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Hello and welcome to TaoCraft Short Sip: Tarot contemplation in the time it takes to sip your coffee. I’m glad you are here.

Today’s card is the King of Cups

The energy of the card today isn’t quite typical for a King card. It fits a minor arcana court card, just not the usual boilerplate interpretation of the Kings per se. Often court cards, or the face cards as they are called in the modern game playing deck, are an in-between energy. They have more zing than the number cards in the minor arcana, but not quite the wattage of the major arcana cards. Kings represent the yang side of leadership. They are outward facing energy, very proactive and protective. This card is still connected to leadership, but in a quieter, more castle and keep sort of way. Cups are tied to closeness and emotion. The King of Cups is but in an intimate one to one sort of way. The King of Cups is an leader within the emotional and intuitive realm. The King of Cups is a mentor.

Here I am reminded of that old TV show Kung Fu. My Grandfather loved it because it was essentially a western and anything with cowboys and horses was high on his list of things to watch. We used to watch it together all the time, but my favorite parts were the flashbacks to the Shaolin Temple with “grasshopper.” I guess my affinity for Taoism and Chan Buddhism started at a pretty young age, come to think of it. That is so not a typical thing for 1970s evangelical appalachia, believe me. I think that memory comes to mind just now because of the mentoring relationship between Master Po and Kwai Chang. Yoda, Luke and Obiwan also come to mind if you prefer the Star Wars mythology.

Mentoring is an interesting relationship somewhere in between friendship and detached mass education. It is far more than just a one to one tutor. It is a friendship with a little airspace, allowing for correction and redirection.

Chingliang Al Huang, who collaborated with Alan Watts on Watts’ masterwork The Watercourse Way, wrote an excellent book on the topic The Tao of Mentoring. I’m guessing none of you will be surprised to learn I read both of those ages ago. But I highly recommend the Tao of Mentoring for anyone who is considering a career that involves one to one guidance like, for example, holistic health consulting or Tarot readings.

There aren’t many Yodas or Master Pos around these days, but guidance and mentoring is available to anyone willing to listen.

I don’t remember it exactly, but I once read a quote about how it is ok, even good to spend time alone. Sometimes we have to be alone to realize just how deeply connected everything really is. It has also been said by Robin Williams, Maya Angelo and others that it is far worse to be in the middle of people and life and things….but still feel alone.

Whether we are literally alone or feeling alone in the middle of other people, the King of Cups reminds us that we are never cut off from guidance and mentoring. The volume gets very very low sometimes, but never quite goes away. I’ve said it many times. Spirit speaks in whispers. Intuition is our ability listen to those whispers.

You would think I’d like the ASMR thing on social media. But honestly, I hate it. I must be wired differently from most people. Those whispery, breathy vocals especially make me want to yeet something at the TV or chuck my headphones across the room. But it comes to mind as an example for that process of listening to the whispers of guidance that comes from the collective unconscious, spirit guides, angels or however you name such things.

The King of Cups is quieter today than a typical king card reading. That indirectly reminds us to listen to real world mentors. The King of Cups, being a leader, reminds us that the best mentors listen too.

And thank you for listening to this blogcast now. See you at the next sip!

The blogcast and the companion videos are not monetized so they depend on your support. Tarot readings purchased through this website, Tarot Table memberships & “buy me a coffee” donations on ko-fi all contribute toward creating this unique, freely available Tarot content . Please support this project as you are able. Your likes, subs, shares and follows are always appreciated too.

A Wide Variety of Strengths

TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot contemplations in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. Today: Strength from the major arcana

Hello and welcome to TaoCraft Short Sip: Tarot contemplation in the time it takes to sip from your coffee.

Today’s card is Strength from the major arcana.

This card is easy to sum up with the adage “He who conquers others has force. He who conquers himself has strength.” There are dozens of different iterations for the quote just as there are I have no idea how many different translations of the Tao Te Ching. The same basic concept exists in Zen, Buddhism, the Bhagavad Gita and probably every school of thought or organization that espouses personal growth and self development. As we’ve seen with the recent war in Europe, personal strength is far more rare and far more valuable than raw political or military power.

That kind of personal growth, self-development, and strength of character is exactly what this card is always about.

While we all agree that this is a valued thing, it all falls apart when we start trying to figure out how to do it.

