TaoCraft Tarot Blog – Page 14 – Sage Sips / TaoCraft Tarot

Have a plan

The Battle Card from the Alleyman’s Tarot reminds us to have a plan when it comes to stress. TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee.

Hi and welcome to Tao Craft Short Sip: Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. I’m glad you are here.

I’m continuing to explore the Alleyman’s Tarot deck with thanks to its creator Seven Dane Asmund for giving permission to use the deck way back in the early days of the kickstarter. The Battle card is from the strange arcana and was originally created for the Strange and Eternal Tarot by Cosmic Butcher.

This deck is definitely resonating with the part of me that was an art minor in college lurking around the studio soaking up the artist vibes. These guys have it by the bucket.

This is also pushing my martial arts buttons, big time.

The distinction of warrior vs soldier comes to mind. With that comes the idea of not only discipline but preparation. It is said that you fight like you train. The implication is that you train 100% focus and effort, as if your life depends on it because someday it might.

I shouldn’t have to say this, but I am in no way talking about actual physical violence or conflict.

I’m talking about stress management.

Life gets contentious sometimes. Life gets stressful in both real and anticipated or imagined ways. What are you going to do when it does?

That’s why people talk about a daily meditation practice. If you practice staying chill on a regular basis, then when things heat up, the chill kicks in reflexively. You almost don’t have to give it a second thought, like muscle memory only for your emotions and for your brain.

Raw life experience gives you that practice the hard way. Daily practice -or at least some level of forethought and advance preparation – makes you more resilient and stronger when the stressful times come. And they always do.

Author Carlos Casteneda is credited with saying “We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.”

If this card resonates with you today, take a minute. Think about what calms you. What makes you emotionally and mentally strong and resilient. Then do it. Practice it. Train it. Have it at the ready in your pocket. Have a plan. Such is the way of the warrior, both literal and spiritual, who is ready when the battle comes.

Thank you so much for listening! Your likes, subs, shares, follows, reading purchases and support through ko-fi memberships are always appreciated. There are clickable links for more information in the blog and in the podcast episode description.

To learn how to do daily DIY Tarot one card meditation readings as a way to introduce some low stress peaceful moments into your day, my how-to ebook Peace Tarot is available as an instant pdf download. All proceeds from Peace Tarot sales in the ko-fi shop during 2022 will be donated to Doctors Without Borders.

To learn more about Reiki as a relaxation technique, Reiki and Relaxation is also a downloadable pdf ebook on that same page or visit the Reiki page on the website for more information.

See you at the next sip!

Tarot Turnover for 4-2-22

Learn to read Tarot and build your intuition with a Tarot Table membership from TaoCraft Tarot on ko-fi

I’m putting some sauce on the Tarot Turnover and moving it to the members-only blog: it’s a lesson / tutorial instead of just a fun little exercise on the blog.

Tarot Turnovers are a mini-class with me any week you want to participate.

Here is how it works:

I’ll post a randomly selected card and it’s classic RWS (public domain) image along with a list of meanings, just like before BUT with the added feature of Q&A access for your intuition exercise. If you have any questions about what the card may mean for you or the process of reading it – just ask!

I called this tier of memberships the “Tarot Table” for a reason. The new “Turnover” feature lets us talk about the card around the table. I’ll give you the best guidance I have from 30 years experience reading Tarot cards.

The Tarot Table gives you a members-only three card “Path Through the Month” reading through ko-fi blog, a mid-month newsletter, members-only random special offers, plus a one-time private individual “Path Through the Year” Tarot reading by email when you join.

Join the discussion, build your intuition: this week’s Tarot Turnover is available now

Cute and Clever

Page of Pentacles: Cleverness saves the day. TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip your coffee

Hello and welcome to TaoCraft Short Sip: Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. I’m glad you are here.

Today’s card is the page of pentacles made by Eli Norvell for the Alleyman’s Tarot deck pictured above. If you are listening on the podcast, there is a link in the episode description if you want to take a peek at a super fun card. It has a sort of anime, kawaii, bubbly cuteness about it.

