Tag: modern oracle

This Best be Coffee in this Darn Goblet

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Steampunk Tarot by Barbara Moore and Aly Fell General permissions via http://www.Llwellynpublishing.com

I miss the fish.

Steampunk Tarot deck is the first deck I’ve received as a gift. It is a treasure for that reason, as I treasure the loved ones who gave it to me.

I’ve kept it for special readings, but lately have been doing the daily meditation / card-a-day exercise to get better acquainted with the deck. It is interesting. No disrespect to Ms. Moore, but it seems like I get a different message from the cards than she does, which is precisely the power and beauty of tarot. It speaks to all of us wherever we are at the time, and like the Oracle in The Matrix, tells us what we most need to hear. This is one of those cards and meanings that have followed me through time and from deck to deck to deck, whatever the little (or not so little) white (or not so white) book that comes with the deck might say.

The deck is great, but in this case I miss the fish. There are lots of decks and lots of page of cups cards without a fish in the artwork. But c’mon….a fish in a cup. There has to be comedy gold in there somewhere. This page still makes me smile with that under-caffinated, not a morning person, mopey, snarky, deadpan look on her face. If this card could talk, I imagine she would sound like Lydia in Beetlejuice.

I know, I know…the fish is the mysteries of the deep and the page of cups is associated with learning intuition, emerging psychic ability, imagination, sensitivity, kindness….

But who says any of that stuff has to be pedantic, serious and deep all of the time? Who says you have stare at your fish with a straight face? Every deck, whether it has a fish or not, has that same undercurrent. Behind all of the psychic learning and spiritual growth is a smile and a reminder to find the humor in everything, even intuition and spirituality.

So cheers! Here is to the fish in our lives and the coffee in our morning goblets. Enjoy!

You Are Part of Something Big

I totally agree with Theresa here. There is no denying the unique beauty of our solar system and the dance it does. It is the essence of our point of view on the cosmos. But it is just that, a relative point of view but not absolute reality. How the sun and moon align with other stars from the singular perspective of planet Earth is breathtaking, beguiling, and our portal to larger understanding to be sure. But these alignments have little meaning to other parts of the universe. The Mars rovers gave a very different view of…and energy environment from…tonight’s “super blood wolf moon.” It’s going to be gorgeous for those able to view it, no doubt about that. Celebrate it, enjoy it, soak up its energy, yes. Still, don’t forget that there is a larger Cosmos than the sun, the Earth, and the Moon. You are as much a part of that larger Cosmos as you are part of Earthly beauty and the Earthly perspective. The dance nearby is magical, but you can make your own music any time you like. The dance hall of the Cosmos is big enough for any and all of us to dance free.

Spark in the Dark

hermit

We all see the sky together, even when we stand alone in the night

 

Ah, intuition. Bundle of contradictions, that.

On one hand, I just got finished saying I’m done preaching to the masses. On the other hand, here I am posting a daily meditation for the masses.

On one hand this blog is direct, personal, for YOU. On the other hand, this is given in the hope of helping someone, somewhere. I have no idea who. I have no idea how, where or when. But here it is.

The thing that keeps it all from being contradictory to the point of hypocrisy is the convincing part of it. When I say no more preaching to the masses, I mean no more tryint to convince the general public how helpful Tarot is or try to entice them to Tarot with jump-on-the-bandwagon stuff like doing yearly predictions. Instead of some kind of infomercial, this is a cozy little workshop. I hope this helps….helps YOU. If it spreads the word about Tarot or puts my contact in front of eyeballs, great. But that’s not the core intent. It was creeping too much toward that kind of feeling before. As Scott Cunningham said, “the feeling is the power”. So it is here. It FEELS different, more powerful, to write these posts like I’m talking one to one with a client, not publishing for a wider audience. I hope you can feel the difference too. This card is for you.

The Hermit wants our attention tonight. He turned up in a client reading earlier today, and when I did a random draw for the blog tonight, here he is again.

This kind of repetition happens sometimes. This time I used an entirely different deck than I used for the reading earlier. Sometimes, when I am reading for a Tarot party, a particular card will keep turning up time and again, despite shuffling, let the client choose the cards, all sorts of randomizing. It is an experience in synchronicity, that’s for sure. If a card keeps turning up like that, it is meaningful and worth paying attention.

Some say that means the card is trying to get a message through to the reader. Sometimes that is true. Other times, it just doesn’t resonate personally, so I chalk it up to the vibe of the group. I let it ride as symbolic of the evening as a whole. It is endlessly fascinating when that happens. When you combine the shades of meaning, times the layout positions raised to the power of all the various meanings for the card itself…even with the same card, each person get an intensely personal message.

That seems to be what is happening with the hermit tonight. It is indeed a message for me – reminding me of that party phenomena. Reminding me that it is possible to be direct and personal … one to one as a hermit would teach…even in a blog like this. There is one person on the other end of this post. Even if there are a lot of one persons in a lot of places reading at various times….it is still just one other person. The message may not be for your eyes only, but if you are still here reading this, then this blog is, indeed for your eyes.

By the same token, I’ve subscribed to some newsletters that take the chummy one to one thing too far and computer insert a first name just a bit much. I don’t want TaoCraft to sound like Dale Carnegie seminar threw up in a Diagon Alley tarot shop. So if I start to annoy you with this personalized tone, for the love of Plato, please email me with the feedback. The addy is over there in the right column –>

Best

R.

A Year of….Sinatra?

malodds

2019 is a year of new beginnings.

