Tag: TaoCraft tarot

Weekend Oracle: Apart

Even when you are apart from people, you are a part of people.

The southern hemisphere may be gearing up to rock and roll into spring, but here in the northern hemisphere, we are in fullest summer. Mid-August is hot, humid, filled with the sound of cicadas and with a sluggish energy. As it should be. It isn’t the season of planting, it isn’t quite yet the season of full harvest – even for us city dwellers.

It’s a time of maximum yang that is asking to be met with much yin.

This weekend is a time for introverts. The advice is to be gentle with yourself and your energy. Don’t force socialization if you aren’t feeling it. Don’t push or strive or emotionally expert if you aren’t feeling it. It is ok to spend some time at the edges of the action.

The energy of the Outsider card from Seven Dane Asmund’s Alleyway Oracle of Secrets deck reminds us that outsiders are different from outcasts – some choose the perifory as a way to protect their peace or nurture their healing and growth.

For those who find themselves feeling cut off or more alone than they want to be, the energy here is a reminder that we are all connected, even when other people seem physically or emotionally far away.

If you are feeling isolated or lonely, open your circle of perspective. You may be alone in your room, but you are still a part of the family in your house or the residents of your apartment building. You might be the only person in the building, but you are still part of your state, country or continent. You might be the only person on the moon…but you are still a member of the human species and that can never be taken from you.

“We are all connected: To each other, biologically. To Earth, chemically. To the rest of the universe, atomically.”

Neil Degrasse Tyson

If you need to dial back, and have some alone time it is OK. You aren’t severing connections, you are nurturing your heart and spirit and self which makes the connections stronger, better – over any distance.

Wishing you a lovely weekend that is just as busy – or not – as you like.

New Deck N’at

Usually I agonize over every deck I’ve bought. I have to really really REALLY feel it before I’ll shell out the cash for one. I’m frugal, and I don’t spend on hobbies and entertainment unless it strongly moves me on some level. Or if it is yarn to make a holiday gift.

Maybe that comes from being born and raised in Appalachia – real, south of here, ruby red, mountain Appalachia – BUT I’ve lived in the Pittsburgh area long enough that I consider this is my hometown whether yinz like it or not. When I accidentally stumbled across the Pittsburgh deck on social media it was an immediate ‘shut UP. Take my money’ impulse. Luckily for me, it turned out to be a very affordable deck.

The guide book is being shipped separately, so I’m winging it with this reading.

Career questions have crossed my path lately. I pulled these cards with the generic question in mind of “am I on the right path with my career”

Any “right path” question lends itself to a classic “pathway” card spread, which in turn is a more modern, nuanced version of the old-school past/present/future spread. I don’t have to tell you for the millionth time that exact predictions are not only impossible but unhelpful. As always, I read a three card pathway as:

  • Influences of the past – how old experiences are either influencing your perceptions of the current situation or, often, this is a reminder of old skills or lessons that you can bring forward to help you now
  • Current energies: things about the current situation that are asking for your attention, or pointing out any blind spots.
  • Moving Forward: This is a possible strategy, a good next step or a suggestion about how to best adapt to this situation.

In a “TaoCraft Path” layout, I emphasize your choices, which is what builds the future rather than predict it. For those, I add a fourth card that suggests an idea to help support the direction you are headed if you choose to keep it, and a fifth card that suggests how to change directions if you want. Today, let’s keep it simple.

In a typical RWS deck, I often read wands as your relationship with yourself – the inner world . I don’t know, yet, if that is what the deck creators intended with the suit of “nature” but that’s how I’m reading it today. I look at it through a very Taoist lens of working with your own true nature, THAT kind of nature just as much as the rocks and trees kind of nature. No question the World and the Moon cards are vibing just like every other deck, at least in relation to this particular question and layout.

Of course, being a collective energy reading, it is by the nature of collective energy readings, vague and dilute. This things are always much more impactful when it is private, customized and focused just on one person.

