predictions – Sage Sips / TaoCraft Tarot

Hello from the omnibus

Just checking in – how are you all doing?

I feel like there are a thousand other things I should be doing, but if you can’t follow your instincts in a Tarot blog, where can you? There is no reason for this post other than to say hello and hopefully reconnect with the whole blog and newsletter thing. It’s been a weird winter for me and this newsletter hasn’t gotten the energy and attention it deserves. That whole “Sage Words Tarot” thing was a huge detour. TaoCraft is home and I’m back. I hope to hear from you moving forward. 2025 is still young and my website has an easy to use contact form for any questions or comments that you might have. That includes questions for a free Tarot reading of some sort in the public blog. It’s a fair trade, I think. You get a free sample-size reading and I get writing inspiration. Deal?

In the meantime…

There has been a weird, strange, surreal energy during the holidays right through until now that reminded me of 2020. Don’t get me wrong – I’m NOT predicting a pandemic an you should listen to science about all of the bird flu, flu-A, RSV and measles worries out there. Not to mention the slow moving juggernaut of an utter political catastrophe unfolding in America right now. Compound that with some epic personal stress, and the time since Thanksgiving has been, well – unproductive. High levels of BLAH mixed with high anxieties is the best way I can describe the feel of it.

Stepping out from the psychological fog leftover from this winter, I wanted to say hello and tell you how thankful I am to have you all as readers and Tarot clients. It is so very appreciated!

On the outside chance there is anyone new here, I’ll add a little to the hello so you can know who is behind this whole Sage Sips Substack.

Hello! My name is Sage, I read Tarot, write things and knit stuff.

Sage is a pen name to try to provide privacy for both of us. It is inspired the double meaning the word sage has in English. It can be a plant with remarkable aromatherapy properties; comforting, negativity clearing, uplifting and empowering. It also means wise advice or a person who is wise. I believe Tarot is all about exactly those things. Tarot can lead us to wise advice at the same time as it calms anxieties, inspires us, and empowers us. It’s always an honor to be part of that process for someone. But like I always say…

“Tarot isn’t about predicting what will happen in life. Tarot helps you figure out what to do when life happens.“

What I do –

Tarot readings by email (and phone by special arrangement – contact me for details and scheduling)

What I don’t do –

Predict the future.

How I do it –

Transparently, conveniently and privately. All of my policies are TaoCraftTarot.com for the world to see.

All of my prices are for the total reading – not per minute. Your reading gets all of my attention, however long it -no clock watching – which is one of the many advantages of working by email. There are no time constraints or appointment needed for email. No hidden fees. No spam.

If you want a reading, you have to let me know. I don’t have the time or energy to contact anyone individually and offer readings. If you get that, it ain’t me. Did I mention, no spam is tolerated here or on the website, incoming OR outgoing?

Email readings are super convenient –

You can purchase an email reading from my ko-fi page, no appointment needed. There are several different layouts to choose from, which let’s YOU choose the layout (and price) that fits your question (and budget) the best. I use ko-fi because the check out is PayPal secured and lets you send me your topic or question for the reading all in one easy transaction…no more delays while I ask for your question / permission for an open reading.

Email readings are perfect for busy schedules –

You don’t have to set aside travel time – the reading comes to you. You don’t use one drop of expensive gasoline.

In addition to being super convenient, email readings are extra private. No one sees you going to a psychic. You open and read your email in a time and place that is right for you.

Phone readings work by contacting me. We will set up an appointment time. Then I’ll send you a secure PayPal invoice and you call the phone number provided at your appointment time. All the details about appointments are on the policy page.

What a reading looks like:

All of my readings follow the same basic format. It starts with a photo of your real world layout. Then there is a “general pattern” section where we talk about the layout as a whole. That’s followed by a card-by-card discussion. Then it all wraps up in a “psychic summary” that includes any other impressions. It might relate to the cards, or it might be pure intuition. This part often includes aromatherapy and crystal recommendations but this final summary is very attuned to your personal message and there is no guarantee what it will or won’t include.

Relationship readings:

I do lots of those, but mine are probably different from what you’ve had before.

My readings focus totally on you. I follow the same professional ethics as holistic health providers. I don’t read other people’s energies without their permission. That means relationship readings won’t predict who you will marry or if you’ll get back together with your ex or if your crush loves you back. Relationship readings are for any kind of relationship and simply give advice to help you give your best in your part in the relationship.

Wealth and money readings:

Wealth and money readings tend to focus on your career and what you can DO to find your best path forward in your career or in any part of the physical realm. I’m not a career counselor, or a financial advisor – and did I mention that Tarot can’t predict the future?

Medical, pregnancy and legal questions:

Nope.

I won’t answer those. Tarot is terrible with those kinds of questions. I’m not wasting my time or your money on a question that is best left to other professionals. We should spend our time on the things Tarot that does very well: Easing troubled emotions, finding inspiration, creative problem solving, stress reduction, diversion and entertainment.

Sage Sips is the name of my blog and Substack. I love coffee. I love pithy Tarot advice. Sage Sips is Tarot in the time it takes to sip your coffee.

TaoCraft Tarot is the name of my website and the book I plan to write about how to read Tarot. It is a reflection of the philosophy behind my 30 years of Tarot and intuition development.

And that is pretty much it in one big omnibus nutshell.

Your turn!

Feel free to say hi in the comments or in the contact form.

I’m also on Bluesky if you want to say hi there. It’s the one social platform where I’ll actually talk to people instead of just like and repost.

Thank for reading! See you at the next sip!

Welcome Back 2025 (part 2)

Sometimes you have to retreat a little bit in order to walk forward again on a better path.

Some years feel like more of the same. This is not one of those years.

2025 is still a welcome back of sorts – a welcome back to inevitable, unending change and a welcome back to TaoCraft. There is nothing wrong with retreating to familiar or comforting things in unprecedented times like these. It’s the right thing to do when mistakes have been made. Sometimes you have to retreat a little bit in order to change direction and walk forward again on a better path.

A pattern emerged from all of the readings I’ve been doing since mid November or so. The details were different and the message was unique to the individual but at the same time there was a similar thread of energy running through all of them. The series of readings taken as a whole was giving background context and clues to our shared energy environment.

Basically, the meta-message was 2025 was going to be a storm of turbulent energy followed by “a happy ending” with better times in 2026. Sure, that sounds like wishful thinking. Life has been ups and downs, good times and bad times since time immemorial. Even though it is only the first half of January, a better 2026 is a teeny-tiny glimmer of optimism so I’ll take it, wishful or not.

