The Infinite and The Empty

TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. Today, the infinite and the empty.

Hello and welcome to TaoCraft Short Sip, Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your morning coffee, or evening tea, whatever happens to be the case. The blogcast is posting much later than usual today because of adulting and schedules and the like. Whatever day or time of day that you are reading or listening to this, I’m glad you are here.

Today’s card is The Empty, which as best as I can tell was created by Seven Dane Asmund specifically for the Alleyman’s Tarot Deck. In the guide book he makes it very clear it was not intended as an “anything is possible” sort of card.

Indeed.

For all of its zen simplicity and stark beauty, conceptually this card is Schrodinger’s cat meets the Bene Gesserit box test from Dune. For those of you listening on the podcast, there is a link to the blog in the episode description if you’d like to see the real world card draw for today. Seriously, I hope you’ll google the deck and the card. This thing is seriously gorgeous.

This card also reminds us that the observed and the observer leave their mark on each other.

As Seven writes, quote … it doesn’t mean that anything is possible, only that you will irrevocably stain and paint this thing as you begin to interact with it. Be mindful what imprint you leave on its surface. End quote

Be mindful, too, of what you are drawing out of the infinite void of possibility. Anything may be possible, but you leave your mark on that process. When you contemplate the infinite, it leaves its mark on you. You are an active participant in what is attracted and manifested from the infinite, even when that activity is on the subconscious level.

Or, in the words of Carl Jung, quote Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will all it fate. End quote.

Empty is powerful. But empty is not pristine. Empty observed is different from empty ignored. Empty is where all things can become potentially possible. Only the empty cup can be filled. There has to be a deficiency of electrons in one part of a circuit for electricity to flow. Thinking positive with outward flowing desires and expectations and efforts often doesn’t serve as well as being open and empty and in some sense surrendering to the larger and emptier universe. What will you draw from infinity into your empty.

Empty is where infinity hides.

Thank you for listening.

The blog and podcast are 100% listener supported. This free to access Tarot depends on you. Be a patron of the Tarot arts. Please visit the TaoCraft Tarot ko-fi page to learn about all the benefits of membership. Proceeds from the shop support the blogcast.

Of course, your likes, subs, shares, commissioned Tarot readings, follows, questions and comments are always apprecitated.

See you at the next sip!

Threshold to the Solstice

TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. Today, the four of wands and sacred liminal space.

Welcome to TaoCraft Short Sip I’m glad you are here.

Today’s card is the four of wands, once again from the Alleyman’s Tarot deck compiled by Seven Dane Asmund, used here with permission. This card was made by Casi Cline.

The interesting thing about this particular card, is its emphasis on the structure in the foreground while the celebrations behind it are smaller and more distant than in the Pamela Smith art or in many other decks.

Very often the four wands are depicted as four posts or poles holding a garland or cloth in a way that is very akin to a Jewish chuppah wedding canopy or the sukkah from the harvest festival. In the recent “One for the Black Sheep” post, we saw this exact card only in reverse. We talked about the four of wands connecting to community celebration. Today a different energy steps forward. This is about liminal spaces, about sacred spaces, about thresholds.

While this card has a sturdier, gazebo sort of feeling to the structure in the front, I like that the front structure is typically presented as something light, temporary and largely symbolic. Sacred space doesn’t have to be Winchester Cathedral. Sacred space can exist, or be created anywhere. To my mind, home altars are far more significant and powerful than large uninhabited stone buildings.

The sacred space depicted on the four of wands is also a liminal space, meaning a place of transition. You don’t need stone walls because you ideally aren’t going to be for a prolonged amount time. Time becomes part of liminal of space. Going back to the home altar – it isn’t a spot you stand in long. It is a transition space and time into and out of connection with your spiritual practice. Time in a liminal space is often short, but important.

Today, the transition seems to be moving toward something very positive. Like a lot of readings over the past two years, I associate this with the global pandemic and the general zeitgeist energy that goes with that. Of course, the local vibe here in the eastern US steps forward the strongest.

