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Today’s card is the Ten of Swords. It is always one of the more dire looking cards in the Waite Smith or RWS derived decks. Being stabbed in the back with ten swords can’t be a good thing.
In fact, it would suck. Is there a problem here? Why yes, yes there is.
You can’t stop the sucking until you admit it exists. Panic doesn’t help. Denial doesn’t help. Seeing things as they are, even if they are a big problem, is the first step in solving the problem. You don’t have to like it. You don’t have to be happy or chipper or brave about it. I can’t quite put my finger on it but there is a movie reference or some sort of pop culture trope here, kind of like the Witcher’s deadpan f-bombs, or Eddie Murphy’s character in Trading Places asking if there is a problem, or something very Tony Stark about the energy here. Or maybe that meme where somebody’s famous last words were probably going to be “well (expletive) THAT didn’t work!”
My hunch is that if you feel drawn to this card and this reading today, that there may be a problem that you are resisting or denying. It isn’t predicting that something dire will happen, it’s asking you to consider that a problem already has.
“Tarot doesn’t tell you what will happen in life, it helps you figure out what to do when life happens.”
Here, the what to do that comes to mind is best described by dharma drum mountain global website
“Four Steps for Handling a Problem —A Proposition for Resolving the Difficulties of Life
Face it : face the difficulty squarely
Accept it : accept the reality of the difficulty
Deal with it : deal with the difficulty with wisdom and compassion
Let it go : afterwards, let go of it”
Is there a problem? When the answer is yes, it is ok to not be ok and it’s ok to be not ok for as long as you need to deal with the problem and heal.
Thank you for again for reading, watching and listening. I hope you’ll like, subscribe, follow and share. See you at our next sip of Tarot.
This video is about as Monday as it can get, but here it is in all of its rough, rambling, boy-do-I-need-another-cup-of-coffee glory.
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YOU choose how this video / reading is to be used. A look at the week ahead, guidance for your day, or guidance about a particular question or topic….you choose.
BUT it works best if you have your purpose clearly in mind when you choose your card.
Take a minute, or choose on impulse. If you want more time to think, pause the video and restart when you are ready to see your card revealed and hear the interpretation.
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Thank you so much for reading and watching! I really appreciate your support.
Sunday Short Tarot Turnovers are a blog-only intuition exercise for you where we turn a Tarot Reading on its head. Instead of YouChoose – ing a card, I choose the card and you interpret it. There aren’t any trick, tips or how-to.
My martial arts teacher always says that the best way to train for a thing is to do a thing. That is exactly the kind of routine low-pressure practice that will help you be able to read well when the emotional heat is on.
This is easy. Just read through the list of meanings and see if and how any of them speak to you or guide you….or make up a meaning of your own just for you, just for today. This is an exercise in following your own intuition. If no meaning jumps out as the right one, just ponder the card every now and then and see if anything comes to you as the day goes on. That’s the kind of “daily meditation” Tarot that my ebook PeaceTarot teaches you to do. (It’s inexpensive and available right now as a pdf download in the ko-fi shop.)
Today’s card is the Five of Swords
Even though the podcast is shifting to the short form daily meditation format, I’ll still do “confessional” or Q&A episode occasionally. YOUR QUESTIONS ARE WELCOME in the comments or by email.
Thanks for reading! I hope you will follow the blog, that way all of the free TaoCraft Tarot content will come to your inbox – short sip tarot, video demonstrations, YouChoose Interactive Tarot, announcements…all of it.
For an extra reading every month, the Reading Room membership is available through ko-fi. For $5 per month you get a three card members only three card pathway reading through the ko-fi blog, newsletter, random special offers and giveaways and a personal, just-for-you “Year Ahead” Tarot reading by email when you join.
Thank you for tuning in to TaoCraft Short Sip Tarot guidance for the day in the time it takes to sip from your morning coffee
Today’s card is the Ten of Wands. It is generally about carrying a heavy mental or emotional load, or feeling burdened somehow. The advice is to evaluate your connections, obligations. Think about hat is really needed, and what can be let go.
The same is true when it comes to things getting in your way. Here the card is asking if the block or road bumps or challenges that are on your mind are really as bad as they seem. Is there any chance that you are making a mountain out of a mole hill? Are you putting undue pressure on yourself? It’s not uncommon for people to be their own worst critic sometimes.
When a card turns up with these kinds of ideas attached to them, it doesn’t mean that it is something you are doing. Tarot sometimes can show us mistakes we are making without realizing it. More often than not it is about suggesting the right question. Tarot is a prompt and a conversation starter in a way.
So this card isn’t saying you are definitely getting in your own way or sabotaging yourself. It is only asking you to look for that, to consider that possibility. If you give it some thought and don’t see self-sabotage, exaggerating a problem, or carrying undue burdens, then you can move forward with confidence and look for different solutions. If the answer is yes, at least you’ll know where the real problem lies and you can knock it off.
