Category: today’s tarot

Persist, but not like that

Hello and welcome to TaoCraft Short Sip: Tarot contemplation in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. I’m glad you are here.

Today’s card is the Ten of Swords.

There’s no way around it. The Ten of Swords is kind of a dire looking card. In the classic Waite Smith deck, you have some dude face down on the ground with a whole collection of swords sticking out of his back. That can’t be good.

It’s not.

Nor is it intended to be.

Tarot wouldn’t be a useful life guide if it was all rainbow sprinkles and fairy dust because life itself isn’t a collection of vanilla scented unicorn farts. Stuff happens. Like the three deer that just walked through the yard and past my window. Hello ladies.

Life is random, just like that. And it doesn’t always bring a few sweet natured neighborhood deer.

Sometimes the Ten of Swords is about persistence. Sometimes it talks about energy akin to that proverb “fall down seven times get up eight.” Persistence is not quite the vibe today. Today is more about zombie emotions.

I forget exactly how it came up in the conversation, but a reading for a client recently reminded me of a quote attributed to Sigmund Freud. He said that “Unexpressed emotions never die. They are buried alive and come forth later in uglier ways.” You know. Zombie feelings.

It is also said that doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result is the essence of insanity not to mention a good way to create zombie feelings.

Choose your battles wisely. If we persist in just getting up time and time again it not only gets a little crazy from the repetition, it also buries the emotions about the situation in a heap of blind effort.

It sounds crazy, but sometimes you have to face the swords in your back. The first step in fixing something is admitting it is broken, not by burying the broken-ness under a veneer of repeated effort.

Yes, by all means persist, but not like that.

No one is going to thing less of you if you take a minute to get your bearings, asses the situation and figure out something different to try next time. If they do, that’s on them for being judge-y and awful, not on you for being honest with yourself about your situation and how you feel about it.

Take minute, reassess, identify the problems and feel the feels. If you ask me, using the swords in your back to slay zombie emotions sounds like a pretty persistent, get-up-eight kind of thing to do.

Thank you so much for listening! I appreciate you and any likes, subs, shares and follows that you can spare. The blogcast and youtube channel are not monetized, so they depend on your support through your no appointment needed Tarot readings purchases and Tarot Table memberships on ko-fi.

See you at the next sip!

Whose Expectation Is It?

TaoCraft Short Sip: Tarot contemplation in the time it takes to sip from your coffee

Hello and welcome to TaoCraft Short Sip: Tarot contemplation in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. I’m glad you are here.

Today’s card is the Hanged Man from the major arcana portion of the Tarot Deck.

Major arcana cards are about the major life lessons, about the twists and turns life can take. Sometimes they are guidance for a big choice you have to make, but in this case, it can be more along the lines of a general wake up call. That’s the kind of energy around today.

There was an episode of TV show we used to watch where the mom of the family was YouTube famous for a few days because of a video of her yelling “knock it off!” at her kids. She was the “knock it off” lady.

That’s the vibe the Hanged Man has today. Major arcana cards can be just that blunt and to the point sometimes. They are most often the cards to give the frying pan over the head kind of messages. I always enjoy it when Tarot drops the diplomacy and tells it like it is.

To borrow from another bit of pop culture, this kind of vibe is a little like the scene in the 1990 movie Ghost where the ghost, speaking through a psychic, asks psychic Oda Mae to be tactful and gentle when she talks to the bereaved character Molly. So of course, she gently and famously says “Molly, you in danger, girl.”

This card isn’t telling you that you are in danger, but it is telling you to knock it off.

If you think that life is stuck and not making any progress, whose expectations are being frustrated? Neil DeGrasse Tyson said that “The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you.” Even more so, the universe is under no obligation to operate according to your timeline. The major arcana cards specialize in difficult life lessons. “It’s not about you” is one of those lessons.

So if you are feeling stuck or frustrated, the Hanged Man’s gentle, diplomatic advice is to KNOCK IT OFF! The universe is under no obligation to work according to your calendar.

Thank you for reading, listening and watching. The blogcast isn’t monetized and depends on your support. Email Tarot readings purchased on this website and Tarot Table memberships on ko-fi contribute to creating these (almost) daily Tarot readings for you. Any likes, subs, shares and follows that you can spare are always appreciated too.

See you at the next sip!

Birds of a Feather Inspire Together

Hello and welcome to TaoCraft Short Sip: Tarot contemplation for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. I’m glad you are here.

Today’s card is The Star from the major arcana.

Birds of a feather flock together. Like attracts like. You are what you eat.

Adages and Proverbs become adages and proverbs because they have proven themselves true for a long, long time. And they tend to apply to a variety of situations.

