Sage Sips blog is Tarot in the time it takes to sip from your coffee
“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” – Carl Jung
The Knight of Cups is classically known for symbolizing travel, flirting, and romance. It’s the card that most closely matches that “you’ll meet a handsome stranger” sort of trope in books and movies.
Dreams is another key word I’ve seen pop up. Intuitively I get “vision quest.” I don’t think it means the old 80s film with the Madonna song.
It’s not the achievement focused “chase your dream” kind of thing either.
This card reminds us of inner questing. Why waste time chasing what is right there inside, right now?
Actually the inner dreams, the gift of insights that our subconscious minds and Jung’s collective unconscious can give can be more elusive than the physical realm dreams of things.
I feel pushed to talk about dream journaling. Journaling as a whole is a wonderful thing. Just grab a pen and a notebook and have at it. The only rule is there are no rules. Keep it as private as you want, write anything you want as much or as little as you want. Write to understand. Writing a journal can explain yourself to yourself in amazingly healing, empowering ways.
The knight is bringing us a cup of water and intuition and an invitation to write our dreams as soon as we wake up and remember them – or just write to make up our dreams while we are wide awake. After all, you can’t chase a dream until you know what it is.
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This set of cards has the feel of a child who picks a wild flower and gives it as a gift. The energy of it is just that sweet, just that simple. The universe has gifted us with a bouquet of clover and wildflowers.
Life isn’t always good. It seems like we spend a lot of time talking about how Tarot is valuable because it can deal with the shadows and how it isn’t all toxic positive in denial of the realities of a situation. Life isn’t all love & light.
But neither is it all doom and gloom. “It can’t rain all the time” as The Crow movie told us. Sometimes you just have to take yes for an answer.
That is what today’s cards are all about. Lenormand cards have a reputation for being direct, no-nonsense, and not pulling any punches. Maybe it is because so many people turn to Tarot when they are in some sort of emotional upset, but we tend to assume direct and no-nonsense means bad news.
Tarot, both Lenormand and RWS, are excellent at easing that kind of emotional distress. They are equally good at bringing good news and straight up reassurances too.
This is a perfect example. And, coincidentally, this is the first two card combination that is in the guidebook. The combination of The Bouquet (Love, token of affection) and Clover (good luck, like any “four leaf clover” symbolism) is described as “the ultimate combination of good luck and happiness (Buler, p. 16)
For the collective, I think this is a good reminder to unplug from your worries and indulge in feeling that everything is going to be OK. The universe has our back, it’s all going to work out in the end. Let yourself believe in magic for one minute – or a million minutes.
Try it on for size. Just for one day, imagine you are a magnet for all the good things. If you like the feeling, it is yours to keep.
Maybe the best kind of good luck is the kind you believe you have.
Weekend newsletter card: The Hanged Man. Want a weekly digest instead of every post in your inbox? Subscribe to Sage Sips on Substack!
I adore Hawaii.
And I adore the shaka, you know, that “hang loose,” all good, take it easy, right on thumb-and-pinky hand sign from surf culture. I don’t surf. I’ve only spent a single, glorious week on Maui. But I adore the feeling and attitude of the place and culture just like I adore Tarot, Taoism, Tai Chi, Reiki, Witchcraft and all the other things that have made my life so so so much better just for knowing about it. Just thinking about the shaka sign and all it means while I’m writing this makes me feel just a little bit better.
All of those things, unfortunately aren’t typical to southern American culture. They aren’t typical to the usual Anglo-European connotations that go with the Hanged Man major arcana card. With the Hanged man with think about “stagnation” with the connotation that it is a bad thing. That in turn implies some inherent value to striving, achieving and moving forward.
Not so, bruh.
Today’s energy around the Hanged Man card is more like a kind reminder, a friendly shaka, to take it easy.
Slow your roll.
Stop even.
Take a doggone minute, take a deep breath and be where you are.
Announcements: No COTW in observance of MLK day.
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Let’s do a few more two card readings to get back into the swing of things after the holidays
Today we have the key with an 8 of diamonds inset, and the ship with a 10 of clubs inset.
The author, Christopher Butler, connects this with locking vs unlocking, security vs openness, secrecy vs transparency. I associate the 8 of diamonds with the eight of pentacles, which is prospering through work, effort and craftsmanship.
