Code of Ethical Conduct for Tarot Professionals

 Mission

 Reiki Tarot Spirituality strives to uphold the highest ethical standards in all services rendered and to act affirmatively towards maintaining public trust in the tarot profession. Reiki Tarot Spirituality’s practice is grounded on use of the tarot as a tool to assist clients with tapping into their own intuitions, spirituality, or creativity.

  Article One | Professionalism

 Adherence to Applicable Laws. Reiki Tarot Spirituality will take the initiative to be knowledgeable of all applicable laws including but not limited to fortune telling statutes and local municipal codes that may cover their business or the practice of tarot. 

 Scope of Profession. Reiki Tarot Spirituality applies tarot in a way that falls outside the scope of occult sciences and is not reading tarot in a manner that claims or purports to tell fortunes, or with the ability to foretell with any certainty future events, or disclose in unequivocal terms the mental faculties of any persons.

 Role of Reiki Tarot Spirituality. Reiki Tarot Spirituality provides a client with spiritual guidance and serves to empower the client toward making more spiritually empowered decisions for him or herself within the framework of the client’s own personal spiritual beliefs or practices.

 Limitations. Reiki Tarot Spirituality shall never claim the ability to cure another of ailments outside the lawful practice of medicine or provide financial benefits outside the lawful practice of financial analysis and management. Reiki Tarot Spirituality shall never purport to offer legal, medical, or financial advice. Unless Reiki Tarot Spirituality also possesses the applicable educational background, licensures, certifications, and/or qualifications to be a psychologist, therapist, counsellor, or other mental health professional, he or she shall not purport to be one.

 Referrals to Qualified Professionals. Reiki Tarot Spirituality owes a reasonable duty of care to his or her client and if an inquiry touches upon legal matters, even by a tangential connection or in passing, Reiki Tarot Spirituality will refer the client to seek the counsel of a licensed attorney. If an inquiry touches upon health or medical matters, even by a tangential connection or in passing, Reiki Tarot Spirituality will refer the client to seek diagnosis by a licensed medical doctor. If an inquiry touches upon financial or real property matters, even by a tangential connection or in passing, Reiki Tarot Spirituality will refer the client to seek advice from a qualified financial consultant, analyst, or real estate professional. 

 Duty to Reject Subsequent Reading Requests. If at any time Reiki Tarot Spirituality believes or has reason to believe that a client is using tarot readings to substitute, and not merely supplement, counselling from a qualified mental health professional, then he or she has a duty to reject subsequent reading requests from the client and to refer the client to seek qualified mental professional support. However, tarot readings may be used as a supplement to qualified counselling or serve the function of life coaching or general spiritual guidance.

 No Dishonesty, Fraud, Deceit, or Misrepresentations. Reiki Tarot Spirituality shall not use tarot in a way that purports definitive and absolute knowledge of the future or of matters that are otherwise hidden or occult. Reiki Tarot Spirituality shall not represent him or herself as matter-of-factly having communication, access to, or knowledge of any supernatural phenomena. Reiki Tarot Spirituality shall never guarantee any one outcome, positive or negative. Reiki Tarot Spirituality shall never engage in deceptive business or unfair trade practices. Reiki Tarot Spirituality shall make no misrepresentations about his or her competency, certifications, qualifications, or abilities.

 Third Party Consent. Reiki Tarot Spirituality is discouraged from providing reading services on inquiries into the personal affairs, business, intentions, mental faculties, or activities of third parties who are not present for the reading, unless the client represents and warrants to Reiki Tarot Spirituality that such third party’s express consent has been obtained. Reiki Tarot Spirituality may reasonably rely on such a representation made by a client, though best practices would include noting the reliance in writing in Reiki Tarot Spirituality’s notes. However, Reiki Tarot Spirituality may provide reading services on inquiries about how the client’s affairs, business, intentions, mental faculties, or activities might be affected by that third party.

 Article Two | Communications

 The Reading Process. Reiki Tarot Spirituality is encouraged to make reasonable efforts to communicate his or her reading or interpretive process and analytical or intuitive methods, particular traditions, or the interpretive framework utilised. Reiki Tarot Spirituality will refrain from communicating to a client about curses or the manifestation of malicious intentions through supernatural or occult means.

 Disclosures. Reiki Tarot Spirituality shall make reasonable efforts to disclose to all clients that tarot readings cannot replace the counselling services of a mental health professional, and Reiki Tarot Spirituality can never guarantee his or her accuracy in the interpretation of a reading. Also, if and when tarot practice would be explicitly barred by a jurisdiction’s applicable laws, then Reiki Tarot Spirituality must communicate to the client in clear, unambiguous terms that such readings are to be for entertainment purposes. See also Article Five, Disclosures.

