that I would have told myself, and they are going to help you too as you start to learn Tarot.

There’s No One Right Way

The first thing I would love to tell my Tarot beginner self is: There is no one right way of reading the cards.

The first rule of Tarot is that there are no rules – a little bit like Fight Club, right?

You will get people telling you things like you can’t buy your own Tarot cards; you must shuffle this way; you can’t possibly read Tarot unless you know XYZ System; and so on. The truth is there is no one right way of reading Tarot cards. It is all about what intuitively feels right for you, and what is going to help you.

I see the Tarot as something that helps you tune into your intuition. However you use those cards, if it helps you tap into your intuition, then you are doing just fine.

I think where what can get us off track is when we get panicked about, “Oh my goodness, am I doing things right? Am I doing it the right way?” I think when we get into that state of panic, we lose our connection with the Tarot, and the true power of Tarot goes missing.

So I just want you to know, Number 1: There is no one right way of reading the cards.

It’s Ok to See Something Different

I have many people reach out to me and say to me, “You know Brigit, I saw the Six of Pentacles, and I read in a book that it means something about like giving and receiving. But the thing that really flashed up for me was….” Maybe it was something that reminded them of their school days when they were younger, and they saw something completely different in the cards that didn’t match up to what was in the book. They say, “Brigit, am I wrong? should I just listen to what the book says?”

I say: No way!

Connecting with the cards is about connecting with your intuition, and, often times, your intuition is speaking to you in ways that are so much more powerful than what you see in books.

I really think books certainly have a place, but they are kind of like a reference guide – a starting point. Think of them as a place in which you can start to formulate some ideas of what these Tarot cards might mean or symbolize. But ultimately, you want to create that personal and intuitive connection with the cards, which can often take you much further than what the books tell you.

Ultimately I really want you to trust what you see in the cards, even if it is different to what you are reading in the books.

It’s Not Fortune Telling

This is the thing that I would most love to tell myself when I first started reading cards:Tarot isn’t just about Fortune Telling.

Now, whenever I tell someone that I am a Tarot reader, or I have an interest in Tarot, they are like, “Oh, so can you, like, see my future?” And I say “Well, actually that is not really how I use the Tarot.”

Yes, there are certainly Tarot readers – and legitimate Tarot readers – who use the cards for prediction and looking at what might happen in the future; but there are also Tarot readers that use the cards for many other things.

For example, I think Tarot is a beautiful tool for coaching – Life Coaching or Personal Coaching. Rather than saying, “This is what will happen,” the Tarot cards can be a really good guide for saying, “If this is your desired outcome, what do you need to do right now in order to achieve that outcome?”

So it is actually a very different goal or purpose to using the Tarot cards.

Tarot can also be used for things like counselling, or even Psychotherapy. Ultimately you are seeing images on the cards, and you can work with those images to tap into your sub-conscious or, again, your intuition. And that can actually be a very revealing process for the person – for the client. And it is not necessarily about the Tarot reader saying, “This card means this,” but more about the client exploring their sub-conscious mind through the imagery contained within the Tarot cards.

I want you to know that Tarot isn’t just about Fortune Telling. It can be if you want it to be, but please know there is so much more to Tarot than simply telling the future.

A Jack of All Trades is a Master of None

You don’t have to master every esoteric system that is associated with the Tarot.

I really wish I knew this when I first started reading Tarot because I remember thinking, ‘If I want to be an expert Tarot reader, I not only have to know what all of the Tarot cards mean and how to do a Tarot reading, I have to know about this thing called the Kabbalah; I have got to know about the Golden Dawn. I have to know about Numerology really in-, and Symbolism. I have got to understand all about Greek mythology, and all of these things!’

But when I start thinking that way, I start to get very overwhelmed. I am also thinking, ‘My goodness, I will never learn exactly how to read these Tarot cards!’

So here is what I want you know: You do not have to master every esoteric system.

If you know a bit about Astrology or Kabbalah, then fantastic, integrate that with what you know about Tarot. But please don’t think you can’t possibly do a Tarot reading until you know about all of these systems. You don’t. In fact I often can teach students how to read a Tarot card within just five minutes. And that is with no prior knowledge of Tarot.

So, yes, you can get into these more complex systems a bit later down the track, but it’s not imperative. You can still be a great Tarot reader without having to know all of these different systems.

You Don’t have to Be Psychic to Read Tarot.

Again, I wish someone had told me this when I first started. I spent a good part of my teenage years trying to improve my Psychic abilities. I remember doing things like staring into a candle with a flame, trying to see the future or tap into my Third Eye, and so on. I remember learning a lot about ESP – Extra Sensory Perception. I would use the cards to try and predict what would be on the other side. It helped me access my intuition, but there were times when I would get it wrong and I would think, ‘Oh my goodness, I am not psychic enough. I am not going to be able to read the Tarot cards….ever!’

Again, it is one of those things that can stand in the way of just you being able to use the Tarot – but it doesn’t have to be that way.

So when I think about my abilities and talents with Tarot, it’s not so much that I am psychic. I don’t necessarily see crystal clear pictures of what’s going to happen in the future. Yes, I might get some inklings; and I might get feelings; and sometimes I can almost get knowledge of things without necessarily knowing where it came from; but I attribute that more to connecting with my intuition. Which is something that I think everybody can do. I just don’t want you to feel discouraged if you are not having those crystal clear premonitions about the future.

It doesn’t mean that you’re an awful Tarot reader. It just means that you have a different set of skills and talents that you can bring to the table.

Ultimately remember that we are all intuitive beings.

That means that it is sitting inside of you, and you need find ways to open up to that intuition and connect with it. You don’t necessarily have to be staring into candle flames and trying to guess what’s on the other side of a card in order to be intuitive.

Just Breathe

A very, very important thing – even if it is very, very simple – is just to breathe and have fun.

We can get all serious and complex about Tarot, and get into all those esoteric systems. We can pride ourselves on how much we know about the cards; but, ultimately, reading Tarot should be something that is joyful, engaging, and, most importantly, fun. Okay?

So when you pick up those cards, I really want you to just be feeling like: Let’s just see what happens when I lay out the cards, and see what comes to me!

I think when we are in amore relaxed state, we are opening ourselves up to our intuition. We are not letting all of those fears and negative self-talk, get in the way of simply being able to connect in with the Tarot cards.

So it is really important: to remember Just breathe.

That speaks a lot to preparing yourself before you consult your Tarot cards. That means clearing your mind – taking a few deep breaths – and then laying out the Tarot cards, and just enjoying yourselves and having fun.

So those are the six things I wish I could go back and tell my Tarot beginner self.

A Quick Recap

So, let’s just do a quick recap:

There is no one right way of reading the cards
It’s okay if you see something different in the cards
Tarot isn’t just about Fortune Telling
You don’t have to master every esoteric system
You don’t have to be psychic to read Tarot, and
Just breathe, and have fun

So there you go. I hope this helps you, whether you are at the beginning of your Tarot journey, or if you are well along the way and, quite experienced. Sometimes just knowing these things can help, again, bring that feeling of relaxation and fun to your Tarot practice.

So, relax and just enjoy the ride with the Tarot!

Wrap-Up

Now if you loved this Biddy Tarot Podcast episode, then make sure that you leave a five star review on iTunes, and subscribe so that you’ll get the latest podcasts.

I am so looking forward to being part of your Tarot journey, and I thank you so, so very much for listening today.

Until next time I am sending you lots of love and support.