valentines day – Sage Sips / TaoCraft Tarot

February Updates

image: public domain via wikimedia commons

Ever want you own private tarot reader? click HERE

Hi Everyone!

The main blog and website had its yearly refresh last month, so feel free to browse the pages and blog archives. Use the search bar (right side of the page on PC, scroll down on mobile) to look for specific Tarot cards and topics.

I’m doing this month’s #KofiChallenge for a chance to win a small prize. I’d put it toward the next round of web hosting costs. If you could save or share any posts on the blog or socials that you like I’d appreciate it.

The “challenge” was to update the Sage Words Tarot Ko-Fi page. Here is what’s NEW as of February 6, 2024

TRIPLE the free readings for Sage Sip members. Get free Sage Sip one card readings per month instead of one. This is a permanent change. Other benefits include discounts on larger layouts, early access to upcoming “Big Read” blog posts, and Ask Me Anything DM access. The free readings are on demand, not automatic. Your request helps me to connect to your energy message
Zombie Cat has his own membership tier! The cat is going with his undead strength – 3 card yes/no readings. Get a FREE reading every month included with your $7 membership (regular reading price is $15) Members also get discounts on larger layouts in the “Readings” commissions menu (except physical media pen & ink readings) early access to upcoming “big read” blog posts and ASK ANYTHING DM access. Zombie Cat’s readings are on demand, and require that you request each one individually, too.
New ebook titles coming to the SHOP during 2024. The FREE Portfolio download is still available.
No appointment needed for any email readings. Send your membership reading requests by DM or email. Non-members order anytime in the Reading commissions menu.

The Free Tarot Reading Not-So-Fine Print

ALL of my readings are essentially a customized folk art intended for personal enrichment, encouragement, spiritual contemplation, creative problem solving and a little contemplation for your next cup of coffee. They do not predict the future.
These are highly customized and ephemeral, so no refunds or exchanges are available.
I shouldn’t have to say this but – nothing offered here can diagnose, treat, or prevent any illness and they cannot take the place of medical or mental health care. No medical, pregnancy or legal questions will be accepted. No liability is accepted, use at your own risk – you know the drill.

Next up: behind the scenes “When the Weather Says Nope”

See you at the next sip!

Still nope

To Valentine or not to Valentine

Tarot is immensely valuable as a source of advice. It gives us good ideas about what we maybe should DO.

Tarot is equally valuable as a source of caution. It can give us good ideas about things we should NOT do.

It isn’t a matter of good vs bad. I’m talking about the descriptive quality of things, not our internal judgement about those things. Hot or cold, light or dark, attract or repulse, yin or yang, do or do not; any of it can be good or bad for an individual situation or reading.

Sometimes a good, old fashioned, terse, to the point, flat-out “nope” is the best answer you can get from a reading.

Friday’s blog post is a perfect example of how a resounding NOPE can lead to better things.

Friday’s post? You’re right. There wasn’t one.

I came rolling into the new year with the big idea of blogging Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with this, your friendly neighborhood weekend newsletter. I also came rolling in full well knowing that part time, creative and intuition driven ventures never go to plan. (Ducks? Rows? Nope. Squirrel Rave? Wouldn’t have it any other way.

This is the week when our block was getting line replacements and upgrades. I’m very OK with that because I personally am a huge fan of safe, clean water and functional indoor plumbing.

I’m equally good with shelving the post for the day when the jackhammers and trench diggers were bringing concentration and focus to a halt. Writing that day was a big nope.

Thus we were back to my second favorite internet meme

Interestingly enough, the post was about a three card yes/no reading with a big old nope for the answer.

We can talk about how to do a yes/no reading and the Zombie Cat alter ego persona thing on another day. I do yes/no readings for kicks and giggles mostly, but they always have a useful thread of real insight buried int them, too. They can be helpful in nudging things one way or another when you really can’t make up your mind about something. Really big, important life decisions are better served by a more traditional layout style, but this layout is for small but not ignore-able decisions. These readings really are like Two-Face’s coin toss in Batman or that famous pool ball toy.

My question was about should I do a “My Tarot Valentine” series this year, like the readings from past years that I have collected into an eBook by the same name. On one hand, I really am not feeling it this year. On the other hand, romance readings are fairly popular and top of mind around Valentine’s Day. and the whole point of doing all of this is to help people sort things out. (“Tarot doesn’t tell you what is going to happen in life, Tarot helps you figure out what to do when life happens”)

Long story short, the answer is no.

I don’t stop there with my yes or no readings. I look at what message beyond yes or no that the cards used to determine the answer may have to offer. In this case, The Sun, the six of wands, and the ace of pentacles. I’ll spare you the behind the scenes thought process, but I distill the message down to “do what makes you feel the most at peace with the topic an happiness and income will follow in time.”

