The Rise of the Manipulative Reading Space

Stop me if you’ve heard this…..

“You were meant to find this”

“Stop scrolling, this message is for you”

“Your Guides have a message”

“Watch on (insert date) for miracles”

“You need to hear this”

“Heart this and interact 3x to seal your blessings”

“Comment Amen/Blessings/Yes etc to have this happen”

“You’re a future millionaire if you see this”

And it goes on and on and on. 

There have always been readers that were scammers or told people what they wanted to hear in order to make money, and readers who were gifted and accurate. It’s been this way since divination, in all its forms, has been a thing. History is peppered with prophets, seers, psychics and witches who used their trade to inform, change, predict and create prophecy. It’s not a new craft and it will always be a craft that will exist in one form or another most likely for all of humanity’s existence. But sadly, there has been this troubling upswing with the advent of the social media influencer and it has become quite a problem in the spiritual community. 

I call it the rise of the manipulative reading space.

I’m sure you have all come across this type of video whether it’s on YouTube, TikTok , Instagram and so forth – basically any social media platform that has a video function and a follower button. It’s not one type of reader, there are all sorts of types online that appeal across different personality types, trends and presentations. It what makes people tune in. It gets those views, the follower counts and of course, whatever partnered creator program the account holder is connected with, starts rolling in the money. 

And they all have the same thing in common.

A click-baity title designed to get people to tune in and watch. Their stock and trade is people’s hope that life is going to get better and maybe, just maybe, if they watch this video and listen to the creator it will bring about the shift that changes everything. But it never does because one creator peddling a reading “meant for you if you find it” with tens of thousands of likes is not a reading that is meant for anything other than engagement. They’re fun if you give them all the seriousness you would a clown in a bouncy castle but to take them as writ and a gift from the universe? It’s asking for heartbreak. 

A genuine reader is going to give you a reading answering your question, addressing your situation and offering actionable steps to begin changing your path if this is what you want. A good reader is going to be able to see the heart of the matter as it pertains to you and not fifty thousand other people tuning in. I read cards, it’s not something I often promote across my social media platforms and often people only come across it in my Etsy shop when they’re browsing other things but my record speaks for itself. My readings are always one on one and for that specific person, it’s not something I rinse, repeat and recycle to anyone who purchases one.

How is that different to what is being peddled now? The tone. The marketing.

This style reading is presented in a way that has a tone of absoluteness to it; if you watch it, your life will change, you’ll become a millionaire, that specific person will call you. Can this be something that comes out in a reading? Yes. Is it meant for the thousands of people watching? No. It can’t be because the energy of a reading, from a genuine reader, is going to be tailored to your energy. The biggest issue with these readings – even if you look at them as strictly entertainment – is that there is no actionable advice offered with the reading. Your specific person is going to call you – okay, how? You are going to become a millionaire after watching the reel – okay, how? What steps do I need to take to get there? Your life is going to be so much better after such and such date…okay, how? I know I probably seem quite pedantic in my tone but none of these readings ever truly offer any actionable advice that will actually improve your life or get the ball rolling on the claims they’re making.

A lot of readers who are not using cards will claim to use reiki through the screen to improve your life, help you manifest thousands (that’s always a fun one, watch this video and I’ll help you manifest ten thousand dollars) but the caveat they put is that it is an “energy exchange” so like and subscribe or interact three times and send to yourself. Yet the person watching, getting this apparently thousands of dollars delivering reiki never gets the money. All they get is self doubt, self loathing and start losing hope but hey, the creator got their subs and views so they’re doing fine. I know quite a lot of you will be sitting there saying “it’s their choice to interact with/consume this content, no one is forcing them” and you would be correct. 

Obviously. 

My biggest issue with it is that it is predatory and manipulative.

But when your life is falling apart and you have no course of action in front of you that shows a path out, these reels and videos can literally become a lifeline and viewers will passively sit by and wait for these things to happen because the creator has not offered anything of value to help the process. Just simply watching their videos, reels, stories or whatever is peddled as all that is necessary for things to change and they don’t. 

We’re living in a hard time right now, a cost of living crisis is crippling a lot of us and there doesn’t seem to be a natural or easy way out of it; we’re simply stuck in a boat with no rudder while people far more powerful and wealthier than us steer this world in the direction its currently going. This creates desperate people who hang onto an influencer hoping beyond all hope that this is the one that will change their life so that they can eat, or afford rent, or put fuel in their car. They will continue to watch, consume and like because it might just happen if they do; maybe the universe is finally going to hear them and throw them a win because otherwise they might just fall apart from the situation they’re living in. 

