spirituality – Page 3 – Sage Sips / TaoCraft Tarot

I totally judged this book by its cover

For September and October, I’ve decided to indulge in one of my favorite Tarot decks, The Alleyman’s Tarot and explore one of my newest ones, The Normal Tarot, both by Seven Dane Asmund of Publishing Goblin LLC who kindly gave permission to use his decks here in the blog.

My unboxing and earlier posts have all of the requisite fangirling about the Alleyman’s deck, which after a few years of using it is STILL a masterpiece. This deck (including the premise and lore built around it with the podcast and more is like a Stradivarius in the hands of master violinist. I know that sounds like a brag, and it is. I’m that good, and it is too.

When the chance came to 7DA’s first (I believe) deck, I didn’t hesitate, largely because the guidebook cover was love at first sight – a line drawing of a skeleton, cards and the title How To Normal Tarot: Staring into the Seething, Unknowable Chaos of the Universe for Fun and Profit.

That pretty much sums up Tarot work. Some folks really, REALLY don’t like the unknowable part. They want pat, canned platitudes and answers that they WANT to hear (not the guidance they NEED to hear.) Predictions are 1. impossible and 2. baby food for unready souls.

I’m not here for that. If you want “accurate predictions” you need to go find another psychic.

I’m here to give you a hearty soul-meal and some navigation tips for the seething unknowable chaos.

If you are ready for that ride, if you want to experience the wisdom that Tarot really offers, come along.

In September and October, I’ll be using the Alleyman’s Tarot deck for the Week Ahead choose your card readings and the Normal Tarot deck for our Weekend Oracle posts, simply because the deck isn’t a RWS clone. For the members only posts over on ko-fi I’ll post some longer-layout readings following (or inspired by) the layouts in the guidebook.

So fill up your metaphorical coffee (wine/tea/whatever) cup and come sip and stare into the chaos with me.

See you at the next sip

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Card: Death from L’oracle Des Dames as seen in the Alleyman’s Tarot deck

Week Ahead Tarot: Teams and Dreams

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Hello and happy almost September! I’m loving the cooler weather we’ve had this week! In honor of not feeling like we’re trudging through a flaming planetary death hellscape, back to roughly normal posting.

Today is a choose your own card Tarot for the week ahead. Pause the video if you want more time to think. Choose the card that feels right to you and tah-DA! You just got a free Tarot reading. It doesn’t matter if you choose before or after you see the cards and meanings. It is still intuitive discernment. It is your own good intuition deciding if one card, the other card, neither one or both are right for you.

ACE OF PENTACLES: Rest easy. Enjoy the simple pleasures that are already at hand. Contentment is a great treasure. Give yourself the freedom to dream a little while enjoying everything just exactly the way it is right now. If everything seems dark or dreadful, open your perspective. You might be missing something and focusing on one thing too much.

THREE OF PENTACLES: You got this. You are strong and capable, but you still don’t have to do everything alone. Enjoy being a strong, happy part of the team. It doesn’t mean you are weak. It might just mean you are the leader.

Fall Schedule

As always, there is none. Family first, always. When and what gets posted depends on the IRL day job. Here is the plan that fully expect to go off the rails:

Sage Sips Blog

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Sunday/Monday: Week ahead interactive choose your own card readings
Wednesday: Action Eases Anxiety readings
Thursday/Friday: Weekend Oracle
Random behind the scenes and Q&A

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Thanks for reading! See you at the next sip!

Vestigial but Valuable

I follow a fair few Tarot readers on social media. @MadamAdam is a favorite. He posted the other day about those who accuse online psychics of being unethical or a scams after he had spent five or so years building a brand and business with ethics and authenticity.

Preach.

Of course my first response was to go grumpy granny bat and think about the 30 years I’ve spent working with spirituality, intuition development and card readings including the past 20 + years of brand and business building. Being thought of as a scam after pouring every ounce of professionalism you got into a being of service while getting a little fair compensation, all above board and tax paid….it’s enough to put a twist in any professional reader’s knickers.

I may have lost a great deal in the fame and fortune department by doing things with ethics and authenticity, but I can go on with life knowing that I did it right. A life of authenticity is a treasure all its own. I worked every moment above board, with ethics and transparency. Now that TaoCraft Tarot and Sage Sips is a blog supported by my labors of love and readers like you instead of being a full-on Tarot reading business, it seems a little silly to have such a detailed policy page.

