It might have immediate blowback, or it might be building foundations or planting seeds that pays off later.
Potential lies in the hands of action.
All of the cards this week are swords. Swords are associated with air and action, intellect, and our relationship with authority, culture or society at large.
The fading energy card is the Page of Swords. Pages are students and learners. With this being in the fading position, it is a clue to a change of phase. It is the end of the beginning. It’s time to put on the big kid underwear and get to work. At some point you have to leave school and do the thing. For many, now is that time. Now is the time to make old efforts pay off, true to the harvest season, lending this card a sense of rapid expansion. The page is supposed to represent a knight in training. Knights can become kings. With these two cards side by side, it gives a feeling of rapid expansion, a rise through ranks, rapid progress after a dely.
Current energy is the king of swords. King cards are protectors and leaders. Again intellect and action mixed. This is a time of head over heart. Kings protect the kingdoms boundaries. This is a hint to set and protect and enforce our boundaries. Insist on respect but give it in equal measure and with equal discipline.
Anything in its extreme contains the seed of its opposite
Rapid expansion can also translate to ‘in over your head’
The growing energy card, the three of swords is a caution against falling prey to your own naivete and inexperience. Know what you don’t know, and know enough to ask for help when its needed to avoid problems. The faster you move, the harder it is to see and avoid pitfalls in time. Heads up. Problems may come at you faster as the week rolls on.
Thank you for reading. Good luck and be careful out there!
Next up: Learn with Me: Lenormand on Wednesday. See you at the next sip!
FREE : Ask me anything and get a Zombie Cat style yes or no reading in the blog
It’s full-on, for-real spooky season. It’s said that the “veil” between the subtle and physical realms becomes thin this time of year. Theoretically humans are more sensitive to the mystical, mysterious and spiritual.
This week the fading energy is the 10 of cups. Cups are emotion. Tens are the largest and only double digit minor arcana number cards. Emotions have surged. Put in astrology terms, the last full moon in Pisces, the mercury retrograde, something Saturn or another -not my area of expertise – may have had nerves on edge. Everything is out of the gatorade and the microwave isn’t on, so emotions may be a little smoother this week. There is a sense of advice around this card to find peace of mind and peaceful emotions. Cups are associated with the element of water. Where there has been splashing and flailing for some and stagnant slack water for others, things are now moving in a better direction. Let it go, let it flow, go with that flow….all of those nice, rhyme-ish platitudes. Choose your battles. This may not be the time to fight. Find your flow instead of looking for hills to die on.
The current energy is the knight of wands. Wands are fire and can symbolize inner fire, inner passions, spirituality, philosophy. This is a time to stand up for yourself, but opt out of the drama. Don’t find hills to die on, find for your flag to fly on. It is a time of finding yin power – of attraction, transformation. If this were a major arcana card, it’d be the magician. Here I am reminded how in Suzanna Clark’s novel Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrel, the knight of wands was a sign of magic returning to England.
You have no more right to change other people than they have to change you, but you every right to BE you. The mental image of a force field, of energy shields akin to Star Trek or Dune comes here. Knights are self confidence and action. BE is a verb. Be yourself apologetically.
The growing energy is the Hierophant card, in this case from the Minchiate Tarot from the early 1500s in Italy. It has images of monarchy ruling by divine right, but could also be seen as divine inspiration or a muse-like energy. It doesn’t carry the religious imagery of the pope-like Hierophant cards.
This card is a reminder that sometimes it is ok to be a bit of rebel. In these days, it pays to use your head and be safe, but as you are able, allow yourself to follow your own calling, regardless of whether it meets other peoples expectations. Follow your own path, be your own person. The wind may not be at your back for that sort of thing right now, but supportive energies are growing – especially if you actively seek them. Find your tribe. Again, fly your own flag. BE your own person. Honor your own divine calling even if it is counter to the social, political, or religious so-called authorities. Honor your own internal guidance. You are your own best minister. Guidance from your highest self is heard within. Your happiness depends on no one but you.
Internal guidance put humankind on the moon.
Thanks for reading! If you found this reading at all helpful, please consider a private reading or clicking the white mug to support the blog with a virtual coffee. Next up: Learn With Me, Lenormand introduction part 2 coming Wednesday 9/27/23
See you at the next sip!
