One of which is to (hopefully) go see Dune 2 this weekend.
Other than that, you would think I would have learned my lesson about the plan thing by now.
I HAD planned to do the first big, juicy behind the scenes post, but it just isn’t happening.
So for realz this time – no schedules, no plans. Intuition doesn’t flow that way. Once again for about the bazillionth time in this lifetime – Taoism proves its wisdom to me.
Here is our behind-the-scenes for today: If you are going to read the energy, you have to flow with the energy. You have to be in harmony with the nature of it – and in harmony with your own nature.
I’ve never surfed, but I imagine that Tarot is energy surfing – to read the waves, you have to ride the waves, flow with the waves, making millions of tiny adjustments to hold your balance along the way.
Weakness is a strange thing to keep, but only the things you keep can be transformed.
Welcome to TaoCraftTarot blog and podcast. I’m glad you are here
I’m not an expert on Taoism. The philosophy has been a big part of my world view and how I live life for well over 30 years. It has held true for me and I come back to it time and time and time again. I’ve been reading The Tao Te Ching, I Ching, Alan Watts, Chinliang Al Huang, Deng Ming Dao and more since the 1980s. Taoism predates Tarot for me, which is saying something.
Like Tarot and magick, exoteric Taoist philosophy (I can’t speak for the religious aspects or for esoteric Taoist practices) is broadly inclusive. If you think of the Tao as the multiverse sort of meta-everything then anything written within our universe about it is part of the greater whole and a valid point of view. Therefore, as someone once wrote, everything written about the Tao is canon. Be that as it may – if you are interested in Taoism, go grab a book and have at it. Good stuff, that.
If you want to learn more about the esoteric side of Taoism I highly recommend Benebel Wen’s excellent book The Tao of Craft. It was published just as I was beginning to lay the groundwork for rebranding Modern Oracle Tarot into TaoCraft Tarot. I took it as an omen that I was on the right path even though that path is more on the philosophical, exoteric side of things.
I mention it Taoism because today’s Strength card brings to mind probably one of the most Taoist ideas to come out of a card reading in a while. This deck hasn’t touched the Taoist vibe very much. Speaking of decks, today I’m working from the Alleyman’s Tarot by Seven Dane Asmund. The artwork on this particular card is by Madam Clara for the Five Cent Tarot.
Taoism is about being in harmony with nature. Sure, that means the rocks and flowers and trees and bees kind of nature, but it also means your nature. Taoism is about living in harmony with your authentic self.
Being in harmony with your authentic self doesn’t mean you can’t do better next time. Authentic self does not mean static self. People change. Ideally people grow and mature and hopefully become wiser and kinder as time goes on.
Part of that nature, for some of us, is to be hard wired people pleasers. The idea of strength and weakness and being a better person is often tied to idealism more than realism. The path to being a better person is often fraught with “should” and “ought” and external definitions of good and external measures of character. We tend to want to eradicate or drastically change anything that is considered a weakness or a character flaw.
The major arcana Strength card is all about strength of character, not at all about the physical variety. Internal progress is measured internally, not measured to outside signposts.
It is a strange thing to say consider keeping your weaknesses. Perhaps instead of getting rid of our weaknesses, we should keep them, but learn a new relationship with them. Find and use the good aspects.
Repurposing a weakness into something beneficial still gets rid of the so-called weakness. It is a strange sort of keeper, to hold on to what some people might label as weakness. Transforming our downfalls into superpowers is a Strength all of its own.
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“Love: The heart wants what it wants. It doesn’t seek other people’s opinions; sometimes not even your own.”
Steve Miraboli, author
The lovelorn love the Lovers card.
Every card has its dark side, and for this one I’m seeing fixation. When you get stuck on finding one particular thing, like your “soulmate,” it also fixates on the lack of that thing. Lacking creates more wanting creates more fixating creates more lacking. A vicious cycle like that is very hard to stop because cycles and circles by definition don’t really stop. Think physics and the conservation of energy. Cycles aren’t so much stopped as they are transformed.
Having some idea of why you want something, especially when you want it with desperation, can help achieve it. The word achieve in itself implies and endpoint, a goal, a reason for being. Wanting something badly enough motivates us to do the work we must do to get the wanted thing.
Not all wants need to be tied to achievement. Not all wants are what we think they are.
We say we want a “soulmate” but perhaps what is really wanted – or needed – is feeling heard, feeling understood, having companionship. Relationships are complex things that deserve a little thought and attention, even before they begin.
Sometimes the trick to finding your hearts desire is to desire a better thing. If the lovers speaks to you today, it is asking you to think about what you want and why you want it. Is it the right thing to chase?
I don’t share my private life here a lot, but here is an example. I have a very convenient opportunity to study martial arts again. It was at one time very important. I competed. I taught. I won a few blue ribbons along the way. Why? I don’t really know, other than I loved doing it, and wanted to be the best at it that I could possibly be, like everything else. Then because of an assortment of life and health stuff I had to set it aside. Did I miss it? Not as much as I thought.
You learn a lot about life in 20 years.
Do I want to pick it up again? Yes, I want that. Why? I enjoy it. If I get some health benefit that’s just frosting on the cake. I could put in the work and teach again – but I don’t want to. I could get up early and do all the shit they tell you to do to be an accomplished Tajiquan player….but I don’t want to. I could brush up on Chinese, and find work-arounds for the physical limitations. But I don’t want to. I value different things now. And that is perfectly OK. You don’t have to be driven and perfect about every thing. Not everything in life is goals and attainment. I could fixate on wanting to do high level tai chi again … I could use that as motivation to drive and work toward acheiving that….or I could want the peace and serenity and mindfulness that Taijiquan represented all along.
It turns out I really just want to enjoy a little tai chi every now and then. Bam. Done. Mission accomplished. Goal achieved. It pays to want what you already have.
Sage Sips / TaoCraft Tarot 
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