Each morning lately I’ve been pulling a card from the Everyday Peace deck. This isn’t a tarot or oracle deck, it’s text based with each card offering a lesson from Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh. For years I’ve been UP and d o w n with my meditation practice, so I’m turning to these cards now as a way to invite more mindfulness into my life.

Today I pulled a card titled ‘Taking Care of Ourselves’ which reads as follows:

If you are unable to take care of yourself, how can you take care of anyone else? How can you take care of the person you love? When you are here for yourself, when you have reestablished some basic order and peace within yourself, then you can take care of the person you love. It could be your son, your daughter, your partner or your friend. But if you are not able to be here for yourself, it will not be possible for you to be here for them. That’s why you must come back to yourself.

Yeah, yeah, we’ve all heard this kind of thing before. It’s safe to say the concept of self-care has been overplayed and even for me eventually any lectures on this topic go in one ear and out the other.

But, I tried to keep an open mind and heart while reading this today and a few specific things stood out to me, and then of course I wanted to make them into a tarot spread.

The parts that drew me in: first, the idea of reestablishing basic order within yourself. As someone who often feels like a roiling chaos demon, establishing order within myself sounds very grounding and appealing yet extremely difficult. Emperor energy in the best way.

Also, reestablishing peace within yourself. In my last post I talked about how we are all meant to live in peace but also the complexities of achieving this in a world that often seems so grim. Reestablishing peace within myself is a never-ending process.

I’m also drawn to the notion of coming back to yourself. There are a lot of ways you could interpret the meaning of coming back to yourself, but it feels very energetic to me. It reminds me of a mantra from Danielle Laporte which has stuck with me for years: “I call all of my power back to me now. I am whole and complete.”

Finally, of course, all of this self-care relates back to caring for others. Which is EXTREMELY important. I am acutely aware of this as someone with a lot of luck and privilege. So many people are currently struggling and being villainized. People we know personally need our care, and the whole god damn world needs our care.

I am no one to argue with Thich Naht Hanh, but I do know that to some degree, we actually can take care of other people even when we can’t take care of ourselves. For a while. But it is not sustainable in the long run. So, yeah. Taking care of ourselves is important, all the trite sayings are true.

That was the preamble to lead us into the actual tarot spread! I will offer a sample reading for myself, and as always invite you to try this spread for yourself as well if you’d like.

For my own reading I’m using the Light Seer’s Tarot.

I love those moments when you pull a tarot card and immediately sense it is perfect for the situation. That’s what happened when I saw the Nine of Pentacles representing how I can reestablish order within myself. Before pulling cards, I commented that this concept had Emperor energy, and the Nine of Pentacles does have some similarities to the Emperor. Both have themes of self-discipline, restraint, structure.

But the Nine of Pentacles – particularly in the imagery here – had the addition of joy. This card reminds me that I find order within myself not through punishment. Not through grinding. But through joy. In order to have a true desire to establish order within myself, I need to keep in mind the expansion this offers. The kind of order I’m craving feels good. It feels like: I’m comfortable in my skin. I have my shit together. I trust myself to do what I need to do.

For any of us to have order within ourselves, we have to clearly identify what that means to us individually. And for me, it means exactly what I’m getting from the Nine of Pentacles. Joyful order.

For insight on establishing peace within myself I have the Six of Cups. The imagery here really draws on the passage of time and nostalgia we often associate with this card. This hits hard as I’m still processing the death of my mom. I recently stopped by my childhood home and as I looked at the dark windows I had a sudden vivid memory of the house being filled with light when I was a kid, friends coming in and out. Now I’m a middle aged woman and my mom is gone. Time is a cruel mistress, as they say.

We know that on a metaphysical level time is an illusion. Ask a quantum physicist, they’ll explain it better than I can. I know this on a spiritual level and a scientific level. But on a human level, the passing of time feels very real and sometimes painful. But this card reminds me that to find peace within myself I need to find peace with the passing of time. Something I’m always working on as someone born with a hardcore nostalgia gene.

The Three of Swords offers advice on coming back to myself and yikes. Well. At first I was like screw this card. But in softening myself and gazing at it for a moment a mantra comes to me: pain is real but it does not define me. I can almost feel the person on the card shouting this. So to come back to myself I have to validate my pain but not glorify it. It is one aspect of who I am but it is not the whole.

Now I have the Eight of Cups suggesting how I can care for others. Another card that hits hard. There are certain people in my life that I feel a strong urge to rescue. I want to save them. I want to find the exact right thing to say or do to make everything okay for them. I desire this deeply.

But this card reminds me I can only do so much. Once I have cared for myself, then I can give others the very best and most genuine care I’m capable of. But I can’t control how it is received or what the results will be. I can give in the most heart-centered way possible and then release. That’s all.

Thanks for being here, and if you give the spread a try feel free to let me know how it goes. TAKE CARE!

I’m sitting in my office, which I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do today as my fat orange cat was cozied up on my chair for several hours and I didn’t want to disturb him. But eventually he moved to find a sunnier spot. Looking out the window, I notice the quality of the sunlight changing as we approach the equinox. I smell incense. I hear construction down the street, and birds chirping.

