Action Eases Anxiety: Salt Your Soup

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In this layout, the cards reflect the current energies and suggests a good next step – what it is and what to do. Having an idea and making a plan of action can take the edge off of worry.

Page of Wands: Pages are associated with learning. Learning requires taking in information. “Get the lay of the land” comes through here. Observe, attempt gently, feel your way forward gradually.

Four of Pentacles: Sometimes this is associated with hoarding or greed. Sometimes it is about a hidden treasure, protected. However you read it, it is a conservative, cautious energy. Proceed, but with great thought and care. This isn’t the time for all out, willy-nilly, thoughtless impulse.

Start slow, you can always hit the gas once you have merged safely onto the highway. Start with a little salt in your soup, you can add more if it’s needed but you can’t take it out. Salt your metaphoric soup a little at a time.

Week Ahead Tarot: Unlock the Path

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THREE OF CUPS ( reversed ): Don’t be afraid to be the quiet one in the group. Be in an environment of like minded people even if you aren’ts feeling social. Now is a time to find and band together with your tribe, not to try and fit in.

DEATH (reversed) : What decision are you avoiding? Face the life – changing decision, make it, act on it. Life is change. Even if you CHOOSE to stay the same, make it a deliberate choice in order to unlock your best path forward.

Thanks for reading. I appreciate you! See you at the next sip!

I totally judged this book by its cover

For September and October, I’ve decided to indulge in one of my favorite Tarot decks, The Alleyman’s Tarot and explore one of my newest ones, The Normal Tarot, both by Seven Dane Asmund of Publishing Goblin LLC who kindly gave permission to use his decks here in the blog.

My unboxing and earlier posts have all of the requisite fangirling about the Alleyman’s deck, which after a few years of using it is STILL a masterpiece. This deck (including the premise and lore built around it with the podcast and more is like a Stradivarius in the hands of master violinist. I know that sounds like a brag, and it is. I’m that good, and it is too.

When the chance came to 7DA’s first (I believe) deck, I didn’t hesitate, largely because the guidebook cover was love at first sight – a line drawing of a skeleton, cards and the title How To Normal Tarot: Staring into the Seething, Unknowable Chaos of the Universe for Fun and Profit.

That pretty much sums up Tarot work. Some folks really, REALLY don’t like the unknowable part. They want pat, canned platitudes and answers that they WANT to hear (not the guidance they NEED to hear.) Predictions are 1. impossible and 2. baby food for unready souls.

I’m not here for that. If you want “accurate predictions” you need to go find another psychic.

I’m here to give you a hearty soul-meal and some navigation tips for the seething unknowable chaos.

If you are ready for that ride, if you want to experience the wisdom that Tarot really offers, come along.

In September and October, I’ll be using the Alleyman’s Tarot deck for the Week Ahead choose your card readings and the Normal Tarot deck for our Weekend Oracle posts, simply because the deck isn’t a RWS clone. For the members only posts over on ko-fi I’ll post some longer-layout readings following (or inspired by) the layouts in the guidebook.

So fill up your metaphorical coffee (wine/tea/whatever) cup and come sip and stare into the chaos with me.

See you at the next sip

Want an affordable private tarot ($10 to $30) with a reader with 30 years experience and no appointment needed? Email Tarot on ko-fi and memberships on ko-fi all support this free tarot blog – no paywall at all.

Card: Death from L’oracle Des Dames as seen in the Alleyman’s Tarot deck

The Devil’s in More Than the Details

The Devil isn’t just in the details…it’s all over the darn place.

Life isn’t always pretty, so Tarot isn’t always pretty. Sometimes the best thing a reading can do for us is break through walls of denial, yank the rose colored glasses off of our faces and set some jade ones into their place.

The Devil card from the major arcana is the ultimate card for that aspect of Tarot. It’s up in your face with cold, harsh reality -usually just when you need it most. It isn’t a call to fear. It is a call to courage.

There are reasons why positivity can go toxic. If there is nothing but light you are just as blinded as you are in pitch dark. It takes both light and shadow to see.

The Devil card’s reminder of the dark side can vary anywhere from the common sense to the dire and dramatic. The purpose isn’t to scare you – the purpose is to put you on an appropriate level of guard. Have batteries in the flashlight when a storm is forecast. Park in well lit areas and have your keys ready as you go to your car. Have the hard conversation with your significant other. Admit people you care about have the capacity to make bad political choices – and sometimes do.

