Hello everyone!
Holiday schedule? Did I actually say that?? Yeah – nah. Email readings are OPEN all season long because they don’t have schedule either. Order anytime, 24/7 , no appointment needed. Otherwise, things are going to be pretty random around here from now until Jan 3 or so.
Happy happy everyone!
While life is at elfcon-1 and the holidays are what they are, thought it might be fun to do a throw back Thursday. I don’t do that often, since Tarot is a very present-moment kind of thing. You can’t step into the same energy flow twice to paraphrase that old saying about a river.
Here is a post I wrote on my old Modern Oracle Tarotbytes blog from 2010, just for the fun of it.
Parralax – May 27, 2010 (Tarotbytes blog, ModernOracle.wordpress.com)
“Camera 1, Camera 2, Camera 1, Camera 2” ~ Wayne’s World 2
Ever play with that trick of eyesight? Close one eye, and hold up a pencil so it lines up with an object in the distance. Then switch eyes and the pencil seems to jump to one side. Things don’t line up the same way.
In astronomy, this is called parallax. In biology, it’s called binocular vision where the brain combines the two slightly different views from our two eyesto give us depth perception. it’s the camera 1 / camera 2 slight difference in viewpoint allows us to perceive distance. Two eyes lets us visually live in three dimensions. It helps us to not walk into objects and learn our environment the hard way.
A similar idea is true in Tarot and psychic work. Getting a reading isn’t predicting the future…it is getting a second look, a separate viewpoint that lets us see with greater clarity, depth and understanding. It helps us be a bit more perceptive, and not have to do everything the hard way.
Two third-eyes are better than one.
Even those of us who do readings will sometimes GET a professional reading in order to improve our understanding and fill in any blind spots.
I like to think that psychics consulting psychics is a bit like binocular vision…two views that can be fused together into a higher quality, more useful vision. It is a bit like the very large array of radio telescopes made famous in the movie “Contact”…each person, psychic or not, has their own individual “radio telescope” except that we call it intuition. When we communicate with another antenna, it gives a result that is like having a dish as large as the distance between them.
If one eye is closed, then depth perception doesn’t work. If one telescope is down, the array doesn’t work as well. We each bring our part to a reading. You bring your insight too. Working together, we double our view. Depending on a psychic, or a reading to “predict” the future, or what will happen is third-eye-blind.
Work together, by combining your knowing and insight with the reading, taking responsibility for your actions and decisions…working with the psychic that way, you can see farther into the cosmos.
Wishing you open-eyed clarity
Hello everyone
Thanks for watching, reading and listening to TaoCraft Short Sip: Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee.
Today’s card is the Nine of Swords.
Nine cards strike an interesting balance. Cups and coins are often associated with completion, satisfaction or a job well done while wands and swords are more somber and challenging. The nine of swords, as portrayed by Pamela Smith in the 1909 Waite Smith deck, is often interpreted as restlessness, insomnia, worry and useless regrets.
Today, the energy is a little different.
The Witches Tarot by Ellen Dugan and Mark Evans is one of my favorite decks for a few different reasons. First and foremost is Mark Evans’ gorgeous artwork. The color palette has richness, depth and substance without being overly dark. To my eye, his color choices have just the right mix of warm and cool, reds and blues in any given card. The colors enhance the underlying tone and message of the card. My other favorite part is the composition of the images in general. While it generally follows the Rider Waite Smith model, it has less of the religious imagery that can be frankly toxic to many of us in the modern era. As I understand it, Dugan and Evans deliberately made it more culturally and religiously neutral than the RWS deck. Ellen Dugan’s writing about the cards definitely resonates with my own views about Tarot much more than Waite’s writing.
That’s not main reason why the Witches Tarot came to mind today. In this case, Evans’ portrayal of the nine of swords emphasizes a different thread of energy: The drama queen. The Smith artwork is very sympathetic, even empathetic in the way it reminds us of sadness, worry, and upset. Evans’ image reminds us of the unnecessary aspect of the suffering. Earlier card interpretations write about that unnecessary aspect, but this image shows it visually, too.
