Sage Snow – Page 12 – Sage Sips / TaoCraft Tarot

Learn With Me: Tarot on Target

I want to take a little break from exploring the Lenormand Tarot deck and talk about something that has been on my mind since a conversation with a potential client yesterday. We’ve talked about it before (don’t forget you can use the search bar to browse the 1500+ posts in the archive) but it’s time to revisit the idea of accuracy in Tarot.

As I see it, accuracy in psychic or Tarot readings begs the question “Accurate compared to what?”

Accuracy of anything is a measurement of that thing compared to some desired goal. Accuracy measures how on-target something is.

To measure anything, you have to make a comparison of one thing that you don’t know with something you do know, like a ruler. Even if one of the things you are using to measure is your eyeballing estimation based on experience – it’s still a comparison.

So what do you use as your ruler to measure the accuracy of a Tarot reading?

Is your measure predicting the future?

I can tell you that level of accuracy right now – zero.

If a Tarot reading tells you what actually happens ahead of time it is one of two things:

Self-fulfilling prophecy – Cause and effect is a real thing. If you choose to DO something based on the reading, that action contributes to the end outcome. In this case, the reading caused the future, it didn’t predict it. Which is a good thing! That means you can use a Tarot reading to help you decide your best course of action. You can use a Tarot reading to help cause (or at least contribute to) the desired effect. The drawback here is that you don’t have control over everything. You can increase the chances of something happening, but you can’t 100% control everything and you certainly can’t 100% predict anything.
Pure dumb luck. A broken clock is still right twice a day.

Is your measure getting good advice?

If that is the case, then there is a very high degree of accuracy, and it happens without regard for distance or delivery method (more on that tomorrow)

Is your measure stress reduction?

With that measure, Tarot has 100% accuracy.

People come to Tarot readings for a reason. There are as many reasons to get a Tarot reading as there are people and moments along their life’s journey.

A Tarot reading is a peaceful moment. A Tarot reading is a moment of hopefulness and optimism. A Tarot reading is a moment of calm, clarity and the hope of finding a solution.

If guidance, advice, and a peaceful moment is your measure, then my Tarot readings are as accurate as they come.

Want to learn to do DIY one card meditation readings to find a peaceful moment whenever you need it?

Order my ebook PeaceTarot HERE

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Let the Imagination Flow

Daily meditation tarot reading with the ace of cups

Private Tarot is OPEN throughout the holidays! ORDER HERE

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.

Winter Hours

Winter Hours = All of them!

Distance Tarot is my favorite Tarot to do, so that is my focus for the winter and beyond.

It’s my specialty. Written distance Tarot gives you the best of my 30 years of Tarot reading experience.

Writing gives me richer, deeper access to my intuition than speaking does. Why? I have no idea. All I know is that it works and written distance Tarot accesses the best parts of my psychic ability.

Don’t get me wrong. After all these years, my spoken, in-person readings are good. REALLY good.

My email Tarot is just that teensy itsy bit better. I can link you to the pop culture references that intuition throws at us. I can find images to help you see what I see intuitively. I can spell check and back up and find the exactly right words to elevate your reading and make it something extra special.

Email Tarot is available to order ALL of the hours: 24/7, no appointment needed ORDER HERE.

Keeping in mind that I am only one real world person, I’ll be in touch with you as soon as I get the order notice. Full write-ups usually arrive in your inbox within 24 hours, but that might vary a bit during the holidays. Because cookies. And knitting.

Email Tarot has a lot of advantages.

It gives you the best of my intuition.

You don’t have to wait for an appointment.

You get the ultimate in privacy.

You get a wider variety of layouts to choose from.

You KNOW it is genuine and real. You can’t answer leading questions or give body language cues. There is no way for stage mentalism or magic tricks to come into it.

Plus you get a better price. Working by email, I don’t need a brick and mortar location and can pass those savings along to you. With email, prices start as low as $5 for a one card meditation reading.

The $40 seven card layout is the SAME IDENTICAL reading as an in-person session. You get an hour-equivalent reading for less than the price of a 30 minute in-person session with most psychics.

AND (drum roll please)

I’m bringing back VIDEO distance readings. Instead of reading the distance session, you can listen to it plus see your cards as they are being drawn. If you like the experience of in-person readings but want the lower cost and no-appointment convenience, this is the Tarot for you.

