Myths about real fortune tellers by a romany gypsy fortune teller. There are many myths about psychic readers who read tarot, crystal balls, dreams, tea leafs and other tools and methods of divination.
I believe that Tarot cards can predict the future. I believe that our dreams are omens for tomorrow. I believe that a crystal ball can tell you if you will be married, how many kids you will have, and what color your future husband’s shirt will be on the day you first meet. Hi, my name is Lisa Boswell, and I am a fortune-teller. I tell fortunes for a living.
(This post was originally written in 2015 when I was fortune-telling full time. I have included it on this blog because, although I am no longer doing readings online, I am teaching how to do predictive readings on this site. Enjoy!)
There are a lot of myths and stereotypes flying around about predictive readers and what it is that predictive readers actually do. I have written this blog post because I am sick of defending myself and my fellow readers to people who are spreading these myths throughout our community - the spiritual community.
I feel that people are terribly misinformed about who and what real fortune tellers are and, as a result, are misinforming others. Therefore, I hope this blog post will be shared whenever someone makes one of these ten statements so that the reader (and myself) can save time and get on with our work.
So here it is, ten myths of the fortune teller busted! Let me know how you find it;
Predictive Readers Do Not Believe in Free-Will
Often, it is commented that predictive readers believe that there is no such thing as free will. If anything, I believe that humans have too much free will! Of course, we have free will, but I also believe that everything has a higher plan. I feel that we all have a destiny. There are just is some things which are meant to be. However, I don’t think it is always clear what is meant to be for us.
I like to think of the free will/destiny scenario as a trip to the end of a river. Let’s say that Sally, Henry, and Krista are all meant to meet at the end of a river. Sally walks. Henry drives. Krista, however, is a rebel. She goes to the shops, chats to strangers, and loses her way. Over time Krista may even have journeyed right around the other end of the world eventually, though Krista ends up at the end of the river with her friends.
Like Sally walking and Henry driving to the river, some of the decisions which we make are just not important. Small details may or may not interfere with our higher plan. We can be like Krista, and fight against the things which the universe calls us for. I have done this. However, one day, we will all be at the end of the river, even if the journey is the fun part.
I read people on the premise that our destiny and free will are intertwined. I feel that the Western world is too quick to pigeonhole everything into black and white, good and bad, yes and no, right and wrong. It is us, within our little human brains, who have decided that free will and destiny are contradictory, but that doesn’t mean that that is necessarily true.
As mere humans, I do not think we can comprehend the mysteries of how it is possible to predict the future. I am quite Descartian in the view that, at its core, we can never be sure if we can truly know anything. All I know is that prediction is possible because I have seen it for myself.
Fortune-Tellers Only Predict The Future
Again, this is false. I believe that readings only have a benefit to the seeker if they can look ahead and offer advice on which roads to take at the same time. I believe that that seeker has come to that reader for a reason. I think that even in terrible readings, there should always be something that the seeker can take away and work on.
I have told seekers, “You’re annoying your boyfriend. Do this, this and this or he will leave you”. The seekers I have told that to? Their boyfriends are now their husbands. They are their husbands because my reading scared the shit out of them so hard that they listened to me. They listened to me because my other predictions were correct.
On top of prediction, I also give advice to seekers to balance their work and home lives and to take their children to the park more. The whole point is that the reading is about the seeker getting the most out of their lives. Otherwise, I do not feel that I would be doing much of a service.
Only Lower Class People Go For Predictive Readings
When I hear this one, I just have to laugh. Anyone who knows the upper classes know that people with money have the same concerns as the rest of us. They also worry they will divorce. They also get stuck on which decisions to make. In fact, if anything, the upper classes are more concerned with the future.
I have been taught that it is extremely tacky to name drop your clients. I will take who I have read for to my grave. However, we will just say that the wealthy and well known want to know what is around the corner probably more than anyone else. I regularly read for self- made business people and politicians. My great granny used to read certain members of the British Royal Family regularly. It is common knowledge that gypsy fortune tellers have had themselves in royal courts from Russia to England for centuries.
Don’t get me wrong; fortune-telling is not all glamor and celebrities. One day I found myself reading someone who made me go “wow,” and the next, I found myself reading a housewife. All psychic businesses are like that. At the end of the day, I am only young; I take whatever clients I can get! I also don’t particularly have a preference for seeker’s backgrounds. I get just as excited over reading questions about lovers coming back as I do reading about real estate. Both are equally as important to seekers, or they wouldn’t be getting a reading in the first place.
The class, race, wants, and needs of those who go to certain readers depend on pretty much one thing - the individual. If a reader only reads for upper-class clients, then they have marketed their services to the seekers. It usually has nothing to do with the services which they offer.
