tarot – Page 38 – Sage Sips / TaoCraft Tarot

YouChoose Interactive Tarot: The Cleric Within

Happy October!

Interactive Tarot is easy. Watch the video above, and pick a card. Pause the video if you need more time. Then keep watching to see the reveal. The daily meditation for the card is below.

The free one card digital InkMagick reading by email offer continues on the special offers page (link in the menu)

Animal Wise Tarot by Ted Andrews used with permission

Left: King of Cups. Mr. Andrews associates this card with dragonfly through the eyes. Dragonflies have large compound eyes that are able to detect far greater subtlties of light and color than can human eyes. This guides the dragonfly in navigating its world. In other decks, the King of Cups is also associated with guidance of a different sort. Although the suit of cups is often associated with romance and relationships, in this case it resonates with the alchemy association with the element of water, and in turn with inution. The King of Cups is a mentor, and your cue to look for real-world advice and guidance from someone with more experience. “Get the life hack from someone who knows what they are doing” in other words. BUT there is another thread to this card. Sometime the mentoring is more esoteric. Sometimes this card is a cue that the energies are right to explore spiritual topics like vision quests, spirit guides, guardian angles and so on. Only you and your intiution can tell you. You are your own spirit guide and your own best advisor whether you need to look for practical outer world advice or look inside for your spiritual path. Listen to the cleric within.

Center: Six of Swords, “Dove” Doves are lovely gentle birds, and we are surrounded by them more than you might think. Mourning Doves aren’t afraid of the suburbs or the countryside. Pidgeons are related to doves, and they aren’t afraid of suburbs or cities either one. Heck, I’ve seen those guys take on a bus. Think pidgeon (aka the rock dove.) This is a week to do compassion your own way just like pidgeons do being a dove in their own way. Doctor Who and the “Witches Apprentice” episode comes to mind with its idea of “fierce compassion” Do your spirituality your own way this week. Compassion and contemplation can be done with gusto. The best person to lead that kind of spiritual practice is you. Follow the cleric within.

Right: The Emperor “Eagle” I remember seeing a bald eagle up close at a rehab facility, where the individual could not be returned to the wild because of its injuries. They. Are. Huge. Not a bird to be messed with in a dark alley. Eagles are a good analog for the Emperor card which is about confidence, and utter competance. Here in America, Eagles are associated with freedom, strength, and protection. An innate quality that goes along with those things is the ability to think, and critically evaluate for onself. You are the Emperor of your world within. Trust your own eagle eyes and trust your own ability. This is a good week to learn, and learn confidence in your own ability. You are the emporor of your inner world. Decide for yourself, you are your own chief cleric within.

Today’s Tarot: An Element of Optimism

The Nine of Wands asks much of us, but it is an inherently optimistic card.

Today it feels very aligned with other cards like the Seven of Pentacles in it’s promise making quality: If you do what needs done, then it will turn out OK in the long run.

The ‘it’ll be OK’ energy of it is very much related to the energy of the day, more than the traditional meanings for the card. The card, as with all the wands, is inner-world oriented. Typically it is about the ‘do what needs done’ part more than giving any sense of the outcome. It speaks to the internal things like courage, persistence, and optimism

Success requires our sustained active participation. That active participation itself requires those internal qualities. If there was no hope of success, then we probably wouldn’t do the thing. In encouraging action, the card offers an element of optimism to go along with it.

YouChoose Interactive Tarot 20-26 Sept. 2020

As seems to be the emerging natural pattern, just have a quick announcement before moving on to this week’s cards: I’ll be on a reduced Tarot / online schedule Tue-Sat. because family stuff. If you are interested in a reading or anything from the store, don’t hesitate to order. The only change is that shipping & delivery might take longer than usual. Thank you in advance for your patience.

Left: 10 of Cups (grasshopper) Take the leap and dare to be happy. Beware of self-sabotage, and allow yourself to succeed. Don’t be afraid of finishing well. 10 cards, being the largest of the number cards in any suit, are a sort of pinnacle, the essence of the suit in its greatest expression. Taoism teaches that anything in its extreme holds the seed of its opposite. Be careful not to snatch defeat from the jaws of victoty. Finish, succeed, allow your self to be happy.

