Header by Rory Midhani
Hey there cardslingers, witches, and mystical beings of ancient lore! I hope you all drew Aces of Wands this morning, and not Tens of Swords. (Just kidding! There’s no such thing as a ‘bad’ tarot card, right?)
Today I’ve had a lot of coffee and I can’t possibly concentrate on just one thing. Plus, I’m in the middle of a super-intense life-change that would be stressful if it wasn’t so damn fun and exciting. Plus, this column was due hours ago and I’m late late late, so what the heck, please enjoy this roundup of tarot bits and bobs. Mostly queer; otherwise, just good stuff you should know about. Something for everyone! It’s an Also.Also.Also purely for tarot lovers, how about that?
Before we kick off, here’s a picture of my tarot desk at dawn. I’m currently living in a caravan on the Isle of Skye and it’s blowing my tiny mind.
On the Decks
+ You heard that Cristy C Road’s totally rad Next World Tarot is funded, right?
+ And that the Slow Holler Tarot is coming on a treat and you can totally pre-order it (and other cool merch)?
+ Ah, but did you know there is an EMILY DICKINSON TAROT? There is. I just got one!
+ And how about the Dark Goddess Tarot for feminine sorcery from around the world. Here are the storm-throwers, the ship-wreckers, the season-changers and the lightening-workers. It’s educational, feminist and fun!
+ Tarot of the QTPOC. Asali Earthwork is critically reviewing decks that may or may not fit this category (including a much-needed response to the Ghetto Tarot.)
+ Spirit Cats. An oracle deck filled with the healing messages of 44 magical cats from the other side.
Queer Tarot Bloggers You’ll Rate
+ Are you a queer tarot blogger? Drop a link in the comments so we can all have a squizz at your amazing work!
Creative Pursuits
+ Oracle decks as an alternative or addition to tarot.
+ Look look look at these wonderful grown-up fortune tellers! Pricey but nice. (I’d suggest you make your own.)
+ The Queer Tarot Project. A tarot deck made from all of our stories. Add yours!
+ How to make your own tarot or oracle deck.
Four of Wands, Emily Dickinson Tarot
Written in Stars
+ You’ve definitely seen Corina Dross’ awesome monthly queer horoscopes (but just in case). Corina also has an amazing video course to teach you astrology. I was honoured to help Corina build her website, so I’ve seen the materials and this really is a quality course. Corina’s teaching style is warm and intelligent. When I finally get around to learning astrology, this is gonna be my first stop.
+ Want to learn how to read your birth chart? Of course you do! Astro DIY is an accessible, free course created by queer youth activist Tabby Besley.
+ Chani Nicholas’ weekly horoscopes are wonderful. Check out her lunar musings too.
+ You should also check out Siobhan’s monthly Tarotscopes. (I’m a regular contributor!)
From The Collective Tarot
Witch Way
+ What is Chaos Magic? Now you know.
+ You’ve seen Autostraddle’s amazing Witch Hunt column, right? So much queer woo.
+ Do you have an altar? I’m collecting photos and anecdotes! Email a pic to beth at littleredtarot dot com with a few lines about what’s on it and why!
+ Women of Power. An in-progress book by Katarzyna Majak featuring portraits of modern Polish witches.
Image by Kararzyna Majak, via the-other.info
Miscellaneous Treasure
+ You know how I got my Emily Dickinson Tarot? I traded for it in the Swap Shop forum on the Alternative Tarot Network. How neat is that? Yes of course we have a queer tarot forum too. If you so desire, you can sign up this week with the secret code FOOLS JOURNEY. See you inside!
Eight of Wands, Emily Dickinson Tarot
+ The beautiful crystals many of us collect are often mined violently, which to my mind must have a powerful effect on their energetic properties. Fortunately Kacha Stones are here to bring you ethically-mined crystals from around the world.
+ Read a F*ing [Tarot] Book. Eight mini reviews from tarot lovers and learners.
+ You may have heard that pioneering tarot veteran Rachel Pollack was having treatment for Hodgkins Lymphoma – well, she’s making a good recovery, hurrah!
+ Tarot cards that really really want you to care for yourself.
+ Are you in Australia? The Two Sides Tarot shop is now open!
PS – Want a (public-but-anonymous) tarot reading? I’ve reinstated the ‘reader’s reading’ element of Fool’s Journey. Send your dilemma to beth at autostraddle dot com.
Emily Dickenson Tarot??? Get out of town! Hnnng, I just bought the Wooden Tarot, so I can’t justify another deck purchase right now. But soooon.
This whole roundup is fantastic. So many cool resources to check out.
Omg, Emily Dickinson*
I’m a queer tarot blogger! My tarot blog is at apprenticeofbottles.tumblr.com. However, I have to admit I haven’t been posting there much lately, as my other writing has been taking precedence. Also, I have a tarot zine available–“Major Arcana of the Punk Rock Tarot.” It’s all the Major Arcana cards from an imaginary deck I created, plus little descriptions of each card. More info about that can be found on my non-tarot blog, rustbeltjessie.tumblr.com. Okay, enough shameless self-promotion. Thanks for doing what you do! Fool’s Journey, and the posts on Little Red Tarot, are some of the things I most look forward to reading when they pop up.
Thanks for all the odds and ends about tarot!
Thank you for the shoutout! I’ve got tabs open for days thanks to this roundoup <3
Funnily enough, I did draw the Ace of Wands this morning. *thumbs up*
Hi Beth,
Thanks for the shout-out! I hope you are doing well. <3 Cam
Am I the only one having a hard time getting the code for Alternative Tarot to work? It keeps telling me it’s invalid but I’ve entered it four different ways (space, no space, all caps, no caps), & refreshed the captcha until there was no way I could be screwing it up, but still getting an invalid code error.
I’m getting the same thing & have done all of the same processes
@winxchub I’ve fixed it, sorry about that! The code for the Alternative Tarot Network now works.
I love this! I backed the Spirit Cats deck, and I can’t wait! Also, I read all the chaos witch posts, and most of the other links. Great stuff!
your tarot desk is amazing! i just bought the deviant moon deck which has some really amazing art work centered around the moon(for example crescent moon faces or the full moon in the background) and i love it! the art work is very surreal i suggest googling to everyone interested
I curated and fully funded a Kickstarter for a FEMINIST tarot deck, featuring over 78 feminists of historical and contemporary and fictional feminist icons of all backgrounds (races, ability statuses, gender presentations and identities, and political aspirations) with a group of 30+ amazing artists from the queer community. You can check out the full project story here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1856181791/exultation-tarot-a-feminist-journey/description or see a few pics on Instagram with #exultationtarot . Only 100 were printed (and only a dozen are left for purchase)! Very exciting, this exultation tarot project coming to fruition!
ooooh gotta check this out! where are they available for purchase by the way?
Oh, yay! Thank you for the shoutout, Beth!