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BUT it works best if you have your purpose clearly in mind when you choose your card.
Take a minute, or choose on impulse. If you want more time to think, pause the video and restart when you are ready to see your card revealed and hear the interpretation.
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Sunday Short Tarot Turnovers are a blog-only intuition exercise for you where we turn a Tarot Reading on its head. Instead of YouChoose – ing a card, I choose the card and you interpret it. There aren’t any trick, tips or how-to.
My martial arts teacher always says that the best way to train for a thing is to do a thing. That is exactly the kind of routine low-pressure practice that will help you be able to read well when the emotional heat is on.
This is easy. Just read through the list of meanings and see if and how any of them speak to you or guide you….or make up a meaning of your own just for you, just for today. This is an exercise in following your own intuition. If no meaning jumps out as the right one, just ponder the card every now and then and see if anything comes to you as the day goes on. That’s the kind of “daily meditation” Tarot that my ebook PeaceTarot teaches you to do. (It’s inexpensive and available right now as a pdf download in the ko-fi shop.)
Today’s card is the Five of Swords
Gain clarity. Make sure you are understanding clearly before you act
Self-defeat, self-sabotage
feeling defeated, feeling attacked
victory, but at great cost
stubbornness, it’s time to change or adapt
Even though the podcast is shifting to the short form daily meditation format, I’ll still do “confessional” or Q&A episode occasionally. YOUR QUESTIONS ARE WELCOME in the comments or by email.
Thanks for reading! I hope you will follow the blog, that way all of the free TaoCraft Tarot content will come to your inbox – short sip tarot, video demonstrations, YouChoose Interactive Tarot, announcements…all of it.
For an extra reading every month, the Reading Room membership is available through ko-fi. For $5 per month you get a three card members only three card pathway reading through the ko-fi blog, newsletter, random special offers and giveaways and a personal, just-for-you “Year Ahead” Tarot reading by email when you join.
Tips to the virtual coffee mug support this blog and the Short Sip podcast
Thank you for tuning in to TaoCraft Short Sip Tarot guidance for the day in the time it takes to sip from your morning coffee
Today’s card is the Ten of Wands. It is generally about carrying a heavy mental or emotional load, or feeling burdened somehow. The advice is to evaluate your connections, obligations. Think about hat is really needed, and what can be let go.
The same is true when it comes to things getting in your way. Here the card is asking if the block or road bumps or challenges that are on your mind are really as bad as they seem. Is there any chance that you are making a mountain out of a mole hill? Are you putting undue pressure on yourself? It’s not uncommon for people to be their own worst critic sometimes.
When a card turns up with these kinds of ideas attached to them, it doesn’t mean that it is something you are doing. Tarot sometimes can show us mistakes we are making without realizing it. More often than not it is about suggesting the right question. Tarot is a prompt and a conversation starter in a way.
So this card isn’t saying you are definitely getting in your own way or sabotaging yourself. It is only asking you to look for that, to consider that possibility. If you give it some thought and don’t see self-sabotage, exaggerating a problem, or carrying undue burdens, then you can move forward with confidence and look for different solutions. If the answer is yes, at least you’ll know where the real problem lies and you can knock it off.
Welcome to TaoCraft Short Sip Tarot: a one card meditation Tarot reading in the time it takes to sip from your morning coffee.
Today’s card is the Fool, traditionally the first card in the major arcana part of the Tarot deck.
Here we have yet another example how one card can have multiple layers or threads of meaning. Over time, every card has picked up about a bazillion and a half key word meanings and short interpretations.
As we talked about with the Judgement card yesterday, just because one meaning is given for one reading, and another meaning is used in another session or by another reading doesn’t mean that one interpretation was right and the other was wrong. It just goes to show how Tarot has been able to stay relevant as useful tool for insight, understanding and personal growth. With the abundance of key words, a card can adjust to meet the needs and energies of the moment while staying true to its key symbolism and core meaning?
That’s where personal intuition comes in. We all have it. We can all develop it. But sometimes it is easier to just ask someone. I mean, generally speaking anyone can learn to change the oil in their car. With practice and study they could become a really good card mechanic. I could do that – but I don’t want to. I take it to a pro for that. If you don’t want to sort out which thread of meaning a card holds for you, that’s what I’m here for. Not only can I do a full on reading for you, I can consult with you to get a better understanding of a reading you’ve done for yourself. But that’s beside the point.
The Fool card has a couple of core meanings. When that happens in a Tarot card, most of the smaller keyword meanings tend to fall under the heading of the larger core meanings. In this case, the Fool can point toward a new beginning in some way, or it can be a reminder of the value of play and lightheartedness. It is a matter of pure intuition which to use in any given reading that you are doing.