“People are about as happy as they make up their minds to be” – attr. Abraham Lincoln

Center: 5 of Swords (Goose) Overcoming obstacles is a journey as well as a destination. This card has shown up previously. My hunch this is for emphasis rather than a hint that we aren’t getting the lesson. Historic things have happened between the card’s appearances to show how important the lesson is: Stay chill, stay calm, work the problem. Swords are associated with the element of air and thereby mind and logic and cool intellect. My attention is drawn more to this elemental association than the contemporary relationship style of meanings. Mr. Andrews association with vision quest grabs my attention too. Especially the quest part. Big, systemic problems aren’t solved in a day. They take time, steps, parts, cooperation, and both tactics and strategy. The journey around or through an obstacle may be long and arduous but also needed and worthwhile.

“Let’s work the problem, people. Let’s not make things any worse by guessing. The Lunar Module just became a lifeboat. I don’t care what anything was designed to do.” – Ed Harris playing Gene Krantz in Apollo 13 (movie)

Right: Strength (Lion) This isn’t going to be easy, but when you have the strength to meed the challenges, the hard doesn’t matter. This card is just exactly that sort of reassurance. You have strength, whether you feel it ahead of time or not. If you don’t, get some. The ability to find solutions and to obtain resources is as good as having them in the first place.

“When you can’t walk, you crawl. When you can’t do that, you find someone to carry you.” – from Firefly (TV series) by Joss Whedon

Today’s Tarot: Every Little Thing Can Be Magic

What is magic, really?

Being raised on a steady diet of 60s sitcom re-runs, part of me still wants nose twitching, wand waving, hand gesturing, incantation mumbling, midnight margarita saturated POOF! magic.

It’d be fun, you have to admit. But out here in the real world things aren’t so simple. There is magic, and then there is magick. I like making the distinction between stage or fictional magic and the spiritual practice of magick by using the ‘k’ at the end for the latter.

Besides, the K just looks cool.

Regardless of whether you think magic is fictional fun or if magick is your path, The Magician is a very powerful card. It is a card of transformation, in essence, of initiating and controlling change. This differs from the kind of big life change we might see with the Death or Tower card. The key is initiating the change, controlling the change and, importantly, working for the change. They don’t call it working magic(k) for no reason.

TV magic is alluring because it is all instant gratification but it lacks potential and possibility. Real magick is full of potential and possibility, but the gratification it brings is slow, inexorable, deep and lasting.

In a daily collective energy Tarot reading like this, the message is in that potential…and the change. Change really is possible. In this case it is self-initiated and primarily internal. New attitudes, new habits, new feelings, new lifestyles, new philosophies all take time.

The magician is powerful. Tap in to that power – however long it takes. Real magick is absolutely possible, given the necessary time and willingness to put in the most difficult kind of work: personal growth. Change your perceptions and expectations and POOF! you are magick.

The magician extends one arm up and one arm down. We are reminded of Hermes’ quote “as above, so below” but we shouldn’t forget the next part…”as within, so without” Our world can transform by changing the lens through which we view it.

We might not be able to change an adversary into a toad or make a coin appear out of thin air or change lead into gold, but the world within can be expressed without in an instant.

The lyrics to Tina Turner’s “We Don’t Need Another Hero” include “Love and compassion, that day is coming.” That day can be here the moment we decide to be loving and compassionate.

That is the magick that can be found in every little thing and in every passing moment. That is the magick that can change our world.

Post originally published 2020

TaoCraft Portfolio: Introduction

I want to work with you and this is my portfolio

Download the entire FREE TaoCraft Portfolio booklet HERE

When an artist interviews for a job, they bring examples of their work so the employer can decide if they are a good fit for the company or project. Authentic Tarot readers have more in common with artists than they do with stage show mentalists or movie psychics. From cave paintings to Da Vinci, art has many different styles and genres. No two artists are exactly alike. No two psychic intuitives are exactly alike. There is no ultimate psychic authority. There is no official right or wrong way to do a Tarot reading. Tarot is artistry and spirituality, not rules and regulations. One thing is certain. If you read this booklet, a Tarot reading with me should meet or exceed your expectations because you will know exactly what to expect in advance.

There aren’t many Tarot portfolios around. So how do you know who is a good match to do your psychic reading? The best advice, of course, is follow your own instincts. Pay attention to your deep down, reflex feelings when you look at a website or advertisement. Because of religious and cultural prejudices that are on the rise in some parts of the country, many of the best psychics and Tarot readers are still very quiet about what they do. It may take some research, asking around or visiting small, local “new age” bookstores to find anyone at all. Once you find someone who does readings, talk to them for a minute and ask reasonable questions. Don’t pour out your heart to a stranger or try to get an impromptu free reading over the phone. Instead, ask practical questions like location, prices, payment, scheduling and so on. Their demeanor in a non-Tarot conversation will give you a sense of the level professionalism they will bring to the reading itself. If they seem evasive, impatient or leave you feeling uncertain, then honor those feelings and look for someone else. If it feels right and you can afford it, try a session. If it is a good match, you’ll know right away. A good Tarot session inspires, empowers and reassures you. A reading should never frighten you, make you feel judged, or feel as if you have done something wrong. If it isn’t a good experience, simply try again with someone else. A mismatched personality doesn’t necessarily mean that the reader is doing anything wrong. By the same token, you should never take it personally or feel that a bad session was your fault for “not believing” or any such nonsense. Of course, always use plenty of common sense to steer clear of scams. “Psychics” that make outrageous promises or make repeating and increasing demands on your time (and money) are best avoided.

