meaning – Page 3 – Sage Sips / TaoCraft Tarot

Today’s Tarot: Big Little Things

In the taijitu (the yin yang symbol) each half contains a dot of the opposite color. The idea is that anything in the extreme can become its opposite. There are different ways of reading the I Ching, the book of changes. Throwing three coins is the method I know best and have used the most. I’ll spare you all the details, but you use three coins to determine if a given “line” is yine or yang. Six throws, gives you six lines, and that in turn tells you which part of the book to read for your guidance. Using coins, heads mean yang and tails mean yin. If you get two of three coins showing one way or the other, that tells you the definition of the ‘line’ as either yin or yang. If you get all three coins the same it is considered a “changing line” which means it is SO yin or SO yang that it can easily tip over into being its opposite (or is in the process of doing so)

The Ten of Coins is a liminal symbol like a transition line. Coins (or Pentacles, depending on the deck you use) have to do with the physical realm, wealth, career, etc. 10 is the largest of the number cards before you move into the esoteric, idea-driven court cards. 10, in this case, is something coming to fruition or completion. It is the uber-pentacle of all the number cards. Given all of that, you might expect to see material successes represented, the Tarot equivalent of a mansion and a yacht.

Not so.

The Ten of Pentacles is the happy family card. It shows simple contentment, in the RWS tradition usually mom, dad, their 2.2 kids, white picket fence, grampa and the dog. Granted, that sounds like a 1950s surburban ideal gone wild, but that’s kind of the point. The pinnacle of material success isn’t material at all. The pinnacle of material success is the people you love and simple contentment with the cycles and flows of life. Life, love and simple mindful pleasures are, after all, the greatest of treasures. All those little things are really kind of big.

The Times in a Tarot Card

I don’t claim to have prescient vision, but I have been reading a lot of Dune lately (the whole enchilada, actually, including the Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson prequels, in chronological order) This card draw reminds me a little of that scene in the original Dune novel where Paul first sees the future in the desert after the large intake of spice, and describes it at waves. Some parts clear, some parts hidden, like the peaks and valleys of the sand dunes.

The big, cultural, gestalt, zeitgeist energy in 2020 has been like that too. It is so strong, that I see that general energy (what I look to see when I write these general audience blog posts) echoed in individual energies more than ever before.

I associate the Justice card with the second wave of the 2020 zeitgeist. I’m really starting to like that word zeitgeist. It has a nice ring for this ghastly year in American public life. Happy 4th of July btw. Although in my mind, this year it feels more like the U-day episode of Firefly, but that is another unrelated story.

First, it was the unease, worry, physical realm focus and hatch-battening energy of stay at home orders and the early days of the pandemic. The Justice card turned up before and again now in the context of the second wave, the black lives matter, George Floyd, anti-racism, anti-brutality protests. The justice card is just as obvious and face-value as it seems in this context. It is the right energy time for speech and action for justice, as if there was a a collective intuition that outdoor, spread-out, majority mask wearing protests were relatively safe, especially when compared to crowded, unmasked indoor political rallies.

Justice is giving both a validation and advice message. There is that sense of validation that the energies are right, this is the time for these protests. The advice is don’t stop. I can attest that the so-called maga movement has been simmering for 50 years under various names – tea party, silent majority, moral majority and a disturbingly large number of others. They won’t give up…they haven’t stopped, ever. The injustice, racism and hatreds were always there, the only thing that has changed is how well camouflaged or how open and overt those sentiments have been. They haven’t stopped so neither can we. Whether it is actively marching or simply taking a moment to spare a compassionate thought for your fellow man, don’t give up and never stop. Injustice never sleeps, so justice can not slumber. People of compassion and decency can’t slow up or give up. The racists and facists won’t. Over two hundred years of American history has proven that.

Reason with heart, impassioned wisdom, and fierce compassion must lead the way.

Tarot: The World (with quote)

Today’s Tarot: Gestalt and Context

Today’s card picks up and continues the theme from this week’s YouChoose Interactive Tarot, finding the unity behind the duality. The advice here again is to look for the big picture. Look to the background context to understand whatever your top of mind concern might be. The old adage “don’t lose the forest in the trees” is another way to say it. You know how photos of something to buy online often has a person’s hand or a coin or a pen or other common object to give you an idea of the actual size of the object being sold. That is the kind of relative perspective the Tower card will sometimes point out to us. The World calls for a bigger big picture. Look at the thing, the other thing shown, the relative size AND the background AND the lighting in the photo. See the difference?

