Be the sparkly fireworks you want to see in the world.
Boom!
Hello and welcome to Sage Words Tarot and the Crystal Cast reading for the week of January 21-28. Happy New Year to our friends celebrating the Spring Festival and year of the yin water rabbit!
I’m still working on the physical mechanics of casting the crystals. Have to admit, this shake and toss and see what comes blowing out of the top of the bag is kind of fun. This one might have been a little overly-enthusiastic on my part. It will take some more practice and experimentation to dial it in. We’ll see how it goes. I’m curious as heck whether or not you all like these crystal reading or not. Good, bad or indifferent, please leave your thoughts and feedback in the comments. Heck, I’d even answer reading questions in the blog comments just for the practice. So have at it. No promises, but if you leave a question, there is a fair to middling chance that I’ll do a crystal reading for it. Which means that podcast people will have to use the link in the show description to leave their questions in the blog comments, but hey, it’s a free psychic reading so what can you say?
Back to these crystals.
The mental image that came when the crystals scattered like this was fireworks. Specifically those extra sparkly ones that glitter and shimmer as the remnants fall. It also reminded me a little bit of those holographic glitter nail polishes. The explosive quality to the energy and the way the crystal felt like they were volcano spewing out the top of the bag is a key point, but the happy glittery shiny celebratory quality to the feel and the energy is the bigger focus. It goes right along with the Lunar New Year celebrations. The sparkle is the thing. Joy and happiness is the fuel for the expansiveness of this week’s energy.
I am reminded of the FDR quote that we have nothing to fear but fear itself. And also the famous Mark Twain quote “I’ve had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened.”
This is such a warning against thinking or dwelling on potential problems that I don’t even want to bring it up as a thing to avoid.
The focus is on the sparkle, on the joy.
And it is all inside you.
You are the firecracker. You are the sparkler. This week it is up to you to light the fuse, not wait for external circumstances to do it for you
Don’t let fear be the wet blanket. If you feel it, don’t hold back. Let yourself be an explosion of joy. It’ll help everything go better for you, not to mention elevate the energy and help things go better for everyone around you.
It is said that like attracts like. Think of yourself as a magnet dragging through the week. If you were given the choice, what would you want sticking to you at the end of the week; ridiculous unreasonable happiness in SPITE of everything, or worry and stress BECAUSE of everything?
The visual for that in today’s reading lies in the clear quartz crystal chips. They are a happy sparkling POOF of happy when you look at them intuitively. They are pretty close to being just that literally as well.
The top of the two runes showing is Sowilo, associated with the sun, happiness, light and love. It is an interesting optical coincidence that this particular stone is reflecting light so strongly in the video that it is hard to read the rune.
The other, lower rune is Algiz, which has to do with protection, security, and guidance. It is much easier to feel happy when you feel safe.
Here, too, there is a sense of fearlessness, in a good way. I forget who posted it, but there was an Instagram post a few years ago that has stuck with me. I call it to mind whenever I start to feel any vague or general worry creeping in, especially about stuff that may or may not happen.
The context was a feed about paganism of some sort. They contrasted mainstream or Christian prayer to be protected vs the Germanic pagan mindset of petitioning Odin for the wisdom and strength to be able to protect ourselves.
I prefer the latter point of view.
Why? It just feels better, but also because of compassion.
Which petition has the greater potential to foster compassion? If we seek to be strong and wise, that strength and wisdom can in turn lead to protecting and caring for others. Asking to be pre-emptively protected doesn’t afford that same opportunity.
The desire to grow wise and strong and be a better person is a type of compassion toward oneself.
There are several runestones with their blank side showing. I also read that as potential, as one would expect from any reading that is looking forward. The future is all about seeing the potentials, not making predictions.
Look ahead to this week. Face it with all the courage and happiness you can muster. Light the fuse on a glittering explosion of joy, or at least indulge in a little sparkle. Your little POOF of happiness just might draw the best possible things out of a week full of potential.
Thank you all for reading and listening. Any likes, subs, shares or follows are always greatly appreciated.
Thanks again. Next up for me is the weekly learn to read Tarot post for the members only blog on ko-fi. After that, it is back to the usual Sage’s Sip of Tarot.
CrystalCast reading for the week ahead,: vibe and chill.
I don’t know what I did, but I lost the video of this one. Backed it up with a static photo, so hopefully this will do.
Hi and welcome to the TaoCraft Tarot blog and audio blog, A.K.A. the podcast. I’m glad you are here.
Since it’s new, and since I screwed up the video anyway, I hope today’s reading will work as a super short nano-sip of a podcast, just to let you know that these crystal cast things exist. Between now and at least January, life here is an elfcon 1 squirrel rave at full volume, so I’m not promising to do anything blog, podcast or social media related at any given time on any given day. Still, it’s my intent to post these “crystal cast” readings on Monday mornings.
Ish.
Hopefully.
But don’t hold your breath. I don’t want to contribute to anyone dropping their oxygen levels.
My intent is also to film the crystals and runestones so you can see them as they fall. Seeing the actual cast might spark something within your own mind and intuition. Just like with a Tarot reading, your hunches and feelings about what something means takes precedence over anything I might say about it.
That’s what readings are about after all. As I see it, professional psychics with all of our woo woo cards, crystals, runes, tea leaves, star charts, chicken bones or what have you are all in service to one thing: the human experience. It isn’t about predicting the future. If that is what you want, then I’m not the reader for you. Buyer beware is all I’m saying about that kind of psychic sales pitch.
Intuitive readings aren’t about any external spirit or deity unless you want them to be. I don’t see it a reading as one bit supernatural. They are no more supernatural than an image in a mirror showing us a point of view we might not have otherwise seen. It is about emotion, perspective and our individual connection to the wholeness of everything. Are psychic readings subtle? Yes. Objectively measurable by science? No. Valid and valuable and enriching to the human experience? Absolutely.
