No boundary can be respected if no one knows it exists. Defining then effectively communicating what the boundaries are is the first step to consistently protecting them. It is a necessary step toward protecting your inner peace.
“Setting boundaries” is a common pop psychology kind of term these days. But, as I understand it, it is rooted in real psychology and very real mental health.
“Self-care” is another term that is thrown around a lot on social media.
Both things boil down to Socrates “know thyself.” You have to know your inner world before you can define and protect that boundary line where the inner world and the outer world meet. You have to know your self before you can care for yourself and protect your inner self.
Setting boundaries isn’t about being antagonistic to other people or indulging in narcissism. Setting boundaries is self defense. Setting boundaries is knowing yourself, knowing what you need to be your best self, communicating that to others and not letting them harm your basic self respect.
It’s all easier to do once you realize that no one can make you happy, neither can anyone take it away. That boundary between you and the outside world is yours alone to set and protect.
KNIGHT OF PENTACLES
Stay steady, be patient. Too many changes can sabotage the plan. Stand strong and call what you need to you.
There is a meme with this card that always gives me a giggle. “Behold, the field where I grow my f* cks. Lift up thine eye and you will see that it is barren.”
There is a kind of happiness, a feeling of being content and at ease within your own skin when you let go of worry about what other people think of you. It is a steady place to stand.
Pentacles (coins, disks) cards are often about physical things; career, money, the nuts and bolts of being in the world. This is no different. Sometimes the key to what you need is steadiness and patience.
This connects with the seven of pentacles card in a recent reading. Sometimes you just have to lean on your rake and let the seeds you planted do their thing. Sometimes you just have to sit still on your horse and pull what you need to you, like Luke Skywalker using the force to pull his lightsaber into his hand.
Making too many changes or giving too many f*cks could throw a monkey wrench into the gears of life right now. It’s ok to be chill every now and then.
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Sage Sips is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip your coffee
May is both National Meditation Month and Mental Health Awareness Month.
Tarot can play a part in both. This month, I’m returning to where it all began with daily meditation style Tarot readings on the Sage Sips main blog, the Substack and the socials. Your private readings, memberships and virtual coffees all support these free collective Tarot readings.
EIGHT OF PENTACLES: Meditation meets you where you live. It can be found in almost any simple, repetitive task. The mindless can be a portal to the mindful.
I’ve quoted Alan Watts so many times before, but it applies here again – “Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes.“
True to Tarot, even the earthy, ground oh-so-practical Pentacle cards have a spiritual side. Pentacle spirituality is particularly akin to Zen and Taoist spirituality.
Simple productivity can feed your soul as much as a job feeds your bank account and in turn your stomach. That isn’t to say that your job has to be ultra spiritual. Any work can be of service and finding a job that you love is a treasure beyond money.
Feeling and being productive improves mood: Action eases anxiety, literally.
Easy, repetitive, ‘mindless’ activity is relaxing. No wonder things like knitting, crochet, jogging, hiking, gardening, sports of all sorts are all popular hobbies. Anything that occupies your hands and body while bringing your mind to the moment at hand is meditation. In these million different ways, meditation meets you right where you live if you allow it to be there. Meditation meets you where you live and brings a little mental health help right along with it.
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deck: Alleyman’s Tarot by Seven Dane Asmund, used with permission Publishing Goblin LLC
May is National Meditation Month. I’m going back to where my blogging began with one card daily meditation readings all month long.
Today’s card is “The Patient” from Seven Dane Asmund’s Alleyway Oracle of Secrets, created by artist “a paranoid zombie” used used here with permissions from Publishing Goblin LLC
Right away the keywords that light up are about “the acceptance of things as they really are, not the version we wished them to be.”
This is a life lesson that comes to us both from Tarot and Taoism. Think of the classic Chinese painting The Three Vinegar Tasters which has been a lifelong philosophical touchstone for me
Very loosely, the figures represent the three major philosophies of ancient China. Confucius finds the vinegar bitter, and his solution is to teach the vinegar makers better knowledge and technique. Buddha finds the vinegar too sour, and his solution is to learn to deal with the unacceptable flavor. Lau Tzu, the mythical writer of the Tao Te Ching just smiles – because the vinegar tastes just exactly like vinegar.