It may be vestigial, but it is still valuable.

Ethics and authenticity aren’t selling points. They are character traits. They are how you do business, perhaps, but also how you live your life – if your authenticity is, um, authentic.

So here is my policy page, almost exactly as it has always been. Authenticity and ethical behavior doesn’t stop just because you stop answering the phone for in-person gigs and shift your focus to email readings.

At least this way you know that the readings you get with me are STILL highest quality, ethical, and above all authentic.

P.S. – the readings are fun and helpful too. Order yours HERE.

Must be 18 or over to purchase private readings

WHAT I DO

My Tarot readings are customized, ephemeral folk art consisting of a photo of your unique, real world tarot card layout followed by a written discussion of the cards and a purely intuitive summary of the reading.
Readings are delivered as a .pdf or . docx electronic document in an email attachment
The Sage Sips blog, Ebooks by Sage Snow and all associated social media are intended for artistry, inspiration, personal enrichment and entertainment only. They do not predict the future.
The proceeds from readings, memberships, and virtual coffee gifts on ko-fi all go toward the cost to create and web host Sage Sips blog and the TaoCraftTarot.com website.

WHAT I DO NOT DO

I do not predict the future,
I do not accept medical, legal or pregnancy questions.
I do not read anyone without their knowledge and direct consent. This means I don’t read for you without your request first and I don’t read about anyone other than the person getting the reading.
I NEVER approach you individually to offer a reading. If that happens, please report the impostor.
The information and services on this website and in my writings do not diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent any illness. They do NOT replace professional medical care, mental health care or qualified professional advice in any way.
No free or sample readings
I do not accept any liability of any kind. Use these artistic services or the information contained therein 100% at your own risk.
Beginning January 2025 the business portion of this website that offered phone, online, party and in person Tarot readings has closed.

DISCLAIMER, REFUNDS, EXCHANGES

Tarot is highly customized ephemeral art, so no refunds, exchanges or replacement are available.
Contacting me or making a a ko-fi purchase indicates your agreement with all policies and disclaimers.
Again, use at your own risk. No liability of any kind is implied or accepted.

PRIVACY

Your privacy is a top priority. In order to create and customize your reading, I collect basic contact information including but not limited to name, age, email, reading topic or question, etc. No information is shared except with your permission or in cooperation with legal authority.
Example readings or Q&A readings in the blog are used with the questioners knowledge and consent and with all names, dates or other identifying information removed.
For accuracy, the above basic contact information is re-collected with each new purchase or membership reading request.
Each reading is customized, ephemeral art. A reading’s relevance decreases as time passes. Readings and contact information are routinely deleted.

PAYMENT

PayPal via ko-fi checkout is accepted.

DELIVERY TIME

Each reading is unique and made to order. Please allow 3 to 5 business days for delivery.
Please expect longer delivery times when the order is placed nights, weekends or holidays US eastern time.

Copyright Notice

All written material copyright Sage Snow, all rights reserved.
eBook cover artwork as per front matter attributions, all rights reserved.
Free Blog posts may be shared or quoted under an attribution, share-alike, non-commercial, no derivatives Creative Commons 4.0 international license.
E-mail readings include photos by the author of the client’s individual card layout. The Tarot Waite Smith 1909 card images are public domain. Heart of Stars Tarot 3rd edition used with the direct permission of artist and author, Thom Pham. Animal Wise Tarot used with the permission of DragonHawk Publishing. Alleyman’s Tarot used with permission of Seven Dane Asmund and Publishing Goblin LLC. Other decks are used with publisher’s permission as indicated.
All readings are done by a human being with 30+ years of Tarot experience. No AI tools are used in these readings.

Social Media and Blog Policies

I reserve the right to block any commenter for any reason at my sole discretion
Your support on ko-fi for these free blog readings is greatly appreciated.
Blog comments are moderated, no spam or comments containing multiple links are permitted.

reviewed and updated August 2025

Blah induced glow up

I don’t know if I’ve done one of these tidy-up-the-website things since I’ve been on Bluesky or not. If not, Bluesky – let me introduce myself.

If you are not new to Sage Sips blog, then thank you for putting up with yet another one of these. I’ll admit – I’ve followed that “reintroduce yourself for new followers” advice a little too enthusiastically some years. Equally important, I’m grateful to everyone who has read Sage Sips for a while or follows on any of the socials. That goes double for those of you who get private readings with me. I truly appreciate you. If these posts and readings are any little help at all, it’s worth it to keep things fresh around here for you.

