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Linking tarot cards by making them markers in a map

This is post 2 in a series. Read the first one here.

If linking cards is like explaining how energy flows between cards, one problem is that tarot cards are pretty abstract.

What the hell is Wheel of Fortune that it impacts how energy flows around it?

One tarot exercise I invented for myself some years ago was to act as if each tarot card was a piece of a map which defined a specific location, like this:

The goal is not to assign random locations, but to really think about the vibes of a card.

Such an intensely creative exercise - translating abstract concepts into traversable terrain - is something I believe also develops and stretches the "linking" muscles themselves.

Maybe to you, 8/Pentacles isn't a quiet old forest, but a busy port city. Perhaps it changes from deck to deck. That's all excellent.

Just like we can envision how water flows between a lake, clouds, and a mountain, if we assign a type of location to each tarot card then envisioning the flow between them may be much easier.

Pretend there is a road winding through each card, linking them together. What is the experience of the traveler?

Let's never mind exactly what our question is. Let's imagine you're a traveler who left a protected village and finds yourself on windy hills. The wind is forceful, driving you at your back and pushing you towards a gorge.

When you get to the gorge, there's a bridge you have to cross. But the driving winds speak of storms on the horizon, and the bridge swings and shudders in the wind.

The link between the windy hills and the gorge is one of forcefulness that reduces rest and creates risk.

Ace/Swords: Forcefulness, severity, sometimes destruction, but often heralding change

7/Swords: Transition, leaving a bad situation

Link: Because of the dangerous intensity of the Ace, the upcoming transition feels forced and rushed. Due to the risk of destruction, it feels there is no turning back.

Let's swap out some cards and see how our link changes.

Now we take out the windy hills and travel directly from the village to the gorge.

Strength: Security, empowerment, and conviction. The vibes of this card are calm, protective, and assertive.

7/Swords: Transition, leaving a bad situation.

Link: Because of the empowered security of the village, the upcoming transition feels calm and stable. It's being undertaken for a good purpose, not out of desperation.

5/Wands: Conflict, fighting, tension; but also releasing stress, finding treasures, and camaraderie.

7/Swords: Transition, leaving a bad situation.

Link: The traveler was engaging in conflict to try and achieve something, but now they're choosing to move on. The traveler isn't being driven away, nor are they bold and empowered. But he is motivated to get out of there.

Each time, the link describes the transition between two cards. What is the experience walking on the road that leads from one to the other?

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This is a shout-out to all the 'unwanted' Christians. The ones who turn to the the Church and find no help, no support, and only a shallow and conditional welcome - which is no welcome at all. The ones who sit through message after sermon after Bible study which is entirely irrelevant to them. The ones who mess up the church's picture-perfect image.

This is for the Side B Christians, the divorced Christians, the single parents trying so desperately to fill the role of two people. This is for the Christians who have never taken Communion, or who have - for whatever reason - never been baptized. This is for the Christians who must choose between food and rent this month, or tithing. This is for the quiet Christians, the shy ones, the ones who'd rather hide under the table than volunteer for helping with the fellowship dinner.

This is for the Christians who admit something in shame and repentance and sorrow and are drawn away from and ostracized. This is for the Christians condemned by their 'brothers' and 'sisters' for things beyond their control. This is for the fatherless children who are not orphans but abandoned by their parents, for the widows left struggling while the local assembly hall is remodeled. This is for the children shut out of the friend groups and pushed away from their peers because of their parents.

This is for the Christians who are blamed for being abused. This is for the Christians who are trying to escape abuse and finding only platitudes and closed doors. This is for Christians who are trying to learn new behavioral patterns and find only condemnation for the old ones and no help. This is for the Christians struggling with mental illness who are told to pray it away. Christians struggling substances. With addictions. With anything. For the Christians who have gone to their pastor or the elders or their peers and found no help.

This is for all the Christians who have no home and no shepherd and no church to nourish them because they are inconvenient. The Christians who mess up the optics. The members who are least in honor.

This is for anyone who has ever sought the comfort of the Church and found instead stones and snakes.

I see you and I love you. Even more than that, God sees you and loves you.

You are not alone.

