comfort

Comfort on the surface and underneath

Sage Sips is Tarot for your day (or the week ahead) in the time it takes to sip your coffee (or whatever you like to sip this time of day)

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Hi! Thanks for reading! I’m glad you are here.

This reading symbolizes our energy patterns through the week ahead. This particular layout is read right to left, opposite of how I turned the cards in the video. The first card shows energy that is drifting away, the middle card is the closest, largest energy around right now, while the left card shows the energy that is growing in influence. This kind of reading is closer to a weather report about the general energies right now. No predictions here. This gives you an idea of the energies ahead. It’s up to us to make the most of it, for better or worse.

The energies this week are pretty simple. Down to earth, grounded and balanced are always key words around pentacles. That is the suit in the majority today. It’s not so much a matter of head over heart. Practicality takes the lead over either one of those.

June is vacation season for families, with the kids fresh out of school. We are just past the July 4th holiday. Summer always seems to start off with frenetic hurry up and have vacation energy followed by hot doldrums. It feels a little like the doldrums are definitely setting in. It feels a little early compared to other years, but fitting for this year somehow. Sit in the shade, drink lemonade, and don’t push or pressure anything at the moment.

“Take comfort” steps forward as a the carry away message, at least for the first part of the week. After the vacations and picnics and typical flurry of activity, things are settling into a summertime routine. Take comfort in routine, in work, in something ANYTHING familiar that doesn’t ask much of you mentally or emotionally. The Zen spirituality of just peeling the potatoes comes to mind here in the spirit of my favorite Alan Watts quote. The eight of pentacles reflects this get down to business and do the thing energy.

Energies have been a little woo woo and ethereal with last week’s high priestess and memento mori vibes. The current energy brings that back into balance with two of pentacles. Just like the ace of swords yesterday…the current energy today also points to mind-body-spirit balance being a source of strength, and contentment.

The pendulum swings back later in the week from grounded and external to a little more esoteric and emotional. The page of cups reflects a return to fousing on feelings and emotions. The Page, gazing at a cup and the little fish that is said to be secrets or truths from the deep water, from the human psyche, reminds us to look for the hidden spirit behind the physical, the magic within the mundane.

Here’s the routine I’m aiming to take refuge in this week:

Tuesday: day job day – no blog or socials. Email readings are always OPEN no appointment needed.
Wednesday: Learn with Me – oracle dice and “lord cards” continues
Thursday – wild card (will post something if I have time)
Friday – weekend update. We’ll revisit these cards and see if and how they are unfolding and progressing.

Thanks again for reading. See you at the next sip.

“Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one peels the potatoes. Zen spirituality is to just peel the potatoes
Alan Watts

Throw Down Roots

TaoCraft Short Sip: Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. Today: deep roots and the 2 of pentacles

TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. The blog, podcast and YouTube channel are not monetized or sponsored in any way, so I super appreciate any support you can give with likes, subs, shares, follows, reading orders, memberships or coffee mug donations.

Today’s card is the Two of Pentacles.

Theoretically, any of the number two minor arcana cards can point to some aspect of balance. Out of the entire Tarot deck however, the two of pentacles seems to be the most focused on the idea of balance in and of itself.

It seems to me that balance is important to a healthy human psyche. When we get out of balance, when we get out over our skis as the saying goes, that’s when falling down happens. That’s stressful. And I’m not just saying that because I’m a terrible skier. It’s an apt analogy for dynamic equilibrium, just like the unicycle image that has come to mind so much lately. Whether you are riding a unicycle or sliding down a mountain, that kind of moving, changing balance requires constant adaptation and lots of little adjustments to stay upright and get to where you want to go.

Today the card brings to mind a different aspect of balance. This time, the energy is continuing in the theme for January that has emerged over the past several days. The Hermit, the four of cups, the five of cups – they’ve all been showing up in year ahead and month ahead readings and they all keep banging on the notion of laying low and “playing your cards close to the vest” for a time.

Which brings us to today’s version of the Two of Pentacles.

Throwing down roots is essential to balance too.

It’s not something that comes up much in the Tarot part of things, but I’ve studied Taijiquan (Tai Chi) since the early ’90s. Tarot, Taoism and Tai Chi all came into my life in my twenties and we all sort of grew up together. (She said gesturing to the TaoCraft name splashed all over everything.) At one point back in the day the hubster and I had a part time martial arts school where I taught Tai Chi and a little kung fu. Physical balance and strong footing are essential to Tai Chi practice. We call it rooting.

