Sign-In
Cart
Reading Between The Cards
Paperback
Metaphysical GeneralSelf-HelpTarot
Publisher: Jess Swales
Published: Jan 18 2026
Pages: 158
Weight: 0.42
Height: 0.37 Width: 5.50 Depth: 8.50
Language: English
Reading Between the Cards: The Real Skills Every Tarot Professional Needs
You know the card meanings. Now learn what actually matters.
Every tarot book teaches you what the cards mean. None of them teach you what to do when a client asks if their husband is cheating and you can see that yes, he is, but she's eight months pregnant and barely holding it together. They don't tell you how to handle the client who texts you at 2am demanding an emergency reading. They don't prepare you for the session where everything you say lands wrong and you have no idea why.
This is the book about everything the other books leave out.
Drawing on fifteen years of professional practice and thousands of readings, Jess Swales delivers the brutally honest mentor conversation every tarot reader needs. This isn't about memorizing more card meanings or learning complex spreads. This is about the real skills that separate someone who owns a deck from someone who can actually help people with it.
Inside, you'll discover:
- When intuition should override traditional card meanings (and how to trust that instinct)
- Why reading for yourself is both essential and potentially disastrous-and how to do it without losing your mind
- The ethical gray areas no one discusses: predicting death, reading about people without consent, when to refuse a reading entirely
- Boundaries that actually work-protecting your energy, time, and sanity while still serving clients well
- How to handle difficult clients, devastating readings, and the sessions that go completely sideways
- The business side most spiritual books ignore: what to charge, how to avoid burnout, building sustainable income
- Protection practices that actually prevent energetic drainage (not just imagine white light)
- What to do when you're completely wrong and how to recover from mistakes that haunt you
- The truth about reading professionally: it's not about being psychic enough, it's about being skilled, boundaried, and honest enough
This book will make you uncomfortable. It challenges the love and light approach. It demands you charge what you're worth. It insists you set boundaries even when it disappoints people. It asks you to be honest about your limits and your mistakes.
It will also make you a better reader.
Whether you're considering reading professionally, struggling in your early practice, or feeling burnt out after years of work, this book offers the practical wisdom, ethical framework, and sustainable strategies you won't find anywhere else.
The cards are just the beginning. This is what comes after.
Also in
Tarot
Tarot for the Wild Soul: A Trauma-Informed Approach for Growth, Healing, and Grounding in the Present Moment
Mack, Lindsay
Hardcover
Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom: A Tarot Journey to Self-Awareness (a New Edition of the Tarot Classic)
Pollack, Rachel
Paperback
Guided Tarot: A Beginner's Guide to Card Meanings, Spreads, and Intuitive Exercises for Seamless Readings
Caponi, Stefanie
Paperback
Tarot and the Psychology of the Soul: Exploring the Archetypal Mirrors of the Psyche
Louis, Mariana
Paperback
The Modern Witchcraft Book of Tarot: Your Complete Guide to Understanding the Tarot
Alexander, Skye
Hardcover
The Weiser Tarot Card Sticker Book: Includes Over 2,500 Stickers (32 Complete Sets of All 78 Tarot Cards)--Perfect for Tarot Journaling
Smith, Pamela Colman
The Editors of Weiser Books
Waite, Arthur Edward
Paperback
The Bibliophile Oracle Deck: A 52-Card Deck and Guidebook for Book Lovers
Franzen, Alexandra
Smith, Lindsey
Other
The Big Book of Tarot: How to Interpret the Cards and Work with Tarot Spreads for Personal Growth
Bunning, Joan
Paperback
Modern Tarot: Connecting with Your Higher Self Through the Wisdom of the Cards
Tea, Michelle
Paperback
The Audacity Experiment: Stop Outsourcing Your Instincts, Reclaim Your Sovereignty and Rewrite Your Reality
Corsini, Chris
Hardcover
The Complete Guide to the Tarot: Determine Your Destiny! Predict Your Own Future!
Gray, Eden
Paperback
The Weiser Tarot: A New Edition of the Classic 1909 Waite-Smith Deck (78-Card Deck with 64-Page Guidebook)
Smith, Pamela Colman
Waite, Arthur Edward
Other
Your Tarot Guide: Quick and Easy Card Readings
Staack, Beate
Buchholzer, Kirsten
Buchholzer, S. Roe
Paperback
Tarot for Your Self: A Workbook for the Inward Journey (35th Anniversary Edition)
Greer, Mary K.
Paperback
Kitchen Table Tarot: Pull Up a Chair, Shuffle the Cards, and Let's Talk Tarot
Cynova, Melissa
Paperback
Become an Exceptional Tarot Reader: The Card Meanings & Skills You Need to Ace Every Reading
Dawn, Ethony
Paperback
Radical Tarot: Queer the Cards, Liberate Your Practice, and Create the Future
Burgess, Charlie Claire
Paperback
The Dark Feminine Path: Shadow Work, Past Lives, and Reclaiming Your Manifestation Magic
Walner, Anna J.