My brain has been racing 1000 miles an hour. It is actually comical the variety of thoughts that can pass through my head in rapid sequence. It will go from: oh shit authoritarianism is upon us, to hmm I need to paint my nails, to death is inevitable and life is chaos, to I’m excited about the progress on my latest cross stitch. Being sentient is a trip.

Anyways…we are doing tarot from the heart today, with the Wild Unknown. I’ve done this many times but in case you are unfamiliar: tarot from the heart is an approach introduced by Mary K Greer. You start by grounding yourself and stating where you are (as I did above). You state an intention for your tarot session. Mine today is simply to receive a few cards that may help myself, or you, find some reprieve from our busy minds. Then, you pull a card and express whatever it brings up for you, and repeat until you feel the session is complete.

First we have the Six of Wands reversed. The butterfly yearns to transcend the muddled darkness below. But the reversal shows the difficulty in this. Martha Beck has an affirmation I often turn to: “I am meant to live in peace.” I believe this, yet I also find it so elusive. How to live in peace when everything around us seems to transpire to pull us into conflict?

Maybe it does start with reminding yourself that you are meant to live in peace. And extending that same belief to those around you. We are all meant to live in peace. Not just those of us with the right political affiliation or tax bracket or skin color. At the risk of sounding like John Lennon, imagine if we all believed that we were all meant to live in peace? Is it possible? Probably not. But is it something to keep believing despite all odds? I think maybe so.

I drew another card and it is a really fun one just kidding it is the Five of Cups.

Instead of moving up into the light, the horse hangs their head into the darkness. You can’t force levity, yet you also can’t dwell in despair. Maybe true transcendence is a combination of these two cards. You go down, down, down into the shadows. And then you go up, up, up into freedom. And the cycle repeats. You can’t have one without the others.

Living in peace does not mean ignoring all the very real horrors in this timeline. Indeed, one of the few life lessons I’ve managed to learn in this lifetime is that accepting sadness is completely necessary if you want to experience any real joy. Ignoring suffering isn’t it. Neither is spiritual bypassing (“everything happens for a reason”). Sometimes you just have to be able to acknowledge: wow. What’s happening is really sad and fucked up.

Living in peace is not the same thing as living in bliss or ignorance. Feeling the full weight of sadness is part of a peaceful existence. But how to feel that sadness without succumbing totally to despair or nihilism? That’s an ongoing journey, for me at least.

The Daughter of Swords appears in reverse.

The imagery here reminds me of the Hanged One. Perhaps she asks us to surrender attachment to our thoughts. Sometimes it is necessary to wield your opinions with brute strength. But there can also be value in holding your opinions lightly. An opinion is not an identity. Becoming defined by an ideology can be really dangerous and fucked up, actually.

Same goes for defining others by their perceived ideologies. Every time a person commits an atrocity people are falling all over themselves to establish what that person’s ideology was and therefore anyone holding a similar ideology is also to blame. And in a way, this can be important. Understanding how beliefs spread and the real world impact of those beliefs is valuable.

But when you get into the murkiness of it, many people who commit atrocities have unclear and inconsistent ideologies. And even when a person very clearly does fit into an explicit political or religious affiliation this does not mean anyone else associated with that ideology is also dangerous.

Sigh. I’m getting in over my head here, which is exactly what the reversed Daughter of Swords warns me against. So take that worth a grain of salt, and I’ll leave it there.

I’ll turn to one more card and here is the Two of Swords.

Rachel Pollack writes “the swords remain ready to strike anyone who tries to come close. They represent anger and fear creating a precarious balance, the one wants to strike out, the other wants to hide, and so the person remains tensed between them.” Damn! Raise your hand if you’ve ever personally been stuck between the urge to strike out and the urge to hide.

But in the imagery of the Wild Unknown, the eclipse in the background feels like a secret third thing. Neither lashing out nor hiding feels like living in peace. Can we envision possibilities for ourselves beyond these two default reactions? It’s tricky but we can do it, I think.

Thanks for being here and godspeed my friend.

Last week we said goodbye to our cat Lulu. You may remember I mentioned she wasn’t doing well and shared some tarot wisdom from her in this post last month. The sad day was made slightly easier by bringing in an at-home veterinarian service (Lap of Love) instead of having to drive her somewhere in her declining state.

The kind vet who helped Lulu cross over into the next realm provided us with a brochure on pet loss. As I flipped through a section called The Pet Lover’s Code by Dr Alan Wolfelt stood out to me. It is a series of “rights” you have when navigating the death of a pet, and I thought they would translate well as tarot prompts. I’ve modified the original concepts slightly, you can view them as Dr Wolfelt originally stated them here.

I’ll share reflections on the cards I pull for myself using the Considerate Cat Tarot. And perhaps you can try these tarot prompts for yourself if you’ve faced your own experience of pet loss.

What do I need to know about my right to grieve my pet?

How can I talk about my grief?