That whole birds of a feather, like attracts like thing is huge advice for lonely hearts in search of a soulmate. In other words, be the soulmate you want to bring into your life. Do you want the romance of your life to be with a person who is all tied up knots and focused solely on their own feelings or would you rather be with someone who is happy and engaged with life? Be the bird you want to feather with.

It isn’t all soulmates. Like attracts like applies to many other things too. It begs the question of what, exactly, attracts you.

Human beings, it seems, are absolute geniuses for projection and confirmation bias. We see our own desires and our own opinions everywhere we turn. Who you follow, the things you support, the things that inspire you tells the outer world as much about you as much as those things tell you about the outer world.

Curate your inspirations. Actual conversations with actual people aside, would you want to have your social media “likes” as real world meat-space friends? Would you want to be part of their group?

Social media platforms are literally called a feed. We consume media. What would happen to your body if you constantly fed on toxic things? Why would you take any less care with the media you consume? Block and unfollow buttons are powerful protectors is you use them.

I love my social feeds. I’ve met beautiful, kind, wise people from opposite ends of the continent that I never could have met otherwise. Instagram is especially fun since I tend to be a bit visual. My feed is filled with artists, photographers, poets, Taoism, meditation, witches, civil rights groups, some of the best Tarot readers out there, recipes, coffee memes and a fair bit of yarn porn.

There are some pretty wonderful things out there in cyberspace, not just doom and gloom. Of everything out there, what things grab your attention? Who inspires you? The Star card reminds us to take care that those things and people are worthy of our attentions and our aspirations.

Thank you for reading, listening and watching. The blogcast and youtube channel are not monetized and depend on your support. Email Tarot purchases and Tarot Table memberships contribute toward creating TaoCraft Tarot online content. Your likes, subs, shares and follows are always appreciated too.

See you at the next sip!

The deck pictured is Steampunk Tarot by Barbara Moore and Aly Fell used with permissions granted on llwellyn publidhing dot com.

It is what it is

TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. Today it is what it is with the six of cups

Hello and welcome to TaoCraft Short Sip: Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee.

Today’s card is the six of cups.

This is one of those cards that landed like a dud grenade right in my wheelhouse. It speaks to exactly how I’m feeling. I hope it is little bit helpful to one of you too.

Emotional content is optional.

It is what it is. It is a peaceful, happy thing to be able to take things at face value. As long as what needs done gets done, you don’t have to be all bubbly and enthusiastic about it. It’s as exhausting to be all cutesy unicorns all the the time as it is to be down and worried all of the time.

Some days just are what they are.

It’s not even that “chop wood and carry water” zen proverb kind of energy. There is room in that proverb for joyful wood chopping and water carrying. There is room in the proverb for dreading your chores too. I’m talking about complete beige lukewarm shoulder shrug of a “MEH” kind of day. Not that it’s a bad thing. Raging neutrality is restful. It’s a kind of a relief really. That’s is the beauty of the six of cups card. It’s a take things at face value card. It is the 180 degree opposite of the the overthinking seven of cups card.

Cups, along with all of their water, intuition and relationship connotations, can also symbolize emotions. Pamela Smith depicts two children and flowers and seemingly peaceful play on a sunny afternoon. The card is often connected with innocence and beauty and that is very much present in the card. The key part today is the innocence. It is about an utter lack of artifice. These kids aren’t ginning up emotional content. Their afternoon is what it is. They are taking cups full of flowers as they are. There is actually a deep authenticity and honesty around this energy. That is so important for a day like this. While the day is what it is we are free to be who we are and feel what we feel. Even if what feel is a little “meh.”

I was watching the winter Olympics earlier today. I have a minority opinion: I don’t like women’s figure skating. Who gives a flying Hamil camel about emotional content, artistic content and how much they were smiling? It’s an athletic competition. Do they throw the technique or don’t they? Nobody says anything about the emotional quality of the people throwing themselves head first down the side of of an icy mountain on a cafeteria tray. Like skeleton, out here in the real world away from the performing arts and multi media, action speaks louder than the feels. It is perfectly OK to go through a day without the rollicking feels. Do the essentials and accept your emotions (or lack thereof) at face value. They are what they are.

Like I was talking about in the Valentine Q&A post a few days ago, in Tarot and romance readings, the clients emotions and everyone’s privacy are of prime importance. The six of cups reminds me of a few more things for the list of important Tarot things. Add authenticity and dealing with things as they are to the list too.