Thanks to the Internet, no matter where you live, you can get affordable, expert, caring Tarot readings. Distance Tarot is my specialty, and we’ll talk about that in more detail in the chapters that follow. In this booklet, we’ll look at the basic structure underneath all of my readings, both distance and in-person. No matter whether we work face-to-face or remotely, no matter whether we are working with Tarot, Reiki or Meditation, I follow the same ethics and standards that I applied in my mainstream medical work. All policies are transparent, written in plain English, and found in the “Fine Print” chapter at the end of this booklet.

Following your instincts, combined with a little common sense can help you find an excellent psychic. I hope that once you read this, your instincts will be to get a reading with me.

I want to work with you and this is my portfolio.

Meet Your Reader 2020

Hi. This is me from (mumble mumble) years ago. I still use this photo because it is the only one of me I’ve ever really liked.

This is me now, in Bitmoji form which is as good as it’s going to get because the website, blog and socials are mostly about Tarot, a little bit about spirituality, with a sprinkle crystals, meditation, spirituality and just enough off-topic things to keep it interesting. I want you to feel confident and comfortable ordering a reading here, so please let me tell you a little about the bitmoji-fied face behind your email reading or the voice on the phone.

I started reading Tarot cards around 1990 or so. Early 90s anyway. I was still in my 20s, had left my parent’s religion and was finding my own spiritual path. Tarot & oracle cards played a crucial role in helping me find a healthy way out of a fundamentalist evangelical upbringing .

I started reading for myself because, honestly, who could afford to use those phone psychics that were so popular back then? It took a little effort to find authentic readers and teachers in those pre-internet days, especially in an a conservative area where good psychics were still mostly underground. Eventually, I was very fortunate to have readings, workshops and intuition development classes with talented, brilliant people like Sallie Christensen, Gina Hiller, Joy Star, even meeting Ted Andrews once at his Animal Wise workshop.

It turned out that I’m actually really good at doing Tarot readings too. A good friend encouraged me to work online, so I started with Keen, Advice Trader and AllExperts under the handle Baihu. When dissertation expenses came along, I started working for myself and Modern Oracle Tarot was born. In 2018, Modern Oracle and Tarotbytes blog were expanded to include Reiki, meditation tutorials, and my Quirk & Flotsam Etsy shop. I renamed it all that Fall to create the TaoCraft Tarot that you see today.

I’m a Reiki Master-practitioner (2000)

I’ve been doing folk arts and crafts since my Grandmother taught me to embroider when I was 6 years old. Making handcrafted meditation beads was a natural extension of everything else at TaoCraft Tarot. The meditation beads are in the TaoCraft Tarot Shop along with ebooks like PeaceTarot and a few other handmade odds and ends that find there way there.

I’m a retired Tai Chi instructor (Chinese Martial Arts, Mount Lebanon PA 1998-99) but still love playing taijiquan. I’ve studied meditation, Taoism, Zen / Chan Buddhism and other spiritual traditions on my own from various sources through the years. In magick, you might call me a solitary eclectic.

In “real life” I have a Bachelor of Science in Medical Science and worked as a physician assistant in psychiatry and cardiology. When motherhood came along, I went back to school to be able to work independently, completing a Ph.D. in Natural Health. Although the school’s accreditation has since been withdrawn, my work and dissertation stands. The dissertation is available to view on RondaSnow.com. Needless to say, this is a science, logic and reason friendly Tarot style.

That’s pretty much all of it. It’s all Tarot and the good stuff from now on, at least until I get the urge to re-introduce everything next year at anniversary time. I’m really grateful to all of you, new subscribers and old friends alike. If nothing else, I hope this lets you know I’m nice, normal, nonthreatening kind of person who just happens to be able to read Tarot. I wish you all the best and hope you feel confident getting reading because there is nothing to fear here.

Today’s Tarot: The Watcher

Apologies for the delay in posting, because, well, 2020.