Change is key. Things can get worse if they change but by the same token things can only get better if they change. Imagine a bright colored dot on the side of a bicycle wheel. As the wheel turns, metaphorically moving forward through time, first the dot appears to move down toward the ground, but then it moves up again and the cycle repeats. It all goes back to Taoist philosophy which has always been a tremendous comfort and makes sense out of life for me. Hence the name TaoCraft. But we’ve already talked about that back in 2018 when I took up the name the first time.

There are a few other minor changes for 2025. This will be the first full year of reverting back to the TaoCraft Tarot name for the website, commissioned readings, and hopefully, for a Tarot how-to eBook. All things “Sage Words Tarot” have been allowed to expire. The best way to contact me is TaoCraftTarot@gmail.com or the contact form on the Ask Me Anything page. Members can add ko-fi DM to the list.

“A thought is powerful. The spoken word is more powerful, but the written word is the most powerful of all”
Sallie Christensen, author of “The Highest And Best”

The next change is putting live readings on hiatus. I’m a writer at heart. I want to focus on email readings, which are my specialty. Email lets me do my absolute best readings for you. #kofigoalchallenge

Recorded video readings are also available if you prefer to listen rather than read (random unrelated opinion: audio books count the same as reading physical paper books.) Speaking of books: email & recorded video Tarot readings are perfect for book lovers of every type. My Tarot is a reader’s reading.

The email / recorded format has a ton of advantages:

Convenient: no appointment needed, the reading comes to you instead of you going to it. Easy, secure PayPal checkout is just like ordering anything online.
Eco friendly: no travel, no gasoline used, we are using electricity that we would be using anyway for other email. This kind of reading has essential zero carbon footprint.
AFFORDABLE: my email Tarot prices haven’t changed in years. No physical location = cost savings that I pass along to you.
Private: You open the email in a place and time best for you. No one sees you travel to a psychic.

But to get back to the task at hand: here is a quick introduction to all things TaoCraft. After that, I’m dropping all the “marketing best practices” and crazy pants promotions, just as I’ve threatened to do in the past. I’m going to do what I do best – email readings and blog readings. If that doesn’t work – welp, I tried. We can leave these recommended “re-introduce yourself” posts for New Years.

On the other hand, if you like what you see and want a reading with me, great! Bring it! Let’s work together and make some magic!

“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”
Albert Einstein

Let’s start at the beginning and try to keep it all simple. My pen name is Sage. I read Tarot, write stuff and knit things. I’ve been working with Tarot, Oracle cards and intuition development since 1993. At first I read for myself & friends. In 2003 – ish a friend suggested that I read online, for which I am forever grateful. I did email Tarot readings for Keen, Advice Trader and AllExperts in the early 2000s. I’ve done literally hundreds of email readings. I stopped counting at 400 and that was around 2003. After that, I started professional Tarot readings with my own website Modern Oracle Tarot, with its Tarotbytes blog and the now defunct Quirk & Flotsam Etsy shop.

In 2018 I re-branded the whole thing to TaoCraft Tarot. In 2023 I wanted unleash the coffee lover in me and make full use of ko-fi’s “buy me a coffee” metaphor for support donations. So I switched again to Sage Words Tarot and the whole Sage Sips blog is Tarot in the time it takes to sip your coffee thing.

That, as it turns out, was a miscalculation.

So Welcome Back. 2025 is a year of change; a change back to TaoCraft Tarot for private readings and book titles while keeping Sage Sips for the blog and ko-fi page.

To that end, the blogs will post 2-3 times per week and you can order a private email or video Tarot reading with me anytime, 24/7 – no appointment required.

The email reading comes to your mailbox as a .pdf or .docx attachment, usually within 24 hours . There might be some delays if you order on a US holiday, nights (US eastern time) or weekends. Video files are still too big for email attachments. If you order a video reading, you’ll get an email with a private link to your recording.

All of my readings generally have the same basic structure:

Photo or video of your real world cards
general pattern (the card layout as a whole, any initial psychic / intuitive impressions
Card-by-card discussion
Summary that recaps the layout as a whole plus adds in any other purely intuitive impressions. That often includes things like crystals, colors, aromatherapy – any random helpful detail.

There is some variation. One card readings are purely intuitive. Yes/no readings tend to have a more unstructured, tongue in cheek, lighthearted style.

For 2025 I am offering 4 layouts all of the time, no specials or seasonal changes except for Sage Sip Members (more on that later)

“Seasons” 5 card year ahead Tarot reading: ($30 non-memebers, $25 members) Start at any point in the year – birthdays, anniversary, holiday, new year – get one card guidance for each of the upcoming seasons plus one theme card for the entire year.
“TaoCraft” 5 card Tarot reading: ($30 non-members, $25 members) This is the updated version of the old Modern Oracle layout that I wrote in 2003. Cards show influences from the past, current energy environment, advice and cautions, best path ahead, alternative path if you so choose.
“Zombie Cat” 3 card yes or no: ($15 non-members, $10 members) Get a concise yes or no answer plus advice and intuitive impressions based on the individual three cards.
“Sage’s Sip” 1 card meditation: general intuitive advice or a focused follow-up to a recent larger layout ($5 non-members, FREE for members)

Sage Sips membership on Ko-fi is $5 per month and includes FREE 1 card email Tarot up to three per calendar month, discounts on larger layouts, exclusive content on the ko-fi members-only blog and random special offers.

This blog, social media, the YouTube channel, the public portion of the ko-fi blog are all free and non-monetized. Your Tarot message comes first, not an advertisers. Any ads you see benefit the platform and makes it free for me to use (a savings I pass along to you) All of this is supported by readers / listeners through the memberships, private readings and shop purchases.

All of my readings are commissioned, ephemeral folk art that is intended to inspire, empower, facilitate understanding, help creative problem solving, and boost your connection to your own spirituality & inner wisdom.

All of my policies are listed HERE.

“Tarot isn’t about what will happen in life. Tarot helps you figure out what to do when life happens.”
Sage Snow

Please note that these readings are about predicting the future, reading other people, medical or legal questions. Tarot doesn’t do these things very well. I don’t want to waste my time or your money when we can focus on the more helpful, uplifting stuff that Tarot is great at doing. This artwork is a hobby for me, not a business. I am as open and transparent with you as humanly possible, which is why I wrote the policies page. I only ask for compensation for my time and to help defray web hosting costs.

Thank you for hanging in with the longest post in a long time. I appreciate you! See you at the next sip!

Tarot for ’25

photo by the author of public domain tarot cards

Happy New Year Everyone!

