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Thank's for your answers Craig.

To be precise, my purpose is not to give commercial readings or to specialize in this area, but more to entertain people, adding some reading to the routines I know. My ambition is not trying to become an advanced reader, but to get enough knowledge to be credible for occasional 5-15 minutes readings, going a bit further than repeating a Barnum style reading.

- I will follow your advice and look for Richard Webster work.
- Concerning esoteric system I got some knowledge on astrology. I will work it a bit deeper, and I will definitely look for a simple approach about tarot as I'm very inspired by the cards.
- Concerning Q&A yes it is not usual to start studying with that, but it came like this, and I had the privilege to get this work directly from Jerome himself.
- No one did any comment about Mark Elsdon "Simple reading system". I'm still interested in yout opinion about it if someone get one.



PS : Apologize toward native english readers. I know my barbaric way to write english will hurt some of you.

I'm not familiar with the Elsdon material so I can't say.

Jerome is a very giving soul, I can understand the scenario, I'm just protective of my friends of whom Jerome has assured me recently, that he's definitely one. Sadly, my monthly tour through the Torrent sites have revealed a book leg or two of his and other people's material that is supposed to be more exclusive. I've even given a few members here a heads up about their stuff being on such sites.

While my personal experience started with Tarot back in the mid 70s it has been the material found in Larsen, Nelson and later, the works of Richard Webster and Herb Dewey that gave me the primary booster shot, if you would. But it's not a stagnant thing, effective Reading Skills require perpetual study in a wide range of areas; Awareness Training being one of the more important as I've come to believe. Techniques like FACS as well as an understanding of esoteric and psychological meaning behind symbols, colors, etc. are a thing of tremendous value. The follow-up tome to my original Easy Reading will be out by Spring, it goes into great detail on this very thing.

Best of luck to you, feel free to drop me a note should you have any questions.

Another option for card-based readings is to invest in a non-Tarot oracle deck of your choice. Fewer people will know the system, and as a bonus they're simpler than the Tarot and more focused on everyday questions that people are likely to ask.

I recently bought a deck of Psycards. These give a very satisfactory reading that focuses on character and the current situation. Since they're not Tarot cards, you can say truthfully that these are specially designed to explore character, but they don't predict the future.

I also have a deck of animal oracle cards, which can be used for more symbolic and metaphysical readings with a "wisdom of nature" flavour. I can't remember offhand the name of the deck I have, but I think it's out of print anyway. There are lots of different animal decks based on lore from different cultures.

The strangest deck I own is the Paracelsus Oracle. Each card includes a number, astrological sign, geomantic symbol, spirit sigil, and strange allegorical picture. It came with hardly any instructions, so I've been (slowly) trying to work out my own interpretations of each card. And nobody will ever be able to argue with them! --Or, rather, anybody who knows enough about all the different symbols to be able to argue about them will surely be doing their own readings.

Gipsy Fortune Telling Cards are rather nice, Piatnik do a Bridge size deck - http://www.tarobearslair.com/gipsy-fort ... atnik.aspx and also at http://www.magicka.com/offre-esoteric.htm which gives a better idea of the card faces. There's no website address on the real cards. There's a very similar deck in Tarot size - http://www.hungariansoup.com/play/tarot.html - see the second set of images and click on them to enlarge. The descriptions are in several languages and each deck comes with suggestions for doing varuious layouts and readings.

Robbie wrote:Another option for card-based readings is to invest in a non-Tarot oracle deck of your choice. Fewer people will know the system, and as a bonus they're simpler than the Tarot and more focused on everyday questions that people are likely to ask.

I recently bought a deck of Psycards. These give a very satisfactory reading that focuses on character and the current situation. Since they're not Tarot cards, you can say truthfully that these are specially designed to explore character, but they don't predict the future.

I also have a deck of animal oracle cards, which can be used for more symbolic and metaphysical readings with a "wisdom of nature" flavour. I can't remember offhand the name of the deck I have, but I think it's out of print anyway. There are lots of different animal decks based on lore from different cultures.

The strangest deck I own is the Paracelsus Oracle. Each card includes a number, astrological sign, geomantic symbol, spirit sigil, and strange allegorical picture. It came with hardly any instructions, so I've been (slowly) trying to work out my own interpretations of each card. And nobody will ever be able to argue with them! --Or, rather, anybody who knows enough about all the different symbols to be able to argue about them will surely be doing their own readings.

