pittsburgh tarot reader – Page 3 – Sage Sips / TaoCraft Tarot

Blurry Time ’23: Meet Your Reader

Using blurry-time to reintroduce myself. Hello & Happy Holidays!

Happy Festivus to all who celebrate! Welcome to what I’m calling Blurry Time ’23. Elfcon is over, the preparations are done. It’s all cookies and coffee from here.

I subscribe to Outlined, the web comic by Chaz Hutton. My favorite comic is the drawing of a December calendar page where the second half is basically a bunch of wiggly lines.

That perfectly captures the feel of the season. Even for those of us working a normal day job schedule, there is a sense of shared down time and camaraderie among those out and about actually doing the things for that week between Christmas eve and New Years day.

It’s truly liminal space and time. It is magical time. It is time disconnected from time – or something like that.

2023 as a whole felt very liminal and transitional. It was a blurry-ish year moving from the extended pandemic / dumpster fire years 2020-22 (2016-22 if you live in the U.S.) We’ll get back to how 2024 is looking when we do the annual just-for-fun (and wishful thinking) year-ahead Tarot reading next weekend (-ish)

In the meantime, I want to use blurry time to bridge years.

2023 was the first full year of Sage Words Tarot. I want to circle back around and use the blurry time re-introduce it all for the bright, shiny new year on the way.

I don’t know why – probably no reason at all – but it always seems to start with musing about names.

Hi! I’m Sage.

I’m also a Tarot reader and author of Sage Sips blog with its “Tarot contemplation in the time it takes to sip your coffee.”

I’ve been reading Tarot and oracle cards since around 1992 which adds up to 30 years of experience with Tarot and intuition development (!)

I didn’t originally start out to be a Tarot reader (who does?) At first, I did readings for myself and friends (why PAY for it when you can DIY it?) After close friend suggested I go online with my readings (eternal gratitude!) I offered psychic Tarot readings through Keen, Advice Trader and AllExperts under my old internet handle, Baihu. After doing hundreds of online readings (I stopped counting after 400) I opened my own Tarot practice in 2003 which grew to include ModernOracleTarot.com, the Tarotbytes blog and the now-defunct Quirk & Flotsam shop on Etsy.

It was all good, but had become a hodge-podge of names and logos over the years. Then along came the Covid pandemic and changed things even more. After a short interim as TaoCraft Tarot (2018-2023) I’ve been working as SageWordsTarot.com and writing Sage Sips blog ever since.

TaoCraft lingers in layout names. TaoCraft was drawn from my love of Taoist philosophy. My Tarot work will always be guided by the principles of simplicity, authenticity, and kindness. It was also drawn from my affinity for solitary eclectic witchcraft. The TaoCraft name means a lot to me, but not so much to anyone else who sees it and that’s a problem because these Tarot readings aren’t about me – they are for YOU and about YOU.

Sage is a pen name, which helps to protect our privacy. Christian nationalism and religious bigotry is a very real thing here in America. I will do all I can to make this a safe space for everyone, especially for the lgbtquia+ community and those of us who are not Christian.

The herb sage has a comforting, familiar scent and flavor that most of us know from home cooking and holiday turkeys.

In aromatherapy, sage incense and essential oil can clear negative energy, calm anxiety and promote a feeling of general well being.

The word sage also means something or someone who is wise. The word sage describes the wise advice Tarot gives.

Safety, comfort, calmness, wisdom and a feeling that things are going to be alright are all qualities I hope you’ll experience when you read the blog, visit my social media or best of all get a private reading of your own .

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Learn With Me: Lenormand, snake and fish

Learn Tarot: lenormand fish and snake

Learning Tarot is a process, and part of that process is repetition.

Last time we looked at Lenormand cards, we started to explore two card combinations, which seem to be a big part of the Lenormand style of Tarot reading. Often when particular combinations of cards are seen, the meanings for the cards change a bit, not unlike a reversal in RWS style cards and readings.

The best way to understand that connection seems to be two card sets. It makes sense to understand the foundation, the building blocks of a larger layout before using a larger layout. In RWS style, that foundational building block is the single card reading, which plugs into the individual positions of any layout which is then woven together in a meta-analytical, intuition driven way. I’m still learning Lenormand along with you, but it seems to me that building block isn’t single cards, but the underlying connections between 2 or 3 cards, like a flat mat with dots (single card meanings) stuck on top.