Alleyman’s Tarot deck used with permission Publishing Goblin LLC
Tarot isn’t about time, and collective spirit energy doesn’t’ flow in a straight line.
I’ve said it dozens of times, and I’ll say it again: Tarot isn’t about telling you what will happen in life: Tarot helps you figure out what to do when life happens.
Right now life is happening in a very deliberate, circumspect way. If you feel stressed, or if you feel like you are getting slammed by life right now then one of two things is going on. Either this simply isn’t the reading for you and your guidance lies elsewhere OR the things that are happening are happening for some reason. The stressing and slamming has to happen to get you where you want (or more likely need) to go, be it physically, mentally or emotionally.
For those who feel like things are stuck or stagnant – don’t worry, the shift is still shifting, the flow is still flowing at the speed that needs to happen, not at the speed we want it to happen.
Here I am given the mental image of the Mississippi river at New Orleans again. It is a big river. It is wide, it is deep. It seems still. But stand on her shore and a mind boggling amount of water moves by you every minute. That is today’s energy. Seemingly quiet, but deep and powerful nonetheless.
And this energy isn’t going anywhere any time soon it seems. Two cards repeat from last week. In all of the time I’ve been doing these monthly (more recently weekly) three card readings I can only think of once or twice that ONE card would repeat from one reading to the next. Two repeating cards is remarkable.
This energy wants to be heard. And its willing to sit with us and abide with us until the time is right for it to move on. Take your time. Spirit will take time for you.
Abide.
Abide keeps coming through. Be patient with yourself, be patient with nature and circumstance and time. Be kind to the moment. Be kind to those around you. Be kind to yourself.
Abide.
Abide this pace of things. Fast flows and turbulence will return soon enough. Neil DeGrasse Tyson famously said that the universe is under no obligation to make sense to you. Neither is under any obligation to meet your expectations or your schedule. The big river flows at its own pace. Flow with it, it will carry you effortlessly. Or stay on the shore, and wait for the next boat or bridge. It is up to you.
The fading energy, the queen of swords, doesn’t mean that your power is fading. It is simply stepping back from the forefront of your attention. True strength doesn’t need to be the center of attention. The Queen of Swords is about stepping up, stepping into and accepting your power.
Ok, you are powerful. So now what? Accepting time is over. Now that it is yours, it is time to begin using it. It is time to begin LIVING it
Which is why we are surrounded by the Three of Pentacles energy. Three of Pentacles is being part of a team or guild, of work. It is about success through work. Contribute. Support your team, they have supported you. Claiming your power within your own mind is great, but it has to be used, applied, and lived in order to become a real, solid, integrated part of you.
The Moon and its changes are still with us albeit with a different looking card. There are multiples of several cards within the Alleyman’s deck. The slack water of last week’s reading is just beginning to slowly, slowly tip in the other direction. Ebbs will flow and vice versa, but again in its own time in its own way.
“The message stands.” You can read about last week’s moon and three of pentacles energy HERE.
And there the energy steps back.
Thank you so much for reading! Next up, “Learn with me: oracle dice” returns Wednesday.
Merry Monday! Pour yourself a cup of something to sip and let’s see what energies are around this week.
I’m going to use the format I would use for you if this was a private, one to one email reading. Keep in mind that this is a collective energy, general blog reading so if it doesn’t fit, don’t worry. There are tons of free readings in the archives. Feel free to use the search bar or browse old posts. You might find something that resonates for you individually.
Today’s cards are:
Fading Energy: Three of Pentacles
Current Energy: Five of Cups
Growing Energy: The Moon
General Pattern: Energy has been low and languishing if not outright stagnant for the past few weeks. It still feels very calm and slow moving, almost stately. The mental image here is of a deep, wide river, like the Mississippi. There is movement but it is far from crashing rapids or a waterfall. This is not the kind of beginning you might see with a Fool card, but more of a gradual shift. Here the mental image becomes a sand dune, with a shallow layer of sand skittering down the side of the dune in a light breeze. I hear the sound of it, like a rasping droplet noise, like a rainstick toy. We see a lower number minor arcana card moving into a slightly higher minor arcana card before finally moving into the higher energy of a major arcana card. Things are beginning to shift, but slowly, in a relaxed, chill, natural sort of way.
