In this week's installment in our Meet our Readers series Laura Lee tells us about her process when it comes to readings as well as her 8 week High Degree Tarot Course that will be starting at the end of July.
When someone comes in and they've never had a reading with you, what can they expect?
Honesty and a support system. I'm not just trying to throw people under the bus, I'm trying to tell them the truth but also help them through it.. I try to warm them up first because I feel like they are talking to a stranger and these are vulnerable questions. I try to get them to lighten up and tell me about themselves, what's their sign, have they had a reading before ,things like that. and then I go into what they would like, what can I do for them and let them kind of steer it.
Are there certain specific decks that you like to use a lot? Do you have a rotation that you use?
You know, I was thinking about that today. I've noticed that I always go back to, I have a couple “Home Decks” I call them, like you always feel like you're at home when you use them. Then I have seasonal ones that I change out just so I have something fun and pretty and different for a client to look at. I love the Thoth but eventually your eyes want something new. But I'll always switch to the oldies but goodies. The Cosmic Tarot is one of my top favs. The Vampire Tarot is another. Even the Golden Dawn Deck, even though i hate the imagery and it feels like a 5 year old drew it i just always go back to it.
Something about it just speaks to you
Yeah they symbols are fantastic, there aren't many Thoth clone decks so it's just an easy read for me I guess, and it gives you kind of a variety even if it doesn't look the best.
How did you get into doing readings?
My grandma, old school Mexican family, she would go to a Mexican witch doctor quarterly and they would do cleanings like body cleanings where they use an egg or a sage brushing, she would get her cards read and I always just wanted to know what they meant, because I never believed them. When I was 12 I had them do a cleaning on me because I was getting sick a lot at school and I was dealing with a lot of conflict in school. I was completely drained so when they worked on me I started to believe because the way people treated me, and the way I saw things, everything changed. I didn't start picking up the deck until i was 17 and even then I didn't learn it or memorize it I just picked it up and It was kind of creepy that it was real or that things were accurate and I put it down for a couple of years and after college I memorized everything.
When you say that you memorized everything were there different tools or exercises, you used to help you to learn the tarot
Yes I made flash cards and was convinced I was going to know every meaning and I wrote all of the plain meanings down and then I thought I learned tarot, which is how I see youtubers now I can relate to where they are at. When I went to get reading after that I was like “whoa this is totally different’ it was a completely different world and it was by someone who read the Thoth so I asked if I could hire them as a teacher and it was a whole summer of weekly lessons being taught the Thoth and I consider that being when I learned to read even though I dedicated so much effort and time to memorize meanings before. It's the difference between learning the alphabet and learning to read.
Does that affect the way you teach others to read the Tarot?
Of course, there are two ways I teach tarot. One of them is a very basic class of learning the fundamentals of what each card means. It lets you at least get an idea of the system and how it is organized. If I am teaching a single class that is around 2 hours that is what I'm going to cover. But that's only scratching the surface.
In terms going more in depth, particularly with the Thoth deck which is mapped out along the ideas of kabbalah, How necessary is it to delve into things like kabbalah and numerology to have an understanding of the tarot? Is it a requirement?
In my eyes you should drown in it you have to. It's a lifelong thing, you keep learning. It might seem overwhelming in the beginning, but just take baby steps and keep going forward. Otherwise you learn only the basic meaning. The other way I teach is modeled on how I learned. I go into the symbolism of the cards, how they connect with the kabbalah, astrology, The Hebrew alphabet i even go into how to work with clients if you want to transition into doing readings professionally. I think if you're not doing that you're doing yourself a disservice and you're not giving your client the full picture of a situation. I'm actually working on a 8 week version of the class that were going to be doing here at Just Witchy
s over the summer
Is there anything you would like people to know about your readings or when they get a reading from anyone in general.
When you first come in to get a reading try to be open minded and willing to explore where the cards go. The cards have to flow and if you're not flowing openly and willing to talk and willing to explore they're going to quit on you. The other thing is If you want a general reading your getting general answers. They more specific the question the more specific the answer because every card has multiple meaning so i can navigate for you
Do you mean like when people say they just want to know what the cards say so they can try and test your abilities?
Oh yeah that happens all the time and if we are doing a 15 min reading and we spend the first 10 min of it with me giving generalized meanings to the cards before you let me know what it is your actually looking for then we have wasted so much time dancing around the issue when I could have spent the whole time giving you specific answers.
It's like going to a mechanic but you don't tell them the sounds your car has been making.
That's exactly it. Not only will you save time but you will actually maybe get some answers that you are looking for if you just come right out and start from a place that is open. My favorite readings are the ones where it feels like we are just having a conversation, we can go so much deeper.
If you are interested in getting a reading with Laura Lee click here for her schedule
If you would like to sign up for her High Degree Tarot course Click here