Tag: logic

What are you waiting for?

Energy path Tarot reading for the week of 15 May 2023

Hello and welcome to Sage Sips. I’m glad you are here and right off thank you for hanging in with this through all the changes in 2023. With the demise of WordPress to Spotify integration and PodCastle not being as free as they made themselves out to be, the podcast is once again on hiatus, possibly permanently.

As we go along, if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask. Blog comments are open, or you can use the “ask me anything” page on sage words tarot dot com. Substack chats and ko-fi DMs are open to subscribers.

This week we are working entirely from the minor arcana. Sometimes all minor arcana can hint at a low key or low energy week but it doesn’t mean it is an inactive or stagnant week. There is a sense of rootedness in the physical realm thanks to the king of pentacles card. When pentacles are around, there is always a sense of practicality. This is the suit of the physical realm and the classic element of earth and all of the no-nonsense no-drama style that you would expect. The other two cards are both from the suit of swords. Swords is connected to the element of air, but there is nothing airy-fairy about them. Swords also symbolize mind and intellect and action. Put all of that together and this week definitely calls for a head over heart approach. Cool incisive logic is your friend. Compared to the high flying ideals of recent weeks this might seem low energy by comparison, but careful precise action is action just the same. This isn’t the withdrawn or introverted energy we’ve seen recently either. This is deliberate, inexorable forward movement.

The mental image is a glacier flattening the landscape or the slow crumbling ah-ah lava that is just as powerful as the fast flowing type. The energy for this week may be slow, but it is oh so focused on being efficient, effective and enduring. The energy this week seems to be putting the level in level-headed.

Kings are leaders, so if the pentacle card represents concrete wealth, money or career, then the two together hints at a wise use of resources. Don’t let things waste either by sitting and mouldering or by being used frivolously or unwisely. Don’t allow things to sit and spoil, but don’t be a spendthrift either. This is in the fading energy position. Going back to the glacier mental image, I see small rivulets of melted ice, small streams of water flowing quickly down the front of the glacier. That feels like a quicker movement, an influx of resources may come, but not quite yet. It’s not a forever thing, but right now is a time to play the cards you are dealt and work with what you have on hand.

I get the sense of a short time or a not-serious wait. Here I get the mental image of that TV show where chefs compete to make the best dish from the ingredients given to them in a basket.

The current energy card is the knight of swords in reverse. I’ll spare you yet another explanation about how I handle reversed cards. If you have questions about reversals, what that means or how to handle them in a reading – please, ask away in the comments, ask me anything page, or other contacts as listed.

The knight of swords is usually a card of daring, or action and supreme self-confidence. Today the reversal feels significant, it feels like all of those things are blocked or hampered. It feels less like the afraid side of timid and more like a lack of confidence, or negative self-talk. This card isn’t talking to the part of you that is afraid…fear is there for a good reason sometimes. This is talking to the part of you that says “I can’t.” You can. You can do something. Who says you have to do what is expected? Who says you have to do what other people do? Instead of saying “I can’t” figure out what IS within your reach and your resources and do that. Every little bit helps and something is better than nothing in this case.

The growing energy is the eight of swords. Sometimes in a reading a card can serve as a highlight, an underline or an exclamation point to another card’s message. I think that is the case here. The energy of practicality, and level-headed, mind over emotion, deliberate, considered action may with us for a while. The eight of swords is working with the reversed knight to remind us that working within our means and doing what we can do is better than stopping dead in your tracks and giving up, doing nothing.

Take inventory. Make a no-nonsense plan. Act within your means and resources but act. Don’t let “I can’t” take you prisoner. Just because you can’t do one thing doesn’t mean the other things you CAN do aren’t needed or valuable. When it comes to doing the things within your means, what are you waiting for?

Thank you so much for reading and listening.

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Thanks again. See you at the next sip!

Forward and Back

A Tarot reading for your week ahead in the time it takes to sip from your coffee

Right here, right now is all there is. All we have is this present moment. Our superpower is that we can choose IF and how to connect it to the past and the future.

Merry Monday everyone!