What do I need to know about the variety of emotions I’m feeling?

How can I accept my grief outbursts?

What do I need to know about my limits at this time?

What rituals can serve me?

How can I embrace my spirituality through this loss?

What meaning is available to me at this time?

How can I treasure my memories?

How can I move towards my grief and heal?

I have the Six of Swords for what I need to know about my right to grieve. The imagery here brings to mind the importance of rest. The past month of multiple vet visits, administering medications, and agonizing over when to make the decision to let Lulu go to her final resting place were stressful and exhausting. In the picture here we have a cat curled up amdist the swords. The aftermath of the stress is still echoing, but for now there is an opportunity to rest. Resting is always a right, but especially in times of grief.

The Five of Cups gives advice on how I can talk about my grief and this is one of those times where tarot feels so on the nose. A card about grief – perhaps THE card about grief – comes up for how to talk about grief. You have to love it. The cat here looks over the cups, some of which are filled with lively blossoms while some wilt. This lets me know I can talk about my grief by being honest about all angles of it. The gratitude for what I had and the sorrow for what I lost can co-exist.

Tying into this, I have the Son of Cups to elaborate on what I need to know about the variety of emotions I’m feeling. This cat reaches into a cup filled with hearts. This reminds me that every single emotion I’m feeling ties back to one root – my love for Lulu. The emotions may vary widely but they all come from a single source.

How can I accept my grief outbursts? Son of Swords. The cheeky look of this cat tells me to have a sense of humor about my grief. Grief outbursts don’t always look like breaking down in tears. They may look like bursting into song. In fact, the other morning I caught myself singing one of my made-up songs about Lulu without even realizing I was doing it. I would sing it to her every day and apparently it is now etched into my psyche and it just came out. That did make me chuckle, and it was a grief outburst.

The Eight of Pentacles represents what I need to know about my limits at this time. I really feel this is reminding me to focus on one thing at a time. I’m never great at multitasking but even less so in difficult times. Put my phone on silent. Make to do lists. Get what I can get done, focus on the task at hand completely, and don’t get ahead of myself.

Judgement is here to suggest rituals that may serve me. I’m delighted by the imagery of the jumping and playing cats. I like to think that on some energetic level, Lulu is now frolicking with Nanners, the cat I lost a few years ago, and all my childhood pets, and the pets my friends have lost, and so on. Perhaps a simple ritual is just envisioning this. Maybe closing my eyes and picturing happy Lulu frolicking with all her friends is ritual enough.

How can I embrace my spirituality through this loss? Son of Wands. So many sons! This cat appears happy and energetic, full of the life force of the wands suit. And that life force is eternal, just as Lulu’s life force is. In her final weeks she spent most of her time napping in the sun, just as the cat here embraces the sun. Maybe now some of Lulu’s eternal life force is available to me. Perhaps I can embrace my spirituality by picturing her infusing me with some of that bright sunny energy.

What meaning is available to me at this time? Ten of Swords. Ha! This is a surprising card to see here but also kind of… welcomed? I feel like this cat is saying “I don’t want to state a specific meaning right now! Leave me alone!” And that is part of grief. At times you’ll know exactly what this experience means to you. At other times you’ll feel like it is just meaningless pain. That’s okay. This card reminds me if meaning arises naturally that’s great but I don’t have to force myself to find it.

The Five of Pentacles suggests how I can treasure my memories. I have to admit this is the first card I didn’t immediately resonate with. The best I can come up with right now: perhaps this card is a reminder to actively conjure the good memories. Bad memories tend to sear themselves into our bodies and repeat on a loop. I need to make an effort to step as fully into the happy memories as well.

Finally, the Two of Swords suggests how I can move towards my grief and heal. Once again, a card that clicks perfectly. One sword could represent each portion of this inquiry: moving towards grief, and healing. It’s not that they are totally separate but there is a push and pull. Going deeper into a heavy sadness, then finding levity. Being pessimistic and upset but then finding hope and optimism. I have to embrace contradictions.

Thank you for reading, and give your fur babies some extra pets and cuddles for me today!

The other day I pulled a card from a deck I’ve had for over a decade (the Wild Unknown) and received a card I’ve not only pulled dozens of times but I also wrote a post on the meaning of this card that has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times, yet this time I noticed something about the card I never have before. Yes, it’s possible!

In this instance, I was drawn to the branch the chick perches on. While the chick themselves is filled in with many detailed fine lines, the branch is empty white space. This isn’t a detail I typically dwell on but in this moment it felt vitally resonant.

Just before pulling the card I’d been journaling and having somewhat of a revelation that I need to discover who I am now and who I am becoming. This is somewhat of a mindset shift for me as for the past year I’ve often mused about who I used to be and how to reconnect with my old self.

And so the blankness of the branch felt like an apt symbol for this. I’m in new uncharted territory. The details haven’t yet fully emerged. Cue Natasha Bedingfield: “I am unwritten… I’m undefined, I’m just beginning, the pen’s in my hand, ending unplanned.”