You all know that I’m a huge Adam Savage fan. I think it was a short Q&A video on Tested or maybe on Tested’s instagram feed, but one time he was talking about how he feels a little down or low energy after wrapping up a big project. At least I think that’s the words he used. I may be paraphrasing. I’ve found that to be true, on a much smaller scale of course. I’ve knitted blankets for family members as gifts. I don’t know if you’ve ever knitted a blanket but it is less of a work in progress and more of a lifestyle choice. It takes some serious time to make one of those babies. Weirdly, the next day after the blanket was finished I felt compelled to knit something else. Maybe it was simple inertia. Maybe it was to fill the void a big project leaves when it’s done. After putting so much time and attention and emotional investment into a project, it leaves a noticeable gap when its gone. The same it true of eBooks and essays, even the teeny tiny little ones that I write.

Yesterday I put My Tarot Valentine out in the world for purchase from the ko-fi shop. I’ve been writing early February My Tarot Valentine posts for the blog since 2015 and tinkering with the eBook collection of those posts off and on since last year. I’m beyond over it. Still, clicking that upload button always has a little bit of a ripping off the bandage feel. Wrapping up that project led to a minor case of the snarky BLAHS today. I almost didn’t do a short sip post because I just wasn’t feeling it. But did it anyway and here comes the six of cups to remind me that taking a day as it is and working with the BLAHS for what they are actually is today’s short sip Tarot.

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Thanks again and see you at the next sip

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It’s hard to win a battle with yourself.

TaoCraft Short Sip is a Tarot contemplation for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. Today is the five of swords.

Hello and welcome to TaoCraft Short Sip: Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. I’m glad you are here.

Today’s card is the Five of Swords. I think the energy today is perfectly summed up in the Pamela Smith artwork on this particular card. The main figure is in a wide stance, battle ready and surrounded by a stack of sword while the other figures face other directions and look for all the world like they are just taking a little stroll on the beach. The water imagery here is important. The chill people are all facing the water. Mr. Stabby Pants in the foreground isn’t connected with the water or the other people at all.

I don’t know who asked”What if they gave a war and nobody came?” but this card hints at the same thing. It’s hard to win a battle when you are the only one that shows up. It’s even harder to win a battle within yourself.

Everyone feels out of sorts sometimes. Everyone has a pair or two of very cranky pants that we wear on occasion. Everyone knows that it a bad idea to take that crankiness out on other people.

Taking it out on yourself isn’t any better.

When you are in a bad mood, feeling sorry for yourself or thinking of yourself as a victim just pushes the spiral downward. It takes a Herculean effort to turn things around and go in the other direction.

Of course, I’m not talking about depression or other mental health conditions. That is something for genuine care, not a Tarot blogcast. I’m talking about the few-days glitch. The card points toward those times when you feel punchy, out of sorts, cranky, gnarly and just not quite yourself. What do you do if you are feeling ready to pick a fight but you are the only one around?

Sometimes turning a bad mood around takes more than a Herculean effort. It’s way worse. Sometimes turning around a cranky pants day takes acceptance and time. The more you fight and struggle the more disrupted and tangled your feelings and energy can become. Sometimes feeling out of sorts is the flow you have to go with – but not act on. Just honestly acknowledging your own pain, frustration, anger, fear or sadness can take the edge off of it.

In her book Be Water, My Friend Shannon Lee describes a day when her father, Bruce Lee, was so angry that he punched the South China Sea. That afternoon in a boat began the journey that eventually gave us the “Be water, my friend” interview that has inspired so many.

Bruce Lee’s philosophy is rooted in Taoist philosophy and the Tao Te Ching famously teaches that “He who conquers others is strong. He who conquers himself is mighty.”

If the Five of Swords has crossed your path, be on the lookout for letting a bad mood get the better of you. Watch out for self-sabotage or thinking of yourself as a victim. Unleash your inner awesome onto acknowledging, flowing, and adapting.

Even on a cranky pants day, be mighty, my friend.

The TaoCraft Tarot blogcast is not monetized and is 100% audience supported. Tarot reading purchases and Tarot Table memberships contribute to the creation of these Tarot posts. Your likes, subs, shares and follows are always appreciated too!

Thank you so much for watching, reading, and listening to TaoCraft Tarot Blogcast. See you at the next sip!

You Can’t Make Them Drink

TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot contemplation in the time it takes to sip your coffee. Today: Four of Cups

Hello. Welcome to TaoCraft Short Sip – Tarot contemplation in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. I’m glad you are here.

Today’s card is the Four of Cups.

There is an old adage that says “you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make them drink.”

Maybe it is because the hallmark holiday is in four days. Today’s vibe is a lot like that old My Tarot Valentine vibe I was telling you about the other day. Or was it yesterday? Anyway, cups are back into romance mode.