Based on the last batch of publicly reported data I’ve seen – hospitalizations, deaths, waste water assessments and the like….I’m cautiously optimistic. I hope there is a celebration when we are fully past this, but I suspect it will be small and tempered. It will be a survivors celebration. Or at least I hope so. I hope everyone appreciates the magnitude of all that has happened and gives due respect to the multitudes who didn’t make it to the other side of the threshold with us.

The bonfire in the artwork very much brings to mind the summer solstice. Summer solstice is very much a social time and an auspicious time for parties. I went to a party once on the day of the solstice and we jumped over a bonfire. It was raining, we were indoors, and the bonfire consisted of a lit candle. But never sell symbolism short.

It was early days in my transition away from my evangelical upbringing. It was thrilling to be doing something so overtly Pagan, but beyond that, the feeling of magic and community was palpable. That tiny little candle delivered on what alternative spirituality was cracked up to be. This was one of the first of many experiences where non-christian spirituality walked its talk. It held up in actual practice in a way I’d not experienced before.

Sure, this is all major projection on my part. It’s almost Easter, my “I quit” anniversary from Christianity. But I also sense a strong transition energy out there that any of us can tap into. What do you want to change? My thoughts go to a social media Tarot reader who was talking about sobriety in a recent podcast. That takes courage – all good vibes to you fellow Tarot person from a rando fan on the internet. But that is the level of transition that is stepping forward here. It has a touch of the Magician card here too. While the Magician often has an element of outward, physical realm transformation and manifestation, today’s card has a feeling of profound inner transformation.

This is more than a beginning. This is next-level, next-phase energy. This is fully stepping into and fully engaging with your personal growth in a serious way. This is the threshold to a new day, a new party, a new bonfire, and the fullness of your light. As we celebrate the of day of longest sun on the solstice, it can be the time to fully show the new you that you have, through this sacred transition space and time, become.

Thank you so much for reading and listening to TaoCraft Short Sip Tarot.

None of these readings are monetized, and depend on YOUR support. Ko-fi is a way to support artists you love with many more options than other patron platforms. On the TaoCraft Tarot Ko-fi page you can commision private readings, make “buy me a coffee donations, purchase ebooks for immediate download. Check out the benefits and exclusive content you get with the membership tiers – if you ever wanted access to a Tarot reading without waiting for an appointment, this is your chance. Your likes, subs, shares, follows, and private reading orders on the blog website are always, always appreciated too!

Thank you again. See you at the next sip!

Have a plan

The Battle Card from the Alleyman’s Tarot reminds us to have a plan when it comes to stress. TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee.

Hi and welcome to Tao Craft Short Sip: Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. I’m glad you are here.

I’m continuing to explore the Alleyman’s Tarot deck with thanks to its creator Seven Dane Asmund for giving permission to use the deck way back in the early days of the kickstarter. The Battle card is from the strange arcana and was originally created for the Strange and Eternal Tarot by Cosmic Butcher.

This deck is definitely resonating with the part of me that was an art minor in college lurking around the studio soaking up the artist vibes. These guys have it by the bucket.

This is also pushing my martial arts buttons, big time.

The distinction of warrior vs soldier comes to mind. With that comes the idea of not only discipline but preparation. It is said that you fight like you train. The implication is that you train 100% focus and effort, as if your life depends on it because someday it might.

I shouldn’t have to say this, but I am in no way talking about actual physical violence or conflict.

I’m talking about stress management.

Life gets contentious sometimes. Life gets stressful in both real and anticipated or imagined ways. What are you going to do when it does?

That’s why people talk about a daily meditation practice. If you practice staying chill on a regular basis, then when things heat up, the chill kicks in reflexively. You almost don’t have to give it a second thought, like muscle memory only for your emotions and for your brain.

Raw life experience gives you that practice the hard way. Daily practice -or at least some level of forethought and advance preparation – makes you more resilient and stronger when the stressful times come. And they always do.

Author Carlos Casteneda is credited with saying “We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.”

If this card resonates with you today, take a minute. Think about what calms you. What makes you emotionally and mentally strong and resilient. Then do it. Practice it. Train it. Have it at the ready in your pocket. Have a plan. Such is the way of the warrior, both literal and spiritual, who is ready when the battle comes.

