intuition – Page 2 – Sage Sips / TaoCraft Tarot

New Deck, Who Dis?

Sage Sips is Tarot in the time it takes to sip your coffee

New loot* from publishinggoblin.com and Seven Dane Asmund’s recent Kickstarters. With its consistent, stellar quality I recommend Seven Dane Asmund’s work. The story and lore he’s woven around the Alleyman / Alleyway card decks is almost burgeoning mythology. I’m looking forward to working with this new deck, just like the Alleyman’s Tarot has been a delight from the moment it arrived. It really is a masterful deck. It is the Stradivarius of Tarot decks. I suspect this is the equivalent in Oracle decks, or at least one of the best.

I suspect one of the things that raises it a notch above others is the way it lifts up and promotes the collective of artist who contribute to the deck. I see you, Seven. Bringing all of this together and giving the artists all due recognition, the storytelling of the Alleyman lore and podcast, the quality of the physical products…all of it together is genius. Respect.

Intuitively I feel pulled to do this a little differently. Instead of a methodical “learn with me” series like we did with the Publishing Goblin’s Oracle Dice. Let’s just jump in with both feet and USE this thing for daily meditation readings. I began reading cards with an Oracle deck (Medicine Cards by David Carson and Jamie Sams) There was nothing methodical there – just a Fool-like step off the cliff while still tethered to the guidebook. A sort of psychic bungee jump, it wasn’t until after I switched to the classic RWS that I began to really understand how card symbolism and pure intuition worked together. It might be fun to take the jump in and have at it approach but bring that hard-won understanding and years of experience along for the ride.

I hope you’ll join me. We’ll explore the deck together, but without a plan. You never know when or where you’ll meet the Alleyman.

*Not shown the other two death card enamel pins. They are already gifted to my son the scare actor. So proud. (shout out to Hundred Acres Manor – check them out if you are around Bethel Park PA this fall!)

Confidence

With all the news lately, it seems important to look at things from more than one angle.

I’ve been talking about that since 2010 when I originally wrote “Parallax” the blog post. It literally, physiologically takes two eyes for us to see with depth. The same idea applies to your third eye: other points of view add depth.

It seems like everybody and their uncle is reading RWS on social media these days. I wanted to see what the general energies look like from the point of view of my Lenormand deck. If you would like to Learn a little more about this deck, please visit the “Learn with Me: Lenormand” series

Today’s cards are the book and the fish. The book has one of those relative position kind of meanings so common in Lenormand layouts. From experimenting with the deck for the Learn With Me series, I really got the most from the two card draws. It can draw in the relative position thing that is so crucial to the very large Tableaux readings, without being too fussy, overwhelming or contradictory the way very large layouts can be. In this case the book symbolizes secrets, and when it is on the left like this, it hints that the secret is out. In other words, a key thing is out in the open and a known entity.

The fish typically has to do with material wealth but today I get a stronger intuitive sense of prosperity writ large – all good things, not just money.

Together the cards give a sense of reassurance. We know what we need to know to make it work. Everything will work out OK.

Knowledge is key anytime money or any physical realm thing comes into play. Facts, logic – all of that is your friend when it comes to practical matters. But if logic and knowledge driven decisions are backed up with intuitive feeling as validation, that makes it easier. Much easier.

Knowledge backed up by intuition yields confidence.

This blog is not monetized and is free for you to read and follow. If you enjoy Sage Words Tarot or Sage Sips blog, please buy me a coffee! Purchases and donations through my ko-fi page support this blog , the YouTube channel and free social media content.

Pick a deck, any deck

Sage Sips blog is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip your coffee.

Pick a Deck, Any Deck

If you are going to read Tarot cards, first you need – um – Tarot cards.

There is lore, tradition if you will, that to be a successful Tarot reader you must receive your first deck as a gift.

Bullpuckey.

