Tools of the Inner Trade

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

I’m a big fan of freethinking. I recommend it. Free your mind, question everything and all of that. Those of you who know my background know that I’m a downright expert at parachuting out of organized dogma.

On the other hand, repetition and tradition can be deeply comforting, especially in times where it feels like the world is on fire and evil is winning. For some reason this reminds me of a quote from G.K Chesterton that I found browsing brainyquote.com once. Paraphrasing quote “A warrior fights not because he hates what is before him, but because he loves what is behind him.” End quote.

Forgive me if this is all a little circular and confusing. The energy is like that some days. Sometimes it is blunt, short and to the point like a frying pan in the face. Other times it is like a connect-the-dots puzzle or a Rube Goldberg machine. Today, instead of getting to the point, the energy is circling around and nabbing it from behind.

Page cards are connected with learning. They are the first step in training to be a knight. Historically, they were young boys which brings to mind brightness, curiosity, high energy and unbridled enthusiasm. Wands are associated with fire, passions, the inner world. Today it is particularly pointing toward our inner spiritual path. Part of the circling around to the point is to think about our chosen spiritual rituals and traditions. What is it that we turn to in times of emotional crisis? What is our go-to rock and foundation….it’s almost like the page is waving hello to the Hope card and the “Anchor Rock” post as it circles around to today’s point, if there is one.

The Pew Foundation does scientific, unbiased, highly reliable surveys. Their work on the religious landscape in America is interesting to say the least. It turns out that agnostics and atheists know quite a lot about religion in general compared to most other American adults. You can read more for yourself on the Pew Foundation website HERE. This takes a step closer to today’s message.

The next step after that is the famous Socrates quote “know thyself.”

Here is where we jump the card’s message from behind and wrestle it to the ground.

The Page of Wands asks us to know the tools of our chosen spiritual path.

I’m not talking about religious indoctrination or dogma. I’m allergic to that stuff. You will never hear any of that here.

I’m talking about the rituals and symbols and acts of your personal chosen spiritual path whatever that may be. This is talking about the ideas and philosophies that feed your soul, soothes your heart, lifts you up and makes you happy. If your religion does that for you, cool. This energy is talking about spirituality, which is a very different thing. Sometimes spiritual paths are shored up by ritual and tradition, too. The page is asking us to know our motives and symbolism and rituals and habits along our spiritual path. We are being asked to know the difference between the outward social trappings of religion and the physical realm expressions of our personal inner world. The page of wands is asking us to intellectually know our spirituality in addition to deeply and mindfully experiencing it.

When you are finding your own way in or if you are eclectic and solitary by nature, it is easy to reject tradition as stifling or constricting. The page reminds us to know before we throw so to speak. Knowing something well makes it all the more fulfilling when it is right for you. By the same token, you have to know something to some degree before you can rightly reject it.

Thank you for reading and listening. As the squirrels are raving at the moment, this should be the last late night post for a while. We should be back to posting late morning U.S. eastern time most weekdays. For the moment, anyway.

This blog and podcast are not monetized. Please visit the TaoCraft Tarot page on ko-fi. The shop, memberships and virtual coffees all support the creation of this (almost) daily Tarot content. There is a link in the episode description for podcast listeners. Thank you all so so so much.

See you at the next sip!

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Reminder: there will be a short blog, pod, and socials hiatus the weekend of the July 4th holiday. Email readings will be OPEN throughout. You can order email readings 24/7 no appointment needed. Delivery times vary for orders placed nights (eastern time), weekends, & U.S. holidays