Thank you so much for listening! Your likes, subs, shares, follows, reading purchases and support through ko-fi memberships are always appreciated. There are clickable links for more information in the blog and in the podcast episode description.

To learn how to do daily DIY Tarot one card meditation readings as a way to introduce some low stress peaceful moments into your day, my how-to ebook Peace Tarot is available as an instant pdf download. All proceeds from Peace Tarot sales in the ko-fi shop during 2022 will be donated to Doctors Without Borders.

To learn more about Reiki as a relaxation technique, Reiki and Relaxation is also a downloadable pdf ebook on that same page or visit the Reiki page on the website for more information.

See you at the next sip!

Delay of Coffee

announcement – delay in short sip tarot reading for Friday. Please stay tuned for a longer behind the scenes the post featureing the four of wands tarot card in reverse

Today’s short sip Tarot full reading will post tomorrow, because of ….stuff.

This card’s energy was kicking me in the shins a little bit, and hitting a bit close for comfort. I don’t want to over-share, so I won’t. It did, however, make today’s post take longer to wrangle into something kind of understandable. It’s too late in the day to be useful as a coffee and contemplation for your day kind of reading so we’ll try again in the morning. Please let me know what you think about any post….comments on the blog are open, as are comments on the YouTube channel and voice mail on Anchor FM. Ask me anything! (Just remember that answers will post in the blogcast.)

Q&A: Whoops

Tarot behind the scenes Q&A: Do you ever pull the wrong cards?

Q: How do you know those are the right cards for me? Do you ever draw the wrong cards?

A: There are no wrong cards AND they happen all the time.

As always, there is no easy answer to this. Tarot is all about nuance and context.

Let’s break this down a little bit.

Do I ever draw the wrong cards? Sure. Before we look at that part, let’s think about what makes a care right or wrong in the first place.

Tarot doesn’t predict the future. Tarot is all about ideas, inspiration, creative problem solving, empowerment, and spiritual enrichment. There is nothing external or definitive to “come true” so there is nothing measurable to prove that a card is the right one or the wrong one.

Our feelings are the only thing that can define a card as right or wrong in any given reading in any given moment. Often you’ll hear people use the word “resonate” to define that feeling. When we say a card “resonates” with us it means that the card’s inherent message rings true to our individual situation, makes some sort of logical sense or it just seems to vibe with the energy of the moment. A card or Tarot reading that “resonates” with a person is analogous to two music notes that literally resonate and vibrate together..

When a card or a message doesn’t resonate that means there is a mis-match in energies, like two music notes that don’t harmonize even sound outright unpleasant. Musicians call that dissonance.

So for now, let’s define a card as being “right” when it resonates with the reader or the person getting the reading.

The cards I draw really are random. The weekday Short Sip blogcast is a good example. The companion videos lets you see the real world random card drawing process. I start each Short Sip episode by shuffling the cards, even though that part happens off camera so that the video can fit into the Shorts and Reels time limits. Then I’ll either cut the deck and grab a card out of the middle of the freshly shuffled deck or fan them out and grab a card that way.

The vast majority of the time the card resonates with the general energy of the day so well that it will highlight which one of the card’s many meanings is the best one for the episode. Some days the card just doesn’t feel right. When you have been reading Tarot as long as I have, the difference between right cards and wrong cards is immediate and obvi0us. It usually takes one good look to know whether the card resonates with the energy of the day or whether there is some sort of mis-match.

To borrow from the sound analogy again, a card that feels right is like the DING on a cell phone when you get a notice. A card that is off-energy feels like something between like the annoying choppy static of a radio station that is almost out of range and a leaf blower outside your window just as you are trying to concentrate. When that happens in a Short Sip video, I just delete and start over until the DING happens.

And yes, the off-energy thing happens in private readings and full layouts too.

If it is a live reading, I’ll point out the parts that feel off and suggest we re-draw that card. I’ve never had anyone refuse a new card. 99% of the time the person I’m reading for senses the dissonance with the card too.

