Cups represent emotion, and our emotions have been, collectively speaking, taking a breathing the past few months to years. The energy has been intense lately, especially here in the US. The world rightly hates us. We hate us. Terrible things are happening and if the people in power aren’t actively instigating it, they are tacitly allowing it.
Which only makes it more important to claw back a moment of simple pleasure when you can.
It’s St. Patrick’s day weekend. Enjoy the parades. Enjoy the beer. Enjoy being with friends if you can. Take a breath or take a nap and then get back at it.
Change is inherent to life. Change is inevitable. Change is at hand.
The energy in today’s reading is entirely about world events, not an individual situation – but it tells us all something we can do ease the anxieties for all of us during war, fascism and all of the overwhelming things in the world today.
The Action Eases Anxiety layout hints at what current energies ARE and what to DO about them.
What is is: The Scythe. This symbol clearly resonates with the Death card from the RWS major arcana. The energy now is ripe for making changes. In this deck’s book, Christopher Butler adds a connotation of precision. The advice here is to make smart, precise, efficient, effective changes. Be focused and targeted in what you decide to do. Do small things that you feel confident and comfortable doing….think of a magnifying glass that focuses sunlight so strongly it could ignite paper. When you are confident and comfortable, you are focused and effective. Don’t feel comfortable calling your congressional representatives? Send an email. Don’t feel comfortable carrying a big sign to a protest? Stand quietly at the protest. Quiet presence and small but persistent action counts too.
The Death card is ‘sea change’ … any big, life altering change. Like the Death card, the change isn’t always disastrous. When I was a professional reader, I saw the death card all of the time – at bachelorette parties, and even a baby shower once. Change can be very, very good change. Sure it may be the death of the maiden phase of life, but it is also the birth of wife and mother phases of life. Symbolic death of the old is necessary to make way for the new. The Scythe card here emphasizes that aspect. The Scythe clears the way for better things to come. It clears the way for you to move forward in the way that you want, the way that you must.
Here I am reminded of the powerful quote from the movie The Last Jedi where the character Kylo Ren says “Let the past die. Kill it, if you have to. That’s the only way to become who you were meant to be.” That captures the feeling of the Scythe card today.
What to do: The Whip is a disturbing image, typically associated with quarreling and conflict akin to the 3 of swords or 5 of wands. This connects to the underlying “Change…but in a good way” message here. To make positive, effective changes, old patterns are necessarily disrupted. This connects to the John Lewis “good trouble” reference.
Clearly this is a time of upheaval. I intuitively ‘hear’ “sea change” along with “good trouble.”
I also ‘hear’ “we are in the thick of it” and “this the darkness before the dawn”
My mind is drawn to the number 5 and the month of May. I don’t know why or what that’s about – but I hold on to hope just the same. May is only a couple of months away.
But that should NOT draw our focus away from the moment at hand. That is exactly what the first card warns us about. Any diffusion to our focus could keep the critically needed changes from sparking.
Now is the time to add your drop into the ocean of change, now is the time to add your weight to the work of bending the arc of history toward justice.
Thank you, as always, for reading. See you at the next sip!
Support Sage Sips on Ko-Fi for a private Tarot reading by email as a thank you gift. Proceeds help to keep Sage Sips ad free.
Deck: Healing Light Lenormand by Christopher Butler copyright 2021 all rights reserved used with permission as published on Llwellynpublishing.com
Over the past several months I have been given images and messages about letting go, moving on, releasing what no longer serves.
That especially included romance Tarot questions which always makes people hurt and angry, understandable so. Heartbreak and loneliness are some of life’s sufferings that no one wants to experience.
Still, there is a tiny glint of encouragement, a little bit of shimmer among the ashes.
Astrology isn’t my strong suit, but according to internet memes, things are turning a corner, at least on individual levels. I’m not touching world events here. If I can give a little encouragement on an individual by individual basis, that’s plenty enough of a win. Encouraged individuals are then a little bit more resilient and able to speak and resist and do whatever else we can in the flaming, toxic social / political environment that has been dropped in our collective lap through no fault of our own.
public social media, creator unknown
I don’t know if it has anything to do with anything, but my sun, moon, and rising signs are all on this particular list. They are on to something with this meme. I was really feeling it when I wrote the Standing in the Ashes post a few days ago and can personally relate to that post.
Since I have a full time day job now and have had to remake my professional Tarot practice into something entirely different, I am basically standing in the ashes of 20+ years of work. If you resonated with that post – me too.
This corner-turning energy that has cropped up this week in spite of world events really does beg the question of NOW WHAT. Now that we’ve done the hard things, now that we are standing in the ashes of the bridges we’ve burned, what are we going to do?