The title “Tao Te Ching” has been as been translated a variety of ways including the way of Virtue. Virtue means lot of different things to lots of different people. That is the point where interpreting the Strength card gets dicey. It’s not the what that’s the problem, it’s the how.

So how do we become better people? What IS a good person?

Books, religions, entire philosophies have been dedicated to just exactly that, and we sure as heck aren’t going to solve anything here.

When the Strength card comes along it might just be validating the strengths you have. It might be validating the strength choices you’ve made or the importance of a decision that you are pondering. Regardless of the context, the Strength card always reminds us to do the right thing, the difficult thing, the strong thing, not the easy or cowardly thing. It’s no accident that lions are iconic and used in many many Tarot decks for this card. To put it in Disney terms, this is a card that asks you to be Mufasa, not Scar.

But on second thought, maybe the how of inner strength isn’t so hard after all. Look at the woman figure on the card that seems to be tending to the lion.

Maybe a little Zen Taoist Hakuna Matata is the key. As always, it is the present moment to the rescue. Harmonize with your nature as it is to find your path to strength.

Nurture the strengths you already have. Restrain the flaws you already have. This strengthens (aka conquers) the inner self.

Thank you so much for listening! I’ll see you at the next sip.

The blogcast and its companion shorts and reels are audience supported and are not monetized in any way. This unique content depends on your help. Tarot readings purchased through this website and Tarot Table memberships on ko-fi all contribute toward bringing these free Tarot contemplations to you.

Any likes, subs, shares and follows you can spare are always appreciated too. Thank you.

Soulmates and the sum of the parts

TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. Today, Soulmantes and the sum of the parts with the two of cups.

Hey there. Welcome to TaoCraft Short Sip: a Tarot contemplation for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. I’m glad you are here.

Today’s card it the Two of Cups.

Nevermind the Lovers from the major arcana, THIS is the card you want to see in a love, romance or relationship reading. This is a card that most often resonates with long term, committed, loving, satisfying relationship. It is associated with marriage, handfasting or any life long commitment between any two human beings.

But like anything this is a yin-yang, giving-getting two-sided coin.

Remember that old candy commercial about chocolate and peanut butter? Peanut butter is delicious on its own. It’s something to eat by the spoonful if you ask me. Chocolate is sublime, the more cacao the better in my book. Love the dark stuff. Together they are extra. Together they are more than either alone.

The best romances are like that.

The worst ones are too, except the “extra” is added to the not-good side of things. Kind of like those generic candies that use terrible quality ingredients and are tasteless, weird textured and generally unpleasant.

Personally, I don’t buy into the whole other half, twin flame idea. I mean, think about it for a minute. Who would you rather spend your life with? Would you rather be with someone who expects you to complete them or someone who is a true partner adding their battery to your mutual light? Would Ironman have flown away yelling “you complete me” if Pepper was anything less than a fully independent phenomenon in and of herself? If you need someone to complete you, isn’t that a way of controlling you too? If someone needs you to complete them isn’t that controlling you too?

Good romance isn’t built on need. In a good romance both parts give and get, get and give. It isn’t about two parts completing a circuit, it is about two fully charged batteries powering up the full circuit and shining a light brighter than either one battery could alone.

Romances are like those candies. The best result doesn’t come from peanut butter looking for more peanut butter in order to make them into better peanut butter. The best result doesn’t come from cocoa butter looking for a cacao beans to make it into better chocolate. The symbiotic extra can’t happen if you are looking for another half to make a whole. The extra only happens when two free standing and fully good things work together to make the magic happen.

TaoCraft Tarot blogcast depends on your support through “buy me a coffee” donations, Tarot Table memberships and purchases through the website. Links are clickable in the blog and are found in the episode description of the podcast.

Thanks for reading & listening. I’ll see you at the next sip!

Weekend Tarot Turnover: Two of Wands

Turn Tarot on its head while you practice your intuitive and card reading skills.I sip the coffee, you read the card. Today’s card is the Two of Wands

Hello and welcome to the Weekend Tarot Turnover. I’m glad you are here.

Let’s turn the Tarot reading process on its head. I’ll sip the coffee while you contemplate and interpret the card. For those of you reading the blog or getting here through the YouTube channel, you can see the real-world, authentic card draw on video. Those of you listening on the blogcast will just have to take my word for it or check it out later. A link to the blog is always in the episode description, at least on Spotify and Anchor FM it is.

