Tag: cups

Year Ahead, Halloween 2025

Clocks and calendars are arbitrary things.

I like this layout because it takes a big-picture view of the path ahead but applies to any point in time. It starts the path with the ground at your feet, and moves forward step by step, season by season.

I like to read right to left, as with the past-present-future parts of the layouts I learned from Medicine Cards by David Carson and Jamie Sams. That, plus Ted Andrews’ writings, plus Diane Morgan’s Magical Tarot, Mystical Tao have all formed the foundation of my intuitive work and Tarot reading. That foundation has proven utter solid and reliable, every damn day since 1992.

I wrote this layout to follow that right to left pattern and have used it for myself and for clients for I honestly don’t remember how many years now. Starting with the bottom row, the most right hand card is the current season – in our case today, Autumn. Then it goes across in order of the coming year: Winter, Spring then Summer. Each card gives a sense of the energy ahead and its ebbs and flows. Each card is guidance how to best navigate the foreseeable energy of that particular season. Generally, I connect the season to astronomy, using solstice and equinox rather than months. The boundaries of energy aren’t clearly defined and blur and blend one to the other as time passes. Intuition and spirituality doesn’t happen on a schedule.

Just as Neil DeGrasse Tyson once said that “The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you” the universe is under no obligation to happen according to our expectations, clocks or calendars.

You are just as free as the universe.

You are under no obligation to understand or to feel any particular thing at any particular time. The kindness you show (or don’t) is your only accountability. Alan Watts reminds us that “you are under no obligation to be the same person you were five minutes ago.” Your understanding and experience flows through time, so this kind of reading is not a defined road map

Or as I’ve said for years now – “Tarot doesn’t tell you what will happen in life, tarot helps you figure out what to do when life happens.”

The top card is guidance or some sort of theme for the coming year as a cohesive whole.

I’m going to write this as if it was a private email reading – the only difference would be that private readings get a photo or your unique, individual real world card layout instead of a YouTube short of our collective cards.

Our collective cards today:

  • Autumn: Ten of Cups
  • Winter: Six of Inking Balls (akin to pentacles, but not quite)
  • Spring: Strength
  • Summer: The Hanged Man
  • Year: The Star

General Pattern

There is a gentle start immediately ahead with two minor arcana cards, but then stress, energy, change and life in general picks up steam with three major arcana cards in a row. Current chaos continues in general but with a steady plateau for a little while during the colder months in the northern hemisphere. Here I get the mental image of ice on the Potomac river in Washington DC…take that how you will. Whatever your politics, there are some pretty parks and places in the district. The sense of cold and still winter air is pleasant and peaceful, more than polar-vortex stressful. I get a sense of melancholy. Honor the feelings of this coming year. Life is enough of a struggle without doing combat with your own emotions. Acknowledge them. Work with them. Let them be what they are while you do what you need to do to take care of yourself and your loved one. You are under no obligation to happy or joyful when you aren’t. Neither are you under any obligation to be sad or stressed when you aren’t. No one can drive away with your happiness. Your emotions are you own. To paraphrase Eleanor Roosevelt, no one can make you feel any particular thing without your consent and cooperation.

Autumn

The Ten of Cups is nothing but good. Think of all the traditional harvest images. Listen to us old people. Those “old fashioned” (albeit over idealized) cost less and didn’t enrich big corporations and the fascist oligarchy that is trying to get us all killed. Revive depression era traditions … or whatever is meaningful. This is the year for sentimentality and authenticity far, far over spending and commercialism. Cue Linus’ speech from the Charlie Brown Christmas special (minus the religious stuff if you are so inclined) Don’t spend a penny on black Friday. And yes, this is promoting my political agenda. Go promote your values in your own way in your own social media or blog or however. This is a season of authenticity and emotion. Be true to yourself and a satisfying holiday season is very possible.

Winter

Like pentacles, this unique card from the “Strange Suit” of the Alleyman’s Tarot deck is focused on career, wealth and the physical realm. It picks up on the thread of authenticity and quiet austerity that begins with the Fall card.

It asks us ‘is it worth it’?

