Tag: meditation

Week Ahead Tarot: Strive To Abide

100% of “Buy me a coffee” proceeds in June 2026 will be donated to the ACLU in celebration of Pride Month

Point of view is telling.

This is cool. I never thought of this before. I always put so much mental bandwidth into communicating the message for my client that I never thought about my point of view within the intuitive mental image.

Point of view is often part of the message – just like the mental image of the three paths at the narrow mountain summit what has repeated recently in “Summit and Crossroads“, “Move With Charisma” and “Feeling Kawaii” collective energy readings here on the blog.

In that repeating image, my point of view arrived at the summit facing forward with the message to wait and watch and with all three directions (forward, left, right but of course not off the cliff behind – that’s a whole other post right there). When the image came back again later, my point of view was still facing forward with the right and left paths in shadow and the path straight ahead was lighted. Clearly the message was to move forward, to change altitude, to enter the new phase and new cycle message that came through the repeating moon card.

While the Chariot isn’t a change card per se, it touches that energy through its wheels, which evoke much of the same energy of the Wheel of Fortune / Wheel of the seasons card. Round, moon, wheel, forward travel; there is a theme and pattern here.

Chariot is at it’s best a card of willpower, alertness, attention to the present moment. It very much resonates with the head-over-heart vibe that has been repeating lately as well. It is science and personal power and confidence, and presence of mind. I think of it as the test pilot card, or for those familiar with the 1980s movie, a Buckaroo Banzai kind of card.

The thing that fascinated me as I write this is the shifted point of view. Always before I’ve seen the Chariot from outside the Chariot. The message of willpower and persistence and presence and attention always came through just fine, and every bit of it is there tonight, a night of dark moon. Tonight I saw the Chariot from inside the Chariot. The change in point of view added something vital, new to the Chariots usual message: relaxation. Enjoyment even. Driving the Chariot was like driving a car at night with the window down. It was blues and cool breezes, no traffic, no stress. It was like the quiet relaxed mindfulness of a long drive on a quiet highway in good weather.

This is about embracing the change, participating in the inevitable changes in life. I am reminded of an Instagram post by my favorite meditation communicator Dan Harris, author of 10% Happier. In the post he quoted another of my favorite authors, Alan Watts.

“Everything is change. Nothing can be held on to. And if you go with the flux, you flow with it. However, if you resist the stream, it fights you. If you realize this, you swim with the flow—you go with it, and you’re at peace.”

Which reminded me of Frank Herbert in Chapterhouse Dune

“Live the best life you can. Life is a game whose rules you learn if you leap into it and play it to the hilt. Otherwise, you are caught off balance, continually surprised by the shifting play.”

The Chariot from a forward facing point of view is encouraging us to keep our mind in this moment, go with the flow, and go with it to the absolute hilt. Don’t strive and stress. Enjoy the ride and abide.

In this night of the dark moon, I wish Peace, Presence and Prosperity for us all.

Sage’s Second Cup: 3 June 2026

Echoed from Sage’s Second Cup blog:

I don’t feel like coming up with a clever title for this, so here’s the date. Happy Wednesday. Cheers.

Today started with my usual cup of coffee, and while scrolling I went on a tangent about Taoist vs Buddhist meditation styles.

A long time ago in a psychology class far away (back in the late twentieth century) we all took a mini version of the Myers-Briggs type indicator , not unlike the quizzes you can find online now. Turns out I’m an INTP.

The MBTI may not have any real use in clinical psychology. As someone said, it has become the new “what is your (astrology) sign.” I like my type. I think they kind of nailed it. In true INTP style, this morning I was thinking about thinking and it’s role in meditation. The part of me that is feeling a little tired this morning and is reaching for a second cup of coffee wound up thinking that just being a head in a jar Futurama style wouldn’t be a bad gig if you could get it.

But then I saw the shadow of the back yard trees in the morning sun on the curtains and remembered something Neil DeGrasse Tyson said about NOT wanting to be a head in a jar because he wanted to feel and experience, not just think.

He’s right. Without connecting to physical life … or at least connecting other heads in other jars as we do online … we’d run out of stuff to think about. Or at least the good stuff to think about.

Which kind of circles right back around to meditation. mindfulness, the present moment, and letting thoughts go.

