Tag: tarot reader

Because the K looks cooler

Ok, ok so the background is a little muddled. I want to try and soften the look of it witn a filter for posts, but not sure how to do that for other uploads. This is a low tech solution an app that uploads from a reusable, white-board-like page. I love the eco friendly and affordability aspects along with the ink color and detail. Could solve the downsides, but can’t afford a tablet upgrade right now unless all of you good people order a bunch of readings. But I’m good with low tech with a personal touch but slightly gnarly background if you are. What say you? Does digital InkMagick look like an enjoyable format?

Other new reading formats may be on the

Email taocrafttarot@gmail.com or text @taocrafttarot  on telegram to let me know what you think.

The Niggles: What’s in a Name?

A lot.

Sometimes, a whole lot.

“Re-branding” seems to be a thing lately. “Ghoulish Delights Bath Shop” is becoming “Balefire Apothocary” (fingers crossed she’ll still carry my very most favorite hand cream) and ” Hearts Peace Healing” is becoming “Hygge Lightwork”.  One personal trainer is becoming a Tarot reader, while a musician is becoming a personal trainer and a martial artist is shifting to being a musician and life coach. Modern Oracle Tarot is now TaoCraft Tarot.

My sense is this is growth, evolution, and expansion is a very good thing for all of us. The new name isn’t just a marketing ploy. There is no ill will or negative feeling about our old names or identities at all. Shedding our old “brand” is like a snake shedding its skin: It’s necessary for growth. We are re-naming, re-imagining, and re-building in order to embrace more things and to become more fully ourselves. I can’t speak for the other folks, of course, but after brief chats on social media, I get the feeling we are all very much on on the same page.

Expansion and deeper authenticity is certainly my aim in abandoning Modern Oracle and building TaoCraft. As I write this, Modern Oracle feels like something that happened ages ago to someone else. Time passes. I’m not the same person who started Modern Oracle. TaoCraft is me, now.

That doesn’t mean I have to abandon EVERY single little thing. “The Niggles” are still here. Those posts are about ideas that camp out in my head, and niggle there until I write about them. Yeah, I know. That sounds more like a brain parasite than creative inspiration. Some ideas are like that.

Since the very beginning of this re-branding process, I’ve felt pushed to talk about TaoCraft as a name. I have no earthly idea why, or even what to say, so I’ll follow that spirit, inspiration, call of the muses, or brain idea-parasite such as the case may be.

Let’s start with the obvious. “TaoCraft” is a made up word, and I’ve stuck a capital in the middle. Why? I like it. As two words, it is a description. As one word it is a NAME. I threw the capital in because 1. it works as a humpback web address and 2. “Craft” is an integral part of the concept with a dollop of double meaning.

Tao, as many of you know, is from Chinese philosophy; Taoist, Taoism, Tao Te Ching. Just to be pedantic, Tao and Dao are the same thing. Tao is Pinyan westernization of the Mandarin word, while Dao is from the Wade-Giles system. The few minutes I studied Mandarin back in the 90s, I was taught using Pinyan, so there you are. Tao it is. Tao is usually translated as “way” as in a “way of life” or a “way of doing things.”

What does Taoism have to do with Tarot? A surprising lot, actually.  “Magical Tarot, Mystical Tao” by Diane Morgan explains it best. It was an enormous influence in the early days of my Tarot career because it connected two great loves. Time and time and time again, Tao and Tarot were philosophies, a way of looking at the world, that I could rely on. I could lean on them in turbulent times without them crumbling to dust and nothing as religion and other philosophies always, always did. When your life puts your beliefs to the test, they shouldn’t fall apart. Taoism and Tarot never did. No matter what I would learn or explore, I always circled back to them and found them reliable, trustworthy. Tao and Tarot belong here in this new mental and spiritual living place. They are very much authentic me. This re-branding is, as is highly valued within Taoism, an exercise in deep authenticity.

