art – Sage Sips / TaoCraft Tarot

Welcome Back 2025 (part 2)

Sometimes you have to retreat a little bit in order to walk forward again on a better path.

Some years feel like more of the same. This is not one of those years.

2025 is still a welcome back of sorts – a welcome back to inevitable, unending change and a welcome back to TaoCraft. There is nothing wrong with retreating to familiar or comforting things in unprecedented times like these. It’s the right thing to do when mistakes have been made. Sometimes you have to retreat a little bit in order to change direction and walk forward again on a better path.

A pattern emerged from all of the readings I’ve been doing since mid November or so. The details were different and the message was unique to the individual but at the same time there was a similar thread of energy running through all of them. The series of readings taken as a whole was giving background context and clues to our shared energy environment.

Basically, the meta-message was 2025 was going to be a storm of turbulent energy followed by “a happy ending” with better times in 2026. Sure, that sounds like wishful thinking. Life has been ups and downs, good times and bad times since time immemorial. Even though it is only the first half of January, a better 2026 is a teeny-tiny glimmer of optimism so I’ll take it, wishful or not.

Change is key. Things can get worse if they change but by the same token things can only get better if they change. Imagine a bright colored dot on the side of a bicycle wheel. As the wheel turns, metaphorically moving forward through time, first the dot appears to move down toward the ground, but then it moves up again and the cycle repeats. It all goes back to Taoist philosophy which has always been a tremendous comfort and makes sense out of life for me. Hence the name TaoCraft. But we’ve already talked about that back in 2018 when I took up the name the first time.

There are a few other minor changes for 2025. This will be the first full year of reverting back to the TaoCraft Tarot name for the website, commissioned readings, and hopefully, for a Tarot how-to eBook. All things “Sage Words Tarot” have been allowed to expire. The best way to contact me is TaoCraftTarot@gmail.com or the contact form on the Ask Me Anything page. Members can add ko-fi DM to the list.

“A thought is powerful. The spoken word is more powerful, but the written word is the most powerful of all”
Sallie Christensen, author of “The Highest And Best”

The next change is putting live readings on hiatus. I’m a writer at heart. I want to focus on email readings, which are my specialty. Email lets me do my absolute best readings for you. #kofigoalchallenge

Recorded video readings are also available if you prefer to listen rather than read (random unrelated opinion: audio books count the same as reading physical paper books.) Speaking of books: email & recorded video Tarot readings are perfect for book lovers of every type. My Tarot is a reader’s reading.

The email / recorded format has a ton of advantages:

Convenient: no appointment needed, the reading comes to you instead of you going to it. Easy, secure PayPal checkout is just like ordering anything online.
Eco friendly: no travel, no gasoline used, we are using electricity that we would be using anyway for other email. This kind of reading has essential zero carbon footprint.
AFFORDABLE: my email Tarot prices haven’t changed in years. No physical location = cost savings that I pass along to you.
Private: You open the email in a place and time best for you. No one sees you travel to a psychic.

But to get back to the task at hand: here is a quick introduction to all things TaoCraft. After that, I’m dropping all the “marketing best practices” and crazy pants promotions, just as I’ve threatened to do in the past. I’m going to do what I do best – email readings and blog readings. If that doesn’t work – welp, I tried. We can leave these recommended “re-introduce yourself” posts for New Years.

On the other hand, if you like what you see and want a reading with me, great! Bring it! Let’s work together and make some magic!

“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”
Albert Einstein

Let’s start at the beginning and try to keep it all simple. My pen name is Sage. I read Tarot, write stuff and knit things. I’ve been working with Tarot, Oracle cards and intuition development since 1993. At first I read for myself & friends. In 2003 – ish a friend suggested that I read online, for which I am forever grateful. I did email Tarot readings for Keen, Advice Trader and AllExperts in the early 2000s. I’ve done literally hundreds of email readings. I stopped counting at 400 and that was around 2003. After that, I started professional Tarot readings with my own website Modern Oracle Tarot, with its Tarotbytes blog and the now defunct Quirk & Flotsam Etsy shop.

In 2018 I re-branded the whole thing to TaoCraft Tarot. In 2023 I wanted unleash the coffee lover in me and make full use of ko-fi’s “buy me a coffee” metaphor for support donations. So I switched again to Sage Words Tarot and the whole Sage Sips blog is Tarot in the time it takes to sip your coffee thing.

