Tag: pittsburgh tarot reader

YouChoose Interactive Tarot: Window Into Fall

My Jedi Padawan has surpassed me.

They are an amazing artist and recently posted a Trevor Henderson inspired digital image where a sideways stoplight onto a local bridge had eyes. We talked about how the bridges are a liminal space. “Liminal” is an idea that has stepped forward in a big way lately. I’ve had Laura Zarkoff’s book Weaving the Liminal in my to-read que since it was released. I suspect the book’s time has come. I look forward to starting it this evening. Perfect for a cup of spice coffee and a fall equinox evening. I’m looking forward to it.

Today’s cards have a forward looking feel. It feels like the equinox energy this morning is gently holding a portal open for us, holding a space for the liminal, a timeless portal and a moment to stop and absorb the magick.

Whenever you see or read this, I hope the cyberspace preserves the feel of this space in time for you to reach out to the card that is most helpful to you right here, right now.

You all know I’m a writer at heart. At first it felt like it would be a stand alone video. That feeling seldom survives the posting process. Fingers touching a keyboard is a powerful, instant portal to energy and intuition.

Four of Cups: An idea is coming, but it needs you to create the space for it to arrive. Take a break, mental or physical. Quiet allows the sudden insight you want and need to materialize. It may be sudden, but it might be quiet, as spirit so often is. Noise, day to day activity and crowded thoughts drowns out the whispers of spirit, intuition and deep guidance.

The Wheel: A tumbling busy time is on the horizon. Where are you putting on the brakes, where are you stopping or sabotaging yourself? What change do want and need but at the same time resist? This card is reminding you that busy and change can be very good. Let the good times roll!

The Devil: Naivete can be dangerous. A little cynical can be a good thing. Wallowing in negativity is never healthy in the long run, but being rolled by life isn’t a good thing either. Heads up, eyes open. Take off those rosy sunnies you’ve been hiding behind and take life by the big hairy horns and it might not be so bad as all that after all. Make friends with your shadow side, so you are not a victim of shadow or light either one.

Today’s Tarot: Up in the Air

I think the bothersome thing about the 8 of wands is the way it reminds us of how little control we really have sometimes.

The card reminds us that something is up in the air. Something is pending that is beyond our reach.

A classic example is arrows in flight. You do what you can, you control what you are able to control – you aim, you choose how to pull the bow, when to let go – but once you shoot the arrow you can’t control it anymore. You can account for the wind when you aim, but if an unexpected gust comes, you can re-aim mid flight. All you can do is wait for the arrow to land and then react to that outcome, whatever it may be.

If you feel drawn to this card today, wait a little. Whatever is on your mind, cool your jets, let the process play itself out. Something is up in the air and out of your control (which is most things for most of us most days, I’ll grant you)

Sunday Short: Tarot Turnovers

Turn interactive Tarot upside down.

In “Tarot Turnovers” instead of you choosing a card and me interpreting it, I choose a card at random and YOU use YOUR intuiting to CHOOSE the interpretation that best suits your instincts for today.

FIVE OF CUPS

  • acknowledge, process and release the things that give you remorse
  • admit sadness and loss so it can, only when you are ready, begin to release and heal
  • Learn to deal with giving unfortunate news
  • It’s OK to indulge in a good mopey goth dark mood every now and then
  • Grief must be given its time
  • Revisit old issues that have had time to settle. With emotional distance and time-distance, they may be ready to be made into something new and useful, like loosening soil in the spring after a winter rest to plant new seeds.

Today’s Tarot: Make, do

Tarot turned on its head: I choose the card. You use your intuition to pick the meaning.

Let’s turn Tarot readings upside down for once. I choose the card, YOU use YOUR intuition to pick the meaning for today. Let me know in the comments how you like this format.

Today’s card brought an avalanche of quotes and pithy little sayings to mind. You Choose which one most speaks to you today:

“Just do it”

“Write it. Shoot it. Publish it. Crochet it, sauté it, whatever. MAKE” – Josh Whedon

“Follow the process, not the plan” – Adam Savage

“The Universe doesn’t give you what you ask for with your thoughts – it gives you what you demand with your actions.” – Steve Maraboli

Walk your talk / actions speak louder than words.

Today’s Tarot: Getting away from groundhog day

The Pamela Smith artwork for the Eight of Swords speaks for itself.

The card is about feeling trapped, not knowing the cause, not seeing the way out.