Today, my sense of it the vast general energy out here in the world wide webbernet is pointing toward the playful side of things. I’m not talking about some cutsey sit-com sillyness. Sometimes the Fool card will point to the wisdom that can be spoken through comedy.
In an interview about his book Scorpion’s Gate, author Richard A. Clarke said that sometimes more truth can be told through fiction than nonfiction. The same is true of comedy. A spoonful of laughter helps the difficult ideas go down.
That’s not quite right for today. This is a subtle shift within that core. The energy isn’t as much with the new beginnings side of things, althought if you’ve been needing a push to start something, this could easily be that nudge you’ve been needing.
This isn’t talking about giggly silly play. This isn’t quite talking about learning through humor. It feels like permission.
We’re told that it’s OK to not be OK. That’s true. But it is also OK to be OK. Even in the middle of a time where things are not OK, it is perfectly fine to have a moment where you enjoy something. It is OK to take a moment to play, to allow yourself a moment of enjoyment. Don’t worry – you can get back to being stressed and depressed and all that other stuff in a minute.
Whatever it is, take a deep breath, take a minute, and enjoy.
Thank you for watching, reading and listening to Short Sip Tarot: a thought for your day in the time it takes to sip from your morning coffee. Any likes, subs, shares, follows, referrals or reading orders you can spare are always, always greatly appreciated!
Today’s card is Judgement from the major arcana
I realize we just had the Judgement card recently. I’ll put a link to that post below and in the episode notes for the podcast.
The standard trope is to say that we are repeating a mistake or we haven’t learned an important lesson. This is more benign than that. This is a good example of one card having different threads of meaning that step forward for different readings at different times for different people. We talk about that in “TaoCraft Portfolio” ebook which should be ready for the shops fairly soon.
But again, this serves as a good example of how one card’s meaning isn’t static, or written in stone, and just because you get one meaning in a reading one time, but a different meaning in a different session possibly with a different card reader doesn’t mean that one reading was right and the other one was wrong. It just goes to show that Tarot is a wonderfully adaptable and infinitely useful tool for insight. It is a lens and a portal into the energy and message of the moment, not some irrelevant, ossified pronouncement from on high.
The other day, the energy of second chances and compassion stepped forward. Today it takes on the judge-y ness and judgementalism that makes this card such a nemesis for me. Judgement in other decks is not so much of a problem. Especially in the Witches Tarot and other decks that call it by another name – Karma or what have you. The religious ideas and imagery of Pamela Smith’s artwork pushes old-issue buttons for me that aren’t really related to Tarot at all. Which in itself touches on today’s particular iteration of the Judgement card.
Writing the post earlier this month I realized that when I’m feeling judgemental toward something (or more importantly, someone) it is because that thing is something that would be toxic or detrimental to me. Why should I assume that is true for the other person?
Sure there are some absolutes. You would’t stand silent and let someone drink arsnic just because that isn’t your judgement or your choice….some things are bad for everyone. The same is true of outright racism, bigotry, violent rhetoric or dangerous misinformation. Yes, you oppose it because you judge it to be wrong…but that is the sound reasoning kind of judgement. That kind of thing is about the public spaces where people can come to harm at the hands of others. That’s a whole different matter.
Today’s card is talking about judging the private spaces of others by the measure of how those choices would affect us if they were ours.
Just because something would make us lesser if we did it is not reason to judge others for doing it. A small step in personal growth that we left in the dust ages ago may be a giant leap forward for someone else. Something that may be toxic to us might be nourishment for another.
I realize that is probably obvious to most people, but I’ve witnessed it happening all too much lately. This feels like one of those pushes from spirit where somebody somewhere might need to hear this even though it is uncomfortable and awkward for me to say. I feel pushed to say this for someone, even if it isn’t for most people. If all of this this doesn’t apply to you, by all means reject the message. Let the message flow to the one for whom it is a helpful thing. Let the energy turn on the light where it is needed, even if it isn’t for you.
Let me put it this way – I’ve learned, more recently than I care to admit – that when I catch myself feeling judgemental toward someone else, it is usually because they may embrace something that is harmful or toxic to me personally. Not that it is actively harming me, but in the sense that I view their whatever-it-is as a bad thing. For me to engage with whatever they choose would make me a lesser person. It is all too easy to project my understanding onto the other person. If X makes me a lesser person, then they must be lesser for choosing and embracing it. Again this is talking about the realm of subjective philosophy, not actual harm. Think of it It is the conceptual equivalent of a food allergy in a way. If one person has a severe peanut allergy, they judge peanut butter as a bad thing, and may feel judgemental toward peanut butter, so much so that their primal reflex is to slap a peanut butter sandwich out of other people hands regardless of whether the other person is peanut allergic or not.