Literally, this holds no water at all. I can see a metaphor in it. That the “deck” must be “given” could be the good advice to find a teacher. Teacher might mean anything from a book, an actual person, or even a humble blog like this one. The point is to have some guide, some inspiration, some point of reference and learning. Psychics should be life-long learners just like any good professional. The wise people and cunning folk who are drawn to Tarot tend to be curious with a love of learning anyway, professional or not.

I’ve had many wonderful teachers over the years – both in actual classes and defacto examples, beloved authors and more.

First was Sallie who gave my first ever reading and whose oft repeated phrase (and later title of her book) “the highest and best” is still the prime intent of every reading I do. Thanks to Paul and his brother Roger who taught psychometry and aura reading, visiting a museum will never be the same. Joy Star taught intuition development classes – and sparked many epiphanies. I can’t recommend the writings of Ted Andrews, Christopher Penczak, Mat Auryn, and of course “Magical Tarot, Mystical Tao” by Diane Morgan highly enough.

All of that is great, but what about the actual, literal deck of cards?

Pick a deck, any deck.

It’s an occupational hazard for Tarot readers. We all have a bunch of decks. (If you don – you will, child, you will)

Like everything else in the business, the best advice is to follow your instincts. When you know, you know. When looking at a deck seems to pop ideas and interpretations right into your head, then that deck is very readable for you as an individual. If you want it and can afford it – go for it.

Most of my deck purchases have been driven by the aesthetics (and granted permissions) of photographing the cards for the blog. Special thanks and shout-out to Seven Dane Asmund of publishinggoblin.com and Thom Pham of heartofstarstarot.com for allowing me to use their brilliant creations.

Once you have more than one deck, how do you know which deck to use in any given reading? Once again – pure instinct comes to the rescue.

We Tarot types also tend to anthropomorphize our decks. They do seem to have personalities. I suppose it’s no different than the kind of relationship Han Solo had with the Millennium Falcon in Star Wars or that a sea captain has with his ship. For example, I have one deck that I mostly picked up to support a small business and as a souvenir of a vacation. Although I know some readers that love it, that particular deck is about as readable as a brick for me EXCEPT for yes/no layouts. My black cats deck loves yes/no readings. That’s partly what sparked the idea for bringing “zombie cat” out of a one time post and making a full on alter ego reading out of it.

Zombie can and the black cats deck have an attitude, and will answer any questions even if they turn out to be dead wrong about it.

With distance readings, I’ll pick up whichever deck just seems right. More often than not, it will prove itself to be a good choice because the artwork on the deck is more apt for the message compared to other decks.

When I go to in-person readings, I often carry two decks and let the client choose while they are still in the bag. For parties,which I very seldom do any more, I’ll choose whichever deck I’m feeling for the night in order to meet the demands of party style readings.

(P.S. party and in-person readings are still closed for summer. When they return in the fall, it will be on a very limited basis – please follow the blog for details)

Do you have a favorite Tarot card or one you feel really represents you right now? Most of us do, and it seems common for it to change as time goes by. If you are in the market for a Tarot deck, comparing your personal “significator” card among decks is one way to find a deck that is a good energy match for you. Look for a deck that has artwork that increases the resonance with that one special card even more.

Or look at a few favorite cards. If special key cards resonate with you, there is a good chance the whole deck will be serviceable as far as readings go.

Aesthetics for photos is another story. Make sure you are clear about copyrights and permissions for that, no intuition about it.

Once you pick your new deck and indulge in purchasing (or, lucky you, get one as a gift) make friends with the deck. There are lots of ways to do that.

Just handling it, shuffling it, browsing it is a good start. Or, as we’ve done here with the Alleyman’s Tarot and the Lenormand Tarot, just USE it. Daily one card meditation readings are a great way to learn BOTH your deck and how to read Tarot in general.

Want to learn to do daily meditation readings? It’s HERE in my ebook Peace tarot.

You can also get to know a new deck through interviews. You can set the intention of learning the deck, then ask questions about the deck itself. Daily-Tarot-Girl.com has some wonderful interview your new deck ideas. Check out Kate’s fantastic suggestions!

