Do Tarot Readers Need to Be Psychic?

This is one of the most common questions I hear, especially from people interested in learning how to read tarot. After more than 20 years of tarot practice, my answer is: No, you do not have to be “psychic” to be an excellent tarot reader.

Tarot readers don’t need to be born with phenomenal cosmic powers to do tarot readings. Reading the tarot is really something you can learn. All it requires is the determination to keep studying and practicing it.

What even is a “psychic”?

Be real with me here. What exactly do you imagine when you hear the word “psychic”?

Most people picture the dramatic, crystal-ball-gazing figures from movies, or someone with rare, mysterious powers. That kind of thinking is the biggest hurdle when you try to learn tarot because it makes intuition seem inaccessible and reserved only for a chosen few.

This is what I mean when I say “No, you do not have to be *quote* psychic *unquote* to be an excellent tarot reader.” You don’t need to have visions or see dead people or hear voices from beyond to pick up a deck and start reading the cards. Skilled tarot readers don’t HAVE TO identify as psychic for you to know their readings are good.

At its heart, the term “psychic” simply refers to someone who possesses innate intuitive abilities that allow them to gather information without relying on the traditional five senses. And guess what?

Everyone is born with psychic senses (even YOU!)

From what I learned from the Psychism 101 workshop hosted by the LightSeers, each of us is born with these innate psychic senses:

• Clairvoyance: Clear sight
• Clairsalience: Clear smelling
• Clairaudience: Clear hearing
• Clairgustance: Clear tasting
• Clairsentience: Clear feeling/sensing
• Claircognizance: Clear knowing

I’m sure you’ve had moments where you had a “gut feeling” telling you something that’s not plain for all to see (or in Tagalog: yung kinilabutan ka). That is most likely your clairsentience picking up something your physical senses cannot.

Some people are born with clairs that are more heightened than others. For example: I personally rarely ever see supernatural phenomena like spirits or ghosts or energy, but I often hear things others cannot. That doesn’t mean I don’t have clairvoyance; it’s just that my clairaudience is a bit stronger.

Just like our physical senses, you can actually train each of your clair senses to be stronger. Consistent meditation is a good way to ground yourself in your senses and clear your mind to activate your clairs, but you can also do specific exercises for each. For example: I wanted to train my clairvoyance, I would spend more time doing visualization exercises. If I wanted to strengthen my clairaudience, I could make it a habit to sit still, close my eyes, be quiet, and just listen to the sounds in my surrounding space.

Long story short: Everyone has psychic senses, and each of them can be trained to be more powerful.

---

---

Tarot as an Intuitive Tool

So, if we all have intuition and psychic ability, why do we use tools like the tarot?

Sometimes the things we pick up with our intuition are hard to put into words or difficult to understand on our own. The tarot can act as a tool for communication between the intuitive senses and reality.

Think of it this way: The archetypes and symbols found in tarot translate the subtle cues your intuition and clair senses into a language that you can easily digest.

So, going back to the original question: Do tarot readers need to be psychic?

Absolutely not. The ability to read the cards is something you can learn with consistent study and practice, regardless of how developed (or underdeveloped) your psychic senses are.

Skilled tarot readers don’t HAVE TO identify as psychic for you to know their readings are good.

When you think about it, all tarot is about is:

1. Interpreting the symbols you see illustrated in the cards.
2. Contextualizing what you see based on what you know about the querent’s situation and what your gut tells you.
3. Synthesizing the message and call to action so to provide your querent the truth and clarity they’re looking for.

You don’t really need to be a powerful psychic to do all of that!

In my experience, the most empowering and insightful readings don’t rely on psychic ability. They rely on your ability to clearly understand and interpret what the cards reveal in a way that empowers your querents (whether the querent is someone else or YOU).

---

---