Tag: coffee

Ain’t no big

TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. Today the Page of Pentacles reminds us that it ain’t no big thing.

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

Today’s Card is the Page of Pentacles from the Alleyman’s Tarot deck, card artwork by Eli Norvell.

Here is your Tarot life hack.

When you are reading a card, look at the foundation meaning, then add your intuition on top.

Easy.

In this case we have a base of page cards that symbolize learning and pentacles that symbolize our relationship with the physical realm. Intuitively I get the word “easy” and the mental image of that old office supply store commercial with a big read button with the word easy on it.

It would be nice if this means that life will be as magically easy as it is in the world of television ads. But I don’t think that is what spirit, energy, and the card are really trying to say. Life can be hard enough on its own. We don’t have to add to that. Let things be easy and fun whenever you can.

Perception and intention are everything in Tarot, spirituality, personal growth, quality of life, dare I say magick. This is the part where experience, study and a professional’s opinion might come in handy. It takes a little work and experience to connect a random card to a mental image of a television commercial to a meaningful idea we can all apply to make life a little better.

Some days intuition is all POOF and easy and spiritual and satisfying … other days it’s like a mental Rube Goldberg machine. Today is a little bit of both. We have to connect a few dots including a random card, a TV ad easy button and a practical need to drum up a useful idea for today’s post.

Luckily pentacles are practical cards, and today’s dots are, well, practical and easy.

This episode and post is case in point. It serves no purpose to try and make this into some big dramatic spiritual lesson. The bottom line is that it is OK for some things to be easy. It is ok for things to be out of hand, down to earth, and no big deal. Being difficult and complicated doesn’t necessarily add value, but it does add cost. We may feel more accomplished or productive when we overcome challenges but it doesn’t have to be that way every single time. Streamlining and making things more easy has value too. Making things easy gives us a very valuable gift: the ability to give our time and attention to other things.

This playful, forward looking card reminds us not to spend time and energy when it isn’t necessary. Don’t overthink. Don’t make mountains out molehills. Let things be easy when they can be. Learn a life hack. Or better still, invent one for yourself. Then you spend the energy and effort you save on the things that matter the most: you and those you love.

Thank you so much for reading and listening! Any likes, subs, shares, follows, questions or comments are always appreciated. Blog comments are open and I’m on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook most days.

If you are enjoying these posts and episodes, please visit the TaoCraft Tarot Ko-fi page. Proceeds from the shop and memberships supports the creation of this free to access Tarot content. Want more than a sip? Get a big cup all your own. Private email Tarot Readings with the blog author are available to order anything, no appointment needed, on the blog website. Links are in the episode description for podcast listeners.

Thank you again. See you at the next sip!

Found Family

TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. Today we talk about found family and stray cat royalty.

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

I’m still exploring the Alleyman’s Tarot by Seven Dane Asmund. Today’s card is the Queen of Strays.

My first early morning coffee deficient impulse response to the card was my inner three year old yelling KITTY!

But honestly, though, there are worse ways to start a Monday morning than a picture of a cat.

My Aunt used to have an orange tabby with a vibe a lot like the queen in the box on the card. I imagine that if Pumpkin had a human voice she would have sounded like Maggie Smith in Downton Abbey. Pumpkin was a rescue like all the other cats my aunt ever had. She was legendary for bringing home every stray around when she was a kid. To this day, she is the neighborhood cat whisperer.

If we humans have the capacity to form relationships with the strays of other species, then think about how much stronger the bonds between found humans can be.

In that respect, the internet is a glorious thing. I’ve had conversations with people who I never would have met otherwise in more places than I could ever afford to visit. I’ve had conversations in Esperanto with a Japanese doll designer and a German Reggae singer. I’ve built years-long friendships with an energy healer in Albuquerque, a writer and two Tarot readers in Canada plus a voice actor on the entire opposite side of the country (insert Nineth World Journal and Oz 9 fangirling here.)

I’ve done email Tarot readings that started wonderful conversations with lovely people on the entire opposite side of the planet in Australia, India, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

Meat space can be just as glorious as cyber space if we let it.

Have you ever been to a comic con or a concert for your favorite band? That is a glimpse of how like minds and found family can feel. For some of us that found family, that sense of tribe and community can be desperately important.

