Tag: owl

Same Courage, Different Direction

Changing direction in the face of fear is not the same as being stopped by it.

Go prefrontal cortex! Go! You can do it!

Hello and welcome to TaoCraft Tarot blog and podcast. I’m glad you are here.

Today I picked up the Allyman’s Tarot Deck and drew the Undaunted card. This is the first time I’ve drawn it. Over six months into using this gorgeous deck, and I’m still discovering cards. I still haven’t gotten around to reading the guidebook. I haven’t finished that Chuck Wendig library book that is due next week either, so Mr. Wendig and Mr. Asmund are in good company together. I’ll read about the Undaunted card in a few minutes after I get this started. Who knows? This might even post before noon for a change. Let’s see.

I love this card.

Color on black is my favorite look and blue is my favorite color so this was an instant favorite on first glance aesthetics alone. To me, undaunted, connotes courage and level headed reactions to adversity. Go prefrontal cortex! That’s the area of the brain that lets us do that sort of thing. If I were to connect this card to a classic Waite Smith card, I’d be the knight of swords, but this has a different tone and direction. The knight is active, fast, now, self-confident. I associate the knight of swords with someone yelling “Geronimo” and diving right into a situation. Undaunted is strong and self confident, but undaunted is also less about galloping straight in and more about being inexorable at any speed and in any direction.

Confidence and action upside down reminds me of fear, anxiety and reticence. Fear and anxiety exist for a reason, however. Evolution drummed it up as a way to help keep us alive. I think we are meant to do something when we are afraid. It might be fight. It might be flight. Either one is still doing something.

Being undaunted isn’t about being an unstoppable juggernaut in one single direction. It is about moving and doing and trying regardless of circumstances, even when those circumstances require some finesse and change and adaptability. Changing what you plan and do because of fear is not the same as being stopped by it. Changing because of fear or anxiety isn’t failure. It’s adaptation. It’s survival.

Ok.

I’ve had my say. Let’s see what the deck creator has to say. Where is that guidebook?

Here we go – this card was created by Shan Bennon, by the way. Undaunted in reverse, page 133 of the Alleyman’s Tarot guidebook “a hidden creature unwilling to show itself for fear of being known.”

Hiding. That’s doing something. Sometimes it is both tactical and strategic to lay low. Watching, waiting, analysing, planning, changing direction…all of those things are doing something, even if it doesn’t look like our stereotypical notion of full gallop ahead courage.

Even when that something is watch and wait and hide and feel and just survive, doing something in the face of fear or anxiety makes you undaunted.

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Thanks again. See you at the next sip!

Alleyman’s Tarot by Seven Dane Asmund and Publishing Goblin LLC, used with permission.

Video music “Modern Crusaders” by Enigma via YouTube Shorts

Podcast intro and outro music “Daylight is not for Owls” by Owltree used under attribution non-commercial no-derivative creative commons 3.0 international license.

Never No Means Always

when there is never no hope, that means there always is.

There is never no hope means that there always is.

Hello and welcome to TaoCraft Tarot blog and podcast. I’m glad you are here.

To my way of thinking, the eight of swords is one of those cards with dire looking art, but a bright kernel of courage and perseverance held within it. Just like the yin yang, deep inside anything is the seed of its opposite.

The 8 of swords could be seen as hopeless. The figure is bound, surrounded by swords. As long as time still flows, there is hope. Ropes may loosen, swords fall. Gaps can be found with slow, deliberate, careful, small movements.

This eight of swords card is from the alleyman’s tarot deck by seven dane asmund, used with the author and Publishing Goblin permission. Card art by Liz Mamot.

Swords denote both intellect and action. They also connect with the element of air which can find the smallest spaces and flow between obstacles. When the eight of swords shows up it is your cue to act but thoughtfully. Use out of the box thinking and creative problem solving. Flow and adapt like an autumn breeze. Move, but gently. As long as time still flows there is something to do, even if it is to wait for your opportunity.

Thank you so much for listening. The podcast music is “Daylight is not for Owls” by Owltree, used under a attribution noncommercial nonderivative creative commons license.

The blog and podcast are not monetized. That means that your Tarot message comes first, but it relies on audience support. Please visit the TaoCraft Tarot page on ko-fi where your purchases, memberships and virtual coffees all support this unique and free to access Tarot Content.

Links are in the episode description for podcast listeners.

Thank you again. See you at the next sip!