I read the Farmers Almanac newsletter. And yes, it makes me feel old but also sentimental because my Grandmother always had a copy on the table. And no, I’m not a gardener but damn – the recipes. This morning’s newsletter included Theresa Reed’s article about the beginning of Saturn retrograde.
Astrology isn’t a vibe for me except for the occasional sip of shadenfreude when memes make fun of people in a flap about Mercury retrograde. It seems Saturn is taking Freddy Mercury’s place in the microwave.
I’m feeling this one. Not the Mercury thing, the Saturn thing.
Retrogrades are only frustrating if you are caught up in constant forward striving and wanted to get what you don’t have and get it now. Not everything is about new beginnings, not everything is constant personal growth and forward movement.
Sometimes the energy is about the next phase, not a new beginning.
It is about solidifying and maturing, and is very much attune to this time of year. After the seeds sprout, you have to let them grow up before you can celebrate the harvest.
This isn’t a time of manifesting what you don’t have – this is a time of investing in what you do have. Now is a time to make all you’ve learned solid and real and lasting. It’s about maturing what you’ve already manifested.
“Curing” comes to mind. Not the healing kind of way….in the resin and glue kind. Soaps, resin art, some glues, have to have time to ‘cure’ and become fully solid, durable, usable. It is akin to the aging process in fine wine.
Would you rather climb up on a stack of wobbly boxes or a nailed-together step stool? This week, or even the next several months if this retrograde type vibe holds, is a time to reinforce this new place so it can become a solid foundation for later growth.
We’ve talked a lot over the past several months about leaving what no longer serves. Walking away from the bad entails walking toward the good. Now we are at the next step in the process. We’ve given thoughts and energies to both the past and the future. Now it’s time to invest in here and now. Mindfulness is always good advice. This energy is mindfulness turned up to 11. This is very much a “repair and maintain” energy. This is a time to make it strong where you are.
I hear “invest in this.” Invest time in the here and now. Things will move again, they always do. This is that next phase and new you that you’ve worked toward. Live here for a little while. Incorporate and integrate all that you have learned and achieved so far, whatever that is. And whatever that is – is perfectly good and enough.
This is cool. I never thought of this before. I always put so much mental bandwidth into communicating the message for my client that I never thought about my point of view within the intuitive mental image.
Point of view is often part of the message – just like the mental image of the three paths at the narrow mountain summit what has repeated recently in “Summit and Crossroads“, “Move With Charisma” and “Feeling Kawaii” collective energy readings here on the blog.
In that repeating image, my point of view arrived at the summit facing forward with the message to wait and watch and with all three directions (forward, left, right but of course not off the cliff behind – that’s a whole other post right there). When the image came back again later, my point of view was still facing forward with the right and left paths in shadow and the path straight ahead was lighted. Clearly the message was to move forward, to change altitude, to enter the new phase and new cycle message that came through the repeating moon card.
While the Chariot isn’t a change card per se, it touches that energy through its wheels, which evoke much of the same energy of the Wheel of Fortune / Wheel of the seasons card. Round, moon, wheel, forward travel; there is a theme and pattern here.
Chariot is at it’s best a card of willpower, alertness, attention to the present moment. It very much resonates with the head-over-heart vibe that has been repeating lately as well. It is science and personal power and confidence, and presence of mind. I think of it as the test pilot card, or for those familiar with the 1980s movie, a Buckaroo Banzai kind of card.
The thing that fascinated me as I write this is the shifted point of view. Always before I’ve seen the Chariot from outside the Chariot. The message of willpower and persistence and presence and attention always came through just fine, and every bit of it is there tonight, a night of dark moon. Tonight I saw the Chariot from inside the Chariot. The change in point of view added something vital, new to the Chariots usual message: relaxation. Enjoyment even. Driving the Chariot was like driving a car at night with the window down. It was blues and cool breezes, no traffic, no stress. It was like the quiet relaxed mindfulness of a long drive on a quiet highway in good weather.
This is about embracing the change, participating in the inevitable changes in life. I am reminded of an Instagram post by my favorite meditation communicator Dan Harris, author of 10% Happier. In the post he quoted another of my favorite authors, Alan Watts.