To put it in arts and crafts terms, RWS is knitting while Lenormand is paper-making with speckles on top.

Today we have snake and fish.

So starting with that foundational fabric, what is the common energy matrix behind the Flow and suppleness are common traits between the two.

The fish are associated with prosperity. The snake in the guidebook is associated with typical western cultural meanings like deceit and deviousness. Intuitively, however, I am reminded of Chinese astrology. People born in the year of the snake are said to be competent, wise, intuitive and passionate. When I put all of those aspects together the two-together message is to protect your resources through wisdom and know-how (akin to a four of pentacles combined with an ace of swords sort of vibe)

I’m not sure if or how the playing card insets factor into it. Queen of clubs with the snake is akin to the queen of wands – which reinforces the idea of self-care, in the form of caring for physical resources. The king of diamonds is like the king of pentacles, reinforcing the notion that this is about common sense, physical realm money management more than some sort of grand spiritual lesson.

Sometimes, as Freud said, a cigar is just a cigar. Sometimes, as these cards seem to stay, you just have to mind the budget, even at the holidays. The energy here is all about practical, level headed things, unrelated to spirituality or emotion. Once we make the physical stable and safe, then we can turn our minds and hearts to the spiritual, emotional and intangible.

Between now and New Year I don’t intend to hold to any particular schedule other than doing email private readings as they come in.

Usually I try to do the Learn With Me on Wednesdays and the Substack newsletter as a weekly digest on the weekend, with one card posts as often as I can manage on weekdays.

I’m still of two minds about the “path through the week” thing on Mondays.

What do you think? What kind of readings or posts would you like to see in the blog? For goodness’ sake don’t be shy. As long as it isn’t spam, by all means post your questions or suggestions in the comments. Contact info is in the right hand column (or bottom of the page on mobile) too.

I’m planning to do a bunch of re-introductory and behind the scenes posts over the next few weeks sliding in and around day job, private readings and the holidays.

If you want a private Tarot reading by email, you can order it HERE anytime, 24/7 no appointment needed. I’ll get the typed reading with a photo of your real-world card layout to you usually within 24 hours.

Thank you so much for reading! See you at the next sip!

OPEN for the holidays!

Open for the holidays – announcing January hours

The elves are busy, but not panicked. The squirrels are taking it easy – kicking back munching nuts and drinking spiked eggnog, apparently. I’m going to take the opportunity to spend some quality time with the fam, the kitchen, the knitting needles and an actual library book.

I can slide an email Tarot reading into that scenario pretty easily. Email readings are my happy place, my specialty, my niche and my strong suit in the world of Tarot. Come in to that coziness and read a reading. No appointment needed for this kind of Tarot – order anytime HERE.

I’m @sagewordstarot on Threads, Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr and TikTok. Threads and Instagram are my favorites, so if you want to say hi that’s the best social media place to find me and have actual conversation. The socials might be sporadically quiet, but stay tuned here on the main blog. I have some new posts planned for the blurry-time between now and New Year.

Next up, however, is a Learn With Me: Lenormand tomorrow. See you then!

Party Tarot is pretty much closed for good except for very local, case by case special appearances. In-person individual readings and live online readings are closed until January 2024. In person will resume in January and be available by appointment on Mondays. Live online/phone readings return in January by appointment.

E-mail Tarot is ALWAYS OPEN. Order anytime 24/7. Delivery times are usually within 24 hours but may vary if you place your order nights, weekends or holidays (US eastern time)

Learn With Me: Lenormand, Two Cards

Learn tarot and intuition with moon card and fish card from the lenormand deck.

I don’t think this works quite the way the guidebook says.

I could be wrong, so let’s stick with two card readings for a while and see what turns up.

With the Lenormand deck, a “tableau” reading puts the cards on the table in a simple grid, with the “Grand Tableau” using the entire 36 card deck.

I’ve used the classic 10 card Celtic Cross layout and one of the first layouts I learned was the 9 card in Sam & Carson’s Medicine Cards. It was interesting to compare those two. Even years into reading experience 9 cards was a tipping point for me. 9 was a lot, but it was a perfectly serviceable layout with plenty of detail, but it was a heavy lift at times to work through it, even later with plenty of reading experience behind me. As soon as I would use a 10 card cross, the energy would get knotty, and contradictory and verge on nonsense. Double digits seems to be a tipping point. Rather than perpetually dancing on the edge of spilling the beans, I wrote the 5 and 7 card Modern Oracle and TaoCraft layouts that I’ve used for private readings from the beginning.

