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
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A friend gifted me with the Kawaii Tarot, so I’ve been getting to know it. It has a succinct, pithy quality as Zen, peaceful and minimalist as the illustration. The guidebook is clear and simple too – great for a beginning Tarot reader, but feels a little lightweight for more practiced clairvoyants. I’ve only started exploring it, so time will tell.
In any case it seems to be oddly in your face and to the point for something with such cutesy pictures. It shares a vibe with my Lenormand Tarot deck in that respect.
In any case, that Zen-ness inspired the idea to do a Taijitu layout with them. The taijitu layout was inspired by the yin/yang symbol (the taijitu) combined with a three card pathway Tarot spread. The right side card is “yin” – energies that are moving inward or being drawn toward you. It’s the things you are yoinking into your life path right now. The middle card is yang, the energies moving outward, the image you are projecting or things you are (or maybe should be) yeeting off your path. The left card is balance…advice to move forward while creating and keeping your calm.
This deck throws down one word per card. I’ll try to put it into some nuanced context – but whatever YOUR reflex response to the word might be – use that. That individual reflex will take this from the realm of a collective energy reading into something much more personalized.
Yin – Five of Swords – “battle” It doesn’t feel like current conflict, but rather a risk of setting yourself up for conflict. We are at the end of a gently closing time that was potent for manifestation. This card is a caution to take care of the seeds you sow, take care to lay a good foundation. Don’t be combative, but actively prepare for defense or any battle that is unavoidably brought to you.
Yang – page of cups – “introspection” Don’t let the peaceful demeanor you give off be mistaken for being a doormat. Dream, but also do.
Balance – Justice – “fairness” As you balance defense and dreaming, planning and actions, be sure to be fair. Get the whole story. Be fair to others, but fair to yourself as well.
Stay tuned for more getting to know you readings with the Kawaii deck. Next up: week ahead tarot tomorrow or Monday afternoon.
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The times are vibing with the Lenormand Deck, which inspired this two card layout in the first place. My experience with Lenomand resonated with a conversation I heard on “The Circle is Pod Cast” with Matt Auryn and Rachel True. Lenormand really is concise, direct, and often very sentence-like . That in turned this short subject/verb, what it is/what to do format.
What it is: CROSS. The liminal portal-like energy from last week continues. Think of this in religious terms if you must, but this energy is like crossROADS more than connected to any one religious viewpoint. This is a time of choices. Progress demands it. Linger here and become stuck, or choose well to manifest your next path for the highest good. This is a potent time. Use it well to set intentions, plant seeds, lay foundations.
What to do: Book Symbolic of both sacred mystery and deep learning, this is a reminder that learning isn’t always about logic and knowledge. Wisdom asks to be learned as well. Learn the way of your chosen spiritual path by reading, listening, finding a mentor. King of cups Tarot card comes to mind. Spirit guide energy is nearby to help, but you must still do the work and learn to find the best way for you as an individual to be a part of this energy and flow with this powerful time.
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THE SNAKE: Stay quiet and camouflaged, use logic and observation to learn who you can trust – or not.
THE DOG: Someone trustworthy is near. Find them, and be as good of a friend to them as they are to you. The sum will be greater than the parts for all concerned.
If your individual intuition is the engine that drives a Tarot reading, symbolism is the steering wheel.
Like a car in Pennsylvania during pothole season, it’s very easy for that steering to get out of alignment. Symbolism is very influenced by culture and time and has to be kept in context. It has to be in alignment with the reader and the sitter and the intuitive vibe of the reading.
Take the color black, for example.
For some, black is seen as aligned with “evil.” In western traditions black has been associated with death, funerals and mourning, but also with evening elegance and fashion, men’s tuxedos for example.
In Japan, novice monks and many lay people wear black as a symbol of their dedication to practice and as a symbol of community.
The symbolism for snakes is just as varied. Sometimes they are seen as symbolizing lies or deception as in the Christian garden of Eden myth or someone being a “snake in the grass” in an old western movie.
In Chinese cultures, snakes are associated with wisdom, intelligence, charm and grace. In many places they are connected to personal growth and transformation through their ability to shed their old skin as they grow.
Dogs on the other hand, are all just good bois and gurls. How an individual person treat dogs and other small animal is the tell here more than any broad cultural reference. If a dog likes you, you must be OK. If you like dogs, there must be some kindness in your heart. Dogs symbolize great loyalty and deep friendship almost everywhere. Only after they have been through horrors do they devolve into aggression and threat.
If you chose the snake card, beware deception – use observation, cleverness and intellect to understand who to trust. Take inspiration for the snake to adapt and transform yourself.
If you chose the dog card, know others by their proven trustworthiness and kindness. Be a friend, find a friend, hold on to your friends.
Deck: Healing Light Lenormand by Christopher Butler, copyright 2021 Lo Scarabeo srl, via Cigna 110, 10155 Torino, Italy. All rights reserved, used by permission.
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STRENGTH: The energy environment supports you today, or at the very least, is getting out of your way a little bit for once. Outer steadiness supports inner change, which requires the greatest strength and courage to face.
KING OF WANDS: Real strength lies on the inside. Do what you know is right for you. Decide what kind of person you want to be and start right now. You don’t have to explain anything to anyone. Be who you want to be, fully, immediately. A shift in perspective can happen in a heartbeat. Nothing can keep you from you. There is no barrier to being. Be smart and stay safe around bad people, certainly. On the inside, however, you are in charge. Always.