That, as it turns out, was a miscalculation.

So Welcome Back. 2025 is a year of change; a change back to TaoCraft Tarot for private readings and book titles while keeping Sage Sips for the blog and ko-fi page.

To that end, the blogs will post 2-3 times per week and you can order a private email or video Tarot reading with me anytime, 24/7 – no appointment required.

The email reading comes to your mailbox as a .pdf or .docx attachment, usually within 24 hours . There might be some delays if you order on a US holiday, nights (US eastern time) or weekends. Video files are still too big for email attachments. If you order a video reading, you’ll get an email with a private link to your recording.

All of my readings generally have the same basic structure:

Photo or video of your real world cards
general pattern (the card layout as a whole, any initial psychic / intuitive impressions
Card-by-card discussion
Summary that recaps the layout as a whole plus adds in any other purely intuitive impressions. That often includes things like crystals, colors, aromatherapy – any random helpful detail.

There is some variation. One card readings are purely intuitive. Yes/no readings tend to have a more unstructured, tongue in cheek, lighthearted style.

For 2025 I am offering 4 layouts all of the time, no specials or seasonal changes except for Sage Sip Members (more on that later)

“Seasons” 5 card year ahead Tarot reading: ($30 non-memebers, $25 members) Start at any point in the year – birthdays, anniversary, holiday, new year – get one card guidance for each of the upcoming seasons plus one theme card for the entire year.
“TaoCraft” 5 card Tarot reading: ($30 non-members, $25 members) This is the updated version of the old Modern Oracle layout that I wrote in 2003. Cards show influences from the past, current energy environment, advice and cautions, best path ahead, alternative path if you so choose.
“Zombie Cat” 3 card yes or no: ($15 non-members, $10 members) Get a concise yes or no answer plus advice and intuitive impressions based on the individual three cards.
“Sage’s Sip” 1 card meditation: general intuitive advice or a focused follow-up to a recent larger layout ($5 non-members, FREE for members)

Sage Sips membership on Ko-fi is $5 per month and includes FREE 1 card email Tarot up to three per calendar month, discounts on larger layouts, exclusive content on the ko-fi members-only blog and random special offers.

This blog, social media, the YouTube channel, the public portion of the ko-fi blog are all free and non-monetized. Your Tarot message comes first, not an advertisers. Any ads you see benefit the platform and makes it free for me to use (a savings I pass along to you) All of this is supported by readers / listeners through the memberships, private readings and shop purchases.

All of my readings are commissioned, ephemeral folk art that is intended to inspire, empower, facilitate understanding, help creative problem solving, and boost your connection to your own spirituality & inner wisdom.

All of my policies are listed HERE.

“Tarot isn’t about what will happen in life. Tarot helps you figure out what to do when life happens.”
Sage Snow

Please note that these readings are about predicting the future, reading other people, medical or legal questions. Tarot doesn’t do these things very well. I don’t want to waste my time or your money when we can focus on the more helpful, uplifting stuff that Tarot is great at doing. This artwork is a hobby for me, not a business. I am as open and transparent with you as humanly possible, which is why I wrote the policies page. I only ask for compensation for my time and to help defray web hosting costs.

Thank you for hanging in with the longest post in a long time. I appreciate you! See you at the next sip!

Gentle Integration

Private readings are open, no appointment needed!

Spiritual growth is not an exercise in mass consumerism.

It isn’t a contest to see who is the most woke, the most pious, the most serene, the most wise, the most anything.

It isn’t a sprint. It isn’t even a marathon. It is about the quality of this present moment. It is about you being happy with you – right here, right now.

The most important lessons in our personal growth and evolution and maturity and autonomy are often learned the hard way. They are often hard-won over significant amounts of time. So it is important not to diminish those lessons by moving on too soon.

The two of pentacles is about balance, but it is the quicker, dynamic equilibrium of a unicycle rider. Temperance is the balance of a glacier, it is the balance of Stonehenge.

Temperance is more than just balance, it is about integration.

Balance can be juggling two different things. Temperance’s type of balance is about integrating those two (or more) things into a stable, foundational new thing. The two of pentacles is a balls in the air, juggling kind of balance. Temperance is a low center of gravity, “weebles wobble but they don’t fall down” kind of balance. To borrow from Frank Herbert’s Dune, Temperance type of balance comes from Usul, the strength of the base of a pillar.