When strong winds come, a supple willow tree keeps its balance. It will bend instead of break. But even the most supple, bendable willow will still fall down if it has no roots.

That is exactly the kind of balance the Two of Pentacles is bringing to mind today. It’s like martial arts where you plant your feet, use your feet and leg position and drop your weight to stay solid when you need to.

It’s the same in life. There is dynamic equilibrium always, but there are moments within the big picture of that equilibrium that call for deep roots and solid strength.

The past two years have been weird. If the year-ahead Tarot readings I’ve been doing so far are to be believed, 2022 isn’t going to be all that different at the start. It’s going to take a while for the changes to kick in if we allow them to happen and if we can somehow throw down our roots and stay solid in the meantime.

I think the advice in the midst of continuing weirdness, is that it’s more than ok to self-soothe just a little while longer. In a circular sort of way this is our permission slip to throw down our roots, reach for the things that anchor us and nourish us like roots anchor and nourish tall trees. So what if you’ve watched that movie 50 times? Watch it 50 more if it helps. Hungry for comfort food? Why not? Eat your vegetables, wash your hands, wear those comfy pants and fuzzy socks. Being down to earth helps in lots of ways. Down to earth is a good place to grow roots and find some much needed balance.

Thanks for reading, watching and listening! See you at the next sip.

Today’s Card is the Hierophant. Some decks call it the Pope or the High Priest.

One of my favorite interpretations for this card is a grandfather figure, the keeper of family stories and tribal histories. The past couple of years have been crazy. Don’t feel bad if you seek comfort in a more traditional holiday season, old routines or some sort of spiritual ritual. It can be comforting.

The card brings the movie Cloud Atlas to mind. There are scenes of an old man telling stories around a campfire. On one hand it is an ancient image, but we find out through the course of the movie it is actually happening in the distant future.

There are threads of time together in language, story, tradition. They are kept alive through adding, adapting…the same as living species adapt and survive. There is deep comfort in old ways, even as they are adapted to our needs living here in the future.

Thank you so much for reading, watching and listening to these new TaoCraft Short Sip Tarot readings. These are (almost) daily short format Tarot readings to give guidance to your day in the time it takes to sip from your morning coffee. Longer Clairvoyant Confessional episodes will be coming, but not in any regularly scheduled way, at least for the time being. If you have a question for the Clairvoyant, please send it to the contact in the podcast episode description or leave it in the comments. Don’t forget to like, follow, subscribe share and do all of those wonderful things that you do. All best wishes to everyone. See you in tomorrow’s TaoCraft Short Sip Tarot.

YouBoo Interactive Tarot: Halloween Week 2020

Happy week everyone! I have no idea when you are actually viewing or reading this, but at the time of writing it is a week before Halloween and a week before the second anniversary of TaoCraft Tarot’s second anniversary. I seems really weird to celebrate the second anniversary of what amounts to a name change and a new coat of paint to a Tarot practice that has been going since around 2003 or so (my website used to be Modern Oracle Tarot) but name changes can mean a lot. This one did to me, so there you have it. To celebrate, I’m giving away free one card digital InkMagick readings. You can get yours on the Special Offers page. All the fine print applies, and delivery time varies. Thank you everyone for reading, getting readings and being here the past few years and beyond. More important then a name, is the people who know it. Thank you.

Left: Ten of Wands. This card lives around that intersection of the mental and physical. It represents carrying a burden, particularly the mental and emotional side of weighty situation. That isn’t to minimize very difficult, frightening situations. It isn’t to minimize hard work. It is about perceptions of those very real physical situations. It is easy to shoulder very real and necessary burdens when they don’t carry the added weight of expectations or regrets. Sometimes the mental weight is the hardest to set down.

Center: Knight of Wands. Magic is afoot. But it all happens on the inside. A shift in outlook or perception can change everything. This could signal that it is an opportune week for personal growth, taking stock of the direction you are actively going and taking active steps to go a different direction if needed.

Right: Knight of Pentacles. The energy around this card feels very “hygge” or cozy. Pleasures of the senses aren’t as “adult” as you might be thinking. Enjoy innocent physical comforts, like a stretching, yoga, running (whatever your favorite exercise might be) Have a soak with your favorite bath bomb, or light a scented candle. Have a cup of your favorite tea, coffee, or cocoa. Get out of your head and appreciate the physical. Mindfulness and a Zen approach comes to mind, as with that famous quote by Alan Watts “Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes.” Indulge in enjoying our brief moment as incarnate beings. Imma going to knit now.