I’m hoping that those of you listening today on the podcast will at some point visit the blog to see the card draw and crystal cast videos. The crystal cast posts will be a blog exclusive after today. There is a link to the blog website in the episode description. Some podcasting platforms allow for video podcasting. I tried a few test episodes, but it seemed to defeat the whole purpose of having an audio version of the blog in the first place. If you are in it to listen while you work or work out or drive or what have you, then for safety’s sake you shouldn’t be looking at a screen. If you want to see the visuals, please, by all means visit the blog or the youtube channel. But if you just want to listen, by all means, please, grab the podcast version and just listen. I value your attention and your thoughts no matter whether you are looking or listening or both.
But, as usual, I digress.
Back to this week and these crystals.
The first and obvious thing is the row of four touching runestones, like a literal wall across the path of the other crystals.
The clustering of clear chips under the wall of rune stones reminds me of last week’s reading. It isn’t a forever blockade. The energy here isn’t a NO – it’s a “slow down and cool your jets” kind of vibe. In my minds eye I see a school crossing guard telling everybody to slow down.
Last week’s reading had a lot of sparkle with an emphasis on productivity and progress. This isn’t a full stop to that previous message, but it is a little bit of fine tuning to the speed of it all. In a way, it is a validation of what you are doing. As dynamic as last week’s reading was and as often as the chaotic Tower Tarot card has shown up lately, this pattern is saying two things:
First, it is ok to cool it with big changes and the frenetic pace.
Second, all that stuff you started is good. Keep up the good work.
Here I get the mental image of that ridiculous looking shirt from the 70’s that said “keep on trucking.” I’m also reminded of Harry Connick Jr. on American Idol talking about singing “in the pocket” or being “in the groove” with the band or some such thing. Now I’m reminded of one of my favorite Twitter memes, your friend and mine, vibing cat.
Whatever you’ve been doing, if it’s working, keep doing it. To borrow some more cliches, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it and just keep on keeping on. Stay in the groove. Vibe with things as they are for a little while.
Of the four rune stones, three are blank. I don’t get the sense of brimming “potential” that I did with last week’s blank stones. There is more of a “stay” or “hold” feel. That would go along with the one rune that is showing – Isa, symbolic of ice.
It doesn’t get much more to the point than that in the intuition and symbolism business.
Chill.
Do, but don’t push. Continue, but at a relaxed pace. You are sliding along, not frozen solid in the ice.
Just to prove that a sense of humor exists in the world…as I write that I get the mental image of olympic curling, and the slow, smooth slide of the curling rocks.
The individual crystals in the top right hand corner of the photo remind me that there are always outliers. This reading doesn’t apply to every single person who hears it. This is a collective energy, general audience kind of reading that should never bear the burden of prediction, even if such a thing were possible. If this reading doesn’t resonate with you, that’s normal. No one reading can be everything to everyone. Keep listening and your perfect message will find you in time.
Thank you so much for reading and listening today. I welcome your questions and feedback through the comments below or the contact in the right hand column over there ->
There are links in the episode description for the podcast.
The blog, the podcast and the youtube channel are not monetized in any way, so they 100% rely on your support. Please visit the TaoCraft Tarot ko-fi page where purchases and memberships all support creating these free blog and podcast Tarot readings for everyone.
Please feel free to browse the website. It is a treasure trove of Tarot readings, transparency and honesty all intended with kindness. Pardon the little sprinkles of sarcasm every now and then. It’s a package deal. Please feel free to look around. What you see is what you get.
Hi. This is just a quick follow up to yesterday’s late night post about the NEW CrystalCast reading. I only recently came up with the idea for this part crystal, part runestone, all scrying, pure intuition, just for fun, look at the week ahead reading. You can see the whole post and watch the video of the actual crystal cast HERE (there is a link in show description for podcast folks) I hope you’ll follow the blog come along as this new reading evolves.
If Short Sip Tarot posts are a contemplation for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee, Crystal Cast posts are a few brain waves for your week in the time it takes to sip from your tea. My intent is to post these either Sunday evenings or Monday morning. Maybe. More or less. Which brings me to the fall and winter schedule:
There is none.
I’m not going to try and fit into an announced schedule anymore. What you see is what you get or wizzy wig as the old school computer programmers used to say it. It is what it is and you see it all as it happens. Intuition, psychic readings and Tarot readings are all very much a product of their present moment. I want my cyberspace presence to authentically reflect that in-the-moment process. This is about quality, not quantity. Writing in the moment whenever that moment happens gives you the best of my intuition. Everything I do here is with the intent that it comes to you in the time and place and way that is highest and bestfor you. I don’t have to write on a set schedule or use a pre-set scheduler for the universe to bring you and your energy message together.
Which happens.
All of the time.
Most of the time, actually, The likes or comments for a post or podcast episode often trickle in long after it was first published. The internet is forever as they say. You never know when someone will stumble onto one of these collective energy readings. When I write in my moment, whenever that is, then you get the best message for you in your moment, whenever that turns out to be.
When I first rebranded from Modern Oracle to TaoCraft Tarot back in 2018, I blogged about the reasons for the name change. At its core, it was about authenticity. TaoCraft is a transparent, honest expression of what my Tarot work is really all about. It was about bringing the cyberspace aesthetics in alignment with the real me; a little witchy and heavily influenced by Taoist philosophy.
All along, under both names, I tried to follow all the good professional advice about best media and marketing practices.
It didn’t work.
Halloween is said to be the witches new year. Intuitively, autumn feels right for wrapping up some things and starting other things, like a new school year – or a new business attitude.