Craft is also a bridge. As Tao and Tarot bridge east and west, craft bridges old and new. When I see the word, “arts and crafts” spring to mind. My grandmother taught me to embroidery when I was 6. Embroidery, cross stitch, knitting, beading have been a part of me since then. I like to create and make. That embraces the meditation mala and assorted stuff I make and put in the TaoCraft Tarot shop on Etsy. Craft connects to a fond memory of a cherished Grandmother – a wise woman whom I swear was magic. Which brings me to the new craft. THAT craft. THE craft. Not the movie, although it is one of my favorites. TaoCraft expands my Tarot cyber-world to include, mala, meditation, Reiki, and my own brand of magical craft. It took half a century to even flirt with the notion of associating with magic or witchcraft, but dammit, I’m claiming it now. And I’m defining it on my own terms. This is my own non-diestic, non-ritualistic, natural, energy reading WAY of engaging with a solitary sort of witchCRAFT. I’ve finally found words for what I’ve been doing all along in Laura Zakroff’s excellent book “Sigil Witchery”. A “modern traditional witch” is one who “does what needs doing when it needs done using whatever is at hand.” That. So that.

There you have it. That is what is in THIS name. Welcome to TaoCraft Tarot.

Elfcon 4.5

Have been working on a new item for the shop. Anyone have any interest in pink “pussyhats” for women’s march 2019 (I’ve heard rumors it’s on, but no details yet. If any of you are interested, I’ll put a made to order item in the shop…if I can find any pink yarn that is. If you are interested, send an email, and I’ll get back to you with details.

Tarot Without a Net: The Empress

This post was originally published on the transitional Modern Oracle -> TaoCraft Tarot site  under the title “The Nature of Nurture”  The series is just beginning and is an exercise in getting to know a new deck without reading the “little white book” first. We will pick up with the next new card next week, an keep going from there.
I’m a fan of Thom Pham’s art, especially this deck. Each card is inspired by a populare movie or TV character. Such a good match! I use pop culture references all the time. It is an easy, comefortable familiar way to communicate the ideas that come through in a reading. Sometimes impressions come through already in pop culture form. I’ll “get” a song, book or movie from intuition or spirit….however you want to call it.

This is one of the cards where The Heart of Stars is a tiny bit of a challenge. I’ve never seen Mama Mia. I’ve seen Meryl Streep in other movies, and she is an excellent actress, but Mama Mia isn’t to my taste. Abba made me run in the opposite direction even way back in the day when they were popular the first time. Not a fan

I hadn’t really contemplated what to do if the cards turned out to have a pop culture reference that escapes me. Not that I’m any paragon of cool, but I watch waaayyyyy too much TV and have seen an ad or a preview of a lot of things, even the dreaded chick flick. As a general principle, pop culture references have yet to let me down.

As I understand it, this movie was about a single mother / daughter relationship, a failed marriage, water, sailboats and urgh….ABBA. So you have in general a relationship, and the classic archetype of ‘mother’. I’m not hardwired for chick flicks so my favorite reference for this card is the way comedienne Judy Tunuta sometimes called herself the “Earth Mother Giver Goddess” Same thing I suppose, just more palatable. With those two references I get a dual track of meanings for this Empress card.

The strongest most dominant one is nurturing. The Empress is almost always depicted as pregnant. The life and fertility connotations are unmistakable. The Empress card affirms life…and it affirms nature. Our nature. Just as a mother loves her child no matter what, the nature of nurture is to accept and love as-is, no changes necessary, and to give what is needed, no matter what old expectations might have been. The Empress gives what is needed in accordance with the nature of the thing/person she is nurturing. Do you like girly movies and ABBA music…here you go. If you like comedy better…here you go. Stay up too late on a school night…..nope, but I know you are a night owl so we’ll cut you some slack on the weekends. Nature gives us what we need. We can grow by working with and abiding by our own deep nature.

The nature that is outside is a pretty good source of nurturing. No matter what you think of 1970s soft pop euro whatever music…hugging a tree or two, taking a walk outside, going out on the sidewalk and taking a breath…all of that is good too.

Nurture is giving what your own true nature needs to grow or heal or thrive.

Affirmation: My true nature is fine as it is, but if I choose, Nature will help me walk a better path.