The really cool/weird thing is that these two NOPEs conspired to spark a brainwave. If it weren’t for the coincidental nope to writing on Friday, I would have posted as scheduled and set it aside as done rather than have another two days to ponder the whole thing. If the cards had been a yes instead of a no, I wouldn’t be writing about this whole process at all and instead would be trying to drum up a new “My Tarot Valentine Series.

As is often the case with this kind of work, synchronicity conspired to spark an idea, one I hope will allow Tarot to be helpful to somebody, somewhere.

I’m doing “My Tarot Valentine” – but not in the usual romance focused pink hearts and roses sort of way. Oh no. You aren’t getting off that easy if you you dare read this year.

This year you will be asked to throw some love at your mirror. This year the romance will rebound. This year we are going to do a study in the suit of wands – your relationship with yourself. If you can’t be happy in a relationship with yourself alone, how can you hope to be happy in a relationship with someone else?

Don’t get me wrong. Love, romance, marriage, partnerships are all vitally important. Especially if you’ve found that person that fits you like air fits your lungs. But for those who want that, but haven’t discovered it yet, the hallmark holiday can be, let’s just say, annoying.

Wands are our inner passions Wands are our inner fire. Maybe their light can show us all a good way to go this February.

If you are interested in yes/no fun readings, a more traditional romance reading, or Tarot on another topic entirely, please click HERE to order your email or video readings any time, no appointment needed.

From the Heart

Four of Cups: You can speak from the heart, but you can’t force others to hear what you say.

Accepting people for who they truly are is an act of love, even when that includes a painful rejection, even when that requires that you let them go.

Other people’s happiness is not your responsibility. It’s up to you to give love. It’s not up to you whether or not it is accepted.

The only happiness you are responsible for is your own.

Available for instant download in the Sage Words Tarot ko-fi shop

New in the shop: My Tarot Valentine

Click to purchase – instant download from the ko-fi shop

My Tarot Valentine is a collection of vintage love and romance Tarot blog posts, condensed instruction how to do one Tarot meditations, and a peek behind the scenes of doing a professional romance Tarot reading. (pdf download, 44 pages formatted to A4, standard us copy paper)

Throwback Tarot: Valentine Q&A

Romance Tarot Q&A: What do the Lovers card and the Ace of Cups mean in a romance reading?

Hello and welcome to TaoCraft Tarot blogcast. I’m glad you are here. This is the updated version of a post from Valentine season 2015:

Q: What does the combination of the Lovers Card and the Ace of Cups card mean in a tarot reading when the question is about romance?

A: It depends.

This where Tarot reading gets complicated. This is exactly why professionals charge for their services. It takes time, experience and deliberate effort to learn how to fit multiple cards together like this, especially when there is a specific context or question like romance. Good for you for taking it on and giving it such thoughtfulness! Thank you for sharing your question. I appreciate the opportunity to give everyone a behind the scenes peek at multiple card Tarot readings.

Even when you are only dealing with a one card meditation, context matters. What was the question you asked, specifically? What kind of general energy did you sense from the cards? Advice? Caution? Validation? Acknowledgement? Something else? Is there any purely intuitive impressions coming through beside the basic card meanings? Of all of the card meaning available in references and “little white books” did any of those meanings jump out at you?

Now take all of those one card considerations and raise them to the power of 2 or more cards. Understanding a full layout asks you to take all of the single card things into account than layer the card spread considerations on top. What layout were you using? What position were these cards within that layout? What meaning did those layout positions have? Professionals think about all those things as we do a reading. That’s why I always have my Tarot reading students start with a one card daily meditation practice before moving on to multiple cards.

The more cards, the more exponentially complicated the reading becomes. Which is why I don’t use large layouts like the Celtic Cross for myself or for my clients. In my experience after 7 cards or so a reading gets real gnarly, real fast. For me seven cards is the tipping point where the reading becomes more confusing than helpful.

Now take all of that technical stuff and multiply it again by ethical considerations. Romance readings are a special kind of difficult because of the other person involved. Unless you have the significant other person’s direct, real-world permission to read about them, then the reading has to focus only on the person getting the reading. Even when you are doing the reading for yourself and it seems internal and private, you still must respect the other person’s wishes on an energy level. If you don’t get a sense of the other person, then that’s it. The reading is about you and you alone. Other people have every right to keep their thoughts, feelings, intentions and energy to themselves. The key is to look for advice about how YOU can help the relationship to be the best it can be. Don’t try to know what the other person thinks or feels or will do. Try to know what is the highest and best for your part in the relationship. That focus on you applies to both the readings that you do for yourself and any relationship readings a professional does on your behalf.