The differences aren’t big, nothing that major has happened since the big re-brand in 2018, but a little infusion of energy and attention still helps every now and again. If Halloween is ‘witch’s new year’ consider this the pre-new-year housecleaning in my little corner of cyberspace.

I’m in late August BLAH mode anyway, so it’s a good time to take a week off from the usual readings and recharge a little.

But back to the re-introduce yourself thing. I always feel weird and awkward about the background and bio part. I’d much rather talk about Tarot behind the scenes or do readings or teach Tarot how-to. But still, a refreshed bio is probably for the best so you can know what kind of internet rando you are reading.

Here is the same old bio, edited down a little bit:

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Hi! I’m Sage.

I’m the author of Sage Sips blog, PeaceTarot and free ebook TaoCraft Portfolio

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

I didn’t originally start out to be a professional Tarot reader (who does?) At first I did readings for friends (why PAY for it when you can DIY it?) A close friend suggested I go online with my readings (forever grateful!) I’ve given psychic Tarot readings through Keen, Advice Trader and AllExperts. After doing literally hundreds of online readings (I stopped counting at 500) I opened my own Tarot practice with ModernOracleTarot.com, the Tarotbytes blog and the now-defunct Quirk & Flotsam shop on Etsy. In 2018 I re-branded everything as TaoCraft Tarot featuring the Sage Sips blog. In 2025, life happened, and my Tarot work circled back to the beginning as a hobby with this blog (and the private email Tarot readings that help support the cost to create the blog and host a half decent website.)

The TaoCraft name is drawn from my love of Taoist philosophy. My work will always be guided by the principles of simplicity, authenticity, and kindness. The name is also a nod to both magickal craft and and regular crafting including one of my favorite hobbies, knitting.

My pen name, Sage, is inspired by both aromatherapy and the wisdom of Taoism and Tarot.

The herb sage has a comforting, familiar scent and flavor that most of us know from breakfast sausage and holiday turkeys. In aromatherapy, Sage incense and essential oil can support a calm, optimistic mood. Most of all, the word sage means something or someone who is wise. Tarot and Taoism both give us very sage advice.

Comfort, calmness, wisdom and a feeling that things are going to be alright are all qualities that I hope you’ll experience when you read the blog or read your personalized Tarot email.

I’m Sage Sips on Substack and Sage.Sips on all of the usual socials. I mostly interact with BlueSky and Threads, so drop by and say hello.

Email readings are always available 24/7, no appointment needed! Click HERE to order anytime. Email readings have always been my specialty, and my favorite to do. You can trust the process because they are pure intuition and spirit- there is no way for me to read body language cues or ask leading questions.

Thanks for reading. I always appreciate your time and attention along with any likes, follows, shares or kind comments that you can spare. I wish you all well. See you at the next sip!

Weekend Oracle: Connected

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Witches Archetype Oracle deck by “The Pretty Cult” used with permission

I stumbled across this deck last October at the Oddities Expo in Pittsburgh. I immediately wanted to use it for Weekend Oracle posts It took a little while for the email conversation to get permission to use it, then life happened and here we are.

This isn’t so much an unboxing, or review or how to, or getting to know the deck like we’ve done in the past. In working with it for a little while now, I haven’t found it to be a particularly helpful deck. It doesn’t give the kind of guidance that most people expect from Tarot or Oracle reading. The intuitive prompting is a bit dilute and it gives no sense of current energies. If anything, it made me appreciate the Alleyman’s Tarot deck’s genius all over again.

It took me a while to figure out that this deck’s real strength.

It doesn’t have much to do with witches or oracles at all really. Metaphorically speaking it’s more like a guide about how to find a flashlight at night during a blackout. It feels like a guide to other sources of strength and inspiration rather than being a direct source of inspiration itself.

It isn’t about the energy environment. It isn’t about advice about what to do. It isn’t about cautions about what to avoid. It isn’t about guidance for making choices.

It is about the most accessible source or type of helping energy to DO what you want AFTER you’ve made your choice. This is about what fuel to put in the car, not about which way to steer.

To put it in GPS terms, this is the ‘find the nearest gas station’ function not the trip directions or traffic conditions.

