Watch Out for those Petards

Members only learn-to-read Tarot post featuring the Five of Swords, hoisting and petards now available on the ko-fi blog.

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Skill to be Used

Use it or lose it with the obscure three of books card

Atrophy is a thing.

Hello and welcome to TaoCraft Tarot blog and podcast. I’m glad you are here.

The beautiful part of the Alleyman’s Tarot is the exposure it gives to unique or less well known Tarot cards. The downside to the Alleyman’s Tarot is the unique and lesser known cards. 99% of the time the cards read easily, no reference book required. Sometimes a card just doesn’t resonate on that intuitive level. That dissonance can happen even with the most well known and much used Tarot deck that you own. Maybe that is just a professional’s problem. You do a high enough volume of these things, fizzles and disconnects will happen.

Fortunately it is an easy fix. The Alleyman’s Tarot came with the Alleyman’s guidebook which was styled to look like a handwritten journal and is just as brilliant as the deck itself. So when I pull a card that I’m not familiar with and it doesn’t read intuitively, going to the guidebook usually shakes some message or another loose.

If the deck is standard Rider-Waite-Smith type then it gets even more fun. Then you have the option of turning to that deck’s guidebook, any guidebook from any deck that follows that format plus all the stand alone references that aren’t connected to any particular deck. With all of that material as inspiration, something somewhere is bound to ring a bell and resonate with the day’s energy.

Today neither of those things that generally apply helped much.

The Three of Books is from the Jost Amman deck, a 16th century game playing deck. While the artwork on the cards by German artist Jost Amman was originally presented in a booklet with inspirational sayings, the book is rare or lost from what I’ve seen in a brief internet search. So that leaves us with Dane Asmund’s excellent guide book.

Which, today, doesn’t quite capture the feel. He talks about teaching and taming baser instinct. I get mental images of honing a knife on an old fashioned whetstone. After seeing his read and going “nah” that and the mental image led me to the idea of use to avoid atrophy.

Here is another path to the same basic concept.

In Breaking Dawn, Stephanie Meyers writes of elder vampires from Hungary or somewhere in Middle Europe seeming to have physically deteriorated from lack of movement…or something like that. It’s been a while since I read the book, and I don’t think this detail was in the movie. Atrophy is a thing. Muscles that aren’t used, shrink. Couch potatoes and astronauts alike have proven that fact.

In other other words – use it or lose it.

That resonates with today’s energy a little better than taming instincts.

In the 1980s and ’90s there was an American study funded by the National Institute on ageing of over 900 nuns that looked at lifestyle, aging and the onset of dementia. The study showed that nuns who had higher education levels, higher verbal skills at a younger age, and who remained physically and mentally active had less and later onset of dementia.

The moral of the story and advice of today’s card is, essentially, read a book.

Meyer’s vampires became more decrepit the less they moved in spite of their immortality. The nuns aged well because they read more. The human animal is healthier when they are both physically and mentally active and agile.

So read a book. Or three. And I’ll see you at the next sip.

If you enjoyed this free Tarot Reading or any of TaoCraft Tarot’s content, please visit the TaoCraft Tarot Ko-fi page. Reading purchases, shop purchases and virtual coffees all support the creation of this blog and podcast

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Path through October

Members-only three card pathway reading is up on the ko-fi blog.

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Wisdom Methods

October is TaoCraft Tarot’s fourth anniversary. Look for a special giveaway to celebrate. I know, I know. I swore no more crazypants sales, promotions or giveaways – but this is different. This is a celebration of what is, and has already happened, not a by-product of trying to hustle up new business. BIG difference in energy.

I want this to be all celebration-vibe and zero desperate hustle vibe. I’m grateful for the 15 years I was able to work under the Modern Oracle Tarot website name and the Tarotbytes blog (the archives still exist they are over on my personal blog “Sage & Stuff“) but even more grateful for TaoCraft Tarot where I can finally be my Taoist, witchy, atheist slightly snarky self.

NEW in the TaoCraft Tarot shop: live online video call Tarot Readings

I have a few more finishing touches to finish for this years Fall overhaul. I plan to write an omnibus introduction to things-as-they-are but you know how that goes. You know how that goes. Squirrels.

Stay tuned! See you at the next sip!