I haven’t read it yet, but I’d like to. Buddhist monk Ajahn Sumedho wrote book entitled “Don’t Take Your Life Personally” I think what the card is trying to say today is don’t take other people’s lives and choices personally either.
Your choice is in how you react to circumstances. Beyond that, you have no say in many things. Other people’s choices are not yours.
If you’ve followed the blog on the main website, you’ve heard most of this before, but there is some new stuff sprinkled in like the colored sugar on holiday cookies so I hope you’ll give it all a read anyway.
I’m SO grateful for the chance to say hello and welcome to new followers, new ko-fi supporters AND new members to the Reading Room membership tier (also on ko-fi.) Please be patient if there is a lot of repetition here. I just want to make sure I have all of my proverbial ducks are in a row before the annual Elfcon 1 season.
Just like last new year, I still say that you have to make a plan before life can blow it to bits. Here’s the general plan for the rest of Fall & Winter. Most of this is going to happen both here and on multiple social media platforms. You can find TaoCraft Tarot content on Ko-fi, Instagram, Twitter, FaceBook, YouTube, Linkedin, Anchor Fm, Spotify, Stitcher and Tumblr, but this main website and this blog is the ONLY place that has EVERYTHING all in one place. I hope you’ll join me here. Follow the blog by entering your email over there in the right hand column –>
OR scroll WAAYYYY down on mobile screens and you’ll get all of the free content delivered right to your inbox.
Distance Tarot is OPEN and available to order 24/7. LIVE online readings require an appointment but email readings are all no appointment needed.
In-person readings are back by appointment on an extremely limited basis. We meet in a public place (I prefer these Panera locations) Touchless prepayment is available HERE. Please contact me through TaoCraftTarot@gmail.com to schedule. Facemasks are required regardless of vaccination status. No exceptions.
Sunday Turnover posts will post on – you guessed it – most Sundays. This is a main blog exclusive intuition development exercise.
YouChoose Interactive Tarot is intended to reach through the noise of the internet and give you a more personal Tarot experience. You choose the card, then get a short reading for it. This is a video reading available on the blog, on the YouTube channel and on the Ko-fi blog
Speaking of ko-fi…the Reading Room is OPEN. This is a premium membership tier. For $5 per month members receive a three card “path through the month” reading (via the members-only part of the ko-fi blog) plus random special offers and giveaways plus a private “year ahead” reading by email when you join. E-books are available for instant download in the ko-fi shop. Any virtual coffees that you donate supports website expenses and creating new content for the blog, the youtube channel and the podcast.
Speaking of the Clairvoyant Confessional podcast…
It is nowTaoCraft Short Sip Tarot Podcast: guidance for your day in the time it takes to sip from your morning coffee. It is available on anchor fm and Spotify. The logo and content should follow on other platforms soon.
All of this goes toward making my TaoCraft Tarot readings one of the most affordable. I’m a fan of big bangs for every buck – look at this way: I charge $40 for a 1 hour (ish) seven card reading in all formats: in-person, zoom meeting or email. Compare that to the US national average rate of $99 per hour.*
There are no hidden fees and all of my prices are flat rate per reading, not per minute. You know your whole cost up front before the reading even starts with germ free, safe and sanitary pre-payment, securely processed by PayPal.
Not to mention that I have other lower cost email special layouts starting at $5 each.
The Etsy shop is open. I hope to add more “moments” loom beaded bracelets and mala style meditation beads as Elfcon progresses.
Thanks for reading all the way through this! See you for tomorrow’s short sip tarot.
Thank you for reading, watching and listening to Short Sip Tarot on the TaoCraft Tarot Blog, the TaoCraft Tarot youtube channel and shorts, and the Clairvoyant Confessional podcast. The Short Sip posts are a Tarot reading and thought for the day in the time it takes to sip from your morning coffee.
Today’s card is the Knight of Pentacles.
Knight cards are associated with action, and pentacles are associated with the element of earth.
Earth – as in grounded, rooted, solid energy.
Some days are like that. When you work with Tarot most days, you can see the ebb and flow of energy. Even if you do just quick daily one card meditations over time you see the larger patterns of energy. Patterns is a little bit of a misleading word in this context. It isn’t as if there is anything predictable or regular about it. It isn’t to say there is a set pattern like day and night or the progression of the seasons. It’s more like observation over years teaches you the kinds of clouds that roll in the with the weather for the day.