Welcome to TaoCraft Short Sip Tarot: a one card meditation Tarot reading in the time it takes to sip from your morning coffee.
Today’s card is the Fool, traditionally the first card in the major arcana part of the Tarot deck.
Here we have yet another example how one card can have multiple layers or threads of meaning. Over time, every card has picked up about a bazillion and a half key word meanings and short interpretations.
As we talked about with the Judgement card yesterday, just because one meaning is given for one reading, and another meaning is used in another session or by another reading doesn’t mean that one interpretation was right and the other was wrong. It just goes to show how Tarot has been able to stay relevant as useful tool for insight, understanding and personal growth. With the abundance of key words, a card can adjust to meet the needs and energies of the moment while staying true to its key symbolism and core meaning?
That’s where personal intuition comes in. We all have it. We can all develop it. But sometimes it is easier to just ask someone. I mean, generally speaking anyone can learn to change the oil in their car. With practice and study they could become a really good card mechanic. I could do that – but I don’t want to. I take it to a pro for that. If you don’t want to sort out which thread of meaning a card holds for you, that’s what I’m here for. Not only can I do a full on reading for you, I can consult with you to get a better understanding of a reading you’ve done for yourself. But that’s beside the point.
The Fool card has a couple of core meanings. When that happens in a Tarot card, most of the smaller keyword meanings tend to fall under the heading of the larger core meanings. In this case, the Fool can point toward a new beginning in some way, or it can be a reminder of the value of play and lightheartedness. It is a matter of pure intuition which to use in any given reading that you are doing.
Today, my sense of it the vast general energy out here in the world wide webbernet is pointing toward the playful side of things. I’m not talking about some cutsey sit-com sillyness. Sometimes the Fool card will point to the wisdom that can be spoken through comedy.
In an interview about his book Scorpion’s Gate, author Richard A. Clarke said that sometimes more truth can be told through fiction than nonfiction. The same is true of comedy. A spoonful of laughter helps the difficult ideas go down.
That’s not quite right for today. This is a subtle shift within that core. The energy isn’t as much with the new beginnings side of things, althought if you’ve been needing a push to start something, this could easily be that nudge you’ve been needing.
This isn’t talking about giggly silly play. This isn’t quite talking about learning through humor. It feels like permission.
We’re told that it’s OK to not be OK. That’s true. But it is also OK to be OK. Even in the middle of a time where things are not OK, it is perfectly fine to have a moment where you enjoy something. It is OK to take a moment to play, to allow yourself a moment of enjoyment. Don’t worry – you can get back to being stressed and depressed and all that other stuff in a minute.
Whatever it is, take a deep breath, take a minute, and enjoy.
Thank you for watching, reading and listening to Short Sip Tarot: a thought for your day in the time it takes to sip from your morning coffee. Any likes, subs, shares, follows, referrals or reading orders you can spare are always, always greatly appreciated!
Today’s card is Judgement from the major arcana
I realize we just had the Judgement card recently. I’ll put a link to that post below and in the episode notes for the podcast.
The standard trope is to say that we are repeating a mistake or we haven’t learned an important lesson. This is more benign than that. This is a good example of one card having different threads of meaning that step forward for different readings at different times for different people. We talk about that in “TaoCraft Portfolio” ebook which should be ready for the shops fairly soon.
But again, this serves as a good example of how one card’s meaning isn’t static, or written in stone, and just because you get one meaning in a reading one time, but a different meaning in a different session possibly with a different card reader doesn’t mean that one reading was right and the other one was wrong. It just goes to show that Tarot is a wonderfully adaptable and infinitely useful tool for insight. It is a lens and a portal into the energy and message of the moment, not some irrelevant, ossified pronouncement from on high.
The other day, the energy of second chances and compassion stepped forward. Today it takes on the judge-y ness and judgementalism that makes this card such a nemesis for me. Judgement in other decks is not so much of a problem. Especially in the Witches Tarot and other decks that call it by another name – Karma or what have you. The religious ideas and imagery of Pamela Smith’s artwork pushes old-issue buttons for me that aren’t really related to Tarot at all. Which in itself touches on today’s particular iteration of the Judgement card.
Writing the post earlier this month I realized that when I’m feeling judgemental toward something (or more importantly, someone) it is because that thing is something that would be toxic or detrimental to me. Why should I assume that is true for the other person?
Sure there are some absolutes. You would’t stand silent and let someone drink arsnic just because that isn’t your judgement or your choice….some things are bad for everyone. The same is true of outright racism, bigotry, violent rhetoric or dangerous misinformation. Yes, you oppose it because you judge it to be wrong…but that is the sound reasoning kind of judgement. That kind of thing is about the public spaces where people can come to harm at the hands of others. That’s a whole different matter.
Today’s card is talking about judging the private spaces of others by the measure of how those choices would affect us if they were ours.
Just because something would make us lesser if we did it is not reason to judge others for doing it. A small step in personal growth that we left in the dust ages ago may be a giant leap forward for someone else. Something that may be toxic to us might be nourishment for another.
