'I became a tarot card reader after a breakup'
In this episode of her podcast, Fresh Starts, award-winning documentary maker and podcaster Stacey Dooley meets Sophie, whose world fell apart during the pandemic when her long-term relationship broke down and she had to move out of her shared flat.
This upheaval was the start of a wider re-invention, a path that led an unsuspecting Sophie to become a tarot card reader.
Here's five things we learned about Sophie's alternative new career...
1. A painful breakup was the inspiration she needed
The pandemic was a massive upheaval for Sophie. She felt “untethered” in her life generally, while, at the same time, she felt tied-down to a relationship that had run its course.
It was always just a way to reflect on how I was feeling"Sophie
Getting out of her predicament meant leaving her partner and moving house, which was at times unsettling and difficult. But she took comfort from knowing that other people were undergoing massive change in their lives during the pandemic too.
She started to use a pack of tarot cards daily to help her cope with the situation. “For me, it was always just a way to reflect on how I was feeling. It's a tool for awareness," she says.
After finding that the cards were really helping her, she decided to see if she could help others too - and the rest is history.
2. It's not about 'fortune-telling'
Sophie makes it clear that she is not magical, or fortune-telling. She believes that "offloading decision-making" onto something or someone else is ultimately “disempowering”. And - as Stacey notes in the episode - some 'psychic' practices can be exploitative.
Sophie has a different approach. She thinks that tarot cards can help people who “know what they want but doubt themselves”, using the cards as an interpretive picture prompt to start a conversation.
She believes that just vocalising your thoughts and feelings, and “trusting your gut” can be “a release of empowerment”.
3. How a tarot card reading plays out…
Every reading is different, but for Sophie, a tarot reading is about “how you react to the cards, not what I tell you.” She normally starts readings by telling people not to bring a yes or no question “because that’s too reductive".
“We normally start with just having a bit of a chat,” says Sophie. “I'll say ‘where are you at?’, …And then naturally, somebody starts talking and then everything just kind of comes out. Verbalising something is a really valuable part of the process".
Sophie and her client will talk for about 15 minutes, often about a block in that person’s life or a major change to it, before she shows them some cards. “I'll talk through the cards, and I'll just invite the person to observe without judgement what comes up".
4. Don't fear the reaper
Stacey, understandably, has a fear of drawing the death card during the reading she will have with Sophie – her first ever tarot reading (listen to how it goes here!). However, Sophie explains that it shouldn’t be taken at face value.
Nothing in tarot is literal, they’re a signpost"Sophie
“The death card is about necessary endings and positive transformations,” says Sophie. “Nothing in tarot is literal, they’re a signpost.
There are some people who might try and relate it to very literal situations in life, but that's not my understanding. I think that they just invite us to consider some of the more subconscious, imaginative and subtle areas of our life where potential and possibility lie.”
5. Stacey was happy to get the 'Six of Cups'
Stacey overcame her fear of the Death card for a reading with Sophie - and she had a particularly strong reaction to her first card, the Six of Cups.
"It felt like there was a really calming response to it straight away," Sophie said.
But what was the reason? You'll have to listen to the episode here to find out!
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