queen of cups – Sage Words Tarot

Portal to the New

Sometimes the best way to is through – don’t give up!sag

In his classic science fiction novel, Dune, Frank Herbert famously wrote

“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”

Hello and welcome to the Sage Words Tarot blog and Sage’s Short Sip Tarot podcast. I don’t have much to add to Frank Herbert’s famous quote because that essentially sums up the reading for this week.

That, and I also intuitively hear that “the best way around is through.”

The quiet, introspective, introverted, wait, watch, listen energy from last couple of weeks is still lingering for the collective zeitgeist if you are reading or listening to this close to the time when its posted. If you are coming across this at a later time, The Queen of Cups is validating any emotional fatigue or philosophical, thinking, introspective feelings you may have experienced recently. The 1909 Pamela Smith artwork we see in today’s card draw video shows the queen of cups near water, gazing into a cup. Sometimes that has intuition connections and you might resonate with the idea of fortune telling. The stories of Nostradamus gazing into a bowl of water to make his predictions come to mind. I don’t know if that was an inspiration for the artist or not. My sense is that the connection for this week is to the idea of water representing the depths of the human psyche and the queen is gazing to understand deep emotions and subconscious motives more than some superficial, shallow movie style prediction.

This energy is in the fading position, so the time is coming soon when we need to ease up on plumbing our psychological and emotional depths. Knock it off with the emo for a little bit. We need to go heads up and eyes open for a little bit.

There is a certain practicality to the Devil Card. This week it is asking us to take up the terrifying task of staring reality in the eye. There are things in this world we can’t control. There are terrible people making terrible decisions. Malicious intent exists. Putting it on the line to stand up for yourself and stand up for what is right is a fearful thing.

Which takes us back to the Litany Against Fear. Sometimes the only way around is through.

Here I am reminded of a scene from the pulp fiction based 1985 movie Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins. Granted, we aren’t talking about super brainy high class cinema here, but it is a fun movie. One of my favorite parts is where Chun, the martial arts master tells student Remo “Fear is just a feeling. You feel hot. You feel hungry. You feel angry. You feel afraid. Fear can never kill you.”

Which also reminds us of the very real life quote from President Franklin Roosevelt that “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.“

Whenever we confront external danger we are confronting our own fear as well.

Sometimes the demons we most need to slay are the internal ones.

Only then are we free to begin and begin and begin again if we need to do that. The Fool reminds us that we can begin again as many times as we need. Moment by moment if necessary. Sometimes the only way to that new moment is through the fear we feel in this one.

Thank you so much for reading and listening!

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Thanks again. See you at the next sip!

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Unbroken

You can’t fix what isn’t broken.

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

Today’s card is the queen of cups. Queens represent a nurturing, caretaking sort of leadership. The suit of cups is associated with the element of water, with emotions and with our closest circle of relationship. Most of the time this card seems to point to deep inner knowing that requires a quieting of emotions to reach. The queen’s gaze into the cup is said to symbolize plumbing the depths of human emotion and our subconscious psyche for important guidance and answers to life’s dilemmas.

But like every card, the queen of cups has strings of keywords and connotations that have been attached to it over time. Psychic ability is one of those common associations, but that is the opposite side of the world from today’s energy.

Today is more about calm and clarity and a sense of emotional harmony. Today is focused on the prerequisites for intuition, not psychic ability itself.

“Emotional healing” is another of those accumulated key concepts for the card. I see a problem with the whole notion of “emotional healing.” The word healing implies that healing is needed. It implies that emotions can be somehow broken or diseased, literally ill-at-ease.

But, on the other hand, just because an emotion is difficult doesn’t make it dysfunctional, broken or wrong.

You can’t fix what isn’t broken. You can’t heal that which is already healthy.

The emotion itself isn’t the problem. Our relationship with that emotion, however, can become broken and problematic. Giving old trauma or future outsized control over our present moment can be one such problem. Expressing honest emotion in unhealthy ways is another. It’s normal to be afraid in frightening situations. It is normal to worry about risk when it exists. It is normal to feel regret, sadness, grief, and feel the entire spectrum of emotion. What you do with those normal natural emotions is the key of it, not the feelings that naturally bubble up.

