Whenever you read ‘weekend oracle’ posts, it basically is a vibe check for the next 2-3 days that give you an idea how to make the most of the energy flows around you.
THE NIGHT’S PITY: Seven Dane Asmund, author of the deck, describes this card as “finding dark comfort in hard times.”
On one hand, I’m getting that this can be a literal thing. Honor you natural diurnal / nocturnal cycles. If you are a morning person, honor that and get some sleep as you need. If you are a natural night owl, indulge your dark loving inner nature. This is a time of resonance and power for the night owls. Embrace your inner goth if you have one. Day people, nap all you want, we got this.
On the other hand, this is also psychological. Very Jungian, really. This is a good time for everyone to explore their darker side. Not suggesting you do anything harmful to anyone. It’s a thought experiment. This is talking about a touch of cynicism and dark humor in the face of all of the real violence and tragedy that so many people are facing these days.
The idea for everyone is to sit with your dark side, deal with your demons by understanding them – even befriending them. It’s a radical form of self-love to find beauty in the flaws and downfalls, and accept yourself as-is, in whole, right here, right now. Allow yourself to feel at home in the literal or metaphoric night. The dark side might just bring you a warm blanket and cookie.
Choose your card, get the Oracle card reading below.
Thanks for watching!
Sage Sips blog is Tarot in the time it takes to sip your coffee Please support this non-monetized channel & blog at https://ko-fi.com/taocrafttarot
Think of a question, a topic or the weekend ahead. Choose your card. Pause the video if you need time to think, then restart to see the reveal.
PAY ATTENTION (reversed): something important has flown under your radar. Pay attention now and you can figure out the situation. It is just more urgent now than it was before.
THE GAMBLER: Wayne Gretsky said that we “miss 100% of the shots you don’t take” If you don’t try, you have 0% chance of success. Trying, failing, re-thinking, trying again might be a more valuable experience in the long run than an easy success could ever be.
Deck: Alleyway Oracle of Secrets by Seven Dane Asmund. Used with permission from @publishinggoblin1072
Sage Sips is Tarot in the time it takes to sip your coffee
?
New loot* from publishinggoblin.com and Seven Dane Asmund’s recent Kickstarters. With its consistent, stellar quality I recommend Seven Dane Asmund’s work. The story and lore he’s woven around the Alleyman / Alleyway card decks is almost burgeoning mythology. I’m looking forward to working with this new deck, just like the Alleyman’s Tarot has been a delight from the moment it arrived. It really is a masterful deck. It is the Stradivarius of Tarot decks. I suspect this is the equivalent in Oracle decks, or at least one of the best.
I suspect one of the things that raises it a notch above others is the way it lifts up and promotes the collective of artist who contribute to the deck. I see you, Seven. Bringing all of this together and giving the artists all due recognition, the storytelling of the Alleyman lore and podcast, the quality of the physical products…all of it together is genius. Respect.
Intuitively I feel pulled to do this a little differently. Instead of a methodical “learn with me” series like we did with the Publishing Goblin’s Oracle Dice. Let’s just jump in with both feet and USE this thing for daily meditation readings. I began reading cards with an Oracle deck (Medicine Cards by David Carson and Jamie Sams) There was nothing methodical there – just a Fool-like step off the cliff while still tethered to the guidebook. A sort of psychic bungee jump, it wasn’t until after I switched to the classic RWS that I began to really understand how card symbolism and pure intuition worked together. It might be fun to take the jump in and have at it approach but bring that hard-won understanding and years of experience along for the ride.
I hope you’ll join me. We’ll explore the deck together, but without a plan. You never know when or where you’ll meet the Alleyman.
*Not shown the other two death card enamel pins. They are already gifted to my son the scare actor. So proud. (shout out to Hundred Acres Manor – check them out if you are around Bethel Park PA this fall!)
A big thank you to alert reader L.K. who caught that the dice from yesterday’s Learn With Me post was hard to see because of the video text!
See? I don’t bite. The comments are open, let me know whatever questions or feedback you have. Then I’ll post answers and make adjustments so that Sage Sips can be as relevant and useful as possible.
Ask me anything! Get an answer here! In true Zombie Cat style, all answers are 100% guaranteed to contain words!