If I’m doing an email reading I’ll just swap out the card and go on. There have been times where I have scooped up whole layouts and started over.

There are hunches to follow for email readings too. Scoop and re-deal feels like right thing to do for wrong feeling cards most of the time. Every now and then, with clients I know well and who are fairly intuitive themselves, I’ll get the I’ll feel pushed to let THEM decide if they want to stick with the original cards or scoop and shuffle for new cards.

So yeah, wrong cards happen all the time and that’s what I do about it.

BUT

At the same time, there is no such thing as a wrong card.

We have been talking about the cards as if they are an outside source of information that has the ability to be accurate or not. If only it were that simple.

Let’s keep up the analogies with sound.

Go back to that radio. Sure, sometimes the station doesn’t come in well. But if we tune in to the news station does that mean the rock channel is playing the wrong song?

That’s the kind of question non-linear logic we deal with in Tarot. Tarot cards aren’t anything magic or mystical. They are bits of paper with stuff drawn on them. Cards, runes, pendulums, stars, tea leaves or what have you only serve to amplify our inner human intuition. The cards help make our intuition loud enough that we can tell if our intuition is resonating with the energy of the message or the energy of the day – or not.

Spirit speaks in whispers. Tarot just helps us to hear it better.

Even if a particular card isn’t the best symbol for the energy message, spirit and energy have the capacity to whisper just a little bit louder. Somehow the right message finds its way through. The message gets through by making one card uncomfortable and prompting us to draw another card that is a better conduit for the energy message. The message gets around the cards all together with purely intuitive mental images, words, sounds and pop culture references separate and apart from any specific card. When intuition is allowed to do its thing, there is no wrong cards. Either through the impulse to re-draw a card or through direct intuitive input, we get to the right message in the end.

So yeah, there is no such thing as a wrong card because the energy gets the right message to you one way or another.

Thanks for hanging in there through this longer behind the scenes blog post and listening to this bonus Q & A episode of the podcast.

The blog, the podcast and the YouTube channel are not monetized and depend on your support. Private Tarot readings purchased through the this website and Tarot Table memberships on ko-fi all contribute toward creating this freely available Tarot content. Your likes, subs, shares, follows, purchases and memberships are always, always appreciated.

Please stay tuned over the weekend. I’m hoping to upload a new interactive Tarot in addition to the the usual Weekend Tarot Turnover intuition building exercise. I’d be interested to hear which meanings you choose and why for the Turnover exercise. Let me know your questions – ask me anything. Comments are open on the blog and the podcast. I’m on instagram and Twitter all the time – maybe too much. give you an answer of some sort in the blog cast, maybe even one using Tarot cards. If I don’t know, I’ll give you my best guess how to find out. It’a been a long couple of years and it really does feel like its time to get social and chatty again.

Thanks again for reading and listening. See you at the next sip of some kind of Tarot post or another.

Flirt

Knight of cups: flirt with life a little bit today. TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot guidance for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. Full card of the day reading on the blog & podcast.

Welcome to TaoCraft Short Sip: Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. I’m glad you are here.

Today’s card is the knight of cups.

I don’t know about you, but the card is resonating with me on a very literal level this morning. It is the Monday after the time change to daylight savings and I’ll be chugging, not sipping coffee out of my cup like a caffeinated warrior. The first few days of daylight savings time messes with me under the best of times, but pile it on top of a late night for other practical reasons and things get REAL cranky around here.

If you’ll indulge my annual rant: daylight savings time is flat earth science denying nonsense in a 24/7 modern technological society like ours. It doesn’t save anyone anything. If you work for a living, it just changes when you have to turn the lights on, not how much you turn them on. No matter how much you clever monkeys mess around with the clocks, it doesn’t change the tilt of the Earths axis or it’s orbit around the sun. You get a fixed amount of sunlight for the day of the year. Period. If you want to get up early to take advantage of the longer days…fine. Knock yourself out. The rest of us were already up. In the dark. Making coffee.

But that’s just me.

The vibe from the card isn’t cranky, sleep deprived or overly caffeinated at all, really. The card is sweet, lighthearted and fun. Downright playful even.

