About
Founding & Mission
The Pro Bono Tarot Guild was founded to provide free tarot divination readings to the public. The Guild’s mission is to make high quality tarot divination readings accessible to all sincere seekers - regardless of financial circumstances. The Guild is not associated with any other project or any particular individual.
Currently, the Founder provides these readings via private (one-to-one) YouTube livestream: a verified Google account is required for access and attendance. The Founder has given over 2,000 readings to the public since mid 2020 and has received mentorship from multiple experienced tarot professionals.
Membership
Whilst the free readings and resources are public, Guild membership is private. It implies entry into a craft lineage of divinatory tarot readers through a five-year apprenticeship. As the Guild is currently in its founding phase, there are not yet any members. Those who complete this training under the Founder will be counted among the first generation of practitioners. All members are anonymous to the public (although they may reveal their identities privately at their own discretion).
To become a member, you should be a practicing and serious Western esotericist on the Right Hand Path (RHP), willing to give entirely free readings to the public. No member is permitted to turn away a querent based on issues of money, nor are members permitted to charge money in exchange for readings (although they might accept donations in some cases). This ethical requirement of selfless service is based upon Emanationism and (non-sectarian) perennial philosophy, which are two ideas that the Founder follows and teaches through. Guild members are therefore part of a niche within RHP Western Esotericism. They might be Rosicrucians, Theosophists, Hermeticists, Christian mystics, neo-Platonists or similar practitioners who work magic with a strictly selfless motive. There is no definitive list of labels for members to be checked against: any serious practitioner with a compatible philosophy can join provided that they actually believe in esoteric ideas such as spirits, correspondence, magic, reincarnation and Divinity. Members also follow the Guild’s Code of Ethics which covers essential clauses such as honesty, integrity and accountability. Finally, it should be made clear given the philosophy just discussed that the only fees for the apprenticeship are to cover the costs of providing it.
Before considering the apprenticeship, it is recommended that you peruse the FAQ and blog to give you an idea of the tutor’s teaching philosophy. Whilst freely available for all, this material is written from the perspective of the Founder mentioned earlier. The FAQ answers common beginner questions whilst the article are currently in two main series: Rider Waite Smith (RWS) cards in context and Foundational Tarot Skills. The former is a comprehensive reinterpretation of the RWS cards, applied across life areas, common spread positions and key card combinations. Despite Waite’s lofty intentions, it includes predictive meanings for the cards based on the popular-modern interpretations. The latter series is explicitly for those considering membership. It covers various topics such as; memorizing tarot card meanings, reading tarot spreads, the occult mechanics of shuffling and card selection, an introduction to how tarot divination works, Waite’s original celtic cross spread, recommended scholarly tarot history books and more.
For full details of the Guild apprenticeship, click the button below.