tarot reader – Sage Words Tarot

Cheerleaders from the Great Beyond

Tarot behind the scenes

“Mood’s a thing for cattle and loveplay, not fighting!”
Dune by Frank Herbert, David Lynch screen adaptation

And not for Tarot readings when you are working for other people

Moods and Tarot make an interesting Venn diagram, and it all hinges on whether you are reading professionally or privately.

Should you read Tarot if you aren’t in the mood for it? If you are reading privately for yourself (or for someone you know and aren’t charging them) then no, if it just isn’t vibing for you, by all means wait until you are up for it. Or find someone who is in the mood. Or find a professional.

If you do put yourself in the public eye as a Tarot reader and ask for compensation for your time, skills and artistic service then something else has to happen. Either you have to put your own mood aside and listen to spirit / energy objectively on behalf of your client or you have to have the self-awareness to reschedule the client until such time as you are mentally, emotionally, and physically capable of doing a good reading for them.

There is no hard and fast rule for when to read or reschedule. You have to use your own good judgement about that, just like using good judgement about any adult thing. Don’t drink and drive, don’t stick a fork into a light socket, don’t read Tarot for money if your head isn’t in the right place.

But then, having good judgement and a little wisdom is why you are a Tarot reader in the first place, isn’t it?

There are a lot – a LOT – of things to consider before going professional with your Tarot readings, and we’ll get back to that at some point, but for now – what do you do with a mis-match between mood and message?

My core approach is to be an objective translator.

I’m not some word-from-on-high gifted expert. I just speak spirit pretty well and can translate for you. I don’t have to be in a particular emotional mood to do a reading any more than I need to be in a particular mood in order to speak Esperanto or read knitting patterns abbreviations.

Lately the mood of a couple of readings have not matched my personal mood at all. It’s hard to visualize, but imagine being in a Wednesday Addams mood and getting intuitive information that sounds like the blond haired girl scout.

Sometimes people need a little cheer leading, sometimes they just need someone to hear them out, and most of the time it isn’t for a Tarot reader to judge which time is which.

All I know to do is to give the intuitive message as honestly and true-to-tone as I can, regardless of my personal mood. That in turn relies on trusting the intuitive Tarot reading process.

But that’s also why the best Tarot readings are a conversation, regardless if that conversation happens by email or face to face. All of my distance readings include a follow up email. If something just doesn’t resonate with you or feel right to you or just doesn’t make sense, for goodness’ sake just say so! Spirit and I will try to find a better word, a better image, a better something to get a more helpful message to you.

So speak up! You won’t hurt my feelings and we’ll try to get the chirpy cheerleader from the great beyond to try again. When we reach out, the energies reach back however it takes. I really believe your true message will find you, one way or another, one translator or another, one means of communication or another.

My promise to you is to give the most accurate version of the energy message, no matter what our moods may be.

Thank you so much for reading. Private readings are open and available HERE

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You Choose: Tarot Card of the Week 25 March 24

Sage Sips is Tarot in the time it takes to sip your coffee (or whatever you like to sip this time of day)

Seven of Pentacles: Wait. Give the seeds you planted time to grow. Don’t meddle…if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Just wait.

Seven of Swords: Mischief is afoot. Watch your stuff. Don’t fall for phishing. Be on the lookout for petty bs and swat it down if needed.

Nine of Pentacles: Enjoy what you’ve achieved. As one project wraps up, it’s good to take a minute to appreciate what you and your team have done before moving on to the next big thing.

Card doesn’t fit or feel right? Enter the card or any keyword in the search bar on the right side of the page (or scroll down on mobile) to browse the archives. Your message will find you – all you have to do is look and listen.

Yes, absolutely, ask why

A behind the scenes look at the how – and why – of reading Tarot

Before we get to the WHAT and the HOW of Tarot, let’s start with WHY Tarot.

Why get readings?

Why give readings?

Why do readings for yourself?

Why ask why? (as that old TV commercial said)

As I see it, it all comes down to one thing: freethinking.

Free your mind. Question everything. Ask why and draw your own conclusions. Tarot supports that. Tarot encourages that. Tarot enables that. If a Tarot reader wants you to do what they say without question – run.

image: ffrf.org Please support separation of church and state

Over the years I’ve learned, sometimes the hard way, to trust my intuition. But it is a big ask for you to trust my intuition too. I’m honored whenever anyone trusts me enough to get a reading. I will always treat that trust with the respect and dignity it deserves. That’s why I ask members to request readings each time even though the reading is included in their membership. Consent is an important part of respecting you and the Tarot process. That’s why I won’t read people other than the individual getting the reading. People outside of our conversation have not given consent to be a part of the reading and it is important for us to respect them as well.