I’ve tried this one – it works. You know that Black Cats deck I was telling you about earlier that seems to like doing the yes/no readings? The interview technique confirmed that hunch, so that’s the deck I use for Zombie Cat readings these days.

So yes, in a sense, you must be “given” your first Tarot deck in a symbolic way insofar as finding a guide: books, a class, a mentor of some sort.

And no, you don’t have to be literally given your literal first deck as a gift – although it is a really cool gift to receive regardless of your Tarot reading experience level.

In short, pick a deck, any deck – and then get to reading.

Speaking of reading – thank you as always for reading Sage Sips’ blog and social media posts.

See you at the next sip!

Card of the Day: Ace of Pentacles, 21 May 24

Sage Sips is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip your coffee.

Like I’ve said in PeaceTarot and a bizillion other times, a daily one card meditation is the bread and butter and workhorse and utter delight of learning to read Tarot. And, I’ve found, of living Tarot too.

It’s one thing to learn a skill or philosophy or spiritual practice. It’s another to live with it every day and let it become part of your skin and bones and morning coffee.

The best way to build a relationship with anything like this is bit by bit, day by day. Kick the tires. Test drive it. Take it on a shake down cruise. Lean on it. If it holds you up in troubled times, it will help shine a light on the good times too.

It’s not a religion, it’s nothing special.

In Chinese style martial arts its call gong fu…diligence and practice and work over time resulting in masterful skill. Tarot is the same. Anyone can read them. We all have innate, natural intuition and psychic ability. But it takes diligence and practice and work over time for it to become deeply useful – to become a part of your life and spiritual practice.

Pentacles speak to just that kind of work. Pentacles are aligned with the Earth element and are about exactly this kind of real-world, rubber-meets-the-road work. That is the suit’s window on it’s common meanings: work, career, wealth, and the physical realm.

When you add the images, words, music, sound that imaginatively come to mind, it nudges us toward the best key words to use for the card for the day at hand.

In this case I ‘hear’ the TING sound effect of something metal being hammered – like railroad spikes and railroad building sounds from old western movies.

It’s like movie Esperanto for hard physical work.

The hand holding a gold coin has a TA-DA! feel about it.

Put them together and work TA-DA! has results. In other words, the energy supports a productive day at hand. If it’s late in the day when you read this, no matter what kind of day it has been, do what you can to set up tomorrow to be productive.

And there the energy steps back.

Stop back tomorrow: Another one card like this tomorrow than on Thursday (hopefully, fingers crossed) we’ll do a Choose Your Card video.

Thanks for reading! See you at the next sip!

Learn to read Tarot and bring a moment of peace to troubled times. Peace Tarot is available now for instant download in the ko-fi shop.

The Watcher

Sage Sips is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip your coffee – or whatever you are sipping at the moment.

Updated today from a September 2020 post

Three of Wands. Yes – again.

Different deck, different day, same card. A cool thing happened; about an hour after I filmed the card draw above, I did a private one card reading with a different deck (Steampunk, their favorite) and wouldn’t you know it – Three of Wands. This card is really trying to get our attention.

It also gives us a little insight into how Tarot can be such an endlessly useful tool for something as complex as spiritual guidance or the human psychology. The math is pretty convincing. Let’s start with a one card daily meditation reading. You have one card position raised to the power of 78 possible cards, raised to the power of all the possible keywords and meanings that have been attached to each card over the years, raised to the power of our limitless imagination and intuition.

Even if you leave out the intuition bit, and just look at card numbers, the cards are pretty amazing. Here – let a real expert explain this:

Now, let’s consider that kind of calculation for a full Tarot reading. Never mind a classic 10 card Celtic Cross – let’s just consider my 5 card Modern Oracle layout.

For five layout positions, regardless of the meaning you assign to that position, the first card could be any card from the entire deck. The first card has 78 possible results. The second position has the whole deck minus the first card, which gives 77 possibilities. The third position has the whole deck minus the first two cards for 76 possibilities and so on

If I’m using the online calculator correctly, that means there are over 2 million different card combinations for any given five card layout.