Are you working and achieving, or over-striving to achieve and Pyrrhic victory. Curate your resources carefully. Effort can turn into drowning easily. Take great care not to bite off more than you can chew. Take great care not to pay too high of a personal life price for a tiny financial gain. Curate your time, attention and emotion as carefully as your financial budget.

Spring

I’m rooting for the lion on this card.

Look closely at the picture on the card. Who you identify with or who you feel drawn to says everything.

Are you the wild-eyed judgmental zealot imposing his will on wild nature, or are you the grace and power of your inner nature throwing off the oppressor?

Choose your side.

Summer

The Hanged Man is a classic symbol of slow progress if not outright stagnation. It may be a welcomed rest after the brief but intense skirmish-like if not outright battle-like energy of the spring. This may be the exhaustion (more than calm) after the storm, but also much needed down time to pick up pieces and bind wounds after difficulty. I mentally hear cicadas and see bright blue skies and intense sunshine. I ‘hear’ “August” and “Doldrums” and feel a tense anticipation of some big event to come (the ’26 election?)

Again a vague reference to the great depression. I am reminded of Lange’s famous Migrant Mother photo from the 1930s. John Steinbeck pops to mind. I don’t logically know why the depression era references, and can’t quite pull in what spirit is trying to say. (Personally, this is referencing my Grandmother) so I leave it to you to see if these references have any meaning for you.

Whacky cake comes to mind too – check out Dylan Hollis’ videos about vintage and depression era recipes. Max Miller’s Tasting History too. Great stuff, that.

Year Ahead

The Star is about guidance. It is about finding a fixed navigation point to guide you through this coming year. Before spring, it is CRUCIAL that you find some mental or emotional anchor to keep you oriented and steady as possible. It might be your religion or philosophy. It might be some habit or practice (meditation, yoga, golf, walking, reading, whatever it is that makes the world seem just a little more sane for you). Making and keeping some small routine in your day is important self-care. Craft a bedtime or wake-up ritual and routine for yourself like you are a five year old and stick to it. Create your own stability wherever you can.

Summary

At this point in the reading, I usually give any colors, crystals or aromatherapy that comes to mind. Usually that is very personal to the person I’m reading for. This may be a general reference to the upcoming holidays, but I see pine and pine cones, with that fragrance. Pine and eucalyptus essential oils diffused in a room can help with garden variety head colds and are thought to be very healthful.

I see both clear quartz and rose quartz. That’s not for everyone, but it will resonate with someone.

Now that morphs into sandalwood fragrance and malachite energy. Rose quartz and malachite are heart chakra colors, for whatever that is worth.

I ‘hear’ “heal your heart” – whichever crystal most appeals to you, it can help ease wounded emotions.

And there the energies step back.

I hope you enjoyed seeing a full sized reading in action. It’s for the collective, so it might be on target for some and a total miss for others – but hopefully some piece of it was helpful to you.

If you want a tarot reading that is custom made just for you, click the ko-fi button at the top of the page. From the ko-fi page you can click through to the readings menu or to the membership page.

Members get one free individual, private reading by email per month plus exclusive content on the ko-fi blog that isn’t found on the all-free, no-paywall blog here.

Email readings are affordable ($10, $15 and $30) and get the full benefit of both my writing experience and my 30 years as a Tarot reader.

That’s it. No bells, no whistles, no drama – just me and my cards typing what I would say to you in person. Tell all of your introvert and book loving friends. These readings are perfect for them. And for anyone who wants to try a reading without a lot of cost or effort. This is the perfect Zen, calm, low battery, out of spoons, stress free, relaxing, low key reading for anyone.

Happy Halloween everyone! See you at the next sip!

Tarot for ’25

photo by the author of public domain tarot cards

Happy New Year Everyone!

New year, same story for these posts. Every year, I say I’m not going to play this game of looking to the year ahead, predictions are impossible, blah, blah, blah.

Yet, here we are, pulling cards for the new year. Why? Two reasons, I think.

First, it’s fun.

It is fun to make predictions about the new year as if they could be as true as they are in fantasy books and movies. The chances of making an accurate prediction are small. Still, it’s fun to try. It’s playful imagination and there is nothing wrong with that.

Second it is useful.

It’s helpful in the real-world way that Tarot can help every day of every year: It helps get our minds and hearts around the events of the past, contemplate ideas to navigate the future, and maybe, just maybe, find some peace and solace in this present moment.

