Before or after the reveal, before or after reading the card’s message below. However you choose it is your choice, your instincts, your message. Take both. Reject both. It is still your own good intuition leading the way.
Death: You no doubt already know the Death card is never literal, but symbolizes change. Big change. It means the crossed-the-Rubican, no way back type of change. When that happens, and it does happen to everyone one way or another, only you can say if the change is for the better. Chance at a new life or fate worse than death: It’s up to you.
High Priestess: No one knows everything. Predictions aren’t real. There is real healing and personal power in becoming comfortable with not knowing. To paraphrase Martin Luther King Jr. – “‘[Courage] is taking the first step even when you can’t see the whole staircase.”
Together these bring to mind a social media meme that feels very true to me “Religion is for people trying to stay out of hell but spirituality for those who have already been there.”
Thanks for reading! See you at the next sip!
Deck: Alleyman’s Tarot by Seven Dane Asmund, used with permission Publishing Goblin LLC
Changing direction in the face of fear is not the same as being stopped by it.
Go prefrontal cortex! Go! You can do it!
Hello and welcome to TaoCraft Tarot blog and podcast. I’m glad you are here.
Today I picked up the Allyman’s Tarot Deck and drew the Undaunted card. This is the first time I’ve drawn it. Over six months into using this gorgeous deck, and I’m still discovering cards. I still haven’t gotten around to reading the guidebook. I haven’t finished that Chuck Wendig library book that is due next week either, so Mr. Wendig and Mr. Asmund are in good company together. I’ll read about the Undaunted card in a few minutes after I get this started. Who knows? This might even post before noon for a change. Let’s see.
I love this card.
Color on black is my favorite look and blue is my favorite color so this was an instant favorite on first glance aesthetics alone. To me, undaunted, connotes courage and level headed reactions to adversity. Go prefrontal cortex! That’s the area of the brain that lets us do that sort of thing. If I were to connect this card to a classic Waite Smith card, I’d be the knight of swords, but this has a different tone and direction. The knight is active, fast, now, self-confident. I associate the knight of swords with someone yelling “Geronimo” and diving right into a situation. Undaunted is strong and self confident, but undaunted is also less about galloping straight in and more about being inexorable at any speed and in any direction.
Confidence and action upside down reminds me of fear, anxiety and reticence. Fear and anxiety exist for a reason, however. Evolution drummed it up as a way to help keep us alive. I think we are meant to do something when we are afraid. It might be fight. It might be flight. Either one is still doing something.
Being undaunted isn’t about being an unstoppable juggernaut in one single direction. It is about moving and doing and trying regardless of circumstances, even when those circumstances require some finesse and change and adaptability. Changing what you plan and do because of fear is not the same as being stopped by it. Changing because of fear or anxiety isn’t failure. It’s adaptation. It’s survival.
Ok.
I’ve had my say. Let’s see what the deck creator has to say. Where is that guidebook?
Here we go – this card was created by Shan Bennon, by the way. Undaunted in reverse, page 133 of the Alleyman’s Tarot guidebook “a hidden creature unwilling to show itself for fear of being known.”
Hiding. That’s doing something. Sometimes it is both tactical and strategic to lay low. Watching, waiting, analysing, planning, changing direction…all of those things are doing something, even if it doesn’t look like our stereotypical notion of full gallop ahead courage.
Even when that something is watch and wait and hide and feel and just survive, doing something in the face of fear or anxiety makes you undaunted.
Alleyman’s Tarot by Seven Dane Asmund and Publishing Goblin LLC, used with permission.
Video music “Modern Crusaders” by Enigma via YouTube Shorts
Podcast intro and outro music “Daylight is not for Owls” by Owltree used under attribution non-commercial no-derivative creative commons 3.0 international license.
This is one of those times, where the video actually seems to get to most of the message. The theme, it seems is “pay attention.” Interestingly, the theme touches a little bit on mind, body and spirit.
As always, stop, rest a moment. Let your self set aside work or whatever has been on your mind for a moment. It will all still be there when you are done reading this. It is OK to be here, now, looking at the screen. Take a breath, pick a card, think about something different for a moment. Pick a card. If you want a few more nice, quiet moments, pause the video. Stare at the screen, let people think you are doing something important (you are – you are paying attention to your intuition and inner world for a moment) When you are ready, restart the video to see the reveal. Read more about your card below.
Four of Cups: Pay attention to other people. It is easy to get wrapped up in our thoughts and live inside of our own heads. You don’t always have to have answers or know the right thing to say. Sometimes platitudes and easy advice is the worst thing to hear. Presence, being with a person, being with the moment is the best thing of all. In a way this resonates with obsidian as a protector, because you are championing the person you share your mindful presence with.
The High Priestess: Pay attention to the subtle things. Spirit speaks in whispers. Hints and signs and omens are there. There are some who believe these things are a reflection of ourselves. The world around us reflects our innate wisdom back to us in forms that we are able to accept and understand be that cards or stars or tea leaves or simple coincidence. If it seems meaningful, it is. This resonates well with the amethyst as it is associated with the crown chakra and spirituality.
King of Swords: Think. Pay attention to what needs done but also when to hold back. Waiting, watching, understanding ARE actions. Deciding to move ahead…and deciding not to decide until later…are both decisions, both leadership actions. Whatever the choices may be this week, whether you choose to act or to not act, it is the deliberate mindful choosing that matters as much as the chosen path itself. Rhodochrosite is connected to the heart chakra. Making decisions and taking action ….especially when that action is to wait or decide later… takes heart, takes courage.
Welcome to the “link in the description below.” This is the blog page I talk about in the video. If you came here directly … thank you! Following just on YouTube gets all of the “Today’s Tarot” and “YouChoose Interactive Tarot” posts, but there will always be plenty of print-only content that you can only get here. I hope you will follow the blog (free of course…opt in with your email over in the right hand side of the screen on laptop or scroll WAAAYYYY down to the bottom of the page on mobile)
Thanks for reading!
Left: Ten of Wands. Don’t carry old emotional burdons. If it isn’t useful for you to lug around, then put it down. It opens up bandwidth in your energy and attention for better things. By the same token, don’t be afraid of saying yes. Shouldering something that seems trivial to you might mean the universe to someone else who needs you.
Center: Knight of Sword. This is the card of daring and self-confidence. It doesn’t mean you are necessarily going to FEEL it. It also means that the time is right to step outside of your comfort zone and see what you can do. Courage isn’t the absence of fear; courage is doing what must be done in spite of feeling terrified.
Right: Nine of Wands. Stake your claim. This week is not the time to be a shrinking violet. Stand up for yourself, defend your emotional perimeter. Remember Eleanor Roosevelt – “no one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
Left: The Hanged Man. “Good things come to those who wait.” We don’t get to control the flow of time or circumstance, so why not trust it to bring the right thing at the right time?
Center: Knight of Swords. Good things come to those who DO. Be brave. The universe may be using you to unfold something important. Why would you keep the universe waiting?
Right: Page of Pentacles. Good things come to those who learn. Succeed, and you have an opportunity to learn what works. Fail, and you have an opportunity to learn what doesn’t work. Why would you pass up a chance at learning like that?
Sage Sips / TaoCraft Tarot 
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