Now add all of the possible card meanings into that mix.

Then raise it all to the infinite possibilities that pure intuition can lend to the reading.

Now you know why we charge the rates that we do. The more cards in a reading, the more complex it becomes, and the more insight, wisdom and raw Tarot experience it takes to make sense out of it all for a client. When you add in ethical, professional conduct – $35 for a five card email reading is insanely affordable.

That is beside the point. The point is that when you consider the mind-boggling number of possible card combinations, a repeating card in disparate circumstances sustained over time is a card definitely worthy of our attention.

The Three of Wands is often associated with things like watchfulness, active waiting, observation, proper timing, or vigilance.

Recently, the energy seemed to flow toward the idea of watching for the right timing, watching for events to happen that would in turn prompt you to action.

Today, the energy is more toward the vigilance end of things. This feeling of watchfulness isn’t timed to a particular action. It isn’t about timing your action just right. It has a more general sense.

This is also an energy connecting the card to the idea of healthy boundary setting. First discover where your best boundaries ARE, then the Three of Wands encourages you to watch over them, maintain them and defend them. Words like “periphery” and “vigilance” come to mind. Based on current events, turbulent times are likely on the horizon. The Three of Wands card is further reminding us to guard our energy and mental health. It is always better to over-prepare than to under-react to such things, be it literal storms or political ones.

Thank you for reading this updated post from the archives. I hope you will use the search bar on the right hand side of the page (or the bottom of the page on mobile) and browse the archives. There are six years of Tarot readings here, more over on “Sage’s Other Words” so chances are you can find something interesting.

The day job is back on a typical schedule so I’m hopeful to have a new “Choose Your Card” Tarot reading for you on Monday.

See you at the next sip!

Ask Why – part 2

Distance Tarot is my specialty – order anytime, no appointment needed. I don’t celebrate Easter, so readings are OPEN this weekend.

The Allbright by Annalise Jensen from the Alleyman’s Tarot Deck used with permission

Before looking at specific behind-the-scenes topics, last week we started at the very beginning. Why do Tarot at all? What’s the use of it?

I’m biased, of course. I’m a professional Tarot reader which means that I’ve earned money in exchange for my art and expertise. (I would very much like to continue – so please buy my readings!)

All kidding aside, Tarot has a great deal of inherent value. I’ve experienced the benefits of Tarot for myself as a client which is why I continued to practice and study enough to become a professional. Tarot has something to offer everyone regardless of your seat at the table; reader, client or do-it-yourself-er.

Tarot can

Reduce stress and ease difficult emotions
Give insight into specific problems
Encourage personal growth in general
Serve as spiritual expression
Inspire decisions
Break old thought-habits and encourage creative problem solving
Validate your intuition and empower you and your choices
Entertain: humor and playfulness are valuable in their own right, beyond the ability to relieve stress and lift emotions.

Every yang has its yin and vice versa. You’ll notice none of these have anything to do with predicting the future, which brings us to the other half of “why ask why?”

No reason. No need to ask why do a Tarot reading. Not at all.

Here we get back to the foundation benefit of Tarot: Freethought. Tarot empowers your thoughts, your intuition, your power, your choices and your reasons – even when there are none

Ask why.

Question anything a Tarot reader says or does that isn’t clear or comfortable for you. If a reader can’t stand up to a simple “why” then maybe that reader isn’t a good match for you. A good reader will either have a reasonable explanation of the Tarot process or they will have the courage and honesty to say that they don’t know or that there is no particular reason why.

There doesn’t have to be a reason for every single little thing in life, especially where things like aesthetics, intuition or spirituality are concerned. With Tarot, if you enjoy something, there doesn’t have to be a reason why. You can believe what you believe without explaining it to anyone. You don’t have to justify following your intuition. No one is judging you. Get a reading or do a reading for any reason you like or no reason at all.

That is why I always give people the option of asking a specific question, choosing a general topic or just leaving the reading wide open.

