Last Chance for a Little While

50% off for one week only! Zombie Cat shambles away next weekend – until next time (he usually wanders through to check out the summer)

Get yours while he’s still around

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Zombie Cat’s YES or NO Tarot reading by email

50% off for one week only! Get a yes or no answer to any one question. Entertainment only. All website policies and disclaimers apply.

5.00 $

Redd up for Halloween

How distance Tarot really is just as good as in-person.

I’ve spent the past few days tweeking the website, making sure the links work and the information is up to date. Feel free to browse around the site. There is a search block in the right hand column on laptop view. Mobile users scroll WAAAYYYY down to get to it (why not give the blog a follow while you are there?)

While doing that, I stumbled across the question of how distance readings can work as well as in-person readings. It is still a very relevant topic as we move into Fall, it is STILL pandemic 2020 and doing things at a distance is just as important as ever (wear a mask and wash your hands too!)

Incoming intuition and psychic impressions come to me the same way no matter what kind of reading we do. The message comes from the universal life energy that is everywhere all at the same time, like gravity. THAT’s what I’m reading, not you or your aura or anything that requires us to be in close proximity. I read the energy for you in the same way, no matter if I say the message in person, say it into a phone, say it into a mic, write it on a piece of paper or type it into a document. Typing is my favorite to do. When I use a keyboard, the words flow easier and with a lot more style and finesse. That’s why I say distance Tarot is my specialty. I type as well as I speak . To be perfectly honest, I write BETTER than I speak most days. To be perfectly honest, I write better than I speak EVERY day if it is before coffee.

But in the end, especially after a couple of cups of the morning brew, it all works the same. I give what I get, and your intuitive message is EXACTLY the same (give or take a few style points) no matter whether you read it or listen to it.

AND don’t forget the free Tarot by email giveaway in celebration of TaoCraft Tarot’s anniversary month ends tomorrow, so now’s your chance if you want to try one. Get your request in before midnight (eastern time) 31 October 2020.

Stay safe. Be well. Stay home. Order covid-safe Tarot readings by email. Wear a mask. And wash your hands.

The One Big Same Thing

From what I’ve seen, universal life energy is all over the place.

It’s kind of like ports.

No matter whether you put your big boat in the water in New York or Charleston or Savannah or Buenos Aires or Capetown or Glasgow or Seville, you are still getting into the same great big Atlantic Ocean.

No matter whether you work with Tarot or Reiki or mediumship or magick or taijiquan or meditation or what have you, you are still touching that great big everywhere and everything of universal life energy.

“I am one with the Force and the Force is with me.” as they say in Star Wars.

I’ve lost count of the Tarot readers I know who also do other energy work: Reiki, Yoga, Magick, you name it.

That is one big reason that I re-branded Modern Oracle back in 2018. The everywhere all of the time energy that we use in Natural Health (in Reiki, Tai Chi, aromatherapy and more) is the same energy that speaks through a Tarot reading. Benebel Wen connected exactly those dots in Holistic Tarot. Distance Tarot very much is a matter of working with qi (chi, ki, prana etc.) Mat Auryn makes the same connection in the first chapter of Psychic Witch. I’m paraphrasing, but basically magick uses the energy, and a psychic reads that same energy. It is two sides of the same coin, as he points out.

Since it is all different facets of the same diamond, or different sides of the same D&D dice or SOMEthing like that, it just didn’t make sense to try and keep them separate. It was time to open the door of authenticity wide and embrace the wholeness of it all. If you were interested in Natural Health but was frightened off by Tarot (or vice versa) then we likely weren’t going to be a good fit to work together anyway. There are lots of folks around who do the blissed out strictly positive rainbows and unicorns herbology, nutrition and the like so I stepped fully in to the energy side of things. And so, here we are.

Distance is my gig. My specialty within the world of Tarot is distance readings, and my interest within the world of Reiki is enhancing and deepening the distance treatment experience with another of my loves, rocks and crystals (sorry again, mom, for all those rocks I forgot in my pants pockets that pinged the inside of the washing machine when I was a kid)

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Reiki and Meditation are permanent parts of TaoCraft Tarot. If you imagine the website as a brick and mortar place (it isn’t, really) think of one side of the room having shelves of crystals, plants, a water fountain, a statue of Quan Yin, incense and a table for Reiki sessions.

The middle third is the Etsy shop with meditation beads and ebooks. The other side of the room has a table and big cozy chairs for doing Tarot readings. If it is a chilly day or at at night, go ahead and imagine a fireplace and simmering teakettle just there.

In your minds eye, how does a space like that feel? It is all of a piece for me, flowing together, all the one same room with just slightly different things to do in the different parts of it. Energy is like that. Just different things to do in different areas of the one big same thing


Want to try a distance Reiki session using crystals? Get the details HERE. I don’t charge for the sessions but I do ask that you answer a few feedback questions as a fair energy exchange.

Still celebrating the two years since the big re-branding name change. Happy Birthday TaoCraft! But the present is for YOU. Visit the special offers page and use the contact form there to get a free one card handwritten Tarot reading by email to celebrate. Offer ends October 31, 2020. All policies and disclaimers apply.