Today’s reading actually started yesterday, but it still feels relevant. As always, use your own feelings and discernment to decide if the card applies to you or not. That’s the difficult thing with these blog and podcast readings. It can’t be all things to everyone. If something is on your mind or giving you the feels and this reading doesn’t hit the mark, by all means please consider drawing a card for yourself or consulting with someone like me to get a more personalized reading. So if this helps – great! If not, don’t be discouraged. Keep looking. Your guidance is out there, somewhere, even if it takes some thinking and pondering and contemplating to get to it. That’s why the person getting a Tarot reading is sometimes call “the seeker” instead of “the sitter.”

Just after drawing this card yesterday morning, I got a call from my relatively new part time job at the local library. I love to write, so spending a few hours a week up to my eyeballs in books is a natural fit. It is a small place that our family has enjoyed and supported ever since we moved here years ago. Needless to say I jumped at the opportunity to spend time in one of my favorite places AND make up some income from closing in-person Tarot during covid. When there was an unexpected staffing need, I was so there.

The Page of Pentacles is about newness and opportunities. You could take it to mean that the card predicted that I would be spending the day with my new opportunity half an hour before the phone rang. I wouldn’t mind imagining that I’m that good of a movie grade psychic but that’s not how any of this works. That’s not the message of the moment – yesterday or today.

I may not be TV style psychic, but my intuition is, however, clairvoyant. That means it works with mental images. It is also clairaudient, meaning it works with mental sounds and words. And, as you who follow the blogcast know, it also works heavily with pop culture references – mostly references filtered through my Gen X lens.

To go along with the cute, bubbly, almost anime-like artwork on the card, I was reminded me of an 80s pop song.

This shows a little bit how intuition works through a daisy chain of associations sometimes. Critics say this is stretching, or reaching or fishing for answers in the vein of psychic “cold readings.” When you are reading in person for someone else, it can certainly seem that way. We can talk about cold readings another day, but for now let’s look at one card meditation readings for yourself. How is searching for connections within your own mind something wrong?

It isn’t

It is prompt. It is a structured way to think things through. It is a topic for contemplation. THAT’s what Tarot is all about after all. No matter if you are reading for yourself or getting a reading from a pro, Tarot is food for thought. Sometimes that thought process takes a few steps. Sometimes food for thought takes a few steps to digest.

Ok, back to this intuition daisy chain.

The early 80s Culture Club album “Kissing To Be Clever” came to mind as did the scene in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone where Hermione talks about “books and cleverness.” The word “clever” seemed to be the thing grabbing my attention through this card.

Learning, training, books and cleverness is a concept we see in any of the Page cards. Pentacles bring the page into the realm of groundedness and practicality. Put the two together and that says life hack to me.

This feels like an advice card, reminding us to work smarter, not harder. Look for the life hacks that really work. Let practical experience teach you and make things better next time around.

Yesterday, I posted an announcement that I wouldn’t be doing this episode right after the YouTube short and Instagram reel like usual. That post led me to another piece of life hack advice: have a plan B

Sometimes you have to drop back and punt. Sometimes you have to adapt. The universe provides, but it provides what you need not necessarily what you want or expect. Look for some life hacks, develop a plan B for when life throws the unexpected at you.

And if you can do it all while cute and clever – then bonus points to you!

This podcast is not monetized and 100% relies on audience support. Your private emial Tarot readings purchases through the blog website and Tarot Table memberships all contribute to creating this unique Tarot content. There are clickable links in the blog and in the podcast episode description. Your likes, ratings, subs, shares and follows are always greatly appreciated!

Thank you so much for listening. See you at the next sip!

Hold Space

TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. Today: Ace of Cups and holding space for good things to flow in.

Hello and welcome to TaoCraft Short Sip: Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. I’m glad you are here.

Today’s card is the Ace of Cups. Cups are associated with emotion, inner circle relationships, romance, and the classic element of water. The ace is the essence of the deck. Today, the ace of cups has a feeling of abundance overflowing like a cornucopia. The universe provides. It may be in unexpected or under appreciated ways, but if we are alive it has provided that much and that is extraordinary.

