For September and October, I’ve decided to indulge in one of my favorite Tarot decks, The Alleyman’s Tarot and explore one of my newest ones, The Normal Tarot, both by Seven Dane Asmund of Publishing Goblin LLC who kindly gave permission to use his decks here in the blog.
My unboxing and earlier posts have all of the requisite fangirling about the Alleyman’s deck, which after a few years of using it is STILL a masterpiece. This deck (including the premise and lore built around it with the podcast and more is like a Stradivarius in the hands of master violinist. I know that sounds like a brag, and it is. I’m that good, and it is too.
When the chance came to 7DA’s first (I believe) deck, I didn’t hesitate, largely because the guidebook cover was love at first sight – a line drawing of a skeleton, cards and the title How To Normal Tarot: Staring into the Seething, Unknowable Chaos of the Universe for Fun and Profit.
That pretty much sums up Tarot work. Some folks really, REALLY don’t like the unknowable part. They want pat, canned platitudes and answers that they WANT to hear (not the guidance they NEED to hear.) Predictions are 1. impossible and 2. baby food for unready souls.
I’m not here for that. If you want “accurate predictions” you need to go find another psychic.
I’m here to give you a hearty soul-meal and some navigation tips for the seething unknowable chaos.
If you are ready for that ride, if you want to experience the wisdom that Tarot really offers, come along.
In September and October, I’ll be using the Alleyman’s Tarot deck for the Week Ahead choose your card readings and the Normal Tarot deck for our Weekend Oracle posts, simply because the deck isn’t a RWS clone. For the members only posts over on ko-fi I’ll post some longer-layout readings following (or inspired by) the layouts in the guidebook.
So fill up your metaphorical coffee (wine/tea/whatever) cup and come sip and stare into the chaos with me.
See you at the next sip
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Card: Death from L’oracle Des Dames as seen in the Alleyman’s Tarot deck
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Major arcana energy is right in the middle of it.
You know that moon energy that has been lingering the past few weeks? The same message is here but in a more direct, confrontational way. Major arcana cards tend to be more energetic, urgent, profound, far reaching…you name it.
The literal full moon is in two days. I chalk that up to a good old fashioned Jungian sychronicity – a meaningful coincidence. The Moon card has shifted to the Death card, but the energy of change remains.
As we all know from watching the Simpsons, the death card isn’t literal death…it is a big change. It’s not ‘you are going to get hit by a bus’ death, it is the death of an old view, action, persona…the “old” you that makes way for a new you. This is the ‘natural cycle’ energy from the past few week’s Moon card and the ‘only the empty cup can be filled’ energy we talked about last week but with the volume turned up to 11.
The cup is brimming, and is soon to turn over. The moon is nearly full, it’s time for tides to turn. This week feels like a tipping point of some sort.
Maybe it is the outrageously loud pavement cutting and water line work that is going on in front of my house right now, but I have a twitchy, gut churning ‘bad feeling about this’ worthy of Princess Leia. Something is up somewhere, but I don’t know what and I don’t know when. All I can do is sit here and take my own advice.
Fading energy: Queen of Pentacles, reversed. The Queen of Pentacles in any orientation is about nurturing. Often it is about nurturing yourself to preserve your capacity to help and nurture others. The reversal makes it feel like a reminder to let others nurture you. We all need a little care. If you don’t even have the reserves to care for yourself, allow others to help. Just ask nicely. It’s that simple. The fading energy here may be ours. It doesn’t feel like a go-getter, entrepreneurial kind of week. Astrology might blame it on the Mercury in the microwave phenomenon – it feels like a bigger pattern, more of a tectonic shift than a zippy little optical illusion.
Current Energy: Death. The funky mojo energy reminds me of the beginning of covid to be honest. Maybe we are finally shifting out of that phase of human history. It doesn’t feel quite like impending doom, but a sea change of some sort. Sea change is a good way to put it…it connects with the moon cycle, ebb and flow imagery that has been so prominent lately. The phrase “Brave New World” comes to mind, although it doesn’t feel like an Aldus Huxley reference at all. The unknown can be gut-twistingly frightening. Maybe that is the bell ringing resonant energy that is going on here. We are finally moving out of that storm, cleaned up a little of the mess and are being forced to face facts. Everything has changed and will never be the same again.
I’m going to go put “We Don’t Need Another Hero (Beyond Thunderdome)” on loop. Maybe we are looking at the unknown beyond Thunderdome so to speak. Ah – there it is – “I wonder when we are ever gonna change, change Living under the fear, ’til nothing else remains.” Is this going to be fear or freedom for us? I suspect it will be whichever we choose.
Growing energy: Five of Pentacles
It’s interesting that the Pentacles are the only minor arcana cards showing this week. It’s right back to that hunker down and be practical vibe from 2020. Maybe this really is the unknown other side. Again, the sense of this card as fearful or freeing is again up to us to our choice.
