BTS: It’s all me

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I’m so grateful for each and every one of you reading this. I enjoy writing this blog so very much.

The time has come to just say it – writing is my forte and typed Tarot readings are my best work. I do live and in-person readings really well – video readings, online readings, and over the years I’ve built some serious party chops at big events (CMU, Nordstroms, Arthritis Foundation of Pittsburgh & more)

I want to spend time and energy in 2024 getting back to where it all started: typed distance readings. I want to give a little love to the blog with some longer reads and deeper dives. So thank you, thank you, thank you for coming along.

“I don’t have ducks. I don’t have rows. I have squirrels and they are hosting a pagan rave.”

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As much as I enjoy a good squirrel rave, this needs a touch of logic and a methodical approach. The “there is no plan” plan is still very much in place, but the general rule of thumb is:

• Monday – Choose Your Card. Watch the video in the post or on YouTube. PAUSE the video at first so you can CHOOSE your card, then RESTART the video to see the reveal. A short reading is in the video description and on social media. A more in-depth card of the week reading will be right HERE on the blog. A lot of our holidays fall on Monday here in the U.S so on those days I may not post.
• Wednesday – BTS or Learn With Me: Starting today, I plan to do behind the scenes (- ish) posts that give you a peek inside my method and philosophy of Tarot reading. OF COURSE it is mostly shameless self promotion because I want you to buy email Tarot readings from me. But with a little luck we’ll all maybe find a little free fun and inspiration along the way
• Friday – something completely random or a quick one card meditation to satisfy my completionist side and fit that nice M-W-F pattern
• The weekend newsletter is going on hiatus until I can figure out how to switch it from Substack to WordPress. I’ll keep you posted on that, although I’m hoping you’ll follow the blog (right column on laptop, scroll waayyy down on mobile) Three posts a week isn’t bad and posts go straight to your inbox, just like a newletter would anyway. But that’s to sort out another day.
• Comments are always open and you are welcome to CONTACT ME with any questions and get an answer in the blog. Unless it’s spam. Then I’ll prolly block you.

It’s all me

This ain’t my first rodeo as they say.

I’ve been reading cards in some capacity since the early 1990s. You know, when the whole world was black and white and computer memory was still 5 inches across.

At first I just read for friends & for myself because why pay the phone company and Dionne Warwick’s friends huge amounts of money for something you could do yourself? After a while, a friend suggested that I try working on one of those online sites (eternal gratitude, girlfriend!)

Taking her advice, I did Tarot readings on Keen, Advice Trader and Allexperts all under the nickname Baihu. Within a few years of some serious hustle, I’d done hundreds of readings. Yes, you read that right, hundreds. I stopped counting around 400 or so. After a while, enough was enough of the experience building for free or nearly free.

I started my own part time Tarot practice with ModernOracleTarot.com, the Tarotbytes blog, and Quirk & Flotsam Etsy shop. During those years I did in-person, party, phone and email Tarot readings.

The name was fun, inspired by The Oracle character from The Matrix. Despite that, I made sure Modern Oracle had a carefully curated, super sanitized, white-washed image that was nice and non-threatening to any random local conservative suburbanites that might stumble across it. I had a family to protect, after all.

Now, that family is all security minded working adults and I don’t have to be around school district soccer moms any more (whew!) Modern Oracle just didn’t fit anymore, so I re-branded in 2018 to TaoCraft Tarot which was a much more authentic representation of myself and my Tarot philosophy

I’ve studied Tai Chi, and Taoist philosophy as long as I have Tarot and Reiki almost as long. I’ve had an interest in magick and witchcraft longer than any of it, even as a very small person watching Bewitched re-runs on TV. The TaoCraft name was very meaningful to me, but it didn’t seem to make as much sense to new clients. People seemed to stumble over it a bit. That’s a big problem because these Tarot readings that we do together are not about me … they are all about and for YOU.

So re-brand number two: Sage Words Tarot

Easy to pronounce, easy to understand, basic, common words that get the point across on multiple levels.

Sage is an herb with a familiar flavor from sausage and holiday turkeys. Sage in aromatherapy calms anxieties, lifts moods and promotes optimism. Aromatherapy can come in the form of burned incense and dried leaf bundles. Sage smoke can be used to metaphysically clear the energy of a space but should not to be confused with the indigenous practice of smudging. They are two paths from two cultures that wind up in a similar place, but each deserving of its own respect.

I hope that a Tarot session with me leaves you feeling calm, comforted and hopeful, just like sage aromatherapy.

Sage is also a word meaning wise, symbolic of Tarot’s wise advice.

Sage is now my pen name and Sage Words Tarot is the website where it all originates.

TaoCraft is still under there a little bi. It’s like a new business in an old Pizza Hut building. You can’t deny the structure underneath. The same is true here. My work is still guided by the Taoist treasures of simplicity, honesty and kindness. I still follow the Reiki ethic of only doing energy work with those who give knowing consent. I never ever approach or spam an individual to get a reading.

Advertise? Sure. I have coffee to buy and web hosting to pay for. Your reading orders (no appointment needed for video or email) memberships and virtual coffee donations all go toward keeping the lights on in this humble little Tarot shop in cyberspace.

Thanks so much for reading! Next up: One Card Friday. See you at the next sip!