Tag: ten of swords

The Lemonade

The hardest lemonade to make

And that’s how lemonade is done.

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

Before we get to the ten of swords, I want to give you a quick reminder about my winter Tarot reading schedule.

There is none.

It was a nice surprise to have a few minutes to write this. I’m expecting a jam packed schedule between now and January. I’m so, so, so thankful for the text to voice audio blogging that WordPress, Anchor FM and Spotify have available.

And I’m also grateful for each and every one of you. Thank you for reading and listening despite the erratic, random posting non-schedule. I’m cautiously optimistic that I can get back to trying to follow social media best practices after the new year. I’m in awe of all of the wonderfully talented people who create “content” on a regular schedule. I have yet to make that work for Tarot. Energy, intuition and the ebb and flow of life doesn’t give a flying rat’s patootie about posting schedules. Intuition and creativity has its own agenda and I owe it to all of you to go where my real strength lies which is Tarot readings and blog writing, not social media presentation.

Speaking of which, the new “crystal cast” posts that I had planned for Mondays will have to wait until after Thanksgiving, possibly until after New Year, too.

But stay tuned. Right or wrong, accurate or not, Zombie Cat is going to try his paw at a fast and loose Tarot reading for 2023. That cat is a little unhinged (as zombies often are) so whatever predictions he makes – don’t blame me. Look for that in December.

All in all, I still like to think of this utter lack of a schedule gives the blog a little bit of an underground, renegade, pirate radio sort of vibe. I hope you’ll come along for the ride, such as it is.

On top of it all, Elf-con 1 has officially been declared at my house. I got knitting to do and stuff to bake.

So before I have to hop out to shop for flour, sugar and that one last skein of yarn, let’s take a look at the Ten of Swords.

Just to show that spirit and energy operates on its own schedule, here is some context for today’s card.

I had an appointment in the afternoon, so when the morning obligation rescheduled, I had every intention of indulging in a second cup of coffee and a leisurely scroll through Instagram. That’s when I stumbled across one of those social media talents we were talking about earlier. Digital creator Barry Brandon (instagram.com/forallhumans.co aka @queerindigo) posted a video about personal authenticity, the Colorado Springs shootings and a variety of other things. I can’t begin to capture it here, and urge you to watch it for yourself.

When he said “…it shouldn’t be this challenging to exist in one’s skin. It shouldn’t be this challenging to be oneself…” it made a solid landing right in my wheelhouse.

I’m an atheist, Taoist, solitary eclectic witch, Tarot reader and the hardcore evangelical christianity in my family has diminished if not outright severed most of those relationships. But that is nothing … NOTHING … compared to the level of hate and bigotry that the LGBTQIA+ community has to face every single day. As someone who cares very deeply for multiple people in the community, it is absolutely terrifying to even think about everything they face … and meet with such grace, courage and love.

When that ton of emotional bricks hit, I punted the leisurely scroll and followed the intuitive impulse to pull a card and see where that would lead. It led to the 10 of Swords card draw that you can see in the video above (the link is in the episode description as always for podcast listeners) and that led me here.

To my mind, that context and this card are all of the same collective energy in the context of the Club Q shooting this past weekend.

In these times, it is natural and so easy to be furious and terrified and just … done.

We all know the line from Yoda and Star Wars about “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”

Which, along with the ten of Swords, begs the question of how to deal with hate and anger and defeat and suffering.

There is no easy answer.

There may be no answer at all.

For me personally, the only answer I know is to be the best ally I know how to be, to advocate for gun control and equality legislation to the best of my ability and to urge those I love to be as careful and safe as it’s humanly possible to be while still living their happiest most authentic life.

Martin Luther King Jr. once said that “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

In lighter times and easier energy, the 10 of Swords is akin to that old adage of “fall down seven times, get up eight” or “when life hands you lemons, make lemonade.”

To plan, to act, to be righteously angry, to rebound from defeat and to do so from a place of love is difficult, but it is the most potent lemonade we can make.

Thank you all for listening and reading.