The card also brings to mind a TikTok I saw yesterday. I forget the creator, it was something survival. It was a very sped up video of someone who dug a hole and built a survival shelter out of branches and dry grass & mud daub. They even dug out a fireplace (about the size of a small cooler) complete with chimney.
I looked like a totally warm, dry Hobbit hole when it was done.
The Five of Pentacles is about seeking shelter in a storm.
You can focus on the storm or you can focus on the sanctuary that is available for you to take. Again, our choice.
I ‘hear’ “wrap your wisdom around you like a cloak.” Sheltering through a storm means gathering in, yin, not pushing, not being ostentatious. But it also means being happy that shelter exists to take.
Sometimes humble but sturdy and reliable is a wonderful thing. Look for those kinds of things and take whatever shelter you need this week.
Thank you for reading! Your support through likes, follows, social media shares, and comments is always appreciated! Nothing on this blog is paywalled anymore, and none of my social media is monetized so YOUR Tarot message always comes first. Your support through private readings, memberships, and virtual coffee tips are what fuels it all.
Next up – Wednesday “Odinsday Oracle” – not because I’m not particularly Norse pagan but I am, however, fond of alliteration and Neil Gaimon novels.
A Tarot reading for the week ahead, depending on your point of view
Most of us have seen Star Wars. If you haven’t, stop what you are doing, put this post down and go watch. Then go read Joseph Campbell’s book The Power of Myth and you’ll understand why Star Wars is a classic, epic movie that shouldn’t be missed even if you aren’t typically a science fiction fan.
Point of view comes into play with Tarot readings too.
I’m happiest when I take the most gestalt, holistic point of view that I can muster, Tarot readings included.
Was feeling the Alleyman’s Tarot Deck this morning (used in the video with Publishing Goblin‘s permission) We’ve talked before about reversals, which is when a card turns over upside down relative to the person doing the reading. The Alleyman’s deck tends to feel a little wild and woolly and slippery and a little chaotic and prone to reversals – which makes it perfect for capturing the cacophony of big picture humanity and that collective big picture energy we read in these weekly posts.
Today, all three cards are reversed.
You could take that to mean we are heading into a gnarly catawampus upside down kind of week (which is entirely possible.)
Or you could take it as a reminder that if we walk around to the other side of the table and look at this from a different point of view, then everything is right side up, just as we want it to be.
I’ve said it dozens of times, but it is worth repeating when ALL of the cards are reversed. In a private reading, I’ll follow intuition about any given card’s reversal. It might just be happenstance, the by-product of slippery cards and lots of shuffling. Or it might be a real clue about something that is blocked, turbulent, challenging, stagnant or otherwise complicated.
My hunch today is that it really doesn’t matter. It is like a double negative that gets you right back where you started. The reverse of fading energy is growing energy and vice versa.
I get the mental image of a seesaw. The yin yang symbol strongly comes to mind. Balance whatever turns up this week with its opposite. The yin yang symbol, the taijitu, is actually intended to be dynamic. The balance is in constant motion, like we’ve talked about so many times before with the Two of Pentacles (you can use the search in the right hand side of the page or scroll down on mobile to browse the 2 of pentacles archives)
My hunch is that the real carry away message for this weeks reading is to be adaptive. Be light on your feet and in the moment, willing to change and balance a situation. In order to do that, we need to remember there are 360 degrees in a circle around these cards and many points of view to any given situation.
So chalk one up for Old Ben.
Let’s look at each card. But this time I’ll let you decide the point of view. You decide which side of the table you are on. The center card is the dominant, current energy either way you look at it. But you can decide if it is blocked or not, reversed or not, complicated or not.
Fading energy reversed / growing energy upright: Two of Swords
In the classic Pamela Smith artwork and the many decks based on that, the two of swords reverses. This card, made by Sean S. LeBlanc, looks and means the same thing either way. It fits right in with the gestalt thinking and adaptive balancing that the reading as whole is giving us. The classic meaning is being “of two minds” about something. Swords are associated with mind, intellect, and action. It is hard to act when we don’t know what to do and the mind is locked into a “six of one, half dozen of the other” stalemate. The image on this card is a guillotine. Right side up or up side down, fading energy or growing energy, the message of this card is cut to the chase. Get to the point of points. Strip away all of the fluff and nonsense and distractions and get to the real heart of the matter. THEN you can decide, act and find balance as needed.
Central Energy, reversed or upright: The Sun
Sunrises are beautiful.
But so are sunsets.
The sun card is about warmth, beauty, positivity and happiness. I am reminded of that quote of unknown origin (although often credited to Abraham Lincoln) that “Most folks are as happy as they make up their mind to be.”
Although the card is overwhelmingly positive, the reversal component reminds us not to go overboard in either direction of our chosen happiness.
Forced happiness doesn’t count. Walking around in a sparkly cloud of self indulgent toxic positivity doesn’t help anything. Forget happy. Take off those rose colored glasses, see things as they are and find a way to be content in the here and now. That’s the happy that lasts.