The older card is gentler, more kindly, almost grandmotherly about the message, something akin to “I understand how much this hurts, but take care not to dwell on it over long.”
Today’s energy has a very modern, blunt, to the point message. It is closer to a “Suck it up buttercup and stop blowing things out of proportion” vibe.
We’ve all had big worries. We’ve all had big things happen. Sometimes those things keep us up at night or wake us up in the middle of it. And at times we’ve probably all made things out to be harder than they really are.
So many of us are work-ethic oriented. Things and activity and experiences have a so-called sweat equity. Easy things somehow seem less valuable or less satisfying.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
Something that is easy and no-drama can be just as important and valuable as something that is difficult. The other half of yang, is yin. The other half of pushing the envelope is hauling it in. The other half of wakeful worry is being at easy peace.
Quite a few years ago, I consulted with editor and “professional muse” Gina Mazza. She said something that was an epiphany for me at the time and still resonates with the nine of swords today. Even though it was the early days of self-published e-books, she told me of author who had just published his first book. In three weeks. After describing the process, she wrapped up the conversation with “I can be just exactly that easy. Why not?”
Why not, indeed. Suffering for your art (or work or whatever) doesn’t necessarily make it inherently better. NOT suffering for your art doesn’t necessarily diminish it. Enjoying your creative process and life experience just might make the end result better. Ease and enjoyment of what you are doing has its own value.
That is a lesson I intend to take to heart here in my own work.
This combined blog post and podcast episode wraps the podcast for season 2. In January, the podcast will morph from Clairvoyant Confessional into TaoCraft Tarot Podcast. It will functionally be the audio version of the blog. The podcast won’t have 100% of everything. There will still be some print-only features like the Sunday Turnover intuition building exercises. At the same time that the podcast name changes, the content will expand too. It will have Short Sip episodes most weekdays but will add weekly “YouChoose” interactive readings, Q&A, behind the scenes and other blog content. If you get the podcast through Spotify, the YouChoose episodes are in video format. On other platforms YouChoose will be audio only.
Clairvoyant Confessional will drop back to be a rare episode title. The pirate radio evil villain monologue didn’t turn out to be quite the way I’d hoped. I’m happy to hand over most of the vocal performances to Siri’s cousin Remy. It’s easier that way. Dang it, I’m a writer not a media presenter. The text to speech technology makes the whole podcast thing more enjoyable for me. In turn, I’m hoping it will all make the podcast more enjoyable for you, too.
Thank you again for watching, reading and listening. I appreciate each and every one of you. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season. May we all enjoy the time, and let our easy and happy light shine. See you at the first sip of 2022. Happy New Year!
*Witches Tarot by Ellen Dugan and Mark Evans used with permissions granted by Llwellynpublishing.com
Happy Holidays everyone!
This is the last YouChoose reading of 2021, and if everything works the way it should, it will be the first video in the podcast stream before the name changes in January 2022. I’m changing Clairvoyant Confessional to TaoCraft Tarot Podcast, and it will be, at least partially, an audio version of the blog here. This is still going to be the only place with ALL of the content in one place, so I hope you will sit tight and follow the blog BUT you have the option to listen if you prefer.
Speaking of listening – I’ll leave you to listen to the YouChoose video. I hope your time of winter quiet and contemplation is a wonderful one.
Holiday Hours: still have no idea exactly what time things will happen this week. All I know is that E-mail Tarot is OPEN all season long. The holidays can be as weird as they are wonderful, as disconcerting as delightful…all alliteration aside, if a Tarot reading would be of some comfort, I got you. Order anytime, 24/7 no appointment needed.
In-person and Party Tarot are currently closed and will re-open based on covid-19 community transmission rates as reported by the CDC for Allegheny County PA. As of today, 12-14-21 the transmission rate is HIGH.
Sunday Tarot Turnovers are a blog exclusive intuition building exercise for your weekend. Most Mondays I post “YouChoose” on YouTube where you choose when to watch the video, you choose how to use the reading (daily inspiration, answer to a top of mind question, etc) and you choose the card for the reading.