New year, same story for these posts. Every year, I say I’m not going to play this game of looking to the year ahead, predictions are impossible, blah, blah, blah.

Yet, here we are, pulling cards for the new year. Why? Two reasons, I think.

First, it’s fun.

It is fun to make predictions about the new year as if they could be as true as they are in fantasy books and movies. The chances of making an accurate prediction are small. Still, it’s fun to try. It’s playful imagination and there is nothing wrong with that.

Second it is useful.

It’s helpful in the real-world way that Tarot can help every day of every year: It helps get our minds and hearts around the events of the past, contemplate ideas to navigate the future, and maybe, just maybe, find some peace and solace in this present moment.

This year I’m using the “seasons” layout that can look at the year ahead at any occasion (or no occasion at all) not just the new calendar year. Birthdays, anniversaries, graduation, solstice, equinox – any time, really.

There picture explains the layout. There is one card for each of the next four seasons. It’s winter now, so we begin there and read from right to left. Reading it opposite of English disrupts that logic & flow, and makes it just that tiny bit easier to look and listen to intuition. Someone used the word “Theme” to describe a card. I like that. Each card gives a theme, a thought, a vibe for the season it represents, not a definite prediction. Although I will tell you about mental images (clairvoyance, what I intuitively “see”) or any intuitive sounds / music / words (clairaudience, what I intuitively “hear”) Not that it is a prediction, but because it might mean something to somebody, somewhere. That’s the whole point of doing these so-called collective energy or general audience readings on the blog or social media. It might be of use to somebody somewhere at some point in time whenever they stumble across this.

The only problem with that is that collective energy is very mixed and diffuse. Private readings are by nature different. Reading your energy message especially just for you is going to wind up with a very different feel than this. This is a ‘one size fits all’ reading. A private reading is custom tailored to fit you.

If all of this also happens to entice someone to try a private email reading with me, all the better. I’m happy for that, too.

Let’s do this exactly as I would if this were a private reading. I feel like following that structure might be comforting for both of us.

General Pattern

The general pattern section talks about the layout as a whole.

In this case, two of the central cards, Justice and The Magician, are from the major arcana. Major arcana cards are hint at higher energy, more changeable times. All those internet memes about 2025 being as chaotic as the past 4 years may not be off the mark. I hope it is wrong, but spring and summer may have some intense moments to say the least. Whether that intensity is good or bad is up to each of us to judge. Objective, outer circumstances are neutral. The physical universe isn’t good or bad…it just IS. We project our judgement about those objective qualities on the dispassionate physical realm.

It’s like the weather. Drought or flood, rain isn’t good or bad, it just is. Rain doesn’t give a crap how we feel about it, it is water falling from the sky either way. And so it is with change and high energy times. Big changes and big events bring big feelings, but the rain will still fall and the sun will still shine again.

Long story short, brace yourself for big energies and feels, especially mid year.

The minor arcana cards are cups (emotions, close relationships) and wands (passions, philosophy, spirituality, your relationship with yourself). My hunch is that we are heading for a year of big emotions and big passions where the heart rules the head more often than not.

Be kind – to yourself and to others when the feels come along. Nerves may be raw at times. A little patience and compassion might go a longer way than any of us might think at first.

No pentacles or wands showing at all. Not sure if that means that logic and practicality isn’t going to be an issue, or if it means those things are going to be absent from the year to our peril. That being said, don’t forget to be practical and logical and be the cooler head that prevails – at least every now and then.

Winter (now – March) Ten of Wands

Wands is fire and passion. Ten cards are the volume turned up to 11 on the essence of the suit. The only double-digit, and the pinnacle of the numbered cards before entering the court cards. The Ten of Wands is traditionally associated with heavy weights that have been taken on with or without justification. In the classic Pamela Smith artwork, the figure on the card looks like he is hitting his head on a wall of his own making that he is carrying. The array of sticks isn’t touching the ground. I “hear” pie in the sky. Not so much in the usual sense of that phrase, that something is an unrealistic dream, but in the sense of the barriers and burdens being an illusion as well. What heavy weights do you carry because you think you have to, and what is genuine responsibility. What is truly yours to carry, and what can be put aside?

From the other side of the sticks, what have you neglected to carry? What do you do if you are the thing set aside?

As I look at this card, the most important thing to consider are blockades we imagine. What are the blockages that we have set for ourselves? What fences and walls exist because we carry them around unattached to the ground?

Spring (March-June) Justice

In the past, the Justice card was tied to literal legal concerns and the court system. Now it is associated with abstract ideas of justice, fairness, wisdom, balance, integrity and accountability.

Of all of these key words, fairness steps forward as key. Looking at the card, the upright sword grabs my attention as important.

It isn’t a card from the suit of swords, which to my mind underlines the sword’s importance in this context. The sword’s connection to mind and intellect is crucial here, as well as the balance the scales symbolize.

This isn’t an impression directly from the card or its tradition, but I get the mental images of a driving rainstorm and get a sense of be the eye of the hurricane. During this season, keeping your cool is more important than at any other time. This season may well draw on every ounce of wisdom and clarity and balance and sense of fairness that you can muster.

Summer (June – September) The Magician

I get the feeling that the transition of seasons may not be smooth and the energy might not be clear-cut. It feels like a gradual slide from turbulent energy that draws on every ounce of cool-headed, intellectual, balanced fairness that you have into a calmer, much more spiritual energy. Lazy days of summer comes to mind. Later, hotter doldrums may seem like a relief after the spring storms so to speak. Of course, I’m talking about energy feels, not the literal weather.

I hear the word opportunity. The energy climate of late summer might offer an opportunity to deliberately work with the idea of manifestation for those so inclined. It’s not just magical thinking. In fact, this feels like the exact opposite of the think-positive, vision board, woo woo manifestation. This is grit and hard work and hand blisters kind of manifestation.

I hear you reap what you sow. From the real-world agriculture time of year, this isn’t the time for planting literal seeds. Energetically this is a time to build a stone foundation. You don’t plant corn seeds in the spring and get an apple tree in the fall. I hear know what you want and DO something toward getting it.

It can be a frightening prospect that re-awakens old issues with self-confidence or the responsibilities and burdens that were symbolized earlier by the ten of wands. Be kind to the fear. It isn’t irrational. It needs your love.

