The Outlaw Profession

I was teaching another reader the other day, doing 1:1. He already knows a lot about tarot but is now thinking of going pro, so he's doing some classes with me.

He asked me, "In your experience, which type of clients are the easiest to work with?" I thought about it for a moment and said, "The outlaws - because they don't bullshit you. With your average Jane or Joe you can never know what sort of stories you're being told. But if the only thing you have left is your Code of Honour, you'll want to stick to that. If you lose it, you've got nothing."

My fellow Student-Reader continued, "Is that because people want to test you, to see if you're any good? Does that mean most clients are not very nice, deep down?" I replied, "I don't think it's about people being bad or evil - it's about people being humans."

"We all tell stories to ourselves, and to others. That's what humans do. But sometimes those stories might not reflect the reality. It's our version of it. And if we tell the same story long enough to ourselves, we might start believing it."

"But tarot isn't interested in fabrications. It's interested in the truth. And if the cards in front of you are telling a different story than the client, which one are you going to believe? Tarot doesn't bullshit you, and it won't take any bullshit - from anyone. In 600 years it's seen it all."

"But changing the story, that's the difficult part. Sometimes people don't want to hear it, to be reminded of it. And you can't ram it down their throats. Free will. Which is why the outlaws are the easiest ones to work with. They're not interested in fiction or fabrications. Or fairytales. To them, it's about life and death. As Mary K. Greer sometimes calls it, ours is the outlaw profession."

"Before you draw any B&W conclusions about doing readings for criminals, remember that crime comes in many shapes. Show me a person who hasn't committed a crime against their heart. The way I see it, we're all outlaws... to some extent."