I bring this up not to harp on about my particular tarot draw, but because it illustrates one of my favorite tarot tips. Which is when you draw a card, especially one you’ve seen many times and may have an autopilot meaning on hand, ask yourself: what haven’t I noticed about this card before?

Sometimes, like in the example I shared, you don’t even have to ask yourself this. Sometimes you’ll find you are simply drawn to some aspect of the card without consciously seeking it out. In that way, this is a tip that can come into play naturally in an intuitive tarot practice.

But it’s also a really useful tip for when you’re looking at a card and you draw a blank. You know what I mean. You’re just like… um, what the hell is this card trying to tell me? And your mind is just static. Asking yourself what you haven’t noticed about the card before is a good way to get things moving.

An example of that using one of my favorite tiny tarot details. Say you’ve pulled the Nine of Pentacles from the Waite-Smith tarot and aren’t sure what to make of it. So you ask yourself, what haven’t I noticed about this card before? And then you notice…

There at the bottom left hand side, a snail.

This is something I never noticed until I saw another tarot reader point it out. I wish I could remember who. Maybe Ethony Dawn or Dreya Blume?

Once you’ve identified a new aspect to the card then you can consider what it means. This can go in several different directions. Maybe the imagery has a personal resonance for you, as in my example with the Wild Unknown’s Fool. Or maybe there’s more of a universal symbolism at play that can assist in your interpretation. As in here, with the snail.

When we think of snails, we think of moving slowly. Common meanings for the Nine of Pentacles allude to living the good life, being fully embodied, basking in the abundance that surrounds you. I think the snail ties into that meaning. Living at a slow pace. Taking your time. Refusing to be in a rush. Leisure living.

This tip can extend beyond actual readings and be integrated into your general tarot studies. Try it, if you like. Grab a deck you’re pretty familiar with and pull a card at random. Then ask the magic questions.

What haven’t I noticed about this card?

What does this detail mean to me?

Does it have a collective symbolic meaning?

How can this inform the meaning I find in this card?

I’m going to try it right now with perhaps the deck I’m the most familiar with because I co-created it, the Spacious Tarot. I have the Six of Swords.

When I conceptualized this card the focus was very much on the swords huddled together, the storm clouds in the sky, and light breaking through in the distance. So what I’m noticing today is something Annie added to the illustration: the trees on the right hand side.

In this moment, this detail echoes the swords banded together. The swords are weathering their own storm. But here are the trees, also in the thick of a storm yet experiencing it in a different way. As such, it symbolizes to me the importance of remembering that you are not the only one struggling in any given moment.

Others may not understand the specific plight you are in. At the same time, you may not understand the way others are suffering. This doesn’t make any one’s struggle less real or valid.

It reminds me of this famous quote that I think about often: be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about.

And there you have it. A simple tarot tip, yet very useful. Sending you all the best wishes and see you soon.

Well y’all, life has once again thrown some challenges my way. I wanted to write a brand new long detailed wonderful tarot post for you this week, but then I came down with the ‘rona. My first time! I somehow managed to avoid it five plus years but it caught me eventually. Thank Goddess my symptoms have been fairly mild but it has still been a drag.

Then at the same time, my 18 year old cat Lulu encountered some major health issues as well. She’s got a severe UTI and also late stage kidney disease, according to the vet. Which isn’t at all unusual for her advanced age. She’s currently on antibiotics and at home napping in the sun. We’ll keep her comfortable as long as we can but we are unsure how long she’ll remain on this mortal coil.

It hasn’t been the best of times. But I still have a lot to be grateful for. I believe I’m past the worst of my illness. I’m fed, clothed, housed. And I’ve had 18 wonderful years with this sweet calico cat, and I’ll cherish however much time we have left together.

I’ve been reflecting back on old photos and memories with Lulu and remembered that ten plus years ago (!) I used to share tarot readings from her on Instagram. Some of them are kind of cute so I thought today I’d collect a few and let them live in perpetuity here on Substack.

One thing you should know about Lulu: she is genuinely the sweetest cat you can possibly imagine. I’m telling you. When I adopted her, the shelter workers told me “this is the cuddliest cat we’ve ever met.” I was like, sure, they are wanting her to get adopted. But she truly is. If you’ve ever sat down in my house, you’ve likely had Lulu in your lap (either with or without your consent). She’s always purring, she’s always in a lap, and she loves every human being she’s ever met (and all the ones she hasn’t). Take the messages from Lulu that resonate, and leave the rest.

Without further ado, Lulu reads your cards.

