Reading tarot is a beautiful life tool. But many come to it with high, unrealistic expectations. Often we want answers and predictions to make us feel better about the future, but we have no willingness to change or grow. However, that is what tarot do best.  They reflect your life and they help you change and grow. It's important for anyone using tarot to occasionally check in on how they use the cards and consider whether the relationship is working. Here I present some thoughts for you to consider to ensure your relationship with the cards remans empowering...

Your tarot expectations and relationship is unhealthy if...

You want to be told what to do.

You hope to be gifted a magical answer or prediction that 'saves' you. 

You are disgruntled by the thought that you might not be perfect and the tarot suggest you making some personal changes.

 You are willing to hand your life over to a stranger with a deck of cards and take everything they say as law....

They make you nervous or you don't feel ready to engage with them (then don't).

You've had a worrying reading, and it is haunting you... (Check out my article: Help! I've had a bad reading)

How to enjoy a healthy Tarot relationship...

Always see what comes up in the cards as insightful guidance that reflects what is already known to you - the cards are reflection not prediction.

Know you have all the power to change your life and steer the course of your life to happier outcomes.

You ask open questions that help you consider yourself, your personal growth and the things you can control (you, your reactions and your habits).

Learn the cards yourself and treat them as an objective friend whom you turn to for truth.

See tarot as a mirror and a reflection that allows you to expand.

Use the cards alongside other holistic spiritual practices, therapy, healthy living, exercise etc,  that make you feel good.

Don't over-consult the cards and give them a break when you are not in a place to handle what they bring.

Connect to more tarot magic in my Tarot Books Dirty and Divine and The Book of Tarot

The New Moon is always a beautiful portal into self knowing, a time when we can create and conjure the life we would like to live. This New Moon at the end of June 2022, seems particularly abundant as I pulled the card 'Ten of Pentacles' to go alongside it.

The Ten of Pentacles from my Cosmic Mother Tarot deck speaks to generational wealth. Not just in terms of finances, but as a reminder of the real abundance that we are here on earth to experience - love, family, friendship, connection and healing. Without these close connections, then money in the bank means very little indeed. 

With Ten of Pentacles leading us, today marks a powerful time to think about your intimate wealth. How might you desire to grow close relationships or foster existing ones? Indeed, how might you send love and affirmation back through your ancestors, and forwards to the future version of you, and any generations coming from your lineage moving forward?

This card reminds us that we are a moment in time, but that our real wealth is determined by the love and compassion we abundantly share. 

I am opening my readings on the New Moon for audio readings. If you feel called at this New Moon to have your cards read by me, then you may book it here. This is a recorded audio reading which will allow for personal, vital information from the divine, created just for you, by me, under the New moon energies on the 29th June 2022.

 Tarot is never just prediction, future partners and how many children we might have. When I came to the cards aged 13, I very much wanted that ‘fortune telling’ energy. I wanted to know my future. My relationship with tarot stayed focused on that for a decade or so, it was always me asking to be told what might happen, without a real recognition that what might happen could be shifted not through prediction, but through action, manifestation and personal growth.
 
When life got it’s most crazy in my early 30’s the shift in my tarot reading practice became a huge split, and my desire to know the future was replaced by the urge to instead create the future. I rejected my cards for a little while, thinking they didn’t hold anything for me anymore. Yet they called to me and before I knew it, they became an important tool in the future shaping of my life.
 
Tarot see you. They see your truth, the ways you dodge your truth, and they call you out on it time and time again. Not only do they keep you aligned with self, but they also push you towards the next best self, the most suited ideas, and they help you craft and create a life. 
 
Over recent years most of the clientele who gravitate to my tarot work, are entrepreneurial woman looking to rebel against the status quo, cast off the shackles of their limitations and free themselves from cultural expectations. They are Women looking to become more successful at what they do; but never at the expense of happiness. They are women looking for balance, growth, abundance and an easy, gloriously embellished life. 
 
I didn’t expect this to be the path my tarot reading work would take. And yet, it is the path my life has taken. Moving from desk job in a government-based organisation, that made me miserable but paid the bills, to liberation, writing six published books, attracting amazing clients and sharing the magic of my thirty years in tarot with a host of inspiring women! 
 
