Friday, May 4, 2007

The newest party trend – Tarot Parties.

I have been doing professional tarot readings for about 15 years and I have noticed a new party trend. I have always done readings at Festivals, Halloween parties, birthday parties, baby showers, showers, stag and doe’s, wedding and one on one readings in person or over the phone. In the past it has always been that some one is having a party and they bring me in to make it different or more interesting or to do fundraising for the bride and groom or the baby/Mom. So the tarot readings have always been an add on to the party. In the last two years there has been a change. Now people are having Tarot parties. The whole reason for the party is the tarot readings.

They are a lot of fun. There seems to be an increase in people who would like to have readings done, and it’s a lot of fun to do it as a group/party. What seems to be the most common trend is to have the party on a Friday or Saturday night, do a buffet style dinner and have me doing the readings from the time the first guests arrive. I am in another room away from every one so that people have as much privacy as they want for their reading. Once the reading is done, they go back to the group and usually talk about how the reading was. Every one seems to have a great time talking about the readings and spending time with friends. What seems to be happening is that most people will take my card and the next time they want to have friends over they call me and make a party out of it. I know this summer is going to be busy as people start having BBQ parties.

I have done tarot parties for groups as small as 8 people to about a 100 or more. Most seem to average between 10 to 20 people. Who comes to the parties, everyone. People have their friends, family, co-workers, and other couples over. A lot of people have been interested in having their tarot cards read, but have never felt comfortable going to a tarot readers shop. A party is a lot different. It is also a lot easer to tell if the reader is for real when you can talk to every one who just had a reading. It is not like your going to stop some one coming out of a tarot readers work placed and ask the stranger how their reading was. At some parties it has been hard to get the first person to get their reading done, and at other parties every one wants to go first.

There have been different ways to pick who gets a reading when. The most common ways are: that when I have finished one reading, who ever wants to go next does or people sign up on a sheet of paper and go in that order. There have been some interesting ways to pick who goes next. At one party it was done in the same order as people arrived, another the person who finished their reading got to pick who went next, another people were given numbers and then you had your reading done when your number got picked out of the hat. Not every one gets their reading done, usually a few will chicken out as they find out how accurate I am and that I don’t hold any thing back. What would be the point of a reading if I did not tell you what the cards say?

I know that my readings are accurate and that is why people want me to do readings at their parties. However, I also know that my pricing is why I am so busy. I only charge $20.00 for a two year reading, using the Celtic cross layout, Card 1 – Present position, Card 2 – Immediate Influence, Card 3 – Goal or Destiny, Card 4 – Distant Past Foundation, Card 5 – Recent Past Events, Card 6 – Future Influence, Card 7 – The Questioner, Card 8 – Environmental Factors, Card 9 – Inner Emotions, Card 10 – Final Result.





I also do a two-week reading for $5.00. For a two week time line reading I use a pyramid lay out. First three cards are past present and future. The forth card is how the past and present affect each other and the final outcome as well as the question. The fifth card is how the present and future affect each other and the final outcome as well as the question. The sixth card is the final outcome.





So why do I only charge $20.00 when other readers will chare $60.00 for the same reading. Not every one can pay $60.00, but $20.00 most people can manage. I feel that if some one comes to me for a reading there is a reason, and money should not stand in the way. However, I also learned several things early on, first some people don’t value things unless they pay for them. Things like my time, energy and the actual reading. So I charge for my readings. Second I am investing my time, skill and energy and its ok for me to ask for compensation for that. It took me a long time to feel comfortable about being paid for my readings. I was worried that I would be using my abilities for personal gain and not to help people and that I would loose them. I found that $20.00 as a good balance that lets me help people and still have people respect my readings and me.

I love what I do. I have been finding that the parties are a lot of fun for every one, and I enjoy them as well. So if you are thinking about having some friends over for dinner, and would like to make it a little different, or a little more, think about getting a tarot reader over. You will be surprised at how many people are interested in getting their tarot cards done. It is not unusual for me to be booked in for a party of 8 and then get a phone call asking if it ok to increase the number. Why, because as people heard about the party they asked if they could come to. What has been happening is that the host figures out how many people they want and then tells every one else they can come to the next tarot party. Usually some one at the party takes my card and has the next tarot party for the people who did not make it to the first one.

For weekday parties, I usually recommend about 8 to 10 people because you don’t want the evening to be to late, as most people have to work in the morning. For weekend parties it depends on how long you want me to be there, 20 is a good number, but I have done parties with a 100+ people, they start early, go late and not every one gets their reading done. The larger parties are were the sign up sheet or the luck of the draw works best. Again, usually some one at the party will host the next one for every one who did not get their reading done.

At this time I only do Tarot parties in the Hamilton area (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada that is). I am thinking about doing them in Burlington as well, depending on transportation. I have been asked to do them all over Ontario, as well as a few requests for Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, B.C., and Miami Florida. I said no because there is a point where I would have to charge for my transportation and hotel stay as well as the readings, and I believe that in most areas you can find other real tarot readers to do the party or convention for less then what it would cost to fly me out and put me up into a hotel. Now, if some one wants to pay for my transportation and accommodations sure I will do that party or convention.

If you have any questions about how to have a tarot party please feel free to contact me through my web site http://www.medievalmagic.ca/ or at info@medievalmagic.ca. I don’t have a list of readers out side my area, so please don’t contact me for a tarot reader in your local area. What I can do is give you a few ideas for the party and how to tell if some one is a real tarot reader and how often should you have a reading done.