Get a Sage Sips membership for discount readings and more HERE
I’m a big synchronicity fan (The Police album AND the Jungian concept)
Even after all of these years, I’ll still have days where I pull a card for the blog and get a whole lot of nothing intuitively. Luckily, thanks to the extra boost of energy from a client’s name and question / permission for an open reading – that doesn’t seem to happen for private readings. Even if it did, the solution is the same: prompts.
Have you ever seen those antique hand pumps for water? I’m not sure of the physics of the whole thing, I think Archemedes Principle has something to do with it – he was that ancient greek dude that was into sloshing water – but for the hand pump to do its thing sometimes you had to put a little water in it before you could use it to pump more water out of your well. “Prime the pump” came to mean anything that you put into something to make it work.
It’s kind of like lubrication too – oil changes for the car, oil on squeeky hinges or stuck locks – that sort of thing.
When intuition feels stuck, it is perfectly ok to prime the pump. It’s ok to look for a little extra inspiration outside of the dice or cards or whatever you happen to be using.
Look, listen and read works for me.
Look around you – does anything in view grab your attention? That might be an extra help for your intuition.
Listen – is the intuition coming through as a sound or bit of music instead of the card or dice or in place of anything visual at all? If listening doesn’t work pay attention to any scents or physical sensations that pop to mind.
Read – if nothing else works, pick up the guide book for the oracle your using or any other guides that are relevant. I have a whole collection of Tarot books, so if I’m not getting anything intuitive right off the bat I’ll browse through several to see if any of the key words hit as the right one.
Today’s dice toss was a little bit of both
My impulse impression was “infinity” because of the sideways it landed. Had a few quick thoughts that you can see in the video. After that nothing except the nagging feeling that I was missing something. The heart shape is obvious and shows Seven Dane Asmunds genius in designing these things.
Here is the Jungian kind of synchronicity here. I haven’t read the dice guidebook yet. 138 dice faces is a bit much to take on all in one go, so I’m learning the oracle dice little by little right along with you in these posts.
Just by pure but meaningful coincidence, the die lands with the image sideway, prompting the association with “infinity.” Combine that with the obvious heart shape, gives us “infinite heart.”
Go to the guidebook an the die itself is “elements” and this face means -SOUL!
(Doh! Why didn’t I think of that right off?)
Beautifully designed and communicative image – yeat again.
To quote the book “Soul, as an element, speaks to the human element of the world, and its positive and negative affects.”
Although “effects” would work there too.
The image has a light side and a dark side which also perfectly reflects human nature and warms the cockles of my Taoist philosophy loving heart.
This is the dice-face of humanity and the infinity of the human heart.
Thank you for reading!
The Publishing Goblin’s Oracle Dice is used with permission from Seven Dane Asmund (author of the Alleyman’s Tarot) and Publishing Goblin LLC
If you enjoy Sage Sips, please remember me for your private Tarot readings too.
Your likes, subs, follows, shares, comments and virtual ko-fi coffees are all greatly appreciated!
Psychic ability, intuition, “weird ass mystical shit” as the one Alleyman Tarot card calls it – whatever you name it, it’s a normal human thing. It’s a sense, like warmth or sight or hearing. In my experience, that psychic intuition exists as a mental echo of the five physical senses.
That is where we get the word clairvoyance. It means “clear vision.” There is a “clair” for each sense. The vast majority of the time my intuition works with mental images or sounds, songs and words (clairaudience.) I always explain in a new private reading that is what I mean when I say “see” for the mental images and “hear” when the intuition comes to mind as words or songs.
I love it when intuition works with popular songs, TV and music. It is a shared experience for a lot of people so it is an easy way to communicate a concept.
I’m a bit of a foodie, and I’ve studied a little aromatherapy, which has opened taste and smell as an intuitive prompts, but they much less common than the other two.
Today we went straight to the classic rock radio station. Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” was the very first thing that came to mind when I saw today’s dice image. That was quickly followed by a snippet of The Doors that says “break on through to the other side.”
I didn’t have old 60’s (or was it early 70s) classic rock on my bingo card for today, but there it is. If you don’t know the songs I’m not surprised. I only know the Doors from snippets in movies and TV and The Wall was Junior High at the latest.
Ugh…I just realized that I was not only alive but in second grade when friggen’ Dark Side of the Moon was released. Damn. I’ve earned the GenX Tarot Xpert title just by kicking around this long.
