meaning – Page 2 – Sage Sips / TaoCraft Tarot

Today’s Tarot: Frosty Fall

The Five of Pentacles makes me feel sad today. It has tendrils of tragedy, misfortune, and fear. It is one of those things that makes me stop, and as we have talked about before, take a little inventory. Is it me? Is it any sort of real threat? Is there something I’m missing or need to do? Or is this an energy from outside myself, a purely “the current zeitgeist is ringing my bell” empathic feeling. It seems to be the latter. I have to travel for family reasons but there is no logical, physical reason that would explain the card’s vibe. This is a coins/pentacles card. As a reader, not only is it always good to stop and consider if a strong emotional reaction is product of our own psychology (as opposed to a purely intuitive reaction to the card) but the suit of pentacles or the suit of swords points to the real world and cold logic straightaway.

Given all of that, I don’t see any real world, my issue, or logical reason for this visceral sort of reaction to the card other than maybe the continued political news here in the U.S. Maybe I’m reacting to the passing of Justice Ginsburg …but there is so much else so wrong and has been for nearly 4 years now.

The card has more of a sense of more foreboding now that I write this than it did at first blush when I filmed the card-draw video. You all know how writing is a more potent connection to intuition for me than working with YouTube is.

The parable of the grasshopper and the ant comes to mind….as does the squirrels and chipmunks busting around the neighborhood in a prehybernation frenzy. The “Pre-hibernation Week” episode of Spongebob was pretty close to reality from the look of these guys.

Today’s Five of Pentacles gives us the same advice. Fall is a time to harvest and store and budget and take care. It might be a hard winter. I hope I’m wrong, but that hurricane on the horizon feeling is back. If it is wrong…great. If not, be safe and be well.

Please prove me wrong.

Today’s Tarot: Universal Experience

How compassion can flow

It’s a fundamental idea. In Buddhism, the first noble truth is the existence of suffering.

Or, as the T-shirt defining Taoism says, shit happens. The five of pentacles in Tarot reminds us of the same thing. Difficult things happen to all of us sooner or later. It isn’t for us to judge the type or magnitude of that difficulty relative to our own life experience. It is enough to know that a fellow human struggles. Big or small, serious or trivial, true crisis or laughably minor, real world challenges and emotional upsets are a universal experience. Or to put it in t-shirt terms, shit happens to absolutely everybody at one time or another.

The card doesn’t stop there. It calls us all to compassion, sympathy and empathy whenever and wherever the aforementioned shit happens – always, everywhere.

There is much going on. The energy environment (I can’t tell if it is local, regional, national or global) is starting to feel like it did back in January or February, on the cusp of the maximum lock-down we had here in the U.S. I’ve been repeatedly, for months been getting the mental image of a storm on an ocean horizon and a sense of foreboding. Over the past few days it is as if the outer bands of the storm are starting to touch shore. Yes, I’ve probably been watching too much news, and yes, it probably is tied to the toxic mashup that is American public sentiment right now. If you are to any degree empathetic or energy sensitive, now might be a good time to batten down the hatches, grab your favorite protection crystal and start reinforcing healthy boundaries between your energy and external energies. Healthy boundaries are crucial.

Compassion flows best when it flows both inwardly and outwardly at the same time.

Today’s Tarot: Stick to your knitting (metaphorically speaking – or not)

The Eight of Pentacles is about due diligence, effort, work, study, etc. Todays energy is very aligned with that. Even though the eight is silent on outcome in contrast to the ‘reap what you sow’ vibe that we have seen recently in the Seven of Petacles. Today’s card is short term planning, not long term planting.

Today is a day to put your head down, and stick to your knitting. WHAT that knitting IS can vary a great deal from person to person. Maybe your “knitting” today is protest and vocal activism. Maybe your “knitting” is disaster recovery. Maybe your knitting is rocking a baby to sleep for a nap. Maybe your knitting is just getting through your workday. Maybe your knitting is actual knitting.

Whatever your task may be, today’s energy is a reminder to let our mind rest where our physicality lies. It is exhausting to emotional or enthusiastic or passionate all of the time, even when things are good. More so when they are not. There is a certain deep, spiritual rest in doing simple tasks that don’t need a lot of thought and ask nothing of our emotions. Actual knitting is very meditative in that way. It is very much in the Zen frame of mind. In the words of Alan Watts “Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is to simply peel the potatoes.” Or, in the words of the proverb “Before enlightenment, chop wood and carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood and carry water.”

In still other words: Today is a day for mindfulness and the simple comfort of simple routing tasks. Underneath the tedium and sometimes boredom is a resevoir of quiet mindfulness and comfort when you are of a mind to feel it that way.

