Tag: energy

“I kinda like it in here. It’s private.”

Mythbusters was on TV. I needed that.

One of my many, many favorite moments from the show is the time when Jamie was wearing a silver fire suit. You couldn’t see see him through the face mask at all, only hear him deadpanning “I kinda like it in here. It’s private.”

Here is why that moment comes to mind:

If you work with energy, intuition or do professional readings there are times when you need a mental fire suit.

If you want a real deal, deep dive, time tested and reliable resource on the topic, go get yourself a copy of “Psychic Protection” by Ted Andrews. It is far and away the best resource I’ve ever read about healthy psychic work, bar none. But for the purposes of our little blog post, there are two basic concepts I want to focus on: Empathic sensitivity and Zeitgeist sensitivity or energy resonance.

As I understand it, empaths feel other people’s emotions as if they were their own. The boundary between their own true feelings and the feelings of other people is often thin, blurry, or difficult to find. Very sensitive empaths regulate this through proximity. They know (or can learn) their boundaries and respect their limits. When emotional levels become too intense or overwhelming they exit the situation. Highly sensitive empaths are careful where and how they engage with crowded environments like bars or shopping malls for example. I know of two very skilled, very wise, very kind psychic readers who are selective about where they go and how long they stay in busy public places. It’s not in any way the product of anxiety or agoraphobia. It’s pure self care. It takes time, experience and a great deal of self awareness for these high vibration folks to learn where their boundaries are and how to manage them.

For those of us who are generally energy sensitive, but not emotionally empathic, it is quite a bit easier to see that boundary between our own emotions and general environmental energies. I like to think of it as zeitgeist sensitivity or energy resonance separate from any empathic process.

Zeitgeist means the general mood of a time or a cultural phenomenon. In my experience, this is the energy we tap into when we post a general reading for a blog or on social media without a specific individual in mind. The cultural mood of the time, the zeitgeist, is the general-public parallel with the higher self, spirit guides or divine that we sense in an individual Tarot session.

In times of great emergency like the current pandemic, the cultural energy is so strong, so ubiquitous, and so pervasive that the lines become blurred even for those of us who are not usually empathic. It is helpful to think of this like resonance from physics. Think of the tuned bells in a hand bell choir. If you strike a tuning fork and hold it very close, a bell tuned to that some note could in theory vibrate along with it. If our intuition is sensitive to cultural zeitgeists then we can resonate with that environmental energy. The general zeitgeist, through resonance, rings our bell too.

The Covid-19 pandemic has been a giant bell-ringer for everyone. I worry for our very empathic friends. There is very real danger, illness, grief, and hardship out there. I can’t imagine any sane person who is NOT experiencing SOME level of adjustment. Imagine feeling the real things we are all facing, plus the emotions of others on top of it all. For those of us lucky enough to be safe and well at the moment, it still might be a good idea to get our mental fire suit out.

In order to do our best readings for our clients, and to maintain our own psychic / spiritual health, I think it is important for all sensitives, intuitives, Tarot readers and the like to take care of their emotional boundaries in a time like this. It is important to know what is your own, inner, real, valid, valuable, genuine emotions and what is the outside world ringing your bell.

Intention, as always, is everything. Finding your emotional boundaries and putting on your fire suit can be as simple as visualizing. Imagine yourself surrounded by white or golden light. When I was in my teens, before I was at a place in life where I could quit, I would sit in the more toxic Sunday services at my parent’s church and visualize myself wearing an orange hazmat suit. It helped. Now I have a whole variety of energy protecting, boundary fortifying, zeitgeist clarifying tools: black tourmaline, discreet pentacles and sigils, aura clearing aromatherapy spray, visualizations and more. Yes, it is all full-throttle woo woo but it has value. It helps me understand my emotions with greater clarity, it helps me understand the outer situation, and helps me keep logic and reason close at hand. That makes it worth it, no matter how woo-woo it might seem to some folks. It may take some trial and error, but you can find your fire suit too. I encourage you to find the things that help you see what is your emotion (so you can honor it) and what is the outside world pinging your boundary lines (so you can put that information to good use.) If you aren’t sure, try a little visualization and active imagination. Imagine yourself wearing a protective fire suit that keeps out any vibe not coming from your own true heart. The suit doesn’t cut you off from the world. You still feel the heat of it all. The suit lets you know that you aren’t the one on fire.

