“Don’t Panic.” – Douglas Adams
Problems and conflicts are going to happen anyway, so we might as well face them with heart, humor and style.
Until it is time to stand, in all strength and seriousness against hate and violence.
In solidarity with all who peacefully protest. Silence is indeed implicit violence.
“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” – Desmond Tutu
“…Learn to see. Realize that evertything connects to everything else” – Leonardo Da Vinci
“We are all connected; To each other, biologically. To the Earth, chemically. To the rest of the universe, atomically.” – Neil Degrasse Tyson.
“The bond that links your true familyis not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other’s life.” – Richard Bach
“Everything’s connected.” – Dirk Gently TV series
We long to be together, to talk, to touch, to eat, love and laugh. It is the good and right human thing to do. Often, life demands separation in the typical sense. Loneliness forgets. It forgets the neither space nor time can break the bonds of love, of familial respect and joy. Our lives play out all on the same pale dot within the same wider Cosmos and within the same winding eternity.
You can purchase Melody Sheep’s excellent music on Bandcamp. https://melodysheep.bandcamp.com/album/symphony-of-science-collectors-edition
There are two brand new special offers:
All prior free readings, special offers and price reductions have now expired. The above special offers are subject to all website policies and disclaimers and are valid May 26 – August 30, 2020.
Sallie Christensen, one of the most skilled and gifted psychics I’ve ever met, once told me that “A thought is powerful, the spoken word is more so, but the written word is the most powerful of all.” That one sentence was a gift of a lifetime wrapped in a pen. In essence, she had handed me a magic wand.
I had that reading with her in the early 1990s, roughly around the time I’d started exploring oracle cards with Tarot soon to follow. That adage has proven true time and again in the decades since.
Journal writing is a powerful thing. I suspect those years of journaling is the reason why I can communicate messages from spirit as easily through pen and keyboard as through speaking. Written Tarot is definitely more sophisticated, since live sessions don’t have edit buttons or grammar check. Speech may transmit ideas quickly, but writing is a superconductor. Hearing is here and now. Even recordings have a sense of immediacy. Writing transcends space and time. It’s the closest thing we have to telepathy. When I write something and you read it, the message from spirit is communicated heart to heart and mind to mind with none of the mechanics of speech or hearing in between. Hearing happens at Mach 1, the speed of sound. Reading happens at the speed of light.
As Carl Sagan wrote:
“A book is made from a tree. It is an assemblage of flat, flexible parts (still called “leaves”) imprinted with dark pigmented squiggles. One glance at it and you hear the voice of another person, perhaps someone dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, the author is speaking, clearly and silently, inside your head, directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people, citizens of distant epochs, who never knew one another. Books break the shackles of time ― proof that humans can work magic.”
Written Tarot is potent to both give and receive. The experience of reading something that resonates with you spiritually is very similar to the experience getting an intuitive message directly from spirit. Reading anything that is spiritually resonant, be it books, letters, Tarot cards, blogs or emails, is a breathless melange of emotion, empowerment, and enlightenment. Many books have been like that for me, Ted Andrews’ and Christopher Penczak’s in particular. Perhaps written Tarot can capture some of that experience for you.
Intuition happens inside of your head and heart. It is an entirely subjective experience. For me, the internal process of writing is more closely aligned to the internal intuitive message itself. The flow from spirit to written language is immediate and effortless, while putting things into spoken words takes the tiniest bit more thought and effort. In wireless terms, spoken words work at 4G while my writing operates at 5G or above.
How you enjoy taking in the words and messages of a session is another story. If you like to read, written Tarot is as comfortable as breathing. It doesn’t matter if the actual thing you read is a computer screen or a piece of paper. The experience of reading your message is equally intense regardless of media.
In-person Tarot readings are wonderful, mind expanding, heart warming, and sometimes life changing things…just like the session I had with Sally when we talked about journal writing.
An email or handwritten paper Tarot session is its own kind of mind expanding, heart warming and life changing experience … just like reading the Andrews and Penczak books.
All of that being said, I’m hoping this will let you feel confident in ordering Distance Tarot. While this post is a glimpse to the writing process on my side of the table, the message is the same no matter how you prefer to receive it, written or spoken, email or live. It’s just a matter of deciding which experience resonates with you.