As much as I love a healthy dose of cynicism and good old GenX style sarcasm, the Sun card flows in both directions. Sometimes you have to take off those jade colored glasses and allow a little unprovoked unreasonable joy into your life.
Growing energy in reverse/ fading energy: Four of Swords
Alleyman deck creator, Seven Dane Asmund, reads this card as “the many angles of our self doubt” … again perfect for the point of view theme of today’s reading.
I ‘hear’ “how do you heal?” Basically the feel is to do something restorative for yourself especially where self confidence is concerned. That area may have taken some dings lately and you might need some repairs. I see the mental image of that social media picture of a little kid who stuck colorful stickers all over themselves (and the puppy next to them) The phrase “bandaids for the soul” springs to mind too.
Also the word “normative” comes to mind, but not in the sense of imposing norms of behavior. It feels more like adaptogenic herbs or essential oils – something that brings a thing back into normal range from either direction. Jojoba oil is an example from aromatherapy. It can moisturize excessively dry skin while helping oily skin to produce less oil.
In short this card encourages you to take care of yourself with meaningful little things as you hit the inevitable little bumps in the road this week.
Again the word “adaptogenic” comes to mind.
I see labradorite, which is a classic stone for easing transitions through life stages and adapting to change.
If you’ll allow me a little rando fangirling, my friend Amanda (Universal Crystal Love on Etsy) makes beautiful wire wrap jewelry and has a particularly good eye for labradorite. The pictures can’t do it justice.
It’s just me, my cards and my chromebook, so delivery times vary, especially nights, weekends and holidays here in the eastern US. They may be slow at times, but my readings are authentic and secure and real and just for you.
See you at the next sip for another oracle dice Learn With Me.
Be the sparkly fireworks you want to see in the world.
Boom!
Hello and welcome to Sage Words Tarot and the Crystal Cast reading for the week of January 21-28. Happy New Year to our friends celebrating the Spring Festival and year of the yin water rabbit!
I’m still working on the physical mechanics of casting the crystals. Have to admit, this shake and toss and see what comes blowing out of the top of the bag is kind of fun. This one might have been a little overly-enthusiastic on my part. It will take some more practice and experimentation to dial it in. We’ll see how it goes. I’m curious as heck whether or not you all like these crystal reading or not. Good, bad or indifferent, please leave your thoughts and feedback in the comments. Heck, I’d even answer reading questions in the blog comments just for the practice. So have at it. No promises, but if you leave a question, there is a fair to middling chance that I’ll do a crystal reading for it. Which means that podcast people will have to use the link in the show description to leave their questions in the blog comments, but hey, it’s a free psychic reading so what can you say?
Back to these crystals.
The mental image that came when the crystals scattered like this was fireworks. Specifically those extra sparkly ones that glitter and shimmer as the remnants fall. It also reminded me a little bit of those holographic glitter nail polishes. The explosive quality to the energy and the way the crystal felt like they were volcano spewing out the top of the bag is a key point, but the happy glittery shiny celebratory quality to the feel and the energy is the bigger focus. It goes right along with the Lunar New Year celebrations. The sparkle is the thing. Joy and happiness is the fuel for the expansiveness of this week’s energy.
I am reminded of the FDR quote that we have nothing to fear but fear itself. And also the famous Mark Twain quote “I’ve had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened.”
This is such a warning against thinking or dwelling on potential problems that I don’t even want to bring it up as a thing to avoid.
The focus is on the sparkle, on the joy.
And it is all inside you.
You are the firecracker. You are the sparkler. This week it is up to you to light the fuse, not wait for external circumstances to do it for you
Don’t let fear be the wet blanket. If you feel it, don’t hold back. Let yourself be an explosion of joy. It’ll help everything go better for you, not to mention elevate the energy and help things go better for everyone around you.
It is said that like attracts like. Think of yourself as a magnet dragging through the week. If you were given the choice, what would you want sticking to you at the end of the week; ridiculous unreasonable happiness in SPITE of everything, or worry and stress BECAUSE of everything?
The visual for that in today’s reading lies in the clear quartz crystal chips. They are a happy sparkling POOF of happy when you look at them intuitively. They are pretty close to being just that literally as well.
The top of the two runes showing is Sowilo, associated with the sun, happiness, light and love. It is an interesting optical coincidence that this particular stone is reflecting light so strongly in the video that it is hard to read the rune.
The other, lower rune is Algiz, which has to do with protection, security, and guidance. It is much easier to feel happy when you feel safe.
Here, too, there is a sense of fearlessness, in a good way. I forget who posted it, but there was an Instagram post a few years ago that has stuck with me. I call it to mind whenever I start to feel any vague or general worry creeping in, especially about stuff that may or may not happen.
The context was a feed about paganism of some sort. They contrasted mainstream or Christian prayer to be protected vs the Germanic pagan mindset of petitioning Odin for the wisdom and strength to be able to protect ourselves.