This year I’m using the “seasons” layout that can look at the year ahead at any occasion (or no occasion at all) not just the new calendar year. Birthdays, anniversaries, graduation, solstice, equinox – any time, really.

There picture explains the layout. There is one card for each of the next four seasons. It’s winter now, so we begin there and read from right to left. Reading it opposite of English disrupts that logic & flow, and makes it just that tiny bit easier to look and listen to intuition. Someone used the word “Theme” to describe a card. I like that. Each card gives a theme, a thought, a vibe for the season it represents, not a definite prediction. Although I will tell you about mental images (clairvoyance, what I intuitively “see”) or any intuitive sounds / music / words (clairaudience, what I intuitively “hear”) Not that it is a prediction, but because it might mean something to somebody, somewhere. That’s the whole point of doing these so-called collective energy or general audience readings on the blog or social media. It might be of use to somebody somewhere at some point in time whenever they stumble across this.

The only problem with that is that collective energy is very mixed and diffuse. Private readings are by nature different. Reading your energy message especially just for you is going to wind up with a very different feel than this. This is a ‘one size fits all’ reading. A private reading is custom tailored to fit you.

If all of this also happens to entice someone to try a private email reading with me, all the better. I’m happy for that, too.

Let’s do this exactly as I would if this were a private reading. I feel like following that structure might be comforting for both of us.

General Pattern

The general pattern section talks about the layout as a whole.

In this case, two of the central cards, Justice and The Magician, are from the major arcana. Major arcana cards are hint at higher energy, more changeable times. All those internet memes about 2025 being as chaotic as the past 4 years may not be off the mark. I hope it is wrong, but spring and summer may have some intense moments to say the least. Whether that intensity is good or bad is up to each of us to judge. Objective, outer circumstances are neutral. The physical universe isn’t good or bad…it just IS. We project our judgement about those objective qualities on the dispassionate physical realm.

It’s like the weather. Drought or flood, rain isn’t good or bad, it just is. Rain doesn’t give a crap how we feel about it, it is water falling from the sky either way. And so it is with change and high energy times. Big changes and big events bring big feelings, but the rain will still fall and the sun will still shine again.

Long story short, brace yourself for big energies and feels, especially mid year.

The minor arcana cards are cups (emotions, close relationships) and wands (passions, philosophy, spirituality, your relationship with yourself). My hunch is that we are heading for a year of big emotions and big passions where the heart rules the head more often than not.

Be kind – to yourself and to others when the feels come along. Nerves may be raw at times. A little patience and compassion might go a longer way than any of us might think at first.

No pentacles or wands showing at all. Not sure if that means that logic and practicality isn’t going to be an issue, or if it means those things are going to be absent from the year to our peril. That being said, don’t forget to be practical and logical and be the cooler head that prevails – at least every now and then.

Winter (now – March) Ten of Wands

Wands is fire and passion. Ten cards are the volume turned up to 11 on the essence of the suit. The only double-digit, and the pinnacle of the numbered cards before entering the court cards. The Ten of Wands is traditionally associated with heavy weights that have been taken on with or without justification. In the classic Pamela Smith artwork, the figure on the card looks like he is hitting his head on a wall of his own making that he is carrying. The array of sticks isn’t touching the ground. I “hear” pie in the sky. Not so much in the usual sense of that phrase, that something is an unrealistic dream, but in the sense of the barriers and burdens being an illusion as well. What heavy weights do you carry because you think you have to, and what is genuine responsibility. What is truly yours to carry, and what can be put aside?

From the other side of the sticks, what have you neglected to carry? What do you do if you are the thing set aside?

As I look at this card, the most important thing to consider are blockades we imagine. What are the blockages that we have set for ourselves? What fences and walls exist because we carry them around unattached to the ground?

Spring (March-June) Justice

In the past, the Justice card was tied to literal legal concerns and the court system. Now it is associated with abstract ideas of justice, fairness, wisdom, balance, integrity and accountability.

Of all of these key words, fairness steps forward as key. Looking at the card, the upright sword grabs my attention as important.

It isn’t a card from the suit of swords, which to my mind underlines the sword’s importance in this context. The sword’s connection to mind and intellect is crucial here, as well as the balance the scales symbolize.