Ragged Reality

Reality may not be pretty. “Think positive” some say. What about about being positive things are bad? A problem can not be solved unless you accept that it exists. A problem can not be solved well unless you see it as it actually exists and understand the resources that are available. Problems aren’t the problem. Avoidance, denial, minimization, projection, fear, anxiety, anger, hatred, resentment; these things are problems.

Constantly playing the victim and eternal pessimism are asking for a problem. Denial and Pollyanna positivism are asking for a problem.

Staring reality in the eye, rolling up your sleeves and getting to work is asking for a solution.

Today’s Tarot: Logical make

The Ace of Wands is picking up a thread of energy from yesterday’s Page of Swords. There is still a sense of thinking and an intellectual process of some kind. The Ace of Wands is all about creativity, but in this case is a practical creativity and the logic of making that steps forward. Adam Savage’s excellent book Every Tool’s a Hammer comes to mind. He talks about the problem solving aspects of art, making and creativity in general. Flights of fancy are one thing. In imagination, anything is possible. It takes some serious problem solving and logical making to bring that imagination to tactile, usable life. Creativity combined with making an idea into a real thing is a whole-brain process. It requires us to connect disparate dots, plan, use logic, organize and experiment.

Just because something has never been done before doesn’t mean that you can’t do it now. Just because no one has done something before doesn’t mean that you can’t be the first. Just be ready for some industrial strength problem solving. Dream the dream, then create the logical make.

Today’s Tarot: Brains!

All of the page cards denote learning of some kind or another. Swords are associated with the element of air, and the mental/intellectual realm. This seems to be where the card is going this morning rather than a more modern, relationship driven meaning (your relationship with authority, culture at large, etc.)

If your emotions rule, and you are by nature heart over head, this is a caution to rein that in a little. Look before you leap. Like IBM used to say: THINK.

If you are naturally head over heart, this is your lucky day. Cleverness wins. If this was a Harry Potter movie, Hermione would save the day (again.) Being an “over-thinker” might not be such a bad thing at the moment. Especially if your thinking takes you a few steps ahead, as if you were playing chess.

YouChoose Interactive Tarot 25 July – 1Aug. 2020

Take your week, and the Tarot guidance for it into your own hands. Pick a card, right, center or left. Take your time, pause the video then restart for the reveal…or pick which ever card feels right on an impulse. Both ways work just fine.

Left: Seven of Swords. Mischief is afoot. Stay on your toes. Watch out for pranks, be kind to unintended mistakes

Center: The Magician. Create your world. Like attracts like. A shift in perception and point of view can change the world like magic

Right: King of Pentacles. Focus on the practical. Generally, energies are turning toward the spiritual and esoteric, but this week still needs a grounded and practical approach. Don’t let your head get stuck in the clouds.

Today’s Tarot: I AM doing something

“Just a moment, Mary. I’m having an idea” – Young Einstein

Today’s Tarot: Five of Wands. Keywords – conflict, inner world, element of fire. Inner conflict isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It can take you to a powerful place.

Not all work is visible. Mental focus can be exhausting. Personal growth and spiritual work is work. It may not be obvious to other people, but inner conflict is as valid as the physical combat depicted on today’s card. It is arguably more important.

“Conquering others is strength, mastering yourself is true power” – attr. Lau Tzu

Small changes that you integrate into who you are and can sustain permenantly are the most powerful. It is as true of perception as it is of a healthy diet, new exercise routine, adding a meditation practice to your day…any change really. It can be the most challenging…and challenged … part of real self improvement. Others may confront you about small changes without even realizing it. “Don’t you…” “When did you start…” “Just one time won’t matter…” and other little off handed comments can derail the best intentions without meaning to. If you are supporting someone, respect the small as much as the big. If you are making changes, lots of small step can get you to where you want to go just as much as a giant leap….just like a mouse can frighten an elephant or a tiny little mosquito can drive you up a wall. Little things mean a lot. They are worth any challenges they may bring.

Especially since these kinds of small steps and inner challenges are winnable conflicts. The five of wands often connotes conflict, but with an undercurrent of success in the end. Yes, long term small changes may not be evident to an outside observer, or show immediate success, but the Five of Wands gives encouragement to go along with its heads up message. Sure, little challenges and possible inner conflicts may be on the horizon, but they are winnable, do-able things. It may not be obvious on the outside, but you ARE doing something, even when you are busy having a new idea.