We collect what we are. Had I stayed in a role that was not for me, I would have felt more and more fraudulent, and less and less myself. As I have escaped my rat race, so I meet an abundance of souls doing, or hoping to do the same thing. 
 
If you are looking to set your world alight with the magic of your purpose, path, creativity and passion, then tarot can really help guide you through your own limitations, and onwards to all kinds of success, experience and adventure! 
 
If you are an entrepreneurial businesswoman looking to add a large slice of soul, spirit and divine wisdom to the way you runs your world, I offer personal ongoing business coaching, with a deck of cards in my hand, and a willingness to explore deeper than your ordinary mentor, we can help redefine your ideas, show you your worth, and ride your personal passions to abundance and freedom. 
 
Email me to discuss a tarot business coaching programme bespoke to you… [email protected]
 

 One of the questions I have been asked most over the years, is how can I read for a person if they are not present in person? Many of my readings have been based on the sparsest of information, an email address, a first name, a phone call or in recent pandemic times, a Zoom chat. There is something seemingly magical about the ability to tune into another human, who is perhaps based in an entirely different country, and allow the cards to speak perfectly and powerfully to their lives. 
 
If I’m being honest, I don’t know how it works. At a guess I’d say we are all spiritually connected, and that the people who end up in a reading with me, are meant to be here, they are called to my skills for a reason, and that just as in life, we end up meeting the right people at the right time. Of course, modern day technology broadens that so that we can connect with souls we might never have been able to previously, and as a result reap the benefits of wisdom that goes beyond our localities. 
 
This too raises all kinds of other issues. Those following me on Instagram will know the difficulties I have had there lately (along with many other readers) of having my account duplicated and fraudsters pretending to be me issuing some pretty murky and illegal behaviour to get hold of your money. This is where the internet safety we are taught must collide with our intuition to make sure we are accessing top quality and reliable services, and not being taken for a ride.
 
There are many reputable tarot and spiritual services available, across a variety of Tarot Card Reading Sites, in this modern age, we must be cynical enough to protect ourselves, and ironically, open enough to trust the person on the other end of the zoom / phone / email. Check out my articles on the subject of ‘red flags’ in tarot readings and ‘bad readings’
 
A spiritual path can help us to buoy up our personal protection systems, and seek out the right spiritual advisor, tarot reader or medium to help us to evolve and grow, whilst sorting the dross and con-artists away from our precious life path. I’d love to share my lifetime of spiritual wisdom with you, and whether you follow me online, book a reading with me, or join my Cosmic Sisterhood, I can assure you that you will always be protected and given the skills necessary to evolve, know yourself, and perhaps, become so attuned to your own needs that you may never need a third party tarot reader again! Join my Sisterhood here…

Readings with me will always act to empower and enlighten you, book your reading here.

Spiritual readings should be sacred time. Time where you are able to reflect on your current circumstances, and from this place, see a powerful and potent way forward.

Readings, if they do anything, dare you to get bigger, and be more YOU! Following the popularity of my first blog post on this subject, here is some more information for those of you trying to recover from a damaging 'spiritual reading'. 

​Sadly this isn't always the case, and some readers drop painful words like stones our way, often without any kind of solution focused assistance. They present prediction like fact and in turn this creates confusion concerning free will and a feeling of disconnection with our inner compass and intuition.

A power imbalance is created when someone claims to know your truth and invests that truth with 'guru' like all-seeing and  all-knowing.

This can leave you feeling sick, stressed and full of shame. You may feel like you need to live up to the expectation your 'reader' has dumped on you, and guilt when that doesn't not align with what you really want to do. This kind of reading is sadly fairly common and as this arena of work is unregulated  any person can claim an ability, give you a terrible reading, and then leave you feeling lost and torn.

Let me affirm this with you. You know your truth and a decent, caring, solution focused reading will reflect this and hand you back your crown. Any reading that leaves you feeling low, or full of shame, is not, I repeat not, something to hang your heart on.