TaoCraft Short Sip Tarot is a contemplation for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. If you enjoy them, please visit the TaoCraftTarot ko-fi page where shop purchases, readings, memberships and virtual coffees all support these free Tarot readings on this non-monetized blog and podcast.

Hawkeye’s Head

Wth the YouChoose Interactive Tarot on the TaoCraft Tarot blog and podcast you do just that: choose. You choose when to read and watch. You choose which card and how to apply it.

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

To start the week, let’s do a “you choose” style reading. It’s Monday morning here, so naturally a look at the energies for the week ahead is top of mind. You can use the card you choose to look ahead to any day or any week at any time you see this, or you can use it as a general guidance meditation or get some clarity about a particular topic or question. As alway, you choose.

There is a video of the real world card draw above if you are reading the blog, or on the spotify version of the podcast if I can get it to work. If you are listening to the podcast, imagine a circle, a star and a square. Pick a shape to pick your card. Choose from circle, star or square. You can pause the video or podcast if you need more time to think about it. Then restart to see which card goes with the shape you chose; circle, star or square.

Or, on the blog, just keep reading.

Circle: Six of Wands. Be generous and kind to yourself when it comes to mental and spiritual things. Don’t waste brain cells on worry. Stressful times need balance. If you have been extra active or extra stressed, you might have to deliberately be more quiet or more isolated than is usually your nature to balance things out. The six of wands is often associated with peace after war, calm after struggle. Think of this card as the mental and spiritual equivalent of taking a nap after a hard workout at the gym. The strongest hurricanes have the lowest pressure in the center eye of the storm. Be the eye of the hurricane.

Star: Ten of Swords. When life gets you down, it’s ok to down stay there a minute and gather your thoughts before getting up like the unstoppable melty-metal terminator robot that you are. The point isn’t that you get up in a dramatic martyr-like show of strength. The point is to get up at your best and ready to function at your best despite past failures. Sometimes the point is to get up at all.

Square: Justice. Work smarter, not harder. Detachment, balance, and level-headedness are your friends. The Justice card is a card of wisdom. It’s hard to make really profound, life altering decisions on the fly. Sometimes following your impulse, intuition and gut instinct is the exact right thing to do. If you chose this card – now is not the time for that sort of thing. Now is a time for pondering, intellect and logic. It’s like the six of wands folks just heard: the most powerful hurricanes have the lowest pressures in the center eye. You need to be the eye of the hurricane, too.

Taken together, the energy this week seems to be asking for cooler heads and calmer emotions to prevail. Keep some humor about it all. A little light humor can go a long, long way in diffusing fear and anxiety, so keep some dad jokes at the ready. You just might be the one who needs them.

Remember Hawkeye’s wise observations on the TV show MASH? Use your head, like Hawkeye. This week’s cards remind me of the time he said “If you can keep your head while those around you are losing theirs, then you probably haven’t checked with your answering service lately.”

Thanks for listening! I’ll see you at the next sip!

The blog, podcast and YouTube channel are not monetized and depend solely on audience support. Please visit the TaoCraft Tarot page on Ko-fi. Shop sales, commissioned readings, and memberships all support the creation of this free to access Tarot content. Your likes, subs, shares, private reading orders, questions and comments are always appreciated!

Persist, but not like that

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

Today’s card is the Ten of Swords.

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

It’s not.

Nor is it intended to be.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

See you at the next sip!

A Sip of Tarot: One More Time

Today’s card is the traditional first of the Tarot deck, usually given the number zero.

The zero is interesting. You could get all philosophical about it. Zero, as in “you’re a big zero” was an insult, but I don’t know that anybody has cared about it since the 70s. I think of it more in terms of the Zen enso, the circle. It is a symbol of infinity from which all springs, including the newborn journey of the Fool. From there you can veer into the oroborus, the snake biting its own tail which in turn points to alchemy, manifestation and sorts of other things. It’s interesting as heck, but not the path where the energy is flowing today.