The water part is catching my attention too. It reminds me of the famous interview where Bruce Lee says to quote Be water, my friend, end quote.

Water takes on the shape of whatever hold it. If there is no room for the water, it spills over and goes somewhere else.

Today’s card is simple and to the point. If you want good things to come into your life, then they have to have somewhere to land. If you want good things to flow into your life, they have to have some place to flow into.

This can be as literal or esoteric as you want it to be. For example, it is standard issue boilerplate advice for those who are looking for a long term romantic partner, their soulmate if you will, to make literal space for that person. Clearing out a drawer, getting an extra toothbrush to have on hand, getting a pair of matching coffee mugs, having figurines around in pairs; all of those physical things can send an energy signal that you are living your life, but have made space in that life for a special someone.

Creative visualization, alters, journaling all sorts of things can hold space on an energetic level for good things to flow into.

No wonder spring cleaning and decluttering is believed to remove negative energy and attract or positive energies. Remember that Zen proverb that only an empty cup can be filled? I’m not saying you have to get rid of your stuff, but maybe dust it off and get it organized.

Be specific. Never invite just any old thing into your life. In my mind’s eye, I see one of those reserved parking spaces for a particular person or a particular building.

I also see a figure holding a bowl up to the sky, to be filled with golden light. Nice visualization there. Feel free to use it. The more we all lift our empty bowls to the sky, the more we can call an energy of abundance and provision into the world.

Thank you for reading, watching and listening.

This blog, podcast and the companion videos are not monetized – they depend on your support. Tarot readings purchased through this website*, Tarot Table memberships, likes, subs, shares, and follows all support the creation of this unique Tarot content for you.

Once again I’m working with my new Alleyman’s Tarot deck, which features both original cards by Seven Dane Asmund, creator of the Normal Tarot and cards gifted and licensed from a hundred or more decks and artists. The card shown was made by Vicente Molina for the Tarot Morandi.

Thanks again. See you at the next sip.

*email readings are available for purchase 24/7, no appointment needed

Fear of the Unknown and the Shower Cap Lady

TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. Today: fear of the unknown and the annoyed shower cap lady.

Hello and welcome to TaoCraft Short Sip: Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. I’m glad you are here.

When this card turned over, my first and only thought was “what the actual heckin’ heck is that?”

It’s got a horse, a sword (or maybe it is a stick) and a pissed off looking woman in a shower cap. Queen of swords maybe? Knight of wands? Bad hair day card?

At first, I didn’t even know what the card was much less what to think or say about it. Which, I think, is the message. The words “fear of the unknown” popped to mind. Which makes logical sense because I wasn’t sure if it was a knight, a queen, a sword or a wands card.

For a flash, I had a snowballing moment of fearful not-knowing. Not knowing the card means I’ll write a terrible post, so I’ll never get paying work as a Tarot reader ever again, which means decades of effort goes down the drain because I’ve wasted my life on woo woo spooky shit and oh-my-god-we’re-all-gonna-die.

That, my friends, is a living example of psychological stress and exactly what Tarot and mindfulness is designed to help.

Sometimes, the best thing you can know is that you don’t know. It prompts you to prepare, think, act and adapt.

Sometimes the worst thing you can do is let fear of the unknown drag you into dwelling on the future instead of being mindful of the present reality.

Fear of the unknown isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Fear unbridled puts your heart in prison. Fear utilized sets you free. As has been attributed to all sorts of people from Mark Twain to President Roosevelt quote courage is not the absence of fear but rather the ability to act in spite of it end quote.

Turns out all I needed to do was walk into the next room and pick up the deck guidebook and do a little googling. Looks like we might survive after all, folks!

On a small scale that’s exactly the kind of thing that goes with the Knight of Swords which is what shower cap chick turned out to be.

