You know you want spiritual guidance, but the options are overwhelming. Tarot readers, psychics, mediums, energy healers, intuitives, channelers—what is the difference? And more importantly, which one do you actually need?
The answer depends on what you are seeking. Different practitioners offer different services, and matching your need to the right modality makes all the difference.
Here is your guide to choosing.
Understanding the Main Categories
Tarot and Oracle Card Readers
What they do: Use card decks as tools to access intuitive guidance about your life, relationships, decisions, and patterns.
Best for:
- Gaining perspective on a specific situation
- Exploring possible outcomes of decisions
- Understanding patterns in your life
- General guidance and reflection
- Questions about love, career, personal growth
Not ideal for:
- Connecting with deceased loved ones (though some readers also offer mediumship)
- Physical healing
- Predicting exact future events with certainty
What to expect: You will typically ask questions or focus on areas of your life. The reader draws cards and interprets their meaning in context. Good readers help you see your situation from new angles. Learn more in our guide to your first tarot reading.
Psychics and Intuitives
What they do: Access information through extrasensory perception—seeing, hearing, feeling, or knowing things beyond ordinary awareness.
Best for:
- Insight into situations, relationships, or life direction
- Understanding energetic dynamics around you
- Guidance when you feel stuck or confused
- Validation of your own intuitive hits
- General life guidance
Not ideal for:
- Guaranteed predictions (ethical psychics acknowledge uncertainty)
- Medical diagnosis or legal advice
- Connecting with specific deceased people (unless they are also mediums)
What to expect: Psychics may use tools (cards, astrology, pendulums) or work purely through intuitive impression. They share what they perceive about your energy, situation, or path. See our guide on finding a trustworthy psychic.
Mediums
What they do: Communicate with people who have died, serving as intermediaries between the living and those who have passed.
Best for:
- Connecting with deceased loved ones
- Receiving messages from those who have passed
- Finding closure after loss
- Evidence that consciousness continues after death
- Healing grief through continued connection
Not ideal for:
- General life guidance (unless the medium also offers psychic services)
- Questions unrelated to the deceased
- Guaranteed contact with specific individuals (mediums cannot control who comes through)
What to expect: The medium will describe who is coming through, provide validating evidence, and share messages. You confirm information as they go. Read our complete guide to finding a reputable medium and working with a medium after loss.
Energy Healers
What they do: Work with the body's energy system to promote balance, release blockages, and support healing on physical, emotional, and spiritual levels.
Best for:
- Feeling energetically stuck, drained, or unbalanced
- Supporting physical healing (complementing medical care, not replacing it)
- Processing emotions held in the body
- Stress reduction and relaxation
- Chakra balancing and energy clearing
- Spiritual development and sensitivity
Not ideal for:
- Getting information or guidance (healing, not reading)
- Specific predictions about your life
- Connecting with deceased people
What to expect: Sessions may involve hands-on or hands-off work, visualization, breathwork, or other techniques depending on the modality. Effects can include deep relaxation, emotional release, and shifts in how you feel in your body. Learn about preparing for energy healing and questions to ask beforehand.
Channelers
What they do: Receive and transmit messages from non-physical beings—guides, angels, ascended masters, or collective consciousnesses.
Best for:
- Spiritual teaching and wisdom
- Guidance from higher perspective
- Understanding your soul purpose or spiritual path
- Connection with guides or higher self
Not ideal for:
- Connecting with specific deceased humans (that is mediumship)
- Practical day-to-day guidance
- Those uncomfortable with the concept of non-physical beings
What to expect: The channeler enters an altered state and speaks or writes messages from the entity they channel. Quality varies widely—discernment is essential.
Matching Your Need to the Right Service
"I need guidance about a decision or situation"
Best options: Tarot reader or psychic
Both can help you see your situation clearly and explore possible paths. Tarot provides structured frameworks through card meanings; psychics offer direct intuitive impression.
"I want to connect with someone who died"
Best option: Medium
This is specifically what mediums do. Psychics who are not also mediums may pick up on deceased energy but typically cannot facilitate the kind of connection and message delivery that mediums specialize in.
"I feel stuck, drained, or off in my body or energy"
Best option: Energy healer
If your issue is energetic rather than informational—you feel blocked, depleted, anxious in your body, or spiritually stuck—energy work addresses this directly in ways that readings do not.
"I want spiritual wisdom and teaching"
Best options: Channeler, spiritual mentor, or spiritual director
If you are seeking ongoing spiritual development rather than situation-specific guidance, consider finding a spiritual mentor or working with a spiritual director.
"I am grieving and need support"
Best options: Medium (for connection with the deceased) plus grief support
A medium can facilitate connection, but grief is complex. Consider combining mediumship with grief counseling or therapy. See our guide on mediumship after loss.
"I am curious and just want to explore"
Best option: Start with a tarot or psychic reading
Lower stakes than energy work or mediumship, tarot and psychic readings offer a good entry point for the spiritually curious. You will learn something about yourself and get a feel for this world.
Many Practitioners Offer Multiple Services
The categories above are not rigid walls. Many practitioners work across modalities:
- Psychic mediums combine psychic reading with mediumship
- Intuitive healers blend energy work with intuitive guidance
- Tarot readers may also be psychic, bringing intuitive impressions beyond card meanings
- Mediums often provide psychic guidance from spirits alongside connection
When browsing practitioners, read their profiles carefully to understand what combination of services they offer. You may find someone who addresses multiple needs in one session.
Questions to Help You Decide
Ask yourself:
What am I hoping to receive?
- Information and guidance → psychic or tarot
- Connection with the deceased → medium
- Healing and energy shift → energy healer
- Spiritual teaching → channeler or mentor
What kind of experience do I want?
- Conversational and interactive → psychic, tarot, or channeling
- Primarily receiving → energy healing
- Emotional and potentially intense → mediumship or deep healing work
What is my comfort level with the unknown?
- New to this → start with tarot (most accessible)
- Open but cautious → psychic reading
- Ready for deeper work → energy healing or mediumship
Am I seeking one-time insight or ongoing support?
- One-time → reading or single healing session
- Ongoing → consider a spiritual mentor or regular practitioner relationship
Finding the Right Practitioner
Once you know what type of service you need, finding the right individual matters:
Read profiles carefully: Understand exactly what they offer and how they work.
Check reviews: What do previous clients say about their experience?
Trust your resonance: Beyond credentials, do you feel drawn to this person?
Start with one session: Before committing to packages or ongoing work, see how a single session feels.
Ask questions beforehand: Reputable practitioners welcome questions about their approach.
When You Are Still Unsure
If you genuinely do not know what you need:
Book an introductory session: Many practitioners offer shorter intro sessions at lower cost.
Ask the practitioner: Explain what you are experiencing; they can help you determine if their service fits.
Try different modalities: Exploration is valid. You learn what works for you by experiencing different approaches.
Trust the process: Sometimes the right practitioner finds you. Stay open.
Finding Your Practitioner on SpiriVerse
SpiriVerse hosts practitioners across all these modalities—tarot readers, psychics, mediums, energy healers, channelers, and spiritual guides. Our platform lets you:
- Filter by the type of service you need
- Read detailed profiles explaining each practitioner's approach
- See reviews from verified clients
- Book sessions with clear expectations
Whatever you are seeking, the right practitioner is available. Knowing what you need is the first step to finding them.
Ready to find your practitioner? Browse vetted spiritual service providers on SpiriVerse and book the guidance you need.