When a hungry person eats, they must then digest. The same is true of insights and epiphanies. The work of finding them is lost if we don’t integrate them.

We must change the big lessons and the big progress from a ball in the air that needs to be balanced into the integrated base of the pillar that imparts balance. This is why integration and transformation are integral parts of the Temperance card’s message of balance.

Live as your new self. Live your new truth. Make the new you an integral part of the old you. Then you can move forward again in certainty and – you guessed it – balance.

Next up: more “My Side of the Table” Tarot behind the scenes

See you at the next sip!

We Made The Machines

The only real oracle is human intuition. We made the machines that make the art.

public domain image via creative commons

I’m as cyberpunk as the next Tarot reader.

Probably way more so. There are reasons why I thrive doing email readings. They are my best work, tbh.

But there are also reasons why I love using the Lofi Girl / Lofi Chill aesthetic to describe my Tarot style. I can be all synthwave and cyberspace but still keep the lo-fi human touch which is the whole point of Tarot in the first place.

78 cards raised to the power of near infinite combinations of any one shuffle raised to the power of layout position times the different layout possibilities – is a bigger number than I can calculate. Neil Degrasse Tyson has a great explainer on TikTok about the shuffle thing.

Tarot excels at dealing with human thoughts and emotions but there are some things about the human condition and external environment that early Tarot readers could never imagine.

Imagine what will come to be that is off the far front of OUR radar.

If I were to create a brand new Tarot card, it’d be technology of some sort. Maybe a cyberpunk looking radio telescope. I think some oracle decks already have cards like that.

Artificial Intelligence and machine made art is one thing early Tarot readers probably never envisioned If they imagined it, I’m guessing it would have been understood in a different context. I’m reminded of Arthur Clarke’s famous quote “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Their magic is our AI.

We made the machines that make the art. I wonder if anyone has made a Tarot deck with ChatGPT yet. If not, it’s only a matter of time, I’m sure.

Regardless of who or what or how the cards are generated, the one, the only, the true oracle is pure human intuition. Cards are just tools no matter what tools humans use to create the cards.

As far as I know, you can’t mimic intuition with a bot.

All I know is that I don’t use any of it.

Email is as technical as it gets with my readings. The readings will always be me, a keyboard and a photo of your unique real-world actual physical cards in a real world, actual, physical card layout – no AI at all.

The problem with AI right now is not so much the technology as the copyright. I actually like the AI generated aesthetic that is everywhere on social media these days. I’d love to have book covers look like that – but I’d feel terrible taking a REAL artist’s creation for a book cover without their knowledge or consent. So I haven’t even played with AI for fun yet.

I know the amount of work it takes to write something and write it well. I respect copyrights and intellectual property and expect the same in return. While the posts on Sage Sips blog are non-derivative noncommercial attribution share alike creative commons 4.0 licensed. That means you can quote and share all you like so long as you give me credit for writing it, don’t change it and don’t charge money for it. Fair enough, right? Especially considering everything here is my own creation, my own hard work – no AI help at all.

Next up is the three card Energy Path reading for the week that will post on Monday, but for now it’s time for my lo-fi human self to go get another cup of coffee.

See you at the next sip!

Mid-card Mid-week: Flame On

Second look at this week’s “current energy” card

It’s Wednesday! Let’s revisit the middle card (current energy) from our look-ahead reading from Monday and see how the energy is unfolding for this week.

It’s an interesting phenomenon in professional Tarot reading.

Sometimes the cards will piggyback a message or energy for me along with the collective message for the blog or the specific message for a private client. Sometimes it feels sort of disconnected, like being the pizza delivery person with no connection to the party going on inside the house.

Today it’s a little bit of both.

Subscribers can read more on Ko-fi or on Substack

Readings for readers

Tarot readings for readers

I read AND write.

I’ve been told that my email readings but especially the handwritten, hand illustrated private Tarot readings appeal to book lovers.*

I’m a reader’s reader. My written content is my best work.

I know it. You know it.

Writing is my niche and my talent and my strength.

I’m not going to water that down just for the sake of having a podcast.

Some people learn better from listening. Some people just plain prefer audio.

I know it. You know it.

I just received word that Spotify for podcasters and WordPress are ending the text to speech integration.

Unless and until I find another text to speech option, it is with some regret that I am ending the Sage Sips podcast. I have too much respect for audio learners and audiophiles to give you a second rate Tarot product. I’m not going to half-ass a spoken word recording when I KNOW I can give you significantly better quality content with text-to-speech technology.