YouChoose Interactive Tarot: Change Will Change

Pause the video if you need a moment to choose your card for today, then restart the video to see the reveal. You know what I wrote on the blog about Pentacle cards repeating? Scratch that…nothing has changed about the pandemic. It’s an eneregy shift today, NOT a physical realm one. More on that in another post. Meanwhile, we have to stay in Samuel L. Jackson mode…. STILL wash your hands, don’t touch your face, and stay the f*ck at home. New York City is still in the thick of it, so the worst is yet to come for the rest of us. Be safe, and take good care of yourselves as best as you can.

Left: 3 of Cups. Even the introverts are starting to catch a little cabin fever…until we listen to the news or scroll social media. Forget mass media. Take a loooong break from your socials. The human spirit is thirsting for real, genuine one to one conversation. We can’t feed our need for physical interaction so it is all the more important to feed our need for genuine conversation and a meeting of the minds. Use technology for genuine conversation and connection, not mass broadcast. Leave that for the professional journalists. Write a letter. Make a phone call. Text. Zoom if that’s your thing. It is a two for one offer. The conversation just might lift the whole group’s spirits.

Middle: The Moon. The physical moon moves through cycles in its appearance to us on earth, so this card is often associated with the natural cycles of things. That daisy-chains to effect of the moon on the tides, connecting the card to water and intuition. The energies today are right to experiment with your own intuition. Listen with your heart, extend your feelings. What shifts in mood and energy do you sense? What is in your energy environment right now that needs your attention? Is it within you, hinting at a need for self-care or is it outside of you calling you to help others?

Right: The Wheel. Freud was right. Sometimes a cigar really is just a cigar. Sometimes the message from a card is just as obvious, simple and straight forward as it seems. This will all change. Life changed from normal to pandemic mode and will change again in time. It will never go back to what once was because this will always have happened…this time and this experience will always exist. Time will move on, things will change. It will become our choice whether we let this time scar us, strengthen us, empower us or haunt us. Change is inevitable, but the choice is yours about how…and if…you embrace it.

My Side of the Tarot Table: YouTube

Whenever I take a break from thinking about the coronavirus pandemic, I’ve been thinking about the YouTube channel. It is harder to transition to speaking on video than I thought it would be. To be honest, I HATE the way I’ve been sounding this past week. I’m not always like that, I swear. Co-hosting on David Dear’s Menage A Tarot podcast with he and Kate was one of the most fun things I’ve ever, ever done! The clumsiness lately is a lesson for me. It will get better, I’m sure, now that I’ve figured out the what if not the why of what’s going on. I am hugely grateful to all of you who have watched the videos for coming on this bumpy start with me.

It’s not like my goal is to be the Markiplier of YouTube Tarot world, and I have no intention of trying to compete with speech-to-camera pros like Benebel Wen or Theresa Reed. If you are looking for polished, articulate, edited, or high production values…I can’t help you there. Writing is my forte, but I had the thought that the videos would give you a taste of what a live in-person reading would be like, but that isn’t happening right now either. It’s an energy thing. Let me explain.

I can connect to energy and spirit with a keyboard as well as anyone and (in my less than humble opinion) better than most.  I can type your message from spirit to you with all the power and clarity of speaking to you face to face. Maybe more, because live sessions don’t have spell check, and grammar hints. I love to read and a writer by nature. I connect to your energy seamlessly just by reading your name and question (or permission for an open session) on a screen. It’s like turning on a light switch.

When I write blog posts like this, it isn’t with a particular person in mind, but the switch trips just the same. I send these out with the intent that whoever needs it will find and that the message helps someone somewhere. I’ve gotten enough feedback from readers over all of these years to know that it works. YouTube may not capture that, but here, now, this blog and these words, this time with you captures every bit of it.

I can connect to your energy during your live session very easily. We chat and talk a little bit at the beginning, and that brings the connection clear and bright, just like lighting a candle.

YouTube, is a different energy animal. It’s like trying to do a reading during a middle school dance in a giant gymnasium. There is a megaton of energy, lots of connections to be made and, I suspect, some folks that are interested in Tarot. Maybe YouTube isn’t the best place for me to be…that’s why I decided to not sweat it or pour a lot of editing and production effort into it. YouTube for me is instructive, it shows the mechanics of Tarot more than the message of it. It shows that each card draw is random and genuine and the real thing. Raw and down to earth is just fine. I think of the “YouChoose” videos as a hand scrawled poster board taped to the wall of the gymnasium free-for-all that lets everyone know that there are some Tarot readings over here if you are interested in one-to-one, affordable, quiet, calm, zen like time with the cards. “If you build it they will come” is a thing. It’s an intention and manifestation thing. It’s a I’m here for you thing, in all kinds of cyberspaces.