I’ve been lucky in negotiating these things. I’ve avoided the land mines that have exploded friend’s families over smaller religious and political differences. I’ve lived in the white evangelical subculture. I grew up in what we now call “MAGA” culture. It isn’t an exaggerated news media trope. The danger and emotional damage of rejection and homelessness and worse is very real especially for lgbtquia teens in the so-called red states and red counties.

We all have to do all we can to protect the vulnerable among us. Each of us must be the Queen or King of strays. Vote. Be kind. Advocate for equality and inclusion. Most of all be your true self when you can.

For we adults, it’s usually easy, safe and cheap. You never know when letting your true self show might make a younger found family member feel a little less alone. Letting your true light shine might throw a some encouragement into a dark corner where it is needed. A little kindness and a little authenticity can make you stray cat royalty.

That’s why I love this card today. Families of heart are just as real and valid as the genetic kind. They feed your soul. I’m old and lucky and privileged, but I still remember going to a U2 concert in the 80s and feeling like I found “my people.” I still remember the giddy joy of watching the Reason Rally in 2016 and seeing the Ron Reagan unabashed atheist commercial. It is one thing to intellectually know you are not alone, but it is another thing altogether to really feel and experience that there are others “like me.” I remember doing Tarot readings at a theater after party one time and feeling ridiculously happy in that diverse, accepting, loving group of people especially after getting a quick hello hug from a seven foot tall drag queen. It doesn’t matter how your stray-ness is defined, be it race, religion, gender identity, sexual preference, or what have you – strays of every type nurture and care for each other because we all know what it feels like to be the only one.

Thank you so much for listening. All very best wishes to all of you, my found Tarot Tribe. See you at the next sip!

Are you enjoying these free to access sips of Tarot? If so, please visit the TaoCraftTarot ko-fi page. Shop and membership proceeds support the blog and podcast. The link is in the episode description for podcast listeners. Want a whole cup of Tarot all your own? Private email readings with the blog author are available to order 24/7, no appointment needed on the blogcast website.

Anchor Rock

TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. Want a whole cuppa Tarot all your own? Private readings with the blog author are available by email and can be ordered 24/7 no appointment needed

Welcome to the blog and podcast. I’m glad you are here. TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot contemplation in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. If you are enjoying these blog posts and podcast episodes, I hope you will visit the TaoCraft Tarot page on K0-fi and consider becoming a patron of the Tarot arts. The link is in the episode description for podcast listeners. Proceeds from the ko-fi shop and memberships all support the creation of posts and episodes like this one. Thank you so much for your support. Your likes, subs, follows, shares, questions and comments are always, always, always welcome and appreciated!

Let’s start today with one of my favorite ideas on the planet: wabi sabi.

No, it isn’t that green paste that comes with sushi, although I like THAT a lot too.

As I understand it, wabi sabi is a philosophy and an aesthetic that values things as they are and sees beauty in natural, spontaneous imperfections and asymmetries. Old but valued ceramics are preserved and repaired with great care, sometimes highlighting the repairs with precious metals. I’m no expert. I’m not even average-level knowledgeable about Japanese or Chinese thought or culture. All I know is that everything I’ve ever learned about Taoism, Zen and wabi sabi has helped me to live a better life and be a better person. For that, I am deeply grateful. These ideas have time and time and time again proven to be my unshakable rock in every storm, just like the rock and anchor on today’s card, the Hope card from the Alleyman’s Tarot deck.

Speaking of spontaneous imperfections, the card is mislabeled in the video. The intuitive message from the card was, however, clear, concise and clairaudient (meaning the intuition came as mental words this time instead of the usual clairvoyant mental images.) It came in two parts.

First, “Storms will always come.”

The first noble truth of Buddhism is the truth of suffering. First on the list of world religions on that old 80’s T shirt is Taoism with the assertion that “shit happens.” Things break. Things are uneven. Stuff happens and sooner or later storms always come.

And it’s beautiful, because it is alive and it is real.

L’esperance, as the card is actually named, is a French word meaning hope. Storms will come. Sometimes the only hope is to find a rock and hang on.

The second half of the clairaudient message is “Know your rock.”

A paramedic instructor once told me that if you prepare for the emergency, then the emergency goes away. The same thing applies here. Knowing which ideas and philosophies you can trust makes life’s inevitable stress just that much less intimidating. Question everything. When it comes to beliefs or dogma or other peoples unsupported assertions, questioning is invaluable. It may take a trial by skeptical fire to find out what really is your philosophical storm shelter. If you know your rock, if you know where to find your anchor when the storm comes then you just might make it through to the other side intact enough to glue things back together and paint the cracks with gold.

