Tarot Art Is More Than Pictures

When I say that tarot art is more than pictures, I mean two things. The first is that tarot art is magical, and an integral part of our divination process.

At our upcoming online tarot conference, StaarCon, one of our missions is to honor tarot artists. The art of which tarot, and all cartomancy, is comprised is one of the ways we make the connection with spirit, and with truth. Without our artists, we would not, for the most part, be able to do the work we do.

One of the reasons I think cartomancy is so popular, and so effective, is this. The third eye (brow chakra) is the seat of eyesight, imagination, and psychic vision. When we look at the art on a card, the creation of the artist stimulates our imagination and our psychic vision. It is from this that we are able to receive and deliver our most inspired readings.

The second thing I mean when I say that tarot art is more than pictures is this. There are many art forms and types of creativity that emanate from tarot. Tarot art, and all cartomancy art, creates the tools. Those tools inspire other kinds of art.

Tarot has inspired everything from statuary to perfume, wine and fashion.

We tarotists know that giving a tarot reading is an art form in and of itself. We also know something even more important.

If we want to truly dive into a particular card or tarot archetype, we can do that by letting it inspire our creativity.

Writing tarot poetry is a wonderful way to get a deeper understanding of a card.

Tarot performance art can involve song, theater, and more. In fact, at StaarCon we will have a number of types of tarot art, including tarot improv and a tarot-themed play.

Making a collage to represent a particular card can be a deeply inspiring experience.

The art of tarot draws us in and helps us connect with our intuition. When we create art inspired by tarot, we nurture our creativity and expand our understanding and experience of the cards.

The Nature of Tarot (and Nature Therapy)

The Empress sits on her outdoor throne. In the distance, lush trees and a flowing river create a beautiful backdrop.

The people in the Six of Swords sail across a vast stretch of water, presumably searching for distant new lands.

A dog and a wolf howl at the moon, oblivious to the crayfish in the water behind them.

Did you know that in the 78 cards of the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck, a whopping 67 of them depict scenes of nature? What’s more, out of the remaining 11 cards, four of them still feature elements of nature such as fruits or wild animals. Only seven images are depicted completely indoors, with no indication of nature whatsoever. 

My name is Stephen and I am a tarot reader and an ecotherapist/nature therapist. You might be unfamiliar with the terms ‘ecotherapy’ and ‘nature therapy’, but they essentially refer to the same thing. Ecotherapy is any therapy that aims to improve people’s wellbeing by connecting them with nature. This can be done in numerous ways, from attending gardening groups to creating nature art or practising mindfulness in nature. You will be hearing a lot more about ecotherapy in the next few years I promise!

My love of nature goes way back to childhood. Like many people, however, I became disconnected from it for most of my adult life. It is only during the last four years that I have found my love of nature again. Words can’t describe just how much it has positively changed my life. Nature is spirituality itself; alive, here, in front of us, driven by some force that we just can’t comprehend. It is magical.

Tarot, in contrast to nature, is something which I only came to discover in my early twenties. Tarot has been there in my life when nature hasn’t (or rather, I haven’t been there for nature), planting the seeds needed for me to rekindle that magical relationship. I wonder if tarot has been asking you to pay attention to nature too, without you realising?

The Two of Swords always baffled me in my personal readings. It would come up a lot over the years, but I couldn’t figure out why it kept appearing. I now realise that since I began practising ecotherapy, this card no longer shows up.

The woman in the Two of Swords sits with her back to the sea, on a sturdy seat of some kind (it doesn’t look comfortable)! She is blindfolded, and in her arms, she holds two enormous, heavy-looking swords that surely must be weighing her down. A fairly calm sea is behind her, and a rocky island is in the distance. The sky is clear and the waxing moon is visible. Even the sand at her feet looks clean and luxurious, yet her yellow footwear prevents her bare feet from connecting to it.

It’s only now that I see myself in her. There I was, living in a beautiful part of the world and yet my time outdoors was spent stuck in my endless thoughts, not paying attention to nature at all. I was incapable of seeing the beauty around me for my endless mental plans about the future, or my worries about the past. I know that I am definitely not alone in having a mind that works like that!

Tarot images are deeply nuanced, so of course, I’m not suggesting that being disconnected from nature is ‘the’ meaning of the Two of Swords. There is no one meaning to be found within any tarot card. However, when you know your cards pretty well, and one keeps reappearing (to your utter confusion), sometimes the meaning can be found within its most obvious visual clues.

Two of Swords from Rider Waite Tarot, Copyright 1971, U.S. Games Systems, Inc, Stamford, CT.
Used with permission.

The woman in the Two of Swords always seems ready for battle. If only she could just put those swords down and take off her blindfold and shoes. I want her to turn around, breathe in deeply and enjoy the beautiful landscape that surrounds her!

My relationship with tarot has been with me for (almost) all of my entire adult life, presenting me with images of hills, rivers, birds, beasts, mountains and oceans. I found deep personal meaning in the light of the sun, moon and stars, and yet I rarely looked up and appreciated them for real. 