There is a sense of advice here: don’t push. Let the shift happen naturally. Pushing could lead to falling down the dune and not landing well.
Fading Energies: The three of pentacles (coins) reflects the work environment. Teamwork is key. This is a card of collaboration. Again there is that sense of “don’t push.” This is not the week to make waves. Teambuild as best as you can and put career / work on autopilot as best as you can. It would be helpful to have this practical, physical realm part of life be stable as energies turn inward. Energies are starting to shift from head to heart, from physical to emotional.
Current Energies: There is a trace of nostalgia, melancholy, maybe even regret around this card. Not every moment of life is joy and euphoria. If it is – something is wrong. Not every moment of life is gloom and despair. If it is – something is wrong. This card doesn’t feel like it is touching either extreme of emotion. There is something vaguely goth about this energy. Sometimes it is ok to be very low energy, low key, apathetic and have a little mope. Again, it is back to lay back and channel your inner Wednesday Addams. Pushing or striving is the exact wrong vibe right now. The shift is beginning. Stay chill. Watch, wait, save the emotional wattage for when the time is right. Blandness is your friend for the moment. Don’t worry, it will all change soon enough
Growing energy: The moon. The moon is about intuition, psychic ability, spiritual journeying and all off that, true enough but this time it is pointing more toward cycles. The moon is tied to the cycles of the tides. The moon has the obvious phases plus it’s yearly drift from being at its farthest from Earth (apogee) and being a bit closer (perigee). The moon is cycles within cycles, gradual drifts and shifts. This month is a close-orbit time of year, what people have started calling a “supermoon.” All of this points to the cyclic energy. All the stagnation energy from the past several weeks might begin to move, albeit calmly and slowly. Let it take its own pace for the best outcome. You can’t make the tide rise any faster than it does. Let your energy level and emotional levels take their own natural pace, too. Things will cycle through, be patient.
Summary: In a private reading, I’d give any direct psychic / intuitive information that comes through whether it has to do with your question or cards or not. This part seldom offers much, if anything to a collective reading – although I did get a quick flash of a tumbled, polished citrine, for whatever that is worth.
Something about Grandmother’s here too. Find something comforting – a favorite sweater, a favorite food, a favorite song. Find something that comforts you and indulge a little in that.
And there the energies step back
I hope that helps.
Right now, I feel like I need a break from the Orale Dice series. I might just pull a card, maybe from an oracle deck instead of classic Tarot. Either way, I hope you’ll join me here on Wednesday when we’ll take another sip of something.
*Po-tay-toes!* Boil ’em, mash ’em, stick ’em in a stew… Lovely big golden chips with a nice piece of fried fish.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (movie 2001)
Some days don’t feel magical. Some days you just have to peel the damn potatoes.
But if you can do that, when you get through the ordinary, there is magic at the end. Or at least a meal full of filling, satisfying, starchy comfort.
Today is a little like potatoes for me. It is utterly, delightfully, magically ordinary. It is a day off from the day job – but no pressing errands, no frenzy of summer recreation. Just simple household things to do.
This is where the magic lives.
We talk about attracting and manifesting and living our dreams. But where will the dream live? Where are we attracting TO? Manifested dreams live in our ordinary world, regardless of whether you attracted them there – or if they were there all along just waiting to be seen. Either way, the path to magick is lined with ordinary days.
You may not think it takes courage to live an ordinary day. For some, an ordinary day is a monumental task, made large and seemingly insurmountable by every type and kind of human challenge. For others an ordinary day is a precious commodity made rare by stress and circumstance.
You never know when ordinary will make you a dashing hero or when the potatoes you peeled will light a child’s smile for the golden chips that they made.
Have courage, do the ordinary, and look for the magic that hides there every day.
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Sage Sips: a Tarot look at the week ahead in the time it takes to sip from your coffee
Hello and welcome to Sage Sips the blog, the newsletter and, so it seems, the podcast.
I think we finally and for real have everything set up under th new name. Sage words tarot is the main website with links to all the good stuff including private readings you can order anytime, no appointment needed.
