Tag: avoid scams

It isn’t fine – and it isn’t fear.

K.C. Green webcomic

It’s a meme.

We’ve probably all seen it by now. NPR cites K.C. Green as the creator of the famous “This is fine.” dog. We’ve all witnessed epic levels of denial, coated in metric tons of cognitive and emotional dissonance in the public space over the 10 years since this famous web comic was created.

It isn’t fine.

I’ll leave my void-screaming political views for Threads. For now, I want to stay in my lane and talk about my area of expertise, Tarot.

I think the trick to surviving social media is much like life: look for the big picture, and don’t take it all quite so personally. Curate your space. With that little bit of a step back, social media feels less like being a wide-eyed ingenue in the middle of a conflagration and more like an endless source of writing and art prompts.

Here is today’s thought-provoking juxtaposition.

One Tarot reader offered a breathy, pink chakra, love-and-light video about avoiding scams and finding breathy, heart-filled, pink chakra, love-and-light psychics.

Not my style – but a legit point. There really are bad people who have done bad things under the guise of psychics and Tarot and they have made this work a minefield of problems for the rest of us, whether we are annoyingly toxic positive or otherwise.

The problem here is the way they offered themselves up as the solution to the problem they were fussed up about.

Another reader has a dissenting view. Their thought that these kind of “how to find a good psychic” posts are little more than fear-mongering.

True, but incomplete.

When you caution people about real dangers you have to take great care to offer real solutions that work across the board – not just offer up yourself as the sole solution. If you put yourself out there as the only solution, then you are the scam you are warning about.

As a professional, a genuine high-level psychic reader has an obligation to take on difficult subjects for the sake of the clients we all wish to serve. That includes fear mongers. That includes scams. That includes taking on the subject of finding a trustworthy psychic in this crazy-pants world of “spiritual businesses.”

If we don’t talk about scams and impersonators and the very real pitfalls of finding a psychic we fail to serve the best interests of our clients – and ourselves. If we DO talk about scams and impersonators, to some extent we are engaging in the exact fear mongering that we are warning against.

This business is as fraught for an ethical psychic as it is for the person looking for them.

The best solution I can offer is a middle way where we take on the touch topics but hopefully avoid any problematic narcissism. As always, I take inspiration from Taoism and Chan (Zen) Buddhism. In this case, Dharma Drum Mountain says it best:

Face it :  face the difficulty squarely
Accept it :  accept the reality of the difficulty
Deal with it :  deal with the difficulty with wisdom and compassion
Let it go :  afterwards, let go of it

Let’s apply this to the issue at hand.

The difficulty is that crime exists. Psychic scams have been around as long as psychics and scammers. Those crimes has made life much worse for authentic psychics and their clients, both.

No amount of breathy woo woo or stalwart avoidance of fear mongering is going to help. Being a psychic and finding a trustworthy psychic is fraught with real, legitimate problems.

The best solutions I can think of are drawn from the non-psychic, non-spiritual realm: Transparent communication.

  • Get a recommendation from someone you trust, just like you would for a plumber or a hairdresser.
  • Be careful when reading third party reviews. Some reviews are scams in themselves containing websites and phone numbers unrelated to the psychic they are ‘reviewing.’ That is a reflection of the reviewer – not the business)
  • Follow your instincts. If you feel pressured, walk away. A psychic is not an emergency room. You have every right to take the time you need to find the right reading for you.
  • Don’t trust any psychic that targets you INDIVIDUALLY for a reading. Would you trust spam, email phishing or a stalker? Discounts, giveaways, or sales offered to the GENERAL PUBLIC are normal practices for any business. If you approach the psychic, that is one thing. If the psychic approaches you that is entirely and disturbingly different.
  • Look at websites, blogs, social media and advertising to get some sense of their personality. If you think they are a good match for you, talk or email with them BUT be sure to keep it neutral and professional yourself. Ask about normal business related things like hours, appointments, prices, refunds, and so on. Don’t pour your heart out to a stranger or interrogate them like a criminal. If they are open, patient and professional with your average business questions, chances are they will treat your reading with the same respect. High pressure sales, demanding a set number of sessions, promising a specific result, or blaming you for any outcome are all warning signs. If something feels off, trust those feelings.