Letting thoughts go means letting go of the thoughts about not thinking.

Right now I’m remembering a post on social media (I can’t for the life of me remember when or where I scrolled her feed) A lovely older lady was talking about a stressful time in life as a single mother. I kind of think she’s a modern day Buddha for coming up with “sit and stare time” as a way to cope.

She described the epiphany of just letting herself have a few minutes each morning to just sit, stare, and do nothing. Coffee was involved. Here’s to you oh kindred spirit whoever you are, wherever you are.

The problem isn’t necessarily the thinking part. Go ahead. Sit and stare. Think away if you want to.

Grinding away and getting emotionally caught up in OVER thinking any one thing that hasn’t happened yet or something that is over and done and not of this moment – that kind of thinking is a problem. THAT is some shit to let go.

Outside of that, though, so what if we sit and think a little or just sit and feel a little or just sit and do absofucking nothing? So what if we don’t think about letting go of our thoughts? What if we just sit and sip and abide with whatever bubbles up out of our brain and let it be what it naturally is? Thinking and feeling is not a bad thing for a brain and body to do.

Of the uncountable molecules in an infinite universe, each brainwave, each emotion, each experience, each moment is the cosmic privilege of a lifetime.

No wonder we hold on to thoughts so tight.

Sage’s Second Cup Sunday

I have no idea if cross posting between blogs is a good idea or not. Nor do I give a fk at this point. That’s the whole idea of being an amateur hobbiest instead of trying to be a professional side hustle. Here goes nothin’

Clearly, this blog is going to be inspired by current events and take the place of the void screaming in my old blog Baihu’s News Haikus.

Lately I’ve been following Dan Harris. His approach to meditation very much resonates with my own (“Inner Peace Mthrfkrs!”) His posts about action easing anxiety came just when I needed to hear it in my personal life and it inspired the Tarot layout by that name. It’s true. I’ve lived it. I’ve used it. And I’ll be posting a reading later today on Sage Sips – if I get the laundry done, supper cooked and the garbage out in time. Funny how these full time jobs tend to take up so much time.

Woke up this morning to more insanity between U.S. and Iran. To those Gen X among us, did you ever in your 1079 remembering life imagine that Iran would wind up sounding almost reasonable in comparison to the White House? Am feeling the Lenormand deck. I think we can use one of it’s pull-no-punches kind of readings.

I’ve recently added a third card to the layout. The first is ‘what it is’ to show the current energy environment. The second is ‘what to do’ suggesting a helpful response to that energy, probably a shift in perception or understanding. The third is ‘how to do it’ which I hope will both support the second card and encourage us to implement it out in the real world. I think of swords cards as sort of the patron saint of this layout….air, intellect AND action.

Making an action plan can go a long, long way toward easing anxiety. But putting the plan into actual action goes that one step further. Even if the action plan goes entirely off the rails as plans so often do.

I’m such a tiny little speck of nothing when it comes to current event and US politics. All I have to offer in this situation at the moment is an internet connection and three congressmen to yell at. Online contact may not do anything, except as one tiny electron tick to some aggregate statistic. But at least I can go sleep tonight knowing I did what I could.

I encourage to send your tiny electron to your representatives, contribute whatever else you can, and above all vote. Check your registration, jump through as many of their obstructive hoops as you can and if you can’t, see if anyone can help.

In the words of TV’s firefly “When you can’t run, you crawl and when you can’t do that you find someone to carry you.” That. Only voting.

Make the midterms look like the Avengers assembling.

People were joking online about being willing to crawl over covid covered broken glass to vote against the fascists in the past couple of elections. (Hopefully it won’t come to that, but don’t give them any ideas) But the idea. Do whatever you can. It doesn’t only help the greater good, it helps you. Action eases anxiety.

Will talk to you later on the main blog. Hang in there. Wishing you some little thing that gives you a ridiculously large amount of happiness in spite of it all. Imma have a second cup of coffee.

Weekend Oracle: Vibe Check

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It will probably be majorly cringe in a few years. Saying cringe will be cringe. Still, vibe check is my current favorite way to describe what these collective energy Tarot readings really do.

It’s a vibe check for your next few days. If you are reading this, those next few days are a weekend. If you are reading this in the timelessness of cyberspace who-knows-when, then it applies even more. If this post and this card caught your attention, no doubt it is for some reason or another.