I prefer the latter point of view.
Why? It just feels better, but also because of compassion.
Which petition has the greater potential to foster compassion? If we seek to be strong and wise, that strength and wisdom can in turn lead to protecting and caring for others. Asking to be pre-emptively protected doesn’t afford that same opportunity.
The desire to grow wise and strong and be a better person is a type of compassion toward oneself.
There are several runestones with their blank side showing. I also read that as potential, as one would expect from any reading that is looking forward. The future is all about seeing the potentials, not making predictions.
Look ahead to this week. Face it with all the courage and happiness you can muster. Light the fuse on a glittering explosion of joy, or at least indulge in a little sparkle. Your little POOF of happiness just might draw the best possible things out of a week full of potential.
Thank you all for reading and listening. Any likes, subs, shares or follows are always greatly appreciated.
Thanks again. Next up for me is the weekly learn to read Tarot post for the members only blog on ko-fi. After that, it is back to the usual Sage’s Sip of Tarot.
The adage “you never know until you try” is scientific experimentation in a nutshell. Don’t forget what Adam Savage said “Remember kids, the only between screwing around and science is writing it down.”
Hi and welcome to Sage’s Short Sip Tarot. This isn’t Tarot, and it isn’t exactly science, but this is me trying something new and this blog is me writing it down so it counts.
It is a bit of an experiment in progress, but CrystalCasts are back. CrystalCasts are pretty basic and simple. It’s based on a combination of scrying, old school charm casting psychic readings, Crystal Vaults style crystal chip readings, rune stones (I’m particularly inspired by Thom Pham‘s Rune Cards of Mannaz) and some good old fashioned pareidolia. I’ve put together a bag of crystals and rune stones, grab a handful at random, chuck them on my favorite Tarot reading cloth and see what happens.
I wanted to show you the part where I mix the bag to show that it is random. Didn’t expect the reading to spew out of the top like this, but I’m thinking it might be an improvement to keep doing it this way. That removes any unconscious psychomotor element from scattering the things by hand. You don’t know until you try, so let’s try. We’ll certainly be writing it down.
A picture is worth a thousand words of writing down, so if you are listening on the podcast, you might want to check out the photo of the crystals for this week over on the blog. If you put in your email, you’ll get all of the crystalcast post – all of the any kind of posts really – in your email inbox to make it easy for you to see.
The large rectangle thing in the middle is a rough cut, largely raw and uncut, clear quartz bead. As I’ve done more of these readings, that bead is taking on the role of significator, a stand in for self. It’s you. It’s me. It’s the anyone who is reading or listening to this if the reading resonates with you at all.
The dark crystal chips are obsidian, and carry a protective energy. See how they circle the big quartz significator? That gives me a “relax, the universe has your back” feeling. What you focus on is what you draw in. You know how when you are learning to drive they tell you to keep your eyes on the road because where you look is where you go? The same is true for esoteric energies and this is something to pay attention to this week. What you energize is what you call to you. Thinking about something energizes it. Worrying about something can energize it. Don’t call your fears to you. Energize the idea that your protective energies are high this week.
It is a good week for qigong and Reiki and other energy boosting practices if you are into that.
By the same token, see how many of the clear quartz chips are outside of the circle of obsidian chips but – importantly – the clear ones also spiral in toward the large significator bead? This is the opposite side of the same coin. If you can beware of energizing your fears and worries, by the same token you can be aware of energizing positive energies and drawing beneficial things toward you.
In short, this week the energies are protective with an influx of good things if you let it. You go where you look, just like driving a car.
Thanks for reading and listening! There is a ton of free Tarot content including all of the old posts written under the TaoCraft Tarot name on the blog website. Use the search bar in the right hand column to look for Tarot cards or topics. While you are in the right hand column, please consider clicking that white coffee mug and supporting this non-monetized, free to access blog and podcast.
Echo and the Bunnyment were right: Bring on the Dancing Horses.
It’s weird, but it happens. I don’t think that’s what it is talking about, though.
Hi and welcome to Sage’s Short Sips podcast previously known as TaoCraft Tarot Podcast previously previously known as Clairvoyant Confessional podcast.
I know. I know. All the name changes are probably pretty kamakaze from a marketing and social media perspective, but I’m all about the Tarot and intuition. I’m letting go of the marketing part of all of this. Business, yes. Professional, yes. Crazy protective of our privacy, yes. Stressing over promotion? No thanks. You can read all about the name thing in the updated Meet Your Reader page on the website so I won’t get into that here.
Today is a Monday, and the start of the first full work week after the New Year’s Day observance last week. Instead of drawing a Tarot card, let’s work with a little pure intuition. I call this crystal casting. It is inspired by a combination of charm cast readings, rune stone readings and a video about reading crystal chips from one of my favorite online information sources, crystalvaults.com.
As always when I say ‘hear’ it means that the intuitive hunch comes in the form of mental words, sounds or songs. When I say ‘see’ it means that hunch comes as a mental image.