I’m not here to tell you what your rock or your anchor is or should be. It is difficult, if not impossible for one person to determine that for another. The things I was taught as a child should be my strength and stronghold crumbled to dust and nothing at first contact with adulthood. I’ve since learned that it is much better to scout out the territory for yourself. Trust yourself to know what gives you hope. Trust yourself to lean on ideas and know what holds you up and what doesn’t. Explore new ideas and challenge old ones. Give them all a good hard kick and see if they hold strong for you. If they do, grab on because storms will always come and it pays to know your rock.

Thank you so much for listening. See you at the next sip.

L’Esperence (Hope) image from the Fancy Minchiate Tarot, cited copyright “BnF” This card from the Alleyman’s Tarot deck by Publishing Goblin LLC, used with permission.

Ride the Upside Down

TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. Today: the King of Swords teaches us to surf the upside down.

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

Today’s card is the King of Swords, in reverse.

This big, slide prone Alleyman’s Tarot deck seems to like reversals. They feel the same and have the same message energy as reversals with other decks, despite being more frequent. That being said, the reversals with this deck seem to still be significant, despite being more frequent. So far, I haven’t gotten any of those “meh, it’s random, just turn it over and go on moments” like we’ve talked about before when it comes to reversals. This feels like turbulent energy more than an outright blockage.

Swords are air and intellect. Kings are leaders. They are in charge. Put those two together and you get a dispassionate, cool headed energy. In his interpretation of the card for the Alleyman’s Deck, Seven Asmund points out a sense of orderliness about the card.

Some people blame it on our view of Mercury in the sky. Some people blame it on a full moon. Hard data debunks any correlation between moon phase and human behavior, but my days working inpatient psychiatry begs to differ. Whatever the cause or irrational correlation, we are nevertheless left with the reality that life is messy. Things get irrational, chaotic, problematic, and way out of our control sometimes.

To quote the essence of Taoism according to the 1980’s T-shirt about world religions: shh -stuff happens.

I keep getting mental images of a knight in armour or the king of swords on a surfboard. Surfing is an apt analogy for today’s card. You can’t control the ocean. You can line up and order every wave that comes to shore.

If the king of swords in reverse hints at chaos, you can surf the wild changes. Chaos may reign, disorder may abound, everything may be outside of your control, but you are still in perfect control of you and your response to the upside-down-ness of it all. If you can’t control the wave, surf it in to shore. If you can’t turn things right side up, ride the upside down until it turns on its own.

Thank you so much for reading and listening. Your likes, subs, shares, virtual coffees, questions and comments are always, always, always appreciated.

Neither the blog nor the podcast are monetized and depend on your support. If you enjoy these blogcasts, please visit the ko-fi page (link below or in the episode description. Proceeds from there contribute toward creating the free to access Tarot content here.

I need to do a little real life upside down surfing myself, so short sip will return on Friday. Have a great week everyone!

Ease up on the woo woo

TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. Today, quotes about Alan Watt’s potatoes and Mark Salzman’s donkey.

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

Today’s card is the eight of pentacles.

The pentacles are always grounded, practical cards and today is no exception.

The interesting thing about today’s card is it is reverse engineered. I don’t know about you, but the phrase “reverse engineered” always makes me think of science fiction, alien technology, conspiracy theories and that time people were Naruto running around area 51.

Maybe retrofit would be a better word. If you are interested in elevating your intuitive connection to Tarot, one good way to do that is to come up with an idea and then see what cards come to mind that represent the idea rather than choosing a card at random and letting that prompt the idea. You retrofit the idea to the card instead of the other way around.

Today, the energy around here is decidedly NOT spiritual or woo woo. Which is fine. It is a western, puritanical notion to think that we must constantly strive and work for spirituality and personal improvement. Sometimes the best thing do is do what needs done without all the woo woo or striving or self-judging. Sometimes you just have to sit on your workbench and hammer the dents out of your pentacles before moving on. Today’s energy pointed to the Eight of Pentacles instead of the card pointing out the energy.

Think for a moment about Mark Salzman’s donkey and Alan Watt’s potatoes.

As I’ve said a hoo-zillion times, this is just like when Alan Watts said that “Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about god while you peel the potatoes. Zen spirituality is to just peel the potatoes.”