If you have a specific ‘why’ you want to get a reading – that’s great! We’ll look at the energy through that lens.

If you don’t have a specific idea in mind – that’s great! We’ll just follow the energy and see where it goes.

Yes, absolutely ask why. Always.

In Tarot, “just because” or “I just want to” or “it’ll be fun” are perfectly good answers.

Next up: Look for some members’ exclusive content over the weekend. Your Choice Tarot is planned for Monday. I’m trying something a little different with the YouTube upload and automatic captions – so let me apologize now for any boneheaded technical mistakes I might make. See you at the next sip!

Yes, absolutely, ask why

A behind the scenes look at the how – and why – of reading Tarot

Before we get to the WHAT and the HOW of Tarot, let’s start with WHY Tarot.

Why get readings?

Why give readings?

Why do readings for yourself?

Why ask why? (as that old TV commercial said)

As I see it, it all comes down to one thing: freethinking.

Free your mind. Question everything. Ask why and draw your own conclusions. Tarot supports that. Tarot encourages that. Tarot enables that. If a Tarot reader wants you to do what they say without question – run.

image: ffrf.org Please support separation of church and state

Over the years I’ve learned, sometimes the hard way, to trust my intuition. But it is a big ask for you to trust my intuition too. I’m honored whenever anyone trusts me enough to get a reading. I will always treat that trust with the respect and dignity it deserves. That’s why I ask members to request readings each time even though the reading is included in their membership. Consent is an important part of respecting you and the Tarot process. That’s why I won’t read people other than the individual getting the reading. People outside of our conversation have not given consent to be a part of the reading and it is important for us to respect them as well.

The British Psychological Society defines autonomy as “feeling psychologically free and having the ability to control your life.” Psychologist Carl Jung said that “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” That’s another reason why I do Tarot readings the way I do.

No fortune telling.

No predicting the future.

My style of Tarot is all about empowering your choices. It’s about supporting your autonomy. It’s about personal growth and greater understanding. It’s about processing difficult emotions. It’s about breaking free from thought-habits that narrow our experience of life.

That’s why I offer professional readings. That’s why I teach people to read Tarot for themselves. That’s why I use Tarot for myself. This post is a case in point.

On the exact day I was originally planning to publish this post, there was a spate of famous Tarot authors saying exactly these kinds of things on social media. It hit me at a vulnerable moment and I was half a hair away from giving up. If the heavy hitters are suddenly saying the stuff I’ve already been blogging about since 2005 (ish) what’s the use?

I’d been planning this post for months but kept getting interrupted by life, the universe and everything it seemed. So now, why bother? Why should I add my voice to theirs when it seems no one has been listening to us (and maybe still aren’t?)

On the other hand, why shouldn’t I? My voice and intuition is just as valid as theirs (and so is yours, by the way.)

It was literally one of those six of one, half dozen of the other type of decisions. On one hand it would make no difference to the big picture if I trashed the post. On the other hand, adding my voice to theirs might just amplify what genuine Tarot can do.

I did exactly what I would advise a client to do – I drew a card for inspiration.

The Allbright, art by Annalise Jensen for Alleyman’s Tarot by Seven Dane Asmund. Deck used with permission

The Alleyman’s Tarot was close at hand and a quick shuffle and cut revealed the Allbright card from one of the expansion packs, not a typical card in the RWS Tarot card structure. I think it was made especially for this deck.

“The Allbright brings hope and illumination to knowledge of the past and to those undertaking difficult tasks. She is never far from those who are faithful, and those who have the courage to ask for aid.” – Annalise Jensen, artist.

I took that as a nudge toward writing and posting this. It is a little leap of faith to act on ideas like posting would be in service to aka “faithful to” the years I’ve put into Tarot work and to the art of Tarot writ large. It felt like a reassurance that the Zeitgeist energies would let me be heard by someone somewhere despite the many louder voices saying the same thing. I’m acting on the notion that the Allbright is a symbol of wisdom and will shine the light that draws in those that need this particular type of Tarot guidance.