A recent client I had, who connected with me through my previous blog about BAD READINGS, has made me think even more deeply about this... 

When you have suffered from a bad reading with a psychic or tarot reader, not only might you feel afraid for your future, or concerned about the state of your relationships / work etc, but, it's also very common to feel a sense of guilt and shame.

This arises because you feel you have been given a prescription about your life that firstly, is judgemental, negative and it makes you feel as if you have somehow messed up. A bad reading casts doubt on all your decision making, all the things you chose to do in your life suddenly feel scrutinised and dirty. It is perfectly reasonable that a bad reading would send you spiralling into a dark night of the soul. I have seen this with clients many times, and I promise you, it need not be this way.

I firmly believe that everything you did, was what brought you to the moment. There is no 'good' or 'bad', generally, most of my clients are a composite of hope, joy, innocence and doing the best they can with their current understandings and skills. Wherever you life currently takes you, what matters is that you focus on you and keep striving towards your hopes. Nothing you did in the past, or that lead to this moment, deserves the cruel eyes of a judgemental or bossy reader upon them.

You know you, and you know what you are capable of believe it.

The other area of guilt may arise when a reader tells you what to do based on some 'spiritual' insight. Who is to say what this person's life experience or worldview is... Very likely if it feels at odds to your own, then trying to turn yourself inside out to abide by what they say is going to be awkward and have you questioning everything you know and feel. If this is the case, remember this, we are all spiritual, we all have intuition and inner knowing. If somebody has told you what to do, and it does not feel good, reference your own inner knowing and abide by your heart. 

Readings allow for transformation, but that change is natural, innate and inevitable. Life pushes you towards change every single day. A bad psychic reading will have you feeling like you have to turn mental and emotional gymnastics to make life fit. If you find yourself trying to accomplish a goal set by a 'reader' ask yourself if this feels right, if it feels natural. or if, perhaps, you know differently. Because honest you do, that is why you are hear reading this...

You know yourself best. Always have and always will. No 'psychic or spiritual' reader has the right to admonish you for past choices nor do they know what is best for you for the future. A decent reading will have you reflecting and digging at your truth, and from here empowering you to jump into the choices and decisions that feel like magic and power. 

Read more about 'bad readings'.

Red flags

-Twin Flames. The concept of Twin Flames tends to justify abusive relationships and keep people holding on to unhealthy or toxic connections that may have arisen out of unhealed trauma. 
-You feel forced to make a choice or a decision about your life.
-You are told something that doesn't accord with your own intuition.
-You are encouraged to end something job / relationship / friendship.
- You are not given hope. 
​- The reader asks a lot of questions and shifts their reading accordingly.
​- The reading does not reflect your current reality, or you have to find 'crumbs' within what they say to make it fit.
- The reading states what other people in your life are doing / thinking.
- The reading feels like a dead end and you have no power left to change anything.

Green Flags

- The reader explains their work and capabilities and stresses the importance of your own power, intuition and free will.
- The reading reflects accurately your current circumstances and feelings.
- The reading suggests possible courses of action, based upon current ideas and opportunities.
- The reading is solution and hope focused. 
​- You begin to understand the patterns and cycles of life and make some sense out of the darker situations that have happened.
- Healing and growth focused with a recognition that these things take time.
- The reading focuses on you (and not the actions or behaviours of other people).
- You come away prepared and enabled to enact meaningful change.
- The reading suggests other support mechanisms such as doctor / therapist / support group and does not overstep their boundaries.

If you've had a bad reading and need more support please visit my previous article here...

If you are ready, my tarot readings will support and empower you. Book yours here...

For further spiritual support and empowerment... Join my Cosmic Sisterhood on a three day free trial... "The Cosmic Sisterhood circle is a place for women to share and learn more about their everyday spiritual path. To validate spiritual events and personal evidence which they have experienced. And to take this further through meeting with experts, teachers, and other likeminded souls on the same journey."

It's not your imagination! You've changed...

