Author: TaoCraft Tarot / Sage Sips blog

I read Tarot, write stuff and make things. Secular Humanist, coffee loving, knitting, lgbtquia2+ ally.

Daily Meditation Tarot 11 Dec 24

Choose a card. Pause the video if you need time to think. Restart to see the reveal. Your meditation for today is below.

Knight of Wands: Actions speak louder than words. Show who you are, and others will show you where you stand.

Six of Cups: Kindness and clarity is the best lens to begin viewing others, but when others show who they are, believe them. Thank you so much for watching! Sage Sips blog and socials are not monetized. If you enjoy these readings, please support this work on ko-fi and by purchasing email readings. See you at the next sip!

Daily Meditation Tarot can add a moment of peacefulness to your day. Follow Sage Sips Blog for Tarot in the time it takes to sip your coffee.

Second Chances come at the price of learning

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

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Page of Cups: life is full of distractions, but you can still learn to plumb the depths of emotion

Judgement: Second chances come at the high cost of changes

Choose your card: sound and fury.

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

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Right or left, choose the card that feels like the right one for you here, today, now. Pause the video if you need to think about it. Restart to see the reveal.

Queen of Swords: Claim your space, and speak your truth. If you want to be heard, you have to say something first.

Five of swords: sound and fury can signify nothing. Are you really under attack, or is your ego bruised?

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

Choose a Card / Holiday Hours

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

Holiday Hours: all of them!

Need a minute to yourself this holiday season? Spend a little quiet time with a Tarot reading crafted just for you. Cozy, down to earth, no-drama spirit / energy guidance at stocking stuffer prices.

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King of Pentacles: As always, the pentacles are real-world and practical. Think of the king of pentacles as a steady, reliable, trustworthy protector of the kingdom who has done the hard work to succeed. Perseverance and practicality win the day.

Four of Swords: Wait. Watch. Meditate. Contemplate. Rest while you can. Now is not the time for impulsive or radical changes. You are not alone in this energy. This card has been popping up a LOT lately.

Don’t comply in advance, but don’t panic either.

Both cards together give a sense that it is important that cooler heads prevail.

Holiday Hours: Elfcon 2024 is cancelled

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

Due to a situation beyond my control (don’t ask) Elf-con is cancelled this year. This is going to be the lowest energy, lowest expectation holiday season I’ve ever experienced. Like Chinese take-out on Christmas day levels of non-celebration.

SO…

I have oodles of time to do readings. I’ll be open for readings throughout the holiday season.

Are you at Elfcon 1? Ready to take a moment for yourself? Ready to take a deep breath, relax and spend a few minutes with something that was created 100% just for you?

Order a reading HERE

Into the Happiest Life

Pick your tarot card for today from the video and get your reading in the post below.

Pick a card, right or left. Pause the video if you need a minute to think about it, but don’t think too hard – follow your instinct to the card that feels like the right on for you for today. As always, this isn’t a prediction, just a read on the moment’s energy to help you navigate better.

As always, tarot readings never tell you what will happen in life, they help you figure out what to do when life happens.

Three of Swords: Pricks and jabs of sadness come into the happiest life. Communicate, honor your healthy boundaries so that the jabs don’t become wounds and so that the wounds won’t linger.

Page of Cups: Moments of absurdity come into the happiest life. Learn to laugh at all of it, even at yourself.

Commissions for private readings by email are open 24/7 no appointment needed

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

Meet Your Reader Fall & Winter ’24

The seasonal hello: reintroducing myself, the website and the blog

The holiday season is zooming in and our first glimpse of snow is forecast for tomorrow. Time flies when you are having fun – or having occasional existential crises as the case may be. I hope it is the former and not the latter for you.

I‘ve recently restarted the Substack again. They say third time is the charm. I’m not charging for it, but at the same time I’m hoping it will appeal to people who don’t care for algorithm driven social media or the traditional blogosphere.

Speaking of social media, I’m Sage.Sips on Bluesky now too. Still on the meta platforms, Tumblr and YouTube with no plans to leave. Bluesky is the most enjoyable at the moment and the best place to actually interact if you want to say hi.

Given the new-ish newsletter, new social media and impending new season it seems time to do yet another refresh and re-introduction. If you are new, welcome. If you’ve been here – you have my deepest thanks.

Hi! I’m Sage.

I’m also the author of Sage Sips blog, PeaceTarot and TaoCraft Portfolio

I’ve been reading Tarot cards since around 1992 which adds up to 30 years of experience with intuition development (!)

I didn’t originally start out to be a Tarot reader (who does?) At first I did readings for friends (why PAY for it when you can DIY it?) A close friend suggested I go online with my readings (forever grateful!) I’ve offered professional psychic Tarot readings through Keen, Advice Trader and AllExperts under my old internet handle, Baihu. After doing hundreds of online readings (I stopped counting at 400 and that was a long time ago) I opened my own Tarot practice with ModernOracleTarot.com, the Tarotbytes blog and the now-defunct Quirk & Flotsam shop on Etsy. It was all good, but had become a hodge-podge of things over the years. In 2018 I leveled it all and re-branded everything as TaoCraft Tarot featuring the Sage Sips blog.

The TaoCraft name is drawn from my love of Taoist philosophy. My work will always be guided by the principles of simplicity, authenticity, and kindness. The name is also a nod to magical craft and my favorite hobby, knitting.

Sage is a pen name, which protects both of our privacy. White christian nationalism and evangelical bigotry are a reality here in the US. I want this to be a safe space for you. While religion and certain politics are not permitted in readings, I want my writing and online presence to feel warm and welcoming to anyone interested in the subject of Tarot. My strict privacy policy and use of a pen name is a part of that.

The herb sage has a comforting, familiar scent and flavor that most of us know from breakfast sausages and holiday turkeys.

In aromatherapy, Sage incense and essential oil can clear negative energy, calm anxiety and promote a feeling well being.

Most of all, the word sage means something or someone who is wise. The word sage speaks to all of the wisdom that Tarot can bring to our lives.

Comfort, calmness, wisdom and a feeling that things are going to be alright are all qualities that I hope you’ll experience when you read the blog or read your personalized Tarot email.

I’m Sage Sips on Substack and some version of Sage.Sips or SageSipsBlog on all of the usual socials. Party, phone and in-person readings are currently closed, please follow the blog for further details.

Click HERE if you would like to order a private reading by email, no appointment needed.