Cups, as we know, has to do with emotions and closest inner circle relationships. Knights symbolize action and activity. So the advice today become to act on your sweetest loving impulses today.

Back in the future-predicting, fortune-telling days of Tarot the knight of cups was thought to portend romance and adventure. The knight of cups was all chivalry, dashing charm and a Lancelot knight in shining armor sort of character.

So what does that have to do with now? Isn’t that as outdated, flat earth and science denying as frickity-fracking daylight savings time?

No.

Daylight savings time manipulates inner clocks and natural rhythms. The knight of cups is reminding us, today of all days, to honor the lighter side those natural rhythms.

Spring is in the air. Relaxed good humor is the vibe of the day. If you aren’t feeling it, that’s ok. Just take it easy and be kind and gentle with yourself as we the sleep deprived ease into the new schedule. If you are feeling it, then by all means unleash it. The world needs a little relaxed fun loving flirty energy today.

It is a very expansive, large, love life, love the world, love humanity, love is love is love is love energy that is showing itself this morning. Whoever you love, it is a sweet peck on the lips kind of day. If you aren’t in a relationship that would allow that, then give that sweet peck on the lips in metaphoric way. Give some good vibes and bask in whatever warmth is reflected back to you. Smile. Laugh at silly commercials on TV. Hold the door open for someone. Be nice to your barista. Deliberately stay in a good mood even when you are cut off in traffic or a major “karen” crosses your path. Fix someone in the family’s favorite meal for no reason. Play music that makes you happy.

Dan Millman calls it the laughter of the enlightened man. Misha Collins calls it Random Acts* of Kindness. You get the idea.

Be good to yourself today, and bring as many others along with you as you can. Lower the bar, enjoy the ride, say yes to the whip on your latte and flirt with life a little bit.

Thank you so much for reading and listening to today’s blog cast. I appreciate your support.

None of the TaoCraft Tarot online content is monetized. Your likes, follows, subs, follows, Tarot reading purchases and Tarot Table memberships all contribute toward creating the blog, the podcast, and the YouTube companion videos that show the real-world card draw for each short sip post/episode.

Thanks again. See you at the next sip!

*Random Acts, inc has 100 out of 100 rating on charity navigator

Wish come true

Welcome to TaoCraft Short Sip: Tarot contemplation for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. I’m glad you are here.

Today’s card is the nine of cups.

When this card turns up around the Fall and Winter holidays, it often brings a celebratory energy, one of intimate family celebrations like Thanksgiving for example. It doesn’t have the community vibe or cultural celebration energy we see with the four of wands as we talked about recently in the post One Step Wins.

Cups are symbolic of emotions and very inner circle relationships. When the nine of cups turns up other than the holidays, it shifts energy to match the time and context. The emotional facet steps forward more than the close relationship aspect of the suit. It is still very positive, it is still somewhat celebratory. The nine of cups symbolizes something that comes into fullness, and fruition and to a good conclusion.

It is about wishes come true.

If you want to take that as a prediction of good fortune or a wish coming true, feel free. I don’t see Tarot as predicting anything. Tarot is a writing prompt – for life. It’s a life-prompt. Tarot gives us ideas for problem solving and direction setting.

Today the energy also asks “so now what are you going to do?” What would you do if your wishes do come true. What are you going to do if you suddenly become the dog that catches the car its been chasing?

Here is an interesting thought experiment for you. I think it is from one of Richard Bach’s books. I think it was Bridge Across Forever or somewhere thereabout in his writing. I forget the exact wording. But try this. Close your eyes. Imagine when you open you eyes the world will be exactly as it should be. Imagine that your wishes have already been fulfilled. Imagine there is a path forward to the things you need.

Then open your eyes and see how many ways that imagination is already true.

Thank you for reading and listening.

None of my online content is monetized, so it depends on your support through likes, subs, shares, follows, no appointment needed email reading orders and Tarot Table memberships.

Thank you for your support and thank you for finding a path that makes your wishes come true.