I like the “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” approach. Simple is always best. Right now, functionality seems more important than elegance. Unless and until I get feedback from all of you to the contrary, I’m going to write these free for all Monday Week Ahead Pathway readings in the same format as I would a private three-card Tarot reading. It’s comfortable. It works. And it’s a Monday where I could use a few extra sips of coffee. Here we go.

The cards today are:

  • Fading energy: Knight of Wands
  • Current energy: Knight of Rings (pentacles)
  • Growing energy: The Hermit

General Pattern:

The Two minor arcana cards are both court cards which holds a little more energetic ‘zing’ than the numbered cards or the ace. These two minor arcana cards lead into a major arcana in the growing energy position. I take that to be a clue that the vague ennui and introvert energy from the past few weeks has indeed swung in the other direction. This is the starter’s signal we’ve been waiting for.

Go!

Now!

If we are hearing the track and field starter’s pistol, the event is a sprint. It feels like a blip, a short lived window of opportunity to get a flurry of stuff done before things quiet again for a time. If today is not the day, then look for cues this week about when to hit the start button on a project or idea that you’ve been contemplating. Hints about timing may be on the near horizon.

Knight cards symbolize action.

In the card draw video above, I’m using my current favorite deck, the Alleyman’s Tarot with the permission of Publishing Goblin LLC. The Alleyman’s deck uses disks and rings for this suit, not just pentacles. Artwork on this particular card is by Amrit Brar for the Marigold Tarot. I don’t know if I’ll ever buy another deck, but if I ever do, the Marigold is high on my list of decks to consider.

Of course the meanings and energies are all fairly interchangeable no matter what deck you use or what name you call the suit. I still call them coins instead of pentacles much of the time because I read with the Art Nouveau deck for years before branching out into other decks. But we can talk about decks another time.

Today, let’s call it rings. The knight of rings is about steady, persistent action. It has a plodding but inexorable quality about it. Consistent, unending, persistent small actions can lead to big results. Raindrops can flatten a mountain given enough time.

Don’t give up on yourself even if your enthusiasm for something good and right starts to fade. Keep chipping away and you can move your mountain too.

The knight of wands also suggests action. The earth element knight of pentacles acts, but is OK with a glacial pace over geologic time. The knight of wands is fire element. This energy may be less focused, less enduring and more chaotic but it is, well, energetic. What it lacks in focus it makes up for with high wattage and unbridled enthusiasm.

I get the mental image of an old Wile E Coyote style cartoon bundle of dynamite wired to a big old fashioned alarm clock.

The think you’ve been ticking away at is ready to blow up, in the viral internet sense of the word.

If you want to catch lightning in a bottle, you have to study electricity and stand out in a few metaphoric thunderstorms. If you have been preparing and chipping and ticking away at something, then your storm front may be on its way soon. Ready your bottle and listen for the thunder, so to speak.

I still associate the knight of wands with the TV series “Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.”

If you’ve worked and prepared and keep your eyes open for opportunity, magic might happen for you, too.

The Hermit is from the major arcana. Moving from court cards to a major arcana card hints that this is a time of growing activity and dynamics.

On the other hand, it IS the hermit card. By it’s nature it speaks of a return to quiet and contemplation. The lantern and guiding light that is so ubiquitous on Hermit cards is here again in the Aka Skyweb art. This energy speaks to inner guidance and self-discovery.

Slow persistant energy explodes to frenetic progress for a short time but then it needs to be reviewed. I keep getting the phrase “after action report.” Is that a law enforcement thing? Or military? Or both? I want to associate it with first responders of some sort. Preparation, followed by fast action, followed by assessment of the action followed by adjustment and improvement and preparation for the next time.

That pattern may be associated with emergency services or military readiness, but it can be a successful pattern for anyone. My attention is drawn back to the knight of rings with the notion that this advice is particularly targeted toward pentacle, coin and ring kinds of concerns. This week, this reading is very much focused on career and work and wealth. As always with this suit, there is a focus on logic, groundedness, and practicality – even when you are in the middle of a big cartoon ka-BOOM of energy and change.

I see black tourmaline as a helpful energy to protect and steady during the high energy times.