But again, thank you to everyone who reads the blog, watches the vids, and follows along with social media. You all are the BEST and you are the ones that make this kind of work worth doing.

If you have any questions, suggestions, feedback, or just want to say hi…PLEASE click HERE for the easy contact form.

Hang in there everyone. Weird times and complicated energies are afoot. We’ll get through it. If I can help by listening to the howling winds of intuition … I’m right here and will do my best for you. Y’all got this. All of you.

Typing, Talking and YouTubing

Hi everyone!

First and foremost, thank you all from my very core for reading this. I appreciate all of you so much!

It goes without saying that in-person readings are on hold until the stay-at-home order is lifted and the coronavirus dangers have passed. No Tarot reading is worth risking so much as a nose cold over, much less something like this.

Fortunately, I am a distance Tarot specialist. A keyboard or pen and paper has always been a bright red bat-phone right to the heart of spirit and intuition for me. I don’t know why….it just is. Talking with someone, having that chatty little conversation at the beginning of a session, creates an equally powerful connection. Talking to my tablet to upload to YouTube – not so much.

Blog posts are different. I can write a general post with the intent that it will help (or at least be of interest) to someone, somewhere. Keyboards are a hotlink to intuition, but talking isn’t quite wired to do that – yet. It will come with practice. Meanwhile, I am enormously grateful to everyone who has muddled through the YouTube learning curve with me. It will get better, I promise. I really want to make it work: Here is why.

I have a friend who learns and remembers better from the spoken word than from the written. Audio books are a big asset for her. I want to learn to do YouTube video Tarot readings for her and for auditory learners like her.

So long story short:

  1. In-person readings are on hiatus for the time being
  2. YouTube readings continue but expect some changes. At some point I may delete all the old readings and re-boot the whole thing. If there are any readings you want to download, now’s  your chance before they randomly disappear
  3. The price of 5 and 7 card email readings have been reduced for the duration of the PA stay at home order. Order on the home page, no appointment needed.
  4. FREE TAROT offer on the special offers page
  5. Zombie Cat is back! (and 66% off. Order on the special offers page.)

12 Second Tarot: Temperance (aka the cure for Mecury retrograde)

 

Stop. Just stop for a second. 

Take a deep breath. Take a look around. Get the information about where you are, so you can catch your breath and catch your balance before moving on.

Things have been pretty yang lately, energetically speaking. Yin and yang, outward, inward, pushing, taking in….all of those things apply on a mental level as well as the physical.

Choosing is a mentally active thing, even in those times when you choose to do nothing or choose to decide later. Choosing not to choose is still a choice, even when made through apathy or inattention. It is still doing a thing. So is stopping, at least for a moment, to regain your balance.

I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t resonate with astrology on a lot of levels, most of all with the whole Mercury retrograde thing. I mean, take a tiny step above the ecliptic plane and Mercury moves just fine. Look. Look at the planetary movement from the big picture, from top down. A little shift in perspective and POOF! No problem.

So stop. Just stop.

The cure for all the frustrations that social media looooves to blame on Mercury is to go from frenetic mental yang to a moment of mental yin. Stop. Re-calibrate. Re-orient. Re-balance. And Re-member how the solar system actually works. Think of this trick-of-eye retrograde time as a time for mental yin. Naturally, if you push and keep a frenetic yang spider-monkey-on-amphetamines state of mind during a yin quiet-and-observe energy time, you are going to be blocked and frustrated. If, as Neil Degrasse Tyson says, “The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you” then neither are the energies of the universe obliged to cater to your agenda. Like the rhythm of the planets, energies ebb and flow. Sometimes energy is right for a large and in charge King of Passions and Choices like we saw yesterday with the King of Pentacles. Other times the energies are right for a moment of watching, mixing, balancing. 

The Tao in TaoCraft is about finding harmony with energies as they are then making a better way forward. Tarot has a card for that.

Best Contact

Over the next week or so, I won’t be available by telephone or voicemail. You are more than welcome to text, send email or contact me through social media.

There will probably be some delivery delays for email readings. I wish I could be more specific, but it all hinges on when mom’s lab tests come back and when she is discharged from the hospital again.