“Everything is change. Nothing can be held on to. And if you go with the flux, you flow with it. However, if you resist the stream, it fights you. If you realize this, you swim with the flow—you go with it, and you’re at peace.”
Which reminded me of Frank Herbert in Chapterhouse Dune
“Live the best life you can. Life is a game whose rules you learn if you leap into it and play it to the hilt. Otherwise, you are caught off balance, continually surprised by the shifting play.”
The Chariot from a forward facing point of view is encouraging us to keep our mind in this moment, go with the flow, and go with it to the absolute hilt. Don’t strive and stress. Enjoy the ride and abide.
In this night of the dark moon, I wish Peace, Presence and Prosperity for us all.
When I do these week ahead readings, typically I either use my Action Eases Anxiety layout with my one and only Lenormand deck, or I use another layout with one of my several RWS decks, whichever one intuitively seems right for the moment.
Oddly, today’s energy asked for a TaoCraft Path layout with the Lenormand deck. Gives me the feeling that either this is going to land with someone personally OR that the collective energy has something to say and wants to be heard. With any kind of luck, it’s both.
Anyway, here’s what we got.
Influence from the past: The Mountain (right)
OK – maybe the storm lasted 6 years instead of two. I ‘hear’ (meaning the intuition comes as mental words or music instead mental images) both the words “end game” and an old 1970s song “Looks Like We Made It” (Barry Manilow? – ugh. OK, message received. I’ll brain bleach that with music I actually like now)
The feeling and imagery reminds me of images given toward the end of covid lockdown, of cautiously coming out of a storm shelter to see what damage has been done. Maybe that was actually the eye of the hurricane and 2024 was the second side of the 2020 storm.
It also gives me of the scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where Indy crawls over the edge of the cliff where his dad is staring over the edge thinking Indy was dead. So Indy just stands there too, trying to see what everybody was looking at.
Long story short, this card is letting us know we made it – again. We’ve climbed another cliff, and now it’s time to drag ourselves over the edge, see what everyone else is looking at and figure out what to do next.
Current Energy: Crossroads (middle)
With this I ‘hear’ “Hekate” and “keys”. The mental image is coming to the top of the mountain or dragging over the cliff edge as with the last card and immediately being faced with a crossroads. The straight ahead path immediately heads down the other side of the mountain. Left and right paths go along the summit ridge in opposite directions. All are equally lit by the setting or rising sun, all three seem equally compelling. My instinct is to stay still and gather a better sense of things. Choosing to do nothing just now is still a choice. I hear “this needs time”
For YOU as individual, I hear “the key is imagination.” If you imagine that your stresses are winding down (regardless whether they FEEL that way or not right now)…imaging that they are. Imagine that you have survived your stress, it is behind you, and you have four clear choices of how things go from here in the near future. Left, right, straight ahead or stand right the hell here for a minute, which pulls you? Which looks brighter in your mind’s eye? Where are each of those choices headed? Which direction do you WANT to go?
“No rest for the wicked” as the saying goes. We are being hit with a deliberate, mindful choice as soon as the wave of stress and challenge begins to pass. The time to choose your next steps is NOW. It’s about the mindfulness of the choice. Even if the choice is to stop and rest for a minute, MAKE that choice deliberately. It doesn’t matter as much what you choose, only that you choose it with full awareness and purpose.
You can change your mind later, the point is to at least make up your mind for now. Don’t just let this week happen to you. Experience it on purpose.
Best Next Steps: The Stork (left)
The Stork symbolizes newness and cycles. Not all change is bad, but new change is hot on the heels of old change. This last phase, this last storm is rapidly closing, but there is no fence to straddle, no flat path to follow. Standing still is a choice on the razor’s edge. New movement and change comes quickly. In this mental image of the summit and the paths, the top is narrow, maybe a meter wide. Straight ahead slopes down quickly, right and left remains flat but narrow along the ridge. Every direction is equally light, equally compelling.
You can always change your mind later. This feels less about which direction you choose…less about WHAT you choose and more about making a choice NOW and even more importantly choosing AT ALL. Don’t let this week just happen to you. Be deliberate and mindful about what you do, even if it is to nothing. Stay the course if you want, but do it on purpose.