Today’s card is the Two of Wands.

Read or listen to this list of possible card meanings, as use your intuition to see which one fits you or feels right to you. Or better still, use your own intuition to make your own meaning. Honing in on the right meaning provided in the references and resources direct inspirations you have on hand is integral to reading Tarot for yourself. I don’t certify or teach anyone to read for other people but I can teach you to read Tarot for yourself really, really well. Watch this space for more on that.

But back to the Two of Wands. Two cards in general deal with balances.

  1. Balance your inner world with the outer world. Don’t get so caught up in the physical that you forget to care for your emotional and spiritual side. And vice versa – don’t live in your head so much that you neglect the practical side of life.
  2. Balance your attention to time. If you allow your thoughts to dwell too much in the future, anxiety or unhappiness can come.
  3. Look to the future sometimes. Hopes and plans are important too. Tomorrow has to start somewhere.
  4. Reassurance or validation that you are on the path to success, watching the horizon for your ship to come in

So, what do you think? Feel free to drop your card interpretation or thoughts about the weeknd turnover exercise in the comments. Questions are welcome and answered in the blogcast. Will trade my opinion and expertise for some of that sweet, sweet content. Let’s talk!

Thanks for listening! I’ll see you at the next sip.

None of the authentic TaoCraft Tarot content is monetized. Any ads you see benefit the hosting platform, which means the Tarot part of the content is 100% listener supported. The blogcast and YouTube channel depends on email Tarot readings purchased through the blogcast website and Tarot Table memberships on ko-fi. I always appreciate your support as well as any likes, subs, shares and follows you can spare. Thank you.

Meatspace Schedule

Have some real-world meatspace things keeping me busy the next couple of days so no sipping today, and the weekend turnover will probably be Sunday this week.

Thank you for all of your support. I hope you all are enjoy the new multi-media format with the blog, youtube video card draws, Tarot Table memberships and podcast all uniform and interconnected. Please let me know what you think or what topics you’d like to see or ask any questions you have in the comments or the contact email. Contact info and the box to follow the blog instantly by email is always hanging out over there in the right hand column (or in the menu / scroll WAAYYYYY down on mobile) Comments are moderated to eliminate spam and keep this a safe space for everyone to talk.

Short Sip Tarot and YouChoose Tarot will be back next week

One Step Win

TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. Today: Four of Wands and a one step win.

Welcome to TaoCraft Short Sip: Tarot contemplation in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. I’m glad you are here.

Todays card is the Four of Wands.

It’s kind of weird being both a music fan and a little bit clairaudient.

Today is exactly why.

Clairaudience is like clairvoyance except it’s your intuition communicating to you through mental sounds or words instead of mental images. Most of the time it’s great, because like I said, I like a wide range of music. It’s not often that I’ll get an intuitive song reference that I don’t know well or don’t like.

Today, the split second the card turned over I immediately got a song, but had to google it in order to be able to talk about . All I heard was the line “na na na na na na life goes on” clear as a bell, music and all. It was vaguely familiar as the opening for some old TV show that was popular at the time, I guess, but not one I never watched for whatever reason.

Turns out it was Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da (Life Goes On) which was from an early 90s show called “Life Goes On” or so sayeth the Google. Not my favorite Beatles song. I know it may be heresy to some people, but I can take or leave a lot of their stuff and this is a leave one.

Which begs the question what does that have to do with the Four of Wands? Usually the card is associated with celebrations. These celebration are more community & society oriented, or celebrations that extend beyond the immediate family….like a large wedding or christening.

Now juxtapose that with the frightening news of war in Europe. How do you entertain the idea of community celebration when there is real chance of global implications for these events.

That leads to a pop culture reference that I enjoy more. Remember the wedding in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows? Ginny wonders if it isn’t a bit silly having a wedding “given everything that is going on.” Harry replies that maybe everything that is going on is really the best reason TO have it.

That’s the spirit of the Four of Wands today. Step by step, one foot in front of the other, life goes on. When you are feeling tired and discouraged or demoralized, taking that one more step is a win worth celebrating.