Tarot Without a Net: High Priestess

Originally published as “Catwoman Had a Baby” on Modern Oracle Tarot

I have to admit, I had to cheat a little for this one. I wasn’t exactly sure what reference the artist had in mind for the card. At first I thought it might be Sansa Stark, but that’s just me. Not that Game of Thrones isn’t a big thing at our house of anything. I admit it! I took a sneak peek at the e-book just to see who the character is.

It is Anne Hathaway as Fantine in Les Miserables. Which explains why I didn’t recognize it. I really liked the live version of Les Miserable that we saw quite a while ago, and never bothered to watch the movie. Although now, every time anyone mentions Les Miserable my first and only thought is the movie review from facebook or somewhere, where a guy describes the plot of in terms of the actors other roles. Something along the line of “Catwoman had a baby at Borat’s house and Wolverine sang his ass off”. Not instantly something I’d associate with the High Priestess, but that in itself is the nature of the High Priestess…the hidden sacred. Or in this case, the hidden sacred in the everyday, even when you put in numerous terms.

So what DOES the character Fantine tell us about the High Priestess and what does the High Priestess symbolize in general? Carl Jung’s anima (the feminine side of the collective unconscious) and the phrase “everywoman” comes to mind. The High Priestess is, after all, associated with the HIDDEN sacred truths….cosmic mysteries would BE mysteries if they were obvious. This feels a little more like the sacredness of everyone, everything, and everywhere. On the surface, within the culture of the time, Fantine was nothing lofty or cosmic. She was looked down upon by everyone but still touched the devine through love, motherhood, self-sacrifice and more.. She was the ‘everywoman’ sort of character, but she is still part of the cosmos. The cosmos is part of each of us because we are in and of the cosmos. That is the Priestess’ sacred secret.

Catwoman had a baby. That is miracle and mudane together.

Keywords: sacred, mystery, feminine, seeing what is hidden, seeing the sacred beneath the surface of the mundane

Advice: Look deeper. Look for the sacred. Look for the hidden and mysterious

Caution: Don’t treat your life like a pauper. You are sacred and your life deserves that respect no matter the circumstances

Validation: You have overcome the obvious and heard the truth behind the noise.

Affirmation: I see the sacred in all things, and through love can see the truth behind my circumstances.

DECK: HEART OF STARS TAROT BY THOM PHAM, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. USED WITH PERMISSION. WWW.KINGOFWANDSTAROT.COM

Tarot Without a Net: The Fool

Getting to know a new deck BEFORE you read the little white book is a real intuition building exercise. Trust what comes to you from your imagination and intuition. The “Heart of Stars” deck makes it easy. Combine what you know of the Tarot card, what you know of the TV or movie character, then add the pure intuitive mental images, sounds words and feelings that come directly to mind.*

THE FOOL

Key ideas: Dispelling anxiety with humor. Speaking truth through humor. Profound self confidence expressed as playfulness. “If you aren’t having fun, you aren’t doing it right”

  1. Advice: Lighten up. Have fun. Don’t take yourself so seriously.
  2. Caution: Don’t let fear paralyze you or keep you from beginning something important.
  3. Validation: You’ve trusted your path before, and can do it again. You can find humor in stressful situations and use it to put other people at ease. You can stay calm in an emergency.
  4. Affirmation: I enjoy life and help others to do the same. Beginning a new adventure is easy for me.

*Want to learn more about connecting with your intuition and how to do daily meditation readings for yourself….even if you don’t have a Tarot deck at all? Order a copy of my how-to e-book “PeaceTarot” from TaoCraftTarot.shop

PeaceTarotCoverMini2
Learn DIY Tarot Meditations
“HEART OF STARS” 3RD EDITION LIMITED RELEASE COPYRIGHT THOM PHAM ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. USED WITH PERMISSION WWW.KINGOFWANDSTAROT.COM

3 Card (Pathway) Tarot Reading

Q: You drew a card for me on Halloween which was (and still is!) really meaningful, so lovely to connect with you again. I saw your Instagram post and would love to have you pull a few cards for me if the places haven’t been filled, but no worries if not! Happy to have a reading via the blog 🙂 

Sara23Nov18

For ******

November 23, 2018

First of all, thank you so much for your kind words!