All along the time that we’ve been looking at individual Lenormand cards, the guide book has mentioned how pairings and connections with other cards could modify the individual card’s meaning. We saw energetic connections and flow in the three card reading we did last time, but it was more of a flow of meaning, like making a sentence rather than changing meanings through the series of cards.

It might be interesting to do some two card sets to see if any of those specifically meaning-modifying connections emerge.

In this case, the guide book doesn’t give a modification for either the moon card or the fish card relative to the other. I get the flow, sentence like connection again. The water connections to both cards gives the sense of intuition and flow as being the main message with the fish’s association with prosperity taking a little bit of a back seat to the mental image of actual fish swimming and in motion.

I get no sense of energy at all from the playing card insets, so will let that sit for now. Follow your own instincts if you think they are meaningful. Research the 8 of cups or King of Pentacles if either of those grab your attention.

My hunch is to keep up with the two card sets for a little while. Water, tides, depth all are associated with the images here. In RWS tarot deep water has to do with mystery, deep knowing. My hunch is that there is something here that hasn’t quite shown itself yet.

Let’s abide with it, and see what else two card sets have to say.

See you at the next sip!

Winter Hours: All of them!

While in-person sessions are closed for the holidays, email private readings are OPEN to order 24/7, no appointment needed. Most orders arrive in your inbox within 24 hours.

Delivery times may vary in December depending on the Elfcon status.

Imagination On Target

Knitting together last week’s posts about imagination and accurate Tarot predictions.

I like to knit.

Sometimes that means making stuff out of yarn.

Sometimes it means weaving together disparate ideas in a Tarot reading. Or a Tarot blog post.

I’m doing both lately. It’s that Elfcon 5 gift making time of year, but I’d also like to knit together the past couple of blog posts. We’ve looked at a couple of narrow topics, now lets connect them back into the grand scheme of things a little bit.

The grand scheme is how Tarot and intuition actually works – at least the way I go about it.

Recently we talked about the role of imagination in intuition and the idea of accuracy in intuitive processes like Tarot.

My readings do not predict the future. So that kind of “accuracy” doesn’t factor into things even if it were possible, which it isn’t for all of those cause and effect sort of Heisenberg uncertainty-ish sort of reasons. In this case “accurate” means “it contains some sort of useful insight or idea.”

Can we get insight or inspiration from Tarot and imagination? Yes – absolutely. It’s about the most human thing I can think of to do.

Let’s go back to our imagination as intuition example – think of an elephant taking a shower.

When I first learned this concept in an email conversation with Chris Fleming, my first thought was a Babar-like, highly antropomorphized cartoon elephant in a cartoon human shower with a big white towel wrapped around it’s waist a la movie men’s locker room.

Was this a prediction? No, of course not. Was it accurate? Yes – it was whimsical and playful at a time in life where I needed a reminder to be more playful and find more humor in life.

In response to last week’s post, a client said she visualized a real life elephant being lovingly cleaned by an attentive caretaker and seeming to enjoy the experience.

Like a Tarot card in the context of a layout, this image in the context of the person who saw it is a beautiful message from and for a beautiful person.

This person is a natural caretaker in a care taking profession. Her visualization is a tremendous validation that she is on the right path in her work, and even if they don’t say it her clients appreciate her as much as her imaginary elephant was enjoying its shower.

It is also the classic reminder for caretakers to allow themselves to be cared for or at least give themselves a little TLC. It could be a reminder to let yourself be that happy elephant.

These aren’t “accurate predictions” relative to physical events. To make Tarot or psychic readings into that is to strip it of all its depth, emotion, beauty and humanity. Making Tarot and psychic readings about predictions is like taking a living breathing elephant and turning it into a two dimensional rubber stamp shadow image of an elephant.

Imagination is our window to intuition. Tarot is the battery sparks intuition. Together, they let us see marvelous things far beyond physical predictions.

Are you ready for something more advanced than pool ball toy predictions? Are you ready to glimpse the ideas that help you create your future rather than (maybe) predict it? Tarot doesn’t tell you what will happen in life, it helps you figure out what to do when life happens.

