Contemplation: Not just for coffee and morning

Hello and welcome to TaoCraft Tarot blog and podcast. I’m glad you are here.

This evening’s card is the four of swords and it couldn’t be more perfect for this flipped schedule post and podcast.

I worked a different than usual shift on the day job…it really was a day job today. I like the evening shift, because I am so very extremely not a morning person. My favorite TV quote is Sheriff Hopper from Stranger Things sushing a secretary saying something like “Mornings are for coffee. And contemplation. Coffee. And contemplation.”

I am grateful for the privilege of starting most weekdays with exactly that, a steaming mug of coffee and spending time in my happy place chair writing Tarot contemplations for the day.

I’d forgotten how nice Tarot can be at sunset.

In the morning readings tend to be a pep talk, giving us a heads up about the energies ahead. Morning Tarot tends to focus on how to do our best work with the energy ahead and make the best choices possible with the physical, mental and spiritual resources we have at hand.

Not everyone has the mighty, mighty caffeine metabolism needed to sip coffee at bedtime. Hot chamomile tea works just as well for Tarot sips. If morning Tarot has a “damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead” energy, evening Tarot has a introspective, decompressing, emotional processing sort of vibe.

Let’s make this as self referential as possible. Morning Tarot readings have a knight of swords style, while evenings have a – you guessed it – four of swords style.

Take a deep breath. A long, slow quiet breath in through the nose and out through the mouth.

See how Pamela Smith drew the hands of the knight with the tips of the fingers touching. Touching fingers is an actual energy thing. What do you do when you are deep in thought. Do you touch your fingers like the card, touch your chin, run your fingers through your hair or something else? Give it a try. Adopt that posture, whatever it is for you. How do you feel? Does the physical change help you quiet the mental noise and stress of the day at all?

If you don’t know your particular physical tell that shows when you are in deep thought, try this: Unless you are driving or something, lace your fingers together. Keep them laced and rest your hands however is comfortable. This is said to seal your aura and stabilize your energies.

I like to think of this as a psychic emotional faraday cage. A Faraday cage is a container or enclosure that protects anything inside from electromagnetic energy from the outside. Imagine that while your fingers are interlaced it blocks out stress or any empathic influences from other peoples energies. Imagine that while your fingers are laced, your inner world is quiet, isolated from outside stress. Imagine that you can hear your own inner wisdom, feel your own emotions, all with perfect clarity and understanding.

If you try it, please let me know in the comments. I’d be interested to know if it works for you, and what you experienced with this simple little exercise.

Take that deep breath, lace your fingers. Now, how was your day? What is your energy level? What emotions do you feel? Does anything bubble up to top of mind wanting your attention? Is there anything inside your emotional faraday cage that needs to be kicked out of the door and dealt with on another day?

The hands on the four of swords card is our hint for this evening. It’s a small, harmless physical gesture that can help you find some evening style contemplation.

Contemplation isn’t just for mornings and coffee. Contemplation, like Tarot, is a soothing sip any time of day.

Thank you so much for listening!

If you enjoy these Tarot sips, please visit the TaoCraft Tarot page on Ko-fi. None of these videos, blog posts or podcast episodes are monetized, so the ko-fi shop, memberships and virtual coffees support the creation of this free to access Tarot content.

As far as I can tell, things back to the usual squirrel rave playlist of a schedule. Short sip posts and podcasts are on weekdays, usually much earlier than this one. There are at least 6 posts of exclusive members-only content on the ko-fi blog per month. Email readings are open all the time so you can purchase them anytime (delivery times vary a bit.) Your questions and comments are welcome and appreciated.

Now it is time for me to have a real world cuppa tea. See you at the next sip!