Back to the dice. Put the image and the intuitive “wall” and “break through” prompts, I would read this image as being about mental blocks, overcoming challenges. The Ten of Wands comes to mind as a Tarot analogy. Granted with over 90 dice images, there may not be a good Tarot analogy for each one, but with 78 Cards in the Tarot deck, there is bound to be overlap.
When you are very first learning any oracle at all, you may not dial into intuitive sense or impressions right away like this. It comes with practice and that is exactly what we are doing here. Let’s use a brick wall as an analogy. Walls don’t just spontaneously appear out of nothing. They are assembled, board by board, sheet of drywall by sheet of drywall, brick by brick. Not every brick is going to trigger a spontaneous impression. That’s when you go to the guide book. That’s why it is there. Two heads are better than one. Start with the guide book, then add your own impression to get your message for the day.
Day after day, brick after brick. Next thing you know you can tap right into your own psychic skills and read dice like a champ.
OK – that being said, let’s go see how far I am from Seven’s original intent for the dice.
And in case you are wondering, no I’m not looking ahead. I did this when my copy of the Alleyman Tarot first arrived. I’d read the card then go to the guidebook and I wound up even more head over heels for the deck than I thought I’d be.
What I’m trying to say here is don’t get your underwear in a bunch over which comes first. It doesn’t matter if you go right to the guide book then add the impressions the dice plus guidebook inspires OR start with your own impressions and go to the guidebook to expand them and maybe spark some more. What matters is engaging with your intuition. All the dice and cards and guidebooks are here to help that process. All of those things “Pump Up the Volume” on your intuition if you want to throw some late 80s in with the 60s and 70s music references.
To the guide book:
The whole cube is the die of obstacles. No surprise there. The name of this individual face is “Ruin.” But wouldn’t you know it? I have it exactly upside down in the video. I don’t get the feeling there is any significance to that, as there might be with a reversed Tarot card. That is just me not knowing the dice.
Turned upright, it is easy to see the classic Tower image from the Tarot with the bolt of lightning and falling bodies. But there is a little more to this. This is about “calamity” as much as the suddenness. Seven writes it as being an irreversible life changing event…so shades of the Death and Devil card to go with the Tower card.
Which means little if you aren’t a Tarot card reader…we are here to talk about the dice.
So sudden, life altering disaster.
It happens to the best of us.
It happens to all of us.
And life altering chaos and disaster is a wall of sorts. How do you get back to living when your old life is no longer an option? How do you move past the pain and chaos?
The thing that caught my attention was Mr. Asmund’s reminder that it is ok to feel the pain of the things in life that hurt us. Numb isn’t necessarily better.
Pain is important. Both physically and emotionally it alerts that something is wrong. It lets us know when attention is needed, possibly action too.
Pain and loss and irrevocable change is inevitable during the course of a lifetime. But that doesn’t mean that this dice or any of those Tarot cards are predicting imminent disaster for you any time soon. Don’t talk yourself into a self-fulfilling prophecy. Instead allow this to be a gentle reminder.
If disaster has happened, then you can continue, brick by brick, to recover. Things may never be the same, but they can be made better. You survived.
If disaster is happening now…why are you reading this? Go do what needs done. Take care of yourself and matters at hand.
If you are ok now, drink it in. Savor it for as long as it lasts. Right now, this present moment is precious.
Momento mori. Momento vivere.
Remember all things die. Then go, remember to live.
On that blissful note…
Thank you for reading.
Please subscribe to the Sage Sips blog (opt in with your email in the right hand column of this page or scroll WAAAYY down on mobile). Sage Sips is also free on ko-fi and substack. The blog free Tarot and other content (like this post) every week. The free content is fueled by paid memberships, private reading purchases and a cup of coffee. Any likes or shares are greatly appreciated, especially on the socials.
Ko-fi members get extra benefits including discounted private email Tarot readings, access to free one card Tarot readings in the shop, plus random exclusive content.
If you like what you read in the blog, please remember me if you ever want a private Tarot reading. Email Tarot is open for orders 24/7 with no appointment needed.
Delivery times vary. It takes longer to get your reading if you order during nights, weekends or holidays (US eastern time zone)
Feel better? Did a little shameless self promotion lighten the mood after all the talk of that chaos and calamity?