The word fool didn’t originally have the connotations that it does today. The king’s fool was more of a court jester who, through their antics and seeming insanity could tell greater and blunter truth than any other advisor. Think of comedians like George Carlin and Eddie Izzard and many others. They can make incisive social commentary, and nobody seems to mind because it comes wrapped in humor. Laughter really is good medicine. Stand up comics still remind us of the legitimate value of laughter, fun and play. Call it stress reduction if it makes you feel better, but it works, and it is imprtant.

That aspect of the Fool card is where the energy is flowing right now.

My intuition has a clairaudent (clear-hearing) aspect to go along with the clairvoyant (clear-seeing) part. Sometimes that means intuition comes as mental words instead of mental images. Sometimes sounds or music will come to mind. That’s not paranormal. It’s not the slightest bit unusual to have a song brought to mind by some circumstance or another. But if you are in a situation of wanting a message or are actively working with intuition and that happens, it is worth paying attention to the song that comes to mind.

In today’s case, the song that popped to mind was “One More Time” from Daft Punk on their Discovery album.

I know that seems wildly random but creativity and intuition are all about connecting widely separated and wildly random dots like this.

The phrase “one more time” means repetition of course, but it can also hint at frustration if the repetition is from something unwanted or out of our control. The mental image here is building a house of cards that falls down and having to start from the beginning one more time. And one more time again.

This combination is akin to the the Ten of Swords and the famous proverb that the ten so often calls to mind “fall down seven times but get up eight.” All that getting up can get exhausting and frustrating after a while. Humor and play can make frustration and repetition and having to start all over again one more time less infuriating. The Fool reminds us that humor and lightheartedness can help make that metaphoric eighth time up a little easier.

Today’s Tarot: After the Fall

********

Zombie Cat is back! He lives year round on the ‘no appointment needed’ Tarot page, but he’s front page news during Spooky Season with $5 of a yes/no reading by email. STILL no appointment needed – order anytime, 24/7

Ask Zombie Cat ANYTHING. He’ll make it yes/no and give you the straight answer, not matter what it is. Zombie Cat’s yes/no readings have a 100% gaurantee of containing some words and 50% chance of being dead wrong.

That Breeze You Feel

Collaborating with Stevie Nicks on the 1991 song “Sometimes It’s a Bitch,” Jon Bon Jovi tells us exactly that…”sometimes it’s a bitch, sometimes it’s a breeze.”

And sometimes that breeze you feel is life sucking.

Like all Tarot cards, the Ten of Swords has different threads of feeling, different threads of meaning. Like life, Tarot cards are not all rainbows and unicorns. The Ten of Swords is one of the best cards in the deck at showcasing that little fact.

From my side of the Tarot table, part of reading for other people is dealing with the suckage as well as the sparkles. It’s kind of a weird juxtaposition when, as the reader, you are perfectly fine but then along comes a card like this one. When that happens, it is time for a little re-framing of the situation for the client and nice beefy boundaries between your personal feelings and the external energies. Humor helps on both sides of that strong boundary.

When you feel the breeze of suckatude for yourself or for a client, there are two main roads to take. First you have the standard issue platitudes and pep talks. Sometimes that is the legit energy coming from the card. When that is the vibe, it’s your cue to take the card down the cheerleader path: “Fall down seven times, get up eight…when life hands you lemons, make lemonade… when life hands you limes, make margaritas.” That sort of thing. There are times when that approach puts things into better perspective. Sometimes people will be receptive to the idea that the mountain is really just a speedbump and let themselves be cheered up by a colorful verbal bandage, as a toddler with a bump on the knee might be.

Other times, the mountain really is a mountain. Unicorn poop and platitudes won’t help. You can’t re-frame real problems away. That’s a recipe for so called toxic positivity (or at least an extra helping of denial, minimization and other perhaps less than healthy coping mechanisms.)

Maybe, just maybe, misery loves company because miserable people hurt a little less when they don’t feel alone at the same time. That isn’t to say you should let yourself be made miserable. Reflection, rather than re-framing comes in handy. Try acknowledging the situation while holding on to your own strength. Think of it as a head shake and “Duuuuuude” as you stick out your hand to help them up. Even if there isn’t much anyone can substantially DO for the situation, it might help a little to embrace the suck. THAT is the advice the Ten of Swords is offering today.