The Magician is also about transformation. The old may be gone, but that doesn’t mean it can be made into something new and different. I get the mental images of kintsuge from Japan where broken pottery is repaired with precious metal and thought to be more beautiful than before.

image: Chiara Lorenzetti attribution share-alike creative commons license

Fall (September – December) Ten of Cups

The Ten of Cups is one of those all-good cards associated with love, fulfillment, belonging and joy. This is the second “seasons” reading where I’ve gotten this card in the fall spot. I’m guessing there may be something trying to put our attention on October. Especially with another 10 in the layout this time. I can’t quite recognize it or pull it into focus, but I keep hearing a song with the lyrics “happy ending.” It reminds me of a 90s Alanis Moressette sort of song, something grunge era-ish. I hope its right. Heads up and eyes open for October.

2025 – Nine of Cups

Big number cups cards = big feels and emotions in store would be my guess. Nine of cups is a generally positive card with connotations of community and warmth. Mutual aid society comes to mind for some reason. There is the image of a small, familiar place with a large fireplace and plenty of beer. It has the stereotypical look and feel of a medieval inn or a seventeenth century pub or a fantasy adventure tavern on Tik Tok (Nod to the Lucky Gryphon, Quincey’s Tavern, one of my absolute favorite of the genre)

Storms may rage, feelings may run equally high, heartbreak or triumph, love and close community will save the day. Give it freely, accept it freely, allow yourself to be comforted when you need it. It is a big world. There are lots of us in it. Enough so that you are not alone, even if it feels that way.

Storms may rage, but cups will eventually be filled. With what is yet to be seen, but there is hope for a happy ending in time.

Summary

This part is practically impossible to do for a collective audience reading. In a private reading, this is where I would give any purely intuitive images or impressions that come through whether they are connected to the cards & question or not.

In this case, the impressions seem wildly random. If something resonates with you, it is yours. If it doesn’t resonate, then its for someone else. May there be lots of someone elses who read this and get some little morsel of something from the cards.

For what it is worth, I see rough aquamarine or maybe blue kayanite. Both connect to the throat chakra and have to do with communicating. There is more here than general communication. The feeling focuses on bridge-building. It is about effective communication and connection building more than simply being heard.

For aromatherapy, I get the scent of lemon, which is clearing and energizing, Lemon drops – lemon cookies – bright, tart, clean.

Mixed with that….

For some it is lemon, but for others it is woody, powdery and soothing, like sandalwood or sandalwood with vanilla.

I see a snowstorm. No idea of time or symbolism. Just a feeling of being very glad to see it through a window instead of being out in it.

Now the snow and clouds fade grey like sunset or twilight when it is very cloudy.

Here I get a sense of all of us being asked to be courageous and strong.

There the energy steps back.

Thank you all for reading! I hope everyone has a Happy New Year Holiday, and a happy, safe, prosperous 2025. See you at the next sip!

Ask Zombie Cat: Calm Will Come…Eventually (2024)

Zombie Cat Yes/No readings are 100% guaranteed to contain words and have a 50% chance of being dead wrong.

It’s almost that time of year.

Life and the squirrel rave have finally forced me to get a little organized and simplify for 2024

Short and sweet: I have THREE layouts and THREE prices all of the time

Modern Oracle (5 cards, $30)
Eclipse (3 cards, $15)
Sage’s Sip (1 card, $5)

BUT I have lots of other layouts that are only available seasonally by email only.

June 1, 2024 is the start of ZOMBIE CAT’S SUMMER SHAMBLE

June 1 to September 1 Zombie Cat Yes/No readings are $10 for members, $15 for non-members. This layout gives a yes or no answer to ANY question (see disclaimer) plus insights based on the three cards we use to get your yes/no answer. What follows is an actual reading, used with permission, but lightly edited to protect privacy. More about yes/no readings coming soon.

Witches Tarot by Ellen Dugan and Mark Evans copyright 2012 used with permission Llwellynpublishing.com

Q: I’ve been going through a lot lately. Things are changing fast and I’ve been learning so many things the hard way. Are things ever going to calm down?

A: Maybe but leaning yes.

My hunch is that it is actually more yes than maybe, but with the downside that it won’t kick in for a few more months yet. In my minds eye I see the dogs howling at the moon that you see on some many Moon cards. For some reason that says “dog days of summer” to me. Maybe this is pure projection on my part, because this time of year with the sun, heat and humidity makes my fur more gnarly than usual. It feels like the current energy pattern is going to hang around at least as long as the hot weather. “Things will turn with the weather, bluer skies and sweaters.” Knowing where you are, I’m remembering painting outside on a 80 degree November not so long ago. I’m thinking don’t hold your breath for any real relief until a serious, growing season ending, killing frost. Sort of a big harvest moon, October–December vibe. That would go along with the 4 of Wands, which is about foundations, and community celebrations.

The 4 of Wands also speaks to the new place to live. Yes, it will become foundational, in time. I ‘hear’ “make a house a home” plus something about grounding or earth…this is gonna sound more nuts than usual. I don’t know what the issues are around the new address, but it feels like the energy there needs both cleared and grounded, swept of a lingering funk that pre-dates you and rooted and grounded … settled if you will… on an energy level to make a way for more literal grounding and calming to manifest. This is weird, purely intuitive, and has no basis in science or tradition that I know of on a conscious level. I get the image of sprinkling a 50/50 mixture of salt and diatomacious earth….literally just by pinches at a time…along the baseboards, along the perimeter walls of the house. Don’t worry about inner walls, or specific rooms, just the walls that join the outside. No need to make a big mess, just a ceremonial line using little pinches and clear intention. Sage and smuding are too airy and ethereal. This calls for a tangible bam of something.

The Ace of Swords is associated with air. This feels a little more cautioning than reassuring / advising like the 4 of wands was. Swords and air have to do with intellect. Don’t overthink during this upcoming season, now through the end of the year in any case. This also would go along with the literal grounding / clearing house thing, as being needed to balance the airy creative energy.

The Ace of Swords also reminds me of something you said when we were talking about which deck you’d like to use for this. You were talking about being more “ethereal….like a good spiritual student” with the other deck, but went with this one because it was “bubbling up inside.” I warrant that listening to the stuff that bubbles up inside IS what it means to be a good spiritual student. It is easy to equate spirituality with ethereal, good with serene and so on. This card, this part of the yes/no reminds me of what we were saying yesterday, if it seems like life is beating on you…it is. And that is ok. It first of all is probably because Life knows you are badass enough to deal with it, and second of all, chaos and pains in the ass are just as spiritual as rainbows and unicorns. Remember that article you sent, and that Alan Watts quote? “You are a function of what the whole universe is doing just like a wave is a function of what the whole ocean is doing.”

