They used to call a half caf skim milk latte a “why bother?”
Good question, and not just about coffee (she says as she sets down her double shot)
Don’t get me wrong…not every single solitary thing in life has to have a point, purpose or goal. Just being, abiding, enjoying is reason enough for anything. At the same time, life without some degree of point, purpose or goal leaves one languishing in a sea of ennui.
Sips
With anything that you do a lot or a long time, in my case Tarot, it pays to revisit the point, purpose and goal of it every now and again. What’s the use of Tarot? What good is it doing anyone? Why bother?
I think the answer is in the reason why we ask questions like this: clarity.
If something is going to have a pointed, productive goal-oriented role in our life, we have to have clarity about what that goal or purpose really is. The purpose of Tarot is to gain clarity. An yup, that is rooted in the same ‘clair’ as in ‘clairvoyant’ which literally means clear sight ability. We use our intuition and the mental-imaginative echoes of our senses to cut through the noise of daily life and all of its twist and turns – expected and unexpected alike.
A number of cards have the quest for clarity at the forefront of their meanings and connotations. The seven of cups, for example, points out times of decision paralysis, an abundance of choices and the possibility we are overthinking things. The advice has an outward, yang quality. The advice is to gain clarity by simplification. It is an active solution, to go out and cut away the unnecessary.
Here the energy is more yin, zen and passive. Sometimes these solutions are more challenging when other needs are pressing, like a job, income, or general frustration. With the two of wands we find clarity by waiting, watching. It is advice straight from the Tao Te Ching: In a river or pond, churned up water is cloudy, but if it is given time and allowed to be quiet the mud will settle out. The water becomes clear.
When you read for yourself, you can read the cards for clarity.
When you read the cards for others, you read in service to clarity, namely helping them to find theirs.
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.
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
In 1971, I spent the summer with my beloved grandmother. She taught me to embroider and we made apple dumplings. That was 50 years ago. I’m older now than she was that year.
In 1991, I picked up my first set of oracle cards, Medicine Cards by Jamie Sams and David Carson (which is still in print, by the way) A couple of years later I graduated to full on Tarot and the rest, as they say, is history. All told, I’ve been working with intuition development and card readings of one kind or another for [checks notes]
THIRTY YEARS!
There isn’t any official certification for Tarot readers. Anybody can do it, and all sorts of people….ethical and not, skilled and not….DO.
I don’t have a diploma to show you what I know or a way to prove that I’m really good at this, but I DO have an ebooklet, three decades and one metric crap ton of been-there-done-that to show you instead.
Out of morbid curiosity, I’ve also been doing some googling. The U.S. national average for a Tarot Session (which often lasts less than an hour) is $40 – $60. So my hour-ish 7 card sessions for $40 are on the low end of that average range – a really good value given the level of experience and expertise I’m bringing to the table.
Not to be self-aggrandizing – but 30 years! Daaayum!
I don’t do sales or giveaways anymore. They are a pain in the backside and I keep my prices as low as possible ALL of the time ANYWAY…but 30 years of card slinging has to count for something.
Until the Fall equinox when my operating costs (paypal and such) are set to go up, I’m making the seven card email readings $30, the same price as 5 card readings….one dollar for each year of card reading experience. I’m not making any promises about what the price will go to after that – I still have to take off my shoes and do some counting. If I get more readings per month and/or support through Ko-Fi for the blog and podcast, I hope I can keep prices the same as last year.
Email readings don’t need an appointment. Order anytime, and your reading lands in your inbox within 24 hours on regular business days, often much less. But you know how it is with nights, weekends and holidays. And you know the drill about policies and disclaimers and all of that.
What I’m trying to say is get a reading now before the prices go up in September. And tell your friends.
And holy hell….30 years!
Website purchases only. Policies and disclaimers apply
NEW! This post is now a Clairvoyant Confessional podcast episode!
“It is like a finger pointing away to the moon. Don’t concentrate on the finger or you will miss all the heavenly glory.”
Bruce Lee
public domain
I’m not a collector by nature, but I’m convinced that professional Tarot readers should have multiple Tarot decks and plenty of books about them. Sure it is a good excuse to indulge in something we already love but decks are, after all, the tools of our trade. Mechanics use more than one size of wrench and your phone has more than one app, doesn’t it? Owning multiple decks isn’t only fun, it has practical application.