I’m always so happy to hear when a reading is helpful….after all, that’s why we do these things! But the same is true as the last reading: If you have any questions, complaints or need any clarification with the reading please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Since you didn’t specify a topic, I’ll just move ahead with an open-to-anything point of view.

Your Cards Today Are:

  • Background & Context: King of Coins (Pentacles)
  • Current Situation: Three of Swords
  • Moving Forward: King of Swords

General Pattern

All cards are minor arcana, which in a layout this small is no real statistical surprise. Intuitively it feels like a bit of reassurance, that nothing really major is stirring the energies for you right now. It is all pretty business as usual more than it’s not. It has a feeling that business as usual for you entails being really good at what you do. Business as usual is kicking butt and taking names from the feel of it. In that vein, it feels like a very plain-talking, no nonsense kind of reading. It also feels like most of the reading energy is pointing toward work and career thoughts, which would go right along with having a coins card right off the bat like that. The repetitions are asking for attention. You have two swords, which connote action, the element of air, intellect and logic, authority, or your connection with society and culture at large. Knit all of that together and my attention is pulled to using cold, calculating intellect when it comes to work, especially when dealing with the authority structure, or any vying for promotions or power within the structure of the workplace. “Power Play” comes to mind along with an old episode of M*A*S*H where the Colonel accuses someone (Frank? Hotlips? Klinger?) of “going over my head so many times I’m getting athletes scalp” I guess the shorthand for that would be watch out for power playing brown nosers at work. The other repetition is the two kings. Kings connote leadership. It feels like the situation may be asking you for leadership, confidence, self-starting, standing up for yourself….even if you are already good at that, it feels like the skills you have will be put through their paces, and you may even be pushed a tiny bit outside your comfort zone in that respect. I ‘hear’ (meaning the intuition comes as words instead of feelings or images) to “Hang on and be brave” There was a great meme about spirit guides (the lady) you (the boy) and a life lesson. Here is the photo part if you want to take a peek: https://goo.gl/images/gdXriU Your guides feel like they are reminding you they won’t lead you anywhere you are not ready to go, but since you are ready…buckle up baby!

Background & Context: King of Coins

This part is the reminder of competence you have, and that you are more than ready to meet leadership challenges at work, or any other part of life, really. The King of Coins as a card connotes wealth and success, so a note of reassurance there again. I hear “build on past skills and successes” I’m not clear whether that means use your skills and knowledge that you have in hand to fullest advantage, to build new skill and expand your knowledge and experience…or both. It doesn’t feel like a job change as much as an expansion of the current situation.

Current Situation: Three of Swords

Classically, this tends to be a bit darker, more dire card across all of the decks and references that I have. Often it will set me off on maternal lecture mode about be safe, keys out, park under lights, and all that usual lecture….but not so much for you today. This feels more petty than malicious. It isn’t the devil or dark side card for good reason. This feels petty, and small, and contained to one aspect of life, like office politics. “Watch out for petty backstabbers” comes to mind. Very office politics, but also heavy on the petty….like an annoying mosquito that can drive you mad if you let it, or just brush it away. The more calm, detached, intellectual and swords / mental-focus the better.

Moving Forward: King of Swords

You know how I read cards…the cards have suit, element, layout position, and general card meaning. But each card, based on all that other stuff, can have a different spin or ‘flavor’ of message; advice (something to consider doing) caution (something to consider avoiding) or validation (acknowledgement, encouragement, cosmic thank you) There has been a lot of validation energy so far. This has a little more of an advice spin. The card feels less like it pertains to you and more like it represents an ally…someone in the hierarchy at work who you can cultivate an working relationship with, who can be a mentor of sorts. “Have your back” comes to mind. Like someone who knows your skills, sees your potential. It feels like it might be literally a male figure of some sort. Does any of this ring a bell for you? I’m not sure how else to understand the card, because it has a not-you but someone who can help you sort of symbolism around it. Beyond that it is dark – meaning no signal, not evil or bad kind of dark. It feels like that is the card or energy telling me that is a singular message from this card….seek out a mentor or ally at work.