Go all Hamilton all over it

Hello and welcome to TaoCraft Short Sip: Tarot contemplation for your day in the time it takes to sip your coffee.

Today’s card is the Ace of Pentacles.

The energy here is hopeful and optimistic. It feels like the odds are definitely in your favor today.

It also reminds me of the often quoted, perhaps over quoted bit of wisdom from Wayne Gretsky that “you miss 100% of the shots that you don’t take.” Which in a way begs the question of why. Why would you not take the shots life presents to you? Why wouldn’t you go all Alexander Hamilton all over it and, to paraphrase Lin Manuel Miranda, go boat on fire into the room where it happens and refuse to waste your shot.

Fear is a good thing.

I’ve done this. Maybe you have too. An opportunity comes along and a bucket of ice water tips over in your gut and suddenly you don’t want to take that shot so much after all. It is a weird experience to want some for a long time and be on the verge of getting it, then instead getting a sudden burst of fear. Sometimes that’s ok. Fear keeps us out of stupid dangerous situations. I’ve bailed out of opportunities, regretted being a big chicken, and later was very glad that the sudden burst of unexplained intuitive fear saved me from my own stupid self.

Impulsive, mercurial actions are more closely aligned with the element of air, and so the suit of swords. The pentacles are associated the element earth. Pentacles remind us of being grounded, solid, balanced and practical. The Ace of Pentacles gives a feeling of reassurance – it encourages us to go all Hamilton over the opportunities that come along today or the near future as long as there is no real-world logical reason to give it a hard pass. The Ace of Pentacles gives us the green light to move forward with new opportunities but also reminds us not to abandon practical matters in the process. If ice buckets are there, if you are feeling uncertain or suddenly afraid of success, listen to that. Sometimes when things are moving fast your gut works faster than your brain. But all things being equal, all things being logically safe, all things being intuitively clear, when the Ace of Pentacles shows up then take your shot on goal with confidence.

Thank you for listening, reading and watching.

The blogcast and its companion YouTube channel are not monetized and depend on audience support through “by me a coffee donations, Tarot Table memberships, and email Tarot readings purchased through this website. Your likes, subs, shares and follows are always appreciated. Thank you for your support.

Just a reminder that social media will be more random and quite than usual through mid-March. In-person individual readings return in April, details on the website (links are in the description for podcast listeners) Also, in 2022, all proceeds from sale of my ebook PeaceTarot in the TaoCraft Tarot ki-fi shop will be donated to Doctors Without Borders.

See you at the next sip!

Having an Idea

TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot inspiration in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. Today: The Ace of Wands and creative inspiration.

Hello and welcome to TaoCraft Short Sip: Tarot inspiration in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. I’m glad you are here.

Today’s card is the Ace of Wands.

Wands are associated with the element of fire, inner fire, inner passions and in the case of the ace, creativity, new projects and inspiration.

Young Einstein is one of my favorite movies. It’s a comedy. It’s fun. It’s timeless. It’s about the time space contiuum. The Ace of Wands tends to remind me of one scene where one character accidentally makes a bomb and Marie is telling Albert to do something. He calmly eats an apple and asks for a moment because he’s having an idea. If you watch this clip from YouTube, keep in mind the movie was made in the late 80s before the end of the cold war and before the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The part about nuclear bombs is chilling, given current world events. It’s funny the things you can forget in thirty years.

But back to the Ace of Wands. Albert may seem to be just standing there eating an apple, but he’s thinking. He IS doing something.

The same thing applies to creativity and inspiration. Taking a break from one project to pursue something else for a little while is a perfectly legitimate part of the overall creative process. James Bach makes a similar point in his book Secrets of a Buccaneer Scholar. I really enjoyed the book and would highly recommend it to anyone who is in or is thinking about a creative career.

I’ve heard that creativity isn’t really making anything new, but rather putting existing things together in a new way or finding deeper connections between things that on the surface seem unconnected. When you are creating a physical object, you just can’t magic it up out of nothing. You have to have the right supplies. Ideas and inspiration work the same way. Whether you making something or having an idea you have to have the raw materials to work with. To make connections, you have to have stuff to connect.