Owning my own business was never the goal. Don’t get me wrong – I need the money as much as the next person, but I’m not out to build a media company or be ridiculously famous. I’m here to communicate, to teach and above all, to inspire. I’m a Tarot reader, a Tarot writer, artist and intuitive. This is real, sincere and authentic Tarot. It’s not a side hustle. It’s not any kind of hustle. It’s artistry and craftsmanship. It is all about quality over quantity.
August and September were the hustle’s last gasp. Did you hear all of the sawing and air wrench sounds? I’ve tweeked a few things around here , but mostly I’m fully embracing the Adam Savage quote of “follow the process, not the plan.”
No more schedule for posts, podcasts or social media. Creativity happens when it happens. Spirit whispers as it does and energy moves as it moves. My job is to honor that process and that spirit and that energy. My job is to translate and communicate that spirit and energy…not bend it to an announced schedule. Serving authenticity in this way will elevate my experience of this work and in turn elevate the quality of the readings you receive, both public and private.
After three pandemic years of few to no party appearances, I’m closing that part of the business. I’m all about individual readings now, either privately in person, privately by email (still my specialty), or from me to you by way of the blog, pod and social media.
Starting in January all in-person appointments will be on Mondays, because of non-Tarot reasons. If you can’t meet on a Monday, we can work live online through a Zoom call at another time that works for both of us. Both online and in-person are by appointment anyway.
Purchases are all through my ko-fi page now. It is a MUCH easier checkout process, still secured by PayPal. You can check out and submit your question in one super-easy seamless process.
In person sessions can pay cash in exact change at the time of the reading (I don’t carry cash or make change) OR you can pre-pay through the ko-fi shop. When you pre-purchase the in-person session you get an instant download .pdf with general instructions a free sample chapter from one of my upcoming ebooks.
Email Tarot readings are still my specialty. I’m psychic, and I’m a writer. I’m a psychic writer, I suppose. But I’m not a marketer or media maven. I’m not a hustle. I’m not a clinical therapist. I’m not a healer. I’m a muse for your ideas and messenger for your spirit guides to help inspire personal growth and creative problem solving. Forget predicting the future. Claiming your personal power and growing as a human being is what this style of Tarot is about. If you want next-level inspiration, I’m here to help. If you want to predict the future, might I suggest one of those 8-ball toys? To be blunt, this is Tarot for grown-ups and for people who want to grow.
Grown-ups tend to be practical. We work smarter, not harder, so all of the practical advantages of email Tarot are HERE on the website.
In fact, the blog website has pretty much everything about TaoCraft Tarot. It is a treasure trove of Tarot readings, transparency and honesty all intended with kindness. Pardon the little sprinkles of sarcasm every now and then. It’s a package deal. Please feel free to look around. What you see is what you get.
Thanks for reading and listening. I appreciate any questions, comments, likes, follows or shares you can spare.
TaoCraft is four years old today, but this new crystal cast reading is today years old today.
My Tarot career isn’t shiny and new, but these readings certainly are.
Hello and welcome to TaoCraft Tarot blog and podcast. I’m glad you are here.
Today is the 4th anniversary of TaoCraft Tarot’s grand opening. Even though I’ve been doing reading cards since the early nineties, publicly under the nicknames Baihu and Modern Oracle since 2003 or so, in 2018 I re-named re-branded and re-launched everything as TaoCraft Tarot. I still hope to re-introduce everything because knowing is more comfortable than not knowing and I want everyone, new and old friends and followers alike, to feel comfortable and at home here.
At four years old, TaoCraft as a whole is like a well used favorite pair of jeans with all of the reasons for the name chang well out of the broom closet, but today I’d like introduce a brand shiny new kind of reading.
New to me, in any case. I’ve never offered these publicly before.
Casting type of divination isn’t new. Throwing coins to gain wisdom from the I ching is an ancient practice. People probably have been doing psychic readings with tossed objects since someone dropped some chicken bones on a patch of dirt. Charm casting had a moment on social media a few years ago. I had a charm reading once. It was – forgive me – charming. There is just no better word for it. At was insightful and helpful and kind which a credit to the reader more than the charms.
Those are all parts of the powerful roots that I hope to bring to the crystal casting experience. For those of you listening on the podcast, you
The unique part of this is not the casting and pure intuitive reading process, the unique part is the stuff I’ve put in my wise woman’s little reading bag of tricks, so to speak. Inspired in part by that charm casting reading, but also by Crystal Vaults crystal readings, Thom Pham’s Rune Cards of Mannaz and Publishing Goblin’s Oracle Dice (which I may add to my literal grab bag once they arrive from the kickstarter in a few months) I’m using black crystal chips for protection, clear quartz crystal chips for clarity and to amplify psychic energy, and lapis lazuli rune stones for wisdom, insight and integrity.
Looking at the example video above (on the blog and podcast website. If you are listening to the podcast I’ll put a link in the show description for you if you’d like to see the example) we see two lines which brings to mind converging paths or converging concerns. On is mostly black chips, the other mostly clear chips, with the two converging in the middle of the scattered chips. I get the impression this is about protecting your vision, guarding your insight until it is the right time. I ‘hear’ … hear meaning that the intuition comes as words instead of mental images … “don’t overshare”. If I apply this to my situation, it reminds me of the whole squirrel rave meme that has been popping up the schedule announcements and all the changes in planning over the spring and summer particularly. The advice is to “play things close to the vest” so to speak. I’ll explain more later, but I’m not going to announce schedules and plans so much anymore so things can adapt and be more agile over all. Oversharing seems like a bad idea in the short term future it seems.
See the X, the Gebo rune? It means gift, generosity, partnership…all hints of being in a flow of good things. The blank side rune hints at potential. I hear “blank slate” with great potential to choose and write the future being present on the path ahead.
See how that works?