It’s said that two heads are better than one. More decks are like having more heads. Different decks mean different artwork and different insights from the guide book that typically comes with them. You can draw from all the different decks you’ve used over time to give your client deeper insights regardless of the deck you are using at the time.
Let’s consider the High Priestess card that I drew a few days ago. To paraphrase Edward Waite, the Justice card is a “spiritual mother” who interprets rules and dogma in a more spiritual way. In keeping with Tarot’s roots in the deeply Catholic culture of medieval France and Italy, Waite’s interpretation calls to mind a Saint-like or Mary-like spiritual role for the card.
Contrast that with the Steampunk Tarot by Barbara Moore and Aly Fell. It is one of the decks in my small collection and this is a photo I took of the Justice card used here under the ‘tarot education’ permissions granted on Llwellyn.com
Moore interprets the card as symbolizing something that can only be understood by direct experience. This in turn reminds me of an Instagram post by author Mat Auryn that talks about witchcraft is considered a mystery tradition not because it is a highly guarded secret, but rather because it can only understood through direct wordless experience. Both versions of the card together reminded me of the Bruce Lee quote. Anyone can point to the sky, but only you can experience the beauty of the moon for yourself.
The different cards combined with the quotes that they brought to mind all point toward an important core idea: spirituality is a direct, individual experience rather than external dogma or the product of didactic training. Among many other things, the Justice card reminds us of great mysteries and the way to experience them is directly, for ourselves. Look to the moon, not to pedantic pointer fingers.
This episode is based on the TaoCraft Tarot Blog post by the same name. There is a link to the source post in the episode description. If you have any questions about Tarot, intuition or, well, just about anything please let me know. Questions will be chosen at random or by the Clairvoyant’s caprice to be answered on air, maybe with a tarot reading. Contact information is in the episode description too.
Thank you so much for listening! See you on the print side and see you next time in the Clairvoyant’s Confessional.
Email readings readings are open, no appointment needed. Phone readings are closed monday, but return to normal scheduling on Tuesdsy. Have a good weekend!
Collaborating with Stevie Nicks on the 1991 song “Sometimes It’s a Bitch,” Jon Bon Jovi tells us exactly that…”sometimes it’s a bitch, sometimes it’s a breeze.”
And sometimes that breeze you feel is life sucking.
Like all Tarot cards, the Ten of Swords has different threads of feeling, different threads of meaning. Like life, Tarot cards are not all rainbows and unicorns. The Ten of Swords is one of the best cards in the deck at showcasing that little fact.
From my side of the Tarot table, part of reading for other people is dealing with the suckage as well as the sparkles. It’s kind of a weird juxtaposition when, as the reader, you are perfectly fine but then along comes a card like this one. When that happens, it is time for a little re-framing of the situation for the client and nice beefy boundaries between your personal feelings and the external energies. Humor helps on both sides of that strong boundary.
When you feel the breeze of suckatude for yourself or for a client, there are two main roads to take. First you have the standard issue platitudes and pep talks. Sometimes that is the legit energy coming from the card. When that is the vibe, it’s your cue to take the card down the cheerleader path: “Fall down seven times, get up eight…when life hands you lemons, make lemonade… when life hands you limes, make margaritas.” That sort of thing. There are times when that approach puts things into better perspective. Sometimes people will be receptive to the idea that the mountain is really just a speedbump and let themselves be cheered up by a colorful verbal bandage, as a toddler with a bump on the knee might be.
Other times, the mountain really is a mountain. Unicorn poop and platitudes won’t help. You can’t re-frame real problems away. That’s a recipe for so called toxic positivity (or at least an extra helping of denial, minimization and other perhaps less than healthy coping mechanisms.)
Maybe, just maybe, misery loves company because miserable people hurt a little less when they don’t feel alone at the same time. That isn’t to say you should let yourself be made miserable. Reflection, rather than re-framing comes in handy. Try acknowledging the situation while holding on to your own strength. Think of it as a head shake and “Duuuuuude” as you stick out your hand to help them up. Even if there isn’t much anyone can substantially DO for the situation, it might help a little to embrace the suck. THAT is the advice the Ten of Swords is offering today.