Two out of the three cards being major arcana confirms big career energy right now. There might be a time of stress at hand, to go with these big energies, but it doesn’t feel like anything you can’t handle. It feels like growth, in a big but good way.

Knights are associated with action. Play to your strengths. Do you. Do what you know well and above all what you enjoy. This is a comfort zone move, yes, but one that has serious wattage behind it. Showcase every skill you have, both from formal trained and from raw life experience.

The World hints that you have lots of options right now, the world is your oyster. Now is a good time to decide which direction you want to go, because many paths are open. In the predictive use, the World card has always been considered a good omen. You are in a good spot to build something good if you have the courage to start and a clear vision of what you want (out of all those many possibilities)

The Moon reminds us of natural cycles. To know if your current career or career plans are right for you, look at the context of your life…where in your life cycle or the life cycle of this job are you? Are you starting? Is there room to grow? Do you need more? Do you need less? Is this a good fit for where you are in life right now? How does your career fit into the rest of your life and it’s cycles?

I’m curious what the deck authors intended. Look for more with this deck in the days ahead.

It’s a fun deck. Just having it means something. We’ll see what unfolds.

Have a good week!

The Pittsburgh Tarot deck is by Ed Simon and Steve Teare and is available (with the guide book) through Microcosm Publishing

Of two minds, and neither one has an answer

From the archives

Of the different meanings for the Two of Swords, “of two minds” comes to mind. A lot of times when we think of that, it means that two options are equal, and there is no obvious, logical, good way to decide between the two. There is six of one and half dozen of the other as they saying goes.

So what do you do when you are of two minds and both options are equal: equally bad that is? What do you do when you don’t know what to do at all? What do you do when you are of two minds and neither one of them knows what to do?

It’s ok not to know. It’s ok for some things to be unknowable. And it’s ok to try and find out. If you don’t know, ask. If you don’t know, learn. If you don’t know, welcome to the universe. It is like that sometimes. We haven’t figured it all out, and that’s OK too.

“I’d rather have questions that can’t be answered than answers that can’t be questioned.”

Richard Feynman

In the Microwave with Saturn

I read the Farmers Almanac newsletter. And yes, it makes me feel old but also sentimental because my Grandmother always had a copy on the table. And no, I’m not a gardener but damn – the recipes. This morning’s newsletter included Theresa Reed’s article about the beginning of Saturn retrograde.

Astrology isn’t a vibe for me except for the occasional sip of shadenfreude when memes make fun of people in a flap about Mercury retrograde. It seems Saturn is taking Freddy Mercury’s place in the microwave.

I’m feeling this one. Not the Mercury thing, the Saturn thing.

Retrogrades are only frustrating if you are caught up in constant forward striving and wanted to get what you don’t have and get it now. Not everything is about new beginnings, not everything is constant personal growth and forward movement.

Sometimes the energy is about the next phase, not a new beginning.

It is about solidifying and maturing, and is very much attune to this time of year. After the seeds sprout, you have to let them grow up before you can celebrate the harvest.

This isn’t a time of manifesting what you don’t have – this is a time of investing in what you do have. Now is a time to make all you’ve learned solid and real and lasting. It’s about maturing what you’ve already manifested.

“Curing” comes to mind. Not the healing kind of way….in the resin and glue kind. Soaps, resin art, some glues, have to have time to ‘cure’ and become fully solid, durable, usable. It is akin to the aging process in fine wine.

Would you rather climb up on a stack of wobbly boxes or a nailed-together step stool? This week, or even the next several months if this retrograde type vibe holds, is a time to reinforce this new place so it can become a solid foundation for later growth.

We’ve talked a lot over the past several months about leaving what no longer serves. Walking away from the bad entails walking toward the good. Now we are at the next step in the process. We’ve given thoughts and energies to both the past and the future. Now it’s time to invest in here and now. Mindfulness is always good advice. This energy is mindfulness turned up to 11. This is very much a “repair and maintain” energy. This is a time to make it strong where you are.

