Faeries Oracle

Card 19 - The Sage

Wisdom. Hidden knowledge. Retreat. Old age. Patience.

The Sage is also the shaman. Not all wise men are shamans and not all shamans are wise men, but this one is both - power informed by wisdom and wisdom made manifest by power. This is also the face of Father Time, and we see the colors of the seasons surrounding him. Sometimes, he is Old Man of the Mountain, the hermit who searches within for wisdom and understanding, and then is willing to share it with any true seeker who comes to him.

His "blind" eye enables him to look into other worlds, other realms, and the wisdom buried deeply within each of us, where the Singers dwell. He has reached a stage of life where he has let go of many of the activities of younger beings, retreated somewhat from the outer world of Faery, and has become more deeply immersed in the inner landscapes of knowledge, inner vision, contemplation, and spirit. On the exterior, he lives simply, almost austerely, but his inner world is filled to overflowing with richness.

In order to pursue his studies more thoroughly, the Sage has cultivated detachment. Some may see this as remoteness or coldness, but he is no less loving for that. The Sage finds the inner connections between everything. He sees the connections, relationships, and consequences between seemingly separate ideas, beings, and things.

Love and compassion are the inevitable consequences of seeing truly, and this leads the Sage to share his learning with others. Like any other wise elder, he leads by gently teaching from his vast store of wisdom. When asked for his judgment about something, he is discriminating and generous-hearted. He turns a blind eye to punishment, feeling that what is needed is mercy and a way of teaching those who err so they will not make the same mistakes again.

The Sage is constantly learning. While on the one hand he values tradition and stability, he also understands and values the need for growth and change. He can't go for a walk or a flight around the neighborhood without discovering something new and trying to see how it fits into the whole. He is always expanding his understanding of reality and deepening his awareness.

As we develop patience and compassion intertwined, we begin to manifest the wisdom of the Sage.

Starter Reading

Here we see wisdom and deep inner understanding.
One of the keys of wisdom is to organize, integrate, and simplify one's thoughts. Complexity often leads to confusion; simplicity is to be valued. This card signifies mental discipline informed by balanced learning and compassion. Tradition is valued but appropriate change is accepted. The Sage knows when to let go and when to move on. He knows when to retreat and think things over. He compassionately and wisely shares his knowledge with others, teaching by example as well as by precept. The scales of justice are balanced in the Sage's hands. This card in a reading also signifies the need for deep consideration and refined judgment applied with compassion and mercy.

Reversed

When the wisdom of the Sage is blocked, artificial or inappropriate boundaries are set between different aspects of life. We become unable to apply learning in one sphere to other aspects of life. Or information is withheld, kept secret when it could benefit others, which in turn would benefit us. Sometimes learning is blocked by the belief that we already have all the answers, but we never actually do.

Twisted, the Sage's accumulation of facts and information becomes unwisdom - knowledge misused and distorted, facts distorted for selfish purposes, information used to the detriment of others. There is always a risk of this when we set out to prove something rather than to discover something. Other twists include being excessively critical, being cold and uncaring, or being cynical or embittered, These are all faults of balance.

At its worst, knowledge and experience are channeled toward the destruction of the self or others.

The Sidhe