The British Psychological Society defines autonomy as “feeling psychologically free and having the ability to control your life.” Psychologist Carl Jung said that “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” That’s another reason why I do Tarot readings the way I do.

No fortune telling.

No predicting the future.

My style of Tarot is all about empowering your choices. It’s about supporting your autonomy. It’s about personal growth and greater understanding. It’s about processing difficult emotions. It’s about breaking free from thought-habits that narrow our experience of life.

That’s why I offer professional readings. That’s why I teach people to read Tarot for themselves. That’s why I use Tarot for myself. This post is a case in point.

On the exact day I was originally planning to publish this post, there was a spate of famous Tarot authors saying exactly these kinds of things on social media. It hit me at a vulnerable moment and I was half a hair away from giving up. If the heavy hitters are suddenly saying the stuff I’ve already been blogging about since 2005 (ish) what’s the use?

I’d been planning this post for months but kept getting interrupted by life, the universe and everything it seemed. So now, why bother? Why should I add my voice to theirs when it seems no one has been listening to us (and maybe still aren’t?)

On the other hand, why shouldn’t I? My voice and intuition is just as valid as theirs (and so is yours, by the way.)

It was literally one of those six of one, half dozen of the other type of decisions. On one hand it would make no difference to the big picture if I trashed the post. On the other hand, adding my voice to theirs might just amplify what genuine Tarot can do.

I did exactly what I would advise a client to do – I drew a card for inspiration.

The Allbright, art by Annalise Jensen for Alleyman’s Tarot by Seven Dane Asmund. Deck used with permission

The Alleyman’s Tarot was close at hand and a quick shuffle and cut revealed the Allbright card from one of the expansion packs, not a typical card in the RWS Tarot card structure. I think it was made especially for this deck.

“The Allbright brings hope and illumination to knowledge of the past and to those undertaking difficult tasks. She is never far from those who are faithful, and those who have the courage to ask for aid.” – Annalise Jensen, artist.

I took that as a nudge toward writing and posting this. It is a little leap of faith to act on ideas like posting would be in service to aka “faithful to” the years I’ve put into Tarot work and to the art of Tarot writ large. It felt like a reassurance that the Zeitgeist energies would let me be heard by someone somewhere despite the many louder voices saying the same thing. I’m acting on the notion that the Allbright is a symbol of wisdom and will shine the light that draws in those that need this particular type of Tarot guidance.

The light shines brightest when we lift it up. The message sounds loudest and reaches the farthest when we all speak.

That’s why.

That’s why I’m posting this and is one example how Tarot can help us move from a silly little coin toss dilemma to greater insight.

Why use Tarot cards and Tarot readings? Not because they give us easy answers, but rather because they point to the right questions. These symbolic cards shine a light on the right path for our walking and working to begin.

Thank you so much for reading Sage Sips today. Next up: You Chose: Tarot Card of the Week. Fingers crossed for an upload tomorrow.

See you at the next sip!

BTS: It’s all me

Thank you.

I’m so grateful for each and every one of you reading this. I enjoy writing this blog so very much.

The time has come to just say it – writing is my forte and typed Tarot readings are my best work. I do live and in-person readings really well – video readings, online readings, and over the years I’ve built some serious party chops at big events (CMU, Nordstroms, Arthritis Foundation of Pittsburgh & more)

I want to spend time and energy in 2024 getting back to where it all started: typed distance readings. I want to give a little love to the blog with some longer reads and deeper dives. So thank you, thank you, thank you for coming along.

“I don’t have ducks. I don’t have rows. I have squirrels and they are hosting a pagan rave.”
unknown

As much as I enjoy a good squirrel rave, this needs a touch of logic and a methodical approach. The “there is no plan” plan is still very much in place, but the general rule of thumb is:

Monday – Choose Your Card. Watch the video in the post or on YouTube. PAUSE the video at first so you can CHOOSE your card, then RESTART the video to see the reveal. A short reading is in the video description and on social media. A more in-depth card of the week reading will be right HERE on the blog. A lot of our holidays fall on Monday here in the U.S so on those days I may not post.
Wednesday – BTS or Learn With Me: Starting today, I plan to do behind the scenes (- ish) posts that give you a peek inside my method and philosophy of Tarot reading. OF COURSE it is mostly shameless self promotion because I want you to buy email Tarot readings from me. But with a little luck we’ll all maybe find a little free fun and inspiration along the way
Friday – something completely random or a quick one card meditation to satisfy my completionist side and fit that nice M-W-F pattern
The weekend newsletter is going on hiatus until I can figure out how to switch it from Substack to WordPress. I’ll keep you posted on that, although I’m hoping you’ll follow the blog (right column on laptop, scroll waayyy down on mobile) Three posts a week isn’t bad and posts go straight to your inbox, just like a newletter would anyway. But that’s to sort out another day.
Comments are always open and you are welcome to CONTACT ME with any questions and get an answer in the blog. Unless it’s spam. Then I’ll prolly block you.

It’s all me

This ain’t my first rodeo as they say.

I’ve been reading cards in some capacity since the early 1990s. You know, when the whole world was black and white and computer memory was still 5 inches across.

At first I just read for friends & for myself because why pay the phone company and Dionne Warwick’s friends huge amounts of money for something you could do yourself? After a while, a friend suggested that I try working on one of those online sites (eternal gratitude, girlfriend!)

Taking her advice, I did Tarot readings on Keen, Advice Trader and Allexperts all under the nickname Baihu. Within a few years of some serious hustle, I’d done hundreds of readings. Yes, you read that right, hundreds. I stopped counting around 400 or so. After a while, enough was enough of the experience building for free or nearly free.

I started my own part time Tarot practice with ModernOracleTarot.com, the Tarotbytes blog, and Quirk & Flotsam Etsy shop. During those years I did in-person, party, phone and email Tarot readings.

The name was fun, inspired by The Oracle character from The Matrix. Despite that, I made sure Modern Oracle had a carefully curated, super sanitized, white-washed image that was nice and non-threatening to any random local conservative suburbanites that might stumble across it. I had a family to protect, after all.

Now, that family is all security minded working adults and I don’t have to be around school district soccer moms any more (whew!) Modern Oracle just didn’t fit anymore, so I re-branded in 2018 to TaoCraft Tarot which was a much more authentic representation of myself and my Tarot philosophy

I’ve studied Tai Chi, and Taoist philosophy as long as I have Tarot and Reiki almost as long. I’ve had an interest in magick and witchcraft longer than any of it, even as a very small person watching Bewitched re-runs on TV. The TaoCraft name was very meaningful to me, but it didn’t seem to make as much sense to new clients. People seemed to stumble over it a bit. That’s a big problem because these Tarot readings that we do together are not about me … they are all about and for YOU.

So re-brand number two: Sage Words Tarot

Easy to pronounce, easy to understand, basic, common words that get the point across on multiple levels.

Sage is an herb with a familiar flavor from sausage and holiday turkeys. Sage in aromatherapy calms anxieties, lifts moods and promotes optimism. Aromatherapy can come in the form of burned incense and dried leaf bundles. Sage smoke can be used to metaphysically clear the energy of a space but should not to be confused with the indigenous practice of smudging. They are two paths from two cultures that wind up in a similar place, but each deserving of its own respect.

I hope that a Tarot session with me leaves you feeling calm, comforted and hopeful, just like sage aromatherapy.

Sage is also a word meaning wise, symbolic of Tarot’s wise advice.

Sage is now my pen name and Sage Words Tarot is the website where it all originates.

TaoCraft is still under there a little bi. It’s like a new business in an old Pizza Hut building. You can’t deny the structure underneath. The same is true here. My work is still guided by the Taoist treasures of simplicity, honesty and kindness. I still follow the Reiki ethic of only doing energy work with those who give knowing consent. I never ever approach or spam an individual to get a reading.

Advertise? Sure. I have coffee to buy and web hosting to pay for. Your reading orders (no appointment needed for video or email) memberships and virtual coffee donations all go toward keeping the lights on in this humble little Tarot shop in cyberspace.

Thanks so much for reading! Next up: One Card Friday. See you at the next sip!

Unexpected

“To expect the unexpected shows a thoroughly modern intellect.”
Oscar Wilde

Choose Your Card: Week of 19 Feb 24

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Two of Wands: Prepare. Plan. Get ready. Change or travel may come soon.

Nine of Wands: Live your enlightenment. Live the hard-won lessons you’ve learned. May them your own before you press on

Hierophant: Know what you don’t know. Don’t guess or feel your way through this time. If you don’t know, get help. Go find the knowledge you don’t have right now.

