Terry Iacuzzo | Omega Institute

Terry Iacuzzo is the first person to make me feel like I was not insane. She wrote a book in 2004 about her life as a psychic raised in a family of psychics. I know something about this. The way that she described picking up on information that she didn’t have access to, just *knew* things that she shouldn’t know – she made those things that scared me and made me unsure of my gifts seem normal. I was lucky enough to get to talk to her a few years ago, and we became friends. I can’t tell you how …

The Bohemian Animal Tarot | Deck Review

Y’all know I’m a sucker for a fox. The Bohemian Animal Tarot has many foxen, and they’re cleverly used in this deck. The animals that are chosen to represent each card has something in common with them. The Magician is a Fox, staring straight at you – confidence. The Jackal is the animal for Judgement, and the card depicts ancient Egypt. This is a lovely deck. The artwork is beautiful and the colors are nice. The cardstock is great (Go Rockpool Publishing!) and even though it’s a little big, it’s fine for shuffling. No issues with diversity as it’s all …

This Might Hurt Tarot Deck | New Deck Alert

Kickstarter is a pain in my ass. I don’t go on it often, because I have almost 300 decks, and that’s just plenty, you know? I’m working on streamlining my house and stuff and Kickstarter is the antithesis of streamlining. So, I logged in just for funsies, and ended up backing a deck within seconds. Goddamnit. It’s not my fault, truly. This deck has sweet men, strong women, butch women, genderqueer people of color, a SMILING hierophant that changes the whole feel of the card. The World has a belly, and the Star has pubic hair. I mean, I couldn’t …

Modern Witch Tarot | New Deck Alert

You guys know how I look for diversity in decks. Trust and believe me that I am over the MOON for the Modern Witch Tarot. These are the same folks who brought us the beautiful Luna Sol tarot (also diverse). They are releasing 1,111 special edition decks (that are half sold out already) with the swag that you see below. If the cards are anything like the Luna Sol deck, the card stock will be fantastic and the rest of the artwork will be amazing. Reading these cards for 30 years, and I never knew that the Magician I was …

The Power of Tarot by Liz Worth | Book Review

I like the way that Liz Worth sees the world. Her “Beyond the Little White Book” tackled tarot cards descriptions in such an unusual and dynamic way that I was pissed I hadn’t thought of it first. Her new book is just as revelatory. Instead of “here are the cards, here is a spread – do the reading”, Liz walks us through the philosophy of tarot, and what happens when it enters our worlds. What does it do? What are the responsibilities? What is the job of tarot? The book addresses your personal use of the cards and the universal …

Wild Harmonic Oracle | Deck Review

The Wild Harmonic cards were sent to me by the creator, Gabriel Marihugh. As you know, I don’t like oracle cards generally. I only use them for readings for myself. This deck is going to be one that I use often. The art is very pretty and accurate to the card, but not distracting. The thing that I love the most is that instead of giving you answers, this deck gives you questions. If you ask, “What should I focus on right now?” The answer is a question that points you in the right direction. You might get one of the …

Skeleton Tarot

The Skeleton Tarot | Deck Review

First of all, I have the Skeleton Tarot because of my friend Potter, and their unyielding peer pressure. They had the nerve to say, “Do you want to see my new deck?” and “Isn’t it cute?” Clearly, i was strong armed into this purchase. I like black and white decks, as long as they have some depth. The Animalis os Fortuna is my favorite, and the Skeleton is now my second favorite. The artist left their sketch marks (I’m not an artist) on the cards, and the black lines overlay them. It makes the simple images pop, and gives them …

Fortune Telling with Playing Cards by Jonathan Dee | Book Review

I have this vague almost-memory of my Grandma Virginia and her sister Violet reading playing cards. I was very young, but it’s stuck in my brain. They also played bridge and rummy and all of those other card games that I never got around to learning. This time, was different, though. They covered the cards up and told me to go play outside. I assumed that the card meanings in Jonathan Dee’s (RIP) Fortune Telling with Playing Cards would line up with tarot. After all, isn’t the tarot just a regular playing card deck with 22 extra? Apparently not. This …

Queering the Tarot by Cassandra Snow | Book Review

I got to know Cassandra Snow’s writing through Beth Maiden on LittleRedTarot.com. I appreciated the stripped bare version of the cards seen through Cassandra’s eyes, and the reapplication of traditional tarot meanings to feminist, queer life. Her fantastic writing became this book, Queering the Tarot. I was SUPER lucky to get an advanced copy from Red Wheel/Weiser of this fantastic book, and here is what I had to say about it. “Taking the tarot cards that we all love, and peeling them back to their bones. From there, Cassandra Snow builds the cards a new form. One that speaks to …

Rachel Pollack, Grand Dame, Author, “Grandma Tarot” | Interview

The best place I’ve ever seen my name in print is on the back of someone else’s book. Rachel Pollack, grand dame and amazing author, tarot expert and honestly, just a really nice person has re-released her book, 78 Degrees of Wisdom. The publisher reached out to see if I wanted to say anything about it and I jumped at the chance. This book is the one that handed tarot to me. I speak Rachel Pollack, and can never properly express to her how much this book has meant to me. It handed me my livelihood, my favorite thing to …