The video readings use the Five Card TaoCraft layout. When you order, you get an instant download explaining the whole process. A link to your individual customized PRIVATE share video reading will come to the email that you specify in your order.

Get yours today before the price for video goes up to match the written readings in January.

Here is an example of a collective blog reading from a few years ago. Your reading will be more focused on you and your question, of course. Video readings for individuals feature the five card TaoCraft layout.

Learn With Me: Lenormand, Say It Loud – part 2

Let your love language do the talking.

Sage Sips Blog is Tarot in the time it takes to sip your coffee.

Sorry for being late getting this posted. I was a victim of my own turkey tryptophan and once I woke up from a nap, figured out what year it was and cleaned the kitchen it was getting late in the day. Instead of writing, I settled in and watched “Why Is This Happening Live” with Chris Hayes and Rachel Maddow. They are hands down one of my favorite TV duos, you can almost see the IQ points dripping off of the screen. I feel smarter just by watching those two. But you HAVE to see this special. Especially if you live in America. I don’t know if the link will work for you, I THINK you can see it on the free version of Peacock, but however you need to do it, I URGE every American of voting age to PLEASE watch this. 2024 is going to be globally, historically important – no joke, no exaggeration, no intuition, just the facts on the ground in saying that. PLEASE make time for this. Please ACT. This is for real.

Enough of the scary stuff for a Friday.

Let’s look at the Lenormand cards we drew Wednesday in part one and see for ourselves if they read any differently in concert than they do individually.

I want to say yes, but not quite in the way the guide book presents.

They do connect very strongly. My colleagues are right about the intensity and in-your-face quality Lenormand seems to be lending to the reading. The cards connect to each other very strongly, but not in a way that changes the individual card’s meaning, but in a way that strengthens the connection between the cards at a layout level. Instead of connected dots, it is a fluid, unified stream of energy and consciousness. This pathway layout flows together like a heartfelt sentence.

The fading energy card is the heart (meaning union/connection akin to the two of cups) with the jack of hearts inset (akin to a knight of cups energy). The word ESTABLISHED comes to mind. I don’t think that this card in this position means that love is leaving or diminishing. It may be solid enough that you can open your focus to other things. Your attention can embrace other things. The love doesn’t leave so much as single specific relationships take up a little less space in your total attention bandwidth. This broadening and softening of focus allows you to bring your love, compassion, and sense of connection to more people and things. EXPANSIVE also comes to mind with this card.

Hmmm…go Marie. If Marie Lenormand is regarded as one of the best “fortune tellers” it is because of the intuition she tapped into, not the cards that were named for her. Trust your own heart and noggin. I suspect that, and some cultural saavy got her to where she went.

Current energy is the Stars cards. I have no idea why this is stars, plural and the other decks have Star, singular, in the major arcana. It probably has no significance at all. In any case, the Stars is associated with divine guidance, just like the Star in RWS cards. There is also an element of wish fulfillment (cue Jiminy Cricket and “When You Wish Upon a Star” from Disney’s Pinocchio)

There is some connected-card meaning modification here. The guidebook says that when the Stars and The Heart appear together, it means that a “relationship is blessed.” In the energy I see here, however, YOU are the one doing the blessing, not some divine providence.

Finally the growing energy is the Garden card. This is associated with a place of meeting or community. The inset is stepping forward a bit. The 8 of spades is akin to the 8 of swords. If I think about the 8 of swords, its connotations of empowerment vs powerlessness and victim mindset steps forward.

In understanding the Garden card, lets look at it through the lens of its inset companion, the 8 of spades/swords.

The Pamela Smith art is my favorite representation for the eight of swords because it clearly shows some key ideas. The woman’s feet are unbound. She can’t see, hear or use her arms, but she can walk. It would require that she use care, touch and other senses to move safely, BUT she could walk forward, follow the water (intuition, emotions) at her feet through the circle of swords to safety. Often this comes gives the message of unconventional action or creative problem solving. She can use whatever is at her disposal in order to act and to escape OR she can choose to stand still and remain imprisoned. Each would require its own kind of courage and endurance.

Now, about that sentence.

Expansive love, flowing into guidance and action.