In Taoism it IS personal growth and spirituality to live in harmony with nature. In this case nature means your feelings and energies for the day as much as the rocks and trees kind of nature.

Mark Salzmen, author and martial artist, once recounted the Chinese proverb that “it is the height of stupidity to go searching for the donkey you are already riding upon.

In Wicca for the Solitary Practitioner, author Scott Cunningham has said “the feeling is the power.” So if you are feeling pulled to the mystical or spiritual side of life today, by all means follow that feeling. If you are feeling like having a sammich and streaming your favorite movie, that’s an ok feeling to follow too.

It’s the trend line, not the individual day or data point.

All of those things point to letting the woo woo rest for a bit, and LIVE the things you’ve already learned. Do the things you already know to do. How is state of constant striving any better than not striving at all? Show yourself a little self love by accepting who you are right now and just go about your day with no pressure on yourself for a change. Immerse yourself in the day, and do the do. Do the do regardless of how stressed or how ordinary it all is at the moment.

Stop looking so hard and vibe with your donkey while peeling today’s potatoes. Live what you know for a while before striving to learn more.

Thank you so much for reading and listening.

I always appreciate any likes, subs, shares, follows, questions or comments that you can spare.

Proceeds from private reading sales and from the ko-fi page all contribute toward creating this free to access blog and podcast.

See you at the next sip!

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!

Silence

TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. Today: add power to your words with the power of silence.

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

Today’s card is the two of disks from the Alleyman’s Tarot originally from the Serravale-Sesia Tarot.

This is a presumably public domain card from 1880s Italy. It is an interesting contrast to the better known Waite Smith Tarot and shows the difference in working with a deck that has only pips and a deck with complex narrative images on the numbered minor arcana cards.

Image cards and pip cards function the same way within a reading. Both are two paths to the exact same destination. They both take us to the message for everyone’s day, for our client or for ourselves. The emphasis shifts a little bit between the two types of cards, however.

With images, as we see in the RWS cards, there is a rich supply of detail to prompt your intuition. Despite the many prompts, all of them are thematically tied to the overall image and card meaning. Picture cards can lend themselves to a little more specificity, clarity and context.

On the other hand, pip cards give your intuition free reign. Pip cards are not bound by details or images, although they retain the same general conceptual meaning as an image card. This two of disks talks about balance much the same as the RWS two of pentacles .

Coins, pentacles or disks all refer to the same suit of the deck and you will see the terms used interchangeably. I tend to say coins because that was the name used in one of my first decks and it’s an old habit by this point. Coins are associated with the element of earth and ideas about work, career and money. From a more contemporary perspective it helps to think of coins as our relationship with the physical world. The suit has a very practical down-to-earth vibe generally speaking, so it all fits.

More than the number two cards of the other suits, the two of coins symbolizes balance. Usually it’s a very dynamic balance, like a unicycle rider who constantly makes small corrections and movements in order to balance upright. The taijitu, the yin yang symbol, is another example. The black and white parts of the circle are comma shaped instead of q straight line half to show motion and a dynamic interplay of opposites.

Today, the balance is more akin to the unicycle example. The message has a subtle, nuanced quality to it. It isn’t black and white. It is dynamic and speaks to the way we move through life.

In a way, it is just how human brains are wired and how our brains deal with the onslaught of sensory input from our environment. You get used to things, and they don’t get the attention commanded when something is new or changes. It’s like a busy caretaker tuning out a chattering preschooler a little bit. The message for all of us adults is the same. If you want to be heard, if you want your words to carry power and command attention, use them sparingly. As Mahatma Ghandi said “speak only when it improves upon the silence.”

Outside of a Medieval monastery, it is hard to go through life not saying anything. Communication is essential. In our wired, cyberspace connected world, we often forget the necessity of silence. When TMI takes we are immersed in too much information the tune-out-the-toddler reflex kicks in. We become numb to the input.

It’s a balance between communication, self expression, and losing your words to the noise. Nothing makes your words more powerful than the silent spaces in between.

Thank you so much for reading and listening.

The blog and podcast are not monetized and rely on audience support. Please visit the TaoCraft Tarot page on ko-fi and consider becoming a Patron of the Tarot Arts. The proceeds from ko-fi and private readings through the blog website all contribute to the creation of this free to access Tarot content.

See you at the next sip!

Seed

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

Hello and welcome to Tao Craft Tarot blog and podcast

Today’s card is unique to the Alleyman’s Tarot and was created by Seven Dane Asmund for the deck.