Sage Sips is the name of the active podcast. The old feed under the title “Sage’s Short Sip Tarot” has been deleted or soon will be. Sage Sips is the name of this blog on ko-fi and substack where you can also get these Pathway readings for the week ahead on Mondays, but also subscriber exclusive content at other times.
Simple! And hopefully easier to spell and remember than the name Tao Craft was. So now that all of that is apparently nailed down for the moment, let’s look at the cards and energies ahead for this week. When I say energies ahead I don’t mean what is going to happen.
Nope.
That is 100% up to you and your individual circumstances. These pathway readings are all about the energy conditions that you have to work with, the vibe ahead can help you to make better decisions and take the best actions for you as an individual. It’s like how the general weather report for everybody helps you to decide what to wear out of your individual wardrobe.
You can decide to bring an umbrella if pouring rain is on the horizon, that sort of metaphoric thing.
This week has big energy, but it is big yin energy. There are two major arcana cards, death and the high priestess. Both cards are inverted, and that feels very significant this time.
If you’ve listened or read for any amount of time, you know that I use pure intuition when it comes to reversed cards, that is to say cards that appear upside down relative to the person doing the reading.
Every card has every shade of meaning: black or white, positive or negative, encouraging or discouraging and every shade of grey in between. I tend to reach for all the shades of feeling for every card anyway, so a physical reversal may or may not be meaningful. It might hint that the part of life represented by the card’s position in the layout is blocked, or hindered or difficult somehow. Just as likely, it could be a hint at a particular set of meanings or key words for the card rather than the layout position. Or, just as likely as either of those, it could mean nothing at all.
In this case it feels like a pull. It feels like advice so slow down, to pull back. I’ve never actually done this, but I imagine this is the mental and emotional equivalent of swimming in thick syrup. There is power here, but it is like the power a bowl holds…its usefulness is in the empty space as much as the bowl that defines it.
There is a sense of tension and expectancy, a period of necessary emptiness and quiet to give future progress somewhere to go. That’s why the two major arcana cards are standing on their heads.
The mental image here is two things:
First is the three of wands card. I don’t think that card is significant with regard to its meaning or key words. It’s more of the feeling that is evoked by the artwork on the card, usually of a figure gazing at the horizon. That lends a sense of waiting and expectancy and holding space for hopes like the bowl analogy earlier.
Second is a diagram that looks like a circle within a circle acting as a hinge or a joint. As quiet or empty as this time may seem, it is necessary in order for things to turn in a better direction. It feels almost like the stars are pivoting around this space in time.
The Eight of Cups is the fading energy. That suits the nature of the card so well, that it may not really begin to fade all that much until we are well into the week. It may stick around for a while, actually. The eight of cups is about endings, about walking away from something for your own good or for the good another. It hints at a bittersweet or melancholy separation that at the same time is utterly necessary. It’s about moving on toward something better even when letting go of the past isn’t a joy or delight. Bittersweet, yes, but very very necessary. This card hints at one of those times where you must acknowledge those melancholy or nostalgic feelings even as you definitively let go and move on.
The current energy is death in reverse. Death is the card of change. It is different from the change we see in the Wheel of Fortune card. This change isn’t cyclic. It isn’t about change within a larger or grander pattern. The change in the death card is more permanent, and much more transformational. There are reasons this is inverted death rather than the wheel card or the hanged man card. This isn’t a pattern of progress – wait – more progress. This is cocoon time. The caterpillar is dead and gone, but it isn’t quite time for the butterfly to emerge either. The cake is in the oven, the butterfly is in the cocoon. Profound change is happening, but it is happening slowly, quietly, and subtly.
The High Priestess is sitting in front of one black and one white pillar. There is a very Tao Te Ching feeling here. The Priestess is usually a symbol of cosmic mysteries with very yin, dark, hidden qualities.
Here is where the Taoism part comes in.
You can’t have darkness without light. The mysterious and obvious are opposites that define each other just like light and dark define each other and the solid parts and empty parts of a bowl define each other.
As for the growing energy card, the High Priestess in reverse reminds us that sometimes you can take things at face value or, as Sigmund Freud famously said, “sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.”