If I can find a workable text to speech option, I’ll resume the audio blog. Until then you can find my free week-ahead pathway readings on Mondays on the Sage Words Tarot dot com website, on the Sage Words Tarot blog on ko-fi dot com and on the Sage Sips newsletter on Substack.

All three of those platforms will continue to have a mix of free and premium subscriptioncontent, because none of this is advertising monetized. The blogs and Substack are all reader supported. With me, your Tarot message comes first, not an advertiser’s message. Premium content and private readings are what makes the free blog Tarot readings possible. Private readings are still always available in both email and live formats through the website. No appointments are needed for the email version, by the way.

I am always so grateful for your support. Your purchases help fund the practical part of creating all of this, but your time reading (or until now, listening) to the blog, your likes, your shares, your follows and free subscriptions are why ten or more years worth of Tarot inspiration exists in the world. All of you are why I do this in the first place. Together, we have created a giant pile of ideas, inspiration, art, entertainment and wisdom. Now let’s go create some more.

Podcast people, thank you for this opportunity. Thank you for listening in as the podcast changed from Clairvoyant Confessional to TaoCraft Tarot and most recently to Sage Sips. I hope audio will be back, but in the meantime please join us on the blogs for more Tarot readings, behind the scenes and ask me anything.

Blog people – I’ll see you at the next sip.

*I’ve read for other intuitives and professional Tarot readers before. It is always the biggest compliment to be trusted by a colleague like that. “Readings for readers” works for that kind of reader too.

Dance

TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot contemplation for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee

Welcome to TaoCraft Tarot blog and podcast. I’m glad you are here.

Today’s card is “The Performer” from the Alleyman’s Tarot by Publishing Goblin LLC used with permission.

This is one of the cards I’ve never seen before, and just like always I try to read it before going to the deck’s guide book. When I haven’t seen or read the card before, I approach it just like reading a pip card like we talked about with the two of disks recently. Going into this card cold is the best of both worlds. There is a picture with lots of intuitive prompts, but no preconceived theme to box in the interpretation.

Too bad I got nothin’.

My first thought was “violin guy” and that was about it.

With a little more staring and contemplation, something I’d read finally came to mind from my old natural health reading. I can’t for the life of me remember much less cite the source, but I once read that it was a common thing for indigenous healers to ask when the patient stopped dancing.

It times the illness. It gives insight into the illness through the lens of mind-body connection. Western medicine (however begrudgingly) acknowledges that perceived mental stress can affect physical health. They also admit the benefits of exercise and activity. The mind-body connection flows in both directions. Poor physical habits and lifestyle can have a negative impact on mood just as much as stress can worsen disease. The converse is true. Healthy interventions on either side of the mind-body equation can benefit the other side of the equation.

Dancing is more than just physical activity. It is art and self expression and one of the most joyful things a human can do. I remember seeing interviews with Desmond Tutu when Apartheid ended in South Africa. He said he must dance with the rest of his people in his joy. Recently, on social media, I saw a post about the oppression of Native American culture in the past and how the person in the video dances now for all those who could not before.

No performance, no dance is empty unless we make it so. Even if we dance alone, we dance with our own humanity. Don’t stop dancing.

Thank you so much for reading and listening! I appreciate your time and attention. Any likes, subs, shares, follows, questions or comments you can spare are greatly appreciated too.

The blog and podcast are not monetized in any way and depend on audience support. All private readings ordered on the blog website, memberships, and proceeds from the TaoCraft Tarot page on ko-fi all help me to create and produce these free to access Tarot readings for everyone.

Thank you again. See you at the next sip!

Clairvoyant Confessional: Smelly Flowers and Naming Powers

I don’t know why.

It doesn’t matter why, really. I like to name my blogs. Maybe it is my inner sixth grader who wanted to be a journalist pretending to name a newspaper. More likely it is my outer gen-X-er trying to get organized. Even more likely it’s my attempt to pique your interest.

Shakespeare wrote that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. Bill was right. You could call it a fantastic fartflower and it would still give off exactly the same molecules that smell exactly the same way as it does when we call it a rose.

The problem is that humans are more than a molecule detector. Our olfactory nerves connect to a brain that is chock full of memories & emotions. If we attach unpleasant memories or emotions to the name, then a fantastic fartflower might not smell as sweet after all. On the other hand, maybe roses really don’t smell all that great but our perception of the fragrance changes because of all of the positive associations with roses like love, romance, beauty, summertime and so on.