This isn’t an impression directly from the card or its tradition, but I get the mental images of a driving rainstorm and get a sense of be the eye of the hurricane. During this season, keeping your cool is more important than at any other time. This season may well draw on every ounce of wisdom and clarity and balance and sense of fairness that you can muster.

Summer (June – September) The Magician

I get the feeling that the transition of seasons may not be smooth and the energy might not be clear-cut. It feels like a gradual slide from turbulent energy that draws on every ounce of cool-headed, intellectual, balanced fairness that you have into a calmer, much more spiritual energy. Lazy days of summer comes to mind. Later, hotter doldrums may seem like a relief after the spring storms so to speak. Of course, I’m talking about energy feels, not the literal weather.

I hear the word opportunity. The energy climate of late summer might offer an opportunity to deliberately work with the idea of manifestation for those so inclined. It’s not just magical thinking. In fact, this feels like the exact opposite of the think-positive, vision board, woo woo manifestation. This is grit and hard work and hand blisters kind of manifestation.

I hear you reap what you sow. From the real-world agriculture time of year, this isn’t the time for planting literal seeds. Energetically this is a time to build a stone foundation. You don’t plant corn seeds in the spring and get an apple tree in the fall. I hear know what you want and DO something toward getting it.

It can be a frightening prospect that re-awakens old issues with self-confidence or the responsibilities and burdens that were symbolized earlier by the ten of wands. Be kind to the fear. It isn’t irrational. It needs your love.

The Magician is also about transformation. The old may be gone, but that doesn’t mean it can be made into something new and different. I get the mental images of kintsuge from Japan where broken pottery is repaired with precious metal and thought to be more beautiful than before.

image: Chiara Lorenzetti attribution share-alike creative commons license

Fall (September – December) Ten of Cups

The Ten of Cups is one of those all-good cards associated with love, fulfillment, belonging and joy. This is the second “seasons” reading where I’ve gotten this card in the fall spot. I’m guessing there may be something trying to put our attention on October. Especially with another 10 in the layout this time. I can’t quite recognize it or pull it into focus, but I keep hearing a song with the lyrics “happy ending.” It reminds me of a 90s Alanis Moressette sort of song, something grunge era-ish. I hope its right. Heads up and eyes open for October.

2025 – Nine of Cups

Big number cups cards = big feels and emotions in store would be my guess. Nine of cups is a generally positive card with connotations of community and warmth. Mutual aid society comes to mind for some reason. There is the image of a small, familiar place with a large fireplace and plenty of beer. It has the stereotypical look and feel of a medieval inn or a seventeenth century pub or a fantasy adventure tavern on Tik Tok (Nod to the Lucky Gryphon, Quincey’s Tavern, one of my absolute favorite of the genre)

Storms may rage, feelings may run equally high, heartbreak or triumph, love and close community will save the day. Give it freely, accept it freely, allow yourself to be comforted when you need it. It is a big world. There are lots of us in it. Enough so that you are not alone, even if it feels that way.

Storms may rage, but cups will eventually be filled. With what is yet to be seen, but there is hope for a happy ending in time.

Summary

This part is practically impossible to do for a collective audience reading. In a private reading, this is where I would give any purely intuitive images or impressions that come through whether they are connected to the cards & question or not.

In this case, the impressions seem wildly random. If something resonates with you, it is yours. If it doesn’t resonate, then its for someone else. May there be lots of someone elses who read this and get some little morsel of something from the cards.

For what it is worth, I see rough aquamarine or maybe blue kayanite. Both connect to the throat chakra and have to do with communicating. There is more here than general communication. The feeling focuses on bridge-building. It is about effective communication and connection building more than simply being heard.

For aromatherapy, I get the scent of lemon, which is clearing and energizing, Lemon drops – lemon cookies – bright, tart, clean.

Mixed with that….

For some it is lemon, but for others it is woody, powdery and soothing, like sandalwood or sandalwood with vanilla.

I see a snowstorm. No idea of time or symbolism. Just a feeling of being very glad to see it through a window instead of being out in it.

Now the snow and clouds fade grey like sunset or twilight when it is very cloudy.