I look back and I thank the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot for pointing the way and for planting so many nature scenes—and nature seeds—in my mind. I am almost 100% sure that part of the reason I love the Rider-Waite-Smith so much is because of the connection to nature that I feel when I read for myself or others.

Reading tarot (or at least the Rider-Waite-Smith or decks inspired by it) is a practise which draws our attention to nature, whether we realise it or not. My invitation to you is the same as the Two of Sword’s invitation to me. Sometimes, the cards that you are holding are asking you to put them down.

If you are awe-struck by a beautiful scene in a tarot card, let it inspire you to go outside, breathe in deeply and notice this beautiful planet that we are so privileged to be a part of. If you find that you struggle to connect with nature, look up ecotherapy or nature therapy online—it might just be just what you need.

Earth, air, fire and water. Remember; they are the essence of nature itself.

A Sneak Peek of Tarot of the Divine Masculine

A Sneak Peek of Tarot of the Divine Masculine

Tarot of the Divine Masculine, by Vasich and Vasich, is a new indie deck that will begin funding on Kickstarter on October 1, 2019. Marko Vasich asked me to take a look at a few of the cards in advance of the Kickstarter rollout.

One of my favorite things about being a tarot pro is this privilege. It’s so exciting to get in on the early stages of a creative project, and to be able to communicate with the talented and thoughtful artists.

I was impressed with the lovely packaging of the cards they sent to me. From that I can tell that the artists will spare nothing in the quality and presentation of this new tarot.

The theme of the deck is specific, and, because of the theme, not every tarot reader will feel called to work with it. Yet, the fact is, there are a lot of queer tarotists, just as there are a lot of queer artists. This is why it is such a shame that there are so few decks available that specifically honor this community.

One would not have to be gay, or male, to read with this deck. Yet, it is definitely a deck that celebrates men, and not in a Village People way. These men are pictured in nature, not in nightclubs. There is a fair amount of male nudity in the deck, but it feels naturist, rather than sexual. It’s important to remember that the deck artists are from Germany and Serbia, where the human body is not so often viewed in a shameful way. There is subtle Pagan imagery peppered through the deck,

I remember, years ago, speaking with a group of Dianic witches, discussing that men needed to discover their spiritual mysteries. I think Tarot of the Divine Masculine would be a good tool to help with that journey, for men of any orientation.

Six of Swords image from Tarot of the Divine Masculine by Vasich and Vasich, used with permission.

The art in this deck is splendid, detailed, and realistic. The cardbacks are reversable. The cardstock is of quality and has a pleasant finish that I can only describe as slippery matte. The card edges are black.

In a deck of men, some card names must be changed. The High Priestess has become Intuition, and the Empress has become The Provider. My favorite of the card samples I received was the Six of Wands, a fierce Celtic warrior clad in a kilt.

This deck follows the Smith-Waite tradition to the point that the cards will make sense to anyone who reads with a Waite deck. The suit of Pentacles is called the suit of Diamonds, yet seems traditional in its expressions of earthly matters.

While most of the cards aren’t overtly sexual, the Four of Cups isn’t for the faint of heart. We see a woman engaged with two men, while a second woman appears disinterested. It’s important to note that none of the deck images seem pornographic. The art style is gentle and sensuous, rather than cheap and tawdry.

Tarot of the Divine Masculine is not for everyone. That means that the people who resonate with this deck need to get behind it. Let’s make sure that this beautiful offering becomes available to those who will find wisdom in it and use it to find wisdom within themselves.

Tarot Evolution

Tarot is constantly evolving and growing.

There are those who worry that the older, foundational traditions, symbolism and meanings will get lost over time in the shuffle.

There will always need to be people who preserve the ancient, as well as people who move an art form forward, pushing it to new limits.

Yesterday I had a conversation with someone about a particular tarot card. In a very learned tone, using the works of very early tarotists to back up his point, he gave an interpretation of the card that was completely different from any tradition I had ever heard.

He presented his concept to a group as if we were all behind the times for not knowing the concept. After some probing, it turns out that the concept is his own original idea, and so far, unpublished.

I think it is great that we explore new concepts in tarot. At the same time, I think presenting our own original work as a time-honored tradition is disingenuous.

I also think it is important to keep some connection to what has come before; the practices on which our traditions are built.

Many modern tarotists have brought a great deal of evolution to tarot, even in our lifetimes.

Eden Gray brought us the concept of “The Fool’s Journey,” and the idea that anyone could learn to operate a tarot deck.

Mary Greer and Rachel Pollack, in a very real way, evolved the practice of tarot reading into what it is today.

Ffiona Morgan, Karen Vogel, and Vicki Noble gave us the concept of feminist tarot, and, with it, the idea that the tarot archetypes could work with specific cultural themes.

Kris Waldherr and Lisa Hunt were amongst the artists that first took that concept further, in developing what I call “archetypal assignment” tarot decks.

The list goes on.

In more recent years, we have seen the advent of new, creative tarot tools, such as games, and decks of cards to be used to design dynamic tarot spreads.

The internet offers us all an equal platform for sharing our ideas and innovations.

We all have the opportunity to bring something to the table.

What will you bring?