Hello human! I have to tell you something head on. You are stronger than you think. You’re more capable than you let on. You’re wilder than you show. You have all the courage, vitality and boldness of a big kitty within your being. It’s all there, your spirited fierce nature, and can be accessed if you just decide to let it roar. -Lulu (deck: Alchemist’s Oracle)

Lulu says: place most of your energy and concentration on the things that bring you joy. (deck: Lumina Tarot)

Hello humans! There are times to follow your big brained head, but there are also plentiful tines to be led by your wildly thumping heart. Today is a good day to allow yourself to be guided a little more by your soul. You have dignity and grace when you move with love. That’s because your heart is a good heart. I love you, human! -Lulu (Alchemist’s Oracle)

Hello human! Once upon a time, there was a loving, creative wonderful human and that time is now and that human is you. There are lots and lots of stories you can sit on and associate yourself with so I say always choose the happiest and most uplifting ones. When you consider your own story, remember that you are a kindhearted, capable hero. If you’re living in a story that doesn’t feel that way, it’s time for some fur-raising plot twists! I wish you many many many happily ever afters and I love you. -Lulu (Alchemist’s Oracle)

Why rock the boat? If sticking to a routine works for you, do what you always do. -Lulu (Tarot of Pagan Cats)

Luxury is not a luxury. Luxury is a necessity! Tiny things can feel soooo pampering. Fresh sheets. A warm blanket. Long, slow stretches and time spent with blinky, winky eyes…that’s what your soul is craving. -Lulu (Tarot of Pagan Cats)

Congratulations – you’re a bonafide, mature grown up! You are the ruler of the roost, the top dog (oops, I mean cat). Get ‘er done and follow through with your commitments (even if you’re like me and your only commitments are sleeping and eating). -Lulu (Tarot of Pagan Cats)

You know that feeling when you’re doing something nice for someone but it feels so good to be doing it? That’s a really swell way to feel. Reach out to someone who needs to be warmed up. Let them drink from your cup, you’ve got plenty to go around. You can be kinda a surrogate mama kitty to them. Spread around the simple kindness with pure and innocent intentions. Mrrrow! -Lulu (Tarot of Pagan Cats)

Don’t even pretend not to know how adorable and charming you are. Amp it up and use it to pull your desires towards you. You’re a magnet for what you want! -Lulu (Tarot of Pagan Cats

It’s not okay for someone to abuse the power they hold over you. You aren’t required to be submissive to them! If they try to hold you down, put your paws up and show them they don’t own you! -Lulu, guest starring Nanners (RIP) (Tarot of Pagan Cats)

Hello humans! Today I want to tell you a scientific fact: there is nothing funner than having fun. Fun can come in really big ways, but I like it when it comes in really small ways, too. So I say when you see something and think ‘that looks fun’ you should frolic towards that thing! Okay humans? I love you. Have fun. -Lulu (Alchemist’s Oracle)

And a bonus:

When I began reading tarot I practiced on Nanners & Lulu. I did a life purpose spread for both of them and they each received the Ten of Cups. Too purr-fect, right?

We recently passed the one year mark since my mom died. I’ve mentioned grief here and there in the writings I’ve shared this year, and I kept thinking this month I wanted to write something more in-depth. But I still don’t know how. Maybe I’m not quite ready to open up publicly in that way.

So I thought instead of sharing more about my grief, today I’ll share something my mom wrote. A poem that I think says a lot about who she was as a person, and the ways she influenced my own spiritual path.

Southern Utah was a special place for her. As a college student, she spent a summer working at Bryce National Park. And a few years later upon becoming an elementary school teacher she worked in Moab, near Arches National Park.

As I was growing up she became a member of the Utah State Poetry Society. She treasured attending those meetings, sharing writings and bonding with like-minded souls. The following poem was published in their 2005 anthology, Utah Sings. I always thought it was poignant, but it has taken on new layers of meaning for me now.

I’m not sure how to express this, but it is a tender thing for me to share. I hope this poem gives you a small glimpse into her essence. Thank you for being here.

Red Rock Therapy in Arches Park

At first this red world
whispers death threats,
sunstroke, snakebite, dehydration,
waste your water or lose the trail
and start slow-baking here
in the fiery furnace.
I conserve my water and stay on the trail.
Crossing sure-footed over slickrock,
I become as confident as the lizard.
A sky blanket as rich and blue as melted turquoise
wraps itself around sandstone, sagebrush,
cryptogamic soil and me.
Solid spires sculpted by time
make wrinkles seem like possibilities.
I begin to hear the larger voice.
Everything here is alive.
I am as permanent
as the prickly pear,
as vast as the multi-layered horizon,
as important as a single
grain of sand.

— Jennie Mallon

I’ve been a tarot professional for over 11 years. That’s countless hours spent writing posts, creating courses, doing private client sessions, teaching at conferences and so on. And throughout it all, there’s one question I’m asked the most often, by far: how do you read reversed tarot cards?

I wrote a fairly comprehensive yet concise guide to reversals back in 2016. And in 2021 I hosted a free 40~ minute video workshop on the topic. I briefly reviewed those as I started this post and I can say that here in 2025 I still stand by them!

Yet even with all I’ve already shared about reversals, I’m still asked about them frequently. And although I do retain the general philosophies I’ve already shared, it still feels like there is something more to say. A point to emphasize…

deck: The Wild Unknown

In the current phase of my tarot practice – and really, my current experience as a human being – I crave simplicity. I crave elegance. Let’s start by defining what I mean by elegant in this context. Because I don’t mean fancy or elitist or any such thing.