These “one card daily meditation” readings, be it with tarot or with Oracle cards, aren’t a prediction. They just let you know the energy environment around you. It’s a check of the vibes you’ll be dealing with and maybe give you some idea about how to best navigate those vibes over the next day or so.

Meanwhile, the NO! card reminds us that no is a complete sentence.

Help when you can…be kind always…but kindness extends to yourself too. Don’t Don’t put your responsibilities on others or expect the universe to hand you the good life on a silver platter, but at the same time, don’t take on responsibilities that aren’t really yours to carry.

In Tarot card terms, think ten of wands energy. This is a good weekend – or a good few days at any time – to think about the times you need to say no. Or as Scisavage says on instagram, “protect your peace”

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See you at the next sip!

Deck: Oracle of Secrets by Seven Dane Asmund, used with permission Publishing Goblin LLC

Daily Meditation Tarot

Sage Sips is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip your coffee.

Available for purchase in the TaoCraft Tarot ko-fi shop

May is both National Meditation Month and National Mental Health Awareness Month.

Tarot has a part to play in both, especially in the form of one card daily meditation style Tarot readings.

I explain how to start your own daily meditation Tarot practice, which is kind of a misnomer since you don’t have to do it every single day. As I see it, the “daily” part comes from the way the Tarot reading takes a “just for Today” approach, much the same as the Reiki precepts.

By not focusing on personal development, past events, predicting the future or any other thing, drawing a card just for today is very akin to mindfulness meditation.

Tarot in general can be very stress reducing, and have helpful mental and emotional benefits in that way. I’ve seen it dozens upon dozens of times when I was doing in-person readings. The body language was clear as a bell; people’s shoulders would drop, their face would relax, they’d sit back in their chair a little more. Tarot readings offer a degree of healthy mental and emotional relief.

Life is less stressful when we understand the situation a little better or can formulate a plan for moving forward, hopefully both.

Tarot can help with that understanding. Like a meditation practice, when you add up those small, incremental bits of relief it can amount to something larger.

Meditation and mental health advocates have been saying these things for years. Reiki’s “Just for today” precepts is an example. Taoism and Buddhism give us the idea of change and impermanence. Everything is always in motion and change is a part of life. Death, Temperance, The Moon, The Wheel, the Two of Pentacles and other cards carry many of the same ideas.

PeaceTarot can teach you to find this Tarot comfort for yourself, even if you don’t own a Tarot deck. This simple method teaches you how to draw and read a daily Tarot card, gives a peace-themed meaning for every card in a RWS style Tarot deck PLUS three different techniques for choosing a Tarot card meaning if you don’t have a Tarot deck at hand.

PeaceTarot is available as a .pdf download and is available for purchase now from the Sage Sips / TaoCraft Tarot ko-fi shop

How Distance Tarot works

Sage Sips is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip your coffee. Today please enjoy this behind the scenes look at how I believe long distance Tarot actually works.

Q: The email readings sound interesting, but how can you read me if we aren’t together?

A: The distance between us doesn’t matter because I’m not reading you directly, I’m reading universal energy or spirit for you, on your behalf. This is the same kind of universal life energy that they talk about in Reiki, Tai Chi, qi gong, acupuncture, yoga, etc. This energy is everywhere, and if you are still alive you are connected to it and a part of it. You and I are within that energy field during your reading, no matter how physically separated we might seem or how long our conversation takes.

Star Wars wasn’t far off with “The Force”

Time and space are a connected thing. Modern physics has called it the space-time continuum. Time is as whole and connected as space. It doesn’t matter if our reading together unfolds in real time across a table or in a phone call or if the conversation unfolds slowly though emails or snail mail, the core ideas are the same. Distance Tarot works with the biggest of big pictures. We might be on opposite sides of the Earth and still be in the same energy together. We might write paper letters back and forth like they did a hundred years ago but the reading is still helpful even if takes months to unfold. It is all interconnected and valid.

The words and ideas of any reading are exactly the same regardless of whether I say them out loud, type them into an email or write them on paper.