Astrology isn’t my strong suit, but it is the full moon, a blue moon, in Saggitarius for whatever that is worth. The astrology side of social media caught my attention with it because it is supposed to be good or lucky for my sun, moon and rising signs. It is supposed to be at time to plant seeds of intention as this is an opportune time for the to come to full and good fruition.
I’ll take that.
But I get the sense that this is an opportune window of time, a favorable energy environment for deciding your direction. Nothing has to be finished now. The Stork card hints at birth and beginning. Take it all in for a moment, but plant the seeds now. Or as social media’s Tank Tolman says….begin where you stand.
For some, standing is a beginning.
The past has been hard. You’ve seen things and done stuff, and crawled back up and over the edge of the cliff. Right away we are hit with the likelihood of more change, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing. Level and downhill is easier than dragging ourselves up a steep climb. It is all sunlit and warm (gives pleasant sunset vibes) The thing to do to move forward in harmony is just to do it – do anything or nothing so long as we do it deliberately
Here is to a sunny summit kind of week for us all. See you at the next sip!
Am working on a long-format post for the first time in ages. It feels good to do that kind of writing again. I’m hoping to do more.
The day job has been day-jobbing this past week, but I’m hoping to do a week-ahead reading post tomorrow if I can squeeze it into the squirrel rave playlist.
I hope you’ll stay tuned to both Sage Sips and Sage’s Second Cup.
My first thought today was to do the usual Action Eases Anxiety layout with the usual Lenormand or RWS tarot decks.
But instinct, or intuition, or spirit or the muses – or whatever you want to call it – had another idea.
First, I felt pushed toward the Normal Tarot deck (by Seven Dane Asmund, used with permission) Then the layout seemed all wrong. Anxiety is often connected to outside conditions like *gestures wildly* everything in America right now.
At that point I hear “look within”
How very Bene Gesserit.
Look for and listen to your own deep intuition. It speaks quietly, and needs your full attention and maybe some amplification. Any microphone of your choice will do. For me it’s cards. It might be astrology, or a random song on a randomly chosen playlist. It might be that one wise snippet posted by someone in the middle of your nightly doomscroll. Whatever your amplifier of choice, look inside and listen to the spirit and intuition that is in there. Take yourself seriously.
Looking at the deck’s guide, the Drowned King is about tragedy at the hands of hubris. It is biting off more than you can chew, and then choking on it.
I am also reminded of the taijitu. The opposite colored dot in the middle of the widest portion of each color speaks to how anything in the extreme holds the seed of its opposite.
The advice is really about moderation. This is a week for taking the middle way.
Yell too loud and yes, you are heard, but you also let your enemies know where you are. Learn too far forward and you fall down. We’ve been called to action a lot recently by the Knight of Swords, but there are limits. Know yours.
When you’ve been pushing the “edge of the envelope,” you have to know when to “haul it back in” as the movie The Right Stuff put it.
Look inside and listen. You’ll know when to move, and when to stay put. You’ll know when to strive, and when to take smaller and chew so you don’t wind up like the Drowned king.
This card and the inverted star together let us know that we are where we need to be right now. Sit tight. Bloom where you are planted. Be present with here, now. Too much pushing or striving could lead to disaster.
Taking slow sips this week – see you at the next one
Today we are using the Normal Tarot deck by Seven Dane Asmund in the Action Eases Anxiety layout.
What it is: The Fifth of Winter (peak of the test)
What to do: The Masterless Knight (wild card)
How to do it: The Courteous King (tragedy and compassion)
I am reminded of the old adage that “Courage isn’t the absence of fear, it is taking action in spite of it.”
This old meaning of courage is important in these new times.
These cards hint that things are just as bad as they seem. Denial serves no good purpose. The old ways are gone, beyond repair.
The only way forward is to create something new, something courageous and something profoundly compassionate. Here I ‘hear’ the song “Miss Couragous” by the 1990s band The Nixon Clocks.
Old institutions can no longer guide us. I ‘hear’ “religion must fall.” Given my personal background, this feels particularly directed at American evangelicals. May they become social pariahs.
Find your own unique way. You are the king of your own inner kingdom but with no control or dominion over other people. Rule your inner world with wisdom and compassion. Compassion directed toward yourself and toward others.