Collins Dictionary sums it up nicely: “if you describe a piece of writing, an idea, or a plan as elegant, you mean that it is simple, clear, and clever.”

This appeals to me because trying to read reversals can easily become clunky, confusing and hazy. Even for those of us who have been at this tarot thing for a while, let alone for beginners. Trying to interpret reversals in your readings can be a quick way to take tarot from a pleasant intuitive art into an over-analytical headache inducing puzzle.

Now, it’s okay for reversals to feel challenging. But the challenge should be like a gentle stretch. Not a weight lifting competition. Y’know?

So, what is the most elegant way to read reversals? How can we read reversals in a way that is simple, clear and clever?

Well, the true answer is whatever way works for you (and that includes not incorporating reversals at all). As with all aspects of tarot, there is no one right answer. But I do have an idea of what feels like the most elegant way for me to read reversals, and perhaps it could be useful for you as well.

Here it is: a reversal is an exclamation point.

I’ll admit this isn’t a new idea. I included this concept in my previously linked posts on reversals. Hell, I even included this in the guidebook I wrote for the Spacious Tarot. But I wanted to highlight it again because as I’ve been pondering reversals recently, I’ve realized this one idea encompasses all the other ways I tend to interpret them.

To me, this is the most elegant lens for reversals. You don’t have to fuss about thinking the card now has a totally different meaning, or that it has to be interpreted ‘negatively.’ You don’t have to panic at the sight of an upside down card. You just have to think. Oh! An exclamation point!

And what is an exclamation point? In essence, something to pay extra attention to!

It is as simple as that. Perhaps a reversal is only an indicator that you should heighten your curiosity about the card! As I wrote in the Spacious Tarot guidebook, “question your first assumptions and dive deeper into the meaning of the card.”

This way of approaching reversals is especially useful as we gain some level of comfort with the cards. Many readers have their go-to interpretations and we sometimes find ourselves relying heavily on those tried and true meanings.

So a reversal in this case says, wait. Sure, this is the way you most commonly think of this card. But what else is here? Spend some extra time! Look around! Go beyond your default ways!

And in some cases, the reversal as exclamation point may not even ask you to change your default view of the card at all, but rather to emphasize it. Especially in bigger spreads, if only one or two cards come up reversed this may be a cue that the messages of those cards are of particular relevance and should be highlighted.

At their worst, reversals can feel like a hiccup in a spread. Everything’s going along smoothly and then BLAM! That blasted reversal comes in and makes the reading feel clunky. But by viewing a reversal as an exclamation point, instead of feeling like a hiccup a reversal can feel like a natural pause to take a breath! Spend some extra time with this card.

Reversals are only useful if they inspire you to explore your cards in fascinating ways. Reversals should be an opportunity to deepen your meaning-making, not cloud it! Exclamation point!

So, that’s it. To me at least this is the most elegant way to work with reversed tarot cards. For you? Try it and find out!

Hello friend,

Is it too forward to call you friend? Maybe I actually know you, maybe we are only energetically connected through this strange virtual realm but haven’t crossed paths otherwise. Whatever the case may be, here we are, together.

I’m in my office. Sun streaming in the window. I need to move one of my philodendrons, it is getting fried. I dusted the shelves last week so it feels spiffy in here. I lit some incense (tsho-drong zimpo, it smells wonderful) which I haven’t done in a while.

I have been BUSY. The world has been a SHIT SHOW. So today we are doing tarot from the heart and meandering slowly wherever the cards take us.

I pulled the Magician reversed (turned it around for the photo). Magic is just right there yet feels so difficult to access. I get stuck in this constant cycle where I see all the atrocities of the world and think, how can I continue to create? How can I experience joy? How can I feel truly alive and connected to a vital force… when there’s so much tragedy everywhere?

It is a lifelong question without an easy answer.

But this card reminds me that us being unable to access our magic is what they want.

So. Continuing to affirm my right to be The Magician is not only a personal act, but a political act. A bit grandiose, maybe? But I do believe this.

The more each of us is disconnected from our own sense of power and purpose and creativity…. the more of that power, purpose and creativity is given away to nefarious forces. The usual suspects. Corrupt politicians. Capitalism writ large. Boo. DON’T LET THIS HAPPEN! A note to myself, and maybe to you? If it applies. If not, carry on.

You gotta fight…for your right… to be the Magiciaaaaaaaannnnnnnn.

The Magician reversed reminds me of a book by Daniel Quinn called If They Give You Lined Paper, Write Sideways. The book is essentially about how to think in your own way in a society that is designed to corral you into pre-determined behaviors. It was initially published in 2007 and this concept is perhaps even more relevant now in the age of algorithms.

It isn’t easy to write sideways on lined paper. And again, that’s by design. Our true nature is to be the Magician. Creatively autonomous. But it takes a real push to live that way. You have to actively claim that way of being time and time again.

Oh myyyyyyy. Next I have the Guardian (Queen) of Wands, whomst also came up reversed and it seems the cards are really insistent on a particular theme.