I get the scent of amber and sandalwood to also ground and balance but also support meditation and introspection and learning from experience when it is all said and done.

And there the energy steps back, with a spark of hope that you have all enjoyed the reading and find it helpful.

Thank you all for reading and listening.

The reading fits in here, too. It’s a free for all kind of week.

All of the posts on the Sage Words Tarot blog on both wordpress and ko-fi plus the Sage Sips newsletter on Substack are free for everyone the week of April 24, 2023. The Sage Sips podcast is always free on Spotify plus a variety of other platforms. None of this is advertising monetized – even if you see an ad, I don’t see a penny from it.

All of this Tarot content is supported by readers and listeners like you. If you enjoy these weekly pathway readings, please consider becoming a paid subscriber to see all of the other posts including Q&A, one card meditations, behind the scenes, quote of the day and more.

Thanks again. See you at the next sip!

Weight of a Year

re-posted from Sage’s Other Words blog with permission.

2022 was a long year. It’s nice when time lingers. Hopefully that gives us the luxury of savoring the present moment, as each moment is unique in all the history of the universe, never to return.

Each moment seems miniscule, negligible compared to that enormity, but it is exactly that enormity of time that makes each unique moment all the more precious.

Looking back through energy eyes, or energy third eye as it may be, last January seems distant, different, almost unrecognizable. Tiny as it was in the cosmic perspective, 2022 looms large in the personal perspective. Tarot occupies a different space in the schedule, but also in my mind and energy and attention.

It’s all about the Tarot. It’s always been about spirit and intuition and living in this precious unique moment. The business part of Tarot needed to change. The hustle diminished the flow.

The business part is dressing down, changing into metaphoric pajama pants and fuzzy bunny slippers. The focus isn’t crazy pants promotions or regularly posting social media.

The focus is you.

My time, experience (did I mention I’ve been doing this since the early 1990s?) and my skill is worth the price of a session the same as the time and experience and skill of a therapist or an artist or a writer or a personal trainer or a plumber or anyone with any of the other skills we humans value is worth the cost of their services.

There is another shared thread between the art of therapy and art of Tarot readings. Neither has a bit of benefit unless the person getting it wants it. you can’t push either one on people. The best service we can offer is to create and facilitate a healing space for those who want, need and seek it.

Because of that, I’m not going to worry about posting every single on social media. Dang it, I’m a writer and a Tarot reader, not media personality. Instead of trying to be one, I’m rolling with my strong suit and putting my energy into doing the best Tarot readings for you that I can do.

Despite dropping the word Tao from my web presence, I’m following last year’s natural flow of energy from Yang to Yin. I’m closing party Tarot and reducing the available appointment times for in-person Tarot. I’m putting all of my energy into doing the email readings that I love, love, LOVE to do instead of bleeding off energy to the side hustle of promoting and marketing those selfsame readings. My attention is shifting from doing all of the “right” business things to holding space for us to work together and making a little intuitive magic. If you find me and this magical space, wonderful! It was meant to be. Let’s get to it. You are welcome here. Let’s listen together and find out what spirit and intuition have to say to us.

While a Tarot reading in any format is a spiritual space, apart from the world, the world is still waiting when we are done. There is a hustle to do, even if it isn’t related to marketing and promotion. The practical, logical business side of being a professional, trustworthy Tarot reader still exists. I have bills to pay the same as everyone else. Any support you can give, word of mouth referrals, virtual coffees on ko-fi, repeat readings, anything will help keep the stressful side of social media hustle out of our Tarot energy flow. None of it is really going away. It really isn’t as big of a change as it might sound. It’s all just getting way, way more comfortable and casual.

Speaking of social media, I’ve left Twitter and migrated to Mastedon where people really are the algorithm. I’m @sage@mstdn.social. I meant it when I said “Boosts matter. They are how we find each other. There are a lot of tremendously fascinating, cool human beings out here in cyberspace and boost help us find – and appreciate – each other and that is the whole social media ballgame. Thanks everybody *raises coffee mug* cheers!” I won’t be promoting the blog, podcast or readings there, but if you want to say a real hello, I’m there at least once a day.