I connect the card to the High Priest as it is portrayed by Dugan & Evans in the Witches Tarot. It also brings to mind lovely artist and Tarot reader Johanne Denelli. She first helped me see the Pope / Hierophant / High Priest card as anything other than a pure nemesis (because of its strong religious portrayal in early decks like the Marseille and Waite Smith decks.)

I think the non-dogmatic, keeper of culture, kindly teacher, teller of stories around the campfire aspect is what the artist intended for the Tradition card.

Today, however, the card also brings to mind the silent meditation protests of Buddhist monks in Myanmar and other countries over the years.

Traditional does not equate with blind adherence and eternal sameness.

Human beings who grow, learn, evolve, and change is in itself a tradition of sorts.

A tradition of compassion and justice can spark revolution when hate and injustice flourishes. In that context, tradition is to be honored and can be the seed of revolution.

But what if your given history and tradition is the one causing the injustice? How do you honor your traditions and ancestors when your ancestors were a herd of jackasses?

In that way too, tradition carries the seed of revolution when it becomes the spark for opposition and becomes a call to action as something to be ended or at least profoundly changed.

Today the Tradition card is asking us to use our traditions to take us to a place of compassion. It can become a connection with our fellow humans and our core humanity either by honoring our traditions or abandoning them, whichever path is the right one for the individual.

Thank you for reading and listening. I always appreciate your support through likes, follows, shares, questions and comments.

If you enjoy the blog or podcast, please visit the TaoCraft Tarot page on ko-fil to support their creation and production. Private email readings ordered through the blog website also helps to produce this Tarot content for everyone.

Thank you again. See you at the next sip!

Be careful what you ask for

TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee, Today The Lovers card reminds us to be careful what we ask for, we just might get it.

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

A few days ago, I put a few announcements just in the print blog with summer hours and how things stand now, in essence it was a post for me to get my proverbial ducks in their proverbial row and that we should all read it quick because my ducks are a bunch of anarchists and lining them up is closer to herding cats.

It turns out that today is one of those crazy duck kind of days, so no reels, shorts, or tiktoks. It’s also a lesson in being careful what you ask for. It’s true that you just might get it.

That’s what the Lover’s card is really about. Sure, there is a lot of steamy romance misconceptions about the card out there, but that’s not the core of it. If you want the get-married card, look for the two of cups. If there is a relationship connection with the lovers card I’d put it in the realm of pure lust, playing the field as the saying goes, and figuring out what you really want from your love life but not about an enduring healthy relationship with any one particular person.

That being said, the Lovers card has application in any part of life. It is about deepest desires. Do you want a long term committed relationship or do you want insert-any-warm-body here companionship? What do you want from your job: a paycheck or fulfilling work or some combination of the two? The same thing applies to anything you want in any facet of life. Sometimes it is all one giant multiple choice test question. Do you want this, that, both or neither.

Deciding what you really want is a critical first step in getting it.

In my experience, it usually turns out to be one of those little bits of both , middle way, yin and yang together solutions. It’s what puts the Tao in Tao Craft Tarot.

There are, however, times when things get black and white. Usually it is the bald faced goodness, yes or the oh-heck-no answers that spark the strongest emotional response. That response can be as telling as the card or the reading.

If you get a white hot flare of anger or rejection when you see a card or get a particular answer in a reading, that tells you what you really want. That tells you that you already knew the answer to what you want or you wouldn’t instinctively reject the card so hard.

If you know what you want, it is easier to get it. If you know what you really deep-down want, then you can’t kid yourself about it. If you know what you really deep down want, you can’t sugar coat the hard parts or BS your way through it.

That’s why the Zombie Cat yes/no layout is far and away one of my favorites. I use it for myself as much as any other, maybe more than any other. It echos the I-ching three coin readings. It can be a clear frying pan to the face kind of reading. It lets you know when to stop screwing around and come face to face what you really want and the buried decisions that you have already made for yourself. The i-ching notion of “changing lines” which are lines that are SO yin or SO yang they can easily tip into their opposite. That’s what the dots in the yin yang symbol are about. Each thing, in its extreme holds the seed of its opposite.