I’m offering these at an introductory price until the end of November 2022 then they will cost the same as a one card Tarot reading. Please visit the blog and podcast website for details.
i know it isn’t exactly polite to ask for presents on your own business anniversary. Every year, I break my own rule of no cutsey pants promotions rule and do something to celebrate the deep authenticity and the anniversary of the TaoCraft web name and blog title. This year it was $1 Tarot readings. Now I’m asking for a little treat from you, not tricks involved. If you could comment on the blog or to the blog if your platform supports that – I’d really like to hear from you. What do you think of the crystal casting idea? What do like, hate, or want to see more of here in the blog and podcast? If I could trick or treat at your door tonight, I’d rather hear your thoughts than get a candy.
Thank you all for listening and reading. Thank you all for being here, and making the past four years so worthwhile.
I’m developing a new, unique style of intuitive reading involving crystals and runes together. It will include a video of your individual crystal & rune cast plus a written psychic interpretation by email. The intuition and psychic part is the same as Tarot or any other psychic reading, but I’m beta testing the delivery format. Until the technical piece of it is solid, this distance reading is only $1 regular price – for now. It will go up to $5 just like the one card Tarot meditation readings. Please follow the blog* so you get plenty of warning when the price update is coming. You can get all new blog posts as soon as they are published by opting in with your email in the right hand column of this page ->
Here is how the new reading works
I’ll cast random chips and runestones on my Tarot reading cloth that has accumulated some pretty good vibes over the years. Then I’ll do a purely intuitive / psychic reading based on how the chips and stones fall. By writing it, you get the best of my intuition, by email, no appointment needed. By writing it you can order anytime, 24/7. Stay tuned for the blog post that let’s you know ordering is open.
When this NEW reading is set up and ready, this page will link you to the TaoCraftTarot Shop where you can purchase the reading and submit your question in one easy transaction.
Stay Tuned!
*The blog on this website is FREE and opt-in, you can unsubscribe at any time. There is an audio version of the blog on Spotify, Anchor Fm, googlepodcasts, stitcher, and more.
Example of a private client email Short Sip Tarot readings. Private readings have a different focus from the broad topics we usually see on the blog
It’s called “inner” peace because that’s where it has to happen no matter what the outside is like.
Hello and welcome back to TaoCraft Tarot blog for what I’m calling season 4 of the audio blog a.k.a. the podcast. I’m glad you are here whatever you want to call it. The text to speech capability that wordpress, anchor fm and spotify offer is working out really well for me so I’m going to keep the blog and podcast as they are unless I hear differently from all of you. I’m a good writer, but not such a good media talent or voice actor. I’m happy to let technology compensate. In the end, you will get a better tasting sip of Tarot.
Happy belated equinox everyone! This is as good of a time as any to start a new season of the podcast. I’ve heard that it’s good practice to re-introduce yourself every now and then. October is the fourth anniversary of rebranding from Modern Oracle Tarot to TaoCraft Tarot. Halloween is often considered the witches’ new year so it all kind of fits. Look for some review and announcement content on the print blog over the next few weeks
Generally speaking, the blog and podcast will post late morning or early afternoon Monday through Friday, but it may skip some days unexpectedly. Social media is completely random. The members-only blog will still get a reliable “Pathway Through the Month” reading near the 1st of each month, a newsletter close to the 15th of each month and the “Tarot Turnover” intuition building exercise every weekend. Stay tuned to the free print blog to learn about other members-only benefits.
The most important message I want to get out to you today is that I am always, always grateful to you for reading, listening, liking, subscribing & sharing but most of all for your questions and comments. Thank you to each and every single one of you.
It happens sometimes.
Sometimes I will pull a card with every intention of doing a general audience blog reading but instead the Tarot message will land right in my own wheelhouse like the Hermit card did today.
The card resonated so well when I drew it that it gave me an idea. Instead of the usual “short sip” reading, I’m going to write this as if it was a one card reading for a client. That way all of you can see (or hear) how my email readings work. The information and detail you get in a private one card is different from the broad topics we usually talk about in a short sip post.
Because I’m a writer, email readings like this are my specialty. Think of an email reading as a written transcript of exactly what I would say to you if we were meeting face to face. Written intuition being exactly equal to spoken intuition is the introverted clairvoyant’s superpower. It’s a win-win for everyone. I get an enjoyable work flow while you get the convenience of 24/7 no-appointment ordering plus a photo of your cards plus a record of the session that you can read (and re-read) whenever you like, as many times as you like. Email readings are supremely private, utterly convenient, not to mention affordable. Here is a comparison for you. In my in-person one hour sessions I use a seven card Tarot layout. I give you that exact same reading by email for 65 cents a minute. Compare that 65 cents per minute to the current national average of 1 to 5 dollars per minute for a psychic reading. That’s already a heck of a bargain when you factor in my 30 years of Tarot reading experience. So no, I don’t do readings for free outside blog and podcast, and no, I’m not doing any more sales or giveaways other than those that are part of the ko-fi memberships. This isn’t a scam but I have legit expenses like web hosting, book keeping, food and so on.
But I digress. Back to the Hermit card.
Let’s roleplay this a little.
I’ll write today’s post as if it were a one card email reading for a private client, using the impressions that came through when I drew the Hermit card earlier. If you like, pretend this is a private reading, just for you. Kick the tires and take it out for a test-drive to see how you like the email format. Then if you ever order a private email reading with me, you can be confident it will meet or exceed your expectations because you’ll already know what to expect.
Question: Hi. My name is Tired Person who has had a super chaotic couple of weeks. I would like the left cut of the deck when you shuffle please. I don’t have a question or topic. I’m open to whatever message or guidance the card can give. Thank you.
A: Hello Sleepy. I hope the reading gives you a little boost. Tarot is all about that kind of encouragement and inspiration, not predictions, but you already know that. I know your circumstances from our conversation earlier, but I won’t publish any of those details. Protecting your privacy is a major priority. Thank you for giving permission to share your card reading. I never share a reading for a specific person without their permission, and even then I redact it more than the CIA to keep any identifying information out of it.