Jigsaw

Our strengths and weaknesses connect us like jigsaw puzzle pieces and together we are stronger

It fits.

Hello and welcome to TaoCraft Tarot blog and podcast. I’m glad you are here.

Finally things are back to a little bit of a routine. Yesterday, instead of a single card reading, I wrote about the Hermit card and inner peace as I would have for a private email reading for a client.

On one hand, it is a good thing because it gives all of you a look behind the scenes at a private reading and what they are like. You’ll know exactly what to expect

On the other hand, it can be confusing. During a reading with a return client, some parts take on a sort of short hand of references to previous information. That short hand gets even shorter when you are fabricating an example reading based on impressions you get for yourself.

In fact that is what the MadamAdam quote was really about. When he said that he wouldn’t want to take dance lessons from someone who couldn’t dance, he was talking about why on earth would you get a reading from someone who couldn’t / doesn’t read for themselves. That is part of holding up our end of the bargain. As Tarot readers, we hold up our end of the bargain with our clients by reading for ourselves, reading books, watching and learning from other practitioners…we keep ourselves mentally and emotionally healthy to be strong readers and advisors for our clients.

The same, as we saw in the example reading, is true for everyone. By stepping back, by isolating and taking time for ourselves as the Hermit suggests we make ourselves strong to be present and helpful and hold up our end of the bargain with those we love.

Today’s card, Strength, is also from the major arcana just like yesterday’s Hermit card and earns all the same attention for all of the same reasons. (I’ll put a link to that post & episode in the show description for the podcast people. Blog folks can click the link above to get to the same place.)

The Strength card is picking up the thread and continuing the Hermit’s message a bit.

The Hermit gave advice about how to cultivate strength. Strength, the card, is advising what to do with it once its cultivated. Strength in this case is channeled into connection with others.

We each have our strengths and our weaknesses. Think of it as yin and yang. Yin is inward, receiving, like the carved-out parts of a jigsaw puzzle piece. Yang is outward, like the pointy bits of a jigsaw puzzle piece. When we cultivate our strength and use them to help others, AND we allow others to help us and fill in where we need with their particular strengths, that is where we connect. That is where we become stronger still, collectively and individually.

Thank you for reading and listening! Any likes, follows, subs, shares, questions or comments that you can spare are always greatly appreciated. Just like season 3 of the podcast, nothing I do is advertising monetized so I can put your Tarot message first, not a commercial message. If you enjoy these Tarot readings and behind the Tarot scenes insights, please support the blog and podcast on ko-fi.com/TaoCraftTarot

Thanks again, and I’ll see you at the next sip!

Kune ni estas fortaj is Esperanto for “Together we are strong”

Inner Peace Because That’s Where It Happens: A one card Tarot reading

Example of a private client email Short Sip Tarot readings. Private readings have a different focus from the broad topics we usually see on the blog

It’s called “inner” peace because that’s where it has to happen no matter what the outside is like.

Hello and welcome back to TaoCraft Tarot blog for what I’m calling season 4 of the audio blog a.k.a. the podcast. I’m glad you are here whatever you want to call it. The text to speech capability that wordpress, anchor fm and spotify offer is working out really well for me so I’m going to keep the blog and podcast as they are unless I hear differently from all of you. I’m a good writer, but not such a good media talent or voice actor. I’m happy to let technology compensate. In the end, you will get a better tasting sip of Tarot.

Happy belated equinox everyone! This is as good of a time as any to start a new season of the podcast. I’ve heard that it’s good practice to re-introduce yourself every now and then. October is the fourth anniversary of rebranding from Modern Oracle Tarot to TaoCraft Tarot. Halloween is often considered the witches’ new year so it all kind of fits. Look for some review and announcement content on the print blog over the next few weeks

Generally speaking, the blog and podcast will post late morning or early afternoon Monday through Friday, but it may skip some days unexpectedly. Social media is completely random. The members-only blog will still get a reliable “Pathway Through the Month” reading near the 1st of each month, a newsletter close to the 15th of each month and the “Tarot Turnover” intuition building exercise every weekend. Stay tuned to the free print blog to learn about other members-only benefits.

The most important message I want to get out to you today is that I am always, always grateful to you for reading, listening, liking, subscribing & sharing but most of all for your questions and comments. Thank you to each and every single one of you.

It happens sometimes.