The key piece is the gap in the swords in front of the figure. A way out exists. Their feet aren’t bound. Their feet are still free. A few steps forward, and they are outside of the circle of swords.

They say the height of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly expecting a different outcome. This card cautions against that. Not only is it unproductive, but it lays down paths, builds thought habits that blindfold you just when you need creative problem solving the most. Swords represent mind and intellect. It could be your trap is mental as much as physical. Your feet are still free.

Think outside the box. Shake it up. Do some small thing differently than your usual routine. Shaking things up some safe small ways might help you break out of a mental Groundhog Day movie. A few small steps forward might help to set your mind free.

Meet Your Reader page updated

If you follow the blog, browse the website or read the ebook “TaoCraft Portfolio”, a Tarot reading with me can only meet or exceed your expectations because you’ll know exactly what to expect in advance.“

With all of the scams and stereotypes out there, people on both sides of the Tarot table are understandably wary. Putting all of the policy and philosophy cards on the table before we pick up the Tarot deck builds trust. Then we can go into the reading itself knowing we are OK with each other and with the Tarot process.

I don’t want this page to sound like some sort of defacto resume. Tarot is much more human and one to one than that. I don’t want this page to be a bunch of jazzed up marketing sizzle. I want to earn your trust with this. If you really want to meet me before a reading, the ebook and the blog is the best place to do that.

When an artist interviews for a job, they bring examples of their work in a portfolio so the potential employer can see if they are a good match for the company or project.

I want to show you the art of Tarot and this website is my portfolio. – Ronda

Tarot

  • Tarot Reader since 1992
  • Worked online as “Baihu” on AllExperts, Advice Tradeer and Keen
  • Professional readings in the Pittsburgh, PA, USA area since 2003
  • Current: Owner/Artist TaoCraftTarot.com (was Modern Oracle Tarot 2003-18)
  • Current: Owner/artist TaoCraftTarotShop on Etsy (was Quirk & Flotsam)

Writing

  • Self – published PeaceTarot and Triquetra: The Dance of Worlds (poetry collection) on Kindle
  • Poetry in Kindred magazine, ICP anthologies Natures Echoes and Quicksilver Moon and Sparrowgrass Poetry Forum 1994
  • Non-fiction natural health article “Herb in Plain Sight” Point of Light magazine

Education and Certification

  • Bachelor of Science, Medical Science (physician assistant) (1987).
  • Clinical work as nationally certified physician assistant in psychiatry and interventional cardiology (1987-2000)
  • Ph.D Natural Health from Clayton College of Natural Health, unaccredited (2011)
  • Reiki Master-practitioner, traditional Usui style (2000)
  • Retired Tai Chi instructor
  • Esperanto beginner (komencanto)
  • U.L.C. ordained preceptor (spiritual teacher) 2005

Today’s Tarot: Two sides of the same sword

It’s interesting.

Try this if you can. I’m guessing that professional readers do this all the time. I do. If you are a Tarot fan, a comparative study of card meanings is a satisfying deep dive.

In the two of swords is today’s case in point. Every reference gives a range of meanings or keywords. As always, use your intuition. I like to take the top level meaning that stands out to instinct and most captures my attention whenever I do one of these comparisons.

Diane Morgan in Magical Tarot, Mystical Tao is one of my favorites with “mystical unity.” Ellen Dugan, in the Witches Tarot points out conflict or incongruities between heart and mind. Ted Andrews, in Animal Wise Tarot, points out the balancing of heart and mind for “right use of power.” In the same vein as this proper use of power, Thom Pham includes impartiality in his Heart of Stars Tarot. In my mind this connects to all the other interpretations in that it hints at disengaging both heart and mind and bringing impartiality to difficult decisions where indecision otherwise reigns.

Although they all have different points of view, artistic styles, themes and philosophical backgrounds, none of the interpretations conflict or are wide outliers. They all fall on a spectrum of meaning and energy. Tarot cards are far more than one meaning. That’s why intuition is important in readings, coequal with memorizing card meanings. Each card has an entire sliding scale spectrum of meanings, connotations and emotions. Memorization isn’t enough. If you think of the card in terms of visual light, then learning Tarot is like learning all the colors of 78 rainbows. Mental effort isn’t enough.

The Two of Swords is the perfect card for today. It shows us the unity along a spectrum that multiple tarot readers can have. They may dial into one color or another, but we all dial into the same spectrum of energy and beauty.

