three of swords – Sage Words Tarot

Drama Fall

It takes a hot, bright afternoon to make you really appreciate the cool shade of a tree, or a freezing night to make you appreciate the glowing warmth of a space heater.

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

As much as Tarot and Tarot readings are associated with western witchcraft, Taoist philosophy pops up a great deal, especially for a Tarot reader who has an affinity for Taoism to start with.

Sure, you could argue that this is a process of subjective confirmation bias, but there is also a great deal of objective overlap between Taoism and Tarot, Reiki and Magick, East and West, at least when it comes to spiritual things. Diane Morgan’s Magical Tarot, Mystical Tao was one of my earliest Tarot influences. Christopher Penczak’s Magick of Reiki landed right along of side of it, both squarely in the middle of my wheelhouse, both hitting right where I live, right here in Tao Craft. Hence the name. It is a more authentic fit than Modern Oracle ever was. I live in the liminal venn diagram space where Taoism, Tarot, Reiki and Magick all meet.

That eclectic, and often solitary mental space can have it’s drama.

Everybody loses their keys, spills their milk, or has some such drama in their life. It’s normal. That is also where the Three of Swords is pointing today.

The Three of Swords doesn’t have the darkest or most dire looking artwork. Usually it shows three swords stabbing something…more often than not a heart shape…but the heart is red and the background is seldom as literally black and dark as a death, devil, or 10 of swords. Most of the meanings and keywords associated with it are warnings and cautions. It always feels like blockage, drama or complications from outside of ourselves. But for all of the tears and betrayal keywords that go with this card, the connection to Taoist philosophy most jumps out at me today. This idea of everything defining … and being defined by its opposite…begins in chapter 2 of the Tao Te Ching, here in a public domain translation by J.H. McDonald.

“When people see things as beautiful,
ugliness is created.
When people see things as good,
evil is created.
Being and non-being produce each other.
Difficult and easy complement each other.
Long and short define each other.
High and low oppose each other.
Fore and aft follow each other.”

Basically this is a message of encouragement, and a melange of hanging on and letting go all at once. Let go of that which has become toxic and harmful to make room for the good. Hang on through the dark times because that persistence will make the light all the more beautiful when it comes. It will, indeed come, because exactly that change and ebb and flow is an essential fact of life and our existence.

Thank you so much for reading and listening. I appreciate it! I always appreciate any likes, subs, shares, follows, questions or comments that you can spare. Neither the blog or podcast is monetized, so your Tarot message comes first, not the advertisers’ Please support the blog and podcast on ko-fi, there is a link in the episode description for the podcast side of things.

Again and always, thank you. See you at the next sip!

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Tarot Turnover: Silver Lining

Whew – this card is quote-o-palooza.

Some Tarot cards are overwhelmingly positive. Some, like today’s three of swords card, are mostly ominous. All cards have a mix of everything. As was said in the movie The Craft “True magic is neither black, nor white – it’s both because nature is both. Loving and cruel, all at the same time.”…

Easiest Wound to Heal

TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. Three of Swords: the easiest wound to heal is the one that never happens

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

Good news! The turbulent energy from the past few weeks has settles just the tiniest bit, just in time to draw…

The three of swords.

Hoo boy. It never stops, does it? On the other hand stopping isn’t good either. Change and turbulence, peace and calm are all different facets of the same big gemstone we call life and any day above ground, as they say, is a good one. With life comes change. With life comes risk. With life comes all sorts of fears and feels.

Classically, the three of swords is a pretty dire looking card. The image of a pierced heart. It is a card of hurt and heartbreak.

It is a reminder to guard your heart. The easiest wound to heal is the one that never happens. Healthy boundaries is key, emphasis on the healthy. Prickly, guarded, disconnected and unapproachable is no better way to live than being an unappreciated doormat. The middle way is, once again, best.

Not to go all Nancy Reagan on it -ewww- but it is ok to just say no. Know your limits. It’s important that those limits aren’t crossed by other people, but it is important that you don’t stomp on them either. That is an easy part to forget in a world of social media and normalized extreme oversharing.

It doesn’t matter so much if the potential harm is from the outside or accidentally self-inflicted, but good old Ben Franklin nailed it again. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” The easiest wound to heal is the one that never happens. Mind your boundaries both incoming and outgoing.

Healthy boundaries means keeping the right things out, but it also means allowing the right things in. Sometimes the harm is in the lack. Without the challenge of exercise, bodies become weak. The over-sheltered plant dies from lack of sun and water. Saying yes is as important as saying no. The three of swords is also a reminder to mind your boundaries to make sure they aren’t over guarded causing you to live, act, intend and energize from a place of fear.

