The Week Ahead: Churning a Corner

Churning the corner: a Tarot look at the week ahead

It’s Monday. Let’s talk motivation. Mostly because I don’t have any at the moment.

Hello and welcome to Sage Words Tarot blog and Sage’s Short Sip Tarot podcast. I’m glad you are here.

It’s week two of the new schedule where a three card pathway reading for the week ahead posts for everyone on Monday. I appreciate any day that you read or listen. Thank you.

The cards are chatty this week. The intuitive impressions are words as much as mental images. Typically I get more images than words. I don’t thing that shift is particularly significant, I’m fairly clairaudient anyway so let’s just roll with it.

The first card is the knight of cups with the words “emotional churning.” come through here. Knights are generally very active, confident, forward moving cards. In this case, it is in the “diminishing energies” position within the layout. Put those together, and it hints at a time of high emotions, but when that time happens for you as an individual is impossible to say. It may be happening, or it may be close at hand. Either way, I’d guess this time of emotional upheaval and wonkiness shouldn’t last long.

I’ll grant you I’ve had a morning of app and website technical gremlins, so I feel fairly annoyed with that, but those are resolved now and I still feel a sense of malcontent. I get a sense of short tempers, irritability, or of the world getting on every last nerve. Again I get that idea of emotional churning. It might be a residual feeling from the earlier inconveniences, but it it crossing that boundary line we’ve talked about before. If I focus on that boundary between my own mood and the general zeitgeist energy, this feels like more than a stupic app crashing would warrant. Yeah, I was annoyed, but now it feels like so are a lot of other people and over bigger things than that.

Mind that your mood is your own. This card reminds us of two things. First mind your emotional boundaries. What is the objective reality around you right now? Is the stress or emotion you might be feeling objectively warranted, or is it a by-product of worry about the future or dwelling on the past? If that is the case deliberately focusing on right here, right now can help. That’s the mindfulness that people are always talking about.

Let’s try it. Just for a quick moment. Then you can get right back to your regularly scheduled agitation.

First take a deep breath and think about what you feel and how you feel. Good, bad or indifferent, don’t judge it, just name it. How the heck do you feel right now? Is a just a little or is the volume turned up to 11?

Take another deep breath. Now pay attention to right here. Where are you? What is your environment? Pull your attention back from the words on the screen and notice other things like the device itself, the sounds around you, the temperature, how comfortably you are seated or standing.

All of those details.

Pay attention to right now. Forget the past, forget the future, just for a minute. Put all of your thoughts on

This.

One.

Moment.

Is this moment quiet? Does it suddenly feel like “HEY! It’s kinda happy in here!” If that’s the case, you might be resonating with outside energies. If you still feel gnarly and churning, then it’s time to face those emotions. Own them. Even if they are uncomfortable, it’s ok. They are legit. As best as you can, give them…and you…whatever T.L.C is needed. It’s not a personal failure to experience uncomfortable emotions. At worst it’s a signal there is something up that needs some attention, comprehension and problem-solving. At best it’s just you being human.

The good news is that as a diminishing energy, the emotional churn that is our Monday Motivation toward mindfulness (ooooh I do love me some alliteration) probably won’t last long. The high emotional state will churn the corner soon.

Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

The second thing is mind your own emotions. More than just being aware of the boundary, shore it up and don’t leak out. Feel what you feel. Embrace it, accept it, abide with it. Just please don’t spew it on other people. You never know what is brewing inside their emotional boundary bubble so be nice. We are are annoyed in this together – or so it seems.

The surrounding energy for this week is the Ace of Wands.

I hear “carry a torch for yourself.” which is a phrase that I’ve heard before with this card. Wands are associated with fire, our inner world, and our inner passions. Once we get on the other side of annoyance day, then carrying a torch for ourselves…self love, self improvement, self care….whatever name you want to use for it…give yourself a little of that.

If the emotional churn initially motivates, this self care is one thing that the emotions are pushing us toward.