 No Duty to Retain Records. Reiki Tarot Spirituality does not owe a client any duty to retain the client’s reading records. Reiki Tarot Spirituality may, at the discretion of his or her customary practice, retain records or files on client readings.

 Records Retention. If Reiki Tarot Spirituality does elect to retain client records, then he or she must develop and maintain appropriate record-keeping systems for storing his or her clients’ personal information in a manner that will reasonably preserve the clients’ confidentiality and privacy.

 Article Three | Fees

 Statement of Fees. Reiki Tarot Spirituality shall state his or her service fees before the start of a reading and cannot later raise or increase the stated fee unless prior contractual terms allow for the increase. Reiki Tarot Spirituality must clearly communicate his or her fee schedule and payment terms prior to the commencement of any reading. A fee for any service that is $500.00 AUD or more must be contractually agreed upon in writing.

 No Pressure for Additional Services. Reiki Tarot Spirituality shall never pressure, compel, or even imply to clients that additional paid services from him or her are needed after the reading. Reiki Tarot Spirituality shall never purport to possess the power to manipulate the outcome of events through supernatural or occult means.

 Referral Fees. If Reiki Tarot Spirituality makes a referral, then he or she must disclose whether any referral fees have been paid as compensation or consideration for the referral.

 Article Four | Confidentiality

 Duty of Confidentiality. Although there is not likely to be a legal evidentiary privilege between Reiki Tarot Spirituality and client, Reiki Tarot Spirituality nonetheless agrees on his or her own accord to be bound by a duty of confidentiality. Reiki Tarot Spirituality shall not reveal personal or private information relating to a client reading unless that client has given informed consent.

 Reasonable Diligence to Protect Confidentiality. Reiki Tarot Spirituality shall exercise reasonable efforts to prevent the inadvertent or unauthorised disclosure of or access to information relating to his or her clients, which includes password protection to any electronic accounts, computers, or data storage units that would include client files and lock and key to any physical storage units containing hard copy files.

 Exceptions. However, tarot professionals may reveal personal or otherwise private information relating to a client reading if Reiki Tarot Spirituality reasonably believes it is necessary to prevent substantial bodily harm or death, or a court order overrides the confidentiality. Partial information from a tarot reading may be disclosed under the client’s anonymity for academic, civic, census, survey, or research purposes.

 Article Five | Disclosures

 General Practice Disclosures. Reiki Tarot Spirituality shall post a disclosure statement prominently at office locations, storefronts, on websites, reading venues, or commercial marketing materials that states essentially as follows:

 Disclosure Statement: Reiki Tarot Spirituality cannot predict the future with certainty and you should not rely on a tarot reading to make any decision that would affect your legal, financial, or medical condition. If your inquiry involves the law, finance, or medicine, then you should seek the advice of a licensed or qualified legal, financial, or medical professional. Also, tarot reading cannot replace qualified mental health care. A tarot reading can only facilitate how you cope spiritually with a given situation. In certain jurisdictions, Reiki Tarot Spirituality is required to disclose to you that tarot readings should be for entertainment purposes only, and if such a law applies to your reading, then you are hereby on notice thereof. Reiki Tarot Spirituality is bound by a self-imposed code of ethics, which can be provided to you upon request.

 Certification Disclosures. Reiki Tarot Spirituality is not required to be certified. However, if he or she obtains a certification related to tarot practice, Reiki Tarot Spirituality will disclose the certifying body or organisation that issued the certification.

 Article Six | Public Service

Reiki Tarot Spirituality is encouraged to dedicate at least 10% of his or her practice per year to public service, such as offering reading services to support fundraisers for non-profit organisations or charitable causes, free readings to persons of limited financial means, teaching tarot to others free of charge, creating educational materials on tarot for the public free of charge, or participating in activities with the mission of improving the practice of tarot or the tarot profession.

 Article Seven | Continuing Education

 Reiki Tarot Spirituality shall take the initiative to continue his or her tarot education for the full duration of and throughout his or her professional practice. Reiki Tarot Spirituality is encouraged to take classes or workshops on tarot, attend tarot conferences, symposia, or conventions, meet and collaborate with other tarot professionals, regularly read on the practice of tarot, and exercise diligent efforts to hone Reiki Tarot Spirituality’s craft and skill. 

Last Updated: 5th of August, 2019