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Let the Imagination Flow

Daily meditation tarot reading with the ace of cups

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Imagination speaks many languages, and goes by many names. So does intuition. You could say they are twins.

Imagination is the portal to your intuition. Intuition enters our consciousness through the doorway of our imagination.

Imagine something. Imagine anything. Conjure up anything – a sight, a sound, a memory – anything. Psychic Chris Fleming uses the example of an elephant in a shower when he teaches about psychic ability and intuition. Let’s use that as an example. We had an email conversation once a long time ago. He said I could use his teaching point if I gave him credit. So here we go.

Imagine an elephant taking a shower.

Now what form does your imagination take? Is it a realistic elephant in a river spraying water on itself through its trunk? Or is it a cartoon elephant standing on two legs in a human shower and a gigantic towel wrapped around its waist? Is it a memory of watching Dumbo as a child? Or is it music that reminds you of elephants in a circus? (or my favorite, the song by Tame Impala)

Imagination is telling. By letting our daydreams and earworms flow, the intuitive answers you want just might come along for the ride.

Ace cards carry the essence of the suit. Today, the ace is carrying the water element association for cups, which is symbolic of intuition and deep spiritual wisdom (why, some say, the King, Queen and Page of Cups are typically portrayed near oceans. Deep water = deep wisdom & deep insights.

Most of all water flows. Let the imagination happen.

Thanks for reading! Next up, more Learning and Lenormand! See you at the next sip.

Learn With Me: Lenormand, The Moon

Learn Lenormand and Tarot together

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There is more to unpack here than it seems.

From a purely intuitive point of view, when the card turned over the message was simple and clear: Trust your own intuition right now. You already know what you are seeking to know. Trust your gut. Even if you don’t want to face it, deep down, you already know.

But from the “Let’s Learn Lenormand!” point of view, things are evolving.

As I dug into some other online resources to learn about the card, it starts to get contradictory and confusing. Honestly I’m not surprised. Lenormand is the quinessential large layout and this deck is very tied to that method and therefor that energy.

On one hand, the Moon in this deck vibes just like the Moon in the RWS based decks.

Which makes sense, because according to some sources, the deck is based on the Thoth Tarot and Thoth oracles while other sources say it is from oracle cards created directly by Marie Lenormand. Or both.

It doesn’t really matter except for vague background context which may or may not be helpful in any given individual reading. Like I’ve said over and over – no matter what oracle you use or how you use it, the REAL oracle is our own innate human intuition and psychic senses. The cards, runes, charms, crystal balls, bone or chicken gizzards are all just amplifiers and clarifiers that help access our intuition with greater ease and to communicate it to other people with greater clarity.

The Lenormand specific interpretations are all over the place. Some say it is just like the RWS moon. Others say it is nothing like the RWS moon. Christopher Buther, this deck’s author, basically connects it with intuition like other Tarot, but changes the meaning quite a bit based on adjacent cards.

My hunch the message here is to show just how interdependet the card interpretations are. The grand tableau layout using all of the deck is very interconnected and very interdependent.

It may be time for us to move on from one card readings and start with a tres petit tableau to play with the interconnected and mutually modifying card relationships.

Although, admittedly, I’m beginning to think good old Marie used the cards a prop as much as anything, laying them all out on the table and letting the psychic reading fly, occasionally making something up about the cards in front of her to justify what intuition had just told her. Which is as good of a use of the cards as any. They are props and prompts in the end, no matter how structured or methodical our approach to the cards may be.

*shrugs* who knows

There is your Tarot lesson for today: Trust your intuition.

Trust it when you are using Tarot cards, no matter how you use the cards. Trust it in pure form just out and about in daily life. Like a full moon in the middle of the night, trust your own good intuition to light the way.

Thanks for reading! See you at the next sip!

Members only post today

Members only post today. Members get free and discounted tarot readings, plus exclusive content.

New blog post for everyone on Monday.

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Member benefits include:

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I hope you have a relaxing and fun weekend too! See you at Monday’s sip!

Superheroes Have Stress Too

Sage Sips blog is Tarot for today in the time it takes to sip your coffee.

Private readings by email are OPEN to order, no appointment needed. Members get free & discounted readings. Virtual coffee on ko-fi always gratefully accepted! Please click HERE for details.

Are you overwhelmed – or are you just busy being somebody’s superhero?