There are a few differences between distance and in-person readings. The first is the way that you enjoy receiving your message, not in the message itself. It might depend on your mood or personality style. Phone or in-person sessions tend to be light, chatty, and friendly. They are great for when you are feeling outgoing and craving some social conversation.  Written readings are private and intense. Written words amplify the emotion and magic of the moment. They are a good match for book lovers and busy, stressed people who need a moment to relax or anyone who just wants a little ‘me time.’

All of my distance Tarot readings include a follow-up email to answer any questions you might have.

The best suggestion I have is to give it a try. My five card readings would last close to an hour in person, but only cost what most psychics charge for 15 to 30 minutes.

Starting January 2025, the business portion of TaoCraft Tarot that offered in-person, party, phone and live online Tarot readings has closed.

Email readings are still available at very affordable prices and no appointment needed. Private readings, ko-fi memberships and ko-fi virtual coffee all support this blog, this website and the Substack newsletter to keep these Tarot readings free for you to read without paywalls.

Weekend Oracle: Yin, Yang and Harmony

Sage Sips is Tarot in the time it takes to sip your coffee

Think of any question that is on your mind, or think of the weekend ahead. This “Weekend Oracle” is the premier of my newest layout, TaoCraft Taijitu.

Inspired by the famous yin yang symbol, this three card layout shows yin (energies you are pulling in) yang (energies you are pushing away) and harmony (a way to be at peace and flow with all of these energies)

As usual, I read the cards right to left. This disrupts the deeply ingrained, logic-driven pattern of reading English left to right. That small cognitive shift helps to improve intuition and keep thought-habits at bay.

Of course, if your native language is Arabic, Hebrew, Chinese or other language that reads right to left, then reading Tarot left to right would make more sense.

With today’s cards we get:

Yin, The World. The World from the major arcana is a very positive, hopeful energy. It points to the big picture, the Gestalt, the everything. This is the energy you are drawing in.

Yang, Seven of Swords. This is energy that is moving away from you, or better still, energy you have been empowered to release and push away. The Seven of Swords card is associated with mischief by others and self-serving deception. In the picture a man is stealing away with swords. I intuitively ‘hear’ the old song “Steal Away” – I forget the artist, it is so old.

But in any case, there is a validating energy. You have been taken, deceived or a general victim of our collective chaotic circumstances just as much as you thought.

Harmony, The Fool. Traditionally the very first card of a RWS Tarot deck, this symbolizes fresh starts and new beginnings.

Taken as a whole, the message seems to be very hopeful: Things have been as bad as you thought, but are getting better holistically even if the changes in any one area of life seem very small. To be at peace and to help this transition along, look for any opportunity to start new .

Thanks for reading! See you at the next sip!

Action Decreases Anxiety: Acknowledge

Sage Sips is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip your coffee

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Left (the current situation or energy) Four of Pentacles: Hoarding out of fear vs budgeting, taking care, setting boundaries. Does the real-world part of life triggering fear or does it need a little practical management right now? Diane Morgan read the four of pentacles as “secret treasure” Sometimes our greatest treasure is to ground ourselves, move past fear and work through the fear.

Right (what to do next, a good next step) Nine of Swords. Whenever the right card is a swords card, the reading is in the title. Swords symbolize action (among other things) Avoid toxic positivity. It is ok to not be ok. There will be dark times. Actively manage your stress. To manage stress or worry or anxiety or any problem, the first step is to acknowledge it exists. That acknowledgement may feel hopeless and overwhelming, but it is just the first step in solving the problem.

Here, my mind is drawn to some of the panic and anxiety management techniques I’ve seen on social media lately. Both cards point to that kind of energy and action today. If you are worried or anxious, ground yourself in the present moment and your environment. Send yourself a clear message that you aren’t in life or death danger in this specific present moment.

Dan Harris, one of the most practical, accessible, down-to-earth, meditation advocates I’ve ever read describes mindfulness as the capacity to notice. Those social media anti-anxiety techniques draw on exactly that. Use your ability to notice. Try naming five things that you can see. Try naming a pleasant sensation you can experience right now (a soft shirt, a cool breeze, the feel of your feet on the floor, the smell of your coffee…anything) Think of one thing that is going right that you can be thankful for (my coffee is still warm, a glimpse of blue sky, a song on the radio…anything) Think of someone, anyone, and mentally wish them well. Think of yourself and wish yourself peace and safety. Buddhist meditators call those last two Metta practice.