The Cary-Yale visconti tarot deck published by US Games in the 1980s is made up of reproduced images from a 15th century partial Tarot deck. According to author Stuart R. Kaplan as quoted by google books, the original deck is in the Cary card collection in the rare books and manuscripts library at Yale University. New cards were created to fill in the missing cards and create a full, functional deck. I don’t know if this particular card is original or a fill-in, but Kaplan also points out that the court cards in the original deck is a mixture of male and female figures, which is interesting for the time period. I don’t know about the shower cap, but it turns out that it really is an annoyed looking woman on a horse. The way she is holding the sword reminds me of an internet meme of Qui-Gon from Star Wars jumping up and drawing his light saber with the caption of “When you are home alone and you hear a noise”

Seven Dane Asmund writing as the Alleyman interprets the card as sudden opportunity, rapid movement, advice to take advantage of sudden opportunities or you could miss it. This is spot-on for the Knight of Swords imagery in every other deck I’ve seen.

So NOW what do we do? Is there anything that reconciles the Cary-Yale image and the flash about fearing the unknown with the typical daring imagery of the knight of swords we see in so many other decks?

I think the idea of being on guard combined with taking advantage of sudden opportunities builds the bridge between this very old card and the common modern interpretations for the knight of swords.

If fear of the unknown paralyses us, and keeps us from acting, then we might miss key opportunities. If fear of the unknown takes us into a new situation prepared and alert and ready to make the most of a sudden opportunity, then fear of the unknown has served us well.

Just don’t forget to take your shower cap off.

Thank you so much for reading, watching and listening.

The TaoCraft Tarot blog, podcast and youtube channel are not monetized and depend solely on audience support. Your reading purchases and ko-fi memberships contribute toward creating this unique Tarot content. Links to them are clickable in the blog or located in the podcast episode description.

Your likes, subs, shares, and follows are always appreciated too!

See you at the next sip.

It’s Not All That

TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot contemplation for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. Today is the 6 of cups and the monday gremlins

Hello and welcome to TaoCraft Short Sip: Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. I’m glad you are here.

Todays card is the six of cups.

I’m still getting to know this new Tarot deck. The Alleyman’s Tarot is full of surprises. I wasn’t expecting a Japanese influenced card, but enjoy this one. I’ve always liked anime. I’ve been watching it since around 1970 when my kindergarten self was fangirling Kimba the White Lion. There is something vaguely Inuyasha about the energy today.

It’s a good one for a Monday too. As the workweek starts and the weekend ends, our thoughts sometimes turn to the serious and the ponderous. Mondays aren’t usually a play day.

This energy is asking us to lighten up a little bit. It ain’t all that. The advice is not to build things up to be bigger than they really are. The classic RWS deck shows children playing in a field of flowers.

Mondays often are not a field of flowers. Life can be full of annoyances any day of the week. Mondays are just another day. Nuisances are just another part of being alive on plane Earth. It is what it is but not more than it is.

By the same token, just because something is pleasant and easy doesn’t mean it is somehow lesser than if you struggled or it was unpleasant. It is what it is but not less than it is.

The Six of Cups reminds us to, even in the face of Mondays, and annoyances and inconveniences, and things that happen astonishingly easy, to stay chill and roll with it. It’s not all that one way or the other.

The card was originally made by Buboplague for the Yokai Yochi Tarot deck. A fast and superficial google shows that yokai are mischievous spirits from japanese folklore. As playful as the card looks, broken umbrellas with legs are vaguely disturbing too. It makes me think of how “gremlins” from the movie have come to mean any unexplained glitches like “computer gremlins.” The Alleyman’s Notebook describes the card as innocent joy, just like the RWS interpretation. It too reminds us to have a fun like a child despite all the adulting we have to do.

Thank you for reading and listening. Any likes, subs, shares or follows you can spare are always appreciated. Private email Tarot readings through this website and Memberships on Ko-fi.com support the creation of these free Tarot posts and podcast episodes.

See you at the next sip!

News for April

In-person readings are back for April. New members only content coming in April too

All proceeds from the sale of PeaceTarot ebook in the ko-fi shop during 2022 will be donated to Doctors Without Borders.