Looking at the pattern of quartz chips, obsidian chips and lapis runestones, I ‘hear’ “the weight is in the future” which sounds like cryptic nonsense I’ll grant you. I think that is meant to point our attention to the future so we can be forward looking this week. That isn’t to say that this is predicting any doggone thing. We should always be rooted in the present moment. This is just letting us know that this is a good energy environment for planning, thinking, dreaming, creating, and planting seeds for the future.
The rune stones are to the left of most of the smaller stones. They are obviously the bigger, heavier stones as you can see in the video on the blog post and on the TaoCraft Tarot YouTube channel. (The Sage Words Tarot YouTube is coming soon.) That clustering of the heavier stones to the left, which I read as the path ahead of us. You can orient the scattering of stones in time any way you like – or not at all. I read Tarot spreads from right to left simply because that is the first Tarot layout I learned and how we were taught in an aura reading class that I took once. It seems right, and it stuck. But like I said, the orientation itself is arbitrary. The important thing is to have those sort of details clear in your mind and clear in your intention before you start any given intuitive reading. So for this week, the weight of the reading is forward facing.
The majority of the rune stones are blank, which always seems to be the case. I take that to symbolize the potential in the time ahead. There is always potential in the time ahead, so that fits.
The one rune we do see is Ehwaz. It can be associated with literal travel, but it is also associated with progress, moving forward. The rune is connected to horses. Horses typically move forward. They can move backward, but it isn’t natural or instinctive and they have to be deliberately trained and guided to do it. Dressage horses prance all over the place, but the fancy rich people dancing horses aren’t very common. Horses going backwards is unusual and kind of weird looking, but it happens. Horses move forward. Think Chariot Tarot card from the major arcana. The energy of this week is forward oriented. We should look forward, plan forward, & move forward.
Thank you so much for reading and listening. No matter what you title it, a blog and a podcast aren’t much without YOU, the audience. I appreciate you. Thank you for your support.
CrystalCast psychic reading – a look ahead to the week of 26 December 2022
Hello and welcome to TaoCraft Tarot blog and podcast. I’m glad you are here.
It’s been quite a year for me, and this cast for the final week of 2022 rubs a little lemon juice into a private emotional paper cut. That being said, I’ll leave it to you to decide if this resonates for you or not. That being said, it isn’t about us per se as much as it is a confirmation or explanation of other people or of some of the unkindnesses we may have experienced or witnessed this year.
It might be a pitfall of being a people pleaser. It might come from some deep seated desire to do the right thing above all.
Or it might come from being elitist, egotistical, holier-than-thou and judgemental.
The take-away message that I see here is that people are more important than ideology. When I say ideology, it could extend to anything but top of mind right now is religion. Use it interchangeably in this post, if you like. Damage is done when we put religion or politics or policy over the people they were originally intended to help.
I tend to look at life through a very secular humanist lens. True to pareidolia, our natural neurological tendency to see patterns where likely none exist the pattern I see here is a human form reminiscent of the constellation Orion. If the upper blank rune stone is considered the face, the left hand could be the largest obsidian chip. Left is considered the yin or receiving hand. Give and take is a consideration this week. Don’t leave your receiving hand closed. Give a little love to yourself even as the main focus is caring for others. The black color of the obsidian also resonates with yin, resting, receiving, accepting, abiding: All things to remember.
The right hand is the larger raw quartz bead. If we consider this patter as looking at another human face to face, the quartz would be the sending, giving, yang right hand. Our task this week is to care for others. It’s our turn to give that extra little bit of care and consideration be it literal, like taking out the extra holiday garbage, or giving a little tlc to the emotional bruises the holiday season can inflict for some while celebrating all the good that comes of it for the rest of us.
The “m” shaped rune is ehwaz, which Thom Pham visually likes to two people holding hands. It has to do with relationships.
Your relationship with people and with yourself is pre-eminant. In my opinion any person that puts organization and dogma over people are making the wrong choice. Organizations and their leaders that ask that of their members are barking up the tree of cultism and psychopathy in my non-expert opinion.
The extended diamond shape next to ehwaz is othala, which has to do with homeland, legacy, or ancestral home. I get the purely intuitive sense of that ancestral legacy being self-knowledge in the vein of Socrates. I want to associate it with the treasure of being confident and comfortable within your ancestral home, your own skin. The more you know thyself, and the more comfortable with that authentic self, the more impervious you are to other people’s petty judgements. More importantly, it makes you less likely to judge or demean others, even inadvertently.
Yoda was right. Fear and anger and dare we say emotional pain of any kind leads to the dark side.
Socrates was right. The more you know yourself, the more you can accept and abide with the unique, amazing person that you are.
The art form of Kintsugi is right. Brokenness has the potential to become beautiful.