I have no training in marketing, but I would guess that it’s much easier to interest people in something named a rose. Which gets back to naming my blogs. A title is a fast, easy way to tell you what the blog is about while hopefully enticing you to read more. I want to sell you on the idea of reading the blog and a good name helps with that, or so it seems.

Marketing and promotion are weirdly uncomfortable if not nearly taboo in spirituality related fields like Tarot. Movies have trailers, and bands promote themselves all the time, but it is different for a clairvoyant. Given all of the scams and grift that have abused the name, it’s no wonder that words like psychic carry more connotations than a word like rose ever could. Practicing our art, promoting our art, and promoting a legitimate artistic business all while trying to stay out of culture war crosshairs is all a very tricky thing to do.

I recently named my blog “Portfolio.” because Tarot is my art, and the blog literally is my portfolio. I use it to showcase both my writing and my Tarot reading skills. Artists take portfolios to job interviews to showcase their work. If you read the blog, and then get a Tarot reading with me, the reading should meet or exceed your expectations because you’ll know in advance exactly what to expect. For a potential employer, a portfolio builds trust in an artist’s work. I hope the blog (and this podcast) will build your trust in my work too.

In 2018 I changed my website, blog and social media name. I re-branded everything from Modern Oracle Tarot to the TaoCraft Tarot. Ever since then, I get caught up in the idea of names about once a year, usually around the Fall anniversary of TaoCraft Tarot’s grand opening. Contrary to the “rose by any name” theory, names can actually be very powerful things.

To manifest anything, to accomplish any goal, you must first name it.

The more clear and precise a goal is, the more clear and precise the outcome can be. By the same token, that high precision limits the possibilities. A more open, adaptable and inclusive goal can increase your chances of a satisfying result. A name helps in both instances. A name can be as broad or as precise as needed. A name can be changed as time goes on. To meet a goal, you have to have one. To meet a goal, it must first be identified.

The power of names is even more evident when it comes to personal growth and becoming a better person.

What is the best part of you as you are right now? What is your very best current trait? Name it. Wrap yourself in it. Embrace that name for yourself at least for a few hours.

Then think of a personal quality that you want to acquire or increase. What would life be like if you were already that thing? Name it. Try that aspirational quality on for a while. See how it fits. You might not need to grow into it as much as you first thought.

After being raised by evangelicals and nicknamed “brainiac” in junior high, it was odd to add the namef “tarot reader” or “clairvoyant” to the list. Once I could identify with those names for some of the things I do, it opened whole new vistas of comfort and authenticity. But that is another blog post from another time. I’ll put links to related posts in the show notes.

Now here is a real challenge.

What label, trait, or quality is the name that shall not be named? What is your own personal Voldemort? What name is a bridge too far? Now, I’m not saying you should cross that bridge or go too far in any respect, but at least look at it. Consider its architecture. For me it took decades….decades…to admit the truth to myself about being an atheist or even harboring an interest in witchcraft. It took a longer time to realize that we don’t have to renounce one label when we pick up another. The human spirit is big enough that many traits and names can coexist not just harmoniously but synergistically. We are more than the sum of our parts. Our better parts shine when we name them and live them.

Whatever you want to be, try saying “I am” then fill in the blank with that thing. Names are necessary for good old fashioned affirmations too.

How does that make you feel? How does it feel to name yourself the thing you could never admit that you are? More importantly, how does it feel to name yourself the thing you’ve always wanted to be?

Name your worst trait and it will step to the front. Name your best trait and it will grow. The labels we place on others and that others place on us can help or hurt just as powerfully. Take care with the names you use for yourself and your fellow humans.

Thank you for listening today and for your ongoing support. I appreciate it more than you know. I always appreciate a good cup of coffee too. Any contributions to my virtual coffee mug supports the free blog posts and future podcast episodes.

Speaking of future podcast episodes, please send any questions you have for a clairvoyant. Ask me anything as they say. I may even do a Tarot reading for the answer. Contact information is on the blog and in the show notes.

This is the end of season 1. Clairvoyant confessional will be on hiatus until mid September. I’d like to say I’ll be using that time to learn how to edit audio files and figure out how to make this a better podcast. But honestly…the confessional will probably be back with the same raw, unedited, amateurish, pirate radio aesthetic that it has now.