As big and soul-shaking as the walking-away energies in the eight of cups and the death card may be, the advice here is to not read more into things than are already there. The recent past has been difficult and chaotic and changing enough without us heaping unfounded assumptions on top of everything else.
During this time of quiet transformation it is probably best to take the week at face value.
Thank you all for reading, and once the podcast is back up and running, for listening too.
All of my free Tarot content is readers and listener supported. No monetization means your Tarot message comes first with me, not an advertiser’s message. If you like what you see in these weekly readings, please consider a private reading, subscribing the exclusive content on ko-fi or substack or sending a tip to the virtual coffee mug.
Hello and welcome to Sage’s Short Sip: Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee.
Today’s card is the Seven of Bells, from a woodcut print for a deck of sixteenth century playing cards by German artist Peter Flotner. This particular card is part of the Alleyman’s Tarot Deck, used with permission of Publishing Goblin LLC
On seeing the card, my impression was a clear, urgent single word.
Wait.
In all fairness, it is Wednesday morning as I write this and you could chalk this whole thing up to a rampaging case of the mid-week blahs. In fact that might be the whole point of it. A case of the midweek blahs might be a message to wait, to indulge in some stillness. If you ever feel hugely UNmotivated, listen to that feeling. Understand it and adjust accordingly.
This very much feels like a continuation of the energy from our week-ahead reading two days ago. It’s still an introvert’s energy paradise, but I’m getting a small sense of how an extrovert might be feeling a little restless today.
Still, I feel like the message is crisp, clear and succinct. It feels like a command to stop, be still, and wait. It feels almost like a being held still or caught in a science fiction tractor beam or force field. I hear the phrase “enforced stasis” Lots of science and science fiction words and images are coming through today.
Now I get the mental image of an old school mario video game. I don’t know if you have ever played a video game with those swinging or jumping obstacles. Running flat out at full speed will get you knocked down every time. The trick is to wait. You have to make your run in short bursts or to time the jumps just right.
Have you ever heard of psycho neuro immunology? Is that still a thing? It was in vogue back in the 80s during the early years of the AIDS epidemic. Basically it is modern scientific medicine finally taking a side eye look at the ancient mind body connection and who would have guessed – lo, and behold! Stress impacts your health and can legit affect immunity. Shocker, eh? By measuring T cells and cortisols and all sorts of technical stuff that I can’t remember , mainstream medicine figured out a thing that holistic wisdom has known all along: if you don’t get rest on your own when you need it, Mother Nature will step in and make you rest through a cold, or flu or something. Go down for a nap or be taken down for a week. Taking care of yourself mentally and physically isn’t going to 100% prevent or cure infectious diseases, especially not very serious illnesses like AIDS or Covid, but it can help your immune system do its thing when minor things come along.
So wait.
Stop.
Be still.
Listen.
I’m taking this one personally. It has been a busy couple of months here in the cyberspace as TaoCraft Tarot was renamed to Sage Words Tarot, I finished & uploaded TaoCraft Portfolio (the free behind the scenes ebook) and the Tarot Table subscription blog was changed, updated and changed again. It is seriously time to stop mucking around with all of this. I hope you’ll visit the links in the podcast episode description or browse the blog website or browse the ko-fi page. Comments are open on the blog and DMs are open to supporters on ko-fi. I really hope that you’ll take a look and tell me the features you like, don’t like and what you would like to see in the future. I’m listening.
I think that may be part of the “pause” or “wait” energy that is coming through this week. Listening is part of the stillness and quiet. You can’t listen to other people when you are chattering nonstop. I have things situated so that it suits my needs. It has come to the point of simply letting you know what I have to offer and if it resonates with you then great! Let’s get to work! But if it doesn’t, no worries. There are a lot of us sincere, trustworthy psychics out here – someone is bound to match your vibe. You keep looking for what you need. And as the seven of bells suggests, I’ll keep listening for what is needed.
The figure on the card seems to be made of wood, like Marvel’s Groot surrounded by jingle bells, or maybe Treebeard from Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings or the Tree people of Cheem from Doctor Who – only centuries before any of those characters were created. Actual trees that aren’t science fiction humanoids are living beings, after all.
Listen to the wind in the trees. They may be listening back.