There is a serene quality around the Queen of Cups card. It reminds me of the example from the Tao Te Ching. Stirring muddy water or trying to see through muddy water doesn’t really help much. But if you wait…if you abide with the muddiness and let it be what it is…then with a little time the mud will naturally settle and things will become clearer and better again.

Difficult emotions are what they are just like muddy water is what it is. Sit with them as they are, and they will settle as sure as gravity pulls the mud from water. The emotions are what they are. The healing comes from how we relate to them.

Here I am reminded of Dharma Drum Mountain, a Chan Buddhist education center in Taiwan and their website where they offer this strategy for dealing with problems in the 21st century:

Face it : face the difficulty squarely
Accept it : accept the reality of the difficulty
Deal with it : deal with the difficulty with wisdom and compassion
Let it go : afterwards, let go of it

This card suggests that this strategy for dealing with problems might be a good strategy for a healthy relationship with our normal, day to day emotions

I shouldn’t have to end this post with a disclaimer, but times being what they are, it’s necessary. Tarot has no place in medical or mental health care. I’m in no way talking about real illnesses. This isn’t about clinical depression or anxiety disorder or any other genuine mental health concern. This blog, podcast, and Tarot writ large is a tool for growth and for day to day stress management. Tarot is a normal natural way to do that. Getting real mental health help if and when you need is a normal, natural thing to do too.

It’s ok to not be ok. It’s ok to be ok too. Heal what needs healed, and abide in peace with that which is unbroken.

Thank you so much for listening. TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot contemplation for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. If you enjoy these (almost) daily Tarot readings and the other Tarot content please support this work through the TaoCraft Tarot page on ko-fi where you can be a Patron of the Tarot Arts and receive exclusive access to members only content, tarot how-to, special offers and more. Links are in the episode description for podcast listeners.

Thank you again. See you at the next sip!

It’s There

You have the answers you need. They are in there. The trick is coaxing them out…and believing them once they surface.

Hi and welcome to Tao Craft Tarot blog and podcast. I’m glad you are here.

Today’s card is the Queen of Cups. The queen is said to evoke the deepest aspects of all that the suit of cups symbolizes. In the Pamela Smith artwork we see here, the cup is bigger and fancier than the rest. There is almost always water imagery with the Queen of Cups, usually the ocean. This is no little pond or river. The Queen is barefoot, which to me symbolizes both connection and grounding. The queen keeps her connection with the earth while plumbing the depths of emotions and insights even if they are hidden in equally deep waters.

One way to sum it all up is “inner wisdom.”

As elegant, and wise and profound as the Queen of Cups energy may seem, this is no rescuer. The Queen isn’t here to tell you what you need to know. The Queen is here to tell you that you already know. Whatever answer you are looking for … it’s in there.

Sometimes the answers you already possess need a little finesse to bring them to the surface. Water gives more resistance than air. It’s physics in a way. If I’m understanding this correctly, when more surface area is exposed to the resistant force of air or water, more overall force is applied to the object.

Here is a thought experiment for you. Imagine a cafeteria tray laying flat at the bottom of a swimming pool. Even if it is the shallow end, if you lift it up flat it is harder to do than if you lift it up by the edge first. If you use both arms and yoink it flat out, it takes more effort than lifting it up by the edge by two fingers.

Deep inner knowing can be like that.

You have the answers you need. The trick is coaxing them out. It takes a little time and patience and subtlety. Be kind to yourself when you plumb these psychological depths

The harder trick is believing them when they do.

It’s in there. You have the answers you need deep inside, even if they are answers you don’t particularly want to hear.

Thank you for reading and listening. Any likes, subs, shares, follows, questions or comments you can give are always appreciated.

None of these free to access Tarot readings are monetized and depend on your support. If you enjoy these posts and podcasts, please visit the TaoCraft Tarot ko-fi page and consider becoming a Patron of the Tarot arts. The memberships and virtual coffees contribute to the web hosting and other costs of creating this (almost) daily blog and podcast

Tidal Flow

TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. Today: The Moon and psychic tidal flow.

Welcome to TaoCraft Tarot blogcast. I’m glad you are here.

Today’s card is the Moon from the major arcana.

Major arcana cards, being what they are, have more threads of meaning and are often a balance of heavier opposites than we see in the minor arcana.

The moon is associated with spiritual journeying, wisdom, intuition, psychic ability, dreams. Ted Andrews, in his Animal Wise Tarot deck, also ties in changing, communication and guidance. The point about change captures my attention today.

