A Year of….Sinatra?

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2019 is a year of new beginnings.

Yeah, I know. We say that every New Year, then nothing changes. The world is covered in resolutions, predictions & good intentions when January 1st rolls around. This year, the energy of it seems different. It feels like it just might be real this time. The energy for transformation and re-invention has been building for a while now. For me personally, it began in when my daughter started college. Newly empty-nested, I let Modern Oracle go and began the moderately terrifying work of re-inventing my Tarot work from the ground up.

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I’ve seen that kind of new purpose happening all around. A personal trainer turned tarot reader, a musician turned personal trainer, an energy healing created her personal brand, a perfume maker reformed her old brand, and a long time martial arts friend passed the teaching baton to his students and began a new career altogether – just to name a few. If you are thinking of stepping into your power and becoming who you truly are, then join the party! You are most definitely not alone.

Last week, I started to do the typical Tarot reading for the new year thing. I even went so far as to pull cards and stare at them for a long while before realizing I’m done with this particular exercise. I’m done with predicting the national energy for the masses. TaoCraft is about talking with you. Yes, YOU. You, right there reading this screen. I’m done worrying about “getting it wrong” with the yearly predictions. I’m over trying to be inoffensive and neutral in order to convince everyone of the value of Tarot and trying to coax people into buying a reading. Don’t get me wrong. I WANT business. I want all the paying customers willing to work with me. I NEED the work and money as much as anyone else. I might shell out a little for traditional advertising, but I am no longer willing to pay the price of being less-than or inauthentic in order to pander to the public. Like that movie said “If you build it they will come.” TaoCraft is built on authenticity. I’m here to help YOU, not to enlighten the general public. If you don’t resonate with what I offer, no worries, no judgement. It just checks one more thing off your list in the search for the thing that does resonate with you. Sometimes finding what you don’t want is a big step toward finding the very thing that you do.

For my part, authenticity keeps negative energies at bay. If someone objects to what I do, fine. There is the door. No more bending to fit. No more coaxing, cajoling, or convincing. This is about lighting a candle and let those who need this particular light come and be welcomed.

So a new year Tarot spread is out the window. The next thing to go is the “word for the year” idea. Usually a particular word or concept would slowly emerge as as a theme for the new year. This year is very different. Right away it is clear 2019 is going to need more than one word.

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When I looked intuitively at 2019, the mental image that came was like a storm of mad hornets. No one word is getting us through that. How DO you navigate something like that? What came to mind then was high skill close formation flying like they do at air shows, combined with pure instinct like schooling fish, flocking birds, or Han Solo in the asteroid field in The Empire Strikes Back. Each individual does their part, so everyone doesn’t bash into everyone else. That not only does that take skill and instinct, that takes mindfulness. You can’t re-invent yourself in the middle of a storm of hornets if your mind is somewhere else. In short, 2019 is asking us for transformation, authenticity, and mindfulness.

No general, nation wide, tarot spread this year. No idealistic, pie in the sky words or themes. For 2019 we simply have things to do, people to be and moments to live mindfully. Let’s do this.

“To do is to be – Socrates

To be is to do – Plato

Do be do be do – Sinatra”

-ancient and wise T shirt of unknown origins
image: creator unknown. assumed public domain. Tarot card images from the public domain via sacred-texts.com

2018 Was Weird

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2018 was weird.

There have been bouts of odd, uncomfortable energy plus lots of weird politics and empaths all around were having their resonant bells rung on a regular basis. Even the usual holiday zeitgeist seemed surprisingly laissez fair this year. The annual Elfcon frenzy could barely flog itself up to a level 4, but I’ll blame that on our newly emptied nest. With no little ones around, all-adult Christmas by comparison really is reduced to alcohol consumption and defending raw cookie dough on social media.

On an energy level, 2018 was filled with groanings of fatigue from the past and early rumblings of transformations yet to come. It would be nice if I could give you some easy Tarot, numerology, astrology, or other mystical explanation for it all, but I got nothing. Even here in woo woo land, stuff just happens, no matter how much we use our magic and intuition to navigate our way through said stuff.

This is a prime example. I pulled a card on Christmas Eve in the hope of finding inspiration for a happy little holiday greeting to post here. Out pops the 7 of cups. The seven of….what the actual wuuut?

Clearly, the energy of the card is about the new New Year and didn’t want anything to do with happy little Christmas greetings. OK. Cool. I can let it sit, abide with it until today. Like any good case of the niggles, this card wasn’t going anywhere.

The first and strongest mental image to come through was all shades of blue and white and gray, like blue skies and snow. But instead of snowflakes, the blue background was strewn with shards of clear plate glass, all with pointy edges, all irregular shapes, all different sizes. The message that came through loud and clear was CHOOSE YOUR SHARD. I think that means this:

2018 was shattering for many people. If it was a good year for you, bless and enjoy. This card and this message is for those who walked a rockier path this past year, if not literally, then emotionally.

Paradigms, self images, expectations, hopes, dreams, self doubts, fears; all sorts of things have been shattered this year for good or for ill. 2019 is not going to let us go back. Pick a piece. Choose your shard. What piece of the old you, the old way, is good enough to bring forward. What piece is your souvenir, your lesson, your cornerstone for the new? All the pieces can’t be put back together. We have to choose what, if anything, is worthy of time and attention. Like any piece of broken glass, that trough-put asks to be handled with card.

The phrase “through put” especially grabs my attention here. It comes from an episode of my favorite show “Mythbusters” when Adam wanted to put the mangled burned face of the old crash test dummy onto the new one as storytelling “through put” or continuity. A thread of the past that puts new things into perspective, and makes the whole story make sense. As shattered at things may have gotten in 2018, the new year 2019 demands it’s through put. It is about transformation, not obliteration. It asks for re-working, not abject discarding. And that is a lovely thing.

If through-put is demanded, that means the original, albeit changed thing had value. Whatever is being transformed has worth, and importance in its original form, or it wouldn’t be so needed now. It feels as if a time of transformation is coming, but one that must be rooted, real, connected to the past and built to last.

The seven of cups is often associated with choosing, and having many options. There is a caution here to not fall prey to “decision paralysis.” Yes, you have options, but take care not to dither or over-think. This is also a lesson in deep knowing. And deep experiencing. Plan, but live. Do, but be.

“Do be do be do” – Sinatra

Never forget to have a little fun along the way too. Part of disruptive energies like this past year is to remind us of what we have forgotten or neglected. Too often that something is laughter and kindness and fun. I hope that a lighter heart is part of the shard we all choose to bring forward into the new year.

Things may seem broken or in need of breaking, but choose a shard, big or small to bring with you as you build something new, something better. The advice is to not try to put it all back the way it was, that would be an impossible waste. Don’t dither or over think your shard choosing. If you mind doesn’t know, your bones will. Deep knowing is there if you take a quiet moment to listen for it. After all this IS a cups card, associated with water, intuition, and deep knowing.

2018 was weird.

That doesn’t mean 2019 can’t be transformed into something better.

Wishing you wonderful transformations and a happy new year!

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: 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

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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 🙂 

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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