In the Spacious Tarot, the Guardian of Wands tends to a fire. She knows she can’t light up the entire night. But she can find the fuel to keep this flame going in this small space. Her realm has boundaries. She doesn’t try to provide everything to everyone. She takes care of what she instinctively knows she can handle.

There’s a joy and a PRESENCE to both the Guardian of Wands and the Magician. They both teach us to identify the power we hold and to actually claim that power. But they both came up reversed, so again there’s the message – this is easier said than done.

External forces are one thing. But reversals also often make me think internal forces. How am I getting in my own way here? In what ways am I preventing myself from aligning with my inner Magician, my inner Guardian of Wands? How can I melt away some of my self-imposed resistance?

I thought I’d pull one more card and it’s the Empress.

The phrase “do what comes naturally” comes to mind. But here we have another thing that is easier said than done. Sometimes I am utterly unsure what comes naturally to me. With all the trauma of my personal life and my country and the world the past few years I’ve felt like a shell of myself.

I’ve never had a perfect alignment with what comes naturally. I always had some level of awkwardness or conformity to external expectations. Part of that is just a survival instinct. But I used to at least TRY to let my true wild nature come through. I’ve become much more cultivated. And I’m not sure I like that. Hmm.

The idea of being a WILD WOMAN became a bit of an internet cliche in the spiritual realm and sometimes that type of sentiment makes me cringe. But there is still that part of me that is like, well, I AM a wild woman! Somewhere inside of me. I want to y’know, like, howl at the moon and roll around in wildflowers and whatnot. But I still want to get vaccinated and wear sunscreen, don’t worry, I’m not like, the alt-right pipeline kind of wild woman.

What am I saying? I’m SAYING, I want to make more space for the wild and natural side of myself. I’m not quite sure how. Maybe just beginning with that inquiry, what comes naturally? Asking myself that in each moment and seeing how the answers bloom.

There was a quote going around the internet maybe ten years ago or so. I was certain it was from Danielle LaPorte but Google gives conflicting sources. Anyhow, here it is:

Can you remember who you were before the world told you who you should be?

That seems like a summation of what the cards are asking me today. The world is relentlessly telling all of us who we should be. Sometimes it is loud and direct through oppressive legislation and controlling our choices. Other times it is more subdued: those little societal norms you barely notice but they are always there trying to mold you.

Remembering who you were before the world told you who you should be is lifelong work. I have been engaged in this question to varying degrees since I was a teenager. Now I’m a 40 year old broad still grappling with it.

I think one more thing as we wrap up. I do believe the cards also ask me – and maybe you, too – to acknowledge the counter-cultural ways we are already showing up. I mean, hell, we are into tarot. That alone shows that we are willing to go our own way.

Until next time… stay wild ✌️

I’m still thinking about the Hermit because it is still 2025. Today I’m drawn to a sweet exercise from The Tarot Activity Book by Dreya Blume. Dreya writes:

Sometimes it helps to have somebody in our corner. Actually, it is even more beneficial if that person, animal or thing were standing right in front of us, shielding us from threats. Whatever form it might take, our protector is willing to stand up for us and take the lumps aimed in our direction. Our protector believes in us and wants to keep us safe, which is why it is willing to be our shield.

Dreya suggests going through your cards face up and intentionally choosing which one should serve as your protector. So you could do this for yourself with our card of the year the Hermit, as I am; or you could select any card you like.

Dreya provides the following prompts to journal on:

I feel safe with this card because…

This card has the ability to be my protector because…

I will use this card to protect me from…

I will utilize this card in my daily life as my shield, here’s how…

I’ll share my reflections on these prompts in the ever present hope that something might resonate with you as well.

I feel safe with the Hermit because she reminds me my inner world is mine and does not have to be dictated, controlled or influenced by external circumstances. I can find a sense of home and peace inside of me no matter what swirls around me.

Of course I can’t just leave it there I have to over-explain so as not to be misunderstood: my inner world is always going to be impacted by the outer world to some degree. It is natural not to feel safe internally when in the external world I see genocides happening, women’s bodies being forced to incubate fetuses, rights being stripped back, environmental degradation and so much more. It takes some level of privilege to feel safe within yourself. This has all been a life long hiccup for me when it comes to actually allowing the Hermit to serve as my protector.

So, perhaps I don’t quite yet feel totally safe with the Hermit as my protector but I am softening into this. Softening into allowing my inner world to truly be mine. Not untouched by the outer world, but not damaged by it.

I feel safe with the Hermit because she teaches me the differences between protection and disassociation. The difference between solitude and isolation. She teaches me not to put up an electric fence between my inner and outer realms, but to have some type of ever fluctuating sacred boundary there.

The Hermit has the ability to be my protector because he is attuned to the broad arc of time and not spellbound by the specific ills of this present moment. In older decks the Hermit was shown as an aged man with an hourglass, an image of Father Time. The Hermit has weathered ages and centuries and eternity and has the wisdom to show for it. Because he has experienced so much he is unbothered (moisturized, happy, in his lane, focused, flourishing).