Yeah, I know. We say that every New Year, then nothing changes. The world is covered in resolutions, predictions & good intentions when January 1st rolls around. This year, the energy of it seems different. It feels like it just might be real this time. The energy for transformation and re-invention has been building for a while now. For me personally, it began in when my daughter started college. Newly empty-nested, I let Modern Oracle go and began the moderately terrifying work of re-inventing my Tarot work from the ground up.

queenswords

I’ve seen that kind of new purpose happening all around. A personal trainer turned tarot reader, a musician turned personal trainer, an energy healing created her personal brand, a perfume maker reformed her old brand, and a long time martial arts friend passed the teaching baton to his students and began a new career altogether – just to name a few. If you are thinking of stepping into your power and becoming who you truly are, then join the party! You are most definitely not alone.

Last week, I started to do the typical Tarot reading for the new year thing. I even went so far as to pull cards and stare at them for a long while before realizing I’m done with this particular exercise. I’m done with predicting the national energy for the masses. TaoCraft is about talking with you. Yes, YOU. You, right there reading this screen. I’m done worrying about “getting it wrong” with the yearly predictions. I’m over trying to be inoffensive and neutral in order to convince everyone of the value of Tarot and trying to coax people into buying a reading. Don’t get me wrong. I WANT business. I want all the paying customers willing to work with me. I NEED the work and money as much as anyone else. I might shell out a little for traditional advertising, but I am no longer willing to pay the price of being less-than or inauthentic in order to pander to the public. Like that movie said “If you build it they will come.” TaoCraft is built on authenticity. I’m here to help YOU, not to enlighten the general public. If you don’t resonate with what I offer, no worries, no judgement. It just checks one more thing off your list in the search for the thing that does resonate with you. Sometimes finding what you don’t want is a big step toward finding the very thing that you do.

For my part, authenticity keeps negative energies at bay. If someone objects to what I do, fine. There is the door. No more bending to fit. No more coaxing, cajoling, or convincing. This is about lighting a candle and let those who need this particular light come and be welcomed.

So a new year Tarot spread is out the window. The next thing to go is the “word for the year” idea. Usually a particular word or concept would slowly emerge as as a theme for the new year. This year is very different. Right away it is clear 2019 is going to need more than one word.

chariot

When I looked intuitively at 2019, the mental image that came was like a storm of mad hornets. No one word is getting us through that. How DO you navigate something like that? What came to mind then was high skill close formation flying like they do at air shows, combined with pure instinct like schooling fish, flocking birds, or Han Solo in the asteroid field in The Empire Strikes Back. Each individual does their part, so everyone doesn’t bash into everyone else. That not only does that take skill and instinct, that takes mindfulness. You can’t re-invent yourself in the middle of a storm of hornets if your mind is somewhere else. In short, 2019 is asking us for transformation, authenticity, and mindfulness.

No general, nation wide, tarot spread this year. No idealistic, pie in the sky words or themes. For 2019 we simply have things to do, people to be and moments to live mindfully. Let’s do this.

“To do is to be – Socrates

To be is to do – Plato

Do be do be do – Sinatra”

-ancient and wise T shirt of unknown origins
image: creator unknown. assumed public domain. Tarot card images from the public domain via sacred-texts.com

Zombie Cat Q&A: Will I get a cat in 2019?

Until midnight 12-31-18: Get a FREE Zombie Cat yes/no reading. Just FOLLOW the blog (psst….follow button over there –> ) and email your question to TaoCraftTarot@gmail.com. Your answer will post here, just like this one

 Q: Will I get a cat in 2019?

Your Cards are:

 

  • Ace of Cups
  • Ace of Coins
  • Four of coins

A: Yes….Why not?

Actually, there are a few good reasons why not…

  • Are you or any of the humans you live with allergic to cats? I’ve seen it happen, and it isn’t pretty. One family member is allergic, but another is too attached to re-home the kitty who has to live with a couple of miserable, resentful humans. Maybe not that tragic, but still not the best vibe possible for humans or felines.
  • While we are on the topic of close relationships (ace of cups) are you allowed to have cats where you live? Cats want a home, not to live a perpetual smuggler’s Kessel run (Star Wars reference – Zombie Cat likes sci fi)
  • Are you willing to commit to giving your fur-friend a long term home? Will they be one of your close circle of friends (still ace of cups)
  • Can you afford to gear up and give your cat the things he needs (food, litter box, toys, vet care if needed, spay/neuter) (ace of coins)
  • Advice: If you can do it right, go for it. Rescue, rescue rescue! A shelter cat is the most affordable way to maybe save a furry life even on a modest budget (4 of coins) plus BONUS! shelter folks know a lot, and can help you if you have any questions about your new fuzz buddy floof friend.

Happy New Year to both of you!

 

Today Only

Today Only:

  1. Click “follow” over there -> (or around here somewhere if you are on mobile) If you already follow, THANK YOU
  2. Send an e-mail to TaoCraftTarot@gmail.com with any yes-or-no question for a #freegiveaway #YesOrNo in style
  3. Watch for your answer in the (adjusted for privacy – no one can tel it is you. Names are never used, e-mails are never shared)

Just for fun. No monetary value. Use at your own risk, after all it says ZOMBIE right there in the name. All Zombie Cat readings are 100% GUARANTEED to contain words and sentences. Anything beyond that is a coin toss with a solid 50% chance of being dead wrong. No lifeguard on duty, swim at you own risk. Wash your hands. Eat your vegetables. Get vaccinated.

Wishing all of you a happy, healthy, prosperous 2019!