This one is for all of the book lovers. I’m working on a second edition of PeaceTarot. Both editions teach you how to do DIY daily Tarot meditations even if you don’t have a Tarot deck on hand. The second edition adds expanded, pandemic-era card meanings for all 78 RWS Tarot cards.. During the caronapocolypse, we have all been making do with stuff on hand. As life “re-opens” I hope we can carry a little bit of that ingenuity with us. In the spirit of that resourcefulness, I want to upcycle some second quality paper copies* of PeaceTarot and hand customize one just for you. I’ll write a one card reading just like the kind of readings the book can teach you to do PLUS include a sigil element (or sigil glyph or psych-a-doodle or whatever you want to call it) crystal energy and aromatherapy suggestions, an affirmation, add whatever else comes to mind AND use my favorite schmancy glass dip pen. There are a limited number available. All you really pay for is postage and handling. The “graffiti edition” PeaceTarot with custom handwritten one card Tarot readings are available in the shop HERE.
*First edition, single side print, side staple bound
Just a quick reminder: Distance Tarot is always OPEN, with phone readings by appointment. Even though our area is partially out of lockdown and starting to re-open for retail business, in-person individual and party readings will remain closed until a COVID-19 vaccine becomes available.
Related post: The Power Grows.
Blursday. The 98th day of Maraprilay in the fifth year of the great quarantine of 2020.
I dunno who came up with the “Blursday” thing on the interwebs, but they deserve a pulitzer or something for capturing the flavor of this whole thing in one word.
It’s not a negative thing to my mind. I like Blursday. It’s my new favorite day, mostly because I was trying to freelance from home long before all of this started. I don’t mind having my all adult fam here. Free pickup at the grocery store is frosting on the 24/7 comfy pants cake.
No great cloud is without its silver lining, and not great benefit is without its minor asspains. When I was working, even short handed and on call, time management wasn’t that big of a deal. You work your hours, execute some sort of basic hygiene, and if there was any time left there were plenty of things to do. Pick one. Sleep when you can. Easy.
Creative and freelance work is the exact opposite. Following the white rabbit of inspiration when it comes along is part of the job description. With greater flexibility means more effort is needed to manage time, even before Blursday came along. I’m not super neat or organized in the first place, but I do like to contemplate plans for the day over morning coffee. How else can plans get blown to heck and force a person to adapt if you don’t make some semblance of a plan in the first place?
Even now, in my completely not humble opinion, the five card Modern Oracle card layout is the best all-purpose layout. I designed it to empower choices with a side of validating the path you are on. I wrote it mainly because I couldn’t find another layout that did quite that thing. No one layout can do everything. How do you make a choice when you aren’t sure what the choices are? How do you start down a path when you aren’t sure which direction to take the first step?
I’ve been looking for a good get-organized card layout. Owl and Bones Tarot had one that was close with their “embrace – face – erase” layout. They are brilliant at creating layouts (check out their Instagram feed) Triage is a lot to ask of any Tarot reading. Necessity being the mother of invention, it seemed time to write another one. The “TimeFlow” layout is simply this:
I’ve been working with this layout for a short time. I’ve already learned a few key points about it. First, it isn’t something to do often. Nothing other than a one card daily meditation should be done too often. Follow your instinct, but don’t second guess, don’t keep asking again and again. As with any Tarot layout, the message gets muddled and confusing if it is over done.
Also like every other Tarot reading, it is more about ideas than concrete physical details. It won’t tell which project to pick up neck. It is better with intangibles. It seems to excel at pointing to the area of life or to the broad topic that most warrants your attention (or needs to be set aside.) For example if someone is frustrated at work, a coins card might say to let career rest, a swords card might ask them to let go of the idea of impressing a certain boss, cups might direct their attention toward a relationship whose time has not quite come, and finally, a wands card might point out the urgency of managing stress and feeding the inner spiritual world right now. It seems to organize within a single topic, too, when the topic is intangible.
