PORTLAND, OREGON-- November 1, 2000 Visionary Networks launches its ambitious new Tarot.com website -- offering full-sized, expert-quality Tarot readings for free for 15 days.

"Our customers told us they wanted full-sized expert Tarot readings -- in fact 50% of those surveyed said they'd be willing to pay a small fee to support it," explained Paul O'Brien, Visionary's founder, "but the old site was barely able to support the millions coming for sample readings. It's been hell converting every line of code to make Tarot.com scalable and more responsive, but by Jove we've finally done it ... now millions of people can benefit from authentic Tarot at the same time!"

The new Tarot.com website offers 27 new expert-level readings. But it hasn't come easy. As O'Brien put it, "When you consider the real costs of software, servers and trunk lines necessary to provide 2million readings a month, developing the ultimate interactive Tarot experience and making it available worldwide is enormously expensive. We are self-funded. Banner ads don't come close to being able to support such a capability. So we are sincerely hoping our customers will recognize the unique value of an authentic Tarot reading at least as much as a cafe mocha -- and help us keep this going!"

Expert Readings by Tarot scholar Christine Payne-Towler are a major new feature of Tarot.com. These 27 full-sized Tarot spreads, ranging from 5 to 12 cards in size, represent all the most popular traditional Tarot layouts. A new twist on an old theme are the six categories of Expert Readings tailored for specific kinds of questions that are on everyone's minds. "Christine and I worked our hearts out to create the world's only encyclopedia of Tarot card meanings in any position. This took us three years ... and it keeps getting better ... we are committed!" exclaimed O'Brien.

Easier Navigation. The new Tarot.com website makes it easy for even a novice user to find every feature of the site using the Menu Tabs at the top.

Karma Coins add a unique dimension to the Tarot.com website, serving as tokens which can be used to purchase Expert Readings, or even be donated to any of six worthy causes via the website -- with those donations converted back to cash and matched by Visionary Networks. "Karma Coins take the credit card out of the Tarot reading experience and reinforce the idea that 'what goes around comes around' -- that money is meant to circulate and help good things grow," explained O'Brien.

Tarot.com Scholarships. The new Tarot.com website lets everyone experience the full range of self-service classical Tarot readings for free, by means of a 15-day "Tarot.com Scholarship." Paul O'Brien explains, "We chose to call this a 'scholarship' rather than a free-trial, because of the intrinsic educational value of our site. It's part of our mission to provide access to authentic classical Tarot to anyone who wants it. We intend to grant more extended scholarships to dedicated users who cannot afford Karma Coins. We're all in this together."