Paperback
Cats Rule the Earth Tarot Coloring Book: Beautiful Tarot Designs for the Feline-Obsessed
Davidson, Catherine
Paperback
The Only Tarot Book You'll Ever Need: A Modern Guide to the Cards, Spreads, and Secrets of Tarot
Alexander, Skye
Shannon, Mary
Paperback
Tarot: The Open Labyrinth--40th Anniversary Edition: Understanding Your Journey Through the Cards
Pollack, Rachel
Paperback
Every Little Thing You Do Is Magic: An Interactive Guide to Tarot, Ritual, and Personal Growth: A Tarot Workbook
Seal, Moorea
Little, Callie
Paperback
The Diviner's Path: A Nature-Led Approach to Divination with Tarot, Runes & Pendulums
Farrer, Joanna
Paperback
The Essential Lenormand (Second Edition): Your Guide to Precise & Practical Fortunetelling
George, Rana
Paperback
The Tarot Architect: How to Become the Master Builder of Your Spiritual Temple
DuQuette, Lon Milo
Paperback
Tarot of the Unconscious: Uncovering the Hidden Link Between Psychoanalysis and the Cards
Einhorn, Aliza
Paperback
Guided Metaphysical Box Set: Three Beginner's Guides to Tarot, Astrology, and Numerology (Including Step-By-Step Workbooks)
Miller, Kelli
Caponi, Stefanie
Paperback
Starman Tarot Remastered: Revised and Updated David Bowie-Inspired Tarot Box Set with 78 Cards and Guide Book
de Angelis, Davide
Hardcover
Cartomancy in Folk Witchcraft: Playing Cards and Marseille Tarot in Divination, Magic, and Lore
Horne, Roger J.
Paperback
Tarot Disassembled Guidebook: Deconstructing the Symbols of the Major and Minor Arcana
Steidley, Jennifer Cooper
Paperback
The Tarot Companion: A Portable Guide to Reading the Cards for Yourself and Others
Dean, Liz
Hardcover
The Beginner's Guide to Runes: Divination and Magic with the Elder Futhark Runes
Simonds, Josh
Paperback
Tarot for Beginners: A Holistic Guide to Using the Tarot for Personal Growth and Self Development
Hayertz, Meg
Paperback
The Complete Lenormand Oracle Handbook: Reading the Language and Symbols of the Cards
Matthews, Caitlín
Paperback
The Complete Guide to Tarot and Astrology: Everything You Need to Know to Harness the Wisdom of the Cards and the Stars
Edington, Louise
Paperback
The Left-Hand Path of Tarot: Breaking Taboos, Confronting Shadows, and Achieving Self-Love
Parra, Cherry
Paperback
Archetypal Tarot: What Your Birth Card Reveals about Your Personality, Your Path, and Your Potential
Greer, Mary K.
Paperback
Intuitive Tarot: 31 Days to Learn to Read Tarot Cards and Develop Your Intuition
Esselmont, Brigit
Paperback
The Tarot: A Collection of Secret Wisdom from Tarot's Mystical Origins: The Essential Writings from Tarot's Greatest Teachers
Curtiss, Harriette Augusta
Hall, Manly P.
Curtiss, F. Homer
Paperback
An Introduction to Magic: A Guide to Crystals, Fairies, Palmistry, Tarot, and the Zodiac
Van De Car, Nikki
Adriance, Mikaila
Young, Pliny T.
Hardcover
The Little Book of Tarot: An Introduction to Fortune-Telling and Divination
Chown, Xanna Eve
Paperback
Tarot for Manifestation: Attract Your Dream Life Through Shadow Work, Visualization, and Writing Love Letters to the Universe
Caponi, Stefanie
Paperback
Tarot Tableau Revolution: A Breakthrough System to See the Whole Story in Your Readings
Alviz Hernando, María
Paperback
Tarot as Storyteller: Psychic Development, Cartomancy, and Reading the Web of Fate
Salicrow
Paperback
Tarot Magick: Discover Yourself Through Tarot. Learn about the Magick Behind the Cards.
Squire, Lindsay
Paperback
Oracle: A Practical Guide to Card Reading, Divination, Prophecy, Omens, and Seers
Cavendish, Lucy
Paperback
The Major Arcana Anthology: 22 Tarot Experts Share Their Stories
Auryn, Mat
Alexander, Courtney
Paperback
The Little Book of Tarot: Discover the Tarot and Find Out What Your Cards Really Mean
Dean, Liz
Hardcover