“Spark an idea” comes through too. I also hear “lightbulb” and see that cartoon trope of a light bulb over someone’s head to show they have had a sudden good idea.

When you get the right idea, your instinct and emotion will light up too. When you know, you know, and when you know where you want to go it lights up the path to get there lights up too.

Churning emotions are a hint that something needs to change, that you need to turn a corner. A spark of an idea will let you know when the change is at hand and just what corner to turn.,

The growing energy is the two of pentacles. That’s where we are headed, and that’s a releaf. I ‘hear’ it will all wash out in the end.

I see pancakes.

Here is why.

Have you ever made pancakes from scratch? Most recipes tell you not to mix too much at the end, and that lumps are OK because they will cook out in the end, and mixing them out now will make the pancake chewy and tough.

That’s sort of the flow of energy here. It’s lumpy and weird at the start, but if we hang in and roll with it, it will all cook out in the end. We’ll churn the corner to a more balanced energy fairly soon.

Hang in there my friends.

Thank you for reading and listening. Please visit the main blog and podcast website. The link is in the episode description for podcast folks. Your support on ko-fi helps me to bring this weekly look ahead reading to everyone. Please click the white coffee mug on the website or the link in the description to learn more.

Many thanks. See you at the next sip!

Let Your Brain Abide

“Let your brain abide” is advice from the Nine of Swords that is easier said than done.

Hello Sippers!

One of these days, I’ll come up with a creative, fun way to begin and end these things. In the meantime, hello! And welcome to the Daily Sip membership on ki-fi, Sage’s Sip of Tarot podcast and the Sage Words Tarot Blog.

The Daily Sip will sometimes share a card with my posts on other platforms, but the Daily Sip gets it first – sometimes by a lot. The Daily Sip is the one and only place where I post every single weekday. The free blog is the only place for long reads and weekend posts. The podcast, the YouTube channel and the socials are not on any schedule whatsoever. Following both blogs is the only way to get absolutely everything if you are at all interested in doing that, and believe me I am grateful if you are. Member or not, you might as well follow the free blog on my main website because it is, you know…free.

As much as we might not want to admit it, Friday is technically a weekday, so here we are. Weekdays I focus on the “short sip” one card format where we get a Tarot contemplation for our day in the time it takes to sip from our coffee. Or tea. Or adult beverage. Or whatever it is that you sip at the time of day when you read (or hear) this.

The nine of swords is one of those cards where the interpretation seems to strongly rely on the artwork of the particular deck you are using. The Three of Swords, for example, always seems to give the same vibe regardless of the deck or image. This nine gets some interesting refinements in the way it connects with the image on the card. The classic Pamela Smith artwork prompts key words like regrets, worry, anxiety – anything that keeps running through your mind and keeping you awake at night. Corrin McCullough’s Nine of Swords from the Alleyman’s Tarot deck hints at genuine terror, and any overwhelming dark emotion.

The Witches Tarot with artwork by Mark Evans is one of my favorites all around, but particularly for the nine of swords. It hints at a whiff of self-sabotage and the guidebook author Ellen Dugan nails it with the phrase “drama queen.”

Underneath it all, however factually serious the objective, external situation may (or may not) be, the subjective, emotional, internal situation is dark, intense and dire.

So what do we do about that. My philosophy about Tarot has always been that Tarot (or any psychic reading or divination method for that matter) does not tell you what will happen in life, it helps you figure out what to do when life happens. So what do you do when you life over-runs you with intense dark emotions?

Oddly enough – nothing. This totally falls into the “easier said than done” category of advice.

Actually it’s not nothing … it is more like allow the emotions to run their course. When it comes to something as painful as this level of so called negative emotion, allowing is not nothing. The hard part is convincing your brain to abide with profoundly uncomfortable emotions for a while. The crushing and terrifying moments are as much a part of a normal human existence as the joyous and euphoric moments.

This is where life’s inevitable change is your friend. Where there is capacity for change, yes, there is the possibility of things getting worse, but there is equal capacity for change toward the better, too.