The Moon card is very much tied to the element of water and its connotations and its ties with the suit of cups. I feel like the Moon is connecting with the Queen of Cups card a little bit. The literal moon’s gravity reaches into the depths of the ocean and pulls it all into high tide. The Queen of Cups is said to be looking into her cup of water to pull spiritual knowledge from the depths of the human psyche.

There are psychic tides as much as there are literal ones. Our intuitive energies ebb and flow as much as physical ones. Self care extends to the spirit as much as to the physical. Sometimes tides surgh and we are called to speak our truths from rooftops. Sometimes they ebb and time comes for us to take in rest and comfort in the truths of ritual and shouted ideas of others.

Listen to your inner spiritual tides as well as the demands of corporal being. The Moon card is a call to your spiritual tidal flow the care and attention that it needs today.

Thank you so much for listening.

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Weekend (just barely) Tarot Turnover

TaoCraft Weekend Tarot Turnovers are an intuition building exercise. I sip the coffee and you practice the Tarot reading. This week compassionate insight with the Queen of Cups.

Welcome to the Weekend Tarot Turnover where we turn the weekday short sip Tarot readings upside down. I’ll sip the coffee and you interpret the card to practice and stretch your intuition.

I picked a card at random. The idea is that you choose the meaning from the list below that that you think is the best guidance or message for you just now. Instead of me looking outward to read the energy, it’s your turn to look inward to listen to what your bones, guts and intuition are telling you.

Today’s card is the Queen of Cups, which is a particularly good card for this exercise. The queen of cups is very much aligned with intuition.

Some meanings include:

Knowing without a clear logical reason
Inner wisdom
Understanding mysteries through study
Emotional intelligence
Understanding people’s emotions
Kindness and compassion is needed
Pay attention to your dreams, learn to remember them

Comments are open, so feel free to let us know what if any of this resonates with you. Questions are always welcome, and will be answered in the blog.

Thanks so much for reading the blog and listening to the podcast. Next up is the unboxing-ish review of the Alleyman’s Tarot deck. Then back to short sip posts for the week. Your likes, subs, shares, and follows are always appreciated.

The blogcast and youtube channel are not monetized and depend on audience support. Your private tarot reading purchases through the blog website and your Tarot Table memberships on Ko-fi contribute toward creating this unique Tarot content.

See you at the next sip

Throwback: I dunno

Hello everyone and thank you for reading and listening to the TaoCraft Tarot blog. This is a post from 2020 before the podcast started, even in its original Clairvoyant Confessional form. I’ve edited the post a tiny bit to make it more podcast friendly, but I’m still not sure how well it will convert to audio. But if you’ve listened before, you know that I’m a terrible narrator, so Siri’s second cousin Remy is still going to do a better job for you, wonky pronunciation and all.

The card for this November 2020 post was the Queen of Wands. Here we go.

I dunno

Life is a mystery.

Some would say its like a box of chocolates. Others of us might lean more toward a word that sounds like bit snow. Chocolate or otherwise, sometimes you just don’t know what is going to happen or where it is going to splatter.

Not knowing is part of life, and and it is unnerving as heck. Nobody likes it.

Trying to cope with the unknown comes in different forms. One way is to try prepare for it and make contingency plans as best as you can. It is warm and comfy to wrap ourselves in that kind of logic. If X happens, then I’ll do Y, but if A happens then I’ll do B, if C happens then –

have mercy….

I don’t blame people for wanting predictions.

Predictions, however, are uncertain in and of themselves. They only push life’s uncertainty back a step and hold it at arm’s length until facts and reality set in. Advice and guidance are more effective. Rather than a prediction that still might or might not materialize, guidance adds a degree of information, a tiny bit of knowing that increases both our comfort levels and our ability to make contingency plans.

Imagine driving on a long road trip, and not quite knowing where you are. But ah-ha! A little sign on the side of the road lets you know that you are on highway I 79 going north. If you keep going straight you’ll get to Lake Erie, as long as you don’t have an flat tire or get stuck in a surprise snow storm or something. If something unexpected happens, you can look for more signs to help. So of course, you should start with the logical, practical things. In this analogy that would be putting gas in the car, making sure your cellphone is charged, dress for the weather and such. Tarot readings are to life what gps is for a highway trip. It can’t predict what will exactly happen along the way, but it can give you an idea about the direction you are headed and the conditions ahead.