You have every right to say no. You are just as free to save the day. It’s your choice.

Once you know that “no” exists, your superpowers can take flight.

Anybody want a one card Lenormand Tarot reading for free? Leave a comment with your topic or question. Your reading will post in the blog (with no identifying information of course – nothing to connect it to you) Offer ends December 31, 2023.

Holiday Tale

A cautionary tale for the holiday season from the King of Pentacles

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You don’t often start a sunny November and the holiday season with a cautionary tale, but here we are.

Maybe it’s because the social media collective declared an early spooky season this year in response to the apocalyptic heat this summer, and we are all feeling a little fatigue at the end of it. I get a strange sense of melancholy blowing in the wind today, which seems an odd way to start the Holiday season. It’s all turkey dinners and holiday shopping this month – I’ve already heard Carol of the Bells in advertising. That’s hard core.

A sunny Thursday like this doesn’t often start with a feeling of caution but here we are.

Today’s card is the king of pentacles, in reverse (meaning the card turned over upside down relative to the person doing the reading.)

“So what?” you might ask.

Every Tarot reader handles reversals in their own way. Some always reverse the meaning into ‘darker’ meanings. Some make it into the opposite of the upright meaning. Some disregard them outright. As we are learning in the Wednesday “Learn With Me: Lenormand” series, Lenormand readings handle reversals by not handling them. They just flip the card and go on as usual.

In true Taoism influenced style, I do a blend of both. The cards embody both light and dark, positive and negative aspects all the time anyway. I take all of those aspects into consideration with every reading regardless of the card’s orientation. When a reversal comes along, I let intuition lead. Either it is a hint that the card’s layout position is blocked or turbulent or somehow problematic OR it can feel energetically neutral and I just flip it upright and move on like the Lenormand folks do.

In this case, it feels like it is telling us something.

The phrase “risky buiseness” comes through. The King of Pentacles can reflect material success, a breadwinner, a provider, a good payoff for hard work.

Reversed, it can mean that sort of prosperity flow can get jumbled up.

To be literal about it – don’t get carried away this holiday season. Don’t go into debt or live beyond your means just for the sake of social expectations about how holidays are “supposed” to be celebrated, whatever your chosen holiday may be.

Here, I am reminded of a meme…”tradition is just peer pressure from dead people.” I have a sense that this meme might be particularly true this year. We’ve all been through a heckuva thing with the pandemic and such. We have an opportunity to re-define our Holidays. Let go of the peer pressure from dead people and make this year into something heartfelt more than material.

The suit of coins / pentacles is focused on the material realm, career, wealth and so on – but this is Tarot. The whole point of Tarot is understanding and spirituality, not physical realm predictions. Tarot isn’t made for physical realm except where physical and mental/emotional/spiritual all meet. The whole suit has esoteric threads intertwined with its real-world practicality. The whole suit has a “money can’t buy happiness” element to it.

My hunch that is what the inverted King is telling us. This isn’t the year for materialistic celebrations OR for forced traditions. Friendsgiving is a thing. This is a year for found family and perhaps a chance to let go of toxic or forced traditions that bow to the peer pressure from generations past.

That isn’t to say be overly austere. Celebrate. Indulge in the traditions and treats that speak to your heart. But don’t spend money or energy or emotion necessarily forcing yourself (or trying to coerce anyone else) into following old traditions that no longer serve or excesses that are no longer needed. Do, but do the truly meaningful, heartfelt things. Do, but let go of the forced, habitual, or ostentatious. Mind your bank account – both physical and emotional – this holiday season.

Thank you so much for reading!

There won’t be a newsletter next week or US Thanksgiving week.

In fact, the blogs and socials will go quiet November 9 – 13 and again November 22 – 27. I’m setting a pretty low bar for the holidays myself, but I do need to finish that sweater I’m knitting for a gift, sooo….

Merry Elfcon 5 for 2023!

BUT – private email Tarot will be OPEN those dates and all through the Holidays. You can order any time HERE. Your reading purchases, Sage Sip (ko-fi) memberships, and virtual coffees all support this FREE collective energy Tarot readings in this newsletter, the blog and the socials. None of this is ad monetized, so your Tarot message comes first with me. Any ads you see with any of my content is generated by the platform and all proceeds go to them – so in other words, please support me on ko-fi or by your likes, subs, follows and shares here and on social media.