Thank you for reading, watching and listening to TaoCraft Tarot on the blog, in the podcast and on YouTube Shorts. None of it is monetized and it all depends on your support. No appointment needed email Tarot purchases on the blogcast website and Tarot Table memberships on ko-fi all contribute to creating this unique Tarot content.

Any likes, subs, shares and follows you can spare are always appreciated too!

See you at the next sip!

Persist, but not like that

Hello and welcome to TaoCraft Short Sip: Tarot contemplation in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. I’m glad you are here.

Today’s card is the Ten of Swords.

There’s no way around it. The Ten of Swords is kind of a dire looking card. In the classic Waite Smith deck, you have some dude face down on the ground with a whole collection of swords sticking out of his back. That can’t be good.

It’s not.

Nor is it intended to be.

Tarot wouldn’t be a useful life guide if it was all rainbow sprinkles and fairy dust because life itself isn’t a collection of vanilla scented unicorn farts. Stuff happens. Like the three deer that just walked through the yard and past my window. Hello ladies.

Life is random, just like that. And it doesn’t always bring a few sweet natured neighborhood deer.

Sometimes the Ten of Swords is about persistence. Sometimes it talks about energy akin to that proverb “fall down seven times get up eight.” Persistence is not quite the vibe today. Today is more about zombie emotions.

I forget exactly how it came up in the conversation, but a reading for a client recently reminded me of a quote attributed to Sigmund Freud. He said that “Unexpressed emotions never die. They are buried alive and come forth later in uglier ways.” You know. Zombie feelings.

It is also said that doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result is the essence of insanity not to mention a good way to create zombie feelings.

Choose your battles wisely. If we persist in just getting up time and time again it not only gets a little crazy from the repetition, it also buries the emotions about the situation in a heap of blind effort.

It sounds crazy, but sometimes you have to face the swords in your back. The first step in fixing something is admitting it is broken, not by burying the broken-ness under a veneer of repeated effort.

Yes, by all means persist, but not like that.

No one is going to thing less of you if you take a minute to get your bearings, asses the situation and figure out something different to try next time. If they do, that’s on them for being judge-y and awful, not on you for being honest with yourself about your situation and how you feel about it.

Take minute, reassess, identify the problems and feel the feels. If you ask me, using the swords in your back to slay zombie emotions sounds like a pretty persistent, get-up-eight kind of thing to do.

Thank you so much for listening! I appreciate you and any likes, subs, shares and follows that you can spare. The blogcast and youtube channel are not monetized, so they depend on your support through your no appointment needed Tarot readings purchases and Tarot Table memberships on ko-fi.

See you at the next sip!

Spring ’22

Spring Schedule: no appointment needed Tarot readings by email are open! Online video call Tarot readings available by appointment only. Email to schedule.

The nice thing about short-term planning is that the plan doesn’t have to stick together for very long.

Here is what I have in mind for Spring. No promises that it will actually turn out this way, but it’s what I’m aiming for:

  • Short sip posts most weekday mornings
  • Weekend Tarot Turnover posts on the …. ah…..weekend. Prolly Saturdays
  • YouChoose Interactive Tarot once each week. Maybe.
  • Random other posts like Oracle’s Toolkit will be … ah …random
  • Closed Sundays and U.S. holidays. If the Fed is closed, so am I ’cause I’ll be with hubster on his days off.
  • In-person and party Tarot will remain closed until Allegheny county covid transmission rates return to low (as reported by the CDC)
  • Email Tarot is OPEN – NO APPOINTMENT NEEDED
  • Online Zoom readings are OPEN with appointment – email to schedule
  • Still lots of different email layouts available with prices $5 – $40
  • More new stuff on the horizon. Keep a weather eye, matey. I’m hoping you’ll think it is really cool.
  • Distance Tarot is still my specialty
  • I still have – gasp – 30 years experience with reading cards.

YouChoose Interactive Tarot: Circles of Life and Fortune

You choose the Tarot card. Pause the video or blogcast if you need some time. Then restart to see or hear the reveal and get your Tarot reading

Today’s YouChoose works the same as always: pick a card. You choose the card, you choose how to apply it. Pause the video if you want a minute to think about which card you want, then restart to see the reveal and hear the card interpretation.

To keep the reveal a surprise (because I know you have good instincts and will pick the right card for you) the video will stand alone without a transcript so there is no peeking.