On to the Three of Wands. Yes, again. Different deck, different day, same card. Cool thing happened; about an hour after I filmed the card draw above, I did a one card reading for an individual with a different deck (Steampunk, their favorite) and wouldn’t you know it – Three of Wands. This card is really trying to get our attention.

It also gives us a little insight into how Tarot can be such a broadly useful tool for something as subtle, complex and personal as spiritual guidance or personal growth. The math is pretty much un-do-able, but let’s just look at these one card daily meditation type of readings. You have one card position, with one position meaning, raised to the power of 78 possible cards, raised to the power of all the card keywords and meanings that have attached to each card over the years. Now, multiply all of that by multiple cards, various layout position meanings, different intuitive messages, different intents or flavors of each card’s message…try knitting all of that together into a coherent message that someone can actually understand and put to practical use. Now you know why we charge the rates that we do. The more cards in a reading, the more complex it becomes, and the more effort it takes to make sense of it all for a client.

The Three of Wands is often associated with things like watchfulness, active waiting, observation, proper timing, or vigilance.

Recently, the energy seemed to flow toward the watching for the right timing, watching for events to happen that would in turn prompt you to action.

Today, the energy is more toward the vigilance end of things. The watchfulness isn’t times to a particular action. It isn’t about timing your action just right. It has a more general sense. This is tied to the idea of healthy boundary setting that has been front of mind of late as well. Now that we know where the boundaries ARE, the Three of Wands is asking you to maintain them, patrol them, defend them. The words “perifory” and “vigilance” step forward. Now that we know, based on logic and historical fact, that more turbulent times are likely on the horizon, be politically or pandemic related, the card is further reminding us to guard our energy and mental health. It is always better to over-prepare than to under-react in such things, be it literal storms, public health, or your energetic and emotional well being.

Don’t forget to check out the special offers page for details about the anniversary free Tarot giveaway. Distance Tarot NO APPOINTMENT NEEDED always available to order on the home page.

Taking My Own Advice: Introduction Edition

Let me give you the one room grand tour.

I take my own advice, occasionally.

But not exactly as I write it for the general audience blog, and neither should you. This is reason, rationality and freethinking friendly Tarot. As we talked about yesterday, I’ve been intuitively getting a big picture, national level, storm-on-the-horizon-ringing-epaths’-bells sort of energy lately, akin to the vibe from the early days of 2020. Thankfully, today local energies are capturing my attention. It is a sunny peaceful morning in the neighborhood. I’m taking advantage of that and turning my attention from counting down the days until the current heat wave passes to thinking about autumn and TaoCraft Tarot’s second anniversary.

The whole thing is a little bit of a head trip, really. On one hand, the whole exercise is way too egotistical and self referential. On the other hand it is like having a birthday party for your creation-kid. Even though it is all my readings and my writing, it is also all about the readings, the blog and the books. That’s why I refuse to appear on camera on the YouTube channel. It’s not about me, it’s all about the cards and how they can help you. Same for here on the blog. But I can’t help you if you don’t know this stuff is here and. let’s be honest, I need to do paid readings to keep the business, the blog and the free social media going (I like to buy food every now and then too) so we are right back to self promotion and on and on. The best solution I know is to talk about TaoCraft Tarot as an extant thing, a place in cyberspace, a place where you can come for Tarot readings, Reiki and Meditation to help you sort through difficult emotions and just plain day-to-day living.

I am, as always very grateful to each and every one of you. If you have been here and have gotten readings here…thank you, thank you, thank you. If you are new to the blog or the YouTube channel, welcome. Let me give you the one room grand tour.

That will do something nice for both of us. Yesterday’s Five of Pentacles reading gave strong advice to batten down the hatches and set healthy boundaries, especially if you are at all empathic or energy sensitive. I’m taking my own advice. Re-introducing TaoCraft to everyone sets boundaries and reinforces our shelter from the crazy energies that swirl around out there sometimes. If you need to come inside and warm up from the storm, there are comfy chairs and a free digital one card Tarot reading over there by the front window. Help yourself.

Over here is a big table by a crackling fireplace where you can sit for a Tarot reading. Words spoken through the phone, or printed on a screen or written on a page are all the same here. The ideas, the messages, the love from the energy/spirit realm for you are all the same no matter how they are delivered to you.

On the other side of the room, there are shelves of crystals that lend their energy to both Tarot readings and distance Reiki sessions. I don’t sell crystals. That way there is no conflict of interest or ulterior motive to recommending them. But they are darn pretty, and I do have my own collection to use for Sending Stones Reiki in real life.