That breeze you feel? That’s life sucking…as it does sometimes.
“Going with the flow” is often assumed to be all peaceful, zen and pretty. Not always. Sometimes the flow you have to go with is from the wastewater treatment plant. If that is your situation – duuuuude.
That sucks. I hear you. You have every right to feel pissed/depressed/terrified. Who wouldn’t feel that way in a situation like that? Feel it. Spend a minute embracing the suck and feeling the breeze of the suckatude – but then let’s figure out what you can DO to maybe help things suck a little less.
Wishing you all clear water and quiet breezes.
Private email readings with the blog author are always available, no appointment required HERE
I’m a TED talk junkie. Not that I watch a lot. I’m an encouragble multitasker and tend to let TV be audio wallpaper. But not TED talks. Those get my full attention, so I don’t watch them as often as I’d might otherwise.
One of my favorites is by author Elizabeth Gilbert speaking about creativity:
I don’t claim to be a creative genius, but some rare sometimes ideas will drop in that feel like they have been tossed there from from some outside source. It’s different than deliberately doing a reading or listening to intuition on someone else’s behalf. It’s random, unexpected, otherworldly-feeling and worthy of attention. It’s closer to the Tower card than the Four of Swords in that respect. Ideas like that feel especially important when they are sparked by one source but seem to connect to something wildly different. This morning, for example, connected an online article by Christopher Penzack about the symbolism of mountains with the memory of a 1970s TV commercial.
Most of you are probably too young to remember the lifesavers candy commercial where a guy climbs a frozen, isolated mountain to ask the guru on top to define the meaning of life, which of course, is pepp-o-mint lifesavers. It is like the part of Douglas Adams’ Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series where the most advanced super computer Deep Thought calculates the answer to the ultimate meaning to life, the universe and everything is actually 42. There was a snapple commercial with the same sort of trope where a guy goes to a farm, seemingly in remote China, to ask an elderly man how white tea is made…”you find the small young leaves, and you pluck them” … or something like that.
Climbing a mountain or traveling to somewhere remote and exotic is the classic symbol for spiritual growth and development. Both are really hard work. Outside of the comedic and marketing value, there is a real grain of truth to ‘climbing the mountain’ only to find that the mystic guru sitting on top is simple, pragmatic, and just like the rest of us.
Does that mean it wasn’t worth the climb?
No. Not at all.
THAT realization, the understanding that mystical gurus are like us and that we are like mystical gurus is in itself a great treasure. It’s worth the climb to discover the magic in the mundane. It’s worth the climb to realize that you can be your own mystical magical wise guru teacher person.
Green tea and peppermint candies are pretty good things to find too.
Since tomorrow is the solstice, instead of the usual “YouChoose” interactive reading, this is a full year ahead (four seasons, seasons of the year – I STILL dunno what to call this thing. If have any suggestions PLEASE leave a comment. I’m not saying that I’d impulsively give a year ahead reading by email to the person who suggests the best new name, but stranger things have happened.)
Stay tuned to Clairvoyant Confessional podcast. New blog to audio posts will drop this week followed by Confession #6 which talks about doing readings in cyberspace (like this one.)
All are welcome here: A few June thoughts from an lgbtquia ally and recovering fundamentalist
New and improved podcast version of the post by the same name earlier this month.
TRANSCRIPT:
I’m a clairvoyant and I have a confession. I’m proud of you.
I’ve re-written this episode at least two dozen times.
One version even started with an Eleanor Roosevelt quote. Something about doing what’s right because you are going to be criticized anyway.
This sort of thing happens in Tarot. Working with your intuition WILL help you find a better understanding of things, but sometimes it will kick you out of your comfort zone in the process. This particular card reading has been pushing my buttons for days.
Today’s podcast episode is based on a single card, daily meditation reading from the TaoCraft Tarot blog earlier this month. There is a link in the show notes if you want to read my original semi-unhinged rant.
When I drew the Four of Wands card, the words “quirk” and “celebrate” stepped forward immediately. Here, the word quirk carries a very positive energy and points toward anything that makes you unique or is a key part of your individuality.