All of that aside, we still haven’t tried to understand these particular two cards.

For example if the Ace of Cups is in a layout position that represents “a lesson from your past,” you might get a different overall message than if the Lovers was in that position. For example, if we interpret the Ace as “inner light” (as Diane Morgan does) then Ace of Cups as a “lesson from the past” layout position within a romance reading might be asking you to bring your inner wisdom to the question. It might ask if the relationship is making your inner light brighter or making it dimmer. How is the relationship’s effect on your inner light similar or different from past relationships?

Now switch things around. The Lovers card symbolizes your deepest desires. If the lessons from the past is to look at desires and what you’ve learned from them…the message may be more on the order of “be clear about what you desire for this romance.” In the lessons from the past position of a layout, that might change the Lovers’ advice. Or it may be asking you to think about how your romantic hopes and dreams have evolved over time. Do you still want the same thing from this romance as you used to?

So by extension…if you change the card’s layout positions and position meanings, you may not change the card’s basic meaning, but you do change the underlying message. The same card in a different layout position and in combination with different cards does changes the whole reading in some big ways. It’s a lot to think about but those layers upon layers of meanings are the difference between a good reading and truly masterful one.

So the real answer to your question is that I can’t tell what the two cards mean together without knowing more about the layout you used and the question you asked. It would be better to talk about those things in private. I never put private or identifying information in the blog.

I hope this helps a little. Let me know if you want to set up a private second opinion lesson or if you would rather have me do a new and more current reading for you.

Thank you everyone for reading and listing to this vintage post from my TarotBytes Blog on the old Modern Oracle Tarot website. I still do this kind of second opinion Tarot consulting. They are supportive, judgement free, and education oriented. The consults are available on the no appointment needed tab at the top of this page for blog readers. I’ll put a link in the episode description for podcast listeners.

See you next time in the TaoCraft Tarot blog cast for a Valentine’s Day You Choose Interactive Tarot reading.

Let Kindness Decide

TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot contemplation in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. Today: seven of cups

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

Today’s card is the seven of cups.

For the past several years, on the first fourteen days of February, I did a series of posts called “My Tarot Valentine” where the one card daily coffee fueled Tarot contemplation was focused on love, romance, and relationships. From one sentence affirmations to a few paragraphs of advice, whatever card that turned up was viewed through as much of a pink hued Valentines Day lens as I could muster.

There were fewer cups cards than you would expect over the years. Interestingly, here we are back in early February and we have a cup card with no romantic or relationship vibe around it whatsoever.

The essence of the message is vague and generally as it always is when you are reading for a wide audience online like this. It can apply to anything, really, including romance. The vibe is basically: don’t be arrogant in your decision making, let kindness lead the way.

Cups symbolize emotions, and the emotion often associated with the seven is feeling overwhelmed, or feeling a level of anxiety because of overthinking things. It can also be a sort of decision paralysis as it is called. That is the feeling you get when there are so many delicious sounding things on a menu that you can’t decide what to order. Instead of an embarrassment of riches, it is an embarrassment of choices.

Having too many good choices, like the delicious menu is a privilege. Feeling boxed in by nothing but equally bad options is a dilemma. Both are solved by letting logic rest and letting heart and kindness lead the way. Look, as many have said, for the highest good with harm to none, yourself included.

Thank you for watching, reading and listening. Neither this blog cast nor the YouTube channel are monetized, so these Tarot card readings depend on your support. Your likes, subs, shares, private reading orders, Tarot Table memberships and ‘buy me a coffee’ donations are always greatly appreciated.

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

The Cyber Crew Counts Too

TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot contemplation for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. Today is the three of cups – the cyber crew counts too.

Hello and welcome to TaoCraft Short Sip: a Tarot contemplation in the time it takes to sip from your favorite morning beverage. I’m glad you are here.

Today’s card is the the three of cups.

Early February always seems to carry a big cups energy. Ooof…that sounds like a underwear joke for 10 year olds waiting to happen, doesn’t it? Cups in Tarot are associated with close relationships, the element of water, and emotions.

Emotions are high this time of year. For folks who like the outdoors and warm weather, the emotions are often frustration with winter, with a dollop of cabin fever on top. For those of us who like cooler weather, we are intent on soaking up the hot chocolate and yarn driven coziness as long as possible. Many people are enjoying the mid-month hallmark holiday. I’m here for it just to get the on sale chocolate.

Like Valentine’s Day, the suit of cups shines a light on relationships often with a focus on the romantic ones. But also like the modern holiday, the suit of cups reflect other relationships too.