On Sunday, we flip the scrip. Instead of choosing a card, you choose an interpretation. I’ll list a variety of meanings that have come up for the card over the years either from the sources cited or from my own readings. If you use the search bar, you can see old posts about the card on this blog or visit my old Tarotbytes blog on the Modern Oracle Tarot archives which is searchable too. If you see “Quirk & Flotsam” my old two owl logo then you’ll know you are in the right place.
Anyway…let’s get to this.
Today’s card is….
There is no answer to this. All of these interpretations are valid. You can’t deny the expertise of people like Ted Andrews and Edward Waite. Still, the only way to know the right meaning for the card for you today. Knowing and researching card meanings is the foundation, the beginnig. These Sunday Turnover exercises are a way to practice elevating your DIY Tarot a step further. This will help you use the cards and documented meanings to connect to your own intuition and decide which meaning is best for you right here, right now, today, whatever day you read this.
If that day happens to be today, I hope you are enjoying this lovely Sunday. All the best to you!
Just started reading Be Water, My Friend by Shannon Lee about Bruce Lee. Martial arts philosophy, Taoism…SO in my wheelhouse. Just a few pages in, and already loving it.
Am thinking about reviving my personal blog “Stuff” on RondaJSnow.me to do writer-y type stuff and all of the not-tarot poopgoo and Kittenwhisker-ish type stuff. After starting this book, I might add book reviews into the mix.
I’m curious. Which would you guys like better? Surf over to the other site and follow that blog (right column on desktop, scroll down on mobile) and get 100% of everything or just read a few select posts cross pollenated onto this one even though it’s off topic? If you can spare a minute, drop a comment and let me which suits you better. While you are there, feel free to give any feedback you want. Luv it, hate it, whatever. Same goes for any Tarot questions you might have. It can be personal, like the boyfriend question yesterday, or it can be about psychics, intuition, Tarot in general.
Full disclosure: any question that comes to me other than a paid private session will be answered in the blog (scrubbed of any identifying information to protect your privacy of course) It’s kinda like a Tarot swap meet – you get a free one card reading, I get blog/podcast content. Don’t forget two important things 1. The answer is more than likely going to be in full Zombie Cat mode so be prepared for a little light snark and 2. Any and all spam or inappropriate anything will be destroyed in a blinding flash of hellfire. TaoCraft Tarot is a safe space and I am the absolute ruler and gatekeeper and writer of the policies to which it all is subject.
On other words, ask Zombie Cat anything in the comments, but do so at your own peril.
What do you think?
If you aren’t feeling the blog / Zombie Cat thing, private readings by email are available to order anytime, no appointment needed HERE
Q: Can you tell me what my boyfriend is hiding from me? He’s acting secretive, and I think I know what it is. What is he going to do and when?
A: There is a lot more to this question than you might think.
Can I tell you what your boyfriend is going to do and when? The short answer is – no.
That sort of thing only happens in movies, TV, and the occasional outright scam. In my opinion, if someone promises to fix your love life or promises to give 100% accurate predictions you should run in the opposite direction.
That being said, even if I could tell what your boyfriend is thinking, I wouldn’t. My personal ethics are to protect everyone’s privacy. I don’t read anyone’s energy without their consent. There is a little bit of nuance to that when it comes to relationship questions, but we can talk about that in another blog post because it doesn’t apply here.
When you see the phrase “no third party questions” on a psychic’s website or disclaimers, that’s what it is talking about. We don’t read anyone other than the person who comes to us and asks the question. No matter what you believe about whether it is even possible to read minds, a real professional will respect everyone’s privacy. That goes for both real world privacy and the mental & spiritual kind too.
What a Tarot reading CAN do is help you build on that “I think I know what it is” part. A good Tarot reading helps you to get your head around the big picture and empower YOUR intuition and empower your part in the relationship.
For example, when I draw a card for this I get…..