Had a hunch that the Alleyman’s Tarot was the right one to use today. Your card is the Hermit from the major arcana. This particular Hermit card was drawn by Aka Skyweb for the Ariadne’s Thread Tarot deck. (Side note to the blog and podcast: I use the Alleyman’s Tarot deck with permission from Publishing Goblin LLC. )
Major Arcana vs minor arcana isn’t quite as telling with one card as it is in a larger layout. Intuitively it doesn’t feel like the card is pointing to a major life lesson, big decision, or major turning point in life as major arcana cards sometimes can. Minor arcana cards outnumber the majors almost two to one. I don’t know the exact math, but chances are that any given single card draw will result in a minor arcana card. Given that, major arcana cards always earn a little extra consideration in any size of reading.
If the arcana reads into this at all, it is to say that this is a high energy time time for you, just as you described. For you it felt chaotic, but that level of energy can also be stressful or invigorating. Everyone feels it differently. Whatever this higher intensity energy makes you feel, usually you feel a lot of it. However you describe it, the card is acknowledging and validating the high wattage energy you’ve felt recently. In any reading, any card in any layout position can have different spin or different flavors of message. It can be an advice message giving you something to consider doing. It can be a caution message giving you something to consider avoiding. It can be recognition or validation, like a cosmic “I hear you.” Or, as in this case, it can be a reassurance message. The feeling around this card very much is letting you know that you are on the right path and doing the right thing for this moment in time.
The Hermit symbolizes seeking isolation and finding inner peace and wisdom. It is about insight that becomes a light in the dark. Outer quiet clearly isn’t an option for you right now, so let’s look at the inner part of it.
In your case, it is letting you know that the self care you have already been doing is the right thing. It is perfectly ok to dial back a little on things that you have been focused on to shift your attention elsewhere. It’s better to do one thing at a time as best as you can than to half-ass a bunch of different things. Ralph Waldo Emerson said that “The greatest gift is a portion of thyself.” Your time and attention is a worthy gift. If you wanted to share a bottle of expensive wine with friends, you wouldn’t break the bottle into pieces to share it all at once. You would pour a little into each glass in turn one at a time. I don’t know the full details of the situation, but it feels like you are being told one thing at a time, not everything all at once. “One thing at a time in the right order, first things first” is good advice for adults too, not just small children.
I ‘hear’ “Red thread of continuity.” Of course, when I say ‘hear’ it means that the intuition comes as mental words, sounds or music instead of as mental images (that’s the difference between clairaudient and clairvoyant) which refers to the read thread on this particular version of the Hermit. I think what that all means is that whatever that thing you set aside or de-prioritized for a time CAN and SHOULD be picked up again once the current chaos has passed. You did the right thing putting one thing on the backburner for a time in order to give the best of yourself to something more important.
This card strongly reminds me of a live feed I was watching of a fellow Tarot reader (MadamAdam) Some of what he said very much applies with the energy here.
You’ve talked and written about self care. It’s important that you have led by example during this time. It’s important that you stepped back from work to take care of yourself and your family. People need to know your advice is real, and that you follow it for yourself and that it WORKS. Like “Madam Adam” said that it is important to “keep up your end of the bargain” your family, yourself and your professional clients by keeping yourself healthy and well and learning and growing and doing all of those things we professionals, in all of our wisdom, tell other people to do. He really made the point when he said “Why would I take dance lessons from someone who can’t dance?” Indeed. Why would any of us take advice from someone who doesn’t take care of their own spiritual and emotional wellness?
Stepping back from work did something important for yourself. Stepping back from work also kept up your end of the bargain to provide good service to your clients. Don’t beat yourself up for not sticking to some arbitrary schedule that you make up for yourself in the first place.
By stepping back from work, you gave a fuller measure of yourself to loved ones which is infinitely more important than ANY mundane task.
Plus the red thread thing shows that nothing was lost, you can pick right up where you left off.
The red thread of continuity shows that everything was gained by being true to your own insight and your own priorities.
A lot of times the Hermit card gives us advice to find quiet and carve out the quiet time we need. All the quiet and isolation in the world won’t help when you are churning on the inside. By the same token, all the outer chaos in the world can’t touch calm that comes from the inside. That’s why they call it “inner peace” because that is where it has to happen no matter what is or isn’t going on around you.
Intuitively I see a shiny black crystal…I think it is black tourmaline more than hematite which will protect your energy. In my mind’s eye, I see meditation beads so whatever meditation, yoga, tai chi or chi gong practice you might have, please do indulge in that as best as you can. For aromatherapy, I get sandalwood, copal, amber. Lavender, chamomile, bergamot are your standard issue aromatherapy recommendations for stressful, chaotic times. I think they might actually get on your nerves more than support them. Go for warm smokey woody scents for those times when the world is getting on your last nerve.
And get some sleep. Take a nap as much as things will let you. Sleep is an incredibly healing thing.
There the energy steps back. I hope that helps. As always if you have any questions about the reading or anything else, leave it in the blog comments or send an email. The contact is on the website.
Hang in there!
I hope the mock up reading helps you, too. Thanks again for reading and listening. See you at the next sip!
TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. Today mystical self care until the woo woo feels come back.
Welcome to Tao Craft Tarot blog and podcast. I’m glad you are here.
As you’ve probably noticed I’m an all in fan girl for the Alleyman’s Tarot deck and today’s card is probably one of my favorites so far. It puts all of the Tarot and Reiki work I do into a little better perspective. The weird ass mystical shit is a normal part of life just like everything else. Seeing it put in so many words is a good reminder not to take things quite so seriously. The weird ass mystical shit card has a lot of the same “embrace the absurd” and “go with the flow” advice that I often get from the Page of Cups card.