Sometimes I will pull a card with every intention of doing a general audience blog reading but instead the Tarot message will land right in my own wheelhouse like the Hermit card did today.

The card resonated so well when I drew it that it gave me an idea. Instead of the usual “short sip” reading, I’m going to write this as if it was a one card reading for a client. That way all of you can see (or hear) how my email readings work. The information and detail you get in a private one card is different from the broad topics we usually talk about in a short sip post.

Because I’m a writer, email readings like this are my specialty. Think of an email reading as a written transcript of exactly what I would say to you if we were meeting face to face. Written intuition being exactly equal to spoken intuition is the introverted clairvoyant’s superpower. It’s a win-win for everyone. I get an enjoyable work flow while you get the convenience of 24/7 no-appointment ordering plus a photo of your cards plus a record of the session that you can read (and re-read) whenever you like, as many times as you like. Email readings are supremely private, utterly convenient, not to mention affordable. Here is a comparison for you. In my in-person one hour sessions I use a seven card Tarot layout. I give you that exact same reading by email for 65 cents a minute. Compare that 65 cents per minute to the current national average of 1 to 5 dollars per minute for a psychic reading. That’s already a heck of a bargain when you factor in my 30 years of Tarot reading experience. So no, I don’t do readings for free outside blog and podcast, and no, I’m not doing any more sales or giveaways other than those that are part of the ko-fi memberships. This isn’t a scam but I have legit expenses like web hosting, book keeping, food and so on.

But I digress. Back to the Hermit card.

Let’s roleplay this a little.

I’ll write today’s post as if it were a one card email reading for a private client, using the impressions that came through when I drew the Hermit card earlier. If you like, pretend this is a private reading, just for you. Kick the tires and take it out for a test-drive to see how you like the email format. Then if you ever order a private email reading with me, you can be confident it will meet or exceed your expectations because you’ll already know what to expect.

Question: Hi. My name is Tired Person who has had a super chaotic couple of weeks. I would like the left cut of the deck when you shuffle please. I don’t have a question or topic. I’m open to whatever message or guidance the card can give. Thank you.

A: Hello Sleepy. I hope the reading gives you a little boost. Tarot is all about that kind of encouragement and inspiration, not predictions, but you already know that. I know your circumstances from our conversation earlier, but I won’t publish any of those details. Protecting your privacy is a major priority. Thank you for giving permission to share your card reading. I never share a reading for a specific person without their permission, and even then I redact it more than the CIA to keep any identifying information out of it.

Had a hunch that the Alleyman’s Tarot was the right one to use today. Your card is the Hermit from the major arcana. This particular Hermit card was drawn by Aka Skyweb for the Ariadne’s Thread Tarot deck. (Side note to the blog and podcast: I use the Alleyman’s Tarot deck with permission from Publishing Goblin LLC. )

Major Arcana vs minor arcana isn’t quite as telling with one card as it is in a larger layout. Intuitively it doesn’t feel like the card is pointing to a major life lesson, big decision, or major turning point in life as major arcana cards sometimes can. Minor arcana cards outnumber the majors almost two to one. I don’t know the exact math, but chances are that any given single card draw will result in a minor arcana card. Given that, major arcana cards always earn a little extra consideration in any size of reading.

If the arcana reads into this at all, it is to say that this is a high energy time time for you, just as you described. For you it felt chaotic, but that level of energy can also be stressful or invigorating. Everyone feels it differently. Whatever this higher intensity energy makes you feel, usually you feel a lot of it. However you describe it, the card is acknowledging and validating the high wattage energy you’ve felt recently. In any reading, any card in any layout position can have different spin or different flavors of message. It can be an advice message giving you something to consider doing. It can be a caution message giving you something to consider avoiding. It can be recognition or validation, like a cosmic “I hear you.” Or, as in this case, it can be a reassurance message. The feeling around this card very much is letting you know that you are on the right path and doing the right thing for this moment in time.

The Hermit symbolizes seeking isolation and finding inner peace and wisdom. It is about insight that becomes a light in the dark. Outer quiet clearly isn’t an option for you right now, so let’s look at the inner part of it.

