STRANGELY enough, when a friend of her father returned from the States bringing hairdresser Sue Smith a pack of tarot cards as a gift, she didn't immediately see any future in it.

That was close to 40 years ago and for the last 25 of them, Sue has been a full-time tarot card reader it's even listed as her profession on her passport.

And she's kept very busy with readings given in person, by telephone or post.

As well as tarot readings, she is also adept at rune reading, palmistry, numerology, astrology and the ancient Egyptian cartouche and she runs courses teaching others these skills from her home in Rockbourne.

She says she reads the tarot intuitively.

"Nobody ever taught me.

"I read tarot cards like a book," she says.

"A lot of tarot readers read clairvoyantly they look at the person and the card and put the two together and see things happening.

"That's when you get a lot of bad publicity when people misread the cards."

She is at a loss to explain where the skills she has developed over the years first came from.

"I've no idea," she smiles.

"My mum used to read tea leaves but I didn't know that until just before she died."

A pack of tarot cards has 78 cards 22 in the major arcana including the fool and 56 in the minor arcana.

She estimates that she owns 20 packs of cards at one time, each of which will take about six months usage before it needs to be replaced.

Sue gives readings that take 20 minutes or 40 minutes.

"I don't want to know anything about a client to start," she says.

The cards are shuffled and placed face down and Sue asks the client to pull out a specific number and pass each one to her.

"I lay the cards out in a spread that feels right for me," she says Sue works with three packs of tarot cards for each reading, laying each out in turn to read the past, the present and what's in store for the next 18 months.

For her clients' benefit, each reading is recorded on tape, so that it can be taken home and played as often as required.

"My business has quadrupled since I started recording," she says.

Although people will often come to her home for readings, in the summer months, she has a pitch in Boscombe and also enjoys annual events like the Dorset Steam fair, where she has had a pitch for the last 18 years.

Sue's success can be measured in the amount of repeat business she gets.

"Around 85 per cent do come back and some have come to me for 20 years," she says.

Sue Smith can be contacted on 01725 518522 or by emailing sue@tarot.wanadoo.co.uk * Sue has organised a holistic pamper day on April 22 at the White Hart Hotel in St John Street, Salisbury. There will be opportunities for taster sessions in a range of therapies including hot and cold stone massage, crystal healing, tanning, aromatherapy, reiki, reflexology, tarot card readings and Bach flower remedies. The day will run from 11am-4pm and entry is free.