My Journey as a Tarot Consultant

My affinity towards different forms of divination started developing at the age of 17 with a crystal pendulum grabbing my attention. My first Tarot deck followed a few years later. But at that time, I was randomly drawing the meanings with the help of that tiny little book of key-words which came with it. In 2011, I got a chance to learn the art of reading #tarotcards formally under a teacher.

One day, on a bright weekend afternoon, my mother and I were casually talking about astrology and the nature of people according to their sun & moon signs when the phone rang. It was her Ph.D. student on the line. After their discussion pertaining to the thesis work was done, her student mentioned about a certain person in her residential complex who was well known for guiding people through the Tarot. I was intrigued with this and expressed my desire to meet him. On my very first rendezvous with him, I took the decision to explore this beautiful art under proper guidance. After a year of detailed learning, I started reading the Tarot for my family, friends and colleagues at work. Since then, I have been on this continuous journey of deep diving into the meanings of cards according to different situations.

During my career of 8 years as a corporate employee through roles of business development and project management, my work gave me a lot of opportunities to meet various types of people in different functions who had stories of their own. Gradually, my inclination towards #psychology and human behaviour grew. In 2015, I myself went through a major shift in my thought process which pushed me to change jobs to get different experiences, until I finally got clarity and enough confidence to bid farewell to corporate employment. This was necessary so that I could start off independently. Through this entire stretch of time, a lot of attention was paid towards introspection, my personality assessments, taking guidance from mentors, doing my own #swot analysis, acknowledging my likes and dislikes, matching my personality traits with my soul number and so on. The cards that I used to pull out for practice made a lot of sense as they pointed out to what was going on in my mind and what should I be doing to be at a better place. Through this, a new insight arose that Tarot is not just a deck of cards that is used merely for predictions and fortune telling. It is a valuable tool for tapping into people’s minds and guiding them to take the right action to reach where they desire to be.

Fast forward to 2019 – This was just after my resignation as a project manager from a big Indian pharmaceutical company where I was handling research and development projects for regulated markets. My very own independent consulting assignments for business operations & project management had started with a couple of clients. Alongside, I had also enrolled for an advanced programme for #business #excellence from #IIM #Lucknow. Also, to satisfy my inclination towards learning about psychology, I took up the certification in #Neurolinguisticprogramming. Through both these programmes, the exposure towards concepts of leadership development and strategy increased as well. My strong relationship with Tarot made me form a connection between all these practical aspects of the management world with different elements of the cards. Moreover, with every reading that I did, it could see how the attitude and mindset of the client had a significant impact on their outcomes. Even while delivering consulting assignments, I observed that the business owners’ mindset was a critical determinant in deriving benefits from the service that they had signed up for.

On increasing my activities to promote myself as a Tarot Reader, more clients approached me with questions pertaining to growth of their business ventures or professional careers. The holistic integration of #Tarot, #Psychology and #Management principles worked like a wonderful fit for their situations. While most of my clients had concerns of the impact of external factors on their progress, we focused on their internal ecology as well. Today, every session starts with identifying the personality type of the client followed by the life phase which they are going through. These are crucial aspects to understand the attitude and the current frame of mind of the client along with other external situations which may be playing a major role in their life. The cards drawn for the questions throw light on the influence of the past, the present conditions and probabilities that they can expect. A dialogue is essential with the client where in we tap into their values and belief systems, subtle fears that may be stopping them from taking necessary steps. Here the #Dilts’ Pyramid of Neurological levels becomes an important component to give them clarity on the path ahead.

Here are the key learnings from my Tarot Journey so far.

1.?????Every individual is unique.

Everybody is a result of their upbringing, the environment in which they have grown, and the events that they have experienced during their formative years. Tarot helps to identify the personality type of individuals based on the date of birth and gives more details about the mindset. Why people think and behave in a certain way is due to the combination of the above. Each one has their own unique strength-weakness profile and mechanism to deal with circumstances.

?2.?????Values and Belief systems are predominant elements in determining how people take actions

People seeking advise based on the Tarot often come up with questions like ‘Will I become rich?’, ‘Will I get that promotion this year’, ‘Should I leave the job because I am not comfortable’. To this I encourage my clients to introspect and listen to their inner voices. Many a time it is their personality type and the life phase which is at play. Tarot gives important clues about their situation and also the belief systems that people are holding on to. For example, I had a client who was not able to progress as he usually was apprehensive in asking for what he needed. His introverted docile approach and a self-limiting #belief system was the reason behind his situation.

?3.?????To be successful, the steps need to be taken in the right direction and should be in sync with your internal ecology as well as the external factors

Right since childhood, we have been conditioned to work hard. While this is very important, one needs to understand where the hard work is being put in. If the efforts are put in the right direction and in areas which are compatible with your strengths, skill sets, and areas of interest, results are certainly rewarding. In some cases, Tarot helps to identify the blockages and incompatibilities. Here, individuals need to redirect their thoughts and focus more on their strengths. Having said that, one needs to adapt to the changing environment and also learn new skill sets, step out of the comfort zone to make further progress. Here as well, Tarot helps to discover where one should take efforts for working on their weaknesses to enhance themselves.

While ending this article, I would like to put across a message. To all those who, on hearing the word ‘Tarot Reader’, visualize a person wearing a black robe, sitting with a giant glowing crystal ball, surrounded with crystals, feathers, incense smoke and other mystic paraphernalia, I invite you to rethink. The essence of Tarot is different. It is a system to enable transformation amongst people for positive results.

Follow Mitakshara Shirgaonkar, PMP? for more insights and interesting facts on Tarot.?