In this last week of the year, in the flow of yuletide, in the hope of brighter days to come, give freely of your compassion and be generous your ability to see the beauty in cracks and crinkles. Give all of these things freely to yourself as well.
Zombie Cat’s Tarot Reading for 2023 is coming later this week. Zombie Cat doesn’t give a flying brain cell about how Tarot really works, how probabilities really work or if his so-called predictions come true or not. He’s a zombie. And he’s a cat. All of Zombie Cat’s readings are 100% guaranteed to contain words and have a 50% chance of being dead wrong. I hope you’ll stay tuned for the fun.
As for me, I want to say thank you here and now for your kind attention. I appreciate your following the blog and the podcast. It means a lot that you are willing to spend a few minutes and few sips of coffee to consider these little Tarot contemplations.
Both the Blog and the Podcast will be back right after New Years. I’m considering a few superficial updates, maybe even a name change as my Tarot work continues to adapt to some off-line meatspace changes. From your end of things, it will all be pretty much the same. I want to make things more regular and predictable for all of our sakes. Hang in there with me. We got this.
Wishing you all a happy, healthy, peaceful and abundant 2023!
CrystalCast reading for the week ahead,: vibe and chill.
I don’t know what I did, but I lost the video of this one. Backed it up with a static photo, so hopefully this will do.
Hi and welcome to the TaoCraft Tarot blog and audio blog, A.K.A. the podcast. I’m glad you are here.
Since it’s new, and since I screwed up the video anyway, I hope today’s reading will work as a super short nano-sip of a podcast, just to let you know that these crystal cast things exist. Between now and at least January, life here is an elfcon 1 squirrel rave at full volume, so I’m not promising to do anything blog, podcast or social media related at any given time on any given day. Still, it’s my intent to post these “crystal cast” readings on Monday mornings.
Ish.
Hopefully.
But don’t hold your breath. I don’t want to contribute to anyone dropping their oxygen levels.
My intent is also to film the crystals and runestones so you can see them as they fall. Seeing the actual cast might spark something within your own mind and intuition. Just like with a Tarot reading, your hunches and feelings about what something means takes precedence over anything I might say about it.
That’s what readings are about after all. As I see it, professional psychics with all of our woo woo cards, crystals, runes, tea leaves, star charts, chicken bones or what have you are all in service to one thing: the human experience. It isn’t about predicting the future. If that is what you want, then I’m not the reader for you. Buyer beware is all I’m saying about that kind of psychic sales pitch.
Intuitive readings aren’t about any external spirit or deity unless you want them to be. I don’t see it a reading as one bit supernatural. They are no more supernatural than an image in a mirror showing us a point of view we might not have otherwise seen. It is about emotion, perspective and our individual connection to the wholeness of everything. Are psychic readings subtle? Yes. Objectively measurable by science? No. Valid and valuable and enriching to the human experience? Absolutely.
I’m hoping that those of you listening today on the podcast will at some point visit the blog to see the card draw and crystal cast videos. The crystal cast posts will be a blog exclusive after today. There is a link to the blog website in the episode description. Some podcasting platforms allow for video podcasting. I tried a few test episodes, but it seemed to defeat the whole purpose of having an audio version of the blog in the first place. If you are in it to listen while you work or work out or drive or what have you, then for safety’s sake you shouldn’t be looking at a screen. If you want to see the visuals, please, by all means visit the blog or the youtube channel. But if you just want to listen, by all means, please, grab the podcast version and just listen. I value your attention and your thoughts no matter whether you are looking or listening or both.
But, as usual, I digress.
Back to this week and these crystals.
The first and obvious thing is the row of four touching runestones, like a literal wall across the path of the other crystals.
The clustering of clear chips under the wall of rune stones reminds me of last week’s reading. It isn’t a forever blockade. The energy here isn’t a NO – it’s a “slow down and cool your jets” kind of vibe. In my minds eye I see a school crossing guard telling everybody to slow down.
Last week’s reading had a lot of sparkle with an emphasis on productivity and progress. This isn’t a full stop to that previous message, but it is a little bit of fine tuning to the speed of it all. In a way, it is a validation of what you are doing. As dynamic as last week’s reading was and as often as the chaotic Tower Tarot card has shown up lately, this pattern is saying two things:
First, it is ok to cool it with big changes and the frenetic pace.
Second, all that stuff you started is good. Keep up the good work.
Here I get the mental image of that ridiculous looking shirt from the 70’s that said “keep on trucking.” I’m also reminded of Harry Connick Jr. on American Idol talking about singing “in the pocket” or being “in the groove” with the band or some such thing. Now I’m reminded of one of my favorite Twitter memes, your friend and mine, vibing cat.
Whatever you’ve been doing, if it’s working, keep doing it. To borrow some more cliches, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it and just keep on keeping on. Stay in the groove. Vibe with things as they are for a little while.
Of the four rune stones, three are blank. I don’t get the sense of brimming “potential” that I did with last week’s blank stones. There is more of a “stay” or “hold” feel. That would go along with the one rune that is showing – Isa, symbolic of ice.