When it is the darkest night, dawn follows. When a tide of emotions wash over you know that they will, eventually, recede.

I’m a science fiction fan. The famous litany against fear from 1965 classic novel Dune actually works. In its full version, it talks about exactly the same strategy in the face of strong emotion that the nine of swords card points toward today. In the words of Frank Herbert:

“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”

Thank you all for reading the blog and listening to the podcast! I’ll see you all Monday for the big sip, for the whole cuppa Tarot when we do a full three card pathway reading for the week ahead.

See you at the next sip!

Is it worth it?

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From the sublime to the strange

Alrighty then.

Hello and welcome to Sage Words Tarot blog and the audio podcast version Sage’s Short Sip Tarot.

Merry Monday everyone!

This is what I call a Pathway layout for our reading that is intended to look ahead at the week coming up. I’m writing this on February 20 for the week from now until the 27th, but you can apply it anytime that you watch it if it feels right to you. The way I read Tarot isn’t tied to time any more than it is tied to physical space. That’s how and why that Tarot over distance by email, phone, zoom meeting, blogs and podcasts all work. That’s why they are as valid of an art form and as valid of a source of inspiration as any other Tarot reading.

A private reading with this layout will have a slightly different focus, intensity and level of detail compared to these general energy reading that we do here, but they function the same way at the core. The focus is the energy environment. This is a read of the zeitgeist to give you ideas how to best navigate the energies and situations at hand. Like have said for years – Tarot isn’t about predicting what will happen in life, it is about figuring out what to do when life happens.

The Pathway layout parallels the old style past, present, future layout that inspired it, but it is more about the flow of energy rather than the flow of time. It can help us navigate the near future, but the near future for the collective energy can mean hours, days or weeks for an individual. It really is up to you to consider, accept or reject, and then apply any given intuitive information no matter whether the reading is in person or at a distance, individual or collective.

In my version of the pathway layout, instead of past, present and future the cards symbolize energies that are fading, the strongest energy around right now and energies that are growing in strength or influence. It is very much like a weather report. There are no inevitable warnings in Tarot like there is with weather, but it can hint at what is possible, even probable. It’s the personal enrichment version of take your coat because a cold front is coming.

When I do a private reading, I start with a paragraph I call the “general pattern.” That part looks at the layout as a whole and considers things like repeating numbers, the ratio of major to minor arcana, and in the longer readings, the proportions of the various minor arcana suits. This is also a good time to talk about any purely intuitive impressions that pop up right off the bat.

If you have followed the blog or listened to the podcast for any amount of time you already know about the see, hear and feel thing.

When I say “see” it means the intuitive impression comes in the form of a mental image. “Hear” means it is an impression of words or music. “Feel” most often a vague hunch, one of those “I don’t know why but…” sort of things. It almost never means a physical sensation, so that gets special mention if it happens. Don’t hold your breath for that one.

In this case, three cards aren’t really enough to comment about minor arcana ratios. The flow reads from right to left. I’m an English speaker, so it helps the connection to intuition to disconnect it from the way language reading flows. Here we see two minor arcana cards flowing into a major arcana card which hints at building energies just ahead. Things are heading in a direction of more energy, more change, and a faster pace. I also intuitively hear the song “People Are Strange” by The Doors. I’m guessing this means there is a chance of things sliding off the rails, going a little pear shaped or just plain getting weird. Remember, it is easier to put out a small fire than a big one. Forewarned is forearmed as the old adage goes. This isn’t predicting that something bad is going to happen. This saying that there is potential for strange days – like the weather analogy. Bring a jacket because it might be chilly this evening – that sort of thing.

The diminishing energies are represented by the Ace of Wands. Wands cards are connected to the element of fire and our inner passions. This connects to some one card readings I’ve been doing the past several days. Not all of them were public, so no details, but the basic vibe of it all was plant your seeds now. The energy is right for new projects to have good outcomes.