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the page of swords in the this might hurt tarot really hits an underrated element of that card for me. a lot of times we lean on the tarot math of it all: pages are students/young people, swords are air/intellect, therefore the page of swords is the most precocious child you’ve ever met, for better or worse. curiosity, studiousness, new ideas, etc. I think there’s another way to interpret courts though: what is it like to be younger/older/empowered/disempowered in the world of the suit? imagine being twelve in the world of betrayals, heartbreak, literal backstabbing, and nightmares. there’s kind of an overlooked sadness to that card.

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Okay so I lied it was not, in fact, coming soon and it is in fact kinda long for a Tumblr post. It'll be up later though.

New post coming soon 👀! This will be relatively short (for me lol) but hopefully still helpful 🫶🏻

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June 2025 Reading Wrap Up

I only read one tarot/religion/spirituality book this month: Queering the Tarot by Cassandra Snow.

Look, I don’t enjoy laying into authors and I’m willing to bet Snow has some writing out there that is much better than this. But the majority of this book wasn’t useful to me as a reader, and a few key sections were frankly a bit harmful. Still, I recognize it’s role as a groundbreaker when it comes to radicalizing the tarot.

Katey Flowers has an excellent review of this book that breaks down its strengths, weaknesses, and dealbreakers:

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tarot and oracle doesn’t get thriftier than coming up with a bunch of keywords/phrases/characters, putting ‘em on a numbered list, and pulling up a random number generator 😉

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New post coming soon 👀! This will be relatively short (for me lol) but hopefully still helpful 🫶🏻

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The fact that im getting raw dogged by life everyday. Don’t have any medication to take the edge off. Nor any addiction, I don’t even got a religion or spirituality to fall back on. Im facing this life stone cold sober every goddamn day??? Why???

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I never even ended up doing this spread and it all worked itself out 🤦‍♀️

and that’s not even all of it!

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and that’s not even all of it!

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May Reading Wrap Up

All the spirituality, tarot, and witchcraft books I read in May, + thoughts.

Tl;dr: books I recommend: Red Tarot, Tarot: Question Everything

Postcolonial Astrology: Reading the Planets through Capital, Power, and Labor by Alice Sparkly Kat

Admittedly I did not know much about astrology going into this book, and I feel that I probably should have. This book assumes, I think, that you already have a great deal of familiarity with both astrology and postcolonial thought, and is essentially a very long research paper overlapping the two. As Robert Farrah put it in his review of A History of the Occult Tarot, it's the sort of book where you have to search for the main verb in each sentence. The dense and academic writing style isn't necessarily a flaw, but it does make the book less accessible.

I have heard that a few of Kat's sources are contested, debunked, or misinterpreted. I do not have the depth of knowledge to confirm this personally for all of them, but I can say this was the case for at least one source I was already familiar with. Additionally, there are small factual errors and logical fallacies I was able to pick up on. Still, I think Kat and I have a very aligned praxis when it comes to occult and spiritual disciplines, and I was able to extract some value out of the book's bibliography and the few subjective portions.

The audience for this is probably very narrow: people who can tolerate very long stretches of dense, academic writing, are already very familiar with the two subjects the book blends, and who have the discernment and knowledge base to separate the useful from the dubious.

Red Tarot: A Decolonial Guide to Divinatory Literacy by Christopher Marmolejo

This was the second book I finished in May, and it was a delight! I think this is what I thought I would be getting with Postcolonial Astrology. Marmolejo offers a queer, Indigenous, decolonial perspective on all 78 cards, fantastic quotes for each from a variety of queer and BIPOC authors, activists, and thinkers, and a numerological structure that makes understanding the interconnectedness of the cards very intuitive. I really feel this should be on everyone's shelf. As far as the writing goes, it's more accessible than Postcolonial Astrology was, but still a blend of academic and poetic styles. Some people have said this book lends itself to bibliomancy, and I have to agree! Another interesting use for it when I pick up a physical copy in the future.

Discovering Christian Witchcraft: A Beginner's Guide for Everyday Practice by Emyle D. Prata and Sara Raztresen

As a Christian practitioner, I really wanted to like this one. Unfortunately, it's usefulness was limited to me. My practice is more of an adaptation of Catholic religion and Appalachian and Italian folk Christian traditions, updated and syncretized for modern life. This book is more reliant on the sort of magical practice that is inspired by the Golden Dawn and Wicca and on unverified personal gnosis. There audiences this appeals to, just not me.