Looking at all three cards, there is a sense of “on the precipice” but in varying degrees. There is a feeling of something about to happen – soonest for those who chose the two of wands, slightly less soon for those who chose the hierophant, longest for those who chose the nine of wands. For all three cards, moving forward depends on you. Either there is some piece of knowledge or information you need to find in order to move forward well, or there is some bit of preparation you need to do for a good outcome, or it just plain isn’t time to move. Go for quality, not quantity in all three cases.

It’s President’s day here in the U.S. so the fam is home for the day – That’s where my energy is at the moment.

If you have any questions or comments, leave ’em below. I’m happy to answer any questions you have here in the blog. Next time: Learn With Me: BTS

I’ve made minor attempts at this since New Years Day, but this time I’m going to back up and do a proper run at some introductory material and give you a real behind the scenes look at how my particular style of Tarot really works. No nonsense, lots of transparency and plenty of shameless self promotion.

See you at the next sip!

Happy On-sale Chocolate Day

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My Tarot Valentine ’24: Ace of Wands

Relationships begin with you.

Loneliness hurts.

It doesn’t feel good to want to be in a romantic relationship but not be. It is painful to feel cut off if you are an extrovert and it is painful to be pushed into uncomfortable social situations if you are an introvert. That particular kind of romantic loneliness can take over your mood and your mindset. It can grow large and block out the view of other things. After all, that particular kind of love and connection is profoundly important to so very many people.

Shallow platitudes are everywhere: “Be grateful for the things you already have” “Happiness comes from within.” People in the throes of loneliness aren’t necessarily in the mood for a namby-pamby woo-woo hand holding kumbaya viewpoint. Sometimes you just want to have a glass of wine and feel sorry for yourself.

Sometimes the best thing you can do for your search for that special someone is just give up.

Don’t look for your soulmate, be their soulmate first.

The ace cards are the first card of a suit so they carry a “beginning energy” but not necessarily the brand new beginning energy that you see with the Fool card in the major arcana. It’s not quite the full on second chance new beginning of the Judgement card either. Ace cards are more like a fresh direction within an ongoing process or project.

If you are feeling lonely the Ace of Wands is suggesting a new direction, an adjustment, a minor rethinking about romance.

Ace cards also carry the essence of the suit. Wands are associated with the classical element fire, inner passions, philosophy, spirituality and our relationship with ourselves.

How can something so seemingly self involved help you to find and nurture an intimate relationship with someone else? Isn’t this exactly the realm of Cups cards?

It has to begin with you.

What do you want in a soulmate? (Or whatever you want to call them. I’m an old school Richard Bach reader, so “soulmate” feels like the natural term.)

What would you think of a person who is attracted to a victim? What would you think of someone who was attracted to or aroused by someone who is hurting? Are they compassionate – or are they a predator? Do you want to be loved – or pitied?

Who do you find attractive? Would YOU be more attracted to someone who is laser focused on the very thing they lack and and wrapped up in an imagined but uncertain future – or would you be more attracted to someone who was happy and content and fulfilled right here and right now?

Like attracts like. Be the soulmate you want to have in your life.

Put your time and attention into all the OTHER things you love EXCEPT the search for a soulmate. Do every darn thing ELSE that you enjoy and that makes you happy and makes you fully you. Lighting those inner fires also lights a signal flare. It shines a spotlight on where you are so the right relationships for this place and time can find you.

Think of the ace of wands as giving you the spark to start the process.

My Tarot Valentine is a collection of romance themed Tarot readings from Tarotbytes blog and TaoCraft Tarot blog. It is available as an instant download in the Sage Words Tarot shop

You Choose Card of the Week (22 Jan 24)

The people and the numbers have spoken! Introducing an interactive and personal single card meditation card of the week Tarot reading

Private readings are open. Order HERE anytime, no appointment needed.

Interactive: Please watch the video and choose your card.

After the reveal, scroll down for your card reading.*

The people and the numbers have spoken.

I’ve gotten some nice feedback about the “you choose” style of readings. It makes the reading feel more personal than a single collective card BUT the shorter format is better than the longer layouts. I’m still tweeking the timing to give enough time to choose and enough time to see your card. That part will improve in coming weeks.

So BEHOLD! One card meditation readings are back but in you choose style! I plan to do these as a guidance card for the week, but if you have any suggestions or feedback as we go along, I’m open to that – and so are the comments below. Or click over to the Ask Me Anything page and, well, you know what to do. Unless I hear something drastically different, I plan to flow with this for a while. The general plan is for “You Choose” on Mondays, “Learn With Me” posts on Wednesdays, Freestyle on Fridays (I won’t promise those will even be Tarot related) and the weekly Substack newsletter at some point during the weekend.