YouChoose Interactive Tarot: Scout, Patrol, See

Choose a card, scroll down to get your reading.

Use the video to pick a card; left, center or right. Go on quick impulse, or if you need some time to think about it you can pause the video and restart it to see the reveal. Once you have your card, scroll down for the reading.

Looking at all three together doesn’t give much of a message this week. It is all kind of low key, and more individualized than usual. Your chosen card might resonate with you as an individual more than usual. Or not. You know how these general energy, general audience readings go sometimes.

Not much going on this week by way of announcements. The anniversary month give-away continues until October 31, 2020, so visit the special offers page if you would like a free one card handwritten “mini digital InkMagick Tarot reading” by email.


The interesting thing this week is the way all three cards are coming through as more verbal than feelings or mental images. In other words, I’d call it clairaudient rather than clairsentient or clairvoyant.

Left: Two of Wands. “Look to new horizons.” The energies this week suit pushing the envelope a little. If you are given the chance to try something new, been thinking about trying something new, or are being nudged outside of your comfort zone, not to worry. Scope it out, if it seems right, why not?

Center: Knight of Pentacles. “Patrol the perimeter.” Knights denote action. Although Pentacles are often associated with career or wealth, I get more of a grounded, centered, practical energy as one would expect from the earth element. I forget the source but I’ve seen the card associated with “active upkeep” and that kind of routine, proactive maintenance is very much the energy here for this week. This is a good week to keep to the schedule, patrol your fence, repair what needs repaired, and do other such mundane chores.

Right: Six of Cups. “See with the eyes of a child.” Disappointment and frustration come from reality being different from your hopes and expectations. If you don’t know (or care about) what to expect, like small children at play, you can take things as they come. No expectations, no disappointment. See things at they are, then you can use your imagination to invent a way to move a little closer to your dream.

Today’s Tarot: Unplug the Adulting

Childlike mindfulness wrapped in the present moment.

The best way I can think to describe this card is child-like mindfulness. There is an emphasis on both clarity and acceptance. See things as they really are, accept them for what they really are, then find the good parts and let yourself sit and be with that situation. That resonates with the magnifying glass and flowers image the video mentions…find the good in the reality of the situation. Or at least find some aspect of the hear and now that you can abide by. Then abide WITH it. BE with the situation, absorbed and fascinated and disconnected from larger worries. Drawing, coloring, crafting any easy, distracting, amusing activity can be good opportunities to unplug from the adulting and be with something innocuous and neutral, neither joyous nor distressing…just wrapped in the moment.

YouChoose Interactive Tarot: The Cleric Within

Happy October!

Interactive Tarot is easy. Watch the video above, and pick a card. Pause the video if you need more time. Then keep watching to see the reveal. The daily meditation for the card is below.

The free one card digital InkMagick reading by email offer continues on the special offers page (link in the menu)

Animal Wise Tarot by Ted Andrews used with permission

Left: King of Cups. Mr. Andrews associates this card with dragonfly through the eyes. Dragonflies have large compound eyes that are able to detect far greater subtlties of light and color than can human eyes. This guides the dragonfly in navigating its world. In other decks, the King of Cups is also associated with guidance of a different sort. Although the suit of cups is often associated with romance and relationships, in this case it resonates with the alchemy association with the element of water, and in turn with inution. The King of Cups is a mentor, and your cue to look for real-world advice and guidance from someone with more experience. “Get the life hack from someone who knows what they are doing” in other words. BUT there is another thread to this card. Sometime the mentoring is more esoteric. Sometimes this card is a cue that the energies are right to explore spiritual topics like vision quests, spirit guides, guardian angles and so on. Only you and your intiution can tell you. You are your own spirit guide and your own best advisor whether you need to look for practical outer world advice or look inside for your spiritual path. Listen to the cleric within.

Center: Six of Swords, “Dove” Doves are lovely gentle birds, and we are surrounded by them more than you might think. Mourning Doves aren’t afraid of the suburbs or the countryside. Pidgeons are related to doves, and they aren’t afraid of suburbs or cities either one. Heck, I’ve seen those guys take on a bus. Think pidgeon (aka the rock dove.) This is a week to do compassion your own way just like pidgeons do being a dove in their own way. Doctor Who and the “Witches Apprentice” episode comes to mind with its idea of “fierce compassion” Do your spirituality your own way this week. Compassion and contemplation can be done with gusto. The best person to lead that kind of spiritual practice is you. Follow the cleric within.

Right: The Emperor “Eagle” I remember seeing a bald eagle up close at a rehab facility, where the individual could not be returned to the wild because of its injuries. They. Are. Huge. Not a bird to be messed with in a dark alley. Eagles are a good analog for the Emperor card which is about confidence, and utter competance. Here in America, Eagles are associated with freedom, strength, and protection. An innate quality that goes along with those things is the ability to think, and critically evaluate for onself. You are the Emperor of your world within. Trust your own eagle eyes and trust your own ability. This is a good week to learn, and learn confidence in your own ability. You are the emporor of your inner world. Decide for yourself, you are your own chief cleric within.