“Celebrate with pride” is still the top level energy message.
I’m recording this in June. You don’t have to be a psychic to connect “celebrate with pride” to Pride Month.
But there was a secondary message underneath that one. The mental image that came with it reminded me of the ‘river of slime’ in Ghostbusters II.
I recognized the energy immediately from being raised evangelical in the american south, but it’s really hard to describe the FEEL of it. It helps that there have been several reputable news reports about evangelicals because of their overwhelming support for a certain former president.
Based on my experience and what I’ve seen through my family, the news reports are fairly accurate. I searched for a few recent ones and put links in the show description [below] if you want a better sense of the energy. If it seems like I’m picking on Southern Baptists, I am. That’s my parents’ church. White evangelical baptists are what I know first hand. But never mind my background. REAL experts are saying hate crimes are on the rise. I think this part of the card message serves as a reminder to please stay safe and reach out to reasonable people for support if you need it.
Dogma about the word “pride” is one of about nine thousand ninety-nine hundred and eleventy-one reasons why I ran screaming from evangelical religion. They, and others, turn the simple word “pride” into something terrible.
I’m guessing the “pride” they talk about is something of a language artifact. Language shifts and evolves over time, even when some belief systems don’t. Bronze age manuscripts filtered through medieval translations and then bent to contemporary ends equates “pride” to unbridled ego. In a world before psychology, it makes sense that a mental state like that would be described with commonplace words. Words that WE are familiar with, like ego and narcissist didn’t exist back then. “pride goes before a fall” for example. Out of control narcissism can lead to poor choices and bad stuff happening.
In any case, it’s a shame that newer, healthier connotations for the word pride are sometimes haunted by old, derogatory ones.
Looking at the card, I was reminded of being a kid and hearing all of the adults quietly supporting Anita Bryant, the loudly anti-gay peanutbutter lady from the 1970s. This part of the message reminded me of how evangelicals STILL feel about pride month and all of the bigotry, racism and overt homophobia that was the number one reason why I quit that religion so long ago.
Did you ever notice how evangelical preachers have a tendency to yell during their sermons?
Imagine.
Imagine how it would feel as a teenager to hear them literally raise their voices against quote/unquote “the homosexuals.” It was heartbreaking for me to hear it when I had – and still have – good friends in the lgbtqia community.
Imagine.
Now, imagine what that experience would be like if you were young and IN the community.
The Four of Wands is about public cultural celebrations. The Four of Wands is about lifting each other up.
Authenticity is something to celebrate. People living their truest lives is a profoundly happy thing.
A lack of self esteem can make us more prone to prejudice. Studies are starting to show that putting other people down really is a self esteem boost for some people.
On the other hand, self acceptance is jet fuel for empathy. Self confidence makes compassion for other people so much easier. Compassion for other people supports their self esteem which in turn seeds more compassion and so on and so on. Pride not only ISN’T a sin, it arguably can make the world a better place.
Pride month is a lesson for all of us. It’s hard to hate other people when you make peace with your TRUE self first.
Those of us with privilege are exponentially more responsible to protect and celebrate and uplift Pride Month. I used to think that my experience of leaving evangelical religion and coming out atheist gave me a tiny glimpse into what it is like for the lgbtqia community on both sides of the closet door.
But no. Just, no.
As an ally, pride month doesn’t have anything to do with me. For an ally, Pride Month is about being proud of other people. It’s about being proud OF people I care about.
Whatever your situation, if you are living a kind and authentic life – I’m proud of you.
Celebrate who you are. Celebrate everyone. Just be careful that the celebratory kind of pride doesn’t slip into the ego kind of pride. The supportive kind of pride is something for every month, not just corporate advertising during the month of June.
I post rainbows and celebrate WITH you this month because I’m proud OF you and proud of who YOU are.
All are welcome here.
This episode is dedicated to a still-quiet loved one and the memory of Roger Harmon, florist, businessman, and one of my first and best friends south of the mason dixon line.
Thanks for listening. I’ll see you on the print side and I’ll see you next time in the clairvoyant’s confessional.
Sage Sips / TaoCraft Tarot 
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