I realize that is probably obvious to most people, but I’ve witnessed it happening all too much lately. This feels like one of those pushes from spirit where somebody somewhere might need to hear this even though it is uncomfortable and awkward for me to say. I feel pushed to say this for someone, even if it isn’t for most people. If all of this this doesn’t apply to you, by all means reject the message. Let the message flow to the one for whom it is a helpful thing. Let the energy turn on the light where it is needed, even if it isn’t for you.
Let me put it this way – I’ve learned, more recently than I care to admit – that when I catch myself feeling judgemental toward someone else, it is usually because they may embrace something that is harmful or toxic to me personally. Not that it is actively harming me, but in the sense that I view their whatever-it-is as a bad thing. For me to engage with whatever they choose would make me a lesser person. It is all too easy to project my understanding onto the other person. If X makes me a lesser person, then they must be lesser for choosing and embracing it. Again this is talking about the realm of subjective philosophy, not actual harm. Think of it It is the conceptual equivalent of a food allergy in a way. If one person has a severe peanut allergy, they judge peanut butter as a bad thing, and may feel judgemental toward peanut butter, so much so that their primal reflex is to slap a peanut butter sandwich out of other people hands regardless of whether the other person is peanut allergic or not.
I haven’t read it yet, but I’d like to. Buddhist monk Ajahn Sumedho wrote book entitled “Don’t Take Your Life Personally” I think what the card is trying to say today is don’t take other people’s lives and choices personally either.
Your choice is in how you react to circumstances. Beyond that, you have no say in many things. Other people’s choices are not yours.
If you’ve followed the blog on the main website, you’ve heard most of this before, but there is some new stuff sprinkled in like the colored sugar on holiday cookies so I hope you’ll give it all a read anyway.
I’m SO grateful for the chance to say hello and welcome to new followers, new ko-fi supporters AND new members to the Reading Room membership tier (also on ko-fi.) Please be patient if there is a lot of repetition here. I just want to make sure I have all of my proverbial ducks are in a row before the annual Elfcon 1 season.
Just like last new year, I still say that you have to make a plan before life can blow it to bits. Here’s the general plan for the rest of Fall & Winter. Most of this is going to happen both here and on multiple social media platforms. You can find TaoCraft Tarot content on Ko-fi, Instagram, Twitter, FaceBook, YouTube, Linkedin, Anchor Fm, Spotify, Stitcher and Tumblr, but this main website and this blog is the ONLY place that has EVERYTHING all in one place. I hope you’ll join me here. Follow the blog by entering your email over there in the right hand column –>
OR scroll WAAYYYY down on mobile screens and you’ll get all of the free content delivered right to your inbox.
Distance Tarot is OPEN and available to order 24/7. LIVE online readings require an appointment but email readings are all no appointment needed.
In-person readings are back by appointment on an extremely limited basis. We meet in a public place (I prefer these Panera locations) Touchless prepayment is available HERE. Please contact me through TaoCraftTarot@gmail.com to schedule. Facemasks are required regardless of vaccination status. No exceptions.
Sunday Turnover posts will post on – you guessed it – most Sundays. This is a main blog exclusive intuition development exercise.
YouChoose Interactive Tarot is intended to reach through the noise of the internet and give you a more personal Tarot experience. You choose the card, then get a short reading for it. This is a video reading available on the blog, on the YouTube channel and on the Ko-fi blog
Speaking of ko-fi…the Reading Room is OPEN. This is a premium membership tier. For $5 per month members receive a three card “path through the month” reading (via the members-only part of the ko-fi blog) plus random special offers and giveaways plus a private “year ahead” reading by email when you join. E-books are available for instant download in the ko-fi shop. Any virtual coffees that you donate supports website expenses and creating new content for the blog, the youtube channel and the podcast.
Speaking of the Clairvoyant Confessional podcast…
It is now TaoCraft Short Sip Tarot Podcast: guidance for your day in the time it takes to sip from your morning coffee. It is available on anchor fm and Spotify. The logo and content should follow on other platforms soon.
All of this goes toward making my TaoCraft Tarot readings one of the most affordable. I’m a fan of big bangs for every buck – look at this way: I charge $40 for a 1 hour (ish) seven card reading in all formats: in-person, zoom meeting or email. Compare that to the US national average rate of $99 per hour.*
There are no hidden fees and all of my prices are flat rate per reading, not per minute. You know your whole cost up front before the reading even starts with germ free, safe and sanitary pre-payment, securely processed by PayPal.
Not to mention that I have other lower cost email special layouts starting at $5 each.
The Etsy shop is open. I hope to add more “moments” loom beaded bracelets and mala style meditation beads as Elfcon progresses.
Thanks for reading all the way through this! See you for tomorrow’s short sip tarot.
*https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Psychic/Hourly_Rate
Nothing to add to the video at the moment.
Merry Monday! Enjoy!
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Sage Sips / TaoCraft Tarot 
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