The Year Ahead reading for 2023 is up on the main website thanks to Zombie Cat’s fine efforts yesterday.

But all of this can start tomorrow. After the weight of an old year rolling away we’ve all earned some quiet and routine, like the hush of January snow. I wish you a light and lovely New Year.

Sunday Turnover: Two of Swords

Blog exclusive:

For “Sunday Turnover” we turn the reading process around a little. Instead of picking the card that is right for you, as with the YouChoose interactive readings, this time I choose that card and you choose the meaning that most resonates with you.

Today’s card: Two of Swords

Classically it symbolizes a logical indecision, being “of two minds about something. I personally like Diane Morgan’s interpretation of “mystical unity.” The two, while it is related to balance, it also hints at dichotomy. Many cards, like the eight of swords or the seven of cups sometimes suggest using intuition and following your heart when logic and reason fail. The same is true here, especially on cards that follow Pamela Smith’s depiction of a blindfolded figure. The blindfold suggest a reliance on internal insight, intuition, the mysterious or divine. Either way, the two of swords suggests a need for decision, a way to decide, and an element of trust.

Key ideas for the Two of Swords :

  • Indecision, of two minds
  • Reliance on intuition and the mysterious
  • Mystical unity, connection to the esoteric as much as the physical
  • Discord between heart and mind
  • Time to decide – at a standstill because of indecision
  • Conflicting ideas
  • Proper use of power (Ted Andrews)

As with the images on the cards, the trick in Tarot’s benefit is to apply it, not just memorize it.

The card showing in a reading validates any feelings of indecision that brought you to the reading. It can spur you to mental action in letting you know that it is time to decide, not to put it off. If logic doesn’t provide answers right now, look to intuition and vice versa

A Sip of Tarot: Two minds, one heart

Today’s card is the Two of Swords

Swords symbolize the element of air. They can denote action. Historically they are sometimes associated with negative things because swords were at one time the primary weapon of war. It would be like trying to find spiritual guidance from a card with a machine gun on it.

Today, the energy is lying with the air, mentality and intellect side of the card. A classic meaning for the card is being of two minds about something. Logic and reason are – or at least should be – our first go-to for making major life decisions. Sometimes, however, intellect fails.

Emotion seldom makes the best decision. But neither does cold hard logic and intellect when it is used in isolation, with no emotion or compassion at all.

The figure on the card is blindfolded. That signals the indecision that is part of the card’s meaning, while it also hints that following emotion or intuition might seem like a blind leap of irrational faith to the outside observer. Only the person with their hands on the swords, the person who knows both their logical rationale.

The figure on the card is also seated in front of water, the classic symbol for emotions, wisdom and intuition that we so often see on cards from the suit of cups. That’s not surprising, because people are more than one thing. People are complex. Ideas and experiences have a great deal of overlap as do the card’s symbolism and meanings. Water – emotion and heart – has the person’s back so to speak.

When logic is blinded, heart and compassion supports. When you can’t see the answer, resting in a place of compassion is enough.

Yes/No Interactive Tarot: Don’t Throw Good After Bad

LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK IN THE COMMENTS

I admit it…I’ a writer not a YouTuber. If you let me know what kind of content you want to see on YouTube I can learn how to make it. Badly.

That’s on purpose, you know. You don’t get to edit in a live Tarot reading, so why should this be any different?

But like a rambled about in the video: Everybody and their monkey’s uncle are doing straight readings and pick-a-card videos, especially on YouTube and Instagram. I think I’ll stick with this for a little while, unless I hear differently from YOU. So wadda ya think? Helpful? Interesting? Mildly entertaining? Good enough to kill 5 minutes or so with it? Do you have any YES OR NO questions? If you email them to TaoCraftTarot@gmail.com I might be able to convince Zombie Cat to hang out and do a few on YouTube just for fun and content creation if you are interested. If I have a real question to focus on, the video can give you a better taste of what live phone readings are like (or in-person ones if we ever get back to that point.)