Seven Dane Asmund, the Alleyman’s Tarot creator connected this card to change – both changing to meet the needs of others AND more importantly reminding us that we can change back to our true selves.
Here I am reminded of the Face Dancers from the original Dune book series by Frank Herbert. Face Dancers were shape shifting assassins who could take on any person’s appearance and never showed their true form while on assignment. Take out the assassin part and we all do a little bit of behavioral face dancing. To one extent or another we adapt our language and behavior to the situation. I think the connection to the card comes from the idea of a strong inner core. Like an oak tree or towering pine, our authentic self can remain still, quiet, and strong no matter how our branches sway in the wind. Still, quiet and strong, our true selves wait for us to return no matter how our outer social face dances.
Thank you so much for reading and listening. See you at the next sip!
If you enjoy this free Tarot content, please consider a private Tarot reading, subscribing to the members blog or gifting a virtual coffee on the Sage Words Tarot ko-fi page. Links are in the podcast episode description or click the white coffee mug on the blog page.
Sage’s Short Sip is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee: Path Through the Week Tarot reading, Mondays on the blogs, podcast and socials.
The Tarot week ahead in the time it takes to sip from your coffee
My, my. Aren’t we chatty again today.
Hello and welcome to the Sage Words Tarot blog and Sage’s Short Sip Tarot podcast. I’m glad you are here.
On Mondays, my hope is to do a Pathway Tarot reading for everyone, on all the platforms where you can find Sage Words Tarot. As always, it isn’t a hard core prediction. No Tarot or psychic reading ever is. As I see it this functions a lot like a weather forecast. It isn’t 100% definite most of the time (unless you hear the word “warning” which means it is already happening, so you should do something about it.) If you take a squinty-eyed look at what is probable, then you can be ready for the possibilities and opportunities that cross your path. It’s our mantra here: Tarot doesn’t tell you what is going to happen in life, it helps you figure out what to do when life happens.
The energy this week is quite a bit like last week. Neil DeGrasse Tyson once said that “The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you.” That is true of hard science, social sciences, and folk art like Tarot. The universe is under no obligation to make one iota of sense and by the same token, it is under no obligation to move or change according to our hopes, aspirations, expectations or schedules.
If a regularly scheduled Tarot broadcast seems repetitive, it isn’t necessarily because the person doing the reading isn’t skilled or that the whole technique isn’t valid. The collective energies are what they are and under no obligation to keep us entertained.
We’ve had this “yeah it’s an annoying pain in the backside but you got this” energy around for a few weeks now. But compare that to 2020 when it was all mental images of hurricanes and a sense of Holy Duck stay focused on the practical problems at hand and batten down the hatches. The feel is totally different. This is feet up sipping coffee time by comparison.
Sometimes the energy changes within a matter of hours. Sometimes things shift over weeks or months. It varies from time to time – and certainly from person to person.
The energy seems fairly steady and low-key at the moment. I personally, will take that. I could use a little steady for a little while. So good news for me, but frustrating news for anyone who is feeling stuck, frustrated or impatient. Like I’ve said before relative to the Hanged Man card…one man’s stuck in the mud is another man’s day at the spa. It’s up to you to decide if the energy reads we get here are good or bad news for you personally.
One of the clue for me that we are still in a bit of the same groove is how chatty the cards are.
By chatty, I mean that the reading is more clairaudient than usual.
Clairvoyant means “clear sight” and refers to intuitive impressions that come in the form of mental images. I use the verb “see” to refer to those.
Clairaudient is that same intuition, just in the form of something sound-related like words or music. When those come along I use the word “hear.” Very seldom are the sounds actual sounds, although right now I’m getting the screeching tires and breaking glass sound effect from a don’t text and drive public service announcement just as an example of what that would be like.
Try putting THAT into words for a blog and podcast.
But back to chatty.
I’ve been getting more than the usual amount of word-driven intuition rather than mental image intuition the past couple of weeks as we begin the new pattern of things under the new name.
The change from TaoCraft Tarot to Sage Words Tarot is mostly finished, by the way.