You can lead a relationship to water but you can’t make it drink. And I’m not talking about adult beverages.

The heart knows.

The heart knows when words are empty or actions are made of inertia and habit.

Not everyone is present and focused on the two of you every. Single. Moment. People get tired, stressed and distracted. It’s easy to understand that and it’s easy to give a little extra TLC to someone you care about who is having a bad day. Bad days happen for everyone, and they are just that – a day. You do what you can to help and life goes on. This is also a good time to remind ourselves to leave stress at the door and love your loved ones. They know when something is up.

They know when a bad day turns into a bad month, or a bad year.

The heart knows when words are empty and actions are built out of inertia and habit.

The message the card gives today is scary for both people involved and oh so hard to give. I’ve seen it in relationship readings lately. It brings to mind one particular reading I did for a client a few months ago. The energy here feels exactly like it did then. Specific past readings almost never come up in a general blog reading like this. Maybe someone somewhere out there is in a similar situation as that client was. All light and best wishes to you, listener and client, wherever you are. Or it could be that this is just a matter of the universal energy giving me a specific cue to a specific message. Here goes.

Sometimes you pour everything you have into a relationship and for whatever reason, the other person just can’t give anything back. At some point you have to stop the bleeding, turn off the faucet that is flooding the bathtub, stop digging the hole you are trapped in. Love is a precious thing to pour away into an abyss. If it can’t be given to another, perhaps it is time to give it to yourself.

Sometimes absence is better than empty presence.

None of this blog, podcast or YouTube Tarot content is monetized and it all relies on your support. The private email readings you purchase and Tarot Table memberships on Ko-fi all contribute toward producing this free Tarot content. Likes, subs, shares and follows all help too.

Thank you so much for watching, reading and listening. I’ll see you at the next sip!

You are alive, aren’t you?

TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot contemplation for your day in the time it takes to sip your coffee. Today: You’re alive, aren’t you?

Hello Sippers! I’m so glad you are here.

Today’s card is the page of swords.

The card is full-on advice mode today, no sense of caution and as straightforward as it gets. Pages are learning, swords are mind and intellect. Learn something. It’s that simple.

From Arthur Waite’s authority, overseeing, and vigilance to Dugan’s intense young man to Andrew’s unexpected energy or magic, the Page of Swords can cover a lot of territory. Today I see it akin to the Thom Pham, artist and author of the Heart of Stars Tarot deck used with his permission in the blog video today. The page of swords is all about curiosity and learning today. Pages are knights in training, so page cards tend to carry elements of ambition, action and unrealized potential. Swords are associated with mind, intellect and the element of air. For all of its scope and nuance, today the page of swords is being – sorry about this – straight to the point.

When we hear about life long learning, it is easy to think of senior citizens getting long delayed college degrees, or some big project like learning a second language. It doesn’t have to be anything of that magnitude. Lifelong learning is learning as long as you have life. You are alive today aren’t you? Learn a little something. It doesn’t have to be rocket surgery. It might just be learning to put a little less mayonnaise in your egg salad tomorrow, or where the best parking is at that new store, or when the next season of your favorite TV show starts. It can be anything. Science it up. Not everything has to be super intellectual. There are reasons the human species has a reputation for poking things with a stick to see what happens. Give something a go. If things work out, great. If not, you’ll know not to do THAT next time. Wordle it up. Read the back of the cereal box or do a crossword puzzle. If you survive that stick poking episode, doing some little thing with words will help keep your brain awake too.

This reminds me of the Neil DeGrasse Tyson quote

“For me, I am driven by two main philosophies: know more today about the world than I knew yesterday and lessen the suffering of others. You’d be surprised how far that gets you.”

Neil DeGrasse Tyson

Let’s give it a try. Let’s learn just how far lifelong learning and a little kindness can get us all.

TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot contemplation for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. Or tea. Or soda. Or adult beverage. It’s up to you.

None of the TaoCraft Tarot online content is monetized, which means that all of this is 100% supported by you, the readers and listeners, through your private reading purchases, Tarot Table memberships, and the buy me a coffee virtual tip mug. Any likes, subs, shares, follows, reading orders, memberships or virtual coffees you can spare are always greatly appreciated.

Thank you for watching, reading and listening. See you at the next sip!

The Cyber Crew Counts Too

TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot contemplation for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. Today is the three of cups – the cyber crew counts too.

Hello and welcome to TaoCraft Short Sip: a Tarot contemplation in the time it takes to sip from your favorite morning beverage. I’m glad you are here.