TaoCraft Portfolio: The Layouts

Get a FREE download of TaoCraft Portfolio ebooklet HERE

No matter which of these layouts you choose, the reading progresses in the same fundamental way we talked about in the last chapter. All layouts are available by email. The seven card reading is the only one I do for individual in-person sessions and InkMagick readings. Phone and video readings can choose from both 5 and 7 card (Modern Oracle, extended Modern Oracle) layouts. 

The most important thing to remember about any of the layouts is simply this: NONE of them predict the future. I specifically created the Modern Oracle 5 card and the Expanded Modern Oracle 7 card layouts to give the greatest possible respect to your choices and your actions. The one card meditation is ubiquitous, as old as Tarot readings. The Pathway layout is based on the old past-present-future layout but with modern, choice-oriented approach. Four seasons is also my layout that gives you ideas, themes or navigation points for the year ahead. Zombie Cat is a playful but thought provoking yes or no answer to any one question. TimeFlow is new layout that I’ve written that will be available in October 2020.

Tarot doesn’t tell you what will happen in life.Tarot helps you decide what to do when life happens

One Card Meditation: This is just as it says, a single card. This is helpful for both ends of the Tarot experience and detail / focus spectrum. On one hand, the one card meditation is an excellent way for absolute beginners to learn the Tarot deck. It has the broadest focus of any reading. It can be a large, vague idea, intended for you to ponder it throughout the day and see how it unfolds for you. I use them as general audience readings in the blog because they are best able to capture the general energy of the day and open audiences.

Personalized One card readings inhabit the middle ground. They take a little more experience to do well, and they have a great deal more detail and focus than a DIY meditation reading or a general blog reading can give. This middle ground personalized reading are available by email or in the “mini InkMagick” pen-and-ink real paper format.

On the other end of the spectrum, an experienced reader can use a one card reading with laser focus to get a clear but narrow insight on a specific question, or to get a quick update on a question that has already been explored in a larger card layout. I typically reserve this kind of one card readings for clients who have already had a larger reading with me for an ongoing issue.

Three Card Pathway: This layout shows a progression through time and the path you are on but does not predict the future. It tells you how to put your best foot forward, and helps you move toward the future you wish to create. This layout includes

  • Lessons From the Past: things you have done well or lessons you have learned that you can bring forward to help you now.
  • Current Situation: Energies around you now that are asking for your attention or can help you understand the current circumstances
  • Moving Forward: Ideas to help you move forward well, and move toward the future you wish to find, not predict what will happen or not happen.

Five Card Modern Oracle: I wrote this layout around 2003, inspired by the Oracel character in the first Matrix movie. It starts with the pathway cards then adds:

  • Advice and Choices: This is a card to show the place where you can make the biggest difference in your path. It is a pivot point. You can use the energies here to change the direction of your current path if you choose to change, or you can use it to help stay on course if you like the way things are going.
  • Alternative Path: This card hints at other energy paths that are easily open to you if you want to change or shows alternatives that are worth considering even if you don’t ultimately choose them.

Seven Card Expanded Modern Oracle: This is the largest layout that I offer. In my experience, larger readings deteriorate into circular logic and contradictions very easily. This layout provides detail, but stays focused. It builds on the Modern Oracle five card spread using the pathway cards, the advice and alternative cards, but adds

  • Helpful Energies: Things that are working in your favor and can act like a wind at your back when you are on the right path.
  • Potential Challenges: Again, this does not predict. This is simply a heads-up to potential problems. Keep an eye out for them, and you can act to prevent problems or take care of them early on before big problems arise.

Four Seasons: This layout is especially popular at New Years, graduations, anniversaries and birthdays. The reading starts with whatever season we are in at the time, them progresses through the coming seasons in order to cover the full year ahead. Each season card gives a theme for a three month period, based on solstices and equinoxes. Then it gives a single card that is the overarching theme for the year as a whole. I usually offer this during the winter holiday, new year season from winter solstice to spring equinox. If it isn’t actively listed, please ask and we can make arrangements to do this layout for your special occasion.

Zombie Cat’s Yes or No Tarot: This layout uses three cards to give a simple yes or no answer to any one yes or no question. Zombie Cat is a character I created in the Tarotbytes blog on ModernOracleTarot.com in 2015. He was inspired by Schrodingers famous cat and the “Test Tubes and Tarot Decks” episode of Menage A Tarot podcast that I had co-hosted with David Dear and Daily Tarot Girl Kate. These readings are lighthearted, meant to entertain, and come with a liberal sprinkling of snark and humor.  Zombie Cat readings are 100% guaranteed to contain words, but have a 50% chance of being dead wrong.


If you want to try any of these layouts, email readings are available to order 24/7 no appointment needed HERE Like live readings better? Schedule a live phone reading at taocrafttarot@gmail.com

Visit the special offers page to get your unique FREE “Mini InkMagick” digital email reading. InkMagick readings are my custom creation and ONLY available here.