It doesn’t get much more to the point than that in the intuition and symbolism business.
Chill.
Do, but don’t push. Continue, but at a relaxed pace. You are sliding along, not frozen solid in the ice.
Just to prove that a sense of humor exists in the world…as I write that I get the mental image of olympic curling, and the slow, smooth slide of the curling rocks.
The individual crystals in the top right hand corner of the photo remind me that there are always outliers. This reading doesn’t apply to every single person who hears it. This is a collective energy, general audience kind of reading that should never bear the burden of prediction, even if such a thing were possible. If this reading doesn’t resonate with you, that’s normal. No one reading can be everything to everyone. Keep listening and your perfect message will find you in time.
Thank you so much for reading and listening today. I welcome your questions and feedback through the comments below or the contact in the right hand column over there ->
There are links in the episode description for the podcast.
The blog, the podcast and the youtube channel are not monetized in any way, so they 100% rely on your support. Please visit the TaoCraft Tarot ko-fi page where purchases and memberships all support creating these free blog and podcast Tarot readings for everyone.
Please feel free to browse the website. It is a treasure trove of Tarot readings, transparency and honesty all intended with kindness. Pardon the little sprinkles of sarcasm every now and then. It’s a package deal. Please feel free to look around. What you see is what you get.
Hi. This is just a quick follow up to yesterday’s late night post about the NEW CrystalCast reading. I only recently came up with the idea for this part crystal, part runestone, all scrying, pure intuition, just for fun, look at the week ahead reading. You can see the whole post and watch the video of the actual crystal cast HERE (there is a link in show description for podcast folks) I hope you’ll follow the blog come along as this new reading evolves.
If Short Sip Tarot posts are a contemplation for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee, Crystal Cast posts are a few brain waves for your week in the time it takes to sip from your tea. My intent is to post these either Sunday evenings or Monday morning. Maybe. More or less. Which brings me to the fall and winter schedule:
There is none.
I’m not going to try and fit into an announced schedule anymore. What you see is what you get or wizzy wig as the old school computer programmers used to say it. It is what it is and you see it all as it happens. Intuition, psychic readings and Tarot readings are all very much a product of their present moment. I want my cyberspace presence to authentically reflect that in-the-moment process. This is about quality, not quantity. Writing in the moment whenever that moment happens gives you the best of my intuition. Everything I do here is with the intent that it comes to you in the time and place and way that is highest and bestfor you. I don’t have to write on a set schedule or use a pre-set scheduler for the universe to bring you and your energy message together.
Which happens.
All of the time.
Most of the time, actually, The likes or comments for a post or podcast episode often trickle in long after it was first published. The internet is forever as they say. You never know when someone will stumble onto one of these collective energy readings. When I write in my moment, whenever that is, then you get the best message for you in your moment, whenever that turns out to be.
When I first rebranded from Modern Oracle to TaoCraft Tarot back in 2018, I blogged about the reasons for the name change. At its core, it was about authenticity. TaoCraft is a transparent, honest expression of what my Tarot work is really all about. It was about bringing the cyberspace aesthetics in alignment with the real me; a little witchy and heavily influenced by Taoist philosophy.
All along, under both names, I tried to follow all the good professional advice about best media and marketing practices.
It didn’t work.
Halloween is said to be the witches new year. Intuitively, autumn feels right for wrapping up some things and starting other things, like a new school year – or a new business attitude.
Owning my own business was never the goal. Don’t get me wrong – I need the money as much as the next person, but I’m not out to build a media company or be ridiculously famous. I’m here to communicate, to teach and above all, to inspire. I’m a Tarot reader, a Tarot writer, artist and intuitive. This is real, sincere and authentic Tarot. It’s not a side hustle. It’s not any kind of hustle. It’s artistry and craftsmanship. It is all about quality over quantity.
August and September were the hustle’s last gasp. Did you hear all of the sawing and air wrench sounds? I’ve tweeked a few things around here , but mostly I’m fully embracing the Adam Savage quote of “follow the process, not the plan.”
No more schedule for posts, podcasts or social media. Creativity happens when it happens. Spirit whispers as it does and energy moves as it moves. My job is to honor that process and that spirit and that energy. My job is to translate and communicate that spirit and energy…not bend it to an announced schedule. Serving authenticity in this way will elevate my experience of this work and in turn elevate the quality of the readings you receive, both public and private.
After three pandemic years of few to no party appearances, I’m closing that part of the business. I’m all about individual readings now, either privately in person, privately by email (still my specialty), or from me to you by way of the blog, pod and social media.
Starting in January all in-person appointments will be on Mondays, because of non-Tarot reasons. If you can’t meet on a Monday, we can work live online through a Zoom call at another time that works for both of us. Both online and in-person are by appointment anyway.
Purchases are all through my ko-fi page now. It is a MUCH easier checkout process, still secured by PayPal. You can check out and submit your question in one super-easy seamless process.