To be perfectly honest, I can’t work down there in that energy environment. I’ve tried before and it didn’t go well. This ties in with some of the upcoming posts that I have planned. Those might not happen until I get home either, so let’s just say I’ll explain everything later when I get home. It is all Tarot how-to, behind the scenes, my side of the reading table type stuff. It really does relate to intuition, Tarot, spirituality, all that sort of thing. I hope you’ll stay tuned and take a peek.

That being said, for the rest of January I’ll be posting Taraffirmations and quotes instead of 12 Second Tarot ot You Choose Tarot posts. Then starting Febrary 1st, look for a revival of the Modern Oracle / Tarotbytes blog series “My Tarot Valentine.”

I’m just deeply grateful for the internet connection down there. It’s not super serious, medically speaking, but a fragile elderly lady needs a little tlc, and that just happens to put me in an environment 1. Makes me a little nuts and 2. Makes it impossible for me to do any sort of Tarot or Reiki work.

I’m also deeply grateful for all of you reading this and following TaoCraft Tarot on the socials. Don’t forget the FREE digital ink magic email reading on the specials page. It might take a few days to get it to you but, I promise, it will get there eventually.

12 Second Tarot: Two of Wands

Number two cards emphasize balance. In this case, balance looking ahead with this present moment. Balance foresight and mindfulness. Look up to see where you are headed and where you want to go. Then look to the here and now in order to do the things that will get you there. Today the energy flows toward foresight. It is a good day to look up and dream.

Q&A: Doesn’t the person have to be with you for the reading to work?

(reprise)

Q: How can you do Tarot readings from a distance? Doesn’t the person have to be with you for the reading to work?

A: They call intuition a sixth sense or extrasensory perception for a reason.  It really doesn’t have anything to do with normal seeing, hearing or feeling. It is from outside of normal time, space and distance.

I don’t need to be with you for a reading, because I’m not reading YOU at all.

I’m listening to spirit and reading universal energy on your behalf, like a translator. I can read energy and listen to spirit from anywhere because spirit and energy is everywhere. Think of it like an email for you in a language that you don’t speak fluently. Getting a reading is like getting an expert translation of that email. You might know some of the language yourself and could figure it out, but a pro could translate quicker, easier, and with more depth.

Out of the everywhere-energy, I connect to your specific message when you ask your question or give permission for it to be an open reading. That simple interaction is an exchange of information that can happen by speaking OR by reading your email message. After connecting general energy to your message through our little beginning conversations, I use the Tarot cards to help me “read” the mental images, words, feelings that spirit/energy gives for you. I translate those impressions into English sentences that you can use to help you. When it comes to energy connections and spirit messages, it doesn’t matter if we say things out loud, type on a keyboard, or write on paper. For example, if spirit gives me the impression of a flower, I give you the word “flower,” It doesn’t change the word or the message one bit if I type the word in an email or say it to you in person.

So no, you don’t have to be with me for the reading to “work” at all. The only difference is how you want to experience the reading and how you want to connect with your message from spirit. Both styles have some minor differences, advantages and disadvantages from your side of things. You can read more about that in the Q&A blog post “What’s the Difference?”

All of my readings are flat rate…you know your cost up front. If you live in the South Hills area of Pittsburgh, PA USA and would like an in-person session, contact me to schedule a reading.  If you are anywhere, and have enough internet access to read this post, you can order a distance Tarot reading any time, 24/7 on the home page HERE.

 

Q&A: What’s the difference?

Q: Why get a distance reading? What is the difference between that and a live reading?

A: Inside my head the two are identical. From where I sit, the process and the message is identical. As a writer at heart, I express myself through a keyboard as easily as through my voice. Not all psychics likes to write, which is why I say that distance is my specialty. It’s easy for me and I enjoy the daylights out of it. Write, speak…same thing. It’s the same message coming in from energy and spirit no matter which way I give that message back out to you.

The only real difference is how you experience the message. Deciding between a distance or in-person session is entirely up to you. Which is more meaningful to you? Which do you enjoy more?

Both have advantages.

In-person readings are set apart, special and social. The process of making the appointment and traveling to the reading sets the time apart, gets you away from your schedule, and makes it clear to you and to everyone that this is your time. In-person sessions are private, but a little social too. You are welcome to jump right in with any questions you might have. We take care of any questions right there, no waiting. Also, a little bit of visit-y small talk at the beginning and end of an in-person session makes it more relaxed and fun for me. I get the feeling that clients feel the same way. A little social friendliness is pleasant, even between strangers, because we aren’t by the time its done.