There are gnarly things out there in the world. The Devil card reminds us that there are people out there who really don’t have your best interest at heart and this might be a good moment to take stock, face facts, and be safe.

Week Ahead Tarot: Teams and Dreams

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Hello and happy almost September! I’m loving the cooler weather we’ve had this week! In honor of not feeling like we’re trudging through a flaming planetary death hellscape, back to roughly normal posting.

Today is a choose your own card Tarot for the week ahead. Pause the video if you want more time to think. Choose the card that feels right to you and tah-DA! You just got a free Tarot reading. It doesn’t matter if you choose before or after you see the cards and meanings. It is still intuitive discernment. It is your own good intuition deciding if one card, the other card, neither one or both are right for you.

ACE OF PENTACLES: Rest easy. Enjoy the simple pleasures that are already at hand. Contentment is a great treasure. Give yourself the freedom to dream a little while enjoying everything just exactly the way it is right now. If everything seems dark or dreadful, open your perspective. You might be missing something and focusing on one thing too much.

THREE OF PENTACLES: You got this. You are strong and capable, but you still don’t have to do everything alone. Enjoy being a strong, happy part of the team. It doesn’t mean you are weak. It might just mean you are the leader.

Fall Schedule

As always, there is none. Family first, always. When and what gets posted depends on the IRL day job. Here is the plan that fully expect to go off the rails:

Sage Sips Blog

  • Always free to read! No paywall!
  • Sunday/Monday: Week ahead interactive choose your own card readings
  • Wednesday: Action Eases Anxiety readings
  • Thursday/Friday: Weekend Oracle
  • Random behind the scenes and Q&A

Private Tarot Readings

  • Order anytime 24/7 no appointment needed
  • Email only: includes a photo of your real – world card layout. No AI here – only 30 years of Tarot experience.
  • Four layouts available starting at $10 total cost (no per minute charges)
  • Proceeds support the cost to produce the blog.

Memberships on Ko-fi

  • Sage Sips membership $5/month: One free Tarot reading by email each calendar month at your request – choose your layout (five card, year ahead, three card taijitu, three card yes-or-no, one card meditation)
  • Sage Answers $3/month: One free yes-or-no Tarot reading by email at your request.
  • Both tiers get DM access to request your readings
  • Both tiers get random special offers and exclusive content.
  • Proceeds support the cost to produce the blog

Thanks for reading! See you at the next sip!

Vestigial but Valuable

I follow a fair few Tarot readers on social media. @MadamAdam is a favorite. He posted the other day about those who accuse online psychics of being unethical or a scams after he had spent five or so years building a brand and business with ethics and authenticity.

Preach.

Of course my first response was to go grumpy granny bat and think about the 30 years I’ve spent working with spirituality, intuition development and card readings including the past 20 + years of brand and business building. Being thought of as a scam after pouring every ounce of professionalism you got into a being of service while getting a little fair compensation, all above board and tax paid….it’s enough to put a twist in any professional reader’s knickers.

I may have lost a great deal in the fame and fortune department by doing things with ethics and authenticity, but I can go on with life knowing that I did it right. A life of authenticity is a treasure all its own. I worked every moment above board, with ethics and transparency. Now that TaoCraft Tarot and Sage Sips is a blog supported by my labors of love and readers like you instead of being a full-on Tarot reading business, it seems a little silly to have such a detailed policy page.

It may be vestigial, but it is still valuable.

Ethics and authenticity aren’t selling points. They are character traits. They are how you do business, perhaps, but also how you live your life – if your authenticity is, um, authentic.

So here is my policy page, almost exactly as it has always been. Authenticity and ethical behavior doesn’t stop just because you stop answering the phone for in-person gigs and shift your focus to email readings.

At least this way you know that the readings you get with me are STILL highest quality, ethical, and above all authentic.

P.S. – the readings are fun and helpful too. Order yours HERE.