The window for that is closing…so don’t wait. Plant those seeds, follow those passions so you can move on to the business ahead and also protect those delicate beginnings you just planted so to speak.

The Page of Cups is one of my personal favorite cards. For it I ‘hear’ “embrace the strange” which is another way of saying roll with it. The more adaptable and fluid you are, the better the week will go for you. It fits that this message comes through a cups card, since cups are associated with the element water. Here I am reminded of the famous Bruce Lee quote “Be water my friend.” It might be weird, but go with it. This is the vibe that is strongest right now and will be the greatest help in the transition from the diminishing Ace of Wands energy to the growing Tower energy.

The Tower is the surprise, big, sudden game changer of an event or energy shift. Some associate The Tower with chaos, and the opportunities that can lie within chaos. I like to think it can also be a world changing shift in perception. It can represent a sudden insight, the brain wave, the AH-HA moment that changes everything, especially if you are able to put it into action. Here I am also reminded of the “Lighting in a Bottle” card from Dane Asmund’s excellent Alleyman’s Tarot deck. Not all sudden change is bad. It can hold opportunity like the classic meaning for the card and the old proverb says.

Making the most of those kind of bolt-from-the-blue situations is seldom fun or easy, but worth the effort in the long run. Like we talked about in the “The Makings of Magic” post and podcast episode, if you are going to catch lighting in a bottle you have to stand in some thunderstorms.

At this point in private readings, I talk about any crystals, aromatherapy or other intuitive impressions that may come through. Those are far to individual to put in a general audience reading like this. The best advice I can give at this point is to use whatever supports your adaptability. Use whatever healthy coping you knows help you stand strong in a sudden storm. This is a chance draw from your experience…or maybe learn some new things for later…but now is the time for rolling with any lightning strikes so you can catch it in that proverbial bottle.

Thank you so much for reading and listening. Any likes, subs, follows, shares or virtual coffees you can spare are always gratefully appreciated. Podcast folks can, as always, find the related links in the episode description.

Tune in next Monday for our next look at the next week ahead. Daily Sip members, tune in every weekday for a Tarot contemplation in the time it takes to sip from your coffee every weekday.

See you at the next sip!

Delicate Times and Door Kicking

I got it!

I know what to do with weekends! (as far as cyberspace and Tarot goes, anyway)

  1. Nothing! The schedule is that there is no schedule. Family is first priority all the time, but even more so on the weekends. Paid private email readings always get priority over the rest of cyberspace so sometimes there will be free Tarot content during the weekend, sometimes there won’t
  2. Exclusive Free-Blog content! If I write or create any free Tarot content at all on the weekends it will be my first and greatest love – writing. On the weekends I’ll post either here or on the associated but non-Tarot “Sage’s Other Words” blog (or both.) This long-read SageWordsTarot.com exclusive content, plus the occasional announcement or update, is why it is worth your while to follow THIS blog by itself or along with a paid membership.

This free blog has its exclusive posts, The Daily Sip subscription has its exclusive posts, both together gets you everything. I post to a variety of social media, but Instagram is the only one I really interact with so if you want to say hi – that’s the place. Simple!

And it all begins tomorrow.

Monday mornings are earmarked for three card pathway readings for the week ahead for everyone: members, free blog, and free podcast. The YouTube channel, Instagram Reels and TikTok will show the real-world card draw for the reading. Facebook and Tumblr will get links to the free blog when it publishes.

Only The Daily Sip membership will get daily Tarot for the rest of the week.

Some days will be a Tarot contemplation with a public domain vintage RWS card image:

Some days will be cards from a different public domain RWS deck that I own, photographed by me and paired with a relevant public-source quote:

Some days will be my card photo and my original card interpretation for the day:

Frank Herbert wrote that beginnings are a time for taking most delicate care. Or as the 1984 movie version put it “A beginning is a very delicate time.” That may be especially true in the planning stages…in the beginning of the beginning. Now it feels more like kicking in the door and getting the party started.

Let’s do this thing.