Since venturing out into the world a tiny little bit I have to say the world seems a very different place. It's not the world that has changed so much. It's me. Having been in a bubble of me, my kids and their Dad for months on end, I am finding myself bowled over by other people and their energies.
I'm sensitive as it is, as an empath and tarot reader I'm attuned to other people's feelings. But this is another level. If you too are feeling it, then don't be surprised.

Before lockdown it was normal for us to run up against everybody else's  vibes all day long, and find this to be part and parcel of life. We didn't notice it, because it was standard.

Lockdown allowed for us to detox from other people, their anguish, their excitement and their issues. We existed in a bubble of only our immediate folks. We got in tune with them, and let go of anything or anyone else who might impinge on that. Now, suddenly we are back amongst the many, and it feels super real. Post lockdown the experience of sharing space with others is suddenly super intense. I mean, seriously, it is so intense I may put myself on voluntary lockdown a little longer. 

So how can we protect ourself from the more extreme vibes and energies of others?

Firstly you have to be aware of it. Perhaps what used to be a bit of a 'funny feeling' around certain folks, has turned into a giant red flag of ickiness. Instead of brushing this off as being imagination, look at it as a valid and real indication of how they make you feel.

If we listen to our intuition now, it will serve us well in future. If we obey the 'weird feelings' inside, then we are on a head start to understanding those niggles with real power. 

Secondly, and more excitingly, I wholeheartedly recommend that you engage with the sensitivity. If something feels off, be conscious about it. If someone gives you vibes, and you know them well enough, ask them what is wrong, or what it is they are thinking about.

Let their answer be your evidence. This can be a giant leap in your spiritual and intuitive evolution. 

If the vibes are truly awful, or leave you feeling less than your usual self, remove yourself from the situation. See how you feel differently once you have escaped. Notice the change and honour the very real experience of your intuition being so beautifully attuned.

We can take this moment of discomfort and attune ourselves to our sixth sense in ways life never previously allowed. Become conscious of how you feel, and respect those feelings. This is your inner empath, your gut instinct, your intuition speaking loud and clear. Credit it with value. ​

The Book of Tarot will help you understand your personal spiritual power...

My latest book, The Book of Tarot, is extracted in The Daily Mail's You Magazine! Click image to go to the website article. The Book of Tarot is published July 2nd 2020 by Piatkus Living. 

More often than I care to think about a client comes to me in desperation with this cry for help. 'I've had a bad reading, what do I do?'

As a tarot reader and tarot author of 25 years I despair at how many people seem to be duped by psychic / tarot / magic peddling fortune tellers who undertake readings that leave folks feeling helpless and scared. Here I am going to break down what a 'bad reading is' and what you can do right now to feel better.

What is a bad reading? 

A bad reading is:
- one that leaves you questioning your life choices.
- one that has you feeling as if you have no power over your life and everything is going to go wrong.
- one that predicts doom and gloom and leaves you scared for the future.
-one that predicts anything at all and makes you feel as if your life is set in stone.
- one that is contradictory and changes as you share information. 
- one that leaves you uneasy and with a bad taste in your mouth, even if it isn't clear why.
- one that has you reach out to other people for advice or to help prove the original reading wrong.
- one where you are instructed what to do. 

I have had a number of bad readings over the years. And from that perspective, I can assure you that nothing anyone says or predicts for you is likely to come true. Not at all. Please, in the first instance, disregard anything you have been told that makes you feel bad about your life or yourself. 

What I have discovered from my own work as an international tarot reader and tarot expert,  is that free will is the most wonderful thing in the  world. And you have it. In buckets. You can change and shift your life on a whim. You can manifest, spiritually and with great power. You too can predict your own life events, and tune into your intuition far better than any 'reader' ever could.

Nothing is set in stone. Nobody knows your life better than you. You are, always, the wisdom and authority you need.

I understand it though, having a bad reading can set you upside down and inside out (I have been in this situation several times and as yet those bad predictions have not come true). Still, it is painful to place your life in someone's spiritual hands and have difficult, scary prophesies made. When you do this you effectively hand over all your power, and if the reader is unscrupulous, you can lose more than just the money you paid. This is a very real problem, and one that I am keep to set straight. 