So far, I’ve only read for myself with this card pattern, but I’m hoping you will help me change that. If you are interested in a FREE TimeFlow reading by email, please visit the special offers page and use the contact form there. That form is the only place that the free reading is available. I hope you will be patient…I don’t yet know how fast these will turn around or what the interest will be. I also hope you will send your feedback about the reading. I’d love to hear what you think! Don’t wait…the offer expires Blursday, the 98th day of Maraprilay in the fifth year of the great 2020 quarantine…
The Two of Swords is an interesting card. I’ve seen a wide variety of interpretations for it, all of which ring true at one time or another. The classic interpretation is to be of two minds about something, or to have difficulty choosing between two nearly identical options. Diane Morgan broadens that duality beyond the mundane to include the spirit realm. Here, the two of swords is more about identifying and connecting to subtly different realms of being rather than subtly different physical realm choices. Ted Andrews uses elements of both. He connects the physical and spiritual, but points out the choices we make as we integrate the spiritual into daily living. He puts it in terms of right use of power.
As I drew the card, I got a strong mental impression of the Colossus of Rhodes, the ancient wonder, a statue so large that is believed to have stood with a foot on either side of the entrance to the port at Rhodes in ancient Greece. Today, Brea Fisher spook of “a foot in two worlds” in her ever lovely and wise @quanyingongfu feed on Instagram. The interplay between the physical world and the spiritual world is asking for our attention.
We each live with a foot in both worlds You experience the solid, physical realm all of the time, but also have continuous access to the ethereal realm of thoughts, emotions, imagination and intuition.
The two of swords is reminding us to make wise choices about which foot we use and how. My attention is particularly drawn to the esoteric energy side of this and the old adage “Just because you can doesn’t mean that you should.”
Those who work with energy professionally bear the greatest responsibility in that respect. I don’t feel pushed to say that because I’ve seen anyone being irresponsible. “Psychic” scams have been around forever. Today, I feel pulled to mention this out of deep respect for everyone out here doing it right.
Today the Two of Swords is a bow of respect for those who act out of compassion. Yes, we advertise and post and tell everyone what we do so those who need us can find us. We ask for fair payment or donation in exchange for our expertise and skilled services, but we do so out of compassion for ourselves and our families. We communicate not out of ego but to build trust. Beware the shifting and shady. The trustworthy write the rules, expectations and boundaries for all to see.
Also a bow of respect to those who speak their truth but have the strength to speak their truth but then let go. Ego is needy in this line of work. A wise person can let others about their life and make all the mistakes they need to find wisdom for themselves.
There are many excellent teachers out there and I am so grateful to have found the words of so many of them: Ted Andrews, Carl Sagan & Ann Druyan, Christopher Penczak, Scott Cunningham, Brea Fisher, Nick Gracenin, Jose Johnson and many more.
We walk through life with a foot in two worlds. Sometimes physical circumstances carry the greater weight and demands our attention, as it has with the pandemic. But to keep moving forward, to keep living, the spiritual foot must move forward and have its day before the physical realm demands its due again.
My hunch is we are in a brief liminal time when things are shifting. The moment is twilight quiet, the eye of the hurricane. Personal power and inner spirituality must be used rightly. This isn’t the time for bluster and show, not a time for group-think, blind positivism or outward dogma. We’ve survived for the moment, so now is the time to turn quietly inward give our hearts and souls their turn even as we prepare to return our attention to the practical in times to come.
Left: Eight of Cups. This card always has a bittersweet feel to me, but in the end it is a very triumphant sort of message. It validates courage that has been gathered, progress that has been made. It take both to be able to move on emotionally from difficult situations. Moving ahead does not require that you leave memories or behind. This is more about going on with life with those things, neither abandoning nor stagnationg with them.
Center: Two of Wands. This is a week of opportunity, you can have the world in the palm of you hand, but timing is critical. Discretion really is the better part of valor. Be thoughtful, diplomatic, careful … look before you leap … but when the time comes, when the time comes, jump in. Watching, analysing and couragous action may all be needed.
Right: Seven of Pentacles. Plant seeds that are worth the wait. Thus is the week for foundation building, not instant gratification. Plant seeds that will a good harvest. Build a foundation for something to stand the test of time. In my minds eye I see precisely cut white marble or granite like greek temples or the Washington monument. Precision, attention to detail, and best effort (here Deadpool pops up with “two swords and maximum effort”) Long story short, focus on quality now to create domething that will be worth the wait later.