The card reminds us of mind and heart, intellect and intuition, balanced in mystical unity to give us wise, impartial decisions and lead us to the right use of power.

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I bring every bit of knowledge and professionalism that I have to everything I write and every reading that I do. I got my first deck, Carson & James’ Medicine Cards, in 1991. To celebrate, seven card Tarot readings by email are $1 for each year of care reading experience until September 20, 2021 when it returns to the usual $40 (why that day? It’s the last full day of summer. I have other stuff planned for the equinox and after.) Get ’em while they are summer hot!

Your support on ko-fi goes toward creating blog posts, podcasts and the interactive YouChoose videos https://ko-fi.com/taocrafttarot

Thank you so much for reading and watching!

Today’s Tarot: The woo isn’t everything

Gremlins

Some people blame these things on Mercury retrograde. My genX brain calls technical glitches that I can’t figure out gremlins. I still kinda want to be a computer geek when I grow up.

Just spent two attempts and more time than I wanted to spend trying to get today’s youtube tarot short to upload. I think the problem is in the processing on YouTubes end, actually. Either way, enough bashing against a road block.

In fact, that is the message this last attempt gave: put it down and come back later.

It’s a good general message. The woo isn’t everything. No every minute of every day has to be a spiritual success. Not every moment has to be some grand enlightenment. When the energy is wrong for spiritual things, and you run into one wall after another, it is perfectly OK to set aside the spritual and spend some quality time in the practical physical realm.

It’s more of the meatspace energy we’ve talked about lately.

If you want some woo…today is a good day for grounding, balancing, centering. Get your head out of the clouds and your feet planted on the ground.

It’s a good day for the Zen proverb: Before enlightenment, chop wood and carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood and carry water.

Or the Alan Watts quote “Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes.”

So chop your water, carry your potatoes and peel your wood, set aside the gremlins and have a good day in spite of it all.

https://youtu.be/v4bMc_w7XYw

Will let the video speak for itself today.

$10 off special price for 7 card readings by email ends 9-20-21 so get ’em before they are gone. You know how I feel about cutsey pants sales and specials do it will be a while before you see this again.

Order 24/7, no appointment needed email readings HERE or on the home page

Today’s Tarot: Mind to Meatspace

Even though we are having a vegetarian supper, it’s Meatspace Monday.

Usually for me it works out to be Meatspace Sunday, but alliteration makes everything better. Even when that’s not the kind of meat I’m talking about. Any other William Gibson fans out there? I can’t remember how long ago I read Neuromancer or how many times I’ve re-read it since, but I’m pretty sure (considering how old my gen-x backside is getting) he’s the one who coined “meatpuppet.” It has a bit of an, ahem, adult meaning in the book, so let’s just say it means the physical body….meat instead of mind, physical reality vs virtual reality kind of reference. I’m not sure who came up with “meatspace” as the physical real-world counterpart to “cyberspace” (also a Gibson word, if memory serves) but I think it was Adam Savage who is another one of my favorite inspirations and creative influences. Neuromancer and Every Tool’s a Hammer are both excellent reads. Several thumbs up for both

But on to the Chariot card. Sure it has all of the chariot race Ben Hur kind of energies that Thom Pham depicts here in the Heart of Stars deck. To win a chariot race you have to pay attention to what the heck you are doing. I often explain it as the ‘test pilot’ card. Whether you are racing chariots or flying fighter jets, being preoccupied or letting your mind wander can land you in big trouble. But that’s not quite the energy of it for today.

It’s a little more meta than that. Pay attention to where you pay attention.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m very thankful to all of you who read the blog and watch the videos. Please keep it up! I love having you to talk with (and for goodness’ sake feel free to talk back. I have the comments moderated to keep the energy spam free and reasonable for all of us) But just for a minute, pull back. Be a person reading a screen instead of letting your mind rest IN the screen. Pull back to meatspace, be aware of your surroundings, your device as a whole, the words on the screen, yes, but also of the environment you are in. Be aware of you where you are right now as part of that meatspace whole.

It’s easy, especially for those of us who tend to “live in our head” anyway, to get caught up in an intellectual, conceptual virtual reality be it found in websites, or movies, or TV or books. For us, it is even more crucial to reconnect with physicality. Take a mental vacation into meatspace. Get a little exercise. Savor your favorite dessert.

Pay attention to paying attention. Put your mind into meatspace sometimes.

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