The Queen of Cups
Queen cards are about leadership, just as much as king cards are but queens have leadership with a nurturing spin while kings have leadership with a protective quality. The nurturing here is directed at you. There is a sense that it is time to put on the big girl panties and face what is going on. Be a leader in this. The only way to really know what he is thinking is to ask him. Talk about it. Be prepared to start the conversation and be prepared to deal with the fallout. There are reasons why the Queen is the most powerful piece on the chessboard. Would Elizabeth the 1st ask a wizard what to do or would she do what needs done keep the kingdom healthy?
Cups cards do symbolize romance, but older meanings connect them to the element of water and to intuition. What are your instincts? Cards can have different spins, or flavors of meaning. In this case, it is validation. Follow your instincts how to start a conversation with your boyfriend and – importantly – listening to your instincts as the conversation goes on. Listen. Learn from what is said. Follow your intuition about what is said as it happens. Don’t go into it with any preconceived notions. See how the queen is looking into the cup? She’s looking for the deep truths, not surface conclusions. Look, listen and learn, then take the lead and do the right thing.
Thank you for sharing your question with us. You never know who else it might help. Questions are welcome in the comments and will be answered in the blog & podcast. If you would like a detailed private reading by emial, you can order them HERE 24/7 no appointment needed.
Be safe. Be well. Best wishes to you.
Today’s card is the knight of wands.
Knight cards tend to speak of action or implementing an idea. Wands reflect the inner world; our passions, our interests, spirituality, philosophy and more. Wands can reflect your relationship with yourself.
This card isn’t a permission slip to go on a wild bender and indulge in self-destructive passions, but it is permission to actively, deliberately engage with passions that make you happy. What is it that makes you light up and the words flow from you? What in life makes you feel charismatic – at least to yourself, even if no one else notices. More than being comfortable inside your own skin, this card asks you to find the thing that makes you feel confident and alive and happy within your own skin.
It worries me that there may be someone out there who feels that they can find nothing, or who says there is nothing that they feel happy about. If anyone is truly that despondent there may be more going on than Tarot can help. There is no shame in getting help when it is needed. That is what the knight of wands would do. The knight of wands would take action to help the world within.
Thom Pham hit the bullseye for today’s energy when he put Top Gun Maverick on a motorcycle on the card. The character alludes to so much. There are elements of self discovery as well as that sense of all-out, mach 2 with your hair on fire passionate living. What would the day be like if we turned that passion toward something we already know and already have that makes us happy?
The card reminds me of a few quotes.
I don’t know if it is accurate, but Abraham Lincoln is cited as saying “People are as happy as they make up their minds to be.”
The other is the story from who-knows-where. The internet in its wisdom attributes it to Buddha. A person asks what he should do. “I want happiness,” he said. Buddha answered that the first thing to do is to remove the word “I” because that is ego. Then remove the word “want” because that is desire. Then look to see what is left. It’s just happiness sitting there waiting for you.
Happiness is already on hand. It’s just waiting for you to pick it up.
Thank you for watching, reading and listening to TaoCraft Short Sip – Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your morning coffee. Any likes, subs, shares, blog follows or reading orders you can spare are always appreciated.
Short Sip Tarot readings are available on the TaoCraft Tarot blog and as a podcast. The Clairvoyant Confessional Podcast will become the TaoCraft Tarot podcast starting in 2022. Watch the real world card draw for these short sip readings on the TaoCraft Tarot youtube channel and instagram reels.
As we go into the December 2021 holiday season, readings will post a little less regularly, but will resume a normal schedule after new year.
My name is Ronda. I read Tarot, write stuff and make things. I also wish everyone a very happy, healthy, safe and prosperous holiday and New Year.
See you at the next sip.
Thanks for watching, reading and listening today. TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip your coffee.
Today’s card is the Two of Pentacles.
The Two of Pentacles is the quintessential balance card in the deck. In some ways it is even more balance oriented than Temperance in the major arcana. Temperance has a feel of balance by mixing. The Two of Pents is balance through the adjustment and tension between opposites. In this kind of balance, the balance point is also a tipping point.
In the yin-yang symbol of Taoism, the opposite colored dots in each side of the circle remind us that in anything lies the seed of it’s opposite. Anything take to extreme can become its opposite. Anything in perfect balance can tip into its opposite.