The light shines brightest when we lift it up. The message sounds loudest and reaches the farthest when we all speak.

That’s why.

That’s why I’m posting this and is one example how Tarot can help us move from a silly little coin toss dilemma to greater insight.

Why use Tarot cards and Tarot readings? Not because they give us easy answers, but rather because they point to the right questions. These symbolic cards shine a light on the right path for our walking and working to begin.

Thank you so much for reading Sage Sips today. Next up: You Chose: Tarot Card of the Week. Fingers crossed for an upload tomorrow.

See you at the next sip!

My Tarot Valentine – It’s a layout now

Love and Romance Tarot Layout at a special introductory price for Valentine’s day

Over the years, I’ve done one card love & romance themed Tarot readings in the blog. I’ve collected all of those in an eBook in the shop. You can read them for free if you are willing to rummage around in the archives.

It’s pretty clear that the one card reading in the blog idea has run its course.

This year I wrote the “My Tarot Valentine” romance reading layout, inspired by the poetry collection Triquetra: The Dance of Worlds. The collection has three sections, the reading has three cards with similar themes. The three cards in this reading are:

The Inner World: personal growth, your relationship with yourself
The Outer World: the big picture, your relationship with life in general
The Dance of Worlds: Close interpersonal relationships – romance, marriage, family, children (whatever is top of mind for you when you seek the reading)

These readings are intensely personal and not at all well suited to a collective energy reading. I cant ever really bring myself to try. The overall structure is the same as with ALL of my email and video readings. It starts with a photo of your real world card layout plus general impressions, then it goes card by card and wraps up with a “psychic summary.” The summary is an opportunity to put any purely intuitive impressions that might connect to the cards – or not. Sometimes there are aromatherapy or crystal impressions that come through…

For example right now I’m getting the impression of rose scent (ugh…not my favorite) and clear quartz points. Why clear quartz and not the usual lovey-dovey rose quartz? I dunno. Maybe someone needs to think about making a connection to their higher selves to get through a hallmark holiday that jabs at their loneliness, or to better speak their love language to those already in their life. That’s for you to say if and how that random tidbit resonates with you

Since this kind of reading simply doesn’t translate well into blog content, these special My Tarot Valentine layouts are $5 OFF compared to all the other three card readings. Please try one today. You can purchase anytime, no appointment needed. Please allow 2-3 business days for delivery.

This special introductory price and the My Tarot Valentine layout both end 29 February 2024

order here

Learn With Me: Collective Nope

When you listen to spirit or read the universal life energy or whatever words you like to hang on this psychic intuition thing, sometimes you have to take it at its word. Even when that word is nope.

Listening to spirit/energy is the same basic process regardless of whether you are reading for one specific person or for a general, collective audience. Either way, you are basically just translating spirit-speak into people-words that your client can actually ponder and use.

When you are reading for an individual, and something feels off the mark, you can just say that. When you are working with just one person, you can start a conversation that will eventually sort out the right message. Even working by email where the conversation unfolds over time, you can suss things out sooner or later.

Working with a collective audience is a little trickier. When you get the sense that something is wrong that figure-things-out conversation isn’t available to you. Sometimes it’s a wonder if anyone leaves a comment or feedback when you ASK for it.

When you are writing for a wide audience, it takes greater faith in your own instincts than when reading for a single person. No matter what you say, no matter what message you get/give, in a large audience there will always be a subset of people who need the opposite. There will always be some people where your message is batted away with a big old NOPE. No matter what message you give there will be someone who needs to hear the opposite.

And that’s ok.

Psychics and Tarot bloggers can’t be all things to everyone. The only thing we can be is true to our own intuition.

My Tarot Valentine is a good example. Relationship advice through a card by card reading of the Wands suit isn’t a bad idea. No doubt somebody somewhere is interested in that kind of relationship advice.

Luckily, if you need love and soulmate advice, there are LOTS of Tarot readers in the world and somebody is out there giving just the message you need to hear. I have 1000% confidence that the right message will find you.