That breeze you feel? That’s life sucking…as it does sometimes.

“Going with the flow” is often assumed to be all peaceful, zen and pretty. Not always. Sometimes the flow you have to go with is from the wastewater treatment plant. If that is your situation – duuuuude.

That sucks. I hear you. You have every right to feel pissed/depressed/terrified. Who wouldn’t feel that way in a situation like that? Feel it. Spend a minute embracing the suck and feeling the breeze of the suckatude – but then let’s figure out what you can DO to maybe help things suck a little less.

Wishing you all clear water and quiet breezes.

Private email readings with the blog author are always available, no appointment required HERE

YouChoose Interactive Tarot 7/5 to 7/11 : Jumble of Change

Pick a card, any card.

It helps to stop long enough to take a deep breath. You don’t have to stop thinking about everything or anything fancy. Just stop everything for half a tick and look at the three stacks of cards. Choose the one you think is right for you. If you want to stop and think about it for a bit, that’s ok. Pause the video, make your choice, then restart to see the reveal. Once you have your card, scroll down to see your reading for this week. As always, it isn’t a prediction, just a little guidance, a heads up about which way energies are flowing for you right now. Think of it like a gps traffic report for the small section of your commute. It won’t tell you exactly what cars are beside you in traffic, it won’t tell you exactly what you might see by the road on the way, but it can give you a good idea how to navigate through it all, and which way to turn next. That’s the basic intention behind all of my readings – how to navigate the next little bit of life’s path to help you steer toward where you would like to go and hopefully find some cool stuff along the way.

Taking a breath and focusing on which card feels right helps you find the message that best fits what you need for this week. From my side of the table, I look at all three cards together to get a sense of the big picture, everyone-together, regional or national energies. That helps me do a better job with these blog post kind of general audience readigs. It’s interesting to watch how the cards relate to each other over time. Which is an even bigger, longer term look, kind of like looking at trend lines on a data chart. Over the first half of 2020 there have been several waves of energy. At the beginning of January there was a scattershot sense of warning that was wreaking havok with people’s sensitivities, even clients who had not thought of themselves as empathic before. That mental image of a U.S. map with a bunch of little tornados all over it still comes to mind at times. Then came the outright anxiety of the pandemic, the lockdown for those who had it, and the strong message to focus on the physical and not worry about big decisions or spiritual things. June was a bit of a respite. Even conservative re-opening like those seen in New York City seemed to ease a lot of tension. The weekly interactive Tarot seems cohesive during those waves. The three cards tied together those heads-up, know your boundaries, take care of yourself kinds of general messages.

This week is more disconnected and a jumple of messages between the three cards. Then general energy that seems to come through here is transition, a fluid, almost slow motion change in direction. The mental image here is a running puppy on a tile floor that skids around a corner more than turning… or drift racing cars…or that part of The Breakfast Club where they are running in the hallways. It’s a skidding, maybe not well controlled turn, but a turn just the same. Agressive mitigation may come back, but we know what to expect and what to do. Now is the time we can turn more inward since the outward is more known. It is like we are driving full Mad Max toward a spiritual cliff. We are in for enlightenment and spiritual deepening or we are in for a emotional crush. “A splintering of the heard” comes to mind here. That choice, that change of direction is individual. Some make the turn, live, love and triumph. Others are in for either a rude awakening or for a beeline back to a comfortable regression (think going back into a cave) I know that is harsh. I know that partisan tribal thinking will define who each person thinks is turning and who is crashing. Just be aware that a turn is coming up. Watch out for a jumble of changes. Take care to adjust your inner world as needed and try not to slide over any cliffs.

