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: Episode 21 transcript

Download or Stream the Podcast

You can either download this episode of the podcast as an MP3 or you can pla...