I am also confident that this isn’t my year to give it.

A larger part of the collective spirit / energy is connecting me to a different message. There are people out there who need other things just now.

I need to bail out of the Valentine’s Day thing at the collective level.

I feel pulled toward the one to one private side.

I’ve written a new love and romance layout inspired by the poetry collection Triquetra: The Dance of Worlds

card 1 – “inner world” – what self love do you need right now?

card 2 – “outer world” – what is your relationship with life as a whole right now?

card 3 – “dance of worlds” – how can you nurture a close relationship?

This new love and romance layout is available to order any time, no appointment needed, if you feel drawn to the love and romance side of February. The “My Tarot Valentine” layout is available at a special reduced price for a limited time. If you are feeling the valentine vibe, let’s look at this one to one.

If you are no feeling the Valentine vibe, hang tight with the blog and we’ll read the cards for other stuff.

Stay tuned for a new “Learn With Me” series coming soon. Until then we will be doing more “meet your reader” “you choose” style posts.

See you at the next sip!

Learn With Me: Lenormand, snake and fish

Learn Tarot: lenormand fish and snake

Learning Tarot is a process, and part of that process is repetition.

Last time we looked at Lenormand cards, we started to explore two card combinations, which seem to be a big part of the Lenormand style of Tarot reading. Often when particular combinations of cards are seen, the meanings for the cards change a bit, not unlike a reversal in RWS style cards and readings.

The best way to understand that connection seems to be two card sets. It makes sense to understand the foundation, the building blocks of a larger layout before using a larger layout. In RWS style, that foundational building block is the single card reading, which plugs into the individual positions of any layout which is then woven together in a meta-analytical, intuition driven way. I’m still learning Lenormand along with you, but it seems to me that building block isn’t single cards, but the underlying connections between 2 or 3 cards, like a flat mat with dots (single card meanings) stuck on top.

To put it in arts and crafts terms, RWS is knitting while Lenormand is paper-making with speckles on top.

Today we have snake and fish.

So starting with that foundational fabric, what is the common energy matrix behind the Flow and suppleness are common traits between the two.

The fish are associated with prosperity. The snake in the guidebook is associated with typical western cultural meanings like deceit and deviousness. Intuitively, however, I am reminded of Chinese astrology. People born in the year of the snake are said to be competent, wise, intuitive and passionate. When I put all of those aspects together the two-together message is to protect your resources through wisdom and know-how (akin to a four of pentacles combined with an ace of swords sort of vibe)

I’m not sure if or how the playing card insets factor into it. Queen of clubs with the snake is akin to the queen of wands – which reinforces the idea of self-care, in the form of caring for physical resources. The king of diamonds is like the king of pentacles, reinforcing the notion that this is about common sense, physical realm money management more than some sort of grand spiritual lesson.

Sometimes, as Freud said, a cigar is just a cigar. Sometimes, as these cards seem to stay, you just have to mind the budget, even at the holidays. The energy here is all about practical, level headed things, unrelated to spirituality or emotion. Once we make the physical stable and safe, then we can turn our minds and hearts to the spiritual, emotional and intangible.

Between now and New Year I don’t intend to hold to any particular schedule other than doing email private readings as they come in.

Usually I try to do the Learn With Me on Wednesdays and the Substack newsletter as a weekly digest on the weekend, with one card posts as often as I can manage on weekdays.

I’m still of two minds about the “path through the week” thing on Mondays.

What do you think? What kind of readings or posts would you like to see in the blog? For goodness’ sake don’t be shy. As long as it isn’t spam, by all means post your questions or suggestions in the comments. Contact info is in the right hand column (or bottom of the page on mobile) too.

I’m planning to do a bunch of re-introductory and behind the scenes posts over the next few weeks sliding in and around day job, private readings and the holidays.

If you want a private Tarot reading by email, you can order it HERE anytime, 24/7 no appointment needed. I’ll get the typed reading with a photo of your real-world card layout to you usually within 24 hours.

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