In Dune, Frank Herbert writes “A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct.” Both beginnings and balances are delicate things. Both are dynamic, changing things.
The yin-yang symbol is meant to be in motion. The trailing tail of the black and white parts hint at that motion, as apposed to showing perfect pie-slice halves. Balance is a thing in motion too. This card always brings to mind a unicycle rider who can stay upright in one place by making small forward and backward movements . In the big picture, they may not seem to be moving forward, but in order to stay upright, there is a lot of movement going on in the wheel, just in balanced opposite directions.
Pentacle cards are often read as being about work, career, money, practicality or some aspect of the physical world. They are also associated with the element of earth and by extension the idea of grounding and balance. Everybody talks about “finding balance.” But what do you do once you have it?
Balance is easier to maintain than to get in the first place, but once you have it, it takes a little attention to maintain it because life is in motion. Opposites are always at the doorstep. Which one would you invite in? Which one would you use to maintain a delicate balance when a balance point is also a tipping point.
Thank you for watching, listening and reading! Any likes, subs, shares, blog follows or reading orders you can spare are always appreciated!
See you at the next sip.
TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your morning coffee.
TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your favorite drink. My favorite is coffee (said as she raises her gingerbread spice latte in your honor) Cheers!
Any likes, subs, shares, blog follows, reading orders, Tarot Table membershipsor tips to the virtual coffee mug are always, always deeply appreciated.
Today’s card is the Four of Cups.
The suit of cups is associated with emotion, intuition, the element of water, and our closest relationships of whatever type be it romance, friends or family.
Like many, if not most of the Tarot cards, this one has a few different threads of meaning that can step forward at different times. Sometimes this card can feel very spiritual, and the imagery is sometimes associated with meditation and contemplation. It has been compared to the Buddha meditating under the bohdi tree and being given a cup symbolizing enlightenment. As it turns out, today is December 8 Bohdi day. Greetings and peace to all who celebrate.
Other times the card feels more petulant. That is the thread of energy stepping forward for this reading. The figure under the tree often is shown with crossed arms and legs. I’m guessing in the time and culture where the cards were first popular, and in Pamela Smith’s Edwardian England, this posture would seem more closed off than meditative. The crossed arms in particular bring to mind a tantruming child. The card hints at something being gently and lovingly given, but stubbornly refused for good or ill.
If you are in the energy space of the person under the tree, the card is asking you to look where you are being stubbornly and unnecessarily closed off. What message or gift is being handed to you on a silver platter that you are too closed off mentally or emotionally to see?
If you are the hand giving the goblet, the card is asking for your patience. It could be the person you are trying to reach just isn’t ready to receive what you are giving. Your task is to evaluate if the situation has any hope of changing. Wait and see if it is best to persist, or to let go of an intractable situation.
Either way, the card points out the value of a good pout.
If you are in a sour mood, then by all means – sit yourself down, sit with those emotions, and pout it out, so you can move on. Indulging an emotion in a safe place for a time (under a tree or otherwise) is often more helpful than trying to just crash through the wonky-ness or trying to ignore it. Pouty people don’t usually like a lot of social interaction, which is probably for the best so the tantrum doesn’t get unleashed on innocent bystanders.
If you are in the position of dealing with aforementioned pouty person, stay chill, be as buddha-like as you can muster. Stand there with the goblet in your hand and let them pout it out. Once the storm blows over, then we all can get back to business. There is value in the pout from this perspective too. No need to put yourself in the splash zone of a tantrum if you don’t have too.
Whether you are in a mood or dealing with someone who is, a short time with a good pout can have some value. Wait, watch and listen. Sudden storms blow over quickly.
TaoCraft Short Sip Tarot is available as a print blog post and as an audio podcast. The live, real-world card draw is also available as a short on TaoCraft Tarot’s YouTube Channel and as a reel on Instagram. My Tarot content is available on several social media platforms. Please feel free to say hi! Your feedback and especially your questions are always welcome.
Thanks again for reading, watching and listening. See you next time.
Sage Sips / TaoCraft Tarot 
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