Another example is one of those crazy hard jigsaw puzzels that have a lot o little pieces but big areas of the same color. If there is just one piece missing, it is easy to focus on the hole and make the piece fit. But early on, you have to look at the big picture….the shape of the puzzle, the piece relative to all of the others plus the picture on the box.

Sometimes there isn’t any one big AH-HA moment. Sometimes you have to piece together the big picture from all of the clues around you.

YouChoose Interactive Tarot: The Unity Behind the Duality

Clear your mind just for a moment. No one is asking you to stop thinking about things, or worrying about whatever – you can get back to that in a minute. But for now, just for a few seconds, set all of that aside. Take a deep breath, watch the first few seconds of the video and pick a card, left, center or right. Pause the video if you need more time, then restart to see the reveal. No need to over-think it. Just pick whatever card seems like the right one for you after that deep breath. Here we go.

Left: Six of Wands. A wreath is one of the most common symbols on this card, at least in RWS based decks. That circle shape reminds me of oneness, wholeness, a certain universality to everything. The six of wands is a harbinger of a peaceful time following some sort of conflict or challenge. Peace and war are, by definition, mutually exclusive. The reasons behind them are not necessarily so. What is the reason? Why? Why do you seek peace? Why do you act against your enemy? Love can, in some circumstances be the impetus for both. This reminds me of a favorite quote, attributed to G.K. Chesterson “A true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.” When hate is in front of you, a warriors stance is an act of love. Remember that the next time you see protesters chanting ‘no justice, no peace’ It isn’t a threat. It is prerequisite. Wands have to do with the inner world. The six of wands and the world today leave us with much to ponder.

Center: Two of Cups. All of the cards this week hint at looking for unity. This is the obvious one. This is THE card for everyone on the lookout for that special someone, symbolizing unity of purpose, a long term stable relationship. If you are in one…rejoice. Appreciate them, thank them. Now is a good time to pamper and treat them. The cozy intimate feeling that will come with the kindness will be nice for both of you. Love is love. Celebrate it anytime. No need to wait for anniversaries or February ‘hallmark holidays.

If you are still looking and hoping, think of biggest of big pictures. Look at the growing moon. You and your special someone are under this same big sky. When you connect to the universe, you connect with your soulmate, too, because they are an intimate and inseparable part of the greater whole just as you are.

Right: Two of Swords. Like the Six of Wands, the Two of Swords has a fairly consistent interpretation across various decks. In this case the interpretation by Diane Morgan, author of one of my all time favorite Tarot books “Magical Tarot, Mystical Tao” jumps to mind because it is both atypical and in keeping with the thread of unity that touches the other cards. In fact, she describes it as “mystical unity.” Most resources view the card as symbolizing indecision, or choosing between equal “six of one, half dozen of the other” options. Ellen Dugan puts it as choosing between heart and mind, emotions and logic. “Convergence” comes to mind here. If you find the overlap, or if you find the common background and greater unity behind the apparent duality, the need for deciding goes away. If you feel stuck between two equal choices, look for “both” or “all of the above” options. Failing that, why are you holding on to either one? Maybe the answer is ‘neither one.’

Finding the underpinning is important for everyone this week it seems. Looking to the bigger unifying view celebrates our human bonds, clarifies our choices, and asks us which way we face when we take a warriors stance.

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Today’s Tarot: Controlled Burn

The suit of wands is associated with the element of fire. The Three of Wands in particular is associated with waiting combined with alertness, inward activity that isn’t always expressed with outward activity.

It reminds me of an episode of “Avatar: The Last Airbender we recently watched. Controlled fire is life. Uncontrolled fire can lead to destruction. The Avatar was given a leaf with a smodering fire at the center. His training task was to keep the fire from reaching the edge of the leaf for as long as possible but not to extinguish it.

The Three of Wands hints at that same subdued energy and change. It isn’t a card of charging ahead, but still is positive, and hints at success. It isn’t a card of completly standing down and taking a nap. It is a card of watching, analysing, following your dreams, but not chasing and flailing after them.

Follow your passions in a clear, focused, deliberate way. Control the burn, not put out the flame.