In your case, it is letting you know that the self care you have already been doing is the right thing. It is perfectly ok to dial back a little on things that you have been focused on to shift your attention elsewhere. It’s better to do one thing at a time as best as you can than to half-ass a bunch of different things. Ralph Waldo Emerson said that “The greatest gift is a portion of thyself.” Your time and attention is a worthy gift. If you wanted to share a bottle of expensive wine with friends, you wouldn’t break the bottle into pieces to share it all at once. You would pour a little into each glass in turn one at a time. I don’t know the full details of the situation, but it feels like you are being told one thing at a time, not everything all at once. “One thing at a time in the right order, first things first” is good advice for adults too, not just small children.

I ‘hear’ “Red thread of continuity.” Of course, when I say ‘hear’ it means that the intuition comes as mental words, sounds or music instead of as mental images (that’s the difference between clairaudient and clairvoyant) which refers to the read thread on this particular version of the Hermit. I think what that all means is that whatever that thing you set aside or de-prioritized for a time CAN and SHOULD be picked up again once the current chaos has passed. You did the right thing putting one thing on the backburner for a time in order to give the best of yourself to something more important.

This card strongly reminds me of a live feed I was watching of a fellow Tarot reader (MadamAdam) Some of what he said very much applies with the energy here.

You’ve talked and written about self care. It’s important that you have led by example during this time. It’s important that you stepped back from work to take care of yourself and your family. People need to know your advice is real, and that you follow it for yourself and that it WORKS. Like “Madam Adam” said that it is important to “keep up your end of the bargain” your family, yourself and your professional clients by keeping yourself healthy and well and learning and growing and doing all of those things we professionals, in all of our wisdom, tell other people to do. He really made the point when he said “Why would I take dance lessons from someone who can’t dance?” Indeed. Why would any of us take advice from someone who doesn’t take care of their own spiritual and emotional wellness?

Stepping back from work did something important for yourself. Stepping back from work also kept up your end of the bargain to provide good service to your clients. Don’t beat yourself up for not sticking to some arbitrary schedule that you make up for yourself in the first place.

By stepping back from work, you gave a fuller measure of yourself to loved ones which is infinitely more important than ANY mundane task.

Plus the red thread thing shows that nothing was lost, you can pick right up where you left off.

The red thread of continuity shows that everything was gained by being true to your own insight and your own priorities.

A lot of times the Hermit card gives us advice to find quiet and carve out the quiet time we need. All the quiet and isolation in the world won’t help when you are churning on the inside. By the same token, all the outer chaos in the world can’t touch calm that comes from the inside. That’s why they call it “inner peace” because that is where it has to happen no matter what is or isn’t going on around you.

Intuitively I see a shiny black crystal…I think it is black tourmaline more than hematite which will protect your energy. In my mind’s eye, I see meditation beads so whatever meditation, yoga, tai chi or chi gong practice you might have, please do indulge in that as best as you can. For aromatherapy, I get sandalwood, copal, amber. Lavender, chamomile, bergamot are your standard issue aromatherapy recommendations for stressful, chaotic times. I think they might actually get on your nerves more than support them. Go for warm smokey woody scents for those times when the world is getting on your last nerve.

And get some sleep. Take a nap as much as things will let you. Sleep is an incredibly healing thing.

There the energy steps back. I hope that helps. As always if you have any questions about the reading or anything else, leave it in the blog comments or send an email. The contact is on the website.

Hang in there!

I hope the mock up reading helps you, too. Thanks again for reading and listening. See you at the next sip!

Go Gestalt

Sometimes the big picture is the best picture.

Sometimes the big picture is the best picture

Hi and welcome to the TaoCraft Tarot Blog and Podcast. I’m glad you are here.

Yay! We made it to September. Consider this place magically totally decorated for Autumn and Halloween just like the internet memes. Because it is officially pumpkin spice season, and because I say so. Cinnamon everything for the next six months!!

Today’s card is The World from the major arcana and it fits the mood. The World is a generally positive card, associated with yes in the really old, complicated ways of doing yes-or-no readings. I’m not burning brain cells on memorizing the yes or no implications for all 78 cards, so I’m sticking with my three stack deal and aces method. It works really well for that kind of reading. Older isn’t always better, even in Tarot.