Related post: https://taocrafttarot.wordpress.com/2020/05/07/todays-tarot-worth-the-wait
Tarot doesn’t tell you what is going to happen in life; Tarot helps you figure out what to do when life happens.
Today’s post is my philosophy about Tarot in a nutshell. It’s still kind of a big read, but I hope you will stay with it. By the end you’ll know if I’m the right intuitive Tarot reader for you or not. The full version of TaoCraft Portfolio will cover all of this in detail. The free download version tells you about the practical side of readings (formats and such.) You can get the free download HERE and visit the other links on the “about” page for more details
Predicting The Future
It’s impossible.
I’m not going to hand you a platter of easy answers. I’m not going to blow a lot of feel-good smoke at you. This is advanced Tarot and spiritual work intended to inspire you, to empower you, to expand your horizons or best of all, to validate the things you already know.
If all you want is 100% accurate predictions, then you should find someone else. If you want razzle-dazzle mentalism and someone to fix everything then [Jedi hand wave] I’m not the psychic you are looking for.
BUT if you are ready for growth and self-discovery, if you are ready for imagination and exploration and possibilities, then this style of Tarot can help. I hope we can work together soon.
Related post: 100% accurate predictions and a big cube of jello
Relationship Questions
Your reading will focus on you, and you alone.
Why not? You are paying for it. A reading should be something special just for you.
Tarot can’t read minds or tell what other people will do. Tarot doesn’t know what other people think, feel or want. Out of respect for everyone’s privacy and personal dignity, I never read anyone’s energy without their direct knowledge and consent. So no, my readings can’t tell if you and your ex will get back together. Instead, a reading can explore how you can heal, if that is what you need. It can help you discover the path to being your best and happiest self. Loving life and feeling at ease right here, right now, is the most powerful way to the discover the right relationship for you.
In some very rare and very special times, the other person will lend a little energy to the reading and give us some vague sense of them. Again, it is very rare and a loving gift from them to you. It is a special experience that should always be respected but never expected. If it does happen for you in a reading, please be careful about talking about it with the person who sent the energy. Many times they are unaware of what happened on a conscious level. Finding out about the reading after the fact is a pretty big intrusion. It may make them feel uncomfortable or hurt. Discretion and kindness are always the best way to handle such things.
Medical or Pregnancy Questions
No. Nope. uh-uh. Not happening.
It isn’t about some fancy Tarot “ethics.” Taking medical questions is a big liability in a litigious society like ours, but that is only part of why I won’t touch medical or pregnancy questions. The main reason is that Tarot is wildly ineffective at dealing with medical concerns.
It. Just. Doesn’t. Work.
I’ve worked in mainstream medicine. I’ve worked with holistic and natural health. You have to have the right tool for the right job. You wouldn’t use your cell phone to hammer nails. You wouldn’t use a hammer to make a phone call. By that same token, you don’t use Tarot to deal with health and healing. There are lots of tools in the wellness toolkit: Diet, exercise, Reiki, meditation, aromatherapy, herbs, acupuncture, acupressure, ayervedic medicine, hypnotherapy, physical therapy, art therapy, music therapy, and yes, mainstream medicine too.
Tarot is not one of these health tools. It is true that some physical ailments heal quicker once you discover their emotional or spiritual roots of the disease IF there are any. Tarot might help that process to a limited extent. Sometimes there is no deep spiritual connection. Some health issues are random and out of our control. Medical issues might be a product of injury, environment or genetics. Tarot can help manage the stress these kinds of problems cause, BUT AGAIN, Tarot is not the best option. Reiki and meditation are more effective tools for discovering the spiritual roots of illness and managing the stress health concerns can cause. As for Tarot….
None of the books, blog posts or services offered on TaoCraftTarot.com can diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or illness whatsoever. Nothing offered here can take the place of professional health or mental health care. I accept no liability of any kind real or implied. Use these books and services entirely at your own risk. Scheduling any session with me indicates that you have read, understood and accept these terms and the policies listed HERE.