YouChoose Interactive Tarot June 7-13: resonance, anomalies, and a find line between

Watch the video, and choose a card. Pause the video if you need a moment. Then restart for the reveal and read the card interpretation below.

This week the energy around the cards are remarkably different from the past several weeks. Last week, I didn’t do a a card draw at all. It just wasn’t the time or place for a chirpy little youtube video. Too much was going on. Democracy was dying, innocents were attacked, it was and is real. If you thought the pandemic was time to get pragmatic, this is the time to act. If nothing else, use whatever social media presence you have to support the protests, and also contact your members of congress and urge them to support the legislation being introduced this week to modify qualified police immunity and improve transparency and accountablility. Above all, please, vote in November. Black lives matter. Love is love. Women’s rights are human rights. Remember peaceful protestors being tear gassed and shot with rubber bullets to give insanity a photo op. Don’t let democracy die. It’s already on a ventelator.

That being said, there has been a shift in the connection of the cards to the general current event energies and the social zeitgeist. These cards are remarkably separate and distinct. I think that might be a reminder that, no matter how intuitive or empathic we may be, we can find, strengthen, protect and enforce the boundary between our own inner world and the energies around us. Even though this has been an issue and message for months now, it is more important than ever to know what is truely you, and what is you responding to outside stimuli. You are the bell, not the thing ringing it. Healthy boundaries are more important than ever. Think for yourself. Feel from a place of compassion more than a place of reactivity.

Another change is the interconnection between the cards themselves. The past several weeks, the cards seemed to work together, like individual words within a sentence. This week they are more like individual bubbles. They seem to be speaking to different people in very different mental places.

Left: Nine of Cups. Job well done! This card is associated with cycles, phases, or projects that have come to completion in a good way. Your boundaries are strong. Don’t feel guilty about what you have (or soon will) accomplished. Stay strong so you can inspire others. Your energy flows with the quote from Mahatma Ghandi to “be the change you want to see in the world”

Center: Five of Wands. Are you ready to rumble? Life is turbulent right now. Even if you are perfectly happy and content energies and challeges might take some annoying swipes at you. Stay chill, you’ll get through it. I get very martial arts, kung fu images here. Conflict can be rightous. This reminds me of the CK Chesterson quote “A soldier fights not because he hates what is before him, but because he loves what is behind him.”

Right: Temperance. You are still in a place where it isn’t a good time to be overly spiritual, or make any big decisions. It is extra important for you to be sure of your balance. Take whatever extra time you need before making big choices or moving big steps ahead. Work from your center, work and think and decide from the most centered, most level headed, lowest emotional temperature place that you can muster. Balance and clear headedness is critical, with the full force of a major arcana card.

It’s not much, but it’s what I have right now: 20% of all proceeds from the new “TimeFlow” Tarot readings by email will be donated to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) through August 30, 2020. Please visit the special offers page to order.

Thank you all for reading and watching the videos.

Today’s Tarot: Might As Well

“Don’t Panic.” – Douglas Adams

Problems and conflicts are going to happen anyway, so we might as well face them with heart, humor and style.

Until it is time to stand, in all strength and seriousness against hate and violence.

In solidarity with all who peacefully protest. Silence is indeed implicit violence.

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” – Desmond Tutu

YouChoose Interactive Tarot for May 17-23, 2020

Left: Eight of Cups. This card always has a bittersweet feel to me, but in the end it is a very triumphant sort of message. It validates courage that has been gathered, progress that has been made. It take both to be able to move on emotionally from difficult situations. Moving ahead does not require that you leave memories or behind. This is more about going on with life with those things, neither abandoning nor stagnationg with them.

Center: Two of Wands. This is a week of opportunity, you can have the world in the palm of you hand, but timing is critical. Discretion really is the better part of valor. Be thoughtful, diplomatic, careful … look before you leap … but when the time comes, when the time comes, jump in. Watching, analysing and couragous action may all be needed.

Right: Seven of Pentacles. Plant seeds that are worth the wait. Thus is the week for foundation building, not instant gratification. Plant seeds that will a good harvest. Build a foundation for something to stand the test of time. In my minds eye I see precisely cut white marble or granite like greek temples or the Washington monument. Precision, attention to detail, and best effort (here Deadpool pops up with “two swords and maximum effort”) Long story short, focus on quality now to create domething that will be worth the wait later.

Psst…a new freebie

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