Everybody loves a free sample

I like samples, especially when they are free.

Those big box warehouse clubs are famous for their free food samples. I’ve found some of my favorite foods that way (looking at you chicken veggie dumplings and big chunk of aged cheddar cheese) Free appetizers are fun, but you don’t see them giving away the toaster oven.

Ever since the big pandemic lockdown back in 20 aught 20 when we were shopping a lot online anyway, I’ve been trying to transition to less plastic and more environmentally friendly versions of, well, everything.

Which is trickier than you might think when you have to factor in family allergies and skin sensitivities along with things like affordability and efficacy. Small and sample sizes, even when they aren’t free, are helpful in figuring out if a product is trustworthy or green washed. Small sizes helped me find good products and switch to the full size without wondering if they would give half of us a rash.

But that is all another story.

Free sample Tarot readings have a similar kind of utility. Free Tarot content is about helping you decide what works for you and what doesn’t. It is about a little sip or a tasty morsel. It’s not about taking home the whole toaster oven.

Over the years, I’ve had people call and ask for a “free sample” Tarot reading.

For private, individual readings? Nope. No free samples. This ain’t cheese and crackers. You gotta pay for toaster ovens and full size Tarot readings.

But I do offer other kinds of free samples. You are looking at it (or listening to it) right now. This blog is free. The podcast is free. The YouTube shorts and Sips of Tarot on social media are all free. Those collective energy readings may not be tailored to you individually the way a private reading would be but it gives a tantalizing little taste of what a one to one private email reading might be like.

I think this kind of openness and transparency is important to building trust like we talk about on the “How to Find a Psychic You Can Trust” page on the website.

Free Tarot readings are all over the place. Free Tarot content is lying around out in the open all over cyberspace but those free samples come at a subtle cost. You have to put in the work of discerning what applies to you and what doesn’t. Spirit speaks in whispers. With free online content you have to do the hard work of interpreting the message for yourself.

In my experience, spirit’s message will find you one way or another with all the energy and intensity of that old Blondie song. All you need is the chutzpah to listen or look for it. Spirit’s message always comes directly to you free of charge.

Spirit message hearing aids and translators are another story.

Even if you paid top dollar for the most famous celebrity psychic in the world, the nitty gritty work of applying that reading to your personal life and personal growth is still 100% up to you.

Paying for a professional reading is not paying for the message itself, it’s paying for a savings in your time and effort. Paying a professional to help you find spirit’s message spares you from a metric ton of trial and error, even though the final step of applying the message to your life will always be up to you. I got really good at intuition and Tarot readings the hard way through study and practice and time. You can get good at this too – through study and practice and time.

But that amount of time and effort is not something everyone wants to spend. The trade-off for borrowing my experience and expertise is paying the consultation fee.

Life and death emergencies aside, let me borrow an example from my friends in the medical profession.

All healing comes from within, from the living organism itself. Even the most advanced scientific medicine can’t create life where there is none. But they can help support the living being’s innate healing process. You could get over your sprained ankle on your own, but consulting a doctor might help you heal better or faster.

Intuition is a natural ability that we all have. Developing it to the level where it can be trusted to help other people is a professional skill. Consulting with a professional intuitive can help you find the message or inspiration that you need more quickly or more accurately than prolonged trial and error on your own.

Last week I combined the “Seat at the Tarot Table” and the “Patron of the Tarot Arts” memberships so that the lower tier price gives you the upper tier benefit of on demand email Tarot readings.You can get all of the details and disclaimers about that at the link below or in the podcast description.

Today I’m introducing a new membership tier. This is not an upper tier with all the benefits of the Tarot Table plus extras. it is an entirely separate and different thing. Right now it is an either / or choice. I don’t think you can do both memberships, but I can’t imagine that anyone would want or need both anyway.

Starting Monday February 20th, the new membership tier will be the only place to get Tarot every weekday. There will be some crossover, but the free content will be more random, less frequent and definitely not daily.