It is what it is and that is exactly as it should be.
That is acceptance. But critically – acceptance is very different than acquiescence.
Just because you acknowledge and accept the harsh reality of a situation does NOT mean that you’ve given in to it. It doesn’t mean that it is impossible to change or to move forward into a new set of conditions.
The first step in solving a problem is accepting that it exists. The next step is to understand – and accept – what the problem really is. Then you can get to solving the problem and fixing things.
Acceptance is a first step, not the end result.
To take a journey of a thousand miles, the first step has to happen.
For the first step to happen, accepting the existence of the journey is required.
Take a deep breath and relax. Think about a question for the cards or think about your week ahead. Follow your first impulse and choose a card.
Restart the video to see your card and get the reading below:
The World (reversed)
I don’t always read a lot into reversed cards. If you think about it, it is right side up for someone sitting across from you. It’s a perspective thing. Reversed cards always ask for a little extra thought about context and perspective. Sometimes it can be a cue that a particular energy or topic or part of life is turbulent or blocked. Sometimes the context is this deck is printed on very glossy cardstock and chucks out reversals all of the time that don’t necessarily carry meaning.
In this case, the reversal is, intuitively, screaming for attention. It means something. The world is a major arcana card so it is a cue to high energies, key messages, possibly life lessons close around you.
The World is the final card in the major arcana suit. It has connections to completion, success, wholeness. It is also connected to connection…everything touches everything, and every part in a way contains the whole, touches the whole, hologram style. The card is pointing to this gestalt, holistic thinking today.
I’m not usually a heavy metal music fan, but thanks to family members I’ve heard some and “The Future is a Foreign Land” by Ghost, especially the part with the lyrics “when it all burns down.”
What do you do when your world has been turned inside out and upside down? What do you do when the person you thought was the one person who would be there for you when it all burns down is the one lighting the match?
Time may seem desperate, but when you get to the end of the major arcana then you go back to the Fool card and begin again, heartbreak and all.
Four of Cups
The pouring cup gets all of the attention here.
This is why I love the Alleyman’s Tarot deck. Sometimes it is profound. Sometimes it makes you feel “wut?”
That disconnected, ‘it’s just not resonating’ feeling is an element of the message today. The baseball imagery just isn’t getting it for me today…but that’s the message. It’s not about me.
And your concern may not be about you.
To be psychological about it, this is about intention and control. Despite our best intentions, we can’t control other people. You could pour a tanker truck of love and energy out but you can’t make someone feel any certain way. As the old proverb says: You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make them drink.
Cups cards are about emotions. Regardless of the response, to love is the victory. To love is the means and the ends and all that matters. Pour your cup of love, hopefully it will water the roots of a tree rather than wet the feet of a statue.
Thank you so much for watching and reading.
I wish you all a deep drink of love and wholeness.
See you at the next sip!
Deck: Alleyman’s Tarot by Seven Dane Asmund, used with permission, Publishing Goblin LLC
Sage Sips is Tarot in the time it takes to sip your coffee. This longer read is a real world example of my new Taijitu Tarot layout.
This is a real life email Taijitu Tarot Reading that the client generously gave permission for me to share with you. This shows how the new layout works and what an email private reading with me is really like. You can order your own private reading anytime, 24/7, no appointment needed. Most of the time I can get the reading back to your email within 24 hours or so.
For added privacy, email readings have a photo or your individual real-world cards instead of a YouTube video. Videos are just for blog readings.
Q: Thanks for doing a reading for me. No problem. You can use the reading as an example on your website. I’ve seen you do these before and trust you to black out all the right stuff.
So much is going on I don’t even know where to start. Could you do an open reading?
A: Thanks ****** I appreciate it. I hope the reading helps you the most, but I also hope it helps other people who might stumble across it.
General Patterns
This layout reminds me a little bit of those lenormand “Action Decreases Anxiety” readings I was telling you about. We can do one of those for you someday if you want. The energy here is very straightforward and to the point the way those two-card Lenormand readings tend to be.