The world card is a good omen card if you work from a predictive stance. The world is the last of the major arcana cards. The Fool is the first card and has come to be associated with new beginnings. In much the same way, the World card connotes happy endings. I’ve always associated it with that saying “the world is your oyster.” The interwebs say the phrase originated with Shakespeare and signifies life giving riches and good things like an oyster produces a pearl. I’m guessing that it might also hint that you are able to make good things happen for yourself no matter what life throws at you just like an oyster makes a pearl out of a grain of sand. That idea in turn resonates with that whole make lemonade out of lemons thing. Put all of those impressions together, and today seems to be a good day to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps despite this avalanche of homespun aphorisms and be confident about it because energies are flowing toward a good outcome if you do.

Looking at life through the biggest of big pictures is a way to help you to create that good outcome, it seems.

German must be a fun language. Part of me wants to learn it, but the part of me that dislikes noun gender tends to win that debate. Still the German language has given us some pretty cool words, like geshundheit to say for sneezes, schadenfreude for when political tea is spilled, Reinheitsgebot for their beer purity laws and the one that always makes me giggle like a 12 year old – krankenwagen for an ambulance.

Gestalt is another useful German word. According to the Google machine, gestalt literally translates as “shape” As it relates to the World card, however, it is more like the gestalt branch of psychology and psychotherapy. In a shorthand sort of way, it is about understanding the shape of things. I think of it as starting from the biggest big picture point of view that you can muster, then see how everything fits together into that – if you will pardon the pun – world view. It’s no surprise that gestalt and wholeness have been added to contemporary meanings for the World card.

When the World card turns up in a reading, consider it a good omen and a sign of a happy conclusion on the way. If that doesn’t fit then consider it a reminder to keep the big picture in mind. Look at how all the pieces fit together. Look at the whole forest, not just one bothersome tree.

Which is why astronaut Ron Garan’s The Orbital Perspective is on my enormous want-to-read list. I’m a gestalt kind of gal. The more I see and understand the big picture the better I like it. That is also why I would urge all of you to read Carl Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot.

Problems shrink when you stack them next to the whole world.

Thank you so much for listening and reading. I appreciate you for doing that. I’d also appreciate any follows, likes, subs, shares, questions or comments that you can spare.

The blog and podcast are not monetized in any way and totally rely on your support. Please visit the TaoCraft Tarot page on ko-fi.com (it sounds like no fee or coffee) Proceeds from the virtual coffees, shop purchases, private readings and exclusive content memberships all help me to create these free to access Tarot readings for everyone.

Thank you again, and I’ll see you at the next sip.

Tree Sitting


It doesn’t matter who YOU think the wisest man who ever existed is, the point is that their philosophy – whoever they were or whatever that philosophy is – it is derived from introspection. The introspection is the thing.

Hello and welcome to TaoCraft Tarot blog and podcast. I’m glad you are here.

Admittedly, my brain is getting in the way of intuition a little bit today. Or maybe this really is the energy message. I don’t know. I’ll let you and how much you resonate with the card decide that piece of it.

Often the four of cups has to do with someone who is sulking, or closed off. I see it often in relationship questions, which fits the suit of cup’s symbolism and connection to love, romance, and inner circle closest relationships of all types. It is often an energy of futility and unrequited emotion. It’s not good news in that context. Adages like “you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink,””throwing good money after bad” and “throwing pearls before swine” come to mind. Often this thread of meaning shows up in readings that are asking the “will I get back together with my ex-” variety of questions. You can’t control how other people feel and you can’t predict what they will feel or do, so the answer in that circomstance is sadly, no, the focus is internal. The message then becomes the advice of introspection….look within to do what you need to do to heal and hopefully progress to the move-on energy that the 8 of cups can offer.

But that, as they say, is another story.

Today, the card skips over all the closed-off energy and relationship advice. Today it cuts right to the chase and talks about introspection.

It resonates quite a bit with “Mr. Venn And His Nifty Diagrams” from yesterday on Sage & Stuff, my personal blog. That post was inspired by Hustle & Meditate the substack newsletter by meditation coach Jim Martin aka “The Unusual Buddha” plus an instagram post by I think it was Mat Auryn, author of Psychic Witch that spoke of mysticism and mystery teachings within witchcraft and magick.

In a nutshell, they both said the same thing although from different areas of expertise and separated by several months in time. The things they were saying were influenced by different cultures who came to similar conclusions a long time ago….despite being world apart in a B.C.E time where there was no trade or internet connecting northern Europe, India and China.

