In the 21st episode of the show I talk with professional tarot card reader Brigit Esselmont of BiddyTarot.com about the parallels between the professional practice of astrology and tarot.
A few months ago I listened to an interview that Brigit did on another podcast, and I was interested in her story about making the transition into becoming a professional tarot reader, and how her experiences in the field of tarot often paralleled some of my own experiences in the field of astrology.
During the course of the show we discuss topics ranging from Brigit’s personal journey into the field of tarot to public perceptions of astrologers and tarot card readers, as well as other things such as how to market yourself effectively in these niche fields.
Below you will find the show notes, followed by links to download or stream the episode:
Show Notes
- Some parallels between astrology and tarot as professions:
- Both are usually characterized as forms of divination.
- Often similar experiences in terms of transitioning into doing it professionally.
- Not very well-regarded by many people in the world, which can sometimes make it difficult to explain to people outside of the field what you do.
- The desire to pursue a career doing something you love, and be able to support yourself and your family while helping your clients.
- Encounter similar ethical issues in terms of what to tell people or how to frame it.
- One of the points here is that even though neither of us knows much about each others’ field we can relate in a number of areas due to the weird space that each approach occupies on the fringes of society.
- Discussion about Brigit’s background in tarot, what tarot entails, and how she got into it.
- Brigit’s transition into doing tarot full time.
- Some of the ways that Brigit has diversified her business in addition to doing consultations involve teaching online courses on tarot, writing ebooks, and offering business coaching.
- Pursuing tarot and astrology professionally:
- Most of the tarot readers/astrologers are not business people, so they tend to overlook some important things when you are running a business.
- Brigit has been working to help other people with this issue through free business training videos for tarot readers, as well as launching a new course that begins in October called Grow Your Tarot Business Online.
- Public image:
- Personal struggles with what other people think when they found out what you do.
- Managing self-image issues, or a better level of comfort.
- How to get rid of the stigma surrounding professions like ours.
- Getting away from the fortune teller/crystal ball type image.
- Using tarot cards as a counseling tool, or as a way of tapping into the subconscious.
- A lot of this has parallels with what happened with modern astrology.
Transcript
A full transcript of this episode is available:Â Episode 21 transcript
Download or Stream the Podcast
You can either download this episode of the podcast as an MP3 or you can play it directly from the website by using the buttons below:
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 59:24 — 27.4MB)
Interesting conversation. How one advertises various services is very important. On the one hand it will shape who contacts you and what the motives are, and on the other how you are perceived by others in the community. I think it is important to get advice on this and research different presentations thoroughly. Further who or what you link yourself to. In the internet age I’ve seen supposedly serious or academic astrologers products on commercial / flippant sites and this will, or has, damaged their reputation, albeit increase the bank balance. Working out ones aims and objectives and exactly what values or principles you wish to adhere to is well worth exploring for some time before exposing yourself to the public.
Hi Barry,
First, thanks for taking the time to listen – I appreciate your energy! You are very right – the way in which you present yourself will indeed influence who you attract. So in getting to that place of working with your dream clients, you want to be very clear about who that dream client is (and isn’t) and make sure that everything about your business is consistent with that.
Brigit
Some excellent takeaways in this podcast! Really putting thought into how you can ‘bring abundance’ into the lives of the people you’re trying to reach is great way to think. As someone who works in internet marketing, I think many people’s business prospects might fail because they’re putting things out there that is important to them, rather than finding the common ground between what YOU, as the creative, and what THEY, as the consumer, would like. And that’s a great thing to build a brand on – I’m glad it was mentioned and related to this topic. As someone newish to astrological study, this is something I’m fleshing out for myself now.