I’m a clairvoyant and I have a confession. I still don’t know all that much about making a podcast.

Name related posts:

Mail your questions for the clairvoyant to ClairvoyantConfessional@gmail.com

October Art Day 7: Skeleton

“Skeleton” poem by Ronda Snow, image source unknown, via free picsart app

My daughter is a wonderful artist and musician. In protest of copyright violations and the coopting of intellectual property by other prompt lists, she made her own. That’s my girl!! 💖

I’ve been following along in my own way. If you’d like to see the rest, visit the TaoCraft Tarot instagram feed. There is a link to it on the special offers / social media page. While you are there, check out the FREE TAROT READING giveaway celebrating the second anniversary of TaoCraft Tarot. (Policies and disclaimers apply, offer ends 10-31-2020)

Support independent artists and small business!

Check out and buy some of Snowbird.20 ‘s excellent artwork at ddan://www.redbubble.com/people/snow-bird/shop

Kitten Whiskers: Spark

This is the last planned episode of my Friday night fangirling. If you have questions about Tarot, Reiki, Meditation, or anything, let me know that in the comments and I’ll write more on-topic posts to fill the gap. If I don’t know the answer, you’ll get a resounding I dunno or if you ask/say/spam anything inappropriate, the comment will be incinerated in bright blue bolt of hexfire. I’m hoping to spark some conversation with all of this.

I’ve never watched Marie Kondo. In a way, this whole ‘kitten whiskers’ series of posts has been about favorite things that “spark joy” as she says. If so, I may have failed.

It wasn’t my vision for this series to be about sparking “joy.” To my mind, joy is euphoric, yes, but also misty, temporary and insubstantial like cotton candy or whipped cream topping on a dessert. I had really hoped to spark substantial contentment, like a big bowl of ramen noodles or something filling and nourishing instead of sweet fluff. My goal was to bring attention to simple pleasures and little things to comfort, encourage and anchor our sanity during these strange days.

One of the things that sparks contentment, that sparks that comfortable-in-your-own-skin feeling for me is the warrior archetype. Yes, women have a warrior archetype too. Don’t let Athena, Queen Boudica, Mulan, Joan of Arc, or the 400 women who fought in the American Civil War hear you say otherwise (Psychology Today, Smithsonian Magazine) In other words, the things that spark my happy place into existence also tends to inspire some thread of badassedness at the same time. To me, “warrior” is not in the slightest realated the toxic masculine violence that is stepping to the fore in right wing America. That is the exact opposite of a warrior. I’m talking about the self-development, self-mastery kind of warriorhood. I have a looooong way to go with that sort of thing. It sparks a sense of satisfaction to think I’m on even the sparest beginning of that path. When I think warrior, I think of things like

“The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front front of him, but because he loves what is behind him” – G.K. Chesterson

“Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power” – attr. Tao Te Ching

Things that spark that sort of mindset make me happy.

ART & POETRY

Fringe and free, artists and poets give zero f*cks for social mores and expectations. They are warriors in defense of every aspect of the human experience good and bad, light and dark. Some of us are gleefully hellbound. Which is why one of my current favorites is Ryan Summers. We’ve never met in person, but I’ve enjoyed every bit of his work. I’m touched by his deep kindness every time we’ve talked via social media (most recently instagram where he is @HellBoundBlack) We first talked through the online poetry group “we drink because we’re poets.” His poetry collection L’aria Onyx (written under nom de plume Sahm Ataine King) is gritty, real, almost skeletal in the sense that his poetry lays bare the bones of life. It reminds me of the Dada art movement with an echo of Japanese wabi sabe giving a result that finds power and life in dark imperfections.

His photography is his poetry transformed into image.

Please take a look at his Instagram and his new shirt design brand. Maybe you will be sparked along your chosen path too. Please support artists, photographers and poets.

COFFEE

I like coffee.

The taste, the aroma (and the caffeine) spark much more than happy badassedness. It sparks basic brainwaves. Like Sheriff Hopper said in the Netflix series Stranger Things “Mornings are for coffee and contemplation. Coffee. And contemplation.”

Indeed, sir.

