Tag Archives: questions

Video Readings: You Like Them… You Really Like Them!

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As I wrote recently, I’ve been looking into expanding my services. One area I’ve been exploring is video. Initially, I figured that live video readings via Skype would be a logical next step. I thought that it might work well if I could find a device to hold my phone parallel to a table so the camera showed a spread of cards on the table as I did a reading. I found a gooseneck-type holder that fit nicely on a lap desk I already have. That was the easy part. I had absolutely no idea if I would feel comfortable doing a reading live on video – that was the real challenge!

In order to help meCameraman to practice and iron out any wrinkles, I decided that, for a limited period, I would give my clients a recorded video reading as a free bonus with a regular reading and ask for some honest feedback. There was definitely a bit of a learning curve and I did encounter a few technical issues, but thankfully, with the help of a friend who is a video expert, I was able to overcome them and so for a short while, I’ve been sending out video readings. I was anxious to find out what people thought of them.

I was completely blown away by the overwhelmingly positive response! Here’s just one excerpt from an email I received with feedback, “Graham, I have to tell you how much I LOVED the video reading! What a great way to connect with your clients! It was so personalized…” Incidentally, it turns out that there are some fans of my English accent out there too!

Not only has this feedback convinced me that I was on the right track when I considered offering video readings, but I’ve decided that the recorded video readings stand well enough on their own to be worthwhile offering separately. In fact, I will be launching recorded video readings before I offer any other additional services. Look out for an announcement soon.

Thank you to my clients who acted as guinea-pigs during my little pilot project and gave me such great feedback. You’re the best!

 

 

(Image courtesy of vectorolie at FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

Express Readings Now Available

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ExpressA recent request via Fiverr made me realize I hadn’t yet included an “express” option for ordering your readings on my website. That is now fixed!

Depending on how many orders I have at any given time, I generally return the results of my readings within 3 days at most. Sometimes, however, you’re faced with an imminent decision, and a fast tarot reading can be really useful. So, for a little extra, I’ll drop everything, put your order at the front of the line (or “queue” as we Brits refer to it!), and get your reading to you within 24 hours.

You’ll see the option on my Order page. I hope you find it useful.

 

(Image courtesy of Naypong at FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

Tarot Readings: How To Ask Your Question

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One of the things I’ve learned since I’ve been offering tarot card readings is that people often have difficulty wording the questions they want answered. They frequently have a very general idea, but sometimes they need a little help in putting their thoughts into words. I find that tarot can be very useful when you need to make an important decision, but need some help finding the best direction to take. However, some people just want some general guidance about a certain area of their life, such as their career, love-life, etc.

SignpostBecause I’ve been asked so many times for help putting together a question, I realized that I hadn’t provided enough guidance on my website about how to do it. I’ve now hopefully fixed that by providing a How to Ask Your Question page.

On that page, I’ve also added that instead of asking a specific question, I’ll also do readings “on a theme,” for those who want more general guidance on one area of their life. Tarot is an effective tool for me to use for certain types of questions, and not so effective in other cases, and I’ve outlined that too.

Of course, as always, if you ever have difficulty with this process, I’ll be happy to help you. Just drop me an e-mail at tarotbygraham@gmail.com.

 

(Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

Time For a Tarot Reading?

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watch imageSometimes when I’m looking for ideas or inspiration for a new blog post or business direction, I’ll turn to social media to see what’s being said about tarot. It can be time-consuming and sometimes frustrating, but occasionally a gem will appear. Doing such a search on Twitter a little while back, I found a post from someone who said she thought she was going to go get a tarot reading the following week because “it felt like it was about time.” I’ve been on Twitter a long time and I’m guessing she was probably bombarded very soon after with messages from tarot readers offering to do her reading. I was not one of them. I just felt like reaching out to her and saying that I would hope any decent reader would likely tell her that she’s wasting her time and energy getting readings under those circumstances and to go out and make her own destiny!

