I'm not psychic. I'm not a fortune teller. I can't read your palm. But I can read your cards.
What exactly does that mean? Well, for me, it means I use the symbols on the cards to help you access the information and wisdom that you already have. So truth be told, YOU'RE doing most of the work.
Not that I don't study and practice -- I do. There are many different ways to read cards, and knowing as many as possible helps me to serve my many different clients better. I also study new spreads, new methods of shuffling and dealing, new approaches to explaining what I see, new symbolic interpretations. I enjoy exploring new decks. Regardless of what some may say, there is no carved-in-stone "right" way to read. I enjoy a narrative approach, where I let the cards' various interpretations connect into a storyline. But I find that this narrative is best served if I incorporate both my own and my client's intuitive responses.
Sometimes a cigar is sometimes just a cigar. And sometimes, it ain't. Being open to the many symbolic possibilities of the images on the cards -- and there are some WILD decks out there -- makes a reading personal, precise, and practical.
I believe the tarot works on many levels: psychological, spiritual, intellectual and practical to name a few. They work equally well for "spiritual" people as they do for atheists and agnostics. The key is the willingness to engage your own conscious and subconscious in a way that lets information and wisdom bubble up where you can reach it. Some call this intuition. Some call it divination. I understand it as both.
Does it matter what the person I'm reading for calls it? Only as much as it helps me frame my responses. The tarot itself is neutral on this issue. If you treat it and the process with respect, you'll get a treasure trove of information in return.