Plus, today’s weird ass mystical shit card is reversed. Either that means things are gonna be extra spoopy or overly normal, one or the other.
All I can say is that it’s probably a good thing that I’m not monetized on any platform and totally rely on your support. Otherwise I’d probably be demonetized today. This card gets just a little sweary.
That’s not the only disclaimer. I’ll be talking about the card and deck as if they are an intelligent separate entity more than usual.
This deck is easily the largest I’ve ever used. It can be slippery and challenge my manual dexterity at times. That makes the deck seem like it has a mind of its own. It also has a propensity for reversals. So far, the deck has been serious about each and every one of them. In this case, my hunch is that the reversal means a block. The WAMS card (as the deck creator calls it) tells it like it is, no woo woo required. In this case, the reversal takes the mystical woo woo down yet another notch. In essence, today’s card is a validation for you if you aren’t feeling the slightest bit spiritual at all.
If you are deep in the mystical feels today, then this card is asking you to consider what you will do when – not if, but when – you hit a day where your sense of the mystic isn’t there. What is it you can rely on later when a low-energy day comes along? What can you trust when your feelings of personal power elude you? A day when you are dialed in and feeling is a good day to pay attention to what really works for you so that you can rely on it when you really need it.
I read Scott Cunningham’s Wicca for the Solitary Practitioner a few years ago. One of the most memorable parts was simply “The feeling is the power.” On one hand that is a very empowering idea. It speaks to a deep trust in ourselves, our feelings and our innate intuition. The feeling is the power regardless of rituals or tools or outward appearances. The thing you choose is secondary to the act of mindful choosing in and of itself. The external things that express your feelings are secondary to the feelings themselves.
But that also begs the question of what to do when you just aren’t feeling it. Does not feeling mystical render you powerless? Does it make you somehow vulnerable?
Vulnerable, maybe, but not powerless. We all need to pull back sometimes. We all need to balance yang with yin, haul in the envelope we’ve been pushing, and give ourselves a little TLC. If we keep pushing when we need to be still then things can go haywire. It may seem empty or powerless or outright ridiculous to lean on weird mystical shit when we just aren’t feeling it. But remember, weird mystical shit has its practical, plain-talking side. It’s something to build a bridge between now and the point in time when the woo woo feeling comes back. And it always comes back.
You might call it faith. That’s too Christian-ish for me personally. For me, the word faith conjures the con-man’s call to blindly take someone’s word about something unproven, possibly unprovable. When you’re not feeling the mystical woo woo, blind faith is a dangerous thing. Deep trust is a better way. When you are feeling more BLAH than empowered, wouldn’t it be better to lean on something you’ve tested and trusted and used before? Trusting yourself is the path back to feeling the mystical.
Sometimes that trust in yourself takes the form of waiting until the time is right. Sometimes trusting yourself means just doing what you already know works and allowing time to do its healing thing.
The card reminds me of a meme of unknown origin, one of my favorite memes.
source unknown
It reads quote Movie witches: For this spell you must gather these sacred items three, soak them in water held by the skin of a deer and drink half a cup each night before bed until the full moon…Real witches: Imma just draw a sigil or something on this toaster strudel and have it for breakfast end quote.
Some days are all weird ass mystical shit, full of power and potential. Other days are all toaster strudel and shoving your favorite crystals in your pocket until the feeling shifts. The mystical feeling will be back. Count on it because the mundane, practical, logical, and irreverent parts of life are with you everyday regardless of how you feel and those things are just as magical and mystical as anything else.
So yeah.
The rock in your pocket protects a low energy psyche. The sigil on your strudel can do what needs done until you are feeling the feels again. Whatever holds your trust does so with good reason. Forget blind faith – when you rely on things that have EARNED your trust you are, in turn, actually trusting yourself. You are trusting your own judgement about what is or isn’t trustworthy.
Thank you so much for reading and listening. I appreciate any likes, subs, shares, follows, questions and comments that you can spare. Comments are open on the blog, and there is a link to the blog in the podcast episode description.
I’m not kidding about not being monetized. That allows me to follow intuition’s lead and say what needs said without worrying about offending advertisers. It also means that I need your support. If you are enjoying the blog or the podcast please visit the TaoCraft Tarot ko-fi page. The shop proceeds and memberships go toward the time and web hosting it takes to create these free to access Tarot readings for everyone.
In the spirit of full disclosure, private readings by email with the blog author are available for purchase on the blog and podcast website. Email readings are always open and available, no appointment needed.
Thanks again and see you at the next sip.
The Alleyman’s Tarot was created by seven Dane Asmund of Publishing Goblin LLC and used here with permission.
no need to wish that the force be with you – because it already is.
Reiki has crossed my path lately.
That’s not entirely accurate. Reiki IS my path. Or at least a good chunk of it. Or one thread of the braid of it. It’s hard to describe. So let’s back up a few years.
I’ve been told that it is good to re-introduce yourself every now and then. Let me reintroduce you to the Reiki side of Tao Craft.
You know the Tarot part well, even if you have been following along just a short time. Ebooks and mala style meditation beads part of things are pretty self-explanatory for sale ko-fi shop and Etsy shop respectively.
It may seem a little odd to have Tarot and Reiki living in the same cyber space. Reiki and Tarot are actually connected at a fundamental level. The Venn diagrams of Reiki, Tarot and magick overlap so much as to practically be a circle.
It might not make sense at first glance. I mean, sure, Tarot is so associated with all the various forms of magick and witches that it is pretty much assumed that if you read Tarot you are a witch and vice versa. But Reiki? What does Buddhism influenced love, light, and lotus flowers have to do with Tarot and magick craft?