The ship, logically, has to do with journeying and has undertones of prosperity (ships are connected to trade and transport, after all) The 10 of clubs resonates with the 10 of swords, which connotes defeat…but also the “fall seven times, get up eight” proverb. It could be read as “perilous journey” but the peril here feels connected to the unknown, the things locked away.
“Keystone” and “cornerstone” come to mind.
There is no logical reason for it, but I’m getting that finding the key, finding the cornerstone, finding that one thing that makes everything else fall into place THAT is what is needed for a successful journey with regard to career or finances.
Next up: Freeform Friday. Not sure what I’ll post, but it will probably be a re-introduction posts that I wanted to do in blurry time that never actually happened. Either that or a cookie recipe, I dunno.
Welcome to 2024 and the first Card Of The Week of the new year.
Since the New Year reading, I’ve gotten some nice feedback about the ‘you choose’ format we used.
With all of the fast pace question-in-the-comments live readings that are available now, it seems the slower, more contemplative, interactive readings aren’t as common as they were a couple of years ago. These kind of pick your card / slow reveal readings used to be all over the place.
I’m bringing them back.
It feels a little more intensely personal than quick comment/live readings or purely collective energy readings. Let me know what you think. If you like it, we can keep it. If no one says anything, I’ll decide in a few weeks which format to use most of the time. It’ll either be a you-choose card for the week like this or back to random collective energy card for the day posts.
Watch the video, pick your card. In the future, I expect that you’ll be able to scroll back down here and read a longer, more eloquent, dammit I’m a writer not a YouTuber interpretation for the card. Today, it was all I could do to get back into filming at all. Even in low-tech, lofi, laid back mode. I don’t have anything to add to the video this time.
But seriously – comment or email or use the Ask Me Anything page to let me know what you think of the you-choose format.
You choose and I won’t have to.
Next up on the squirrel-rave playlist* Learn With Me: Lenormand returns, hopefully on Wednesday
Thanks so much! See you at the next sip!
*Squirrel Rave Playlist is my nickname for the no-schedule schedule and not-plan plan for 2024.
*Inspired by the internet meme “I don’t have ducks, I don’t have rows – I have squirrels and they are hosting a pagan rave.”
*The general not-plan for the blog is a COTW in some format or another on Mondays and Learn With Me posts on Wednesdays, weekly digest newsletter on Substack on the weekend, and everything else being just pure random intuitive inspriation.
Weekend Substack: The Sun Tarot card, Lincoln, and Lau Tzu
He probably didn’t actually say it, but Abraham Lincoln is often quoted as saying “people are as happy as they make up their minds to be.”
I find it true, but more nuanced than it seems.
It isn’t about conjuring up pleasant feelings from nothing in a rose-glasses toxic positive kind of way.
Oh no, my friend. It is much worse than that.
Making up your mind to be happy is more likely about accepting your circumstances for what they are and allowing the natural contentment and happiness come out. Happiness is allowed, not created.
Time and again life points back to one painting for me. Not one painting but one allegorical theme in traditional Chinese paintings: The Vinegar Tasters.
The painting shows Buddha, Confucius and Lau Tzu (author of the Tao Te Ching, the originator of Taoist philosophy) Buddha and Confucius are making faces while Lao Tzu smiles. It’s been said that they think they vinegar tastes sour, bitter and sweet respectively.
That’s not quite it.
Lau Tzu isn’t just magically or delusionally conjuring up a sweet flavor without the help of any magic berries any more than we conjure up blissed-out happiness out of thin air. Lau Tzu is tasting the exact same thing as the other two. He’s just smiling because that sour and bitter vinegar tastes just exactly how vinegar is supposed to taste. He’s smiling because the vinegar is being true to its authentic nature. He’s smiling because life is what it is.
Lincoln’s making up your mind to be happy is similar. Making up your mind to be happy isn’t making happy out of thin air. Making up your mind to be happy is making friends with life and the people and the things in your life…even the parts are like a big old barrel of sour, bitter vinegar. Smile because they are being exactly what it their authentic true nature to be. Then smile because you, just maybe, can be that way too.
Sage Sips blog is Tarot in the time it takes to sip your coffee. Tune in tomorrow for a new Monday thing. See you at the next sip!
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Happy New Year! Re-introducing the re-introductions
Happy 2024 everyone!