Today’s card is the the three of cups.

Early February always seems to carry a big cups energy. Ooof…that sounds like a underwear joke for 10 year olds waiting to happen, doesn’t it? Cups in Tarot are associated with close relationships, the element of water, and emotions.

Emotions are high this time of year. For folks who like the outdoors and warm weather, the emotions are often frustration with winter, with a dollop of cabin fever on top. For those of us who like cooler weather, we are intent on soaking up the hot chocolate and yarn driven coziness as long as possible. Many people are enjoying the mid-month hallmark holiday. I’m here for it just to get the on sale chocolate.

Like Valentine’s Day, the suit of cups shines a light on relationships often with a focus on the romantic ones. But also like the modern holiday, the suit of cups reflect other relationships too.

Palintine’s day is a great idea. I’m inspired by the youngling and the roommates and their DIY charcuterie board and movie marathon party last year. This is exactly the kind of camaraderie that the three of cups is talking about. It is a celebration of like minded friends.

The celebration of like minded friends is no longer limited to physical spaces. The past couple of years have, by necessity, has de-emphasized face to face socialization, but has to replaced that with long distance communication emphasizing a meeting of hearts and minds. Friendships can, indeed, exist in cyberspace.

Many of us already knew that. I count the people I’ve met with and talked with and continued to communicate with in cyberspace as much among my friends as those who live nearby in meat-space.

The energy is around the card today is very lighthearted, laid back and friendly. No major message or ponderous spiritual guidance. The energy reminds me of a simple delight, kind of like those small paper valentines cards kids exchange (or used to exchange) in primary school. Have a little fun. Tell your friends that you appreciate them – in meat space and cyberspace too.

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See you at the next sip!

The how of choosing

TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. Today: creative problem solving and the 8 of swords

Thank you for watching, reading, and listening to TaoCraft Short Sip Tarot. I’m glad you are here.

Today’s card is the Eight of Swords.

When you are between a rock and a hard place, the choice may not be between options as much as the method of choosing. Choose whether to let your heart or your head lead the way. With that clear in your mind, there is a better chance that the rest will fall into place. Or at least give you a little extra confidence in the the decision that you made.

Albert Einstein is credited with saying that doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. Today’s card hints at that a little bit. There is a feeling of changing things up. If you tend to be logical, try following your emotions. If you feel overwhelmed by emotions, then use cold logic. You might have to get creative with your decision making process as much as the solution to the dilemma itself.

One of the consistent messages I get with the Eight of Swords is creative problem solving, which connects with Pamela Smith’s 1909 artwork that we see here.

For those of you listening on the podcast, there is a video showing the real world card draw for the day at the top of each short sip blog post and on youtube shorts.

The Eight of Swords in this decks and the many decks based on it all show a figure surrounded swords, bound and blindfolded, often with a shore line or some transition behind them. There is often a feeling of being trapped, of being between a rock and a hard place with no good options.

That’s where the creative part of creative problem solving comes in. It may come down to using your unbound bare feet to take the risk of injury sense your way forward, but that is a way forward nevertheless.

If you are caught between terrible options, it may help to have a reason ready in your pocket to justify why you chose what you chose, even if that rationale is for yourself and no one else. Knowing that you mindfully and deliberatly followed your heart or followed your logic isn’t going to magically make the decision for your, but it can help set you up to learn from the experience if it was a mistake or set you up to repeat the process if it is successful.

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Patient Connection

Today’s card is the Ace of Pentacles

Pentacles are related to the physical realm. Often it connects to career and money energy. Other times it is more abstract, pointing toward a need for practical action. The ace, of course tends to care a sense of newness and promise. The classic interpretation is that good fortune is coming.

Intuition speaks in whispers and symbols. Sometimes it speaks in mental images and pop music references. That’s how it is working today. As I look at the card, I get the mental image of the spider web emoji and am reminded of the 1980s song “patience” by Guns and Roses. I don’t think it has any connection to any other lyrics or meaning behind the song. It feels like a way to emphasize the word “patience.”

It reminds me a little bit of the Neil DeGrasse Tyson quote that “The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you.” Neither is obligated to meet our expectations or our timetables.

It also reminds me of the advice to be kind, because we never know what another person might be going through.

Putting all of that together, take heart. Good things can come of it all. Be patient. Everything is connected, and there is much we don’t know about other parts of that web of all things.

I appreciate you. Thank you for being here.

Thank you for watching the Short Sip real-world card draw on YouTube Shorts and on Instagram reels. 

A longer card reading follows the card draw on the TaoCraft Tarot Blog and in audio on the TaoCraft Tarot Podcast

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