Today, however, I want to give you a sneak peek at what the weekday readings in the new membership level will be like.

The format on the daily post will vary to keep it visually interesting. Some days will have vintage public domain images from the Rider Waite Smith 1909 Tarot deck like the one below. Some will have my photos of a different public domain RWS deck that I have. Some will use my current favorite deck, the Alleyman’s Tarot used with the kind permission of the deck’s creator Seven Dane Asmund of Publishing Goblin LLC

Long story short, the free stuff isn’t really changing, it just won’t be as as frequent as before. The only way to get Tarot content every weekday is through the ko-fi members blog. I’m not sure yet how weekends will work, but watch this space and I’ll let you know what to expect.

What I’m trying to say, and not doing a very good job of it is that the only way to get absolutely everything, is to follow the free blog AND subscribe to the Daily Sip. Long read posts will be here, Daily sips will be there and social media will be whatever whenever.

It’s Saturday evening as I write this. Let’s pull a card for the collective energy for the rest of the weekend … or for whenever you happen to read this. If you are stumbling across this at another time, feel free to apply it personally. It’s a free Tarot reading and you can take it or leave it as you see fit. It’s up to you.

But in the spirit of those delicious free candy samples at the warehouse store, here is a free taste of what the Daily Sip posts will look like.

The King of Wands

A very broad brush rule of thumb for reading face or court cards is that the Queen carries the nurturing, maternal qualities of the suit, while the King carries the protective, paternal energies. Wands cards are associated with the classical element of fire, and can symbolize inner passions or our relationship with our inner selves.

I hear…and by the way, when I say hear that means that the mental intuition is in the form of words or sounds or music instead of images. In this case I hear “The king protects through teaching.” This brings to mind the value of education. Real education about objective facts and useful things. Neil DeGrasse Tyson famously said “The good thing about science is that it’s true whether or not you believe in it.” That is the kind of education the card is referencing. This kind of education is the exact, polar and distant opposite from dogma and indoctrination.

An educated populace is a strong and safe populace. Good teaching does right by people. For the mental image piece of it, I am reminded of some of my favorite Instagram and TicTok creators: Dylan Hollis, GothDad, DadAdviceFromBo, bwb.positivity, MercuryStardust and PoppopBruce Johnson who all teach and inspire with great fun and equal kindness.

Today is a nurturing energy. It is a fostering and supportive energy. Do you have something to teach? Something to learn? Something to do together in mutual support? It feels like a good day for reading, studying, or practicing something you love. Read a book, go for a run, take a deep breath, soak up some sun…no matter whether whether it involves the mind or the body, do something today that nourishes your soul in the process.

Thank you so much for reading and listening. Please follow, subscribe, like, share or just generally stay tuned to the main (free) blog, the free podcast, the memberships and all the socials for the week-ahead reading coming up on Monday.

See you at the next sip!

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Page Update: Memberships

Still improving for you! Introducing Sage’s Daily Sip membership plus the Tarot Table membership that includes private email one card Tarot readings with your membership.

So far, 2023 has been an exercise in active adaptation. Last year was one of private changes. Looks like this is the year of professional ones. I’m optimistic that it is all good stuff and will let me focus on what matters and do the very best readings for you that I can.

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Sage’s Short Sip Tarot: Wait

Sage’s Short Sip Tarot and the new “daily sip” membership tier is a Tarot contemplation for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee

Swords are often a card of action. Swords can also represent your relationship with authority, culture and society at large.

This is not the day to impulsively “fight the man.” This isn’t the day to die on any hill. It feels like large forces are afoot. It is a time for we smaller creatures to wait, think, watch from the shadows.

Watch and learn. Your time will come

“For small creatures such as we, the vastness is bearable only through love” – Carl Sagan

Alleyman’s Tarot Deck used with permission

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Weird But Manageable

Now there is something you don’t see everyday, which is probably a good thing.