We’ve made it to the other side of blurry time and it was, well, blurry. Did you make any resolutions for the new year? Mine is resolution is to give up on resolutions.
One of the reasons I flirted with the “TaoCraft” name for a while is because year after year, time and time again Taoist philosophy proves itself right and useful. I’m gratefully at a point where I can let the nature of my Tarot work be what it is.
“The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you.” – Neil deGrasse Tyson.
Intuition, like the universe, is under no obligation to make sense OR to follow best marketing practices OR to follow any calendar or schedule. I’ve been doing this professionally since 2003 and it hasn’t fit into a set schedule yet.
It’s time to be in harmony with the nature of Tarot. I’m willing to be at peace with the fact that the schedule for 2024 is that there is no schedule at all.
Do you have anything that is free form and flows like water into the empty spaces of life? It’s really relaxing to have SOMETHING like that. Tarot, by its naturea, is one of those things.
Here, now, as we look at this screen together outside of time – thank you for reading this blog. I hope we can go on through 2024 flowing as a river of peace and relaxation in these moments together. That is what Tarot is really for – finding moments of peacefulness in life’s torrent of emotions and bustling activity.
I’ll be the first to admit that blurry time got the better of me this year, although the cookies were really very good. (More about stuff like that on Sage’s Other Words blog.) I had originally intended to use the holiday time to “reset” as they say in broadcasting. I wanted to pause for station identification and to re-introduce my work, the new name, the website, Tarot in general – all of it – to everyone. I introduced myself and the Sage Words / Sage Sips name in
Just because we ate all of the cookies doesn’t mean the guided tour has to stop. You can still expect those re-introduction posts to filter in over the next few, slightly less blurry weeks.
For clarity, let’s start with the easy stuff like the 2024 schedule.
There isn’t any.
For the whole year. Nada. Zip. Zero. None.
I have a general plan, but absolutely no promises about consistency. I do, however, promise to keep the blog up to date. If you ever want an affordable, convenient Tarot reading this is the first and best place to look. All the socials are @SageWordsTarot (add a YT on YouTube) and they are pretty caught up as well. I’ve been enjoying Threads a lot lately so that’s the best place to catch me for an actual conversation.
In any case, I’m aiming for a loose structure but letting it do whatever it is going to do in the end. I’m not forcing my Tarot to fit a schedule or forcing the rest of my schedule to fit Tarot.
It is what it is.
There are reasons why Lau Tzu, purported author of the Tao Te Ching, is the one looking smiley and chill in the classic motif of The Three Vinegar Tasters. The others are reacting to the bitterness and sourness that they taste. Our buddy Lau Tzu is just happy that the vinegar tastes just like vinegar should.
You may or may not like the taste of vinegar. You may or may not like an unpredictable blog or social post schedule, but both are true to their nature, just as they should be.
The not-really-a-plan plan:
Blog posts are mostly going to be Monday and Wednesday but other random times too.
Social media will post whenever there is something new on the blog, but other random times too. Fair warning: I’m a bit of a rage re-poster so look out for that.
Member exclusive content on the ko-fi blog is going to be totally random (the main membership benefit is FREE one card private readings by email upon your reqest)
Good or bad, I’ve been enjoying Threads lately. If you want to actually communicate, that’s the best social media place. Email is the fastest and most reliable contact otherwise.
NO APPOINTMENT NEEDED: Private Readings by email (with photo) video or pen & ink can be ordered anytime, 24/7 in the shop. Delivery times vary depending on when you place your order.
Live online and in-person Tarot readings by appointment only are very limited this year. Please contact me for details.
Pathway Tarot readings for the New Year. Happy 2024 everyone!
Tarot doesn’t tell you exactly what is going to happen in life. Tarot helps you figure out what to do when life happens.
What path do you choose for 2024?
So much is up to you – it’s your choice what you do with what you are handed. Emotions bubble up, but you choose what you do about them.
Sorry about the shreddy sounding voice and disorganized presentation (there are reasons why I’m a writer type Tarot reader and not a social media influencer) but watch the video, pick a path.
This shows some of my choices for 2024.The YouTube channel is all companion videos showing the real world card draw for the day. The video has short commentary in the description, but the full reading is here in the blog. I don’t like talking on video, so there you are. I hope you’ll watch and read to get the best of both worlds.