Today’s card is the “Cosmic Witch.” I’m reminded of the idea of when we are alone we are most reminded we are connected to and a part or the cosmos – the absolute totality of everything in both time and space. Carl Sagan described the cosmos as “all that is or ever was or ever will be.” You exist in this moment so you are now and forever a part of of the cosmos. It is impossible to be lonely in that kind of company

On a simpler level, if astrology resonates with you, that is a excellent guide and a strong influence for you this weekend.

Thanks for reading! Next up: Week Ahead Tarot, coming up either Sunday or Monday afternoon. See you at the next sip!

Week Ahead Tarot: Cleverness and Trust

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THE SNAKE: Stay quiet and camouflaged, use logic and observation to learn who you can trust – or not.

THE DOG: Someone trustworthy is near. Find them, and be as good of a friend to them as they are to you. The sum will be greater than the parts for all concerned.

If your individual intuition is the engine that drives a Tarot reading, symbolism is the steering wheel.

Like a car in Pennsylvania during pothole season, it’s very easy for that steering to get out of alignment. Symbolism is very influenced by culture and time and has to be kept in context. It has to be in alignment with the reader and the sitter and the intuitive vibe of the reading.

Take the color black, for example.

For some, black is seen as aligned with “evil.” In western traditions black has been associated with death, funerals and mourning, but also with evening elegance and fashion, men’s tuxedos for example.

In Japan, novice monks and many lay people wear black as a symbol of their dedication to practice and as a symbol of community.

The symbolism for snakes is just as varied. Sometimes they are seen as symbolizing lies or deception as in the Christian garden of Eden myth or someone being a “snake in the grass” in an old western movie.

In Chinese cultures, snakes are associated with wisdom, intelligence, charm and grace. In many places they are connected to personal growth and transformation through their ability to shed their old skin as they grow.

Dogs on the other hand, are all just good bois and gurls. How an individual person treat dogs and other small animal is the tell here more than any broad cultural reference. If a dog likes you, you must be OK. If you like dogs, there must be some kindness in your heart. Dogs symbolize great loyalty and deep friendship almost everywhere. Only after they have been through horrors do they devolve into aggression and threat.

If you chose the snake card, beware deception – use observation, cleverness and intellect to understand who to trust. Take inspiration for the snake to adapt and transform yourself.

If you chose the dog card, know others by their proven trustworthiness and kindness. Be a friend, find a friend, hold on to your friends.

Weekend Oracle 1 August 25

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Weekend Oracle isn’t just for weekends because it doesn’t predict any period of time. Like the “week ahead” readings, it is just a read or your energy environment for the next few days. Weekends tend to be 2 or 3 days, so think of this as being the energy you will be dealing with or the energetic opportunity that is most dominant for the next 2-3 days.

They tend to have an advice tone: “This is your best chance to…” or “Now is a great time to….” sort of feeling. Think of it as a read of what the energy around you will support the best right now.

Drawn into the Dark Corners of the World: The card name is pretty much the reading. No one is perfect. No one is complete without their imperfections. Knowing and accepting your shadow side can give a sense of peace and contentment that can be found no other way.

Many traditions teach this idea around the world. In Japan, the philosophy and aesthetic of wabi sabi tells of the beauty in imperfection. The psychology of Carl Jung speaks of our shadow, the unconscious mind. Magickal and pagan traditions actively face this kind of shadow work as well.

This card is a call to look for what you typically do not see. Learn from where and how you give your precious attention. Look for, listen to, and learn from the dark corners. Be open with all due discernment to the places you wouldn’t ordinarily expect to find wisdom. You might be surprised at the gifts such places give.

Deck: Alleyway Oracle by Seven Dane Asmund used with permission, Publishing Goblin LLC

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Sage Sips is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip your coffee. This always free tarot blog is supported by readers like you. Private readings and memberships all go toward the cost to create this blog, its YouTube channel and Substack newsletter.

Week Ahead Tarot: Strength and Change

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Pause the video if you want some time to ponder your card. Restart for the reveal then read your card below. Or look at both cards and choose which one calls to you. Or look at the cards, read both interpretations, then choose which one fits you the best. It’s all equally valid. In the end it is still your intuition and your discretion that chooses which message – or none – that matters.