Palintine’s day is a great idea. I’m inspired by the youngling and the roommates and their DIY charcuterie board and movie marathon party last year. This is exactly the kind of camaraderie that the three of cups is talking about. It is a celebration of like minded friends.

The celebration of like minded friends is no longer limited to physical spaces. The past couple of years have, by necessity, has de-emphasized face to face socialization, but has to replaced that with long distance communication emphasizing a meeting of hearts and minds. Friendships can, indeed, exist in cyberspace.

Many of us already knew that. I count the people I’ve met with and talked with and continued to communicate with in cyberspace as much among my friends as those who live nearby in meat-space.

The energy is around the card today is very lighthearted, laid back and friendly. No major message or ponderous spiritual guidance. The energy reminds me of a simple delight, kind of like those small paper valentines cards kids exchange (or used to exchange) in primary school. Have a little fun. Tell your friends that you appreciate them – in meat space and cyberspace too.

This is a non-monetized, listener supporter blogcast. Your support through likes, subs, shares, private Tarot reading orders here and Tarot Table memberships on Ko-fi are greatly appreciated! Thank you!

See you at the next sip!

My Tarot Valentine: Each Breath

Take a breath.

No, really, take a deep breath. You stopped for a moment to read this (thank you for that) so use it to stare at the screen, look busy but take a deep relaxing breath.

Thanks. I did that too.

The Judgement card is my nemesis. It seems like everyone has a card that resonates with them, that seems to signify where they are in life. Some cards are just comfortable, familiar or welcome. Sometimes a card resonates with an idea or an old battle or some constant struggle…a nemesis.

I won’t introduce you to that particular skeleton in the closet. We’ll get back to that when I get around to writing “Arcana in Balance.”

Still, it is a challenge to connect this card to Valentine’s Day without being overly harsh. So I’ll connect it to a thread of yesterday’s card instead.

Yesterday, the six of cups reminded us of innocence, and the in-the-moment sweetness of simplicity. To taste that sweetness we adults must first release judgements, expectations and pre-conceived notions of what a moment should be. Valentine’s Day this year isn’t business as usual. Let it be the moment it is. Let go of judgement to find your way to the sweetest present moment that you can.

My Tarot Valentine: I got you

I liked Empire.

Especially the music from the first season. As many TV dramas do, it went off the rails toward the end. Sharks must be jumped it seems.

All in all, my favorite moment in the whole thing was when Cookie told a young Jamal “I got you.”

That hit me right in the motherhood. Maybe it is how I was raised, maybe it us cultural, maybe its just how I’m wired, but to me that’s how a core family (that may or may not be genetically related) show love is by doing for each other. You need HOW many cookies for school tomortow? I got you. You need a ride to WHERE? I got you. You need me to listen? I got you. Need a beer after a long week at work? I got you. Need me to send you a funny political cartoon to make you laugh? I got you. Need a simple answer to a simple question? I got you there too, but it might come on the form of a coffee fueled lecture. Accepting and loving the beauty of imperfection is another card and another day.

Today, the earthy practicality that goes with the Pentacles has my attention more than the idea of balance that the two specifically emphasizes.

Nothing says “I love you” quite like the stuff you do right after the “I got you.”

My Tarot Valentine: Don’t Romance Hangry

It’s a reflex.

It’s so easy that it is almost impossible to stop yourself from snapping at loved ones when you are stressed, cranky, tired, hangry or pushed to the limit by whatever. It’s proximity, just like the nerve reflexes your doctor checks with the little rubber hammer thingy. Particular nerve reflexes are wired so that they basically short out across the spinal cord and bypass the brain entirely. Your leg moves with the hammer boink without you thinking about it or willing it to do it…or not do it. It’s the same brain-bypass that lets you snap your hand back from a hot pan so you don’t get burned.

Reflexes bypass language editing centers. I don’t know about you, but when one of those injury avoiding ‘ouch’ reflexes happen, it is usually accompanied by at least “OW” and usually a swear or two. Reflexes happen faster than cognitive processing, they don’t go all the way to the brain and have a shorter distance for the nerve impulse to travel, for a simplified way to look at it.

The same is true when we are under stress. It is quick and easy to take it out on loved ones because, with any kind of luck, they are relatively close at hand. The stress has a short distance to travel. If you are the stressed one, it is hard to stop yourself from doing that. If you are the one in the splash zone of your loved one’s stress, it is hard to stop yourself from getting reflexively defensive and splashing a little bit too.

I’ve learned this from my spouse who is a freaking saint to put up with me my crankies, but taking care of yourself is an act of love for the ones you are closest to. Get a nap, have a snack, whatever it is that works to manage your stress…DO it. You’ll be doing a favor for your own mental health as well as giving a token of affection to those who you love…and who love you.