“You are under no obligation to be the same person you were five minutes ago.” – Alan Watts
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Pause the video if you want some time to ponder your card. Restart for the reveal then read your card below. Or look at both cards and choose which one calls to you. Or look at the cards, read both interpretations, then choose which one fits you the best. It’s all equally valid. In the end it is still your intuition and your discretion that chooses which message – or none – that matters.
With two major arcana cards showing, this week might pack more emotion or energy in the next few days than we’ve seen for a while. We are on the downhill side of the dog days of summer, and stagnant energies may start to stir a little bit. I ‘hear’ (meaning intuition that come as mental words instead of mental images) “changes comes with a change in the weather”
STRENGTH: The more you do it, the easier it gets. Strength builds over time. It gets easy. Once it seems easy – let it. Don’t make easy things seem hard all over again just because they are important. You’ve earned the easy
DEATH: The difference between the change signified by the death card and the cyclic changes signified by the moon or the wheel cards is that it is one and done, final, irretrievable. This change is a fire that burns the old to ashes that are best left to be blown away in the wind.
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Deck: Alleyman’s Tarot by Seven Dane Asmund, used with permission
Psychologists, holistic health professionals and Buddhists agree. Action Eases Anxiety – maybe better than you think. Simple mental and physical exercises can take the edge off of anxiety, which is more than typical day-to-day worry. Things like naming five things you see, taking a short walk, patterned breathing. I highly recommend @DanHarris and @jim_donovan_sound_health on instagam for more trustworthy real world anxiety advice.
This layout is inspired by Lenormand Tarot but works with any Tarot or Oracle Deck. The left card reads the current concern or the current energy environment. It may be a clue to what is the cause of your anxiety. The right card is a clue to the best thing to do next. It’s like a sentence; Subject and verb. It shows what the situation is and what to do about it.
WHAT’S GOING ON: Queen of Cups. This is deep emotion, perhaps something long suppressed bubbling to the surface. Emotion isn’t your enemy. Sit with it. Feel it fully, then move on knowing it doesn’t rule you or the reality around you.
BEST NEXT STEP: The Emperor. This signifies deep competence and real-world skill. Build your confidence. Head over heart. Let logic lead for a few steps to give emotions a chance to exist and heal and be understood without letting them rule you. You are in charge here and probably doing much better than you may think. Expanded post on https://TaoCraftTarot.com tomorrow
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The fun way to do this is to pause the video, choose your card, restart for the reveal. Or read everything, then choose. It doesn’t matter, because it is still YOU making a choice. Take the message for your own or leave it. It is all up to you.
Tarot doesn’t tell you what will happen in life, it helps you know what to do when life happens.
SEVEN OF SWORDS: Cut your losses. Don’t throw good money after bad. Work smarter, not harder. Intellect is your friend this week. head over heart for now.
ACE OF CUPS: Happiness or ease comes like a cool drink of water. It is ok to allow yourself a moment of peace and contentment. You are the only one who can. Deck: Black Cats Tarot by Maria Kurare copyright 2013 all rights reserved, used with permissions via llwellynpublishing.com
THE OUTSIDER: If you ever don’t feel social, don’t push yourself. Sometimes being on the outside is exactly where you want – or need – to be.
Nothing about being a human is 100% defined 100% of the time. Seldom are things clearly black or white. Most of the time life is a million shades of grey and all the more beautiful for it.
Taking a little time alone doesn’t make you a hard-core introvert. Going out doesn’t mean you are a forever extrovert. Self-care means doing what you need in the moment to be as mentally, emotionally and physically healthy as you can be and keep it that way.
Taking a step outside is a shift in perspective, be it literally outdoors or a step away from the usual social group for an evening or a weekend. Things don’t look so large in your mind when you put them in a big-picture perspective.
The saying “Not my circus, not my monkeys” comes to mind. This isn’t the energy environment for drama. Step away and let the kids work it out among themselves. If it isn’t your issue, don’t engage with the fireworks.
Deck: Alleyway Oracle of Secrets by Seven Dane Asmund used with permission
Don’t worry…you can’t cheat these readings. No matter when you choose your card, even if it is after watching the video and reading the meanings below, it’s still YOUR intuition leading the choice. There is still a choice being made and that’s what it is all about.
“Tarot is about telling you what will happen in life, it’s about figuring out what to do when life happens.” – Sage
This set of cards is very yin/yang like. The ten of cups is internal, about perception and subjective experience, like the black part of the taijitu (yin yang symbol) Yet the contentment is expansive, yang, like the white dot in the yin field. It is about how you occupy your moment and your space.
On the other hand, Pentacles are connected to earth element – the physical realm. This is yang, outward, like the white side of the taijitu. This is about how you interact with the outside world. Yet conserving, contracting, withdrawing – a very yin thing, like the black dot on the symbol.
Which direction did you choose? Where is your flow and change? What do you most need to create harmony with this week?
TEN OF CUPS: Take comfort in friends, family, chosen family and tribe. Moments deep contentment are close at hand and, for the moment, are easier to find.
Or, as Eric Draven (Brandon Lee) said in the 1994 movie The Crow “Little things used to mean so much to Shelly. I used to think they were kind of trivial.Believe me, nothing is trivial.”
FOUR OF PENTACLES: Conserve your resources and mind your budget. It’s the doorway to get through this energy environment and to get to better times. “Temporary setback” “Rally the groups” and “Take action to conserve” “extend resources” all come to mind.
“A penny saved is a penny earned.” – Ben Franklin
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Deck: Alleyman’s Tarot by Seven Dane Asmund, used with permissions, Publishing Goblin LLC
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