The Zen proverb “Before enlightenment, chop wood and carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood and carry water” captures this particular energy very well. The idea idea isn’t necessarily attached to any one particular Tarot card, but it does come through Pentacle cards more often than the others. Both the suit of cards and the proverb are grounded and practical. Both remind us how important it is to balance mind, spirit AND body. Physical health supports mental and emotional health and mental while mind and spirit support the body as well. It is no better to be overly occupied with spirituality than it is to be wrapped up the the physical realm and ignore the spiritual altogether.
With the focus on balance, you would expect this energy and message to be attached to the TWO of pentacles. Often, it is. In this case there is a little extra message behind the mind – body – spirit balance idea.
Sometimes you have to DO something to achieve that balance.
Exercise. Eat well. Take a nap if you need it. Change the shelf paper. Do some mundane task that you’ve been putting off.
The spiritual is still there. There is magic in the mundane, but there is also a little mundane in the magic. To paraphrase the poet Duane Toops … a miracle is still a miracle even if it doesn’t feel like one.
A day is still a miracle even when it feels and needs to be ordinary.
Want a private reading just for you….even more interactive than choosing a card from a video? Order distance email readings (my specialty) any time, no appointment needed!
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For “Sunday Turnover” we turn the reading process around a little. Instead of picking the card that is right for you, as with the YouChoose interactive readings, this time I choose that card and you choose the meaning that most resonates with you.
Today’s card: Two of Swords
Classically it symbolizes a logical indecision, being “of two minds about something. I personally like Diane Morgan’s interpretation of “mystical unity.” The two, while it is related to balance, it also hints at dichotomy. Many cards, like the eight of swords or the seven of cups sometimes suggest using intuition and following your heart when logic and reason fail. The same is true here, especially on cards that follow Pamela Smith’s depiction of a blindfolded figure. The blindfold suggest a reliance on internal insight, intuition, the mysterious or divine. Either way, the two of swords suggests a need for decision, a way to decide, and an element of trust.
Key ideas for the Two of Swords :
Indecision, of two minds
Reliance on intuition and the mysterious
Mystical unity, connection to the esoteric as much as the physical
Discord between heart and mind
Time to decide – at a standstill because of indecision
Conflicting ideas
Proper use of power (Ted Andrews)
As with the images on the cards, the trick in Tarot’s benefit is to apply it, not just memorize it.
The card showing in a reading validates any feelings of indecision that brought you to the reading. It can spur you to mental action in letting you know that it is time to decide, not to put it off. If logic doesn’t provide answers right now, look to intuition and vice versa
Thank you for watching, listening and reading. TaoCraft Short Sip Tarot is a reading to guide your day in the time it takes to sip from your morning coffee…or whatever your beverage of choice may be. Any likes, subs, shares, follows, reading orders or membership subscriptions you can spare are always, always greatly appreciated!
Today’s card is the Seven of Wands.
The classic meaning has to do with success after struggle. You are going to get what you want to go – but you are going have to work for it, maybe a little harder and longer than you expected.
Back and forth, yin and yang, good stuff comes after hard stuff – even when the hard stuff is internal and about personal development rather than literal, physical realm struggles.
Matt Auryn, in his book Psychic Witch reminds us that “everything you touch touches you.” That connectivity and reciprocity is inherent to many if not all Tarot cards. It applies to the Seven of Wands even though it is tempting to see it as the surface meaning portrayed in the picture on the card. It is easy to see the Seven of Wands as an omen of a conflict or a struggle that is in progress, eminent, or looming on the horizon.
Underneath the struggle there is a thread of potential success that you may not sense in cards like the three of swords or the devil card. There is a hint that the struggle will be worth it on some level, even if it isn’t necessarily a victory by surface definitions.
I’m especially fond of Ellen Dugan’s added advice to meet challenges and overcome them with “style, wit and humor.” In his Heart of Stars Tarot, Thom Pham points to the character Obyron from Game of Thrones. Mr. Pham emphasizes Obyron’s persistence, and 100% dedication to the battle at hand. He’s all in and never gives up. But, just like Ms. Dugan, there is a nod to a great sense of style. Obyron is the essence of self confidence, beyond comfortable in his own skin and as much of a bon vivant, racountour and hedonist as he is a fierce warrior.
Both of these give us a hint about how to cope with our daily battles. If you touch daily struggles with your own unique style and personal sense of humor, it may touch you back with a little bit of hope. It might let you see the thread of victory and silver lining that helps you doggedly persist. Challenges that stretch beyond our comfort zone are often just the way of things. A little style and humor makes that way of struggle leading to success just a little more worth it.
Sage Sips / TaoCraft Tarot 
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