As the name TaoCraft implies, it has a lot to do with it. Whether you use eastern or western terminology, Taoism and Tarot, Magick and Reiki all spring from the same basic substrate of universal energies.
As a quick explanation in terminology, Reiki specifically means a method of energy wellness developed in the 1920s by Micheo Usui of Japan. Other methods of energy healing have come to be called Reiki just like the brand name band-aid has come to be used interchangeably with any adhesive bandage. Some newer energy systems identify as being derived from Usui’s work and so identify as a type of Reiki like (if memory serves) Karuna Reiki and the like. Other energy styles and systems may have started with Reiki but split off to differentiate themselves entirely from the traditional Usui system and take on wholly different names. That can happen on an individual or organizational level and doesn’t imply that the system is any better or worse than Reiki, just that it is a different thing all together. In addition to that you have other energy systems that have always been separate and distinct from Reiki since their inception. As I understand it, Johrei is a similar but religious Japanese discipline that grew in parallel to Reiki during the 20th century.
To be clear, whenever I say Reiki (pronounced “ray key”) I specifically mean the Usui system. I use “energy healing” or “energy wellness” as an umbrella term for all similar healing and wellness practices.
My training and certification is in the Traditional Usui style. I studied first and second level training with Karon Mellon of Sewickley PA in the mid 1990s then repeated these levels and progressed to the master-practitioner level under Master Thom Beardshall of McMurray Pennsylvania in 2000.
I don’t feel particularly drawn to teaching Reiki outside of writing about it. I’m a practitioner and, like Tarot, my strong suit is distance work. For the past four years since the TaoCraft Tarot rebranding, I’ve been focusing on distance Reiki and developing what I call “Sending Stones” distance Reiki sessions. I do call it Reiki because it is a Usui method distance session in accordance with my training BUT with the added embellishment of holding a selected stone or crystal to enhance the ambiance and enjoyment of the session. This is no different than the way many Usui practitioners embellish in-person sessions with music, incense, candles or aromatherapy.
There is so much more to say about Reiki. Far more than any one blog post can cover. So I’ll give you a little homework instead.
To see what the Reiki part of TaoCraft looks like, just click the Reiki tab at the top of the page on the blog, or in the menu if you are viewing the website on a mobile device. There are lots of updates planned, so I hope you’ll follow the blog or podcast to hear about those as they happen.
Based on all I’ve learned over the years plus my personal experience learning Reiki, I am firmly in the camp that says the only way to learn in person and over time. Humans don’t flip switches. It’s not like installing the latest update to you phone’s operating system. Human physiology and psychology takes a little time to fully integrate to a new outlook. It takes time to fully incorporate and keep new energies and new thought habits and new habit-habits. Our eyes are not our only sense. You need to have the tactile experience of feeling energy and the change in your hands. The attunement … I’ll call it a ritual for lack of a better word…is a powerful initiation that must be experienced first hand.
Common wisdom teaches us that low, slow burning fires last the longest. That isn’t to say that doing all three levels of Reiki training in one weekend will cause them to flame out and go away. There is, however, a difference in quality. To put it in culinary terms, it’s like the difference between a cheap fast food hamburger and a slow smoked brisket. It’s like the difference between warming up a can of beans and pot of authentic New Orleans red beans that have been bubbling away in a slow cooker all day. Once attuned always attuned seems true. Achieving an enduring high quality experience of Reiki in your life (whether you treat others or not) needs a sweet spot of time between level attunements. The goldilocks zone of time between attunements seems to be 7 to 21 day. It’s enough to adapt and embrace and use and live your new energy level from the last attunement, but no so much time that your attention fades and you start to lose readiness for the next attunement.
But that’s just me. Like Tarot readers and Magick practitioners, there are as many schools of thought about it as there are people living it.
That being said, I don’t encourage anyone to learn Reiki in a single weekend or solely from books or videos. The makers of the world will understand this part: Sometimes you just have to get your hands on it and DO something to really, really understand. That is even more true for something like Reiki that you don’t just know, that you don’t just DO, but can become a way of life.
Doing and living implies continuation, movement and change. Just like science and mainstream medicine, there is always something to explore, improve and learn in Reiki too. That’s where books come in.
Back in the day, when I was studying for my Doctor Doofenschmirtz style remote learning Ph.D. with Clayton College of Natural Health, Reiki: Universal Life Energy by Bodo Baginski was the first book they assigned for the energy medicine class. It is a classic and a good read if for no other reason than Bodo Baginski is probably one of the coolest, most Hobbit like author’s names I’ve ever seen.
After that, I suggest anything and everything by Walter Lubeck and Frank Arjava Petter, especially as one moves from second level to master or master-practitioner levels. Once you have a basic understanding and basic attunements these books increase your level of proficiency. Reiki Fire and Petter’s books are particularly important for those who come into Reiki under the Takada lineage and who are very invested in the Christianized version of Reiki History. While this version was utterly necessary in its time, and may well be the only thing that preserved Reiki in a time of great bigotry and the internment of Japanese American citizens, it is equally important for we 21st century practitioners to know and understand Reiki’s actual, documented, Buddhist roots.
Christopher Penczak’s Magick of Reiki from 2004 is number one on my personal list of must-read Reiki books, but only if you have an established foundation in Reiki, magick, or both. While it is an engaging, absorbing, clear, easy to understand read, the real heart of the subject matter is a bit esoteric. I didn’t discover the book until fairly recently, so I’ve only engaged with it from an experienced practitioner’s point of view. Even after all these years, I gained much from it, especially on the magick side of the equation where my experience and learning is less.
His explanation of physical versus spiritual Reiki is a crucial utterly essential understanding for any Reiki practitioner, especially here in America. I urge anyone interested in Reiki to read this book if for nothing else but the page explaining this important concept.
