Tag: tarot reader

Ruthless

I’m getting ruthless about keeping my costs low & exploring my Tarot card suit of Pentacles side.

I like food.

Food, clothing, shelter and indoor plumbing are definite personal favorites.

They probably rank pretty high on your list of favorites too.

All along, since starting professional readings in the early Y2K years, I’ve been absolutely ruthless in keeping my operating costs as low as possible. It makes Tarot as affordable and as accessible to as many people as possible.

The ruthless continues. I’m still doing all I can to keep costs down for you – all of the time, no cutesy pants promotions necessary.

Life happens to everyone regardless of bank accounts. We all have stress and times of uncertainty. It’s universal, and so is Tarot. Intuition, creative problem solving, facing difficult emotions can help all of us at one point or another.

Tarot and psychics live in a weird world. People either think we should give our skill and expertise away for free or they assume we are a money making scam. It’s a tightrope to walk. I keep my costs low to make it accessible. I tell you all of this so you see the business side of all of this. Transparency is key to showing legitimacy. So modesty be damned –

I’m a really good Tarot reader, my specialty is email Tarot, my prices are some of the most reasonable around, I’m 100% legit, and I’ve published my policies and disclaimers to prove it.

I hate filling out my taxes as much as you do. I want to earn money doing what I do just as much as you do. That’s why I’m right there with all the small and micro businesses who are taking a vacation from Etsy.

Instead of increasing my prices to cover the increased fees, I’ve moved my Tarot readings from Etsy to Ko-fi. You can order special layout Tarot readings by email on ko-fi through the custom commission menu starting at $5.

More options for purchasing readings through the ko-fi shop are on the way. My ebooks are already there waiting for you. All proceeds from the sale of PeaceTarot through the ko-fi shop in 2022 will be donated to Doctors Without Borders. They are in Ukraine. They are in Syria and have been all along. They were in the United States indigenous and other communities of need during the height of the pre-vaccine pandemic.

You learn how to do DIY daily meditation Tarot readings, and Doctors Without Borders gets five bucks. Sounds like a win-win.

If this Ko-fi thing works out, I may make the migration permanent. PLEASE if you have a minute, check out this new, more affordable second home for TaoCraft Tarot email readings and special layouts. DOUBLE please let me know what you think and what YOU want to see from Tarot arts I create here.

OF COURSE the most popular layouts are right HERE on this website, available to order 24/7/365 no appointment needed through PayPal secured purchases.

If you are in the Pittsburgh area, are willing to come to the beautiful South Hills, and want an in-person reading those are once again OPEN. Click HERE for more details.

What year is it?

It’s 2021.

Did you notice that? Good Grief!

In 1971, I spent the summer with my beloved grandmother. She taught me to embroider and we made apple dumplings. That was 50 years ago. I’m older now than she was that year.

In 1991, I picked up my first set of oracle cards, Medicine Cards by Jamie Sams and David Carson (which is still in print, by the way) A couple of years later I graduated to full on Tarot and the rest, as they say, is history. All told, I’ve been working with intuition development and card readings of one kind or another for [checks notes]

THIRTY YEARS!

There isn’t any official certification for Tarot readers. Anybody can do it, and all sorts of people….ethical and not, skilled and not….DO.

I don’t have a diploma to show you what I know or a way to prove that I’m really good at this, but I DO have an ebooklet, three decades and one metric crap ton of been-there-done-that to show you instead.

Out of morbid curiosity, I’ve also been doing some googling. The U.S. national average for a Tarot Session (which often lasts less than an hour) is $40 – $60. So my hour-ish 7 card sessions for $40 are on the low end of that average range – a really good value given the level of experience and expertise I’m bringing to the table.

Not to be self-aggrandizing – but 30 years! Daaayum!

I don’t do sales or giveaways anymore. They are a pain in the backside and I keep my prices as low as possible ALL of the time ANYWAY…but 30 years of card slinging has to count for something.

Until the Fall equinox when my operating costs (paypal and such) are set to go up, I’m making the seven card email readings $30, the same price as 5 card readings….one dollar for each year of card reading experience. I’m not making any promises about what the price will go to after that – I still have to take off my shoes and do some counting. If I get more readings per month and/or support through Ko-Fi for the blog and podcast, I hope I can keep prices the same as last year.

Email readings don’t need an appointment. Order anytime, and your reading lands in your inbox within 24 hours on regular business days, often much less. But you know how it is with nights, weekends and holidays. And you know the drill about policies and disclaimers and all of that.

What I’m trying to say is get a reading now before the prices go up in September. And tell your friends.

And holy hell….30 years!

Website purchases only. Policies and disclaimers apply

The Niggles: Means to an End.

“The Niggles” series of blog posts is about ideas that prickle the psyche. It’s that nagging dry hangnail feeling that intuition puts in the way whenever I haven’t understood a message or if I haven’t given a message that needs to be heard by someone.

Today, the niggly thing is gratitude.