Distance readings can be very powerful things. I love to read and I love to write, so I have a serious bias in favor of written distance readings.  When you read, it is like spirit and energy are speaking directly to your heart and your intuition without the filter of my voice and your ears. In that way, distance readings are intensely private. They are externally the most private readings, too. No one sees you go to see a psychic. You choose the time and place to read the document. Even if you are reading your phone in a train station, it is still just you and your spirit message. In my opinion, there are a better value because you can go back to them, see how they have unfolded. You can take your time with the message and re-read it as many times as you need. And they are hella convenient. Like I say about the 12 Second Tarot readings in the blog and on social media “The Tao in TaoCraft is about being in harmony with the nature of things. If the nature of your life is busy and hectic, then 12 Second Tarot is for you.” Same here. If you are busy, then you can’t beat a distance reading for convenience. Order when you want. Read it when you want. No appointment, no travel, no need to change out of your yoga pants, you know? The only down side I see to distance work is that you can’t ask questions on the spot. Every distance session includes a follow up email if you have any questions about the reading. We still answer all of your questions. It just takes a little longer to go through the email process. I keep a pretty close eye on my inbox, so it won’t be a huge wait, but it won’t be immediate, real time interaction.

So to answer your question: Why get a distance reading? Because they are private, convenient. If you like to read, they can be more powerful, emotional and direct without the social filter that is a natural part of voice, hearing and conversation.

Do they have advantages? Yes. Both distance and in-person readings have things that are special about them. If you like social interaction and the chance to ask questions immediately, then in-person may be better. If you want convenience and extra privacy, then distance is the way to go. If you want fast, then distance is your only option with me. I can do distance readings much more quickly than my in-person schedule allows.

They both share one important advantage: price. I don’t keep an office or work in a storefront. Without that overhead, I can keep my prices low. Without an office, I have to set some common limits that also help me keep my costs down, your access up, and both of our stress at a minimum. That is why in-person sessions schedule at least 24 hours in advance and why I have a clear service area for parties and in-home individual readings. Tarot may be a spiritual thing, but being a professional reader has a business side. Transparent business policies and a high degree of professionalism are an advantage to BOTH my in-person and distance Tarot readings.

FAQ: How Do Distance Readings Work?

Q: How can you read someone who isn’t there? Doesn’t the person have to be with you for the reading to work?

A: When I do a reading, I don’t connect with the person at all. I connect to universal life energy and their spirit guides (if they step forward) on the person’s behalf. Spirit and energy exist outside of normal space an time anyway. Spirit and energy is everywhere, all the time, so where we sit is irrelevant. I connect to the person’s specific message within that universal energy when I hear OR read their question, topic, or request for an open reading.

In my head, to my intuition, the mental images, words, sounds and feelings are the same no matter where the client happens to be at the time. The intuitive side of things looks the same to me no matter if you are across the table or across the world. I’ve done both types of readings for a really long time. The words I speak in a live session come from the same intuitive place as the words I type in an email session. The readings I’ve done for clients in Australia and Papua New Guinea have already put that to the maximum test. They are literally on the opposite side of the Earth from me. According to the feedback those clients have kindly given, it really, truly is the same quality as the face to face readings.

It is a little like cloud computing. The information is “out on the cloud” just like your email is stored on a server somewhere out there on the internet. You (or anyone with your password) can access that information from anywhere else, anytime. You can check your email on your work computer, your phone, your table….what have you.

Intuition is like that. We all have it. We are all born with a spiritual connection. Some people operate at dial up speed, while others naturally operate at 5G broadband. Learning and practice ups your bandwidth. Anyone can learn to listen to their own intuition. Pro readers are just a little more skilled at connecting to the whole “cloud” and not just their own email account. Pro readers are more skilled at translating spirit-speak into actual, usable English sentences. That’s what lets them be able to connect & translate for other people. It is more as more language and communication than mystical spiritual ‘gifts’ really.

When we talk at the beginning of a reading…be it in spoken form or written form…you give me a limited sort of guess pass to listen to whatever message spirit energy sends. My job is just to listen, translate the message from intuition-speak into English sentences for you to use however you see fit.

So long story short….let me look at spirit’s energy email for you. No matter where you are, I’ll send the translation as an attachment in an email, or just read it out to you in person. The translation itself is exactly the same either way.