Other than a chance to practice facing our fear of it, is there any value to the unknowns in life?

I think the mysterious and unknown is our portal to meaning and spirituality.

The mysterious and unknown are key to defining spirituality. As I see it, spirituality is how we, as individuals, deal with and engage with the mysteries of existence. Spirituality is the diametrical opposite of religion. Religion is concerned with the social group. Religion strives to make the unknown into something that is known and in turn impose that understanding from the outside inward. Spirituality is concerned with the individual, and is purely internal. Spirituality expresses from the inside out, rather than impressing from the outside in. Spirituality makes the unknowable – not into the knowable – but into our friend.

It is ok not to know everything. It is ok not to have easy answers to everything. If the journey is more important than the destination, then the contemplation of the mysterious is more important than the comprehension of it.

I make meditation beads. I made one for myself recently. I have no idea how many beads are on it. I just strung however many beads were in a loose package. It’s not a size of bead I typically use, so there was no easy guess how many wound up on the strand. I could have counted them, but I chose not to. I could count them now, but I still choose not to. That mala stands as a symbol for me of the mysterious parts of life. Because it is unknown, but could be, it symbolizes a tangible connection to the mysterious. It is a reminder that the unknowns in life are something to work with rather than eradicate.

It’s OK to not know everything, even if it is a little frightening.

As Frank Herbert wrote in Dune:

“I will not fear. Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death that leads to total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will allow it to flow around me and through me. When the fear has passed, I will turn my minds eye to the path where the fear has gone and only I will remain.”

Thank you all for reading TaoCraft Tarot blog and listening to the podcast. Your questions and comments are welcome on both platforms. I’m glad you are here, and I appreciate you. Any likes, subs, shares, follows and virtual coffees are also greatly appreciated. There are links to all of the formats in the blog post and in the episode description.

Short sip Tarot should be back tomorrow. See you at the next sip!

Solstice #Short: making magic

Thank you as always for watching, reading and listening to TaoCraft Short Sip Tarot. Email Tarot both short and long are open for the holidays, and your support is always greatly appreciated!

Today is something new. I wrote this layout inspired by both the solstice and a trend I’ve seen on Tarot Instagram. I’ve seen a variety of people suggest shuffling the deck then finding a particular card related to a particular topic and then reading the card or cards adjacent to it to get your particular message. For example, thinking of general guidance, you might shuffle then look through the deck for the Magician card, and look to the card right behind it for insight into what you are manifesting or transforming or calling to you in this moment. I’ve seen a half dozen variations of that. Here is mine.

Today where I am is the winter solstice. Dark moves away a tiny bit and the sun steps forward again. Of course, in the southern hemisphere it’s reversed where daytime has peaked and night will advance a bit. So when we get to the cards, read them according to your location. For your winter solstice, look for the sun card for energies moving toward you and read the card right behind it. At the same time, look for the Moon card and read the card behind it to see the energies that are beginning to move away from you. For the summer solstice, reverse the direction – use sun for energies moving away and the moon for energies moving toward you.

Whichever hemisphere you are in today, you can adapt the context to your location.

Since I’m in a sunny but frosty winter place, I’ll write this from a winter solstice perspective and leave it to our southern friends to adjust for their location.

Moon / Queen of cups: reliance on intuition and instinct

Sun/ Seven of Pentacles: results of labors, return of energies

I won’t belabor the point since this is supposed to the a Tarot short, but basically, intuition steps back and practical application steps forward, but only a little bit of each. It is the solstice, and the underlying foundation of the whole thing is, naturallly, a balance.

I see this as being the same essential message for BOTH hemispheres now that I think about it for a minute. The advice is to use, trust and apply intuition, but not too heavily. Don’t use intuition to the exclusion of practical action.

On the other hand, don’t just shotgun out a lot of hard work and effort without some degree of thoughtful guidance. It will pay off. You will reap what you sow, but you’ll reap even more if you take the time, effort and though to sow good seeds and care for the garden in a “work smarter not harder” sort of way.

It’s a balance of intention and effort. It’s a balance of making and manifesting. It’s solstice. It’s magic.

Q&A: What is my boyfriend up to?