Left: Ten of Swords. It’s a dire looking card, but a fitting one. It’s been a rough week out there for some folks. Or a rough month, year, or who-knows-how-long. Getting stabbed in the back by life can really get you down. Sure, one thread of this card is all rosey glasses pep talk. You know, “when you fall down seven times get up eight” or “when life hands you lemons make lemonade” type stuff. Truth is, sometimes things just suck with no end in sight. The funny thing is the solution is charging right down the middle. If things are bad, admit it, face it, deal with it. The answer doesn’t necessarily lie with either extreme. Denial, pretending rainbows and unicorns doesn’t help. Being paralysed by hopelessness doesn’t help either. Dropping an f-bomb or two can’t hurt. Ultimately, it may come down to staying down for a little bit. Admit the suckitude of it all, asses the situation realistically (yeah, dude, you really do have a bunch of swords sticking out of your back) THEN do what you need to do to get up and fight again. Most of all, don’t be afraid to ask for someone to lend a hand. It’s hard to pull the blades out of your own back. Once you are healed, you can return the favor next battle.

Center: Two of Coins. This card is about balance in motion. Constant, eternal, adapting balance. Compare those seeminly impossible stacks of “Zen” rocks to riding a unicyle. Both need balance. Rocks on one hand are steady, stable things, inorganic, some might even say dead from an ordinary point of view. Life is trickier. Life is always in motion. Even if you feel stuck, you are travelling through time. If you are bored out of your skull with staying home, look at the big picture. What is a few months balanced against the whole of a year? What is a few moments of extra effort to put on a mask balanced against a human life? Small balancing gestures are butterfly wing-flaps that can build into a hurricane. Look for the small easy things to do now that can have a bigger balancing impact later.

Right: Emperor. You got this. The Emperor card symbolizes profound competance. The Emperor is the protector, the leader, a father figure in a very archetypal sense. But not in any sort of violent or domineering sense…this is a card of true strength. Real power is over ones self. For this week, build your skill set, focus on practice, training, repeating more than breaking new ground. Emperors are not alway imperial. Get really good at what you already do before expanding for a little while.

Schedule -> Pay -> Call -> Enjoy

Live phone readings are available by appointment with pre-payment. E-mail or leave voicemail to schedule, purchase on the phone readings page HERE.

NEW: more phone reading choices! 7 card (same as the in-person individual session) 5 card (great all-purpose layout, particularly nice for first readings) and 3 card yes-or-no (10 minute quick look at any ONE yes-or-no question) are now available. Same process applies. Schedule your reading, choose your layout when you buy the reading, call at your scheduled time and enjoy!

Today’s Tarot: When life hands you unbranded gelatin dessert

I dunno who writes them, but their kind of a comic genius, whoever they are.

I don’t know if they still make them, but Hallmark had a series of cards featuring the lovably salty Maxine. That is exactly the flavor of the advice that is coming through the Ten of Swords today.

Like Maxine says, when life hands you lemons, stuff ’em in your bra. Knowing how to deal with adversity can be, as she said, as “easy as nailing Jell-o to a tree”

Sometimes life sucks. The beautiful thing about Tarot is it has that covered, too. Not everything is all sparkly rainbows and ice cream cones. Cards like the Ten of Swords can be a pep talk about getting up the eighth time after being knocked down seven, or it can validate how you really feel. It is a card that gives permission to take a little time and space when you need it. It’s for when you just want to forget the get-ups and math lesson, and just stay down there a minute. You don’t heal, emotionally or physically by neglecting a wound.

When you get knocked down you don’t have to hop right up and nail gelatin dessert to the nearest shrubbery. Just don’t stay down there stuffing citrus in your underwear forever and it’ll be ok.

You Choose Tarot (9 January 2020)

Left: King of Wands. Nevermind how things are going with other people for a minute. Are you at peace with yourself? What would it take for you to comfortable in your own skin? Peace with others is difficult if you aren’t at ease with yourself first.

Center: Ten of Swords. Chaotic energies are afoot that could leave you feeling ambushed. Heal your wounds, get up again, make changes to protect yourself next time.

Right: Seven of Wands. “If people get defensive, it’s because they have something to defend.” – James Marcus Bach. If you feel angry, understanding why can help. Defensive isn’t so bad when important things are at stake.