Stay tuned for more short sip Tarot reading posts and an update about Spring ’22 hours.

Thanks for watching!

Comments and questions are moderated but welcome below. Select replies post in the blog.

Weekend Tarot Turnover: Knight of Wands

Weekend Tarot Turnovers on TaoCraft Tarot by Ronda Snow flips the script on a typical Tarot reading to let you stretch your intuition and learn to read single Tarot cards.

Hi and welcome to this special weekend evening edition of I’m going to try something new with this text to speech thing. I’m glad you are here.

My cyberpunk self is loving this whole concept. In my overly robust imagination, I can conjure up getting an award for my Tarot brilliance and giving a thank you speech with the AI voice dubbed over it as if that was my actual speaking voice so we can all pretend that I actually sound like this. Big spontaneous not-sponsored, unpaid thank you to Anchor FM, WordPress and Siri’s second cousin Remy for making this whole construct possible. And thank you to William Gibson for writing Neuromancer and sparking off the whole cyberpunk analogy in my mind. I love that book.

But anyway, these “Tarot Turnover” exercises are just that. We flip the script on one card Tarot readings like the ones in the weekday short sip episodes. Except today I sip the coffee and YOU contemplate the card. I’ll pull a card and list some interpretations for the card either from old blog posts or partially inspired by some of the books on the suggested reading list here on the website.

Speaking of references, I get the feeling that one authors is a little extra sensitive about citations so I’ll remind everyone that every deck that I show in the blog, on the YouTube channel or in social media has permission for use granted by the author, artist or publisher. In the case of Animal Wise Tarot, I was kindly given direct permission from DragonHawk Publishing. I’ve been a huge Ted Andrews fan since the early 1990s, so I was pretty geeked over that one. Tham Pham, the brilliant artist behind the Heart of Stars Tarot deck and the Runes of Mannaz card deck, kindly granted permission directly to me for its use. Once it arrives, I also have permission via a kickstarter conversation from Dane Asmund and Seven Thirteen Books to use the Alleyman’s Tarot. I can’t wait to get my mitts on that one. But rest assured that if you see a deck here, I bought it, paid for it, evaluated it, used it, and deemed it one of the best within reach. It wouldn’t be in the blog otherwise. I’ve been using a Waite Smith public domain deck a lot lately just because it is easier to type “public domain” than it is to type a full deck information. After dissertation, the academic in me won’t let citation discipline go. I have to give SOME level of citation because I can’t not. Besides, my luck with citations is that if I get tired and forget ONE FRIGGEN TIME, in ONE FRIGGEN instagram post, complaints ensue. That being said, the deck pictured today is The Witches Tarot by Ellen Dugan and Mark Evans used with permission granted by Llwellyn Publishing via https://www.llewellyn.com/about/permissions_tarot.php

But again…..back to the turnover

There are a huge number of interpretations for any card. You can use your intuition to choose the meaning that fits you the best from this short list OR -even better – create your own direct understanding of the card. Your direct intuitive understanding doesn’t even have to be put into words. No one needs to know your message from the card except you. It can be a feeling, mental image, or physical sensation. But if you have any questions about your interpretation feel free to ask in the comments or contact the email in the right hand website column for a response in the blogcast, identifying information withheld of course.

Knight cards are associated with action and chivalry. Wands have to do with fire, passions, your inner world and your relationship with yourself. The vibe I get today is an advice type message to act on your personal spirituality with integrity.

Other possible meanings might include:

  • Calm self-assurance, comfortable within your own skin
  • Adventure, travel
  • new job or new house
  • survival instincts / acts of self preservation

Look for an updated blog post or in the podcast episode description for a list of helpful Tarot references. There is nothing wrong for looking to books for inspiration about a card interpretation. Bibliomancy is using a book for intuitive guidance. Both the books and the cards are all just inspiration. They are the spark and the amplifier. You and your intuition is really the thing at work here.

What does your intuition tell you about the knight of wands this evening?

Thank you for reading, watching and listening. The blog cast and YouTube channel are not monetized in any way so they depend on your support. Email Tarot reading purchases, Tarot Table memberships and “Buy me a coffee” donations all contribute to creating this Tarot Content for everyone to read or hear.

Your likes, subs, shares and follows are always appreciated too.

Thanks again. See you at the next sip!