I hear “invest in this.” Invest time in the here and now. Things will move again, they always do. This is that next phase and new you that you’ve worked toward. Live here for a little while. Incorporate and integrate all that you have learned and achieved so far, whatever that is. And whatever that is – is perfectly good and enough.

See you at the next sip

Pour yourself a second cup

I’m feeling very Chariot at the moment.

It’s telling me to be in the moment, look forward.

There is a hefty dose of Moon and Wheel energy.

When old things end, new things begin.

Please feel free to come browse the TaoCraft Tarot website and the Sage Sips blog archives. I think I finally have it looking the way I want it. Keep taking sips, and eventually you empty the cup. Then you can either dwell on the coffee that was or you can pour yourself a whole new cup.

See you at the next sip!

*shuffles off to the kitchen toward the coffee pot*

Modern Art!!

Energy path layout: Fading emerges, current energies, growing energies

Modern art!

Just for a fun comfort watch, we’ve be re-watching the Peter Capaldi seasons of Doctor Who. When Matt Smith left and Peter Capaldi came into the role, I wasn’t sure what to think as is the case for most Doctor Who fans when regeneration time comes around. Then they showed the old “Fires of Pompeii” episode where Capaldi had played the role of Caecilius the marble merchant. When toga-clad Capaldi raised his arms in a BEHOLD gesture and declared the Tardis to be “MODERN ART!” I’m like ok, ok…he can be the Doctor now.

If Tom Baker was the Doctor you wanted to be your dad, David Tennant was the Doctor you wanted to be your friend, and Matt Smith was the Doctors you wanted to be in your family, then Peter Capaldi was the Doctor I wanted to BE.

Why is my Whovian fan-girl side bringing up this obscure Doctor Who reference? Because Caecilius’ enthusiasm is exactly the vibe for this week’s reading.

When the world is on fire, sometimes you have to indulge in something you enjoy just to support your own sanity. Extra credit if it is something easy, simple and close at hand, like watching a favorite TV show or allowing yourself an extra scoop of ice cream. Or a beer. Or six. Or eating an entire cake with a spoon. Double extra bonus points if you have a sense of humor about it. Why not express yourself in the quirkiest, happiest most playful way that you can?

This is a week for passionate artists and creatives. It’s giving me itchy knitting fingers. Wait until you see this new hat pattern.

The fading energy card feels like early week energy. There is a ‘ get while the getting is good’ vibe about it. If you are feeling inspired, act sooner rather than later. This is the knight of cups after all. Knight cards are all about action. Cups are emotions. Grab the chance to express yourself and how you feel as soon as the opportunity presents itself. Don’t wait to appreciate your modern art!

The current energy card feels attached to the later part of the week. Sword cards are more precise and intellectual than cups, but they too can hint at action. Swords are connected to the classic element air, and the single upright sword on the ace card has a sweeping, lifting, rising energy. The word INSPIRATION comes strongly to mind here. If you have been in a creative slump, or feeling uninspired in any context, keep your eyes open and be ready, that may turn around soon. Inspiration is on the way, it seems.

For those of us who have had to focus on practical, mundane day-job energies, the ace feels more like getting a second wind. It is a hint of revitalizing an old project rather than beginning something new. Which energy carries the week for you depends on where you are starting out today (Merry Monday everyone!) If you are coming into the week fresh after the weekend, then fresh starts ahead. If, like me, you have a weekend work schedule hang in there. A fresh gust of wind beneath your wings is on the way.

The Chariot from the major arcana is the card representing growing energies. This also gives the impression of movement and flow through the week as a whole. The mental image here is of waves on a lake, as opposed to heavy surf on an ocean beach. This feels like movement and self expression, but gentle forward movement instead of a tidal wave.

There is absolutely no logical reason why, but clear quartz points and herkimer diamonds come to mind too. Lore around clear quartz is that it is an energy amplifier. Quartz points, especially tourmalated quartz (clear with small spiky inclusions of black tourmaline) are thought to support guidance (the spikes and points symbolize something ‘pointing the way’ for us.)

