Today’s Tarot: Lights Out

What do you do when the lights go out? Darkness is a normal, natural thing. It happens every night.

We are the children of technology, descendants of fire and flame. We like light. It tells us what is in the darkness, it tells us we are safe and whether immediate danger exists or not. We don’t like it when the lights go out. When they do we grab flashlights, light candles, build campfires…as we should. If it’s an emergency, we need that to secure our surroundings and our loved ones. For the sake of argument, let’s assume for a moment that it isn’t an emergency, and you are safe, but it’s night, there is no electricity, and no place to build a fire.

Night is fundamental to our world. It’s just how things are. It’s the primordial soup we all evolved in. So why do we fight the darkness so much? What do we do when the lights go out? Why did we turn them on in the first place?

We are daytime creatures. For the vast majority of us, we rely on our vision for almost everything. Dark makes it harder to do just about anything…except sleep.

What do we do when the metaphoric lights go out? It happens. Night falls. Every. Single. Day. And so, times of uncertainty come to everyone.

The King of Wands is often associated with passion, energy, leadership, fire. When it comes to times of darkness this card often has a “light your own torch” “find your own unique light in the dark” sort of vibe. It can be a very Dylan Thomas “rage against the dying of the light” kind of card.

What if the lights going out is an incredible stroke of luck because we are looking at the wrong thing? What if the darkness comes because you need a good night’s sleep?

Do the best you can with what you have. Of course “it is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.” Sometimes, when the candle just won’t light for you, maybe it is better to nap until dawn.

Sunrise is as inevitable as dusk.


Just a reminder: In-person readings are once again on hold until community covid transmission rates go back down and we see what happens with this delta variant thing.

Dressed for work

“It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.”

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Page cards in Tarot are about learning. Swords can denote several things: the element of air, taking action, our relationship with culture, society and authority, or they can symbolize the mind and intellect. My attention is drawn to a combination of intellect and action. It reminds me of that quote where Emerson describes common sense as “genius dressed in its working clothes.”

Genius at work is our learning mode, which can apply to anyone, anywhere, in any stage of life. Learning is a lifelong thing whether we are running particle accelerators or poking something with a stick to see what happens. Mind and body are one whole, so learning and action are an integrated whole as well. Even if big genius ideas drop into our head seemingly out of nowhere, something triggered it or some unique set of material experiences hit critical mass and turned on the proverbial light bulb over our head. However they happen, genius insight doesn’t help us much unless we do something with them. Physical realm interacts with the intellectual realm which prompts action in the physical world and so on in an unending dance of learning and experience gathering. It is about figuring out a method and trying something, admitting failures and trying again. That applies to all sorts of learning. Science is a way of learning about the outer, tangible world. Tarot is one method of learning about the inner, intangible one. The two aren’t mutually exclusive, far from it. If anything they are bound together as intimately as space and time, locked in the complex dance of our humanity.

Today’s card is asking us to use what we know, and fearlessly learn what we don’t.


In the spirit of learning and doing, I have a quick announcement.

As you know, I don’t keep an office or any sort of brick and mortar location, primarily to cut my overhead and keep my prices lower than they otherwise would be.

Since that means bringing people out into the public sphere for an in-person session I’ve decided to use CDC reported community transmission rates for Allegheny county as the guide for in-person sessions. The rate is on the rise, and we have been upgraded from low to moderate. Due to that, starting Sunday July 25 in-person services are on temporary hold again until community transmission rates drop back to low.

Distance Tarot is my specialty

I say that because I’m just as good at writing and doing readings by email as I am doing them in person. I know a lot of psychics and Tarot readers who do both in-person and distance readings equally well, but several of them have commented to me that they don’t enjoy working by email as much as they do in person or by phone. I do both equally well and I enjoy both too.

So PLEASE – while we all endure these last hills, bumps and turns of this roller coaster ride of a pandemic, don’t hesitate to make use of the email version if you are interested in getting a reading. I promise you will get the same information as you would if we were meeting face to masked up face.

Plus don’t forget the cutesy pants promotional $1 TAROT SALE where 7 card email readings are $1 for each year of Tarot reading experience that I bring to your reading (AKA – $10 off the usual price). Offer ends 20 September 2021

Order email readings 24/7 on the home page or HERE

Quick update: July 2021 part 2.0

Individual readings are open!

Starting next week, in-person readings for individuals and bring-a-friend readings are back on a reduced summer schedule. Readings are weekday mornings and afternoons, with some limited evenings and Saturdays by special arrangement. Please ask for details. More HERE

Email TaoCraftTarot@gmail.com to schedule. 412.206.9171 is now for VOICEMAIL ONLY. Leave a message and I’ll get back to you asap to schedule your reading.

Masking is required for unvaccinated clients. I may wear one until we see what is going on with this delta variant thing. Masking requirements subject to change and based on CDC and health department guidance.

Individual and phone readings are closed July 16 – 20. Email readings are OPEN throughout that time but may have some slight delivery delays.

$1 Tarot Sale

7 card email tarot costs $1 for every year of Tarot experience I bring to your reading. (That’s $10 off of the normal price.) All policies and disclaimers apply. Offer ends 9-20-21. Order yours HERE

Summer update

  • New episodes are up on Clairvoyant Confessional podcast! Some episodes are recorded, some auto-converted from blog posts, but all are available on Anchor fm, Spotify, Googlepodcasts, Stitcher and more.
  • The YouTube Channel has easier access to the Today’s Tarot and YouChoose Interactive Tarot Playlists. Check it out here
  • OR…. Subscribe to the blog and get EVERYTHING in your inbox: blog posts, podcasts, youtube videos, unabashed self promotion, the whole enchilada. Which is good, because enchiladas are pretty darn tasty.
  • $1 Tarot Sale: yeah, yeah, I know. I said no more cutesy pants promotions. But it’s my mind and I’ll change it if I want to. To commemorate 30 years of assorted card slinging, 7 card Tarot readings by email are ON SALE ($10 off) that’s $30…$1 for each year of cartomancy experience that I bring to your Tarot reading. Offer ends September 20, 2021. Applies to website orders only.
  • Individual / Party in-person Tarot returns in the fall. Masking may be required. Stay tuned for updates as we see how the Delta variant thing evolves.
  • Phone readings are available and scheduling HERE
  • ALL of the blog, podcast and yourtube content is FREE, non-monetized and AUDIENCE supported by Tarot enthusiasts like YOU. Buy your friendly neighborhood clairvoyant a coffee at https://ko-fi.com/taocrafttarot

It’s my mind, and I’ll change it if I want to

I know, I know…I said no more cutesy pants promotions

But thirty years of card reading is something. And I wanted to do something to commemorate it. Get ’em while you can. It’s prolly going to be the last cutesy pants promotion for the next thirty years.

Offer good for website purchases only. Poloicies and disclaimers apply.

YouChoose Interactive Tarot: Make Happy

NEW: $1.00 Tarot sale…get a five or seven card Tarot reading by email and pay 1.00 for each year of Tarot reading experience that I bring to your reading. Special price available until the autumn equinox, September 20, 2021