Then the spiral begins.

Depression, anxiety, self loathing, anger, the inevitable comparisons with the creators who – in and around their huge undelivered promises – show off their lifestyle. The designer handbags, the cars, the houses and holidays….all available to you too if you just believe in the universe and follow them. It’s on par with the toxic nature of manifestation culture (another topic for another day) and people don’t realise that these creators build this image off the backs of partnered programs or starting out with money they can use to build their platform. It’s a constant cycle and of course, with the nature of algorithms, the more content you watch of one kind, the more that comes across your feed and in your face while you’re doomscrolling. 

I see the attraction in creating a channel with vague messages and big promises that you don’t have to actually deliver on because it’s a reading, it’s from the universe. You’re not actually responsible for what you say coming true….because take what resonates, maybe it’s not meant for you, maybe it’s not meant to happen yet…..all the buzz phrases designed to keep viewers hanging on. I would never do something like this because while I can see the attraction, having been on the side of severe depression and anxiety, constantly comparing myself and feeling like I’m a failure, I would never do that to another person willingly or knowingly. However for those who like power, money or fame - the lure of becoming a spiritual influencer is quite seductive. People worshipping you, believing you, buying your products, creating income for you through views; it can build your income very quickly if you’re talented at manipulation, you just have to hit that right note and that right tone.

If anyone was around the clock app earlier in the year, you would have seen the absolute mess kicked over by Alex Reads Tarot becoming Christian and has since, from what I have gathered from the continuing discourse, completely flipping on her opinion on the Occult (those were some crazy witch war times). She had curated an audience by presenting herself as an authority on tarot, doing generalised readings, personal readings and making a lot of money doing it. I was not familiar with her until this all happened and I am still not familiar with her but the discourse around her conversion was very interesting and very prolific on the clock app. It was a real time study in putting a spiritual influencer on a pedestal and the fallout that can happen. The heartbreak in her followers was real and genuine and it goes to show how dangerous it can be to put any influencer on a pedestal in the spiritual community, giving them your time and money.

I am well aware of the irony of saying all of this when I work within the spiritual community as a writer, reader and retailer however I wouldn’t classify myself as an influencer (I don’t have that kind of reach or income) but I know myself enough to know that if I was ever in the position of being a lot more well known online I wouldn’t be acting in a way that didn’t sit right with who I am. Like any of us, I would love more money, I would never turn down more money and if I could make more of it doing what I love, I absolutely would. But I could not, and would not, exploit people’s desperation to do it. I couldn’t vague a reading that could apply to everyone and no one hoping that there are some people who will funnel those views into monetary gain. If I can’t offer something truly of value with depth and meaning then I am not going to do it. 

If anything of value can come from this post, I hope that it helps people who are stuck in the loop of the manipulative reading space community. There is nothing wrong with you because a random creator online said you would manifest ten thousand dollars by watching them and it didn’t happen. Sadly the real world doesn’t work that way. It would be nice if it did, we’d all be better off financially but a creator waving their hands at a screen or flipping some cards, giving big promises, is not going to be the person that changes your life and gives you everything you’ve ever wanted.

No matter how many of their videos you watch.

Enjoy the content if it’s something you like to view but don’t let yourself get hooked into their marketing because ultimately it is just that, marketing. It’s particular phrasing, it’s trends and it’s all designed to make the creator – and not you – rich.

Watch cat videos instead.

Take care everyone and be discerning about your doomscrolling. It’s a jungle out there in social media land.

Caveat: In the past I have done generalised readings but I never pretended they were anything other than that. I don’t do it anymore, I don’t delve much into the divination space these days outside of reading for other people but I was always forthcoming in that nothing I said was meant to be taken as literal advice and was more for fun and introspection. And to show the cards of different decks that I had for people who wanted to see different styles of decks – this wasn’t on this blog, it was on a tarot specific blog I haven’t touched in about 7 years.

This post is not AI, it was not written with the help of AI nor was it run through AI to polish it up. I have been writing for longer than I haven’t so I don’t need the help of AI to write. I was writing and published long before AI was even a thing; it’s a sad world where I have to declare this but nowadays the accusations of AI against decent writers has become very prolific. Rest assured any posts on this blog are all written by me, using my own knowledge, brain and research ability.