To read or to not read... for free?

For a long, I read card for free to practise. Things were usually fine when that happened in a "safe environment", such as the divination communities I have been a part of during the years. There, people had the same goals, so everyone (with some rare exceptions) took exchanges seriously and helped each other through feedback. All was good.

Then, I started the venture out into the "real world", to do reading face to face. While not all experiences were bad, I noticed a trend: people did not really take my reading very seriously. Not that I expected to be regarded as an oracle or anything special, but many times they would forget what I told them in a matter of minutes. Also, I was often left in a depleted state, because when people heard I knew how to read cards they immediately lined up in front of me to ask for a reading that, ultimately, they did not really want or need. And they never offered anything in return.

Recently, we had a discussion in the PCO Discord Server that touched upon this subject. How good is it really to practice by giving people free readings. Again, I am not talking about exchanges done in learning communities, but rather the readings we offer to random people, either live or on social media, in exchange for feedback.

I'm posting below my opinion. I'm not saying it's the indisputable truth, only what has been true to me after years of reading cards for others, both free and paid.

~*~

Most of people don't value what they get for free – that is, what they received without having to give something material or measurable in exchange for. This is because we live in a society too concerned with taking, rather than giving. 

I know it sounds negative, and kinda non-humanistic of me to say so, but that's how I have watched it play in my life in nearly 15 years of card reading. When I used to read for free, people would forget the cards, even when they held important messages. And I'd often be left without energy, the effort I put into the readings quickly forgotten. 

I don't read for free anymore, except for people whom I know and trust very much. Anyone else has to give me something. If they don't have the funds, then they have to pay for my coffee, bring incense to my altar, give me a token of some sort or exchange something palpable (like a service). No, feedback and eternal gratitude will not do it, simply because people generally don't know the value of such things.

My advice to you is: do not read to anonymous people for free UNLESS you can do so in a very no strings attached manner, without expecting anything in return.

I have done quick readings in public events in which people gave me nothing, but I knew beforehand that's how it'd be. I chose to read in such places because what I "received" was the satisfaction of mastering my own cards, so it did not feel like a loss to me. I did not put so much emphasis on what came from others in these situations.

But if you cannot separate this… if your energy still feels much attached to what others give in return to your card reading efforts, then you are going to feel depleted very quickly. Be careful not to spread yourself too thin.

There is no right or wrong way, but you must always know why are you doing what you do and what your limits are. If you wish to read for feedback, then you need to be ready to demand said feedback from people, just like you'd do with money if your livelihood depended on it. You need to take yourself seriously so that others will.