Noticing is an action, albeit a mental one. That still counts. Action decreases anxiety.

Thanks for reading. See you at the next sip!

The Layouts Explained

Tarot behind the scenes. Private readings are OPEN throughout the holiday season.

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When we talk about the “layout” or “card spread” in Tarot, it literally means how the cards are placed on the table during a reading. The photo above shows a three card layout.

Anything beyond that becomes arbitrary, symbolic and part of the internal intuitive process of doing a reading. In this three card example, the cards could mean past, present and future. It could be read left to right or right to left. It could be a yes-or-no layout (a “no” in this case) Owl and Bones on Instagram once posted a layout where three cards like this could be read as “embrace, face, erase.” The possibilities are endless.

With layouts, the most important thing is the position meanings.

For the layout and reading to be helpful, it is important to have a clear, set idea about what each card position means. If we think of the cards in the picture as a past-present-future reading, before you even shuffle, know for sure which card will mean which thing. Are you reading right to left or left to right? Is the high priestess being read as past or future? Know before you go as they say.

You can write a layout to have as many cards with whatever card position meanings that you like. It is all perfectly fine, as long as you decide before you begin. That decision is a key thing that helps the right message and meaning to come through your reading.

Here are the layouts that I’ve written that I use for my private Tarot readings:

Seasons

  • five cards
  • layout intended to give advice about how to best navigate the energy environment for the upcoming year
  • four cards for each upcoming season, read left to right in calendar order beginning from the current season when the reading is ordered
  • One card above the others to summarize the year as a whole

TaoCraft Path

  • Five cards
  • intended for understanding the current situation and guidance navigating the near-future path at hand
  • read right to left: the past’s influence, the current energies, the best way to move forward, the ‘greater path’ (the direction things are headed, the most accessible path forward) and the lesser path (a path forward that is open to choose, but holds more challenges)

Yes / No

  • Three cards
  • elaborate shuffling and dealing method to reach the final three cards
  • uses all three showing cards to determine a simple yes or no answer
  • each of the three cards is then used to give a message relative to the question that was asked

Sage Sip

  • One card
  • general guidance, daily meditation, or focused follow-up to a larger reading
  • Ancient and ubiquitous, no one knows the origins of the one card layout.

Sage Sip members on ko-fi get free one card readings by email (at your request only) up to 3 per calendar month, discounts on the larger layouts, exclusive content and special offers. JOIN HERE.

Image credits: all photos by the author using public domain Waite Smith cards except “seasons” layout image, also photo by the author using Witches Tarot deck by Ellen Dugan and Mark Evans copyright 1996 used with permission Llewellyn publishing

How are you doing so far?

Sage Sips is tarot inspired meditations in the time it takes to sip your coffee

Special shout out to all of the energy sensitives in the US.

What a couple of weeks it has been *insert your favorite interjection or expletives here*

I don’t know about you, but I’m furious. I have a hunch we’ve entered into a crash course on shadow work and have to make fast friends with our dark side so we can survive theirs. Last week was not unicorn farts and marshmallows. Although the energy hasn’t quite stabilized yet – it feels like the pouring rain scene in the Star Wars prequel on that planet where Obi Wan discovered the clone army- it does feel like the storm front is starting to pass and we are beginning to get early glimpses of the aftermath.

Or put another way, the lightning bolt from the Tower card hit, and now we are in ten of swords mode.

I’ve done some private reading, for which I am SO grateful. The individual messages are breaks in the clouds and rays of sunshine in the storm of collective energy. Thank you all. I hope the readings help you as much as it has helped me to put things in a little more perspective.

Perspective looks both ways.

Perspective shows us where we are right now in the grand scheme of things (think World card). It includes our best guess and firm intentions for the future but it also includes lessons from the past that we can use now.

Camouflage is a survival technique seen in nature, and perfectly fine to use as long as you remember what is really underneath. Protection is valid too. Protect, preserve, celebrate and honor the true you, always.

I see you. I appreciate you.

The squirrels rave again. Blog posts are as unpredictable as ever. Private readings by email are always OPEN (even if delivery times vary and even if the superficial appearance changes a bit.)

Stay tuned. We’ll muddle through one way or another.