Author: TaoCraft Tarot / Sage Sips blog

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

Weekend Oracle: Connected

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Witches Archetype Oracle deck by “The Pretty Cult” used with permission

I stumbled across this deck last October at the Oddities Expo in Pittsburgh. I immediately wanted to use it for Weekend Oracle posts It took a little while for the email conversation to get permission to use it, then life happened and here we are.

This isn’t so much an unboxing, or review or how to, or getting to know the deck like we’ve done in the past. In working with it for a little while now, I haven’t found it to be a particularly helpful deck. It doesn’t give the kind of guidance that most people expect from Tarot or Oracle reading. The intuitive prompting is a bit dilute and it gives no sense of current energies. If anything, it made me appreciate the Alleyman’s Tarot deck’s genius all over again.

It took me a while to figure out that this deck’s real strength.

It doesn’t have much to do with witches or oracles at all really. Metaphorically speaking it’s more like a guide about how to find a flashlight at night during a blackout. It feels like a guide to other sources of strength and inspiration rather than being a direct source of inspiration itself.

It isn’t about the energy environment. It isn’t about advice about what to do. It isn’t about cautions about what to avoid. It isn’t about guidance for making choices.

It is about the most accessible source or type of helping energy to DO what you want AFTER you’ve made your choice. This is about what fuel to put in the car, not about which way to steer.

To put it in GPS terms, this is the ‘find the nearest gas station’ function not the trip directions or traffic conditions.

Today’s card is the “Cosmic Witch.” I’m reminded of the idea of when we are alone we are most reminded we are connected to and a part or the cosmos – the absolute totality of everything in both time and space. Carl Sagan described the cosmos as “all that is or ever was or ever will be.” You exist in this moment so you are now and forever a part of of the cosmos. It is impossible to be lonely in that kind of company

On a simpler level, if astrology resonates with you, that is a excellent guide and a strong influence for you this weekend.

Thanks for reading! Next up: Week Ahead Tarot, coming up either Sunday or Monday afternoon. See you at the next sip!

Action Eases Anxiety: The More You Know

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The times are vibing with the Lenormand Deck, which inspired this two card layout in the first place. My experience with Lenomand resonated with a conversation I heard on “The Circle is Pod Cast” with Matt Auryn and Rachel True. Lenormand really is concise, direct, and often very sentence-like . That in turned this short subject/verb, what it is/what to do format.

What it is: CROSS. The liminal portal-like energy from last week continues. Think of this in religious terms if you must, but this energy is like crossROADS more than connected to any one religious viewpoint. This is a time of choices. Progress demands it. Linger here and become stuck, or choose well to manifest your next path for the highest good. This is a potent time. Use it well to set intentions, plant seeds, lay foundations.

What to do: Book Symbolic of both sacred mystery and deep learning, this is a reminder that learning isn’t always about logic and knowledge. Wisdom asks to be learned as well. Learn the way of your chosen spiritual path by reading, listening, finding a mentor. King of cups Tarot card comes to mind. Spirit guide energy is nearby to help, but you must still do the work and learn to find the best way for you as an individual to be a part of this energy and flow with this powerful time.

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Given enough time, it seems like we all end up this way.

Multiple deck owners.

Some of the professional tarot readers that I know are unabashed deck collectors. Others have a few favorites and stick to those. I count myself among the latter, and I have what I consider to be a ridiculously large- and fabulously delightful – collection of decks …

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Week Ahead Tarot: Cleverness and Trust

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THE SNAKE: Stay quiet and camouflaged, use logic and observation to learn who you can trust – or not.

THE DOG: Someone trustworthy is near. Find them, and be as good of a friend to them as they are to you. The sum will be greater than the parts for all concerned.

If your individual intuition is the engine that drives a Tarot reading, symbolism is the steering wheel.

Like a car in Pennsylvania during pothole season, it’s very easy for that steering to get out of alignment. Symbolism is very influenced by culture and time and has to be kept in context. It has to be in alignment with the reader and the sitter and the intuitive vibe of the reading.

Take the color black, for example.

For some, black is seen as aligned with “evil.” In western traditions black has been associated with death, funerals and mourning, but also with evening elegance and fashion, men’s tuxedos for example.

In Japan, novice monks and many lay people wear black as a symbol of their dedication to practice and as a symbol of community.

The symbolism for snakes is just as varied. Sometimes they are seen as symbolizing lies or deception as in the Christian garden of Eden myth or someone being a “snake in the grass” in an old western movie.