I really don't recommend "making up" your own oracle, the shut eye market is far smarter than you think and they can smell B.S. (as in someone trying to bluff them). There are some "New Age" type oracles that are quite nice, that do give you insights as to their meaning, etc. Another deck you may want to look into is The Abukera form out of New Zealand... they tend to be rare these days but they are still available for under $15.00 U.S. if I recall. Each card has two wisdom statements at opposing ends, the one that is up-right is the one you work with. It's a very simple system and I've found that it makes the act of learning how to "flow" with a Reading much easier, even when working with an alternate oracle.

You may also want to pick up Richard Websters book COLD READING VARIATIONS for some ideas as well.

I have a recent deck of Crowley's Thoth Tarot which give a one word explanation for the card's meaning on each. I'm not especially fond of them for this very reason, it was really a nostalgia purchase as The Thoth were one of my very first decks as a teenager but I'm 99.9% positive that the 'explanations' weren't printed on them back then! Perhaps someone who has an older deck can confirm?

Craig Browning wrote:I really don't recommend "making up" your own oracle, the shut eye market is far smarter than you think and they can smell B.S. (as in someone trying to bluff them).

I'm a bit late to this thread, but I disagreee. They're called shut eyes for a reason, Craig

I've made a very good living from readings for a long time. I know that the person receiving the reading already believes in you and that people want to experience new systems and that includes cards they have not seen before. At the psychic fairs we see all kinds of new divination systems coming out and people flock to them because they are new and different. Some of them are obvious nonsense but you can't say that and no one notices!

There are some "New Age" type oracles that are quite nice, that do give you insights as to their meaning, etc. Another deck you may want to look into is The Abukera form out of New Zealand... they tend to be rare these days but they are still available for under $15.00 U.S. if I recall. Each card has two wisdom statements at opposing ends, the one that is up-right is the one you work with. It's a very simple system and I've found that it makes the act of learning how to "flow" with a Reading much easier, even when working with an alternate oracle.

Have you not just contradicted what you just said?

I've done Readings since the latter 70s so I've seen a wide variety of demonstrations but more importantly, I've listened to reactions. While I do agree that there are many variants that can be done, there are a few pit falls one can trip into when inventing an oracle that has no sense of "order" to it, for lack of a better term... hell, I have a manual here for reading paper clips in an office setting... but I really don't think that would be viewed as being anything serious.

I've seen and even used "invented" systems that were developed by EXPERIENCED Readers, some of whom had a magic world connection. But what I was referring to in my comments pertained more to those that have a head full of Joe Nichol or Ian Rowland assumptions & theories... those that believe they can point at any line on a palm and give it any name that comes to mind... the public, especially studied students of mysticism, can see right through it and they WILL call you on it. More so, they will spread word about it and thus, ruin ones chances at building any kind of repeat business.

You HAVE TO KNOW the lingo and apply the proper meanings to whatever you are applying to such an item. Magicians don't tend to understand this, nor care enough to respect such things... that is why I discourage the majority of folks from inventing their own oracle... then again, the market is way over saturated with such things; the 80s & 90's giving us an outrageous infusion of pseudo-tarot styled cards, many seeming more commercialism over spiritual development tools; the Smurf Deck, Simpson's Deck as well as Star Wars, South Park and a myriad of other such GARBAGE! Fun for parties perhaps, but not exactly the kind of thing a legit Reader would be caught dead working with.

As far as "Invented" Oracles found within the magic world, I'd recommend Roni Schachney's (sp) Hebrew/Kabala based system... I'm certain Dr. Tod could fill folks in on it better than I. It's been a long time since I've used it and my memory isn't exactly up to snuff these days.

A good "invented" oracle system is the Sim Stones. Google them - I don't have a link. I got the cheap version when they came out first, and liked them. Now they are in solid pewter and really look the part. Like a simplified Rune system.

I agree with Craig. You have to know enough to give yourself the veneer of authority. You don't need to be an expert in a particular system, but you can't make it up either. You must know enough to be convincing. But it is so well worth the effort you put in.

I suppose I had better advise on this matter. I shall deal with Tarot cards only since the other divination systems have different rules. For example with palmistry you most certainly should use the standard meanings and terminology.