When I do a private email Tarot reading, the first thing we’ll do is take a look at the general pattern of the cards on the table. This week is starting off with a bang and every single card in the layout is from the major arcana portion of the Tarot deck. I genuinely don’t see that often. I don’t know the math of it. Only 22 of the 78 Tarot cards are major arcana, but there is still some crazy big number of possible combinations in a three card reading….what is it? 78+77+76 to the power of three or some ridiculous thing? I don’t know the precise science-answer, but there are a LOT of possible combinations and only a portion of them include all major arcana cards. So the fact that this layout beat the odds and gave us all majors deserves attention and consideration.
Thinking about this pattern gives sort of a blurry double image, like opening your eyes under water. I am reminded of that old adage about being a duck in an emergency…calm on the surface but furiously paddling underneath.
All major arcana cards are a high energy, rapid change situation. That is in direct opposition to the sedate, steady feeling of the energy.
So how do we reconcile the seeming opposites?
I think the weird juxtaposition is a hint at timing. In the big picture and the overall pattern of things the theme of sedate and steady rules the week, but there may be small or short-lived little “KER-POWs” of energy.
There is an example of both clairvoyance and clairaudience at work. I ‘hear’ or ‘get’ the word KA-POW plus I also get a mental image of it as a cartoon or comic book image of the word, like during the fight scenes in the 1960s Batman TV show that in itself was a parody of even older comic books.
I also see a pebble thrown into a pond…a little splash in a big quiet surface.
I don’t think there is anything much under the surface. We might have to do a little ker-pow of duck paddling at some point this week, but it isn’t a major upset, just a little burst of speed to scoot out of the way of a minor disturbance.
At least on the outside. Here I get the impression that most of the major arcana action is going to be internal, in the spiritual or psychological realm of things, which would certainly fit the symbolism of the duck who seems to be gliding calmly on top but paddling like crazy with its feet under the smooth glassy surface of the water.
The first major arcana card we see is the Justice card. With that I hear “Be fair, including with yourself.” “You are part of the mix and deserve equal fairness with everyone.” This card is in the diminishing energies position within this particular layout, at which point I hear “Let It Go”…. in the form of the song from that Disney movie.
Which in turn reminds us to keep it light, keep your sense of humor, and don’t turn this week’s splash into more of a tidal wave than it really is.
In the current energy position we have the Strength card. This card feels like pure validation and reassurance. You got this. I get the mental image of a weight room or a gym. This is practice. This is a normal workout for your resilience and persistence. Be strong. Don’t whine. Do the do and you can get back to your calm and steady energies shortly.
The growing energy position belongs to the Fool. I see underlines…so this card is reinforcing the idea of lightness and humor. Keeping your sense of humor about things seems important this week.
The Fool card is also symbolic of new beginnings. Our chatty cards are giving me the “break on through to the other side” lyric from some old song from the Doors. Don’t ask me which one. I’m not THAT old. If it grabs your attention as something for you personally, then by all means google it or stream the song or something.
For our purposes, I think the “other side” is the other side of whatever stress or burst of energy this week brings. Be it next week, next month or next year, this feels like a reassurance that something good is available to us if we put a little effort into it.
It’s weird, but I see grass, and colored eggs on grass on the other side of clear plastic kitchen wrap. Good thing are waiting for us if we are fair to everyone and ourselves, stay strong and make the little effort of breaking on through to the greener grass on the other side of this week.
So stay calm but keep paddling my duckie friends!
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And that is the online week in a nutshell.
Or in a Tarot reading in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. See you at the next sip!
Churning the corner: a Tarot look at the week ahead
It’s Monday. Let’s talk motivation. Mostly because I don’t have any at the moment.
Hello and welcome to Sage Words Tarot blog and Sage’s Short Sip Tarot podcast. I’m glad you are here.
It’s week two of the new schedule where a three card pathway reading for the week ahead posts for everyone on Monday. I appreciate any day that you read or listen. Thank you.
The cards are chatty this week. The intuitive impressions are words as much as mental images. Typically I get more images than words. I don’t thing that shift is particularly significant, I’m fairly clairaudient anyway so let’s just roll with it.