Looking at all the rows together we see lots of major arcana and court cards. I think that is hinting at a big energy year. Lots of change, a real roller coaster ride. Plant good seeds, set a good foundation now so our roller coaster ride ends up in a good place.
Top Row – Quartz
Clear quartz is the universal amplifier. It turns up the volume on your connection to universal energies and the effects of other stones and crystals. This may be your year to be the helper. Speak your truth and let it be heard.
Fading Energy: 10 of Swords. I’m guessing that 2023 was a heckuva year for you. This card isn’t hinting that anything dire is going to happen. It’s hinting that it already has. HEAL. Let yourself be down, make a full assessment of everything that has happened so you can stand up again. I always connect this card to the proverb “fall down seven times but get up eight.”
Current Energy: Queen of Swords. This is a card of accepting your power. Give yourself a little dose of confidence. It isn’t arrogant to do the things you are good at doing. If you don’t want to think of yourself as being good at something, then do the things you LOVE to do. Often they are the same thing.
Growing Energy: Strength. This card is just what it seems. Heal from what has happened, get up again, claim your strengths. Confidence and strength can grow as time goes on.
Middle Row – Orange Calcite
Calcite comes in a variety of colors, but the orange calcite here is especially associated with the second chakra, below the navel. Orange is the opposite of blue on the color wheel, so orange calcite can poetically speaking “chase away the blues.” Of all of orange calcite’s properties cleansing and uplifting step forward here.
Fading energy: Judgement. This also gives me the feeling that you center row folks had a heckuva year, but more on the mental and emotional level than in the physical / career realm. Let go of other people’s judgement of you and give yourself a second chance whether anyone else does or not. Humans are a diverse lot. There is someone, somewhere who accepts you just exactly as you are, no judgments or second chances required.
Current energy: Hermit. Nothing is better for letting go of old hurts than a little alone time. Give yourself the space to shut out all the judge-y voices. Set some boundaries, find your one guiding light. When you come out of your hermit cave, a fresh start will be right there waiting for you. Any day can be the first day of a new year.
Growing energy: Queen of Wands. This is a card of self care too, but it has an element of claiming your own time, skills, strengths and powers. The energy feel of this card is very much like the queen of swords and it feels like the queen of wands is standing in as surrogate simply because the queen of swords can’t be in two places at the same time. Putting it in those words, I get a sense that the year may be growing in activity. It could get busy. Whether that heaping plate of things to do is a good thing or a stressful thing is up to you.
Foundation Row – Red Carnelian
Red carnelian is a stone of courage, endurance and leadership. You never know what you have inside until it is put to the test. One way to discover your comfort zone is to step outside of it. But don’t worry, if you can’t step back in to the old zone, it will grow out to meet you. You got this.
Fading energy: The High Priestess. This is a card of mystique and mystery. When mystery fades it often leaves certainty in its wake. This card reminds me of a quote by scientist Richard Feynman “I would rather have questions that can’t be answered than answers that can’t be questioned.” Know with confidence, but question everything with equal energy.
Current energy: Five of Swords. Sword cards often denote action. Now that I think about it, the word aftermath is stepping forward here. The past three years have been pretty unhinged on the macro scale, if not on your individual one too. This card is validating what you feel, but also challenging you to rise to the circumstances. “Yeah, that sucked, but now what are you going to DO about it?” is the vibe.
Growing energy: The Empress. Get back to nature, baby. This is a big reminder to touch some grass this year, literally and figuratively. Somewhere I read about a study where people’s blood pressure came down a little bit whenever they looked at pictures of nature. That isn’t to say pictures of nature cure high blood pressure, but that objective, measurable change showed that we associate nature with relaxation and even that tiny bit of contact was enough to elicit a tiny bit of measurable, physiologic stress reduction.
Whether it is a new computer wallpaper, a walk in the park, a day at the beach or a week long camping trip…anything you can do to connect with nature is nothing but good this year. For goodness’ sake get outside and breathe some fresh air, will you?
And everybody wash your hands, wear a mask when you need to, get enough sleep and eat an occasional vegetable while you are at it.
I wish everyone a safe, happy, healthy and prosperous new year.
See you at the next sip!
Sage Sips is Tarot contemplation in the time it takes to sip your coffee.
Sage Sips / TaoCraft Tarot 
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