Here is where the encouragement part comes in.
Reading Tarot isn’t just about the cards. To be really good at it, you also have to draw in present-moment intuition that relates to the person, situation and energy of the moment at hand when you are doing a reading.
Last week was one of those weeks where I wrote for the blog in bits, little times fit in between other necessary things. It was interesting to see the energy shift even as I was working on a post about a single card here and there over the course of the week.
The day after the post published two days ago, the mental image the card prompted came back to mind, but with a subtle but important change.
The figure on the card was facing a different direction. Not back the way he came, but at a different angle than is on the card. There was less water, no cups (symbolizing less emotional upset, more clarity, and a greater sense of calm)
Most of all, the ground was all grey, like the ashes in the post BUT with a silver and gold shimmer. It reminded me of the simulated moon dust from an old episode of Mythbusters but with the tiny glitter they add to nail polish mixed in.
Yeah, everything has been burned to ash, but that ash is shimmering with potential. The shimmer is new, compared to the same mental image from writing the other post a few days ago
The Standing In The Ashes post put the onus of rebuilding on us. Then the energy was reminding us that our intention matters. Causes have effects and we are the cause of our next experiences. It’s a little bit of a dark and burdensome message, but there is no light without the shadow. Or as Carl Jung wrote “…the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness.”
Yes it is our responsibility to choose what we do next as we stand among the ashes of the past. Yesterday is gone…so what shall we do today to make tomorrow better?
The shimmer reminds us that among the loss, among the ashes is great potential. The ashes remind us that the same old Phoenix is there is we choose to let them rise. But the shimmer reminds us that change is forever present. Change is life. We can choose the Phoenix that rises this time.
image public domain via Wikipedia commons @lychee532
Not that much has fundamentally changed around here over the past year. In honor of springtime (and trying to distract myself that it is almost daylight ^&%@! savings time again) I’ve been editing the website and Kofi page to clean up and streamline things. The focus has been shifting since January of last year, so the details have been getting a little messy. Here’s the update for how you can support Sage Sips on Ko-fi. As always, the proceeds go toward the creation and web-hosting of Sage Sips. My goal is to keep the website free for everyone to read, browse the archives and ask questions without ads getting in the way.
Here’s the latest:
I only do private Tarot readings as a thank you gift to Sage Sips supporters. There are two ways to get one of these free email Tarot readings:
When you support the blog through the READINGS menu, you receive the same private email readings that I did as a (20+ years) Tarot professional. The layout you received is determined by the contribution levels ($3 – $30)
Buy me a coffee on Ko-Fi (virtual tip jar) and you get DM access to ask your question and a one-time daily meditation style email tarot reading.
Membership includes DM access plus free email Tarot readings anytime at your request* for the duration of your membership. $5 per month gives you the choice of a Year Ahead or Taocraft path layout, while $3 per month gives yes/no style readings.
*Please note, membership readings are not automatic. You have to send a question or open reading request each time. Seeing your name and question each time helps me to do a better reading for you.
Stop and think is your best strategy over the next few days. Evaluate. Recalibrate. The root cause of the problem is the best place to solve it.
As I understand it, the Tehom card refers to the life source, the impetus of creation at the beginning of the universe. Sometimes we have to bake up to the beginning at take a fresh run at things. It may not solve current problems, but understanding the root cause of them can help us see the most effective solution. Root cause analysis may be a doorway to a fresh start.
To solve a problem, understand the source of the problem.
This continues the flow of energy we’ve seen lately with the 8 of cups Standing in the Ashes post. Understanding why boundaries had to be set, or why the things we released no longer serves us can help us in that process of holding intention for something new and better to fill that space that was created by those boundaries we set and attachments we released.
Part two of that post, Standing in the Shimmer, was originally released to members only. Stay tuned here for its release to everyone. Follow this blog to get everything directly to your in box.
Members on ko-fi get on-request private Tarot readings by email and early access to upcoming posts. Please visit the Sage Sips/Taocraft Tarot ko-fi page to see the updated membership benefits that start March 2026.
Thanks for reading! See you at the next sip!
Deck: Alleyway Oracle of Secrets by Seven Dane Asmund, used with permission
The Magician card is associated with manifestation and transformation.
There is a so-called Chinese proverb, loosely attributed to Sun Tzu and his classic The Art of War, that chaos is opportunity.
The energy here is chaotic. I get the mental image of black and white randomly together, like the snow on an old TV with no signal or the matrix of a granite counter top.