In my experience, treating tarot like a game to play when you’re bored, rather than using it as a tool when you have important decisions to make, usually results in frivolous answers… which will probably bore you even more. Don’t get me wrong – you’re not going to somehow wear out the tarot deck by getting readings like this, but you could become disillusioned with tarot, which would be a great shame. That’s one reason I’m not keen on reading tarot at parties or similar events. At a lot of parties, the presence of a tarot reader is quite exciting, and many people will want a reading. The trouble is that a lot of those people won’t really know what questions to ask because they’re not at a stage in their lives where they need to make a big decision (which is, in my opinion, the best time to get a reading).

When someone is first learning tarot, it’s common to want to do many readings. The temptation to read for oneself, for all one’s friends, for celebrities or even for fictional characters (it happens!) is huge. And in itself, it’s not a terrible thing. But some people take it to extremes, especially when reading for themselves, and a dependency on tarot can be the result; a situation where someone can’t make their own decisions without asking tarot, almost like asking permission to do the smallest things. And that’s not a good thing.

Thankfully, and largely because of the way I present my reading style, most of the people who come to me for readings do so when they have big life-decisions to make. It probably costs me clients, but I don’t regret taking my approach at all. Come to me for a reading when you’re ready, not when I’m ready.

 

(Image courtesy of Aleksa D at FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

Contact Page Added

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Contact

Since I want to make it as easy as possible for visitors to my website to get in touch, especially if they have questions, I’ve just added a Contact page. You can find the link in the menu at the top of the page. On the page, you’ll find my e-mail address, links to my Facebook page and other social media accounts, and a form where you can directly send a message to me.

The Death Card – Will I Die?

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One night, I stayed up all night playing poker with Tarot cards. I got a full house and four people died. – Steven Wright

I love Steven Wright, but I always cringe just a little when someone repeats his joke on Twitter – and it happens a lot! It plays into the hands (excuse the pun) of those who are a little afraid of tarot cards. As I have been known to say: There’s nothing magic about tarot cards; they are simply paper, paste, and some pretty pictures in ink. The magic is in our heads.

La Mort - DeathA little while back, a potential client was enquiring about a reading, and made a bit of a joke about avoiding the “Death” card, because (and I’m paraphrasing here) while he knew that having the “Death” card come up in a reading didn’t always actually mean death, presumably it could mean death, right?

The way that my readings work is to give you information to empower you. My aim is always to enable you to write your own story. This means that really the only way that the card we call “Death” would represent physical death is if you were engaged in risky behavior that might lead to your demise if you didn’t do something about it. I would assume you’d want to know about that! The truth is that this card, depending on the context, can have many meanings. Sometimes it means making a “clean sweep” and discarding something from the past and moving on into the future. Sometimes it can mean divesting yourself of toxic “friends.” Just the other day, I had “Death” come up at the conclusion of a reading about a relationship; knowing that it would worry the client, I pointed out that in this context, my interpretation was that if something did not change, the likely result would be that the relationship would end. I was delighted when my client got back to me and said they had already done something about it, and the situation was much better.

So, my recommendation would be to stop seeing the “Death” card as a “bad card” and maybe start seeing it as a wake-up call or a card of opportunity.

How Can a Tarot Reading Be “Empowering?”

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Directly underneath my website’s title “Tarot Readings by Graham,” I make the following bold statement:

“No-Nonsense, EMPOWERING Tarot Card Readings”

Empowering

I have discussed the “No-Nonsense” part of this statement elsewhere within my “Musings” section. But how about the “EMPOWERING” part? Can a tarot reading be empowering? If you are a believer in fate, then a tarot reading will surely just predict what’s going to happen, right?

Well I for one do not believe in a fate that’s set in stone. I do believe that some things are meant to be, for sure; but I think that for the most part we can shape our own fate. Which is a very good thing – life would be very boring if everything was completely mapped out for us.

One way that tarot can help with the future is by showing you what is likely to be the result if you continue to take the path you are currently on. That way, if you don’t like where you’re headed, you can do something about it.

When you come to me with a question, no matter how “fuzzy” the concept is, I will always try to phrase it in the form “What’s the best way for (your name goes here!) to achieve (insert goal here)?” or similar. No beating around the bush with vagueries. By asking questions in this direct way, what I will come up with during our reading is something that you can actually do.

And that is empowering!

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