Cue Yoda and that thing about fear and anger leading to the dark side.

Ben Franklin and Yoda. Those two will get us through just about anything don’t you think?

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Thanks again. See you at the next sip!

no appointment needed distance tarot

YouChoose Interactive Tarot : Practical Passions

Letting the video speak for itself today.

Merry Monday everyone!

In-person readings are on hold again. I take my guidance from CDC community transmission rates for Allegheny County PA USA.

E-mail (no appointment needed) and live online readings (by appointment) are OPEN. I’ll be keeping them open throughout the holidays, although delivery times might flex a little bit depending on how many cookies are in the oven

Thanks for reading, watching and listening to TaoCraft Tarot! In addition to blog exclusive content, TaoCraft Tarot is on YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Tumbler, Ko-fi, Spotify, Anchor Fm, Googlepodcasts, and Stitcher podcasts.

Wherever we run into each other online, please say hello! Your questions and comments are always welcome. (but moderated to keep the energy in a good place for everyone) Thanks!

Today’s Tarot: It’s a Brisket

Time is a thing, and it takes a lot of it to make a good brisket.

If you compare references and card decks, the Hanged Man is one of those cards that has widely disparate interpretations. Based on the energy around it today, I would guess it is because the card is one of those zeitgeist sensitive time sponges. Here’s what I mean by that:

Some cards are anchors. They are – almost – timeless, with deep roots in the fabric of everything. Their meanings and interpretations seem relatively steady over time and throughout multiple decks and references. Or so it seems in the world of Marseille / Waite-Smith based Tarot. I can’t speak for Lenormand style Tarot, but I suspect it is similar. Three of swords and the Moon are examples.

Other cards, like today’s, are more fluid. They adapt and lend themselves to intuitive needs of the moment like water taking the shape of its container. I’ve seen the card interpreted as meaning stagnation, self-sacrifice, transition, new perspectives, new perceptions, surrender, release, and initiation. Today’s energy would add deliberate waiting and a little well-placed patience. It has a slightly different tenor from the ‘wait and watch for the right time and opportunity’ message that might come from the two of wands or the more meditative quality of the four of cups or the resignation of the eight of cups.

The Hanged Man, for today anyway, is about cooling your jets while in full active engaged realization that it takes as long as it takes. Let the planted seeds grow. You can’t hurry love.

It’s like making a really good brisket.

I’m not the carnivore I used to be, but I’m not vegan by any means. True to my love of Taoist philosophy, I prefer the middle way. Thanks to that and my husband’s family reunion, I have had genuine Texas brisket. It had been smoked for something crazy like 24 hours. It was one of the most delicious things I’ve ever stuffed in my food hole. It wouldn’t have been that way without that one critical ingredient: time.

That old margarine commercial might have said that it’s not nice to fool Mother Nature, but the truth is that you CAN’T. Low and slow meat smoking is just that…slow. You can’t make it go faster and get the same result. You can’t shove a frozen turkey into a 1000 degree oven and get anything other than a burned blob with botulism sauce.

All food cravings aside, the message isn’t a goodie two shoes entreaty to be blissfully patient. Who in human history has ever been calmed by being told to calm down? This is more about a deliberate, knowing, intentional well-placed taking of time.

It takes as long as it takes. Let it. Your brisket will be better in the end.

YouChoose Interactive Tarot: In, Out & All Around

Personalize your Tarot reading:

Take a deep breath, clear your mind and relax as best as you can in this one moment.
Watch the first part of the video and pick a card from the three taken face down from the deck
Choose left, center or right purely on impulse, or if you want more time pause the video then restart to see the reveal.
Read below for your card’s energy

Taken together, the three cards talk about perspective and problem solving. This week is about finding the answer that is already inside, finding an answer outside of the box, and being on the lookout all around for a problem that sneaks up behind and needs solving.

The overall energy is sluggish and slow. It isn’t brick-wall kind of blocked, but feels thick, and just this side of stagnant. Be patient. It might be an annoying slog, but we’ll get through it.

Left: Three of Swords. This card is part of the reason the Swords cards have a little bit of a foreboding reputation. You can’t solve a problem or avoid a trap unless you know it exists. The danger isn’t dire, but warrants your attention. This card always seems to carry an energy of manipulation and petty power plays. Watch your back. If something gives you the creeps, or someone makes you feel uncomfortable, pay attention to that. Follow your gut in that respect.