At the same time I ‘hear’ (meaning the intuition comes as words instead of mental images) There is great opportunity for manifestation
Think of this as drawing what you need…manifesting…out of the chaos.
How? That’s the tricky part. That is the part that makes working magic, well, work. A firm decision about goals and priorities and a healthy dose of persistence can help.
Know what you want and need, be a little flexible and adaptable about how you get there, and keep looking. The chaos may bring you something unexpected.
Over the past several months I have been given images and messages about letting go, moving on, and releasing what no longer serves.
That especially included the Valentines Day and romance Tarot questions – which always makes people hurt and angry, understandable so. Heartbreak and loneliness are some of life’s suffering that no one wants to experience.
Still, there is a tiny glint of encouragement, a little bit of shimmer among the ashes…
Membership on ko-fi gives you on-demand private email tarot readings, exclusive content, DM access. Three membership tiers and multiple layouts can fit any question or budget.
Non members can get private email readings as a thank you for one time support using the “readings” menu on the ko-fi page.
8 of Cups: You’ve let go of that which no longer serves you. That creates space. What are you holding that space FOR?
It has been said that nature abhors a vacuum. That space you’ve created will be filled with something. Are you going to fill it intentionally or let chaos and entropy take its course?
You’ve burned the necessary bridges so now you stand among the ashes. What will you build from them?
This is the why behind the “let it go” type of energy we’ve seen so much for many months now. When you let go and burn whatever bridges that need to be burned it creates the space and materials to build something new. It becomes necessary to deliberately and intentionally create whatever aligns with yourself and your needs as they are in this present moment.
Or you have the choice to surrender your intention and let the same old Phoenix rise.
What do you want? What will you do as you stand amid the space and ashes after you have let the right things go?
deck: Witches Tarot by Ellen Dugan and Mark Evans all rights reserved, used with permission (llwellynpublishing.com)
Love and relationships are the whole ballgame when it comes to being a human – um – being.
But I was hoping to move on to the half price chocolate and leave the whole My Tarot Valentine thing behind.
But then, maybe we did. Leave it to Lenormand cards to roll up smack us in the face with a frying pan and put the last nail in that coffin.
My intention was to do a nice, normal “action Eases anxiety” reading for this week, but noooo, here we go zooming back to yesterday’s annual Valentine’s day rant.
Here’s the beef:
Valentine’s day (at least here in America *rolls eyes*) seems to be all about white heterosexual romance.
If you are in a relation like that or adjacent to that, then it can be sweet and romantic and a great time to pay attention to the people that mean the most to you. It can and does extend to friends and family.
But it can, and does, make some people feel bad because they don’t have the romance or life partner they want in their life right now, and that right there is where it all goes off the rails.
And that right there is where today’s cards grabs us by the head and turns it for one more look
One of the many things I like about this Healing Light Lenormand deck by Gerard Butler is the way it makes both male and female versions of both The Lady #28 and The Gentleman #29 cards. It lifts the deck beyond binary gender roles to include any romantic relationship, and in conceptual extension, to any relationship at all. I like to think this card showing up today is a validation of being the love you want in your life. In giving love, in loving the things and people in our lives now, we put the whole Valentine’s Day soulmate thing into perspective.
And makes those relationships when they are in our lives doubly important, valued and appreciated. They become love heaped upon love. It makes relationships more valued and precious when they are an expansion of a love-filled life, not filling for an empty spot.
Looking at today’s cards as they usual ‘what it is’ and ‘what to do about it’ we see the lady/gentleman paired with the hear.
The lady/gentleman cards are a self significator…they stand in for you in the reading. This reading is aimed at purely internal, subjective perception. What you think these cards mean, is exactly what they DO mean. The reading is between you and you…all I did was pull the next card for you to contemplate.
The heart card is the star of all of this…relationships. Not just one to one romance…any connection, anyone or anything that is significant to you…anyone or anything that you love. YOU love is the key. Not expectations. Not ideals. What do you love in your life right here, right now? What connections need to be nurtured and grown? What connections need to be trimmed or cut? What connections need to be built? What connections are right there, just waiting to be seen and discovered?
It is at once the simplest and the hardest part of life.
What it is – you
What to do about it – love.
I wish you a peaceful week free from ridiculous commercial holiday expectations. Happy half priced chocolate to those who celebrate.
See you at the next sip!
Supporters through the “readings” menu on ko-fi get a custom private email Tarot reading as a thank you gift. Proceeds help me to create Sage Sips and keep it free from advertising and paywalls.
Sage Sips / TaoCraft Tarot 
You must be logged in to post a comment.