Hello and welcome to Sage’s Short Sip Tarot. Today we are doing a full on pathway reading to do a squinty eyed Tarot look at the week ahead. This layout is roughly based on the old school past, present, future layout but I modify it to make it more dynamic. I want to focus on our ability to choose and the cause and effect power our choices have over our path forward in time.

Like I’ve been saying for years now: Tarot doesn’t predict what will happen to you in life. Tarot helps you figure out what to do when life happens.

That’s what these weekly look-ahead readings are all about. It’s not about a prediction, it’s about navigation. The reading is about ideas to help you navigate the energies swirling around right now. If you follow the blog or podcast and get the cards in the week that they were drawn, it can give you a sense of the current zeitgeist collective energies. If you stumble across this post or episode at some other point in time then the message is still valid, it just becomes more personal to you and less connected to the general energies.

For these weekly posts and in private three card readings, I change the meaning for each card position from past, present and future to make it all more dynamic. These cards are tied to the flow of energy instead of time. The timing is unique to you. The energy flow may not connect to you at all. That is up to you to decide if and how any of this resonates for you at all..

The first card points to an energy that is present, but fading in influence. The second card is the surrounding energy that is strongest at the present moment and the final card is an energy that is growing in influence.

I read the card order from right to left for a few reasons.

First, that’s how it’s done in the first layout that I learned way way back in the day. The nine card layout in the Medicine Cards guidebook by David Carson and Jamie Sams was one inspiration for the five card and seven card layouts that I wrote ten years later when I first began professional Tarot work.

Second, it’s how I learned to read auras. When you read a person’s aura, you look at them face on, and their past is on your right, which is their left. It might sound confusing, but it is surprisingly easy and natural if you have ever looked at medical x-rays.

Third, this is the opposite of how we read English, my native language. Reading words is a logical process. By flipping the direction of card interpretation, it disconnects the Tarot reading process from the logical language reading process and opens the way for a more purely intuitive understanding.

That all being said, let’s look at this week’s cards.

Logic is not a factor in the card of diminishing energies, the Devil. Today I’m using the Alleyman Tarot with permission from deck creator Seven Dane Asmund and Publishing Gobline LLC . There isn’t information about this individual card save that the copyright for the image is held by the British museum. I couldn’t find anything on an internet search so why this Devil in what looks for all the world like a very vintage card is drawn with ophiological genitalia is beyond me. Snake-boy is not something you see every day. Snakes or no, it takes some outright chutzpah to run around naked with all the confidence and power this image portrays.

Other people may have been trying to take a mile from the inch you gave. People may have been trying to take a mile from an inch that you never gave in the first place. The energy around this card is weird and intrusive and hints at a time where everything has been out of kilter and working on every last nerve. Luckily it is starting to move away, so hang in there.

Next is the Strength card. That is the closest, biggest energy right now and the message is just as simple and clear as it can get.

You got this.

In my readings, “hear” means that the intuition comes as words or music instead of mental images. “See” means the intuition comes as mental images. Sometimes there are feelings, tastes and smell, but that is uncommon. At this point, I hear the phrase “strength comes from perseverance.” Being patient and persistent is your superpower right now. Be the mountain in the presence of chattering monkeys.

The final card is the energy that is growing, moving toward us in the near future if you will. The knight of wands has all sorts of passionate, active connotations and my instinct it to toss them all right out the window.

In the BBC seven episode adaptation of Suzanna Clarke’s novel Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel the knight of wands is connected with a the coming of a second magician that would allow magic to return to England.

That is the meaning that is front and center and loud for this card this week.

Find your magic. Be that second magician that re-ignites your connection with the magic that is inside. Be your own Jonathan Strange.

In short, this week may be weird but hang in there ’cause you got this.

Thank you for reading and listening! Please follow the blog and podcast for more of these three card readings for the week ahead (whatever week this may be for you.) I do mean both. There will be posts on the blog that don’t go out to the podcast. The free blog is the only place to get all of my free-to-access Tarot content and it has links to the podcast if you prefer audio.

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See you at the next sip!