And no, I'm not going to try to sell you my readings as antidote to your bad one. What I will tell you is this, and I'll say it over and over. You are your own spiritual authority. You always have been. If a psychic / tarot / spiritual reading feels wrong, it is because it is wrong.

It is your own power filled intuition that is telling you that. So listen to yourself. If you find yourself on this page. It is because your inner guide led you here. If a reading is bad in your mind, it is because it was bad in real life. Here is your first lesson. Trust yourself more than you trust some shabby reading that broke your heart. Disregard what you were told now and know that none of it need come true. 

So what does a good reading look and feel like? 

- a good reading makes no solid predictions but helps you see the power you have in your life.
​- a good reading addresses the chaos and difficult times, but helps you find a way through them.
- a good reading feels like empowerment and enlightenment
- a good reading leads you straight back to your life purpose, your heart your emotions
- a good reading aligns you with your strengths
- a good reading has you feeling like superwoman, ready to take on your circumstances, plans and life! 

The best person to read for you, is you. This is why I wrote my book The Book of Tarot (published July 2020) so that you can start to learn the tools of divination, tarot, spirituality and intuition for yourself. For there is no better place for spiritual guidance than in your hands, heart and mind. If you are interested in spirituality, in the possibility of the mystical, of the divine at work in your own life, then there are ways to capture your own magic that do not involve anybody but you. This can be a life changing trip. Whether you choose to explore your own psychic power, or simply start to meditate and open your mind to spiritual ideas, the power you are looking for, lays with you. I offer the following tools to help you connect with your own inner spiritual guide:

Check out The Book of Tarot - preorder now - to help connect you with all that lays within. 

Come join my Cosmic Sisterhood Circle, a magical place to share and validate your spiritual experiences. We meditate, talk tarot and find our personal power together. Three day free trial available now... Come join us.

Come follow me at the links below for lots of free and inspiring spiritual guidance that will leave you feeling fully uplifted! 

Please feel free to share this article with folks suffering a bad or upsetting reading. Copyright Alice Grist May 2020

I really feel like things are shifting. Week after week of isolation and being stuck in our own dirt is causing the divine to start to rise. Many of us have never experienced the intensity and (let's be honest) trauma of an event like this. And here we are starting to find the gems and pearls of beauty in amongst the mud. This week's tarot pull really speaks to that power.

Below I explain what the Empress tarot card brings to us.

Firstly I wanted to let you know that last week's meditation group was such a success. I am hosting another this Tuesday, and each week we will be exploring different ways to empower ourselves spiritually.

This Tuesday we will be exploring Tarot, Rune work and an exercise and meditation aimed at calling back our lost personal power! If you feel the need to strengthen and power up yourself, this will be perfect for you! The tickets for the group are on sale for another 12 hours, then they go up to full price. Please note the 7pm is GMT British Summer Time and make the relevant adjustments for your time zone. 
Book your space here. I cannot wait to work and connect with you! 

Community Tarot Card for Your Week Ahead... The Empress 

The Empress is for me one of the most powerful cards in the Tarot deck. She reminds us of our innate creative and nurturing abilities. She reminds us that those abilities sit at the very source of life as we know it. The Empress is mother earth, she is in her power, she brings change as at the same time she offers resilience. We all have this within us. We are able to bring life to this earth be it through child birth, raising a garden, nurturing animals, creating a business, or simply being a source of support for loved ones and friends. 

The week the Tarot guide us to find the all-powerful mother within. And no you don't need to be a mother for this to matter. The archetype is amongst us all be we childless, be we children, be we men. The Empress asks you to nurture yourself and form there, to feed the world around you. Look to nature for inspiration. See how as nature strengthens herself, she does so in unison with all other aspects of life around her. 

So go about your week knowing that you get to choose how to respond, how to react. That you can exist in potent and nourishing ways with yourself and those around you. Make healthy choices and recognise how life affirming that is. The Empress is offering you peace as you take control over the energy within you and find beautiful, harmonious ways to experience it.  

With love, Alice

Cosmic Mother Nurturing Women into Creative and Intuitive Enlightenment

Bestselling Author * Tarot Expert * Spiritual Healer