In person sessions can pay cash in exact change at the time of the reading (I don’t carry cash or make change) OR you can pre-pay through the ko-fi shop. When you pre-purchase the in-person session you get an instant download .pdf with general instructions a free sample chapter from one of my upcoming ebooks.
Email Tarot readings are still my specialty. I’m psychic, and I’m a writer. I’m a psychic writer, I suppose. But I’m not a marketer or media maven. I’m not a hustle. I’m not a clinical therapist. I’m not a healer. I’m a muse for your ideas and messenger for your spirit guides to help inspire personal growth and creative problem solving. Forget predicting the future. Claiming your personal power and growing as a human being is what this style of Tarot is about. If you want next-level inspiration, I’m here to help. If you want to predict the future, might I suggest one of those 8-ball toys? To be blunt, this is Tarot for grown-ups and for people who want to grow.
Grown-ups tend to be practical. We work smarter, not harder, so all of the practical advantages of email Tarot are HERE on the website.
In fact, the blog website has pretty much everything about TaoCraft Tarot. It is a treasure trove of Tarot readings, transparency and honesty all intended with kindness. Pardon the little sprinkles of sarcasm every now and then. It’s a package deal. Please feel free to look around. What you see is what you get.
Thanks for reading and listening. I appreciate any questions, comments, likes, follows or shares you can spare.
Cut through the noise of social media and the static of online Tarot posts to get something a little more personal. You choose your card and get it’s interpretation.
Welcome to YouChoose Interactive Tarot on the TaoCraft Tarot blog and podcast. I’m glad you are here.
This post works just like the name says: you choose. You choose your card and you choose how to apply it. It’s Monday morning where I am right now, so my mind is drawn to the flow of energy for the week ahead. Overall it feels like a time to rest and contemplate. This feels like a time to gather your energy and regroup, recover from recent efforts or as “Bob the Writing Cat” on instagram often says – to “gird your loins” because it is Monday and the week is coming.
But, of course, it could be something entirely different for you.
If you are listening to audio only on the podcast, there is a link in the description to the blog post where you can watch the youtube video and see how all this is playing out with the real-world card draw. I’ve added the shape cards as a reference to make it easier to imagine and to pick a card from the audio only, but if seeing it would help, the visual is here for you.
First things first. Let’s choose. I’ve shuffled the Tarot deck and picked three random cards out of the five shape cards. Today we have square, triangle and wavy lines.
Choose a shape. Take a minute, take a deep breath. If you are watching the video, pause if you need more time then restart to see the card reveal. If you are listening, imagine the shapes. Choose the one that feels right for today; square, wavy lines or triangle.
Square gets the Four of Cups
Triangle get the Ace of Pentacles or Coins
Wavy Lines gets the Four of Swords
Four of Cups feels like validation. People are closed as it seems. Lines of communication are not flowing well, but it is temporary and it’s ok. It just isn’t a time to push on the giving or receiving in. If others are up in your grill but you need them to step back and wait a little, honor that feeling. If you are the one trying to get the message through and other people just can’t get the message or seemingly won’t listen honor that too. It just isn’t the time. Let them have their moment. There is no sense in beating your head against the wall. This isn’t a good time to push or be too assertive any more than it is a good time to be imposed upon.
The Ace of Pentacles feels like a good news is on the horizon card. It feels consistent with the physical world, money and career vibe that is traditionally associated with pentacles. It’s no wonder some decks call them coins instead. This feels like payday in a small way. It feels like getting a return on work already done, time already invested. Time transforms. Things are coming back around, but it feels like it is in unexpected but valuable ways. It feels like a transformation toward something very different but more valuable to this moment. The mental image is a diamond. Diamonds are made of carbon, but elemental carbon is a very different thing when it isn’t in the high pressure crystal lattic form we call diamonds. Don’t overlook the diamond that is coming back from the carbon you gave a long time ago. If you gave grape juice, don’t walk around looking for more grape juice when you are being handed a glass of wine.
The Four of Swords really captures the essence of that rest, repair, regroup energy we were talking about earlier. Swords cards and knight cards carry a sense of activity and motion and doing. This card balances that. It is the yin to the knight of swords yang. This card is all about rest, but rest with an active purpose. This is resting deliberately so you can be at your best during the next battle, the next active time that is going to come. For those of you who picked this card, rest and contemplate fast. I have a hunch the restful, contemplative mode will shift for you before it does for everyone else.
Thank you for reading, watching and listening to TaoCraft Tarot blog, you tube channel and podcast.
I’m not monetized on any of these platforms and this free to access Tarot content 100% relies on your support. Please visit the new, expanded TaoCraft Tarot ko-fi page to see all the ways you can be a patron to the Tarot arts. I appreciate any likes, subs, shares, blog follows, reading orders, or shop purchases that you can spare to help me keep this project going. Thank you.
Sage Sips / TaoCraft Tarot 
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