Center: Eight of Swords. Also dire-looking, this card is already trapped, bound, feeling overwhelmed and helpless. It is less so in this deck, but in the Pamela Smith artwork for the card, the swords are less evenly spaced, leaving an out that must be gingerly sensed, so the woman does not cut her feet if she is to find and use the gap, the way forward to escape. “Careful, shrewd VERY out of the box thinking” comes to mind and may be what is asked of you in the near future.

Right: The Hermit. Just because it isn’t fun doesn’t mean you don’t have things well in hand. If you picked this card, you already have an answer that you need. You may well have what you need already. The trick is to drag it out into the open. Find a way to shut out the distraction and the noise. Not to go all Dune on you, but look within. You already have what you need, it is just a matter of sorting through the noise and clutter to find it. Set boundaries, say no, find some me time to do just that.

YouChoose Interactive Tarot: Home Is Where Your Nose Is

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone celebrating next week. For the holidays, remember the classic TV specials: A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Charlie Brown and friends shows us that Thanksgiving can happen with any food, with any one (or alone.) Just like Whoville after the Grinch stole all the STUFF, the time, the holidays still come. Maybe next year we can better appreciate how the holidays always are for those who can’t gather with friends or family for whatever other non-pandemic reason every other year. Home is where the heart is. Home is where you hang your hat. This year, home is where you nose is …or it should be. The day will come and go with precisely the energy and import that you give it. If you give it bitterness and resentment because you have to change your usual plans in order to keep the people you love alive…then that is just what you will get – a day of bitterness and resentment. If you give the day the same good will and cheer that you always do, then you get a day of celebration regardless of circumstances. It’s about the people, not the circumstance. In this oddest of years, the best way to show love for the people you card about is to keep your nose, and any germs that might be lurking in it, home where you live.

Left: Six of Swords. Go with the flow. Obstacles are more perceived than actual, which goes right along with the rant about Thanksgiving. The art on the card tells the whole story of this energy and advice from the card. From the seated figure’s point of view, the swords are looming, perhaps intimidating obstacles, blocking the view at the very least. But the standing, rowing figure can see that their canoe is in wide open water, able to go in any direction, clear sailing and smooth water all the way to the distant shore. How good or bad this week is all depends on your perspective, and your willingness to look, steer, ride with the water’s flow.

Center: Queen of Pentacles. “Hearth and home” comes to mind. Since everyone and their nose will be home, do what you can to make the here and now, the home where we are, all just as comfy as possible. Make a round of hot cocoa for everyone. Pop a little popcorn, and set as much of a lighthearted tone as you can. If you just aren’t feeling it, that is ok. Honor the mood. Drawing from the Charlie Brown cartoon – be Snoopy. Use whatever is at hand to make as much relaxation and fun for everyone in your current bubblespace AND for yourself.

Right: Three of Swords. This is much of a watch-your-back card as the minor arcana has to offer. Watch out for pettiness, politics, family squabbles. This isn’t to the level of the Devil card, by any means. But look at it this way – if we all shelter at home, we are also sheltered from toxic disagreements and toxic energies whe might otherwise tolerate for the sake of the holiday. Don’t let them drag you down. Distance is a help for that in any year.

Wishing you all the very best of the season. Not sure how this coming week is going to go schedule-wise. I’m OPEN for the season for email readings. Being at home just us is pretty normal, so I don’t see any delays changes because of the holiday. It IS still that elfcon time of year, so I’m not sure what will happen with the socials and YouTube channel.

Don’t forget to comment with your ideas for naming the “Year Ahead” layout. The winning name will be announced Dec. 1. The best name suggestion gets a reading by email. Insert all disclaimers here.

Ragged Reality

Reality may not be pretty. “Think positive” some say. What about about being positive things are bad? A problem can not be solved unless you accept that it exists. A problem can not be solved well unless you see it as it actually exists and understand the resources that are available. Problems aren’t the problem. Avoidance, denial, minimization, projection, fear, anxiety, anger, hatred, resentment; these things are problems.

Constantly playing the victim and eternal pessimism are asking for a problem. Denial and Pollyanna positivism are asking for a problem.

Staring reality in the eye, rolling up your sleeves and getting to work is asking for a solution.

PeaceTarot Wisdom Nuggets: Three of Swords

Three of Swords is usually a card of caution, although usually not as dire as a Devil or Shadow card. It is reality grabbing you by the nose and making you look. Beware, the lesser angels of human nature are afoot. Stay alert, act with precision. A cool, calculated, level headed reasponse could be your best ally.

Today’s Tarot: Three of Swords

Everyone suffers at some point in life, but that knowing doesn’t necessarily lesson the pain when you are in the middle of it yourself. Pain isn’t always avoidable. Sometimes all you can do is look for the helping hand right through the middle of it.