I know you are probably sick of my saying it, but the blog and podcast are really not monetized and actually depend on your support. Individual readings purchased through this website and Tarot Table memberships contribute toward creating free Tarot content like the (almost) daily Short Sip Tarot and the TaoCraft Tarot YouTube channel. Your likes, subs, shares and follows are always appreciated.

In-person readings are back! Scheduling now for appointment times in April. Click HERE for details – same price, same layout, same service area as pre-pandemic.

Live online individual readings are still available – same price and layout as in-person sessions.

Party Tarot is back on a limited case-by-case basis in a greatly reduced service area.

The “Weekend Tarot Turnover” intuition exercise will be moving to the Tarot Table members only blog starting April 3.

I’ll be introducing a second membership tier, inspired by the work of Pip of This Healing Hobbit’s Life

Here is what you get with a $5 monthly Tarot Table Memebrship:

Individual, private “year ahead” reading by email when you join
Members only “path through the month” 3 card Tarot reading through the ko-fi blog
Monthly newsletter
Random members-only special offers and giveaways.

Please consider joining. See you at the next sip!

Delay of Coffee

announcement – delay in short sip tarot reading for Friday. Please stay tuned for a longer behind the scenes the post featureing the four of wands tarot card in reverse

Today’s short sip Tarot full reading will post tomorrow, because of ….stuff.

This card’s energy was kicking me in the shins a little bit, and hitting a bit close for comfort. I don’t want to over-share, so I won’t. It did, however, make today’s post take longer to wrangle into something kind of understandable. It’s too late in the day to be useful as a coffee and contemplation for your day kind of reading so we’ll try again in the morning. Please let me know what you think about any post….comments on the blog are open, as are comments on the YouTube channel and voice mail on Anchor FM. Ask me anything! (Just remember that answers will post in the blogcast.)

You choose how you interact

You choose your Tarot card and your message for today with this innovative blend of Tarot guidance video, blog and podcast.

https://youtu.be/ruVt-U4TXsQ

You know, I really want to re-work how I do these interactive readings. I want to make them more audio friendly for the podcast and honestly, I just don’t enjoy the monologuing into a microphone thing. It has such a performance feel. I know I’m not a good extemporaneous speaker and that makes it hard to bring the level of communication and authenticity I can give you in a live one to one conversation or in a typed format. I think I’ve said this before. Conversation is one thing, but broadcasting to a general audience is another. One to one versus general audience readings aside, you can compare the You Tube video to the typed transcript here in the blog and the text to speech version in the podcast. Dang it Jim, I’m still a writer, not on camera talent. At the same time, I really do like the what the video brings to the blog, especially for the interactive, pick-your-own-card readings like this. I think it brings an important level of transparency and authenticity to the posts. You know it is a totally genuine, heartfelt, raw, unedited, real-world card reading. You get to see it happen as well as read or hear the words of it. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems fairly symbiotic – the two together are greater than the sum of the parts. Especially for people like me who think they are some kind of Shakespeare until the mic turns on and it all turns into babbling incoherance.

Here’s my thought and I really want to know what you all think. It would genuinely help me to have this feedback. Just being here and reading or listening to this is wonderful support – and I thank you for that – but I could really use an extra hand with this interactive idea. Please leave any thoughts or suggestions or questions in the blog comments, the youtube comments, answer the question on spotify or leave a voicemail on anchor fm. Are these interactive readings interesting or helpful at all? If I put a pithy card contemplation in the video description and a full card reading on the blog and podcast would it still be as helpful and interesting? Honestly, I’d kind of love the mystique and anonymity if everyone to thought that I actually sound like Siri’s second cousin and have my voice be as big of a mystery to Tarot YouTube as Corpse Husband’s appearance is a mystery to gamer YouTube. I may tinker with captioning the longer you choose videos and leaving the short ones as, you know, shorts.