However for the tarot you should NOT use the standard meanings. I always advise people that the first thing you should do when learning the tarot is to throw away the little book that comes with the deck. The rule is to decide what each card means to YOU.

Go through each card and meditate on it. Decide what it means to YOU. Do NOT use the standard meanings. There is no fakery with Tarot. I believe 100% in the divination power of this tool. And if I had time I could explain why I believe in it. However I haven't so I won't. Suffice it to say that there is a perfectly reasonable explanation of why it works. And the explanation would even convince sceptics and the Randi crowd. It isn't magic or supernatural though.

I would advise reading the book Tarotmania by Jan Woudhuysen who explains this approach. He doesn't use the standard meanings either and he advises that you figure out your own meanings just as I do. The book is sometimes titled "Tarot Therapy" but "Tarotmania" is the main title that I see.

The book is possibly out of print now but I think you can read it for free online.

There is a spiritual element to reading that magicians don't seem to be able to grasp. Mind you they don't seem to be able to grasp how to do magic either.

One thing I will certainly tell you is that 90 percent of what you read about psychic work that is published for magicians is a load of old cobblers. There are very few texts I would recommend except that of Richard Webster. Of course he has written very little on the Tarot so we are back where we started.

Anyway the bottom line for the tarot is to completely ignore the standard meanings and form your own. You will be more effective that way. I have done literally THOUSANDS of paid readings so I know what I am talking about in this regard.

If you work with a certain air of authority the client will trust that you are the expert and not them. And of course you are. Or at least you should be.

Tarotmania by Jan Woudhuysen is a very interesting book, but I'd recommend it to those who are already serious Tarot scholars (and preferably comfortable with mysticism and symbolism in general). It's something of a personal journey through the author's own search for meaning in the Tarot, with his own personal symbolism. The reader should already know enough to be able to "argue" with the text, picking up what's valuable and discarding what isn't.

The author's made the book available in its entirety here:
http://www.tarotmania.org/
Secondhand paperback copies are reasonably abundant and cheap. I always associate Tarotmania with the smell of cigarette smoke, since my copy must have been owned by a world-class smoker!

I see nothing wrong with devising your own oracle system, as long as you have enough knowledge to devise a good one. The Paracelsus deck I mentioned before is based mainly around geomancy, so I'll have to learn a lot more about geomancy before I can start figuring out how to link the geomantic symbols with the astrological and other symbols, and so work out a meaning for each card.

Just the other day I came across three crystal divination sets I picked up for about £1 each at a remainder shop years ago: love, health, and money. Each set has two crystals; you're supposed to toss them onto a small cardboard "divination wheel" and look up the results. It doesn't take much astrology to recognise the divination wheel as the Zodiac, with the signs replaced by words appropriate to the set's theme. So now I'm thinking of making a Zodiac mat, big enough for all six stones to be cast at once, and working out better interpretations of each crystal according to its traditional meaning and the sign it lands in. It might end up a really interesting divination set, and if nothing else it will be a good exercise for me.

Actually I first came across this book as a complete beginner. It is indeed a little heavy in places but a good guide nevertheless. Some of the advice is excellent but you have to read between the lines a bit, I think. It helped me make good progress.

But then I got Joe Riding's book on How to Read the Tarot in seven days. And it took me precisely seven days to learn it just as Joe promised. It was a wonderful little book especially for the structure of the readings. Joe's book and Tarotmania was all I needed.

I already knew how to read palms and do numerology but when I learned the Tarot my career in the psychic business took off very rapidly.

The three things that have earned me more money than anything else in the magic business have been:

1) Tarot reading.
2) Palm reading.
3) Simple balloon models.

And in 4th place would be the ability to read a marked deck very quickly. Everything else has proven to be superfluous.

I was once told by a psychic fair promoter that the most powerful combination in a reading is the palm followed by the tarot. I have found this to be true.

I am not sure how balloon animal reading would go but I actually do the svengali deck at psychic fairs. It works remarkably well for me but I know perfectly well that it would be a disaster for anyone else.

Yes, I wouldn't advise doing balloon modelling at psychic fairs. Although I have combined balloon modelling and readings when working at wedding receptions. I remember one wedding where I was giving a lady a tarot reading while making a child a balloon sword at the same time. True story.