When I pulled these cards I didn’t have any question in mind at all. I just did it with the usual ‘help somebody somewhere, hopefully as many as possible’ intent that I usually use here and on social media.

Here is the key to these readings going forward:

  • No aces = strong but changeable NO
  • One ace = maybe, but probably no
  • Two aces = maybe, but probably yes
  • Three aces = strong but changeable YES

In Taoist thought, anything in its extreme holds the seed of the other. As a not to I Ching wisdom, I read all-aces and no-aces like the “changing lines” in I Ching. It is like standing on your toes with you weight leaning forward. Those two results are SO yes or SO no that the answer can quite possibly, through decision and action, be pushed in the other direction.

There are lists, out there in the ethers, of single card yes/no meanings, where you can randomly draw a single card and ostensibly get your clear yes or no answer. I’ve tried that method, but I never connected with it very well. There didn’t seem to be any structure to why each card was given their meaning, either by logic or by energy.

This method connects in much the same way as any Tarot reading. There is a base structure, an underlying logic that acts as armature, a skeleton that helps us connect spirit and energy to the real world in a useful way.

These videos are one thing, blog posts are a better articulated thing, but getting a reading is a whole other thing. If you want to give yes/no a try, Zombie Cat is around for another week on the home page or distance tarot page in the menu above.

If you want a personalized free “digital mini inkmagic” one card Tarot reading by email (policies and disclaimers apply) then you have slightly more than 24 hours to get yours on the special offer page, also in the menu above.

Be Safe. Be Well. Thanks for reading.

Today’s Tarot: Logical make

The Ace of Wands is picking up a thread of energy from yesterday’s Page of Swords. There is still a sense of thinking and an intellectual process of some kind. The Ace of Wands is all about creativity, but in this case is a practical creativity and the logic of making that steps forward. Adam Savage’s excellent book Every Tool’s a Hammer comes to mind. He talks about the problem solving aspects of art, making and creativity in general. Flights of fancy are one thing. In imagination, anything is possible. It takes some serious problem solving and logical making to bring that imagination to tactile, usable life. Creativity combined with making an idea into a real thing is a whole-brain process. It requires us to connect disparate dots, plan, use logic, organize and experiment.

Just because something has never been done before doesn’t mean that you can’t do it now. Just because no one has done something before doesn’t mean that you can’t be the first. Just be ready for some industrial strength problem solving. Dream the dream, then create the logical make.

YouChoose Interactive Tarot June 22 – 27

Take a moment and pick a card. Out of a whole week, shouldn’t you do that much for yourself? Deep breath. Don’t over think it. These readings look at the general energies that touch us all, so there is no wrong answer, no wrong choice. The message you need will get to you one way or another if you just allow yourself to listen for it. If you want a minute to think, pause the video, then restart for the reveal, but following your impulse instinct to the card that most calls to you, the card that draws you in is usually the best thing to do.

Left: Empress. The energy around this card is simple and straightforward. Get the heck outside. Wear a mask, keep your body two arm lengths away from any other body, and go experience for yourself that the world hasn’t entirely ended yet. If the weather is bad, at least let yourself look at some cute animal pictures on the internet.

Center: King of Pentacles. Things are starting to turn a little bit of a corner IF you do it smart. Mind your budget, use some real, logical, pragmatic planning. It isn’t all sunshine and roses work or finance-wise but the pressure may just give you a little wiggle room to make repairs and get ready for the second side of the storm. Don’t delay. Take advantage of opportunities as they come. Make no assumptions.

Right: Six of Cups. Don’t think things to death this week. Expectations are the enemy of intuitions. Life has its cycles. Tides ebb and flow. Seasons change. We just had the solstice, where the sun seems to pause, and nature holds her breath for a moment before the progression begins again. If you chose this card it is both permission and advice to pause. See things as they are without judgement or preconception. This is a moment of silence for you collect your thoughts and enjoy the moment with all the wide eyed innocence of a child at play.

Thank you for reading. If you haven’t already, please consider following the blog so you get all new posts in your email inbox (sign up in the right hand column on laptop, scroll WAAYYYY down to the bottom of the page on mobile. Have a great week!