In Chinese cultures, snakes are associated with wisdom, intelligence, charm and grace. In many places they are connected to personal growth and transformation through their ability to shed their old skin as they grow.

Dogs on the other hand, are all just good bois and gurls. How an individual person treat dogs and other small animal is the tell here more than any broad cultural reference. If a dog likes you, you must be OK. If you like dogs, there must be some kindness in your heart. Dogs symbolize great loyalty and deep friendship almost everywhere. Only after they have been through horrors do they devolve into aggression and threat.

If you chose the snake card, beware deception – use observation, cleverness and intellect to understand who to trust. Take inspiration for the snake to adapt and transform yourself.

If you chose the dog card, know others by their proven trustworthiness and kindness. Be a friend, find a friend, hold on to your friends.

Deck: Healing Light Lenormand by Christopher Butler, copyright 2021 Lo Scarabeo srl, via Cigna 110, 10155 Torino, Italy. All rights reserved, used by permission.

Action Eases Anxiety: Portal

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Current Energy: THE KEY. This is a time of transition, a liminal portal from one cycle to another – not quite finished, not quite begun. This energy is akin to a blend of the RWS eight of cups and the Magician energy than the pure beginning energy of the Fool card. This isn’t pure beginning. It is manifesting in the context of a new cycle. This resounding quiet is a potent time to plant the seeds of being and set intentions to manifest in the future.

Next Step: CLOUDS. Endings and beginnings both carry potent emotions. When endings and beginnings come close together, as in a closed circle, the emotions can be intensified. Be kind to yourself. Remember moods and emotions are transient as clouds. Let go. You can’t grasp the mist.

Action, doing something, can ease the anxiety and worries that can’t help but persist if we do nothing but wonder ‘what if…’ Action is necessary for there to be change, for anything to actually manifest. But the first step in any action begins in the invisible, begins with thought or decision. Making an action plan is as essential as the action itself, no matter how quickly that thought or decision or plan happens.

Making a decision – even the decision to do nothing – is in itself an action that eases anxiety.

Deck: Healing Light Lenormand by Christopher Butler copyright 2021 all rights reserved used with permission Lo Scarabo / Llwellyn publishing.

Week Ahead Tarot: Confidently Absurd

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Pause the video if you want some time to think about your card choice. Start again to see the reveal. Read your card below.

THE EMPEROR: Go with what you know. Dig into to your established skills, and bring the hard won lessons from the past forward and put them to good use now. Take comfort in your competence.

PAGE OF CUPS: See whatever pops up and accept it as it is – even if it is surprising, unexpected and a little absurd.

Thanks for reading!

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See you at the next sip!

Members Only: Crystal Casting, 2 August ’25

This is a companion video to a members-only post.

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Weekend Oracle 1 August 25

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Weekend Oracle isn’t just for weekends because it doesn’t predict any period of time. Like the “week ahead” readings, it is just a read or your energy environment for the next few days. Weekends tend to be 2 or 3 days, so think of this as being the energy you will be dealing with or the energetic opportunity that is most dominant for the next 2-3 days.

They tend to have an advice tone: “This is your best chance to…” or “Now is a great time to….” sort of feeling. Think of it as a read of what the energy around you will support the best right now.

Drawn into the Dark Corners of the World: The card name is pretty much the reading. No one is perfect. No one is complete without their imperfections. Knowing and accepting your shadow side can give a sense of peace and contentment that can be found no other way.

Many traditions teach this idea around the world. In Japan, the philosophy and aesthetic of wabi sabi tells of the beauty in imperfection. The psychology of Carl Jung speaks of our shadow, the unconscious mind. Magickal and pagan traditions actively face this kind of shadow work as well.

This card is a call to look for what you typically do not see. Learn from where and how you give your precious attention. Look for, listen to, and learn from the dark corners. Be open with all due discernment to the places you wouldn’t ordinarily expect to find wisdom. You might be surprised at the gifts such places give.

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

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Action Eases Anxiety Tarot: Insider Changing

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STRENGTH: The energy environment supports you today, or at the very least, is getting out of your way a little bit for once. Outer steadiness supports inner change, which requires the greatest strength and courage to face.

KING OF WANDS: Real strength lies on the inside. Do what you know is right for you. Decide what kind of person you want to be and start right now. You don’t have to explain anything to anyone. Be who you want to be, fully, immediately. A shift in perspective can happen in a heartbeat. Nothing can keep you from you. There is no barrier to being. Be smart and stay safe around bad people, certainly. On the inside, however, you are in charge. Always.

“You are under no obligation to be the same person you were five minutes ago.” – Alan Watts

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