The Action Eases Anxiety layout gives us a look at the current energy for today or the week. It shows what the energy is, then suggests a good way to deal with it. Whenever you have some small bit of understanding and an action plan, those ideas together can ease anxiety and worry a little bit. It’s no grand prediction about what will happen, but a solid suggestion how to move through this current energy with a little bit more peace of mind.
Like I’ve always said: Tarot isn’t about predicting what will happen in life – Tarot is for figuring out what to do when life happens.
What it is: New Moon (reversed) – fragile potential
What to do: Five of Winter – persist
There is much potential around you, but it can be easily thwarted. Don’t sell yourself short. Persist. Don’t bail out just when the worst is about to be over.
I ‘hear’ (meaning the intuitive interpretation comes as words or sounds instead of mental images) “It can’t rain all the time” from the 1994 movie version of The Crow.
I am also reminded or the adage to not change horses mid stream.
Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Don’t snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
It’s also said that it’s darkest before the dawn. Don’t give up just before the sun peeks over the horizon.
Just because it’s hard doesn’t mean it isn’t worth doing.
And all the platitudes and proverbs like that.
In other words, yes it’s hard. Yes it’s a mess. Hope is over the crest of the next wave. Don’t wimp out at the last minute. Dig deep you’ll make it over the crest of the biggest wave sooner or later.
shown: The Normal Tarot deck by Seven Dane Asmund, used with permission. Learn more at publishinggoblin.com
CURRENT ENERGY: The Tower. You can’t control the world, but you are 100% in control of how you respond to it. Don’t pray for protection or to be given something. Pray instead for the strength and resources to keep yourself safe, to make or create the things you want.
WHAT TO DO: The Stork. This is the birth of something new and different. Change strategies. DO things differently to get different or better results. This is it. It’s your time to step up and do what you need to do for your own well being and those you love. Now is a good time to be the change you want to see in your inner world, and maybe the outer one too.
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Pause the video if you want more time to think, then restart to see the reveal.
The World: Whew! You made it through the past few weeks. Halumi and R’amen for that! The World is your cue that things are turning. The world is always your oyster. Sometimes it is just a matter of hanging on until your part of the world turns toward the sun again.
Six of Cups: Only everything is everything. The smallest pleasures hold a universe of delights. It’s OK to enjoy the small things as much as the big things. Delight can come anywhere, from anything, at any time.
When you celebrate little wins, feel relief at finishing tough weeks, and find joy in small things anywhere you find them, the world is delight in a cup
Deck: Witches Tarot by Ellen Dugan and Mark Evans, copyright 2012 all rights reserved. Used with permissions on Llwellynpublishing.com
Action Eases Anxiety layout shows ‘what it is’ (left – current energy or situation) and ‘what to do about it’ (right- advice to help move forward) Having a plan makes things less scary, even if the plan goes off the rails (which is usually does – being adaptable helps too)
Three of Pentacles: the physical realm, especially when it comes to work and career feels inside out and upside down. And it isn’t all under your control. The system or teamwork may be falling apart or under stress.
Knight of Wands: Now is the time to make a move in favor of yourself. You are your own best mentor and support team in this moment. Don’t be petty or hurtful or throw anyone deliberately under the bus, but do what you need to do for you. This is that moment where the oxygen masks are dropping and you have to put yours on before you can help anyone else. You are no good to anyone, yourself or otherwise, if you are metaphorically unconscious. Tend to your own physical and mental health this week so you can be present for new situations and other people later on.
Often this strategy brings guilt about not helping others in this moment, or worry that there will be pay-back or blow-back. Think of it as a short term investment for a long term gain. If there is blow-back for giving yourself a short amount of time to do what you need to do for yourself – then that shows the true colors. A time like this where the energy supports taking care of yourself shows who supports you and who doesn’t. Use that information to know how best to spend your energy and efforts moving forward. This time not only benefits you directly, but also lets you help others with sincerity and dedication in times to come.
The knight of wands carries most of the energy in this reading. It often reminds me of the book/series Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel. In that, the Knight of Wands turns out to be a harbinger of “magic returning to England”
The Knight of Wands is here to let us know that this is a time for our magic to come home. It is a time to pay attention to your passions, your loves, the things that make life most magical for you.
Your magic is returning. This is the week to welcome it.
Sage Sips / TaoCraft Tarot 
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