Here I get a sense of all of us being asked to be courageous and strong.

There the energy steps back.

Thank you all for reading! I hope everyone has a Happy New Year Holiday, and a happy, safe, prosperous 2025. See you at the next sip!

Pour

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”Only an empty cup can be filled” as the proverb goes.

Cups in Tarot has to do with emotions in general as well as emotionally close relationships; sometimes romance, sometimes family, sometimes found family – any relationship. Today, the energy is focused on the general side more than a specific relationship side of the card.

The Ace of Cups today is reversed. Different readers deal with reversals in different ways. I always start with an intuitive gut-check. Does it feel significant or is it just a coincidental by-product of shuffling and handling the card deck? If it feels coincidental, I just flip it upright and keep going with the reading. Today it feels meaningful, so it stays upside down.

In a larger card layout a reversed card can mean that whatever the layout position is about is blocked or turbulent or troubled somehow. In a one card reading, it isn’t that the card takes on an opposite meaning or is somehow bad or negative – it also points to a problem or blocked/turbulent energy flow. In a one card reading it might be a little harder to pinpoint the area of concern.

Of course, here, we are working with general collective energy. It’s a mood, not a crisis.

“Emotionally drained” comes to mind.

So does “catharsis”

The analogy between water in a cup and important emotions is a particularly apt one in this case.

Water left stagnant in a cup can become contaminated, dusty, undrinkable. Ignored emotions can also grow unhealthy. Pouring out, experiencing and coming to terms with emotions is difficult. It can make you feel exhausted and drained in its place. That is the benefit of a little harmless catharsis (have a good cry, vent into the void of a journal, play your favorite song just a little too loud, go for a run, take a long walk)

Emotionally drained is probably better than emotionally toxic.

Only the empty cup can be filled.

May your cup be filled with healing good things.

Next up: You choose card of the week for Feb. 19 (tomorrow)

See you at the next sip!

You Choose Card of the Week (22 Jan 24)

The people and the numbers have spoken! Introducing an interactive and personal single card meditation card of the week Tarot reading

Private readings are open. Order HERE anytime, no appointment needed.

Interactive: Please watch the video and choose your card.

After the reveal, scroll down for your card reading.*

The people and the numbers have spoken.

I’ve gotten some nice feedback about the “you choose” style of readings. It makes the reading feel more personal than a single collective card BUT the shorter format is better than the longer layouts. I’m still tweeking the timing to give enough time to choose and enough time to see your card. That part will improve in coming weeks.

So BEHOLD! One card meditation readings are back but in you choose style! I plan to do these as a guidance card for the week, but if you have any suggestions or feedback as we go along, I’m open to that – and so are the comments below. Or click over to the Ask Me Anything page and, well, you know what to do. Unless I hear something drastically different, I plan to flow with this for a while. The general plan is for “You Choose” on Mondays, “Learn With Me” posts on Wednesdays, Freestyle on Fridays (I won’t promise those will even be Tarot related) and the weekly Substack newsletter at some point during the weekend.

THAT being said, let’s get on to the good stuff, the cards.

Nine of Cups

I hear “happy endings” from a song that I don’t recognize. Might be something from the 90s, but I can’t dial it in enough to tell. This card is about just exactly that – happy endings.

Classically this card is often associated with contentment and family / holiday gatherings. I often get a fall & winter holiday vibe from it. This feels more like a January card – the holidays are in the rear view mirror and last year is well and truly tucked away.

Earlier today, Theresa Reed posted her card of the week as the Fool…new beginnings. These cards are two sides of the same large zeitgeist energy.

If you chose this card, this is a good vibe week. Things are wrapped or wrapping up in a good way that makes room to roll up your sleeves and get after whatever is next.

Ace of Cups

Cups typically symbolize emotion, intuition, and our closest relationships be they friends, family or romance. The ace always seems closer to the emotion and intuition aspect of the suit than the relationship aspect of it. That is very much the case for today. This card feels more off to the side and individualized than the nine does.

The nine feels like the big, collective energy card but the ace feels much more one to one. There is no way for me to ever know this, but it would be interesting to how many people chose which card. I wonder if more people picked the “collective” card and fewer people picked this one because this is the one they really needed.