Summary

This part is like a psychic “cold reading” where I free form give you any impressions that come to mind. In readings that have a topic or question, this part might connect to that or the cards….or it might not. In an open reading like this one, it just stays in the open frame of mind.

Often it starts with colors, or crystals or both. In this case I see citrine. It associates with the solar plexus chakra, and therefor confidence. Wear or carry it for confidence at work. It also resonates with the King cards, and the coins suit because the golden color has to do with wealth, career, luck and to some extent leadership.

I taste butterscotch, with lemon scent in the background. That might be a continuation of the golden color associations. Butterscotch may symbolize comfort, while lemon in aromatherapy is very cleansing and energizing. Lemon may be important relevant to work, as diffusing some lemon fragrance, lighting a lemon scented candle, or using anything lemon after work might do two things…first it would be a clear transition signal. It could remind you work is done, clear any annoyances or negativity from your day, and let you know to shift into family/home/private life mode. It will also lift your energy…stress or pettiness at work can put an extra drain on your energies. Lemon could help neutralize that and lift your energy after a long day. Don’t use citrus oils on your skin if you will be in sunlight within the next 12 hours…it can cause sun sensitivity. Also don’t put it on your skin if you have autoimmune diseases as it enhances immunity (a good thing in cold/flu season for most people)

And there the energies step back. I hope this helps!

Best Wishes,

Ronda

Gratitude Giveaway

Happy Thanksgiving

It’s Thanksgiving in the USA, but anyone can claim one of these three giveaway readings. Merry Thursday to all!

Free Three Card Pathway Tarot reading to the first three people to email all of the following to TaoCraftTarot@gmail.com

  1. your name
  2. your question, topic or consent to an open whatever comes type reading
  3. your consent to get your reading through the website/blog. It will be written in a way to totally protect your privacy…no names or identifying details. Your email is never shared.
Entertainment only. No monetary value. Contacting me indicates you agree to the policies listed here. Only 3 available  – while supplies last.

A Door Opens….

Welcome to TaoCraft Tarot

Stop me if I’m over explaining here. I don’t know if it is anxiety from this whole re-branding thing, or just good old fashioned trying to convince myself….but I feel like I owe all of you an explanation. I hope there is an “all of you” to explain TO. It feels a little hollow and echo-y in there at the moment. Let me give you a little tour anyway.

Things here are rustic and real. I’m done trying to make Tarot palatable to the mainstream. Neither the very religious or the very atheist will like this I suspect. But like the Knight of Pentacles Internet meme…my field of fucks has grown barren. If this darker aesthetic, a little snark and humor, and talk of magick and Taoism is offensive to someone, then fine. We are not a good match to work together anyway. Modern Oracle had a tendency to pander to respectability and evangelizing for Tarot. TaoCraft is about deep authenticity, simplicity, and humanity.

Imagine it like this.

Imagine a one room stone cottage at the edge of an evergreen forest. The large storefront window and glass door let in abundant diffuse natural light. To the right as you walk in you see a fireplace with a bright, fragrant, crackling fire. There is a table with two comfy chairs for doing Tarot readings. In the middle, bookshelves line the walls and are filled with the books I will write. There is a display with all sorts of mala meditation beads almost vibrating with the Reiki and good intentions placed in them for their new owners. In the far left corner, a fountain burbles next to a table for Reiki sessions. The table is surrounded with shelves of crystals of every color and kind. Under the floorboards we have the same strong foundation that has been there since the beginning. This foundation is made of strict but transparent business policies that protect us from any suspicious, litigious, potentially harmful people. The sprinkles of salt in the corners and the warding spells in the walls are  the zero spam policy and closed comments that protect us all from the dreaded internet trolls. Anyone can have a say – in an email, or in their own blog, just not the comment thread. This is a safe and sacred space, a place where spirit can speak and kindness can thrive.

The door is open. I hope you visit often.