Bless your relationships (of all types)

Speak your love-language, whatever it is, and speak it loudly.

If your love language is cooking special favorite foods for loved ones, you’ve had a good couple of days. However you show affection, let it flow. In loving others we can liberate ourselves.

Thank you so much for reading!

Holiday Hours = All of them!

Live readings are by appointment only and book at least a week in advance but you can order private Tarot readings by email 24/7, no appointment needed. I have WAY more time available for email readings and can get one of those to you usually within 24 hours.

Learn With Me: Lenormand Tarot, say it loud

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Part 1

Over the past several weeks we’ve looked at the history of Lenormand Tarot as its been told by Christopher Butler in the book accompanying this deck and a few quick online searches. The origins are as fuzzy as any other Tarot deck.

So far we’ve looked at a few single cards. The more I work with the deck, the more I appreciate the artwork. Color on black with a certain neon light at night aesthetic is my favorite palette. Been definitely feeling the intp, cyberpunk lofi aesthetic these days. This deck is a standout in the art and visual representation. I don’t care much for the pale colors and deliberately old, eighteenth century look of most of the other decks that I’ve seen. The lesson there is to find a deck you resonate with VISUALLY regardless of RWS vs Lenormand setup to the deck.

See? We really are learning stuff here.

We also learned how the Lenormand Deck pushes you toward intuitive reading. You have to rely on your own intuition for the role that the playing card insets play in the card interpretation – if any. In contrast, the RWS decks use that aspect of intuition through card reversals. Lenormand disregards reversals outright.

I have to agree with my friends who said, in their experience, Lenormand tended to be more blunt, direct, in your face and to the point. I have a hunch that this is a function of Lenormand being a smaller deck and, I suspect, you might get the same punchy quality if you did a major arcana only reading with a RWS deck. Some limited run specialty decks are majors only, and when I first experiments with “cybertarot” software back in the 90s, the demo was majors only – and this has a similar feel to those majors-only readings. Just like when a lens narrows a beam of sunlight, it increases the heat and intensity of the light it could be that a smaller deck increase the intensity of a reading. But I also suspect there is a “goldilocks zone” at play, too. Too small of a deck, or too large of a layout could dilute or blur the cards’ insights to the point that it is no longer useful at all.

In my experience, larger layouts will do that regardless of the deck’s size. Even the 10 card celtic cross can get unwieldy and contradictory. I see no value in even trying the every-card-in -the-deck 4 x 9 grand tableau layout that is common to Lenormand. It is absurd to me on its face. My hunch is that Mlle Lenormand was riffing from pure intuition and using the cards to connect with her clients. That isn’t to say that it is schtick or performance or a con or a trick…people are sometimes more willing to believe “the cards” over what another human has to say. The cards make us feel that the information is otherworldly, something more or special compared to human insight.

The cards are skeletal armature. The cards are a structural foundation on which human intuition builds.

That is the larger, functional insights from these cards today. Please read tomorrow and we’ll take a look at these cards specifically in this pathway layout. The right hand card is fading energies, the middle card is current energies and the left card is growing energy as I read these.

continues tomorrow …..

Reverse Engineering Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving week U.S. friends! I’m thankful for anyone and everyone around the world who reads this. Don’t forget the blog readers special. This week, I’m giving everyone on the free blog the same offer that members get ALL of the time – a private one card reading on request. Seeing your name, email, topic, question or permission for an open reading is what helps me connect to your individual message, so if you put that information in an email I’ll reply with a free one card private Tarot reading. It would be a big help if you put THANKS23 in the subject line so I don’t accidentally get it confused with a question for the blog. Offer ends for free blog readers on 11-30-23.

Now to that reverse engineering thing.

Instead of pulling a card to see what ideas it brings to mind, let’s start with an idea and see what card it brings to mind.

Friendsgiving has had my attention lately.

Admittedly, this is focused on us here in th USA. Much love to the rest of the world, but right now I’m up to my eyeballs in dysfunctional family vibes and not dialing in very well to more universal themes at the moment. Thinking about Thanksgiving this year, The World comes to mind.

Worlds tend to collide during the holidays. Things that mean the world to us as individuals might mean little or nothing to other people. Sometimes, when the holidays bring together people who only gather out of social obligation or genetics, it can feel more like a game of billiards than a homecoming or reunion.