In the middle, here are the meditation beads I make and the ebooks I wrote, all with the same uplifting intention and empowering energy as all the rest.

Whether you have been here before, or are here for the first time, welcome to TaoCraft.

Today’s Tarot: Universal Experience

How compassion can flow

It’s a fundamental idea. In Buddhism, the first noble truth is the existence of suffering.

Or, as the T-shirt defining Taoism says, shit happens. The five of pentacles in Tarot reminds us of the same thing. Difficult things happen to all of us sooner or later. It isn’t for us to judge the type or magnitude of that difficulty relative to our own life experience. It is enough to know that a fellow human struggles. Big or small, serious or trivial, true crisis or laughably minor, real world challenges and emotional upsets are a universal experience. Or to put it in t-shirt terms, shit happens to absolutely everybody at one time or another.

The card doesn’t stop there. It calls us all to compassion, sympathy and empathy whenever and wherever the aforementioned shit happens – always, everywhere.

There is much going on. The energy environment (I can’t tell if it is local, regional, national or global) is starting to feel like it did back in January or February, on the cusp of the maximum lock-down we had here in the U.S. I’ve been repeatedly, for months been getting the mental image of a storm on an ocean horizon and a sense of foreboding. Over the past few days it is as if the outer bands of the storm are starting to touch shore. Yes, I’ve probably been watching too much news, and yes, it probably is tied to the toxic mashup that is American public sentiment right now. If you are to any degree empathetic or energy sensitive, now might be a good time to batten down the hatches, grab your favorite protection crystal and start reinforcing healthy boundaries between your energy and external energies. Healthy boundaries are crucial.

Compassion flows best when it flows both inwardly and outwardly at the same time.

YouChoose Interactive Tarot 9/6 – 9/12/20

Hi again! Hard to believe it is time for another weekly reading. Funny thing about this year. Small bits of time seems to fly, but looking back over the year it seems to be about a decade long. Time is as fluid in perception as it is relative to speed it seems. I hope you’ll take a peek at the special offers page and keep an eye out for the (rapidly becoming annual) hello posts. September 2018 was the beginning of Modern Oracle Tarot’s (and Tarotbytes blog’s, and Quirk & Flotsam etsy shop’s) rebranding process. October 31, 2018 was the grand unveiling of TaoCraft Tarot that brought everything under the same conceptual cyber roof. This year, I’m celebrating TaoCraft Tarot’s second anniversary all the way through re-branding season with a digital one card InkMagick reading giveaway through midnight on Halloween. Fall has a sense of newness: a new school, a new season, a new name. It is very much a vanity project, but over the next several weeks I’d like to reintroduce myself and the foundation ideas behind TaoCraft Tarot to all of you and to the newer subscribers on the YouTube channel. But now for THIS week:

Left: The Hermit. A major arcana card, if you chose left, you are being pulled toward a path of higher energy. This week is headed toward some spiritual OOMPF that may be more feeling than physical manifestation but just as important. There is a strong mental image of a compass here, which inspired the post title. There is a feeling of active navigation. This card doesn’t imply that you are lost or going in the wrong direction, but rather empowers you to SET your direction. Fall and Halloween season are, for some, the new year season as well. The feeling is less nostalgic than the January new year season tends to be. You can be retrospective then…the advice here is to “tee up” the end of 2020, set yourself up to end strong. You have everything you need to do that on the inside. Even if you are young, you have the experience you need (from spring of this year if nothing else) to set your direction for Fall. Your inner light is your best guide. Quiet time brings it to the surface: a long job, a cup of coffee with some music, a bubble bath, meditation – whatever works best for you.

Center: 7 of Cups. A minor arcana card, no red lights or sirens around this week. More minor nuisance kind of feeling here. It is a gift to have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to options. Don’t overthink, don’t let the decision paralysis get you. Here I get the mental image of Luke in the ice cave, closing his eyes, taking a deep breath and just reaching out to get his light saber. Similar feeling here. Listen to you inner vision, let your heart lead the way. Quiet is key for you, just like the Hermit card, but in a more internal than external way. Quiet the chattering monkey mind to let your heart (and gut instinct) speak.

Right: Ace of Swords. Remember that ice bucket challenge that was going around several years ago? That comes to mind as symbolic of this card’s advice. It is the exact flip-flop of what the seven of cups is saying. Follow your brain. Try to keep chattering monkey guts and emotions in check and let cool reason and intellect guide the way. It may feel unfeeling, cold and calculating – but cooler heads prevail and set things in a much better direction. Step away from the social media…this is NOT the week for hot takes on the first thing that fries your cakes. Stay frosty for a better outcome.