A couple of weeks ago I reached out for permission to mention and link to my new favorite local coffee houses, even though I don’t live near enough to visit often. They never replied, so I’ll respect that just say they are in the Allentown neighborhood of Pittsburgh (with a second site in McKees Rocks) and their name rhymes with Plack Pforge Toffee. The iced coffee there is the best I’ve ever sucked into my face hole. Considering the oceans of the stuff I’ve had over the past *mumble mumble* years that is saying something. They are not your mother’s coffee house. Oh no. These guys have a goth metal pagan aesthetic that is as satisfying as the Sumatra dark roast. If you see me wandering around in a hoodie that says “darkness brewing eternal” you’ll know I did a little local shopping. Please support your favorite local small businesses.

MARTIAL ARTS

I used to teach Taijiquan (Tai Chi) then I learned that I know nothing. I have a black belt in Kung Fu. Then I learned I know less than nothing. It was a ton of fun, regardless. If you try it, please find a qualified teacher and do your best to avoid belt mills and over-testosteroned cobra-kai-esque mashugana mishegoss. Look for your Mister Miyagi. Look for your Socrates from Peaceful Warrior. They exist. Don’t give up. If you are lucky enough to live in the D.C. area, Master Nick Gracenin is one of the absolute best, truly world class.

BOOKS

Books will feed whatever archetype is your happy place. They can spark joy, spark contentment, spark badass, and everything in between. The ones coming to mind tonight include:

The Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman

Scholar Warrior by Deng Ming-Dao

The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston

The Hero Within: Six Archetypes We Live By by Carol Pearson

MUSIC

Made another playlist of music that sparks you-know-what, at least for me. I hope you enjoy. The last song is a hands down favorite. It is Jackie Chan singing General’s Mandate in Madarin. Our Sifu uses it for his demonstration forms. Master Gracenin plus Jackie Chan equals pure unadulterated motivation.

Thank all of you for reading. You … all of you…being here with this… THAT sparks joy.

Best to all – R.

Today’s Tarot: A Journey Begins

Pro tip from my side of the table: When a message from a minor arcana card mirrors the basic meaning of a major arcana card, it serves to modify the intensity or impact. It can serve as a “major arcana light” sort of meaning.

In this way, the two of wands connects to the major arcana Fool card by suggesting a beginning. No only does it differ in intensity, but in quality too. The beginning or new-thing in question here isn’t the giddy thrill of a totally new project, or new path as is the flavor of the Fool’d kind of new beginning. This is a new beginning within an older, over-arcing journey or project. It doesn’t have the quality of cycles or phases that you might see with a moon card, it is more like a course adjustment, or adaptive change that has the luxury of time. Planning is a strong component of the two of wands as well. Think of it as a new phase, a change in plans, heavy on the plan part.

It connects with the Devil card reading from yesterday, but in energy, not artwork. Remember that storm on the horizen image that has been coming through lately? It’s back. Energy shifts and flows, day by day. The point in time today is slightly different from yesterday, even though that was a short 24 hours ago. On the whole, general energies are turbulent and fast moving these days, even though things may be stagnant or stuck on the individual level. It’s the difference between a general blog reading and individual custom reading. These posts are free, but apply to the group mindset. some days they are like throwing cooked spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks (metaphorically speaking – don’t waste food. Love, mom) A custom, individual reading is like a plate of your favorite dinner made exactly to your taste with your favorite seasonings. Shameless plug aside…back to the devil card yesterday.

Today that storm on the horizon energy has backed off a tiny bit, and seems more horizon-ish again. We are at a point where we can navigate again. Detour, might be a better word. It is still possible to get where we want to go, but we might need to detour around the worst of a storm, like a plane or ship might. That leads right in to the two of wands with planning, a new turn, a new direction, adaptation and newness within an older journey. Like real life hurricane warnings, at least we can try to prepare, with the spiritual equivalent of boarding up windows (define and honor healthy boundaries between self and others, personal emotions and general energies) and gathering supplies (self-care, disengaging from social media or draining relationships, etc.)

Introspection and a spiritual turn are parts of both day’s message, in energy if not in art work. Wands are associated with the element of fire, inner passions, relationship with self.

The Two of Wands has another connection to the major arcana. A globe is a common art element for the card across many decks. Connect that to the World card of the major arcana. That hints at success in the end if the plan/adaptation/new direction is enacted. It also hints that plans and actions need a gestalt, big picture, global aspect to help steer things toward that success.

Not every beginning is giddy and pure. Some beginnings are held within any given journey, project or plan. Sometimes, as now, we begin a new direction and a new plan within the old one.