The keys for the week are self expression, creativity, art, increasing energy, and gentle forward progress.

So go, make life into your own work of modern art.

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Ask The Expert

I started reading Tarot and Oracle cards in 1992, give or take a little.

I’ve done hundreds of online and email Tarot readings for folks as far away as Germany, Great Britain, India, Austrailia and Papua New Guinea. PNG is as far away from me as you can get and still be on planet Earth, so I’m confident I can do remote distance readings for anyone.

Now that I’m free from being a professional, I’m free to read for you for, well, free. This isn’t about promoting professional readings, it’s about conversation. It’s about the blog and our shared interest in things like Tarot, intuition, and secular spirituality. Think of this as a conversation over a cup at the local coffee shop.

Ask me anything HERE

I have another day job so I can’t promise to answer everything, but I CAN answer select questions here in the blog (privacy protected, of course) If it fits a reading, we’ll do that. If your question fits a behind the scenes / learn to read tarot kind of post, we’ll do that.

Thank you for the blog post inspiration. Hopefully you’ll get some inspiration in return.

See you at the next sip!

P.S there are loads of BTS, Learn to read tarot, and Q&A posts in the archives …. please use the search bar to explore. Like what you read? Buy me a coffee on ko-fi to keep the blog and archives open to everyone without ads or paywalls

From the Archives: Clair-ity

From the Tarotbytes (originally published in 2009) archive on Sage’s Second Cup blog:

Clairvoyant is a pretty well-know term. It means psychic, or someone who sees the future, right?

Nope.

Not entirely. The real root of words like “clairvoyant”, “clairaudient”, “clairsentince”  means clear – clarity of sight, sound or feeling.

Once again, predicting the future is NOT a part of the picture. Functionally, these terms refer to intuition, and how we interpret that non-linear, symbolic information that we call “psychic” or “intuitive”. It doesn’t matter whether you believe psychic information is spiritual in source, or just a higher function of the right brain hemisphere, seeing any situation a little more clearly may seem “psychic”.

Being able to listen to subtle clues from our environment and from within ourselves is the root of clairvoyance.

Clairvoyance is technically clarity of vision – like the word voyeur. Many times when working with intuitive information it comes to mind in the form of mental images. These mental images are much the same as memory, imagination, or daydreams. It doesn’t mean that the psychic is hallucinating or literally seeing things that aren’t there. Quirks of language may make it seems that way…but it isn’t what is really going on at all. If we say we “see” something, it really means that we are tuning in to subtle visual/ mental images. Yeah…it is all in our head. But like J.K. Rowling said in the “Deathly Hallows”…”Just because it is in your head, Harry, doesn’t mean it isn’t real” The images may not be “real” but the guidance and inspiration they give is quite real. 

The same is true for Clairaudience. The “audio” here is sound, usually spoken words. Once again, this isn’t a sound outside the head that is a mis-perception of the environment or a hallucination that mimics a sound that really isn’t there. It has the same dream-like, imagination-like quality as clairvoyance, but in sound form. Most often this is spoken words, and is what people who “channel” often report. They just repeat or write down the verbal information that they sense.

Again, language makes it seem as if there is a physical component that just isn’t there. We may say we “hear” a spirit, or “hear” a phrase, but it isn’t a literal sound. Sometimes, the information will come as memory of a literal sound…a bit of music that is somehow significant, or the sound of waves for someone who loves the beach, or the sound of birdsong for someone who loves to camp…that sort of thing.

Other senses can come into play when doing intuitive work. These are less common, but are worth thinking about. This can include smells…which is a very potent way to trigger specific memories. For example pine, cinnamon and oranges are strongly associated with Yule holidays while flowers might evoke springtime memories. Either of those may help bring about a specific insight when doing or receiving a Tarot or other psychic reading. 

