Siri, sort of.

I’m old enough to remember when people wrote letters on actual paper and had actual conversations on landline telephones, so I still appreciate the technology that lets this blog and podcast happen. It warms my Gen X cyberpunk loving heart. I’m also self aware enough to know I’ve got work to do as a media speaker. Dammit Jim, I’m a writer and this automatic thing is going to make a better, more articulate, more entertaining podcast, right?

Right?

I’m not so sure.

Basically, I’m thrilled to bits if anyone reads or listens to any of this. I’ll be doing a full on happy dance if anyone decides to get a reading because of anything in the blog or podcast. But it bothers me that the automated audio doesn’t sound the same as the words sounded in my brain when I wrote them.

My narration may not be Webby worthy – yet – but at least it has more emotional tone and verbal context than the electronic version. It is, after all, human. Humanity is what intuition, clairvoyance, psychology, Tarot and personal development are all about. This tech part is fun as heck and only going to get better as time goes on. But it is what it is, and so is the human side of it all.

I propose a hybrid. When you see “Confession” in the title, you’ll know that’s me recording the episode. If you see “Today’s Tarot” or some other title, you’ll know to expect the cyber side of the podcast.

True to the renegade pirate radio motif, nothing about Clairvoyant Confessional is set in stone. It is naturally evolving to be short, little jelly bean sized episodes. There is no sense holding something like that to a regular release schedule. Text to speech will let me drop content more often, as the inspiration hits. The “confession” episodes will happen less often, BUT they will also be longer and take a deeper dive into the humanity of clairvoyance, psychics, intuition and Tarot. Q&A episodes will always be recorded and never automated.

Did you hear that sound? That was the loud thud of a hint being dropped. If you want to submit a question to be answered in the podcast, possibly in the form of a Tarot reading, just visit the Clairvoyant Confessional podcast page on TaoCraftTarot.com. There is a link in the episode description if you are listening to the podcast. The page is in the top menu for those of you reading the blog.

Thank you all for reading and listening. I really do appreciate any follows, subscriptions, likes, or shares that you can spare. And please, for the love of your own ears, send some feedback or some questions. I can’t read for a question until you ask it.

Thanks again, and I’ll talk to you all when the next jelly bean drops.

TaoCraft Portfolio: The Bones Of It

Click HERE to get the FREE download of all the “Portfolio” posts in one .pdf document

The Bones Of It

The details of a person’s face is unique to them, but underneath we all share basically the same skeleton. Tarot is a bit like that. The details of your reading are totally unique and for you alone. Party readings are different, but all of the individual readings I do have the same core pattern and structure, regardless of whether they are in-person or distance, live or recorded, spoken or written.  

Introduction: We will talk about the questions or concerns that brought you to the reading. For distance readings this happens during the ordering process. To speed things up during ordering you can use the “instructions to the merchant ” or “customize” buttons to let me know your question or consent to an open reading. Questions do not have to be detailed or specific. You can just give a general topic, like career, romance or what-have-you. It is perfectly fine to leave a reading completely open and not ask a question at all. Some of the best readings happen when we let the energy lead the way. Talk or type, the short introduction of seeing (or hearing) your name and your question (or your permission for an open reading) is the thing that connects my intuition to your message and gets the process started. 

Card Shuffle and Layout: In distance readings I simply shuffle until it intuitively feels right. In a live reading I’ll ask you how many times you want the deck to be shuffled or cut the deck and let you choose which section we work from. The cards are placed on the table face up in the layout pattern that you ordered. The layouts will be explained in a later chapter.

General Pattern: We look at the cards as a whole picture. This can include things like major vs minor arcana, distribution of the minor suits, repeating numbers, where cards cluster within the layout, or any purely intuitive impressions that may appear.

Card by card: We talk about each card individually including its meaning, the meaning of its position within the layout and the type of message it is giving (advice, caution, validation, etc.)

Summary “psychic reading”: This puts all the cards back together in one summary. In this part we also listen for any purely intuitive information that might come through whether it is directly related to your cards or not. This is a chance to hear things that are needed, even if they are not requested or expected. There are NO guarantees about the information that will come through here. No one gets everything, but most of the time some sort of helpful intuitive message comes through; colors, crystals, aromatherapy, positive affirmations based on the cards, spirit guides, and on very rare occasions, crossed over loved ones.

Sigil Element / Intuitive Doodles: In an in-person session, I take handwritten notes as we go along for you to take with you. If any mental images come up, I’ll sometimes be able to  draw shapes to help show you what I’m seeing in my mind’s eye. Great art they are not. If anything these little psychic doodles look like petroglyphs, hieroglyphs or some kind of circuit schematics.  Sigil elements are only routinely included in the InkMagick pen and paper readings through the TaoCraft Tarot shop.Q&A: You are always welcome to ask questions throughout the reading process. If we are working live, in-person or over the phone, please ask your questions as they come up. Questions in real time can lead a reading to some of the most interesting places! If we are working at distance, questions are welcome too, but are clustered to the beginning and end of the reading. All distance readings include a follow up email at no extra charge. Email is always my primary contact with you (even for parties and in-person sessions, if and when they return)