But I hear you about a lot going on. Two major arcana cards in one small three card layout is saying something.
I ‘hear’ (meaning the intuition comes as words, sounds or music instead of the usual mental images) “Liminal” while I get the impression of some sort of hallway. This high energy time is a transitional one from some phase or cycle or another. I hear “big moves” and “afoot” like when Sherlock Holmes says ‘the game is afoot” So you are right to think something is up, it’s just a matter of figuring out what, and and then figuring out what is the best thing to do about it.
Hallways are symbolic of transition and portal-like liminal spaces, so the hallway image makes sense. There is a sense of reassurance that even if there is chaos now, there is something waiting on the other side. It’s hard now, yes, but something is waiting on the other side. There is no guarantee that the other end of the hallway is euphoric dreamland – but by the same token there is a feeling of reassurance that it is all going to be OK sooner or later.
These cards are not at all tied to time, but are all about energy flow. It takes as long as it takes, but you’ll feel it when things shift. You’ll know when the energy changes. It’s not a past-present-future thing at all. It’s all about shift and flow. Here I see river rapids and a kayak, all rocks and white water and turbulence and noise, but ending in a wide, quiet, shallow, calm, sunny area with wide grassy banks.
I get the image of being caught in a rainstorm. It’s hard to say exactly how long any given rain will last, but you can often have a good sense whether it is a quick storm or settling in for a long, dreary day. The hallway is all shades of blue too, for whatever that is worth. If there is any crystal connection here, it feels like a reference to lapis lazuli which has a connection to intuition and the third eye. It might help support your own good intuition and help you navigate the next period of time, at the end of the hallway, whatever that turns out to be.
Yin: Judgement
Yin is energy you are drawing in toward you, which can be a very good thing. Yin is as powerful as yang, but in a different way. A strong magnet can pick up a car. This card can represent what you are manifesting, but can also point out weak spots that you can change for the better to help attract and manifest for the highest good..
Of the three cards, this one is really grabbing my attention. This feels like where majority of the energy is flowing for you right now.
The Judgement card is a two edged sword and it feels like you are getting both edges.
On one hand, there is jugdement in the sense judgementalism It feels like you have been misunderstood and misjudged harshly and unfairly to some extent, although you may have perceived this misjudgements as larger or harsher than it was intended at times. On this side of things you may come face to face with the idea of reputation. How much do you care about what other people think of you, and whose opinion really matters to you? By the same token, whose opinion is meaningless and irrelevant to you? Why should you care what distant acquaintances think of you?
The other side of the Judgement card is one of second chances. The phrase “to hell and back” comes to mind. I’m not sure where that comes from or exactly what it means in this context, but there it is. I’m also reminded of an old TV where one of the characters literally goes to hell and comes back. That character got a second chance in a big way and turns out to be the hero of the plotline.
I am also reminded of an internet meme that “religion is for people who want to stay out of hell. Spirituality is for people who have already been there.”
So for you…it’s a little both. You may be forced to come face to face with whether or not you care about what people think about you, and what you do when you are judged incorrectly or unfairly. But on the other hand, beyond this current turbulence you get a second chance at life in a larger sense. That doesn’t necessarily mean rekindling the relationship with ***** as much as part of you might wish for that. It means that you are going to be ok and have a second chance at inner peace whatever outer form that may or may not take.
Yang: Knight of Swords
Sometimes this card can represent something you need to push away, or release, to literally ‘blow off’ as the phrase goes. In your case I think this is something to embrace, lean into, and pump up the volume. In face I ‘hear’ the song “pump up the volume” by MARRS. Cool video, you might like it. I think it’s on YouTube.
Now the phrase “fake it until you make it” comes through – but not in the sense you might think. It’s not telling you to be fake – its saying to use both sides of the mind-body connection to your benefit. Just as reducing stress can improve physical health, physical environment can impact mental health.
This isn’t to say you have to an hour of cardio every day. This energy feels more like a recommendation to DO the things you know bring you joy. Double especially for those inexpensive, abundant “simple pleasures”. Have a favorite meal for no reason. Feng Shui the heck out of your living space. Light that jar candle that you enjoy, and get another if you need it. That sort of thing.