In other words, don’t sweat it, you GOT this. The ocean of life, love and spirituality touch the great white shark the same as the angelfish. Rest will come in its time. Meanwhile, enjoy the swim. You wouldn’t be in the deep end if you couldn’t handle it. This is a chance to discover your inner orca, have a glass of wine, watch Shark Week on TV….that kind of thing. Recharge? Sure. You eat stress for breakfast. You got this.

The Ace of Wands continues in that vein with a more inward turn. Knowing that spirituality takes all forms, so does self-care. Like the human has said before about this card….carry a torch for yourself. Accept your passions and desires, strengths and weakness for what they are…both your increadable resiliancy and your sincere desire for a day off. Need a break? Take it! With gusto and passion! Tell it all to leave a message, and take a spa day. Which I guess takes us back to wine and shark week, but you get the idea. Let your passions shine, even if it is a passion for kicking things to the curb and carving out the peace and quiet you want. Want peace and quiet with burning passion! Or something like that.

So YES things will settle, but that process can be helped along. You have been answered “the hard way” because you can handle it. Rest hasn’t come yet because you still have a bit more to do. It may not feel like it, but you can keep on keeping on. Plus maybe this is a time to explore the gritty, gnarly, not–so-ethereal side of spirituality. Don’t ask me why, but Sam Elliot style movie characters come to mind…the grizzled antihero, Deadpool kind of thing. Not saying that you are that way, just that might be a good mental cosplay, a way to find a way to have a little fun with the chaos until the rest really does come, which it will, but later. Kind of like when the human let’s me come out and play and unleash a little Zombie snark on the world. It’s all just in good fun to get you through until that change in the literal and energetic weather.

Braaaiiiiinns!

Zombie Cat

Entertainment only. Zombies don’t exist and these readings don’t predict anything. Use with caution – the ideas here might change your perspective and improve your life choices.

Zombie Cat’s Year Ahead Reading for 2023

Zombie Cat’s Tarot reading for the year ahead 2023

Happy New Year Hoomans!

Had my hooman pull the cards for this year for me because she’s the one with the opposable thumbs and all.

I’m Zombie Cat, black sheep of the feline family and Schrodinger’s Cat’s fictional renegade cousin who decided to come out of that famous thought experiment as “both” after the experiment was finished instead of during the experiment. Don’t think about it too hard…quantum physics will break your brain. Didn’t do much for the hooman when she made me up back in a 2015 blog post that was about Tarot, not science, so go all pedantic about it (it makes her cranky when people do that.)

Anyway, I decided to pitch in and help the hooman out so she can sit over there and knit and drink coffee and maybe do something about that hair that looks like post-explosion Veronica end of the movie Heathers. (The cat’s not wrong. 2022 finally caught up with me – I haven’t brushed my hair today and I am feeling very post-explosion Veronica. Now where is that red scrunchie…)

Ahem. My turn hooman.

Just as a brief introduction to this particular layout, here’s what is going on.

The human wrote this several years ago to be used at any time of year, not just New Year. It’s fun for birthdays, graduation, or any time really. There are four cards, one for each of the upcoming season, starting whenever the reading is done and going in order from there. It is intended to look at the direction energy seems to be flowing. It isn’t a definite prediction, but it is a guiding theme for the time period in question. Same for the fifth card which is the theme, over-arching energy or primary lesson for the year as a whole.

Or that’s what the hooman says.

I say it is what it is, I see what I see, I say what I say, you get what you get and we are all just going to have to cope with life however it actually turns out to be. But that’s the difference between us – she is the thoughtful human type, and I’m – not.

Here we go.

The general pattern makes me think there is going to be a lot of energy overall. Stuff is going to happen. You know how when you opposable thumb types are yanking on something that is stuck, and you keep yoinking on it until it suddenly gives way? That’s the feel for this year. We’ve spent the past two years trying to pull ourselves through and out of some real weirdness. 2023 might start out like more of the same but once it starts to move it is going to give way suddenly & move like crazy for a short bit until we get a new grip on it.

While there is only one major arcana card, all of the minor arcana cards are court cards. Court cards might not have the major change, major life lesson ka-pow of energy that the majors have, they still carry a little more catnip than the numbered minor arcana cards.

Winter

This covers roughly the time right now through mid-March or so. The Queen of Pentacles is the card for this season. Just like the peak pandemic times in 2020-21 there is a strong sense of practicality. Pentacles are about earth energy. Find your inner rock, find what anchors and grounds and centers you and do that. The queen is about nurturing and leadership. The king may protect the kingdom, but the queen nurtures it. This time is about taking care of business. This is close to home, hearth and family type stuff. When your efforts harmonize with the energy flows of the time, you get the most bang for your buck as the saying goes. If you try to be too expansive and far flung and boundary-pushing you might meet some resistance or have a rougher than necessary road ahead. If you focus on taking care of what you already have at hand, if you focus on care and maintenance close to the home front, the energies will life you up and your efforts go farther and need less, well, effort. Work smarter not harder so you can slide in a healthy dose of self care too. You know how health and fitness is a fad for five minutes every January? Take advantage, and take care of yourself. Who knows? You might accidentally stumble across something you actually like and can sustain all the way to maybe February this time.

Spring

We stay with the practical, earthy, grounded energy of Pentacles, but the Page of Pentacles moves it from the large-and-in-charge nurturing of the queen to a more intellectual, outreaching quality. Pages symbolize learning, which is something that can be done in the context of any minor arcana suit. The page of pentacles is softer, more practical, more application and less pure theory than the colder more incisive intellect energy we see in the suit of swords. Holistic health is stepping forward as a concept. The mind and learning aspects of sword cards is more like a modern surgeon, while the page of pentacles is closer to the mind aspect of holistic health where mind, body and spirit are one. The page of pentacles is reminding us to use our head, but not heartlessly. Spring is a time of logic and intellect, yes, but logic and intellect with compassionate practical application. Learn all you can, but you will go farthest when you put your energy into learning things that have practical, useful, helpful application.

To put it another way, this energy this spring is more helpful to practical engineering rather than cutting edge theoretical quantum physics.

What is that word? Hygge? Both winter and spring have that warm fuzzy sort of feel to them. Make yourself comfortable the first half of 2023, whatever comfortable means to you. This isn’t the time for pushing too hard outside of your comfort zone. 2020 & 2021 shoved us out of it hard enough already. 2023 may at last be our chance to re-define, re-establish, re-stabilize our new comfort zones to get ready for the next push, no matter whether that push come from us on the inside or from the outside of said comfort zone.

Summer

Here we pick up the spirit part of that mind, body, spirit holistic paradigm.