Live a little. Go experience or pay attention to something, anything. Make your magpie collection of life experiences that you can use for inspiration later on. It counts. Looking for inspiration IS doing something.

Thank you so much for watching, reading, and listening to TaoCraft Short Sip Tarot. Email Tarot Readings purchased through this website are secured by Papal and contribute to producing this unique, freely available and (almost) daily Tarot inspiration. Tarot Table memberships and “buy me a coffee” donation support this project as well. Of course, your likes, subs, shares and follows are always, always appreciated too.

See you at the next sip!

Look

TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot contemplation for your day in the time it takes to sip your coffee. Today: 7 of pentacles. Feedback is a gift that is payed forward.

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

Today’s card is the seven of pentacles.

The energy environment has been trying to tell us something for the past few days. We are being asked to pay attention.

If this message came from the major arcana, it would come thundering in on the Chariot card. This is a very similar sort of message but with less hoopla. The Chariot is about being in the present moment and paying attention to your surroundings in the way a test pilot might. Keep your head where you are at or risk slamming into the side of a mountain at mach 1.

Today’s energy is more low key. It is more earthy, grounded, and less urgent, but still important to our well being. You can’t be on Chariot level high alert all of the time. It is important to be present and pay attention to pleasant things too.

I am reminded of that scene from the 1994 version of The Crow with Brandon Lee where Eric Draven said that “Little things used to mean so much to Shelly. I used to think they were kind of trivial. Believe me, nothing is trivial.” Today’s energy reminds us that little things mean a lot and are worthy of our attention.

Instead of a test pilot level “pay attention” message, this is more of a whistling teakettle level of “pay attention” For some reason the word “hygge” (forgive me, I’m not sure how to pronounce it) Comfort comes to mind. Like a cold morning in wooly socks and fixing a cup of your favorite tea kind of comfort. Or in my case this morning, cinnamon spiced coffee.

Yesterday, the king of cups asked us to listen to the subtle hints from intuition. Today the seven of pentacles is asking us to soak in the subtle hints on the physical level.

A few key words for this card include assessment, feedback and planning. That takes information first of all, and attention to things both big and small to do.

It may seem a little self-serving, but the feedback part especially caught my attention.

I had been reading product reviews for something I’d like to get, and it amazes me how tantrum-ish and emotive so many of them are. There wasn’t much substance to many of them. One, however, got my attention. It gave specific details, point by point, how the item differed from the description and made it lesser value for the money spent.

I appreciate what that person said, both as a consumer and as a service provider.

You know that meme that says kindness costs nothing so sprinkle that stuff everywhere? The same is true about feedback. I’ll admit, I delete the eternal spambot surveys from big box stores that are probably going to ignore it anyway, but I try to give feedback for small or local businesses whenever they ask. It costs just a few minutes of time and might be a legitimate help to someone. Thoughtful feedback, attention to little pleasures in life, giving a little time and attention to the mundane everyday things is a gift to the people that receive that information. Thoughtful, calm, kind feedback is a gift that is payed forward when that information is used to make things better for everyone.

Thank you for listening to the blogcast and taking a look at the blog. Comments are open on all platforms so your feedback and questions are welcome. But they are moderated so spam and anything I think is inappropriate will be obliterated. Ask me anything about Tarot, intuition, Reiki, natural health, spirituality, or whatever is on your mind. Even if you ask me a medical question, a pregnancy questions or ask about what is on your boyfriend’s mind, I’ll just tell you I don’t take those kinds of questions and why. If you are kind enough to give me the gift of thoughtful questions I’ll pay it forward by giving equally thoughtful and privacy protected answers in the blogcast. If you give me your thoughtful feedback, I’ll pay it forward by making this Tarot blogcast better for everyone.

And, as always, the blogcast and it’s companion YouTube channel is not monetized. It is all audience supported. Your Tarot reading purchases from this website and Tarot Table memberships on ko-fi all contribute toward this freely available, unique Tarot content. Please contribute as your are able. Your likes, subs, shares and follows are always, always appreciated too.

See you at the next Sip