Only Lower Class People Read For Prediction
I learned how to read at a young age. I remember being at home discussing with my granny her views on The Devil. I was sitting at the end of a bed, in one of the bedrooms of my home. One of the six bedrooms of my family home, in one of the two houses which my parents owned. Yeah, that’s right, I didn’t grow up without bread or butter in the cupboard.
Predictive Readers Are The Majority
It is not true that predictive readers make up the majority of readers. When doing the Boswell Tarot Survey, we found that only 2.53% of readers said they used Tarot for exclusively fortune-telling whereas 7.59% said they used Tarot for self-development focussed readings (89.86% said both). The sample from this survey was taken from readers all over the world of all walks of life.
I find that there seems to be a shortage of predictive readers. Seekers come to me because they know I am a predictive reader. They have said this is what they want and are searching for and could not find. The fortune-telling Gypsy is not as common as the memes on Facebook would have you believe.
Only Those Who Are Not Spiritually Evolved Wands Predictive Readings
Let's be honest here; we are all only human. In my practice, I deal with emotions, feelings, and situations which affect humans. I find that often, New Age philosophies try to make people feel bad for being human. There is this idea that humans should constantly be trying to 'work on' or 'fix' themselves. Why? What is so wrong with a person feeling like shit about their businesses failing or their lovers leaving them? I don't know any human who has never fallen apart over that.
I do not feel that we should be shaming and patronizing those who come to us for help. Everybody hurts. In my readings, I say, "you know what? Yeah, he was a cheating bastard, but pick yourself up, and you'll meet someone else. Have a good cry and let it out, then move on". If there's something unevolved in having a bit of compassion for a fellow human, then so be it.
There Is No Money In Predictive Readings
If anything, there is more money in predictive readings. I am not going to go into how much money I make. I will, though, state the fact that email readers are known for not making much money. I wrote this blogpost originally during my second year in business. The week this post went viral, I made over £1000 in email readings alone. This post paid for two new couches and my daughter's Christmas that year (in March). Talk about business goals.
Like all businesses, the owners only make money if they work hard and commit to their work. This is true if you are reading for prediction or self- help reasons. It is not the methods or style which the reader uses but how effectively they advertise, which affects their bottom line. As long as the reader is good at what they set out to do, the seekers will be happy and review well.
There Are No Benefits To Reading For Prediction
I have nothing against people who do not believe in fortune-telling, that is their business. What I am against, though, is people who do not clearly know anything about predictive readings passing judgment on them. It has been commented that there is no benefit in predictive readings, only in more self-help and style readings.
Seekers come to me for me to be realistic about the direction which their lives are taking. Sometimes we can put our heart and soul into something, and it still not work out. In negative readings, people would rather know if they are wasting their time sooner rather than later. In a positive reading, a good outcome gives the seeker hope and spurs them on to achieve better things. The seeker can choose to listen to what I have to say, or they can ignore me.
I feel that the best way to read Tarot (or any Oracle) is to read it from a mix of perspectives. I wouldn’t see Death in an outcome position and tell the reader that if they work on themselves harder, the situation will be unicorns and kittens. However, I don’t think that Death always means death either. My seekers are most pleased with a reading when they get a balance of predictive information, which they asked for and a healthy dose of advice. I would never intentionally leave a seeker thinking that they had no choice in a matter, but I am not going to make them feel like shit because they haven’t worked on themselves hard enough.
Predictive Readers Dress ‘Gypsy’
I’m a gypsy, and I don’t dress gypsy. I sit at home all day in my pajamas. I mean, come on? This is Scotland I am living in would you want to wear a skirt to readings?
Only Old Gypsy Fortune Telling Females Read For Prediction
Obviously, being a Romany Gypsy fortune telling female, I can’t deny that Romany people read for prediction. However, I am only 25. The younger readers of today have a much wider mix of skills and experiences to offer.
I did this post because stereotypes and elitism in our community need to be challenged. From my experiences, the only people still keeping these myths alive are people inside of the Tarot and Occult communities; the general public does not think this way and, in general, do not care. As long as you can read for them, that is all that matters. Maybe the readers of this community should have the same point of view? Maybe we should all try to get along? Maybe not. After all, I am just a fortune teller.
That’s all for myths about fortune-tellers! If you’re learning how to practice divination, or you want to improve your abilities to do so, on this website, I have a 100% free Tarot for Beginner’s Guide, which you can download today! Grab it here:
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Illustration art: Myths about real fortune tellers by a romany gypsy fortune teller. There are many myths about psychic readers who read tarot, crystal balls, dreams, tea leafs and other divination tools and methods for prediction. Here is the real meaning of fortune telling and what I do when I give readings.