This is our only major arcana card, the Moon. The moon has long been associated with dreamyness, psychic ability, intuition, spiritual growth, spiritual journies and the like. First the soft jazzy song “Summertime” from Porgie and Bess comes to mind to capture the mood of the card. Then it shifts to the opening few lines from the Madonna song “Crazy For You” from the 1985 movie Vision Quest. Which is a real side-door into the concept that intuition is trying to communicate, I think. The vision question in question here is more like the genuine hamanic kind than the feel good movie 80s pop culture kind. Here my mind is drawn to the early books by Carlos Castaneda, The Teachings of Don Juan from 1968 in particular. It’s been so long since the human had read it, neither of us are entirely sure what that reference is about, if anything, other than to encourage all of us to explore our spiritual life with courage and openness. Here I see starry, moonlit night with warm wind, candle or firelight perhaps. Night steps forward strongly. Night time is particularly important during this season for some reason. It feels like sunset and night time is the most potent for you to indulge in your deepest thinking, deepest feeling, and most important spiritual questing.

Fall

Here, it seems, is where all the yoinking and nurturing and caring and questions pay off. The Knight of Swords is best summed up by screaming “Geronimo!” or doing your best Tenth Doctor Who impersonation and yelling “allonz-y.” Here is where things move fast albeit for a short time. Whether that rapid giving way results in something good or something problematic remains to be seen. But it will be seen. Here is get the word “clarity” good or bad, at the end of 2023’s burst of movement there won’t be any doubt about what the problem actually is now. It might be a brand new dilemma, or it might have its roots in everything that has been going on for the past few years.

We may not get much fixed this year, but by the time next winter rolls back around, at least we might have a clear idea what the fix is.

Year 2023

The card of the year is the King of Cups.

The message is simple, but multifaceted.

Kings are leadership. You are in charge of the whole mess. You own your own mind, body, and spirit so it is up to you to care for, nurture and respect all the facets of yourself within yourself. That inner autonomy and maturity will in turn allow you to be present, emotionally available and nurturing to those you love and care about. That intimate inner circle is the relationship that cups cards symbolize. Cups cards are about emotions and those most important relationships; romance, family, found family and more.

Cups are also about intuition so I would guess that the spiritual aspect of life will be a prominent thread throughout the year despite the other energies that may be slightly more dominant for a time. Spirituality will be the constant even as the other energies comes and go.

Taken together, the King of Cups as an individual card symbolizes a mentor, or some sort of emotional teacher. The word “guru” comes to mind here. I don’t see it as the traditional Yoda-ish meditation or martial arts master. It feels like something low key – a real person or a writer or someone somewhere that you admire in some respect and want to emulate their success. Not in a tangible or materialistic way, and not in toto as some sort of child-like hero worship. “Take the best parts” comes to mind. Little inspirations from multiple reliable sources is more the feel of it.

The color blue steps forward as a good color for this year. To my mind it looks like a lovely sapphire or cobalt blue. That would go along with supporting the third eye chakra (energy center) and the spiritual component to the year.

That’s the inner world for 2023. The outer world is anybody’s guess. Personally I’m hoping for a piping cup of hot political schadenfreude that is full to the brim of deserving indictments. I hope that the forces for inclusion, compassion, support, safety, and environmentalism own the year like Greta Thunberg owns pizza eating criminals on the internet.

With that, the energy steps back.

With that the human and I wish every one of you a safe, happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.

Old Is New Again

Every day can be new year’s day. These cards show the energy around to help your fresh start happen.

Today doesn’t feel like the day for the annual tongue in cheek New Year’s reading with a bunch of rubbish predictions.

While rummaging around for easy throwback content this week, I found this old post from August 2021. Weirdly, it feels like as good of a New Year’s reading for the new calendar year in January as it did for the new school year in August.

August cards aside, I think this year is going to be palpably different from the past half dozen or so. I get the feeling it is going to be a year of…OK.

It’s OK to be ok. There is a real risk of slipping into seeing ourselves as victims and falling into a lava-pit of blame or continuing the acid-bile anger and hatred that has been so stoked over years…no, decades. It is OK if you don’t feel euphoric or joyous about 2022 considering what the world has been through and still endures. OK is OK. We could all do with a little luke warm, middle of the road cozy goldilocks zone, I think.

In 2017 it felt like a zombie apocalypse with a feeling of impending doom considering who was about to be sworn in as president. Then, after a swirl of disaster and destruction on a political level came 2020 where every intuitive’s bell was ringing red alert for one reason or another. The reading for that year gave a mental image I still clearly remember. I can still see that U.S. map with tiny tornadoes all over it followed by the mental image a hurricane on the horizon. 2021’s reading brought the mental image of peeking our head out of a mental and emotional storm cellar to survey the damage.

This year continues the narrative…but with a whole different feel. In my mind’s eye it is the same disaster scene, but the sun is brighter this time and we are all fully climbing out of the shelter, not just taking a cautious peek to see if the coast is clear. The mourning and cleaning and binding of wounds is beginning. It all hasn’t ended, but we may well be at the beginning of end instead of the end of the beginning like we were a year ago.

Mourn. Heal. Sweep up. Abide with this precious moment we have now. This isn’t a time to be paralyzed in terror of an uncertain future. This isn’t the time to dwell in resenting the past. This isn’t the time for trying to recreate a past that will never be again. This is our time to lay the foundation for a future that is right for for us, right for the times that are the here and now, not for the forces that created the disaster that has so profoundly changed us over the past 5 or 50 years. When Ghandi said to BE the change you want to see in the world, I think he meant BE as a very active verb. It is time to protect the important things that were almost lost, and time to create the important things that were neglected before. It is time to live and do and be.

It doesn’t start on New Years Day. It starts every day. Every minute. Each new breath can be a fresh start. Inhale deeply.

My New Years wish for you is that the first thing you can be is at peace with the moment we are in, even just for the moment we are in it. One moment strings into the next. The colors and surroundings and circumstances of that moment constantly changes. Any tiny moment of inner peace we can capture within all of the changes need not transform along with everything else. If we are a little careful and a little mindful, a moment of peace is a moment we can keep and revisit.

This is the post from August 2021: “Every Year Has a New One In It”

A bunch of new ones, actually.

When something is a circle, it doesn’t particularly start or stop at any one place. That is true of a year. Not only is it a circle, it is kind of an arbitrary way to chunk up time into manageable pieces. People invented the year as a way to describe time. Naturally, one of the best ways to do that is, well, nature. Seasons turn in the great circle of a year (yes, I know seasons are caused by planetary tilt and orbit which is actually an elipse, but I’m in no mood for pedantics)

Either way, when and how you mark the new year is pretty arbitrary. Celebrate it any time you like…or multiple times. Perception and emotions change in a blink. Each new moment can be a fresh start. Any day can be New Year’s Day.