Count me on the spiritual side. My dissertation argues that Reiki does indeed have physical benefit BUT through the mechanism of the mind-body connection and through mitigation of the detrimental effects of psychological stress. When Reiki improves stress it improves all the physical things that the stress was making worse. Reiki does have physical benefit, but not in the mainstream allopathic mind set of ‘do this to fix that’. Reiki works in the holistic model of improving total functioning and wellness, not just ameliorating a single symptom or isolated disease process. Reiki shifts the mind part of mind-body wellness from a detrimental stress mode into either a neutral or supportive role, in essence getting stress out of the way so that the body’s natural healing abilities can function at their best. If you are interested in the statistics and references, Reiki and Relaxationis the ebook friendly pdf version of my dissertation.
Having a clear idea of the kind of Reiki you want to practice improves your practice.
Again, I work from a spiritual/emotional healing point of view with my Reiki practice. In the beginning, because of my medical background, I tried to work from the physical model and bring Reiki into the mainstream.
It doesn’t work. You wind up whittling away so much of Reiki in order to fit that square peg into an unyielding juggernaut of a round hole that after a while it does a disservice to both the client and to the practice of Reiki writ large…
There is zero big deal here. Pick a card, think about the vibe. If it is helpful, use it. If it isn’t, ignore it. I believe that, at risk of sounding like an old Blondie song, one way or another the message you need will get to you if you let it. It might be through the card you choose here. It might be through the crystal that goes with it. So choose quickly on impulse. Stop the video and think about it…it’s all good. Even if your cue(s) don’t come through this at all, heads up, eyes open. Synchronicity is your friend. Spirit whispers through random coincidence if you listen well.
Blue Kayanite – loyalty, fair communication, throat chakra
Red Jasper – nurturing, endurance, warrior stone, base (sacral) chakra
Rose Quartz – inspires compassion & peace, attracts love & romance, heart chakra
Left: Devil. This isn’t predicting something bad will happen. Many times it is a “heads up” acknowledging the reality of evil in the world. There are people out there doing not-good things. The world doesn’t always have your best interests at heart, protect yourself. But that isn’t the vibe today. Oh no, it’s WAY worse than that. It is about you facing the worst of yourself. Some call this shadow work, coming to terms with parts of your own personality and psyche that make the rest of you uncomfortable. If you choose this card, I suggest researching some Carl Jung. *
Center: Six of Pentacles. Generosity and Reciprocity. The card symbolizes generosity of both money (or other physical resources) and a generosity of spirit. There is also a sense of connection to Queen of Wands energy…you can’t be generous with others if you are tapped out yourself. Curate your resources, your health and your energy. When you feel and are abundant in resources it is easier to give generously, and more importantly, authentically of yourself. Doing something because you should or you have to is far more draining than the same thing given spontaneously without attachment to the should or have to part of it.
Right – Five of Cups. A card of melancholy, mourning and bittersweet endings. This feels oddly targeted. It lends itself the most of the three cards to that individuals connected, individuals within a joined matrix impression (like the stones in the video card) It boarders on that trope “I don’t know who needs to hear this…” This is targeted to those who have had a romantic relationship end recently. The advice is to honor the pain. Acknowledge it and feel it in order to move on to healing it. You don’t have to sweep sad, upsetting things under the rug. You don’t have to pretend hurtful things didn’t happen. Whatever the hurt or loss may be, walk through the hurt and the feelings at your own pace. It may not seem like it now, but a time will come when you can move on, even it is a bittersweet progress. Now the energy moves into a regretful letting go, a realization that it is time to move on. The rose quartz is gentle and loving. It can help heal heartbreak, then help attract new, healthy love when the time is right.
“Until you make the unconscious conscious it will direct your life and you will call it fate.”
Carl Jung
Tarot is an excellent tool and method for just the kind of self-discovery that Dr. Jung speaks of here. I’m not a psychologist, but I can help you learn to use Tarot for yourself or give you an individual advice and guidance reading that can help you with your self-discovery, personal enrichment, spiritual expression or heart-healing learning.
This is one of those times, where the video actually seems to get to most of the message. The theme, it seems is “pay attention.” Interestingly, the theme touches a little bit on mind, body and spirit.
As always, stop, rest a moment. Let your self set aside work or whatever has been on your mind for a moment. It will all still be there when you are done reading this. It is OK to be here, now, looking at the screen. Take a breath, pick a card, think about something different for a moment. Pick a card. If you want a few more nice, quiet moments, pause the video. Stare at the screen, let people think you are doing something important (you are – you are paying attention to your intuition and inner world for a moment) When you are ready, restart the video to see the reveal. Read more about your card below.
Four of Cups: Pay attention to other people. It is easy to get wrapped up in our thoughts and live inside of our own heads. You don’t always have to have answers or know the right thing to say. Sometimes platitudes and easy advice is the worst thing to hear. Presence, being with a person, being with the moment is the best thing of all. In a way this resonates with obsidian as a protector, because you are championing the person you share your mindful presence with.
The High Priestess: Pay attention to the subtle things. Spirit speaks in whispers. Hints and signs and omens are there. There are some who believe these things are a reflection of ourselves. The world around us reflects our innate wisdom back to us in forms that we are able to accept and understand be that cards or stars or tea leaves or simple coincidence. If it seems meaningful, it is. This resonates well with the amethyst as it is associated with the crown chakra and spirituality.
King of Swords: Think. Pay attention to what needs done but also when to hold back. Waiting, watching, understanding ARE actions. Deciding to move ahead…and deciding not to decide until later…are both decisions, both leadership actions. Whatever the choices may be this week, whether you choose to act or to not act, it is the deliberate mindful choosing that matters as much as the chosen path itself. Rhodochrosite is connected to the heart chakra. Making decisions and taking action ….especially when that action is to wait or decide later… takes heart, takes courage.
Sage Words Tarot 