Using “left, center or right” to indicate your card choices is hard to visualize. Or at least I think so. Sometimes you see these kinds of readings on social media using still photos and they create such pretty Instagram level picture. Often they will use crystals or charms or feathers or different small objects to help you feel your way to the right card. I love me some rocks and crystals, but again, that doesn’t translate well into an podcast. Using color was a thought, but not the best one. Color have emotional and psychological connections. Marketing experts use it all of the time. I was concerned that I can’t think of any good way to connect the cards to sounds without making it ridiculous and cumbersome for the blog readers and video watchers. The answer seems to be to use something that is easier to describe and visualize than objects or spacial relationships like left – center – right.

Have you ever seen the original Ghostbusters movie? There is a scene where Dr. Venkman is testing two volunteers ESP ability by drawing cards and having them guess the shapes on the cards. If you take out the comedy bits, the card test is an actual thing. There are random image generators online that let you guess at the cards and see if you can guess above random. It’s all based on controversial parapsychology research in the 1930s. And it has absolutely nothing to do with this other than taking some inspiration from the cards. The cards I’ll use for the visual part are different than the the actual Zenar cards, but like the Zenar cards they are simple shapes that are easy to visualize. As a nod to one of my favorite movies, though, I’m using a star and wavy lines. I made add some shapes just for interest and to increase the randomization. You’ll see and hear how it works as we do a few of theses you choose readings together.

But speaking of you choose readings, that’s enough behind the scenes. Let’s do this thing.

First I’ll draw three shape cards from this tiny handmade deck of note cards.

Today we have wavy lines, star and circle.

Now lets draw three Tarot cards from the shuffled and cut Tarot deck and put one by each of those shape cards.

Next – you choose.

You choose how you use the reading. It can be guidance for your day, guidance for your week or guidance for anything that is on your mind right now.

Imagine the three shapes, star, wavy lines and circle. Which one feels right? Does one light up in your mind’s eye more than the others? Does one catch your attention more than the others? If you need a minute, pause the video, stop reading for a second or pause the podcast to give yourself a little time. Then restart to get the reveal. Or just pick a shape on impulse and listen for your card as we go along.

Wavy lines is Temperance. The Waite Smith deck echoes the wavy lines in the water that is being poured from cup to cup. Temperance is the ultimate balance card. Today there is a strong energy of “slow your roll” and “bring down the temperature” a little bit. Here the Temperance card is very much like tempering in cooking where you change the temperature of sauces or custards gradually to prevent the eggs from curdling and getting lumpy. Tempered glass is another example. Tempered again refers to temperature. The temperature of the glass is controlled and manipulated to make the glass stronger. The advice from the card is about bringing emotional tempers and and emotional temperaments and group discussion temperatures down. It is about choosing your response to external circumstances just like you chose this card.

Star is The Hermit card. Interestingly, the star shape is also found on the card artwork as the shape of the light in the hermit’s lantern. The Hermit is about finding inner wisdom through changing the external environment. Carve out some me time for yourself. If you at all can manage it, get away from it all. Create a little quiet time and meditation because that will let you hear your own inner wisdom. Walking away for a minute to collect yourself is a way to respond to external circumstances as much as a spiritual retreat is.

The Circle isn’t directly represented on the card art, unless we really stretch things to include the chariot wheels. The chariot is what I call the supersonic test pilot card. It is a call to be fully in the present moment and mindful, but not impulsive. If a test pilot lets their mind wander or if they act too randomly bad stuff can happen. Being fully present and bringing all of your training to bear making good but fast decisions is one way to respond to external circumstances. If you chose this card that is a clue that you CAN bring that kind of mindfulness and clear-headed decision making to your situation.

Which format suits you? How do you like using shapes instead of spaces? How do you like the way the videos combine with text and audio. I kind of like this unpolished multi-media blend of things.

Thank you for watching, listening and reading. Any likes, subs, shares or follows you can spare are always greatly appreciated. None of this media mash up is monetized. Your blog website purchases and ko-fi memberships all contribute to creating this unique Tarot content just for you.

The short sip format returns Friday March 24. See you at the next sip!

Part of it All

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