I also feel that the book just barely skirts the line with cultural appropriation, particularly with regard to Kabbalah. Despite very clear disclaimers that the practice of Kabbalah is closed to goyim, a significant portion of the book relies on it conceptually, with seemingly no Jewish sensitivity reader in sight. At least, not clearly credited. I’d be curious to know if any Jewish practitioners have opinions on this. It didn’t sit well with me.

And the book also had some inconsistent messaging. For example, it says that demonic possession is not possible and we should look to science, which suggests that cases of demonic possession are mental health related. However, the book also alleges that nature spirits can physically kill you. What is the book’s actual stance on the corporeality of spirits, then? You might say there is a difference between demons and nature spirits, but a book aimed at beginners should explain this, in depth, with sources. There are probably a dozen or more examples where I felt that more explanation was needed to justify contradictions.

Tarot: Question Everything: 300+ Tarot Questions For the Modern Seeker by Lexi Hideko

The final tarot/spiritual book I read in May. Lexi does excellent work and is a major influence on my practice, so it’s no surprise that her book is just as good as she is. It’s a simple, supplemental text, but it’s often these books with a narrow focus that have the most to say. She provides you with 300+ questions, as promised, across many areas of life. The questions are fantastic on their own for personal reflection without even incorporating tarot, as she really hones in on specific angles beyond just “is my ex coming back?”

She also walks you through the process of asking your own questions and creating spreads that break down those questions (and she provides several general spreads, too).

This is the sort of book you start buying multiple copies of to give away, imo. Lexi is on TikTok @lightwands if you want to get a feel for her style before buying.

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Radical empathy and love is incredibly hard and I will fail over and over again but I also think it's the most important thing you can do

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Possible unpopular opinion: treating having a special interest as equivalent to being an expert on the topic is another form of the savant stereotype.

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Seven of Cups and Nine of Pentacles

You're so glad you have them all; they're much more effective all together.

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Community Reading for June, 2025

1. Soil - What are the conditions around us like for the upcoming month? - The Hanged Man

Many of us will be experiencing shifts in perspectives that can be refreshing in their own way, if you’re ready to meet them. If there’s a problem you’ve been trying to solve, you may have that “aha!” moment this June. But new ideas are not without risk, so while you’re flipping your world upside down, be careful not to hurt yourself if you fall in.

2. Seed - What is it that we are growing this month? - The Fool

Ourselves. The conditions provided by The Hanged Man make sitting and thinking the name of the game here. As you embark on new (literal or metaphorical) journeys, chase new ideas, or go down research rabbit holes, remember to actually absorb what you’re learning- particularly as it pertains to you. Make stops to reflect while on that journey! Don’t just pass through. When you learn something new, your next question should be, “and what am I gonna do about it?”

3. Growth - How will card 2 evolve by the end of the month? - The High Priestess

If we follow the energy of the prior two cards by having fresh ideas and new perspectives, truly absorbing them, and involving ourselves in them, The High Priestess says she’ll lift her veil to us. Not that we’re unlocking all the secrets of the universe in June, 2025, but like, maybe a small secret. As a treat. A solution that seemed impossible becomes obvious. A question that’s always tortured you suddenly makes sense. Your gut instinct ends up leading you to right answers and decisions.

There’s a lot of air in this reading, balanced out by the chthonic nature of the High Priestess. Connect with the mind and consider going deeper. Might be a good month for shadow work. Consider connecting with the element of air and concepts relating to “as above, so below”

Happy Pride Month!

Happy Caribbean-American Heritage Month!

Happy Black Music Month!

Happy Immigrant Heritage Month!

Deck: The Light Deer’s Tarot by Chris-Anne

This reading is general and intended for whoever stumbles across it. Take what resonates, leave what doesn’t.

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Saint Michael and the Fascist // inspired by Raphael’s “Saint Michael Vanquishing Satan”

We needdddd a transgender spear of divine justice as of late yall

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"and that's what missionary work SHOULD look like" no it shouldn't exist at all actually. even within their own country. preying on homeless people and the ill is bad too yknow? can't believe that's something i have to explain.

the whole "just lead by example and people might be interested in joining" thing still fundamentally surrenders to the idea that spreading Christianity is good and important (it's not!)