The first card is the knight of cups with the words “emotional churning.” come through here. Knights are generally very active, confident, forward moving cards. In this case, it is in the “diminishing energies” position within the layout. Put those together, and it hints at a time of high emotions, but when that time happens for you as an individual is impossible to say. It may be happening, or it may be close at hand. Either way, I’d guess this time of emotional upheaval and wonkiness shouldn’t last long.
I’ll grant you I’ve had a morning of app and website technical gremlins, so I feel fairly annoyed with that, but those are resolved now and I still feel a sense of malcontent. I get a sense of short tempers, irritability, or of the world getting on every last nerve. Again I get that idea of emotional churning. It might be a residual feeling from the earlier inconveniences, but it it crossing that boundary line we’ve talked about before. If I focus on that boundary between my own mood and the general zeitgeist energy, this feels like more than a stupic app crashing would warrant. Yeah, I was annoyed, but now it feels like so are a lot of other people and over bigger things than that.
Mind that your mood is your own. This card reminds us of two things. First mind your emotional boundaries. What is the objective reality around you right now? Is the stress or emotion you might be feeling objectively warranted, or is it a by-product of worry about the future or dwelling on the past? If that is the case deliberately focusing on right here, right now can help. That’s the mindfulness that people are always talking about.
Let’s try it. Just for a quick moment. Then you can get right back to your regularly scheduled agitation.
First take a deep breath and think about what you feel and how you feel. Good, bad or indifferent, don’t judge it, just name it. How the heck do you feel right now? Is a just a little or is the volume turned up to 11?
Take another deep breath. Now pay attention to right here. Where are you? What is your environment? Pull your attention back from the words on the screen and notice other things like the device itself, the sounds around you, the temperature, how comfortably you are seated or standing.
All of those details.
Pay attention to right now. Forget the past, forget the future, just for a minute. Put all of your thoughts on
This.
One.
Moment.
Is this moment quiet? Does it suddenly feel like “HEY! It’s kinda happy in here!” If that’s the case, you might be resonating with outside energies. If you still feel gnarly and churning, then it’s time to face those emotions. Own them. Even if they are uncomfortable, it’s ok. They are legit. As best as you can, give them…and you…whatever T.L.C is needed. It’s not a personal failure to experience uncomfortable emotions. At worst it’s a signal there is something up that needs some attention, comprehension and problem-solving. At best it’s just you being human.
The good news is that as a diminishing energy, the emotional churn that is our Monday Motivation toward mindfulness (ooooh I do love me some alliteration) probably won’t last long. The high emotional state will churn the corner soon.
Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
The second thing is mind your own emotions. More than just being aware of the boundary, shore it up and don’t leak out. Feel what you feel. Embrace it, accept it, abide with it. Just please don’t spew it on other people. You never know what is brewing inside their emotional boundary bubble so be nice. We are are annoyed in this together – or so it seems.
The surrounding energy for this week is the Ace of Wands.
I hear “carry a torch for yourself.” which is a phrase that I’ve heard before with this card. Wands are associated with fire, our inner world, and our inner passions. Once we get on the other side of annoyance day, then carrying a torch for ourselves…self love, self improvement, self care….whatever name you want to use for it…give yourself a little of that.
If the emotional churn initially motivates, this self care is one thing that the emotions are pushing us toward.
“Spark an idea” comes through too. I also hear “lightbulb” and see that cartoon trope of a light bulb over someone’s head to show they have had a sudden good idea.
When you get the right idea, your instinct and emotion will light up too. When you know, you know, and when you know where you want to go it lights up the path to get there lights up too.
Churning emotions are a hint that something needs to change, that you need to turn a corner. A spark of an idea will let you know when the change is at hand and just what corner to turn.,
The growing energy is the two of pentacles. That’s where we are headed, and that’s a releaf. I ‘hear’ it will all wash out in the end.
I see pancakes.
Here is why.
Have you ever made pancakes from scratch? Most recipes tell you not to mix too much at the end, and that lumps are OK because they will cook out in the end, and mixing them out now will make the pancake chewy and tough.
That’s sort of the flow of energy here. It’s lumpy and weird at the start, but if we hang in and roll with it, it will all cook out in the end. We’ll churn the corner to a more balanced energy fairly soon.
Hang in there my friends.
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Sage Sips / TaoCraft Tarot 
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