I’m also reminded of one of those inspirational saying things from somewhere “Don’t think yourself into a new way of doing, do yourself into a new way of thinking.” BE the change you want to see in the world. Imagine what life would be like if you already had a quality or condition that you want, and live that as if it were true for a day. Just a day. Try a mindset on for size, so to speak. Mat Auryn described it in Psychic Witch as if you want to be a powerful psychic, live for a day as if you already were. What’s different from the things you do now? If you like the feel of it, why not make the changes long term or permanent?
People see you as more confident and daring than you may feel. Be the badass you want to see in this world.
Harmony: Empress
I always know things are on the right track when I ‘hear’ the song “Bamako” by Youssou N’Dour which is the case here.
Rocks and trees and flowers and bees kind of nature is all well and good. In fact here I get the mental image of a wide, slow moving river with rocky banks. If you can get yourself into that natural environment, it can only be a good thing. Next best is forest, under shady, cool trees (here I see a local park with trees and a gazebo by a small creek.)
But the other kind of ‘nature’ is stepping forward more strongly for you. As in be true to your nature.
The way to move forward toward inner peace is to be authentic. You may have given away too much of yourself in service of others, to the extent there is nothing left for others to connect to. Moving forward with authenticity is the best path to that promised second chance. It is a way to call back the energy you have over-expended in order for it to enrich the connections you still have and to (re) build future connections.
Easier said than done, but simple and clear does not mean easy.
This is the point where the energy is short and to the point, like that Lenormand thing I mentioned earlier.
Summary
This is the part where I listen to pure intuition. The images might connect to the cards, or it might not. This is a chance for any other important messages to come through, especially in an open reading where there is no specific topic or question to guide the conversation.
Here I get blue lace agate to help calm stress and restore peace of mind.
I also get sage to release negativity BUT later changing to something sweet woody or resin-ish like sandalwood, amber, or copal as your confidence returns.
A flash of a teapot, which is sort of my universal symbol for hello from a grandmother or other crossed over loved one who was close to you.
Now I get the scent of pipe tobacco and a wood shop, which reminds me of my grandfather. That may be a cosmic hello too from someone who identified male when they were on earth.
Tea comes to mind. I don’t know if that is a literal ‘drink green tea’ thing or encouragement to find the Zen things in life that you enjoy, Zen in the spirit of mindfulness like a Japanese Tea Ceremony.
And there the energies step back.
I hope that helps in some way. As always, if you have any questions feel free to contact me here or DM on ko-fi. I have ko-fi DM set to open for all levels of supporters.
This is the Oracle of Secrets from the Alleyway Oracles by Seven Dane Asmund, used with permission of Publishing Goblin LLC
The Luna Moth symbolizes coming night time dreams and seeking light amid the darkness.
I ‘hear’ (meaning the intuition comes as words, music or sounds rather than mental images) that “the night time is potent” Mystery and magic is in the nighttime darkness. Pay attention to your dreams. The answers often find you there, without you seeking them.
Understanding or “interpreting” dreams is a tricky thing. They are personal and personalized in the extreme. Whatever YOU think it means IS what it means. Dream dictionaries, books, even a professional psychic’s interpretation is only secondary help.
It’s not something I offer professionally, but when it comes to understanding dreams for myself or for coaching someone else with their dream interpretation, I take a hybrid approach.
The first step is deciding if you want to understand it at all. Are dreams just a random function of REM sleep, or can they hold meaning and significance? Is dream interpretation crackpot nonsense or something that is actually, psychologically helpful?
I’m not a huge fan of Sylvia Browne, her writing is way to0 Christianized to be helpful to me. But I did read her Book of Dreams and thought her approach was paradigm shifting and revolutionary. Instead of trying to understand the symbolism for each granular little detail, first understand the type of category of the dream: Stress release, processing the day, hopes and aspirations, sudden insights and so on – or the rarest of them all, the psychic or prophetic predictive kind of dream.