Must be 18 or over to purchase private readings

WHAT I DO

  • My Tarot readings are customized, ephemeral folk art consisting of a photo of your unique, real world tarot card layout followed by a written discussion of the cards and a purely intuitive summary of the reading.
  • Readings are delivered as a .pdf or . docx electronic document in an email attachment
  • The Sage Sips blog, Ebooks by Sage Snow and all associated social media are intended for artistry, inspiration, personal enrichment and entertainment only. They do not predict the future.
  • The proceeds from readings, memberships, and virtual coffee gifts on ko-fi all go toward the cost to create and web host Sage Sips blog and the TaoCraftTarot.com website.

WHAT I DO NOT DO

  • I do not predict the future,
  • I do not accept medical, legal or pregnancy questions.
  • I do not read anyone without their knowledge and direct consent. This means I don’t read for you without your request first and I don’t read about anyone other than the person getting the reading.
  • I NEVER approach you individually to offer a reading. If that happens, please report the impostor.
  • The information and services on this website and in my writings do not diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent any illness. They do NOT replace professional medical care, mental health care or qualified professional advice in any way.
  • No free or sample readings
  • I do not accept any liability of any kind. Use these artistic services or the information contained therein 100% at your own risk.
  • Beginning January 2025 the business portion of this website that offered phone, online, party and in person Tarot readings has closed.

DISCLAIMER, REFUNDS, EXCHANGES

  • Tarot is highly customized ephemeral art, so no refunds, exchanges or replacement are available.
  • Contacting me or making a a ko-fi purchase indicates your agreement with all policies and disclaimers.
  • Again, use at your own risk. No liability of any kind is implied or accepted.

PRIVACY

  • Your privacy is a top priority. In order to create and customize your reading, I collect basic contact information including but not limited to name, age, email, reading topic or question, etc. No information is shared except with your permission or in cooperation with legal authority.
  • Example readings or Q&A readings in the blog are used with the questioners knowledge and consent and with all names, dates or other identifying information removed.
  • For accuracy, the above basic contact information is re-collected with each new purchase or membership reading request.
  • Each reading is customized, ephemeral art. A reading’s relevance decreases as time passes. Readings and contact information are routinely deleted.

PAYMENT

  • PayPal via ko-fi checkout is accepted.

DELIVERY TIME

  • Each reading is unique and made to order. Please allow 3 to 5 business days for delivery.
  • Please expect longer delivery times when the order is placed nights, weekends or holidays US eastern time.

Copyright Notice

  • All written material copyright Sage Snow, all rights reserved.
  • eBook cover artwork as per front matter attributions, all rights reserved.
  • Free Blog posts may be shared or quoted under an attribution, share-alike, non-commercial, no derivatives Creative Commons 4.0 international license.
  • E-mail readings include photos by the author of the client’s individual card layout. The Tarot Waite Smith 1909 card images are public domain. Heart of Stars Tarot 3rd edition used with the direct permission of artist and author, Thom Pham. Animal Wise Tarot used with the permission of DragonHawk Publishing. Alleyman’s Tarot used with permission of Seven Dane Asmund and Publishing Goblin LLC. Other decks are used with publisher’s permission as indicated.
  • All readings are done by a human being with 30+ years of Tarot experience. No AI tools are used in these readings.

Social Media and Blog Policies

  • I reserve the right to block any commenter for any reason at my sole discretion
  • Your support on ko-fi for these free blog readings is greatly appreciated.
  • Blog comments are moderated, no spam or comments containing multiple links are permitted.

reviewed and updated August 2025

Blah induced glow up

I don’t know if I’ve done one of these tidy-up-the-website things since I’ve been on Bluesky or not. If not, Bluesky – let me introduce myself.

If you are not new to Sage Sips blog, then thank you for putting up with yet another one of these. I’ll admit – I’ve followed that “reintroduce yourself for new followers” advice a little too enthusiastically some years. Equally important, I’m grateful to everyone who has read Sage Sips for a while or follows on any of the socials. That goes double for those of you who get private readings with me. I truly appreciate you. If these posts and readings are any little help at all, it’s worth it to keep things fresh around here for you.

The differences aren’t big, nothing that major has happened since the big re-brand in 2018, but a little infusion of energy and attention still helps every now and again. If Halloween is ‘witch’s new year’ consider this the pre-new-year housecleaning in my little corner of cyberspace.

I’m in late August BLAH mode anyway, so it’s a good time to take a week off from the usual readings and recharge a little.

