Sage Sips / TaoCraft Tarot

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

Daily Meditation Tarot

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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

Action Eases Anxiety: Hard Road to Wisdom

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What it is (left)

THE COFFIN: Something has ended. No one decides the depth of that loss for you but you. Grief and sadness are valid emotions. Honor them as you see fit for as long as you need.

The platitude “don’t be sad that it’s over, be glad that it happened” rings as profoundly toxic and wrong-headed here.

No one gets to tell your emotions but you. They are yours to be named, faced, and released in your own good time.

It isn’t a matter of healing. This assumes with great hubris that the processes of grief and loss are unhealthy. The feelings aren’t unhealthy. Processing them, sitting with them, feeling them IS the healthy thing. Suppressing them, bottling them, ignoring them, smothering emotions in toxic positivism….THAT is the thing that needs healed.

It’s hard to trust in the face of profound losses. Fault or blame is of no value. Even if you can’t trust others enough to share your emotions with them, trust yourself enough to feel them, face them – and survive the experience of it.

What to do (right)

THE LILIES: I don’t know how it is in other cultures, but in the Appalachian evangelical culture where I was born, lilies are a common flower for funerals. It has an almost exclusively religious meaning in that context. It was always connected to Christian symbolism like redemption, resurrection, a return of the soul to heaven – a litany of things that hold no truth or significance for me individually.

If those things are meaningful for you here, please, by all means embrace them in any way that they help you.

I think there is another message here, drawn from the general symbolism of giving flowers, any flowers, as a gesture of good wishes. We give flowers as a message of sympathy, condolences, love and support for those who grieve at a funeral, but we also give flowers in celebration of holidays, birthdays. They are a part of weddings for good reasons. This is the energy I see around the lilies card.

It is a reminder of the whole spectrum of human emotions. Flowers are a reminder of all we feel and all that is possible. Loss of any kind is never easy. Grief exists within its own timeline and it exists side by side with all the other emotions in life.

It takes particular strength to choose the flowers of love and compassion from the bouquet of everything that life hands us. Choosing kindness toward your own emotions and that of others is a beautiful flower within our humanity. Choosing compassion in the face of loss is perhaps the hardest thing to do, the hardest flower to grow.

Wisdom is always hard-won.

Week Ahead Tarot posted

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Week Ahead Tarot: Steady Boundaries

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QUEEN OF SWORDS

No boundary can be respected if no one knows it exists. Defining then effectively communicating what the boundaries are is the first step to consistently protecting them. It is a necessary step toward protecting your inner peace.

“Setting boundaries” is a common pop psychology kind of term these days. But, as I understand it, it is rooted in real psychology and very real mental health.

“Self-care” is another term that is thrown around a lot on social media.

Both things boil down to Socrates “know thyself.” You have to know your inner world before you can define and protect that boundary line where the inner world and the outer world meet. You have to know your self before you can care for yourself and protect your inner self.

Setting boundaries isn’t about being antagonistic to other people or indulging in narcissism. Setting boundaries is self defense. Setting boundaries is knowing yourself, knowing what you need to be your best self, communicating that to others and not letting them harm your basic self respect.

It’s all easier to do once you realize that no one can make you happy, neither can anyone take it away. That boundary between you and the outside world is yours alone to set and protect.

KNIGHT OF PENTACLES

Stay steady, be patient. Too many changes can sabotage the plan. Stand strong and call what you need to you.

There is a meme with this card that always gives me a giggle. “Behold, the field where I grow my f* cks. Lift up thine eye and you will see that it is barren.”

There is a kind of happiness, a feeling of being content and at ease within your own skin when you let go of worry about what other people think of you. It is a steady place to stand.

Pentacles (coins, disks) cards are often about physical things; career, money, the nuts and bolts of being in the world. This is no different. Sometimes the key to what you need is steadiness and patience.

This connects with the seven of pentacles card in a recent reading. Sometimes you just have to lean on your rake and let the seeds you planted do their thing. Sometimes you just have to sit still on your horse and pull what you need to you, like Luke Skywalker using the force to pull his lightsaber into his hand.

Making too many changes or giving too many f*cks could throw a monkey wrench into the gears of life right now. It’s ok to be chill every now and then.

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See you at the next sip!

Weekend Oracle: Immerse

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THE SUMMER MOTHER: Immerse yourself in the moment. Creating a moment of contentment is no less a work of art than any other. It is sculpting in time and space to make something special for yourself and those around you.

We talk a lot about “being in the moment” but what does that really feel like? How do we actually DO that?

You drop.

Drop something. Think about that physical act of letting go. I don’t mean the kind of drops or something accidentally getting knocked out of your hand. Think about dropping coins in a donation box or an envelope into a mailbox.

That kind of dropping.