The letting go step is the hardest part and perhaps the most dangerous point in all of this. YOU are the expert in how you feel. If you try a psychic and it doesn’t work out, by all means walk away and find someone else. With the internet, you have a world of psychics and Tarot readers to choose from. You should never feel pressured into getting more sessions or paying more money. You never have to see a psychic again if you don’t want to. You are the one who must decide if and when you get your next reading.

If you would like to read how I do things, you can download the ebooklet TaoCraft Portfolio HERE for free.

Follow your instincts. We professionals are spirit translators and intuition amplifiers – not ultimate answers.

Follow your instincts. If they lead you to a reading with me, great! Let’s get to work. If not, great! That means you are honoring your path even as I honor mine in writing this.

And that is a fearless, daring thing for us all.

TaoCraft Portfolio: Introduction

I want to work with you and this is my portfolio

Download the entire FREE TaoCraft Portfolio booklet HERE

When an artist interviews for a job, they bring examples of their work so the employer can decide if they are a good fit for the company or project. Authentic Tarot readers have more in common with artists than they do with stage show mentalists or movie psychics. From cave paintings to Da Vinci, art has many different styles and genres. No two artists are exactly alike. No two psychic intuitives are exactly alike. There is no ultimate psychic authority. There is no official right or wrong way to do a Tarot reading. Tarot is artistry and spirituality, not rules and regulations. One thing is certain. If you read this booklet, a Tarot reading with me should meet or exceed your expectations because you will know exactly what to expect in advance.


There aren’t many Tarot portfolios around. So how do you know who is a good match to do your psychic reading? The best advice, of course, is follow your own instincts. Pay attention to your deep down, reflex feelings when you look at a website or advertisement. Because of religious and cultural prejudices that are on the rise in some parts of the country, many of the best psychics and Tarot readers are still very quiet about what they do. It may take some research, asking around or visiting small, local “new age” bookstores to find anyone at all. Once you find someone who does readings, talk to them for a minute and ask reasonable questions. Don’t pour out your heart to a stranger or try to get an impromptu free reading over the phone. Instead, ask practical questions like location, prices, payment, scheduling and so on. Their demeanor in a non-Tarot conversation will give you a sense of the level professionalism they will bring to the reading itself. If they seem evasive, impatient or leave you feeling uncertain, then honor those feelings and look for someone else. If it feels right and you can afford it, try a session. If it is a good match, you’ll know right away. A good Tarot session inspires, empowers and reassures you. A reading should never frighten you, make you feel judged, or feel as if you have done something wrong.  If it isn’t a good experience, simply try again with someone else. A mismatched personality doesn’t necessarily mean that the reader is doing anything wrong. By the same token, you should never take it personally or feel that a bad session was your fault for “not believing” or any such nonsense. Of course, always use plenty of common sense to steer clear of scams. “Psychics” that make outrageous promises or make repeating and increasing demands on your time (and money) are best avoided. 

Thanks to the Internet, no matter where you live, you can get affordable, expert, caring Tarot readings. Distance Tarot is my specialty, and we’ll talk about that in more  detail in the chapters that follow. In this booklet, we’ll look at the basic structure underneath all of my readings, both distance and in-person. No matter whether we work face-to-face or remotely, no matter whether we are working with Tarot, Reiki or Meditation, I follow the same ethics and standards that I applied in my mainstream medical work. All policies are transparent, written in plain English, and found in the “Fine Print” chapter at the end of this booklet.

Following your instincts, combined with a little common sense can help you find an excellent psychic. I hope that once you read this, your instincts will be to get a reading with me. 

I want to work with you and this is my portfolio.