With two major arcana cards showing, this week might pack more emotion or energy in the next few days than we’ve seen for a while. We are on the downhill side of the dog days of summer, and stagnant energies may start to stir a little bit. I ‘hear’ (meaning intuition that come as mental words instead of mental images) “changes comes with a change in the weather”

STRENGTH: The more you do it, the easier it gets. Strength builds over time. It gets easy. Once it seems easy – let it. Don’t make easy things seem hard all over again just because they are important. You’ve earned the easy

DEATH: The difference between the change signified by the death card and the cyclic changes signified by the moon or the wheel cards is that it is one and done, final, irretrievable. This change is a fire that burns the old to ashes that are best left to be blown away in the wind.

Thanks so much for reading! Your attention and support matters to me. Any likes, follows or shares you can spare are much appreciated. All proceeds from private readings, memberships, or virtual coffee gifts go toward the cost to create (and webhost) this blog, plus create the Substack newsletter, and the YouTube Channel.

Deck: Alleyman’s Tarot by Seven Dane Asmund, used with permission

The Pouring Cup

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FOUR OF CUPS (reversed): Upright, this is a card of blocked or complicated communication and unrequited emotions. Reversed, this lets us know that this is a good energy environment to express yourself. Let the emotions flow, let your heart lead the way. Allow the natural flow of things to bring the things you most need to you.

Wayne Dyer describes this as an allowing sort of mindset. The energy, emotion and prosperity of the universe is always flowing. Often it is a matter of allowing ourselves to be a part of it.

I ‘hear’ “blessings flow” which is odd considering how twitchy my exvangelical self gets around religious language. I suspect this abundant, prosperous, joyful sort of energy is what was meant with the phrase “my cup runneth over” Cups can run out, or the pouring withheld (as with the upright sense of the card. Personally I prefer the more infinite and inexhaustible and objective “the universe provides”

We haven’t been seeing very many reversed cards lately, so it is probably worth a word about that part of it. Some people read a reversed card as its opposite, usually darker and more negative meaning. Reversed means the card is upside down relative to the person doing the reading. If you are watching from across the table it is upright for you. It is for exactly that reason that I seldom read much into the fact that a card is reversed. It depends on your perspective. I typically keep all facets of a card in mind, and just view the card as generally blocked or hampered or challenged when it turns reversed. In this case it seems very opposite-meaning because the card is about blockage in the first place. It’s like a double negative. Something that blocks blockage is something that allows flow.

Thanks for reading!! Sage Sips is free to read and gives you Tarot or your day in the time it takes to sip your coffee. Your private readings, memberships and virtual coffee gifts on Ko-Fi all support the Sage Sips blog on WordPress, Ko-fi, and Substack.

Deck: Kawaii Tarot by Diana Lopez

Week Ahead Tarot: Choose Direction

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Don’t worry…you can’t cheat these readings. No matter when you choose your card, even if it is after watching the video and reading the meanings below, it’s still YOUR intuition leading the choice. There is still a choice being made and that’s what it is all about.

“Tarot is about telling you what will happen in life, it’s about figuring out what to do when life happens.” – Sage

This set of cards is very yin/yang like. The ten of cups is internal, about perception and subjective experience, like the black part of the taijitu (yin yang symbol) Yet the contentment is expansive, yang, like the white dot in the yin field. It is about how you occupy your moment and your space.

On the other hand, Pentacles are connected to earth element – the physical realm. This is yang, outward, like the white side of the taijitu. This is about how you interact with the outside world. Yet conserving, contracting, withdrawing – a very yin thing, like the black dot on the symbol.

Which direction did you choose? Where is your flow and change? What do you most need to create harmony with this week?

TEN OF CUPS: Take comfort in friends, family, chosen family and tribe. Moments deep contentment are close at hand and, for the moment, are easier to find.

Or, as Eric Draven (Brandon Lee) said in the 1994 movie The Crow “Little things used to mean so much to Shelly. I used to think they were kind of trivial. Believe me, nothing is trivial.”

FOUR OF PENTACLES: Conserve your resources and mind your budget. It’s the doorway to get through this energy environment and to get to better times. “Temporary setback” “Rally the groups” and “Take action to conserve” “extend resources” all come to mind.

“A penny saved is a penny earned.” – Ben Franklin

Thanks for reading! See you at the next sip!

Deck: Alleyman’s Tarot by Seven Dane Asmund, used with permissions, Publishing Goblin LLC