All Are Welcome
I want my readings to be comfortable and welcoming for everyone.
To do that, I avoid divisive topics like politics and religion. If anything like that comes up in a reading, I will give the message as I get it. Beyond a few references to religious rituals and practices, I have never had religious or political ideology come up as a message in a reading. I will not allow antagonistic or inappropriate conversation to mar a session. I reserve the right to terminate a reading at any time at my sole discretion with no refund in order to maintain a safe and respectful reading environment.
I shouldn’t have to say these things, but I want to be very clear about a few things: I am a LGBTQIA+ ally, and all are absolutely welcome with me – as are secular people and those of non-mainstream religions. Like I said, I don’t do religion and politics. I believe humans are wonderfully complex, like a faceted diamond. Many facets coexist just fine, in all of us. I’m atheist, spiritual, Taoist, Buddhist, witchy, and Reiki-y all at the same time. All the parts of you are welcome here too.
Interested? Please visit the home page to order a distance reading or please contact me at TaoCraftTarot@gmail.com to schedule a live phone or skype reading.
Now in the TaoCraftTarotShop on Etsy:
I’m calling this ‘PeaceTarot, the graffiti edition’
Purchase a mini InkMagick Tarot reading for $5 and get a FREE paper copy of PeaceTarot first edition AND FREE postage.
Full disclosure: these are second quality copies, with single sided pages and staples-only binding. I’ve UPCYCLED these sad little homeless copies with handwritten mini InkMagick Tarot readings. Please personalize your reading with any question or topic you have for the card. If you want an open reading, just leave the personalization option blank.
PeaceTarot is an easy how-to booklet that teaches you to do DIY daily meditation style Tarot readings for yourself, even if you don’t have a Tarot deck at hand. The second part has unique card interpretations for the 78 Rider Waite style cards that focus on regaining peace of mind during stressful times.
InkMagic readings are handwritten, and include all the usual parts of any distance Tarot (read about THAT here) I will pull a card just for you, then write the card and its reading in the white space in the booklet, including the sigil element intuitive illustration, crystal and aromatherapy recommendations, and a positive affirmation based on the reading. Limited supply!
My quarantine binge is Twin Peaks: The Return. I was a big fan of the original series, but for some reason just never found time for the continuation. Then along comes David Lynch during the lockdown with….the weather. His weather reports from his home by looking out the window with a visibly steaming cuppa coffee on his desk has to be the coolest new thing on the web right now. (Don’t @ me you droves of Animal Crossing players) It is just so…David Lynch. It’s like having Gordon Cole as your own private forecaster. At the same time, I’ve been adding a few new brainwaves to the website. Mash those two things together and I get this:
When we do a psychic reading it is like giving a low tech weather report.
We use our brains to process a certain information and output it in some format or another. Imagine you are looking out the window and someone asks you “What color is the sky?” When we do that, we aren’t literally taking atmospheric conditions into our skulls. We are getting information carried on electromagnetic energy in the wavelengths of visible light. It doesn’t matter if we say “Blue” to someone standing next to us, or shout “grey” to someone in the next room or write “moonlit” on a piece of paper. The method we use to give out whatever we saw doesn’t change the color of the sky and it doesn’t change the electromagnetic way that the information entered our consciousness. Sure, you could get all pedantic and complex about this (or any) example by talking about perception, language or whatever but that form of output doesn’t change the essential incoming message. It doesn’t matter if you say it, shout it, write it, or tap it out in Morse code; a blue sky is a blue sky. It doesn’t matter if you say it, type it hand write it, or tap it out in Morse code; a Tarot reading is a Tarot reading.
Intuition doesn’t have a literal physical sense, like sight. Intuition doesn’t (as far as we know) have a specific carrier energy, like electromagnetic energy in visible light wavelengths. Intuitive readings are a dream-like echo of that same process. Information comes in, we give it out. We look and listen to our intuition, then we say or write the message to the other person. The method we use to give out the information doesn’t change the information coming in.
Right now is is overcast, breezy I drizzling rain. I love this kind of weather.
Sage Sips / TaoCraft Tarot 
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