I don’t think prophetic type dreams are really possible. I see it as our mind being freed from preconceived assumptions and social constraints and then being freed to connect small, previously un-noticed details that are really big road signs to the direction events are headed. So-called ‘prophetic’ dreams are really just reading the room, seeing the direction things are headed in a preternaturally clear way that only sleeping intuition can give us.
Once you decide dreams can be meaningful, and which category a particular dream falls into, then you can decide if the individual elements of a dream are literal, or symbolic in a personal way or in a dream-dictionary -ish Jungian collective unconscious sort of way.
If you would like to learn more about dreams and their symbolism, my favorite reads are:
Sylvia Browne’s Book of Dreams by Sylvia Browne
Dream Alchemy by Ted Andrews
Lucid Dreaming by Stephen LeBerge
Thanks for reading! Throughout April I will be primarily posting Tarot inspired Haiku for National Poetry Writing Month. Happy NaPoWriMo everyone!
Some of the usual readings will be sprinkled in too, so please follow the blog so you don’t miss a thing!
Sage Sips is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip your coffee. Today please enjoy this behind the scenes look at how I believe long distance Tarot actually works.
Q: The email readings sound interesting, but how can you read me if we aren’t together?
A: The distance between us doesn’t matter because I’m not reading you directly, I’m reading universal energy or spirit for you, on your behalf. This is the same kind of universal life energy that they talk about in Reiki, Tai Chi, qi gong, acupuncture, yoga, etc. This energy is everywhere, and if you are still alive you are connected to it and a part of it. You and I are within that energy field during your reading, no matter how physically separated we might seem or how long our conversation takes.
Star Wars wasn’t far off with “The Force”
Time and space are a connected thing. Modern physics has called it the space-time continuum. Time is as whole and connected as space. It doesn’t matter if our reading together unfolds in real time across a table or in a phone call or if the conversation unfolds slowly though emails or snail mail, the core ideas are the same. Distance Tarot works with the biggest of big pictures. We might be on opposite sides of the Earth and still be in the same energy together. We might write paper letters back and forth like they did a hundred years ago but the reading is still helpful even if takes months to unfold. It is all interconnected and valid.
The words and ideas of any reading are exactly the same regardless of whether I say them out loud, type them into an email or write them on paper.
There are a few differences between distance and in-person readings. The first is the way that you enjoy receiving your message, not in the message itself. It might depend on your mood or personality style. Phone or in-person sessions tend to be light, chatty, and friendly. They are great for when you are feeling outgoing and craving some social conversation. Written readings are private and intense. Written words amplify the emotion and magic of the moment. They are a good match for book lovers and busy, stressed people who need a moment to relax or anyone who just wants a little ‘me time.’
All of my distance Tarot readings include a follow-up email to answer any questions you might have.
The best suggestion I have is to give it a try. My five card readings would last close to an hour in person, but only cost what most psychics charge for 15 to 30 minutes.
Starting January 2025, the business portion of TaoCraft Tarot that offered in-person, party, phone and live online Tarot readings has closed.
Email readings are still available at very affordable prices and no appointment needed. Private readings, ko-fi memberships and ko-fi virtual coffee all support this blog, this website and the Substack newsletter to keep these Tarot readings free for you to read without paywalls.
Sage Sips is Tarot in the time it takes to sip your coffee
Think of any question that is on your mind, or think of the weekend ahead. This “Weekend Oracle” is the premier of my newest layout, TaoCraft Taijitu.
Inspired by the famous yin yang symbol, this three card layout shows yin (energies you are pulling in) yang (energies you are pushing away) and harmony (a way to be at peace and flow with all of these energies)
As usual, I read the cards right to left. This disrupts the deeply ingrained, logic-driven pattern of reading English left to right. That small cognitive shift helps to improve intuition and keep thought-habits at bay.
Of course, if your native language is Arabic, Hebrew, Chinese or other language that reads right to left, then reading Tarot left to right would make more sense.
With today’s cards we get:
Yin, The World. The World from the major arcana is a very positive, hopeful energy. It points to the big picture, the Gestalt, the everything. This is the energy you are drawing in.