Q: Can you tell me what my boyfriend is hiding from me? He’s acting secretive, and I think I know what it is. What is he going to do and when?

A: There is a lot more to this question than you might think.

Can I tell you what your boyfriend is going to do and when? The short answer is – no.

That sort of thing only happens in movies, TV, and the occasional outright scam. In my opinion, if someone promises to fix your love life or promises to give 100% accurate predictions you should run in the opposite direction.

That being said, even if I could tell what your boyfriend is thinking, I wouldn’t. My personal ethics are to protect everyone’s privacy. I don’t read anyone’s energy without their consent. There is a little bit of nuance to that when it comes to relationship questions, but we can talk about that in another blog post because it doesn’t apply here.

When you see the phrase “no third party questions” on a psychic’s website or disclaimers, that’s what it is talking about. We don’t read anyone other than the person who comes to us and asks the question. No matter what you believe about whether it is even possible to read minds, a real professional will respect everyone’s privacy. That goes for both real world privacy and the mental & spiritual kind too.

What a Tarot reading CAN do is help you build on that “I think I know what it is” part. A good Tarot reading helps you to get your head around the big picture and empower YOUR intuition and empower your part in the relationship.

For example, when I draw a card for this I get…..

The Queen of Cups

Queen cards are about leadership, just as much as king cards are but queens have leadership with a nurturing spin while kings have leadership with a protective quality. The nurturing here is directed at you. There is a sense that it is time to put on the big girl panties and face what is going on. Be a leader in this. The only way to really know what he is thinking is to ask him. Talk about it. Be prepared to start the conversation and be prepared to deal with the fallout. There are reasons why the Queen is the most powerful piece on the chessboard. Would Elizabeth the 1st ask a wizard what to do or would she do what needs done keep the kingdom healthy?

Cups cards do symbolize romance, but older meanings connect them to the element of water and to intuition. What are your instincts? Cards can have different spins, or flavors of meaning. In this case, it is validation. Follow your instincts how to start a conversation with your boyfriend and – importantly – listening to your instincts as the conversation goes on. Listen. Learn from what is said. Follow your intuition about what is said as it happens. Don’t go into it with any preconceived notions. See how the queen is looking into the cup? She’s looking for the deep truths, not surface conclusions. Look, listen and learn, then take the lead and do the right thing.

Thank you for sharing your question with us. You never know who else it might help. Questions are welcome in the comments and will be answered in the blog & podcast. If you would like a detailed private reading by emial, you can order them HERE 24/7 no appointment needed.

Be safe. Be well. Best wishes to you.

https://youtu.be/v4bMc_w7XYw

Will let the video speak for itself today.

$10 off special price for 7 card readings by email ends 9-20-21 so get ’em before they are gone. You know how I feel about cutsey pants sales and specials do it will be a while before you see this again.

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I Still Dunno

I still dunno.

The Queen of Cups turned up again, and once again it feels like it is connected to process of facing the unknown.

The word “ponder” comes to mind. I don’t think I’m missing any big message from the Queen. I think she is back just because she has more to say, not because the original message is being missed. Maybe she is just hanging around to help us face the unknown with grace and wit and style. The mental image here is that the cup (rather than a symbol for plumbing psychological and spiritual depths, deep soul scrying) is now a cup of wine, of cheer in the face of challenges. It is an obscure reference, but I think of drunken monkey style Kung Fu or that scene in the anime Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure where the protagonist had to fight the bad guy attacking them without spilling his goblet of wine.

If you aren’t familiar with martial arts, you might think this is all about fighting and violence and wine. Not that there is anything wrong with wine. I could go for a nice chilled Riesling myself, but that’s not the point. That’s not where the energy of the card or the intuitive references are flowing. Flowing is the point of it, actually. Relaxed muscles move faster. A relaxed mind reacts quicker and with more clarity.

The fear of the unknown and and the fear of all of the bad stuff that we know can happen in life is as much of a challenge as the bad stuff itself. In other words, as President Roosevelt said, “we have nothing to fear but fear itself.”

Staring into the depths, into mysteries, into the unknown is staring into the fearsome. People come to psychic readings to remove the fear of the unknown with the illusion of predictions, the illusion of knowing. Psychics are psychics not because they see the future, but because they see the unknowable and help us move forward anyway.