If you picked the Ace of Cups today, first of all, well done for following your own intuition instead of the collective energy. This card feels like a validation of just that – your own creativity and instincts. “Muse” comes to mind. Your creative muse may well drop something in your lap soon, if it hasn’t happened already. When inspiration comes, this card is encouraging you to follow it at the same time it is giving you a pat on the back for your natural ability to hear and follow that kind of inspiration.

Judgement

This card stands out as being the only major arcana card of the three.

The energies this week may be important for you and are worthy of your attention and contemplation. Pay attention to the spirit part of your mind, body & spirit life balance.

Give yourself second chances. Never waste a good second chance.

By the same token, use your heart and head so that a second chance isn’t needed. Honor what you know and need and what you know you need. the first time around.

As a secular person, the religious iconography in Pamela Smith’s artwork for this card is always more annoying than inspiring for me. If you picked this card but it just isn’t resonating, by all means, please look for the inspiration you feel. Try googling the Judgement card and looking at other decks to see if another version of the card speaks to you more than this one.

I’ve found that many decks rely on this kind of imagery and options are hard to find. My favorite right now is “Karma” from Ellen Dugan and Mark Evans’ Witches Tarot which uses and eclipse and the term karma to bring ideas like contemplating the consequences of our choices and renewal. There may be dark time during an eclipse but light returns on the other side.

Thank you all for reading. Next up, in Learn With Me, we continue two card Lenormand readings.

See you at the next sip!

*if it went by too fast – left was 9 of cups, center was ace of cups and right was Judgement.

Conspicuous In Its Absence

When I do a reading, the first thing is to talk with you about your question, topic of concern, or you OK for an open reading. Then we shuffle the cards, put them into the layout you ordered (by email, you get a photo of the actual real life cards, by phone I’ll list them out for you, or whenever in-person readings come back, you can see them for your self.

Once the cards are ready, the first part in all formats bigger than a one-card, is what I call the “general pattern” where we look for any clues from the patter of cards taken as a whole. One of the things we look at is the number of major vs minor arcana cards. Of the minor arcana cards, we look at what suits are showing and how many of each suit are there.

“Negative space” is an idea from art and sculpture. The art-thing itself sets shapes and boundaries in and around the space it occupies. Kind of like a paper snowflake where the cut out parts are shapes too. Like the hearts in this one (Found this on a Google search. you can get the pattern at papersnowflakeart.com)

Sometimes, if three of the four minor arcana suits are showing, intuition will pull toward the suit that is missing as if it is being conspicuous in it’s absence and is sending a message by not showing up.

2020 has been a heck of a decade, and hindsight is 20/20 too. When we look back what can we learn? Surprisingly, I found one of those negative space, conspicuous in its absence kinds of messages when I looked back at the broad swath of cards that have shown up in the past year, a couple of patterns emerge. Early in the year, there was a preponderance of Pentacle cards, with their earthy, practical, pragmatic advice. The message was to not judge ourselves too harshly as we did what needed done during the early days of the covid pandemic. If it took pajama days and pandemic snacks to cope, so be it. If it took nuts-and-bolts, one foot in front of the other suiting up and masking up and putting food on the shelves….well, let’s just say the rest of us are very grateful. Then things shifted. Later in the Summer and Fall Cups cards stepped forward with a shift toward the intuitive and the spiritual. Wheels and worlds, Towers and Magicians, even the Devil card (Shadow Side in the Witches Tarot deck) put in an appearance.

But no Death card.

At least not in any prominent, repeating, attention-getting way. Given the profound tragedy the pandemic has brought and continues to bring, it is a wonder that the card didn’t show up every other day. With so many lost, this year has brought profound and permanent change to so, so many families.

Early in the year, there was a lot of zeitgiest, general-culture, general-society energies. If we look at the Death card from that perspective, then its absence makes more sense. Not intending to be callous toward the worst that has happened, if we remove tragedy from the card (as is its actual use and meaning….we all know the card actually isn’t a harbinger of literal death)

The Death card is about permanent change. When permenant change is conspicuously absent, maybe the big scary change isn’t so permenant on a large scale cultural level.

We’ll never regain and never forget those who were lost. There may be permanent scars from all of this. But in the end, in the very very long run, life just might get back to OK.