Yang, Seven of Swords. This is energy that is moving away from you, or better still, energy you have been empowered to release and push away. The Seven of Swords card is associated with mischief by others and self-serving deception. In the picture a man is stealing away with swords. I intuitively ‘hear’ the old song “Steal Away” – I forget the artist, it is so old.
But in any case, there is a validating energy. You have been taken, deceived or a general victim of our collective chaotic circumstances just as much as you thought.
Harmony, The Fool. Traditionally the very first card of a RWS Tarot deck, this symbolizes fresh starts and new beginnings.
Taken as a whole, the message seems to be very hopeful: Things have been as bad as you thought, but are getting better holistically even if the changes in any one area of life seem very small. To be at peace and to help this transition along, look for any opportunity to start new .
Sage Sips is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip your coffee
Thanks for watching! Please like, sub and share. Private readings, memberships and virtual coffees on ko-fi all support the time and web hosting it takes to produce Sage Sips Tarot blog. Please order your affordable, no-appointment-needed, private email Tarot readings HERE.
Left (the current situation or energy) Four of Pentacles: Hoarding out of fear vs budgeting, taking care, setting boundaries. Does the real-world part of life triggering fear or does it need a little practical management right now? Diane Morgan read the four of pentacles as “secret treasure” Sometimes our greatest treasure is to ground ourselves, move past fear and work through the fear.
Right (what to do next, a good next step) Nine of Swords. Whenever the right card is a swords card, the reading is in the title. Swords symbolize action (among other things) Avoid toxic positivity. It is ok to not be ok. There will be dark times. Actively manage your stress. To manage stress or worry or anxiety or any problem, the first step is to acknowledge it exists. That acknowledgement may feel hopeless and overwhelming, but it is just the first step in solving the problem.
Here, my mind is drawn to some of the panic and anxiety management techniques I’ve seen on social media lately. Both cards point to that kind of energy and action today. If you are worried or anxious, ground yourself in the present moment and your environment. Send yourself a clear message that you aren’t in life or death danger in this specific present moment.
Dan Harris, one of the most practical, accessible, down-to-earth, meditation advocates I’ve ever read describes mindfulness as the capacity to notice. Those social media anti-anxiety techniques draw on exactly that. Use your ability to notice. Try naming five things that you can see. Try naming a pleasant sensation you can experience right now (a soft shirt, a cool breeze, the feel of your feet on the floor, the smell of your coffee…anything) Think of one thing that is going right that you can be thankful for (my coffee is still warm, a glimpse of blue sky, a song on the radio…anything) Think of someone, anyone, and mentally wish them well. Think of yourself and wish yourself peace and safety. Buddhist meditators call those last two Metta practice.
Noticing is an action, albeit a mental one. That still counts. Action decreases anxiety.
Pause the video and think of your question or the week ahead. Choose your card, left or right. Restart the video to see the reveal and get your free tarot reading below.
7 of Cups: Choices are important and may feel stressful and overwhelming. Start with logic, but if all practical things seem equal, let your intuition and instincts lead the way. The up side of this is that multiple choices exist – at least you aren’t painted into a corner with few choices at all. When there are many options, especially when they all seem equal, it can all be very overwhelming. Sometimes being the one to have to make a hard choice alone is an overwhelming burdon, even when the choice seems clear. Choices and options can be intimidating in any combination of circumstances. If you are facing a big choice or have too many options, your head and heart have to work together. If logic fails, let your heart lead the way. In the end, clarity is crucial however your sort it out. Focus on the end. Choose your destination and the way to get there will become more clear.
King of Wands: Wands have to do with the fire element. King cards speak to leadership. Good leaders start with compassion and wisdom, but kings can’t rule without a kingdom. King cards often represent protecting and providing for the place where they rule. Wands can also symbolize your relationship with yourself. Remember your agency over your own life. Own it, mistakes and all. This is a good week to tap into as much main character energy as you can muster. Write your own story, lead your own inner kingdom. Combine wisdom and compassion with confidence and skill. Set boundaries and enforce them.
Thanks so much for reading! See you at the next sip!
Sage Sips / TaoCraft Tarot 
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