If you read the cards individually in addition to the top level yes or no answer, you can get a lot of nuance and guidance out of the whole thing. The Zombie Cat part makes it light and fun and snarky and playful in the process. I use it all the time as an ice breaker when I am doing fortune teller entertainment at events, like the one at CMU recently. I’ll sit and do yes-no readings for any silly little thing that pops into my head, like will the Pens win the Stanley Cup this year. The answer is always yes to that one, by the way, whether the cards say it or not because this is Pittsburgh and they are the Pens, after all. On an energy level, it sets the right playful, entertainment vibe for a “fortune teller booth.”

The Lovers card asks us to take a hard, honest look at what we really want. The yes or no layout is a good tool to help gain that focus and clarity. That’s the be careful part.

If you tweek the old adage to say be CLEAR about what you want BECAUSE you are PROBABLY going to get it, then you are suddenly living in a whole different universe and it is a pretty good place to be.

Thank you so much for reading and listening. See you at the next sip!

The blog and the podcast are not monetized and depend on audience support. If you are enjoying these Tarot readings, please visit the Tao Craft Tarot page on ko-fi and consider becoming a Patron of the Tarot Arts to get exclusive content and members-only special offers. Peace Tarot is a short ebook about daily meditation Tarot. Proceeds from the sale of Peace Tarot in the ko-fi shop will be donated to Doctors Without Borders USA during 2022. Both ko-fi proceeds and private readings ordered on the blog website support the creation of the blog and podcast.

Of course, your likes, subs, shares, follows, questions and comments are always, always appreciated!

Ride and Abide

TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. Today, ride and abide with the Knight of Cups.

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

Today’s card is the knight of cups. I’m using the Alleyman’s Tarot deck, with the knight of cups card by Lacy Martin & Christine Scanlon.

The knight of cups has a little bit of surface contradiction to it. Knights are action oriented, while cups are water and emotions. At first glance, the obvious interpretation would be put your feelings into action.

That might be the case for you, that is the right thing for some days, but I don’t get a sense that is the message we need today. That isn’t the overall vibe I’m getting this morning.

Card reversals pop to mind a little here too. It’s a fair question. If this is about NOT acting on something, why wouldn’t the knight card be reversed?

We’ve talked about this in previous episodes where the card was reversed. Reversals aren’t all that. Like I said then, I take all aspects of the card into consideration during a reading be it positive, be it negative, be it neutral be it what have you. Today’s card is an example of that multifaceted consideration of an upright card.

There is nothing blocked, turbulent, complicated or cautioning about this energy message, so the card is not reversed. It sounds a little like a double negative when we talk about it this way. It’s sort of like the cartoon where a student tries to trick the teacher into letting him out of class by asking to please not never be dis-excused to the restroom or something like that.

“Sit down Carl!”

It also reminds me of a TikTok that I watched earlier today from Senator Cory Booker. If you have access, I encourage you to look for it and watch it too. It posted on Tuesday April 26, 2022 and was captioned “How I learned a lesson in nonviolence.” In it he talks about how emotions inform us less about the people and situations that provoke them and more about the places where we need to heal and grow. He wanted to act, but instead found a way to nonviolently abide with the situation and his emotions about it. Again, I urge you to find it and watch it and hear Senator Booker’s wisdom in his own words in this short but powerful video.

Here is another less elegant, less kind, less wise but perhaps more relatable example. It imagery is closer to older decks like Marseille and Waite Smith decks. On these you have your standard issue knight in shining armor on horseback, so you can read in all the usual tropes about chivalry and defensive honorable combat and so on. He is holding a chalice, which presumably holds water or wine or some drink.

Now, bring in a fairly well known anime. In the early seasons of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, our hero Jonathan had to fight an enemy while holding a goblet of wine without spilling any in order to graduate to the next level of his Sendo (Hamon) training. Good-guy hero in action with a glass of wine: See the similarities?

You have to be fully accepting and comfortable with your cup of wine to fight without spilling anything. You have to be fully comfortable and accepting of your emotions to move with them without sloshing your stuff all over other people. In short,make friends with your emotions as you move through your day.

Today’s advice isn’t to act ON our emotions but rather act WITH them. Today is a day to ride AND abide.

Thank you so much for listening. I really appreciate your support including likes, subs, shares, follows, questions and comments.

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

This blog and podcast is not monetized and depends on your support. If you enjoy these readings, please visit the TaoCraft Tarot ko-fi page to become a Patron of the Tarot Arts and get exclusive Tarot content, intuition building exercises, members-only special offers and more. Membership proceeds support the blog-cast.