Holiday gatherings can also be comfort and warmth and a heartfelt celebration of the people who are, as the song goes, most dear to us.

Here I am reminded of the book The Holographic Universe by Michael Talbot. The holidays can make us feel lonely by comparison to the rest of the year and by comparison to others who have connections that we don’t have.

You don’t have to connect through the holidays. You can connect to the whole universe anytime, anywhere with anything. According to Talbot, with actual 3-D holograms, every part of the projection material contains the information to project the whole image. Conceptually, that can be extended to our world in general. Pick up a pebble and you are holding the whole world in the palm of your hand.

Even if you are alone, if you celebrate your holiday your way (or even just allow yourself to enjoy some sort of non-holiday fun) then you are connected, you are a part of the whole holiday season. It doesn’t matter what you celebrate, or if you celebrate anything at all. You are a part of the wholeness of the universe. You are connected even if you are alone. Even if you are rejected by one group, there are others that would welcome you as one of our motley crew without hesitation.

There are reasons Friendsgiving is a thing – and to my thinking it is a wonderful thing at that.

It is probably a modern internet misappropriation of some old, misunderstood quote, but I think it exists in the collective consciousness for a reason. It is a much needed idea: “The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb” meaning that chosen bonds are real, are powerful and are important regardless of how you feel about your genetic family. This is a time of year to celebrate and be thankful for the family we’ve found out there in the wide world just as we celebrate, when able, our birth family.

As someone who has been literally and explicitly told by my mother that she thinks I’m going to hell, I’m here to tell you that religion and politics have affected family relationships. I don’t know how many families, to what extent or what percentages – but I can vouch for one.

I can also vouch that it is possible to be happy without the idyllic holiday. It is possible to make your own.

It’s not for me to know much you want to be a part of a genetic family that rejects you to whatever extent for whatever reason. But I hope that you know this:

Pick up a pebble and you hold the wholeness of Earth in your hand. Take a breath and know that you are a part of all humanity. There are people on this pebble hurtling through space that accept you for who you are. There are people that love the things that you love. There are people that love you.

They might not know it. You might not know it. It’s only been since the advent of internet access that we are beginning to see the threads of this level of connection, but world-bonds of found family do exist.

For that I am thankful.

And thank you so much for reading! Please visit Wednesday when we will look at the Lenormand deck. It feels like time to start weaving them into a larger reading than the one card meditations we’ve been doing. Next Learn With Me: Lenormand will be a three card energy path reading again with Thanksgiving as our focus.

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!

Meditation Practice

Meditation Tarot

Members get free one card meditation style Tarot readings by email (upon your request) and discounts on larger layouts. Please visit HERE for more details

“The real meditation practice is how we live our lives from moment to moment.” – Jon Kabat-Zinn

Former MIT educator and author of Wherever You Go, There You Are (1994) – a title that I always assumed was a nod to one of my favorite movies, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eight Dimension

“No matter where you go, there you are.” – Buckaroo Banzai (1984)

Visit the Ask Me Anything page or leave a question in the comments for a free Tarot answer in the blog.

Private readings are OPEN throughout the holidays. Order email Tarot readings 24/7 no appointment needed. Fulfillment times vary. (I’m only one real world person with a day job after all)

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Tincture of Time

The most difficult and deepest healing

“Time heals all wounds”

Deep healing requires the tincture of time.

Time is often the bitterest pill to swallow in our emotional healing. The slow changes time brings are often the most bittersweet. Patience with ourselves and everyone else is necessary medicine, but often the most difficult to create.

The seven of coins calls us to be patient and let the most difficult medicine of all, time, work its healing magic.

Email readings are OPEN all holiday season long. Delivery times vary, especially during nights, weekends and holidays (US eastern) After all, it is just me and my cards and my laptop and my annual panic knitting – but I get the readings to you ASAP with a photo of your real world card layout and my (more than I card to admit) years experience card reading included. Pro Tip: read the whole list to find a layout and price to fit every questions and budget from $5 for one card (FREE for members) up to $40 for a full 7 card layout. Click HERE to order, no appointment needed!

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:

Free one card PRIVATE Tarot readings by email upon request.
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I hope you have a relaxing and fun weekend too! See you at Monday’s sip!