This is that new school year time of year. We parents, I suspect, are a bit sentimental at the passage of time. Students, I suspect, are a mix depending on how they feel about school. I’m not sure what anyone is feeling or doing with the pandemic sized wrenches that have been thrown in everyone’s schedules.

I’m a fan of Fall, so I always look to this part of the year with a fairly high degree of anticipation. Even now that I’m no longer connected to the school year per se, I still feel a sort of anticipation. It brings the hope of cooler weather, back to business and a more predictable work flow, and of course, pumpkin spice everything. Harvest and Halloween as the mark of a new year resonates with me as much as confetti and champagne in January, maybe more so.

It felt right to do a Year Ahead reading today.

I’m still trying to think of a better name for this layout. If you have a suggestion, please, feel free to drop it in the comments. By any name – any day is a good day for a new year. All you need to do is choose your moment and begin. Two “nine” cards is particularly draws my attention to September. Whether you are connected to the American school year or not, it feels like September might be an opportune energy environment for productivity. The song “Danger Zone” comes to mind, especially the part about “overdrive” In all fairness and full disclosure, that is when I’m planning to let some schemes out into the wild, so this bit might be projection on my part…take all of that with whatever size grain of salt you’d like.

Like the year ahead layout says, let’s begin with right now.

OK – back to New Year’ Eve, in December 2021. I’m going to follow an intuitive impulse right now and re-read and re-frame these cards for the actual New Year tonight. You are welcome to watch the original reading on YouTube, on the blog, or through the link in this podcast episode description

I would say the Nine of Cups still applies right now. We are finishing up the Fall holidays and that energy still resonates as much at the end of the season where we are now as it did at the beginning when I first pulled the card. Keep it up, in other words. This seemed to be a subdued year as far as the holidays were concerned. Warm, cozy, intimate small circle gatherings, connecting with your closest of close relationships is the thing for the winter too. That’s the part to keep up more than any indulgence or raucous celebration. Even though the Fall season has ended, its energy lingers a bit.

Cups is often the suit of romance. The winter card, the Two of Cups from the August reading is still a perfect fit, even as we begin the winter instead of looking ahead to it from the early days of Fall. (If you are wondering, I’m mentally doing the arms up for-the-win, stuck-the-landing gesture. I love a good intuitive hit.) This is a season where little things means even more than usual and this is a season to lavish warmth and TLC on those you love. The Two of Cups is the card of committed, intimate relationships. It often goes with weddings, and marriage. As every jewelry commercial on television will tell you, this is a good time of year for that sort of thing too. No matter what the relationship is, by any definition, give it as much warmth, appreciation, attention and tender care as you can muster this season

For Spring, The High Priest, I ‘hear’ “Teach them anew.”

I’m glad that for whatever reason I picked up this deck for the reading back in August. This deck is my favorite for the High Priest. Right now it definitely has that shamanistic, keeper of the mythology sort of feel to it much more than the social convention, pope-ish rules and regulations energy that so often comes with the Pamela Smith and Marseilles artwork for the card. It make me feel that it might just be a mild winter and will let us turn to spring quickly and easily. It has a heady, philosophical feel about it. It has a “teach the children” feel about it. Care for the little ones. It is a time of gentleness and appreciation for nature. and following the flow of things in the process.

Full disclosure, this might be a private issue popping in, so please forgive this break from my usual rules about this kind of topic…but I feel pushed that someone else out there might benefit. My recovering fundamentalist brothers and sisters….if Easter is toxic for you, don’t do it. Consider this a cosmic permission slip to reject, avoid or run away. This isn’t a rear for spiritual law and order. This is the year for spiritual diversity and inclusion. If a particular tradition speaks to you, then yes, by all means follow it fully. If not, by all means follow whatever spiritual path that allows you to live a life of compassion and contentment and be at peace with yourself. In my mind’s eye, I see the High Priest as the Dali Lama who said “My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.” The spring energy pulls us to kindness and teaching it by example if nothing else.

The Nine of Swords is another card where I love Ellen Dugans interpretation and Mark Evans’ representation. Calling it a “drama queen” sort of card is just the energy for summer. Here I’m reminded of the Disney TV show “Wizards of Waverly Place” where the mom is made into a local internet celebrity with a montage of her telling her kids to “knock it off!” This card is playing the “knock it off lady” for us. There are enough real world crap to deal with without adding psychological drama on top of it all. This is a call to “knock it off” and get over ourselves and get to whatever work is at hand. It will really be time for storm clean-up during the sunny days of summer, metaphorically speaking.

The Page of Wands still fits as the year card, too. Pages are symbolic of learning. Wands are symbolic of our inner world, our inner passions. Wands are related to the element of fire.

The word “crucible” just stepped forward.

The heat and pressure of the past several years may have changed us on a deeper, more molecular level than we realized. 2022 might be a year of getting re-acquainted with ourselves. May we all find more strength and peace and health and happiness and love and kindness than we expected.

Thank you again for watching, reading and listening. I hope you will join me in 2022 for more short sip daily readings, you choose interactive readings, the new membership tier on ko-fi plus a few exciting new things that will unfold probably over the winter season. Of course, private email readings are always available with no appointment needed. Your attention and support for all of this means so much. I appreciate each of you. Thank you and Happy New Year to all.

The card deck pictured is Witches Tarot with artwork by Mark Evans, used under the permissions granted on the Llwellyn publishing website.

10-23-21 Zombie Cat Still Shambles

Next weekend? Really? Well that month escalated fast.

Just a quick reminder that Zombie Cat yes/no readings are $5 off for only one more week before the price goes back to abnormal.

Zombie Cat yes/no readings used to be seasonal, but they are available year-round now on the “Special Layouts” section of the no-appointment email readings page.

What makes them “Zombie Cat” readings? They are written with fictional cartoon alter-ego Zombie Cat’s tongue in what’s left of his cheek mildly snarky dad joke level sense of humor . He’s a zombie. He’s a cat. He doesn’t care about how predictions do or don’t work. Zombie Cat doesn’t care about disclaimers (they still apply – ZC just doesn’t give a rat’s patootie about them) Ask ANYTHING. No promises it will be an answer you want to hear. Want a prediction? He’ll give it to you. It just might be dead wrong.

In other words, they are perfect fun for Halloween.

Or any other time of year.

Order yours HERE

YouChoose Interactive Tarot: Ding!

Cardless: Thoughts on an anniversary

What a year.