I think it is a misunderstanding, really. Or maybe it’s the toxic-positive version of gratitude. There is a sense in some parts spiritual social media that gratitude is a pathway to achieving something that you want.

“Being grateful for what you have” as a means to an end perverts gratitude. It turns being thankful into something artificial even if the end goal is something very good like happiness, a healthy romance, a feeling of abundance or what have you.

I worry that some things I’ve said or written about so-called soulmates may have been misunderstood. When I said that the best way to attract the love of your life is to be happy with your life as it is right now, I never meant that you have to be grateful for being alone.

But when I said be happy, I meant precisely that. I meant to deliberately find the good stuff in the present moment rather than go through life laser focused on something you don’t have. Think about it. Who would you rather have as your soulmate, a person wrapped in the joy of living, or a person wrapped in worry about the future?

There is a difference between a social convention and a genuine emotion. Yes, by all means, say thank you and be polite even if you don’t feel all that. appreciative. If you spontaneously, naturally, authentically feel that way, then by all means live that. BE grateful with gusto.

Wordless

“In case you haven’t guessed already, I loves me the bullwhips. The meticulous, repetitive, stretching, checking, cutting, lacing; it is deeply meditative.”

Adam Savage, speaking on Mythbusters about whip making.
public domain

Intuitive messages are wily things. Sometimes they as clear and as forceful as a frying pan to the face, other times they are cagey and elusive and evolve slowly.

We’ve seen this recently as the cards speak in a cascade over the course of the wek. They have been speaking about various aspects of rest & respite. Rest through finding quiet, introspection, and literal physical rest (Four of Swords) rest through a change of perspective (Hanged Man) and today, mental respite through physical activity. Physical activity can be at any level. Some people find a long run the best possible way to clear the mind and ease stress. For me, running IS a stress. Any repetitive activity that doesn’t require a high degree of mental involvement can very much take on the deeply meditative quality that Mr. Savage describes. Putting the neurochemistry and endocrinology of running aside, the key here is the degree of mental involvement, not the cardiovascular involvement. Repetition can be soothing for some people. Mantra & bead meditation is an example, too. Arguably, low key repetitive activity occupies or so-active “monkey mind” enough to allow allow a meditative state to emerge.

Bonus points for doing the thing by yourself. Social behavior, even with one other very close person, engages our mind more than meditation or whatever meditative activity alone, or at least if we are left alone to our thoughts by the people around.

Anything can be a meditative activity. Tai chi is a classic example. But you can add jogging, knitting, and bullwhip making to the list too. Today, maybe this weekend too, is an excellent time to find that physical thing to do that gives rest to mind and spirit.

My Tarot Valentine: Sweet

As Sigmund Freud purportedly said, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. The adage that “it is what it is” isn’t as bad as it has been used in recent politics. It speaks to a rugged acceptance of the situation at hand in the present moment.

That sort of accepting mindfulness is the essence of childhood innocence. The energy around today’s card brings to mind the simplicity of a child’s lollipop, pink and red heart shapes, and the small paper valentines school children make and exchange. Even we gnarly old folks can get a sip of that sweetness when we let go of worries and expectations and sink into the present moment with that same acceptance.

That kind of sweet innocence and acceptance is the six of cups message for Valentine’s Day. It’s been a devil of a year. As sexy as self confidence may be, whatever your opinion of all the cards and flowers and high expectations, this Valentine’s Day isn’t the usual. The advice is to let go of this year’s expectations. It is what it is, however lonely, however different, however simplified. Let it be a sweet and simple day. Let it be as open and empty and innocent of a moment as you can.

We can get back to the worry and mayhem soon enough. Let the moment be as it is, and let your heart love however it can.

My Tarot Valentine 2021: Into every life a little funk must fall

It’s a mood.

The Five of Cups is one of those cards that means nearly the same right side up or upside down (reversed as we Tarot types say.) No matter how you approach reversals in your readings, this card is a mood and a vibe either way.

It’s a time for a little smooth jazz or ambient electronica kind of day. I have a feeling we are heading for a Valentines season just like this. No matter how small the “hallmark holiday” is to you as an individual, the collective energies might catch up with intuitives, empaths and sensitives a little bit today. Plus, importantly, it is OK to catch a genuine mood yourself and not blame it on the general zeitgeist. Into every life a little funk must fall.

I call myself a Taoist (among other things) because I tend to see life through a yin-yang lens. Life is ever changing, the taijitu (yin-yang symbol) is ever moving and you can never step into the same river (or quite the same mood) twice. Flowing water is a fairly consistent image for the Five of Cups among Waite-Smith influenced deck, which in turn is consistent with the suit of cups’ association with the element of water. When a mood hits, honor it. Flow with it. It will change soon enough.

So what does that have to do with Valentine’s Day? It gets right back to the emerging pattern from all the cards so far: The best thing you can give the ones is you at your best. The best way to find a soulmate is to find your own happiest life in this present moment. Self-confidence is sexy. Moods come for us all, so flow with yours and be understanding of other people’s.