THAT being said, let’s get on to the good stuff, the cards.

Nine of Cups

I hear “happy endings” from a song that I don’t recognize. Might be something from the 90s, but I can’t dial it in enough to tell. This card is about just exactly that – happy endings.

Classically this card is often associated with contentment and family / holiday gatherings. I often get a fall & winter holiday vibe from it. This feels more like a January card – the holidays are in the rear view mirror and last year is well and truly tucked away.

Earlier today, Theresa Reed posted her card of the week as the Fool…new beginnings. These cards are two sides of the same large zeitgeist energy.

If you chose this card, this is a good vibe week. Things are wrapped or wrapping up in a good way that makes room to roll up your sleeves and get after whatever is next.

Ace of Cups

Cups typically symbolize emotion, intuition, and our closest relationships be they friends, family or romance. The ace always seems closer to the emotion and intuition aspect of the suit than the relationship aspect of it. That is very much the case for today. This card feels more off to the side and individualized than the nine does.

The nine feels like the big, collective energy card but the ace feels much more one to one. There is no way for me to ever know this, but it would be interesting to how many people chose which card. I wonder if more people picked the “collective” card and fewer people picked this one because this is the one they really needed.

If you picked the Ace of Cups today, first of all, well done for following your own intuition instead of the collective energy. This card feels like a validation of just that – your own creativity and instincts. “Muse” comes to mind. Your creative muse may well drop something in your lap soon, if it hasn’t happened already. When inspiration comes, this card is encouraging you to follow it at the same time it is giving you a pat on the back for your natural ability to hear and follow that kind of inspiration.

Judgement

This card stands out as being the only major arcana card of the three.

The energies this week may be important for you and are worthy of your attention and contemplation. Pay attention to the spirit part of your mind, body & spirit life balance.

Give yourself second chances. Never waste a good second chance.

By the same token, use your heart and head so that a second chance isn’t needed. Honor what you know and need and what you know you need. the first time around.

As a secular person, the religious iconography in Pamela Smith’s artwork for this card is always more annoying than inspiring for me. If you picked this card but it just isn’t resonating, by all means, please look for the inspiration you feel. Try googling the Judgement card and looking at other decks to see if another version of the card speaks to you more than this one.

I’ve found that many decks rely on this kind of imagery and options are hard to find. My favorite right now is “Karma” from Ellen Dugan and Mark Evans’ Witches Tarot which uses and eclipse and the term karma to bring ideas like contemplating the consequences of our choices and renewal. There may be dark time during an eclipse but light returns on the other side.

Thank you all for reading. Next up, in Learn With Me, we continue two card Lenormand readings.

See you at the next sip!

*if it went by too fast – left was 9 of cups, center was ace of cups and right was Judgement.

Learn With Me: Lenormand, Sweet & Simple

Learning Lenormand Tarot

This set of cards has the feel of a child who picks a wild flower and gives it as a gift. The energy of it is just that sweet, just that simple. The universe has gifted us with a bouquet of clover and wildflowers.

Life isn’t always good. It seems like we spend a lot of time talking about how Tarot is valuable because it can deal with the shadows and how it isn’t all toxic positive in denial of the realities of a situation. Life isn’t all love & light.

But neither is it all doom and gloom. “It can’t rain all the time” as The Crow movie told us. Sometimes you just have to take yes for an answer.

That is what today’s cards are all about. Lenormand cards have a reputation for being direct, no-nonsense, and not pulling any punches. Maybe it is because so many people turn to Tarot when they are in some sort of emotional upset, but we tend to assume direct and no-nonsense means bad news.

Tarot, both Lenormand and RWS, are excellent at easing that kind of emotional distress. They are equally good at bringing good news and straight up reassurances too.

This is a perfect example. And, coincidentally, this is the first two card combination that is in the guidebook. The combination of The Bouquet (Love, token of affection) and Clover (good luck, like any “four leaf clover” symbolism) is described as “the ultimate combination of good luck and happiness (Buler, p. 16)

For the collective, I think this is a good reminder to unplug from your worries and indulge in feeling that everything is going to be OK. The universe has our back, it’s all going to work out in the end. Let yourself believe in magic for one minute – or a million minutes.

Try it on for size. Just for one day, imagine you are a magnet for all the good things. If you like the feeling, it is yours to keep.

Maybe the best kind of good luck is the kind you believe you have.

See you at the next sip!

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