Both the Martin newsletter and the Auryn Instagram post conclude with the notion that, while we have much to learn from the masters who came before, we must each walk through the portal of learning for ourselves. We each have to walk our own path, carve our own way, experience the mysteries of the universe for ourselves and look at the moon with out own two eyes.

It is a bit of Isaac Newton meets Bruce Lee. Newton acknowledges that quote “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” end quote. Centuries later and inspired by a completely different culture, Bruce Lee admonishes his student in the movie Enter the Dragon quote “It’s like a finger pointing away to the moon. Don’t concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory.” end quote.

Blind faith takes you nowhere. Accomplished masters can show you A way, but only you can walk it. Only you can see your true path through your own thoughts, contemplations and introspections.

Nineteenth century journalist, philosopher and father of Frankenstein author Mary Shelly, William Godwin once said that “The philosophy of the wisest man who ever existed, is mainly derived from the act of introspection.” Who you consider to be the wisest man person to have ever existed is up to you, but that too is derived from introspection – yours. Introspection is the thing, with this card and Godwin’s quote, but more than that, YOUR introspection is the key thing. The wisest person who ever existed may be a guide and a giant for you to stand upon, but it is still you that must do the standing, walking and moon gazing.

Thank you so much for reading and listening! I appreciate any likes, subs, shares, questions or comments that you can spare.

It’s that renew the website time of year, so any support you can give through reading commissions, shop purchases, memberships or virtual coffees on the TaoCraft Tarot ko-fi page all goes toward creating these (almost) daily Tarot readings for everyone to enjoy.

Thanks again. See you Monday for the next short sip Tarot!

Listen

TaoCraft Short Sip: Tarot contemplation for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee

Many long years in the before time, a wise man spoke.

Hello and welcome to TaoCraft Tarot blog and podcast. I’m glad you are here.

A lifetime and a half ago, I used to work in health care. How we got from there to Tarot blog & podcast is another story for another day. When I was a student, I was very lucky to do my ER rotation with a Canadian doctor who used to work in a very rural, northern part of the country. He was a private pilot and literally flew from one remote clinic to another to provide basic, general practice health care. Here in the land of bankruptcy prices, brainless shotgun labs and cookbook internal medicine, his expertise is arguably a lost art. He gifted me with a pearl of wisdom that applies to damn near everything and has proven true time and again for the past 35 or so years.

Listen.

He said “Diagnosis is easy. Listen to your patients and they will tell you what is wrong with them.”

By that same token, supporting your own well being is easy. Listen to what you body is telling you. Listen to what your emotions and intuition are telling you. Let logic tell you if things are getting too far off track.

Listen to yourself. Listen to what you and your true nature need and do that. Or at least try to accommodate your night owl or morning person self as much as your schedule allows.

Today’s card is the Night Owl card from the Alleyman’s Tarot deck, illustrated by WolfSkullJack. Seven Dane Asmund interprets the card as “that thing you know but won’t or can’t admit to yourself.” It feels akin to the energy that Ted Andrews writes about for another nocturnal creature, wolves, for his version of the Moon card. He writes that “When wolf shows up it is time to trust our inner guidance…”

So how do you do that? How do you trust your inner guidance? How do you come to terms with unacknowlable inner truth?

Listen.

I don’t think it is a coincidence that Asmund’s night owl and Andrew’s moon wolf are nocturnal beings.

When the day is gone and the night arises, when all of the distractions go dark, you can’t escape yourself. All that is left is to listen.


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Tarot Turnover: The Nitty Gritty

Hello! I’m glad you are here.

I start my day with coffee and contemplation. It’s not as Zen spiritual as you might think. It definitely has more of a Sheriff Hopper (from the Stranger Things series) and doom scroll until the static from just waking up clears kind of vibe.

Was taking my morning scroll when I came across a Instagram post about some minor detail about the hand of the figure in the 10 of swords being in the same position as the Hierophant card and how that was the reference to the assassination of some historical pope or another or something. My response was bah…too pedantic…and kept rolling.

While the Pope seems like a nice enough little grampa guy these days, Papal history is not something that typically flies on my radar, but the post and the notion of hand detail sunk through the static enough to make a couple of points.

Members: read the rest on the ko-fi blog

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