But back to the re-introduce yourself thing. I always feel weird and awkward about the background and bio part. I’d much rather talk about Tarot behind the scenes or do readings or teach Tarot how-to. But still, a refreshed bio is probably for the best so you can know what kind of internet rando you are reading.

Here is the same old bio, edited down a little bit:

Private email Tarot readings, memberships, virtual coffee and shop purchases all support this no-paywall blog

Hi! I’m Sage.

I’m the author of Sage Sips blog, PeaceTarot and free ebook TaoCraft Portfolio

I’ve been reading Tarot cards since around 1992 which adds up to 30 years of experience with intuitive work and intuition development (!)

I didn’t originally start out to be a professional Tarot reader (who does?) At first I did readings for friends (why PAY for it when you can DIY it?) A close friend suggested I go online with my readings (forever grateful!) I’ve given psychic Tarot readings through Keen, Advice Trader and AllExperts. After doing literally hundreds of online readings (I stopped counting at 500) I opened my own Tarot practice with ModernOracleTarot.com, the Tarotbytes blog and the now-defunct Quirk & Flotsam shop on Etsy. In 2018 I re-branded everything as TaoCraft Tarot featuring the Sage Sips blog. In 2025, life happened, and my Tarot work circled back to the beginning as a hobby with this blog (and the private email Tarot readings that help support the cost to create the blog and host a half decent website.)

The TaoCraft name is drawn from my love of Taoist philosophy. My work will always be guided by the principles of simplicity, authenticity, and kindness. The name is also a nod to both magickal craft and and regular crafting including one of my favorite hobbies, knitting.

My pen name, Sage, is inspired by both aromatherapy and the wisdom of Taoism and Tarot.

The herb sage has a comforting, familiar scent and flavor that most of us know from breakfast sausage and holiday turkeys. In aromatherapy, Sage incense and essential oil can support a calm, optimistic mood. Most of all, the word sage means something or someone who is wise. Tarot and Taoism both give us very sage advice.

Comfort, calmness, wisdom and a feeling that things are going to be alright are all qualities that I hope you’ll experience when you read the blog or read your personalized Tarot email.

I’m Sage Sips on Substack and Sage.Sips on all of the usual socials. I mostly interact with BlueSky and Threads, so drop by and say hello.

Email readings are always available 24/7, no appointment needed! Click HERE to order anytime. Email readings have always been my specialty, and my favorite to do. You can trust the process because they are pure intuition and spirit- there is no way for me to read body language cues or ask leading questions.

Thanks for reading. I always appreciate your time and attention along with any likes, follows, shares or kind comments that you can spare. I wish you all well. See you at the next sip!

The Dregs of Summer

It’s August

Late August

I don’t like summer, especially the ass-end of it when my patience with blazing sun, heat and humidity is long gone. There is always a little bit of an energy shift when dog days end, even more so around the 21st when we are closer to the end of the season. It is the glimpse of cool darkness at the end of a blazing white hot tunnel if you’ll pardon the color-flipped metaphor.

Maximum yang, like peak summer heat, demands a healthy dose of yin in response. All this summering asks for some resting. Rest doesn’t have to be a full on vacation or a power nap (although a power nap is ALWAYS a good thing when you can manage it.) Sometimes it is just a matter of cutting yourself a little bit of slack. Take your foot off the gas on the downhill, if that makes any sense of it.

That’s what I’m doing for a few weeks. I’m retreating to my cyberspace comfort zone instead of taking the usual full break from the Internet. My basic plan is to drag some stuff out of the archives to post and do a basic re-set here on the blogs and newsletter. It’s time to collect myself and get ready for fall, that most wonderful time of the year.

Happy Pumpkin Spice Everything to those who celebrate!

PS – Private readings by email are ALWAYS OPEN, sabbatical, real holiday, fake pumpkin spice holiday or otherwise! Order your private email Tarot reading 24/7, no appointment needed HERE

Week Ahead Tarot: Guard and Listen

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Pause the video if you need time to think, but there is no wrong choice. Even if you choose after the reveal, or after reading both interpretations, or choose both or reject both – it is still your own good intuition that leads the way.

Hierophant: You are connected to the universe in whole. Inspiration comes to you from this greater source. Listen for spirit guidance.

Four of Pentacles: Be on guard. Protect what you have and watch for opportunity. “A bird in hand in worth two in a bush” as the adage goes