See you at the next sip!
*Publishing Goblin Oracle Dice used with permission of Seven Dane Asmund and Publishing Goblin LLC
TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. Today The Alleyman, a Carl Sagan quote, and the Seven of Bells Tarot Card
Hello and welcome to TaoCraft Short Sip: Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee.
Today’s card is the seven of bells from the Alleyman’s Tarot deck and originally from the Floetner deck. The Alleyman’s Tarot is used with the permission of its creator Seven Dane Asmund. To learn more about Seven’s work and what is rapidly becoming my new favorite deck please visit the link below or in the podcast episode description. Yesterday, I posted a short first impression of the deck on the blog. I’ll put a link to that in the podcast description as well.
As an exercise in learning the deck, I’d like to use it for our daily short sip readings. I’ll give you my first impression purely intuitive reading from the card and then I’ll go to the guidebook written meaning and let you decide which resonates more for you on whatever given day you read or listen to this. To take a phrase from the Alleyman Podcast – it will be a collaboration, with the Alleyman’s blessing.
Not to mention that fits my lazy girl M.O. – I won’t have take the time to read the guidebook ahead of these first look. Doing an intuition-only first-look reading like this before reading the guide book page only goes to show how readable this deck and this deck’s concept really is.
When I drew this card, my attention was drawn to the central figure and the similarity between the figure’s texture and the rocks and surrounding ground. It reminded me of the Taoist principle that we are an inseparable part of the larger whole. Carl Sagan said that the Cosmos is “all that is or was or ever will be.”
That. Includes. Us.
Just like the cliche joke about the Dali Lama asing the hotdog salesman in New York to make him one with everything.
We are integral part of our life and circumstances. Because of that deep connection, we can impact it just as it impacts us in that eternal dance of cause and effect.
The notebook talks about this card representing a feeling of being trapped by circumstance and expectations, quote “you have been made into something other people need you to be” end quote. The guidebook agrees that you can shake off this dried-mud entrapment. You can return to feeling more yourself if you quote “find what made you this way and confront it” end quote.
To put it all together, it may be a sudden change or move at a glacial pace, but we can use our deep interconnectedness with the universe and we can use cause and effect to break free of what others expect of us and begin to be true to our expectations of ourselves instead.
Thank you so much for reading, watching and listening. There are companion video shorts on YouTube that show the Short Sip cards being drawn. Neither the videos or the blogcast are monetized so they rely on your support. Purchases on the blog website and monthly memberships through ko-fi all contribute toward creating this (almost) daily Tarot content.
Your likes, subs, shares and follows are always appreciated.
See you at the next sip.
For more information about The Alleyman’s Tarot and Seven Dane Asmund’s other work please visit Publishing Goblin, llc
Photo of my newest Tarot deck, and brief deck review. Rave review that is. It’s a modern day masterpiece for an ancient art.
If I were a violin player, this is like finding a discounted Stradivarius online and getting surprise bonus bows, rosin and music besides. This is a modern day masterpiece for an ancient art.
I felt a kinship on the first page. Years ago, I wrote on my decks as the alleyman claims to do with his in his notebook. Cards are just tools while the process and experience of getting and giving readings is almost a living, breathing, evolving thing.
Add favorite cards from my other decks – or take some out as the guide suggests? Change and collaborate both with an unknown to the creatore – “with the Alleyman’s blessing” – as part of the unspoken collective of Tarot readers and artists? Count me in. This is something special.
I don’t give cards away like the fictional Alleyman because I want – need – to protect and possess my tools, and build a relationship with them. This deck had my attention at first sight. The hood and fingerless gloves is a whole mood. The deck is easily coated with my energy. There is delicious mystique and aesthetic to be co-created here. This deck speaks succinct truths with many mouths. There is art and poetry afoot.
Rubber duckie Fool? There is joy in a good beginning.
There is probably more to say, but unboxing isn’t my jam. A thoughtful review is more up my alley. And this one requires some thinking.
Bravo, Seven Dane Asmund. Bravo.
Learn more about this artists’ work and the Alleyman’s Tarot at PublishingGoblin.com
Sage Sips / TaoCraft Tarot 
You must be logged in to post a comment.