The same is true of physical sensation. Feeling hot or cold, or feeling a heaviness in a particular body area might be significant. 

Taste seems to be the rarest intuitive sensation of all, at least in my experience. For the most part, we are visual creatures, so mental images are very common intuitive messages. Words follow a close second, which makes logical sense, given how important language and speech is to our daily lives. So if any of the other senses come into play during  a reading, they are likely very significant are are worth our attention.

Our senses are a part of our human experience, so they are naturally a part of our natural intuition as well. 

Try now…what sensations are you most aware of now…temperature, smells, body sensations, images from old memories, a word or phrase….if you let your mind wander, what is the first thing it wanders to? What is the first thing to capture your attention?

Now, what message does that sensation, image or word hold for you?

Best wishes to you all for a sensational week!

Meet your reader (Sage’s Bio)

Today’s Tarot: Clarity (Q&A)

Q: What do we most need to know right now in the United States following Lindsey Graham’s death and conjecture about Mitch McConnell’s.

I drew this card with this question in mind, right after seeing a social media post from someone who I typically has good points and real food for thought. This may well be the first time I’ve disagreed with him.

But no, this isn’t a time for tut-tutting about “speaking ill of the dead” from either side of the political divide. Graham was not a good person who, because of his political power, inflicted real harm on real people and contributed much to the rise of fascism and white christian nationalism in America today.

I’m sorry for the loss of any kind person who feels his – or their – passing. But at the same time it is fair to think they are lying in the bed they made during their lifetime.

The social media person clucked something on the order “saying these things says more about you as a person than it does about them.

Not this time.

If making fun of a powerful bad man says something about the person saying it….what does a powerful man’s silence about the death of school girls at the hands of unnecessary war, the death of women at the hands of politically and religiously motivated abortion bans, the death of schoolchildren at the hands of our lack of gun control….and on and on and on. What does silence about these dead say about THEM? I’d rather people make merciless fun of the politicians who caused harm than remain silent in the face of the harm they caused.

It’s more important to be kind to everyone living than to worry about what is said about the dead.

Laughter is good medicine. Public figures who caused real harm aren’t going to be any less dead if we only say nice things about them after they’ve been rendered harmless by the inevitable. Momento Mori.

In the noise of current events, the Ace of swords reminds us to cut to the chase, get to the point, simplify. Tune out the static and get right down to what really matters. In the end, kindness is the only measure of what that is.

Brew It Forward

In honor of pride month I made a VERY small donation to the ACLU because of the work they do in court to advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights.

I’m inspired by Molly Lee of Optimistic Soap to use my Tarot skills to contribute to causes I care about. She donates $1 from every bar of soap purchased to Democracy Forward and to other organizations.

I stand with that.

I’ve brought back the Sage Sips Ko-fi membership and renamed it ‘Brew it Forward” Proceeds from the memberships plus $1 from each virtual coffee donated from the readings menu will go to a designated organization at the end of the month (a few of my favorites are listed below)

In honor of Optimistic Soap’s inspiration, July 2026’s “Brew It Forward” will go to Democracy Forward, too.

Please consider joining – there are five spots left. For $5 / month, each member gets access to private one card Tarot readings by email on request. Just ask. Send a DM or email with your name, question and email (it’s never shared, I just need to know where to send your reading) and your meditation style reading will arrive in your inbox.

I’m not in the Tarot business anymore, so please allow a few days for the readings to get to you. Because we live in a nation with increasingly bold white Christian nationalists, I feel compelled to say that we are doing here is creating customized Tarot themed ephemeral folk art that does not tell fortunes or predict the future. But that impulse is another big reason why I chose the ACLU and Demoracy Forward for my first two donations.

Anything is better than nothing – so DO something, any little thing you can to protect democracy and our civil liberty to create art, to follow the spiritual path that is right for us and to not follow a religion that is wrong.

Thank you for allowing me to read Tarot for you, and thank you for helping me make some tiny contribution to other important things, too.