Today’s Tarot: Seven Coins and One Hundred Thank Yous

THANK YOU each and every one. No matter if you are seeing this directly from your YouTube subscription or if you are on the blog or social media – thank you. As you can tell, (insert Star Trek Dr. McCoy voice) dammit Jim, I’m a writer not a YouTuber. I really didn’t know what to expect when I started the channel. Triple digits are both a surprise and a priveledge. I’ll do all I can to make the channel and blog only get better from here.

I appreciate all of you who have taken the time to comment on YouTube. I’ll reply individually in time (once I get my almost boomer brain around how to do that effeciently) But yes, you are absolutely right. These videos ARE short – for a reason. They were always intended to be a starting point. I hope you’ll follow the description link to get the full written reading. There are plenty of speech to camera talking head Tarot videos out there. I want this to be about the cards and the *intuitive process*. Intuition and mental processes don’t make for exciting video.

And yes, I’ll be making videos of actual readings on a variety of topics, career included. Comments on the website are closed, but you are welcome to use the feedback page or email to send any questions, comments suggestions or topics you would like to see covered both on the YouTube channel and in the blog.

But now back to the reason we are all here…

Seven of Pentacles: Give stuff time and space to grow. Tarot evolved in medieval Europe, even if it was initially just a game. Even if it didn’t make the jump from game to fortune telling device or spiritual practice until the eighteenth or nineteenth century, the culture was still more agrarian than industrial. That would explain why this card is so rooted in gardening images and metaphores. You reap what you sow – literally. It is both warning and a promise. If you plant artichokes, you are going to get artichokes, not a field of daisies. It is a warning that if you throwdown bad stuff, bad stuff will come right back at you, in some form or another. It is a promise, that if you put in the effort, that if you plant seeds there will indeed be a harvest, in one form or another. Warning and promise take time. To get the good stuff, you have to put in the work, invest good things, and let nature take its course a little bit, but nature promises some sort of return, symbolically speaking. Sure, real life farming can take disasterous turns that are no fault of the farmer. Metaphorically speaking: nature gives back, always, sooner or later. What nature gives is in many ways up to you, what you do, and how you perceive the result. A tomato may not be picture-perfect, but still taste delicious.

YouChoose Interactive Tarot July 11 -18

Pause the video if you need a minute to choose your card. It isn’t a hard and fast prediction. It is just a thought to guide you, a light that shines in dark corners where you might otherwise missed something kind of cool. So no pressure. I don’t add crystals and trinkets and make the YouChoose pictures all instagram pretty for a reason. Those things help intuition and make the choice more pleasant, but this is swinging a weighted bat in a way, for those of you who want to give raw intuition a little more of a workout. In a plain picture like this, you have to follow your heart as much as your eye to the right card.

Left: Seven of Cups There are two seven cards in this weeks group of three. I’m choosing to see that as good luck and a bit of hopefulness for everyone this week. Goodness knows we Americans could use some of that. But this card is also permission to take it easy on yourself. Go easy on the decision making and embrace the KISS with both arms. Keep it simple. Cut to the chase. Brush away every bit of the minutae and get to the heart of things and the path will become crystal clear.

Center: Seven of Wands. This is the second of our two 7 cards this week. I’m still going to deliberatly choose to hold space for something good to come along this week, even if the sh*tshow continues unabated here in America. In fact, digging deep in our comic / geek / sci fi culture is just the thing this card is giving for advice. There are going to be challenges, but they are deal-able, especially if we do it with a little style. This is the week to channel your inner Deadpool, Ironman, Spiderman, Star Lord, Captain Mal, Han Solo or whatever other wise-cracking antihero you have lurking in there. You can save your world with two swords and warp factor 9.

Right: Three of Wands. Watch and chill. No, I don’t mean Netflix. This is a wait until you see the whites of thier eyes, everyone stay frosty kind of watch and chill. This isn’t a moment to act, but rather watch for the just-right moment to act with precision and impact. Think cat. Think watching, ready, waiting for the perfect moment to pounce.

Meta: I’m a gestalt kind of gal. Maybe that’s why I’m good at this Tarot thing. The more big-picture I can understand things, the happier I am. Taking all three cards as a whole, the energy is flowing toward a state of relaxed but awake and ready. Don’t stress, just deal, roll with it. It reminds me of paramedics and other rescue types. One of the best bits of advice I ever heard from one of them, back in my hospital days: “Prepare for the emergency and the emergency goes away.” True. Worrying never solved anything. My martial arts days taught me that a relaxed punch is faster than a tense one. That’s true too. If you are relaxed knowing that shot in the arm is going to pinch a little, it may not hurt at all. Staying chill is the path to overcoming whatever life throws at it. It will be ok, so have some fun along the way.