Perception of time is so fluid and so individual it’s no wonder humans created clocks and calendars just so we can navigate our way through the tine drop of time we are given for our lifetimes. If nothing else, the year of the pandemic has taught us that. After all it’s been blursday the 363rd of Marchish for about three years now, hasn’t it?

Let’s set the cards aside for a moment. I have an interesting intuition flexing exercise for you: Look back over the past year since the global Covid-19 pandemic was declared, but look at it exclusively through the lens of intuition. What were your intangible, intuitive perceptions over the course of that time? When and how did you become aware of them? What did life look like intuitively to you in January 2020? March 2020? Summer solstice? Fall equinox? At the American election? The holidays? January 2021? How did the intuitive feelings connect to actual events as they unfolded? Did you learn anything about your intuitive perceptions in the empathic pressure cooker that was 2020? Seriously, I’m interested in your meta-assessment of your intuition this past year (stay private – you don’t have to share details) The comments are open if you’d like to add your two cents to the topic today.

I live in the eastern United States. The cultural zeitgeist energies and emotions were so strong last year that looking back at the intuitive landscape has a certain tangible quality, almost like the memory of actual events. In my mind’s eye, I can still see the mental images of a U.S. map with little black tornado shapes spinning and wiggling and moving around all over the map. I remember the image of the ocean with a hurricane on the horizon. I remember a shimmering iridescent soap bubble or force field whenever setting empathic boundaries came into the conversation. I remember the image of survivors peeking out of storm wreckage. I remember the map again with the little tornadoes fading to grey.

Part of me wants to take pride in how well the images matched the events that unfolded after – I’d call the insurrection riot a hurricane among many, metaphorically speaking. It feeds into the cassandra complex my ego has brewing. Actually, it was just a clear-eyed view of energies that were current at the time of the mental image. It was in no way prophetic or predictive, just as Tarot and intuition always is. It helped me to do good readings for clients. It helped me know when to feed the spiritual side of life and when to stick to my knitting (literally) and take care of practical things. Sensitivity to energy helped me to ease up on the spiritual stuff (especially when it was getting way too judge-y and taking on a fearful edge) That is exactly what Tarot and intuition is supposed to do both in ‘normal’ times and times of extreme duress. It gives a read of where we are and suggests a better way forward. Tarot and intuition didn’t predict a damn thing in any of this. Still, intuition worked. We all have it. You can use it too. All you have to do is take the lid off and give your ESP a little bit of TLC. (Of course, me and my ego are happy to help you in that process)

If it is any consolation, though, the image today is a clear map and the wreckage is gone. My attention is drawn to the physical (perhaps another aspect of all the coins/pentacle cards that have turned up during the past year) There have been storms and fires and floods and accidents the same as any other year. Those literal changes and disasters increase the pandemic disaster exponentially for those who experience those losses too. The change is even more heartbreaking and profound for those who have lost loved ones. The fortunate rest of us, whose closest loved ones and physical environment is as intact and unchanged as it would be after any other year can take consolation in that. Look out the window. For the vast majority of us, the streets and houses are all the same as last year. What we DO and how we do things has changed quite a lot. Sure, there are plastic shields and hand sanitizer dispensers in the stores, but for most of us all of the physical infrastructure of our lives has been left untouched by the pandemic year.

I have another suggestion for today. Find something familiar. Any tangible thing that is the same as it was in the before time. A place. A park. Your home. Your backyard. An article of clothing. A favorite song. A coffee mug. Anything. Drink in the familiarity. Ground and center yourself around that. Life, attitudes, energies – many things have irrevocably changed in the past year. Soak up some comfort and courage from the stuff that hasn’t.

On second thought, maybe Tarot does have a card for this. It is one of life altering change, some tragic but some also for the better.

In memory of those lost. In gratitude for lessons learned.

Plan 21

I have a theory.

You have to HAVE a plan before life, circumstances and general random crap can blow it all to pieces. Life can get pretty Darwinian sometimes. Adapt or die. But you have to have something TO adapt. You have to be in the water before you can go with the flow. Plan/adapt, yang/yin: I doubt anyone is surprised to see me go kind of Taoist with all of this.

My original plan lasted all the way through 9 am yesterday. So step one is declare time and calendars to be merely arbitrary (they are) and just roll all of this out now instead of a nice, neat Monday morning. This is my general game plan for 2021, subject to change. Everything is, subject to change that is.

Video/blog combos twice per week: YouChoose week ahead on the weekend (or early Monday morning) and Today’s tarot on Wednesdays
One card Tarot readings on the blog other days as often as possible, with longer reads sprinkled in as the inspiration (or reader questions) hit.
No more cutesy pants marketing promotions. The prices are very affordable and the quality of the readings are high. What I offer is a solid value as it is. I’m good at this. I love doing this. I’m here to help. Let’s do some Tarot together.
20% of the proceeds from all one card distance Tarot readings by e-mail will be donated to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank throughout the year.
No more seasonal shenanigans. All the readings I do are available all of the time. You can find a price and layout to fit any budget, mood or question, all on the home page.
Announcements weekly in the youchoose posts, or in the blog / Twitter for emergencies/cancellations
Expect delays nights, weekends and U.S. holidays.
In-person sessions and parties will remain closed until the Halloween season 2021
Comments and social media are OPEN. Talk to me people! Let me know the kind of content you like, don’t like and want to see and I can, you know, adapt. (comments are still curated and spam is still obliterated in a blinding flash of hellfire)

That being said, let’s DO this thing.

The energy IS different than it was last year. I still get the mental image of the U.S. map with lot’s of little tornadoes all over it, but they are fading. I also get a dry, windy ‘aftermath’ feeling, like a scene from a disaster movie, with a feeling like coming out of the storm shelter with a rock in the pit of your stomach as you see the damage, and start to process what just happened and that it was just as bad as it seemed. Or maybe that is just my gut twisting when I hear how many people traveled over the holidays. We’ve turned a sort of corner, but now comes damage assessment, realizing the losses, and the first inklings of the beginnings of the beginning of recovery. Don’t put away your chaps just yet. There is still plenty of Mad Max style dystopian post apocalyptic energy out there. They aren’t kidding. It is probably going to be a dark-energy winter, at least locally (U.S. vs global) Spring and summer have that ‘aftermath’ feel. I feel pretty optimistic about Fall, although I usually do since it is far and away my favorite time of year.

Nature is adapting, but it is also cycles. No new forward looking new year planning is complete without a little retrospective. Thank you all for reading, following, commenting, liking and making this all worth doing. I’m grateful.