Drop thoughts of the future, just for a minute. Then drop the past. All that is left is now.

The moment is what it is. If vinegar tastes sour, smile for all is as it should be. If honey tastes sweet, smile all the more because it is delicious.

Wishing all of you a sweet weekend filled with delicious moments.

Deck: Normal Tarot second edition by Seven Dane Asmund illustrated by Sam Dow

Today’s Tarot: You know what to do

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HIGH PRIESTESS: Trust what you know, then do it. Spiritual power is greatest when you feel it, but it is still there even when you don’t. Some days, there is no grand mystery. Some days, just going through the motions is plenty enough. Ritual is never empty when it is mindful of the present moment.

May is both National Meditation Month and Mental Health Awareness Month. Tarot is part of both.

There have been countless times that I’ve seen jaws unclench, shoulders drop and frowns disappear in a Tarot reading.

Tarot can offer you a peaceful moment in troubled times.

This month I’m returning to where it all started: One Card Daily Meditation style readings. You can order a personalized meditation style Tarot reading by email or you can learn to do them for yourself with PeaceTarot: Tarot as a Way to Peaceful Thoughts in Troubled Times, available for download in the TaoCraft Tarot ko-fi shop.

Action Eases Anxiety: Any Beginning

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What it is: The Fool. It may not be the opportunity that you wanted, but it is the second chance that you need. Only you can walk through an open door. No one can do it for you. Some journeys we have to begin alone. Don’t let fear of being alone stop you. Walk your walk, and your tribe will find you along the way. I intuitively ‘hear’ the Annie Lennox version of the song “Sisters are doing it for themselves.”

What to do: Seven of Swords. Take action. Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Use your logic, intellect, and resourcefulness to the max. No one is going to save you but you.

Today’s Tarot: Meditation Comes To You

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

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

Tarot can play a part in both. This month, I’m returning to where it all began with daily meditation style Tarot readings on the Sage Sips main blog, the Substack and the socials. Your private readings, memberships and virtual coffees all support these free collective Tarot readings.

EIGHT OF PENTACLES: Meditation meets you where you live. It can be found in almost any simple, repetitive task. The mindless can be a portal to the mindful.

I’ve quoted Alan Watts so many times before, but it applies here again – “Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes.“

True to Tarot, even the earthy, ground oh-so-practical Pentacle cards have a spiritual side. Pentacle spirituality is particularly akin to Zen and Taoist spirituality.

Simple productivity can feed your soul as much as a job feeds your bank account and in turn your stomach. That isn’t to say that your job has to be ultra spiritual. Any work can be of service and finding a job that you love is a treasure beyond money.

Feeling and being productive improves mood: Action eases anxiety, literally.

Easy, repetitive, ‘mindless’ activity is relaxing. No wonder things like knitting, crochet, jogging, hiking, gardening, sports of all sorts are all popular hobbies. Anything that occupies your hands and body while bringing your mind to the moment at hand is meditation. In these million different ways, meditation meets you right where you live if you allow it to be there. Meditation meets you where you live and brings a little mental health help right along with it.

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deck: Alleyman’s Tarot by Seven Dane Asmund, used with permission Publishing Goblin LLC

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Weekend Oracle: It’s Different

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May is National Meditation Month. I’m going back to where my blogging began with one card daily meditation readings all month long.

Today’s card is “The Patient” from Seven Dane Asmund’s Alleyway Oracle of Secrets, created by artist “a paranoid zombie” used used here with permissions from Publishing Goblin LLC

Right away the keywords that light up are about “the acceptance of things as they really are, not the version we wished them to be.”

This is a life lesson that comes to us both from Tarot and Taoism. Think of the classic Chinese painting The Three Vinegar Tasters which has been a lifelong philosophical touchstone for me

Very loosely, the figures represent the three major philosophies of ancient China. Confucius finds the vinegar bitter, and his solution is to teach the vinegar makers better knowledge and technique. Buddha finds the vinegar too sour, and his solution is to learn to deal with the unacceptable flavor. Lau Tzu, the mythical writer of the Tao Te Ching just smiles – because the vinegar tastes just exactly like vinegar.

It is what it is and that is exactly as it should be.

That is acceptance. But critically – acceptance is very different than acquiescence.

Just because you acknowledge and accept the harsh reality of a situation does NOT mean that you’ve given in to it. It doesn’t mean that it is impossible to change or to move forward into a new set of conditions.

The first step in solving a problem is accepting that it exists. The next step is to understand – and accept – what the problem really is. Then you can get to solving the problem and fixing things.

Acceptance is a first step, not the end result.

To take a journey of a thousand miles, the first step has to happen.

For the first step to happen, accepting the existence of the journey is required.

May your journey be a happy one this weekend.

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