Again, it doesn’t mean the Hermit doesn’t care. It’s that he understands the impermanence of life. My 80 year old father has been sharing this wisdom from the Buddha with me lately (hi dad!).

As Father Time, the Hermit is in harmony with reality.

Impermanence is a principle of harmony. When we don’t struggle against it, we are in harmony with reality. -Pema Chödrön

The Hermit has the ability to be my protector because he is in harmony with reality, and can bring me into greater harmony with reality as well.

I will use the Hermit to protect me from becoming cynical and bitter. When I am too identified with the terrible parts of the outer world, it changes me. It makes me unable to show up with love. It makes me unable to do anything to make a real, meaningful difference. It makes me a hollowed out shell of myself.

The shadow side of the Hermit is becoming disassociated and withdrawn. But as my protector, the Hermit brings their highest and best attributes: connecting to the ebbs and flows of life in a deeply anchored way.

I will use the Hermit to protect me from doing things because I am scared or because they are trendy or because an advertiser wants my money. I will use the Hermit to protect me from believing things because an AI program generated them. I will use the Hermit to protect me from the ever increasing speed of countless bullshit being flung about on every level (spiritual, energetic, inner, outer).

The Hermit can guide me towards my own understanding of issues. They can help me discern outside voices and opinions that deserve genuine consideration and those which are just noise. They encourage me to think deeply for myself as human beings have for time immemorial. Instead of rushing to a quickly generated answer, the Hermit invites me into meandering contemplation. They evade my need for a quick fix or a hot take. They create a space for me to settle into the art of wondering.

How I will utilize this card in my daily life as my shield:

Continue to de-center screen time from my life, as I’ve already been attempting to do (for like ten years with varying degrees of success lollll).

Give myself space to drift through my own thoughts instead of looking for constant distractions and dopamine hits.

Have deep conversations with myself and others not just about the problems occurring right now but about the deeper spiritual and existential lessons hidden beneath the surface.

Did I already say give myself space? GIVE MYSELF SPACE! Energetically. Physically. Mentally. Spiritually. Space is of the essence and the Hermit protects space.

Thank you for being here as I shared these somewhat winding (and witchy) Hermit inspired musings.

I wasn’t sure this day would ever come, but I’m starting to feel ready to attempt creative projects again. Annie (my co-creator for the Spacious Tarot) and I are beginning something new together and I’m tip-toeing into a few of my own things as well. However, the world and my own psyche feel SO IMMENSELY DIFFERENT than the last time I did a big creative project that I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around it.

When I last completed a large creative project, AI wasn’t largely accessible. There were no AI tarot decks or AI generated tarot teachings floating around. I still have little to no interest using AI in my own creative endeavors (as discussed in depth here) but the fact that it exists at all still makes it feel like I’m in a new dimension.

When I last completed a large creative project, my mom was alive and healthy and I barely knew what ALS was. Now I am a changed person having gone through that immense grief and trauma and still trying to process it now and forever.

The freakin’ pandemic hadn’t happened last time I completed a large creative project. I could go on and on. Point is, the world was a different place. I was a different person. Where do I go from here?

Today I felt called to turn to my tarot cards. I’ll draw five, and use each one to articulate some type of guideline to help ease myself back into creative energy. Maybe they will be useful for you, as well? Who knows, let’s see where this goes!

deck: Pastel RWS

Get out of your head and into your feelings

I drew the Two of Swords reversed and this was the guideline that came to me immediately. For the imagery in the Waite-Smith deck, a person sits blindfolded, holding two swords. Behind them is a body of water. Swords represent the mental realm, water represents the emotional realm.

In this context, I see myself reflected in this person: overthinking what it means to be creative, making too damn big of a deal of things, getting stuck in my head. In order to move forward from here, I need to let the swords drop and explore the watery depths and find out what wants to emerge. Let the creative process be guided by instinct more than analyzation.

Share with those who care

Oh my, now I pulled the Two of Cups and this is delightful. It strikes a personal chord because as I mentioned earlier, Annie and I are connecting on a new project together. Very Two-of-Cupsy vibes.

Of course, the idea of sharing with those who care is not limited to collaborative art. Even when you are working on something yourself, it can be a huge morale booster to give peeks of your process to friends or colleagues you trust. This can help build confidence, hold you accountable, and even give you constructive criticism when needed.

I think this is especially relevant for easing back into creativity after a fallow period because it can feel really isolating. Having someone, anyone, who knows what you’re attempting and encourages you is a blessing.

Create from where you are now, not where you were

I drew the Eight of Cups and I feel it addresses the points I brought up at the start of the post. I’m not who I used to be. And that’s okay. I don’t need to be. I need to be true to who, and where, I am now.

I think there can be a tendency, especially if you’ve had a bit of acclaim and admiration for your previous creative works, to try to tap into the same well. Sometimes this works. Certain artists have a cohesive vibe that weaves throughout all their output.

But sometimes this doesn’t work. Sometimes your aesthetics change, or your point of view shifts, or you become interested in an entirely new modality. Or, you know, your life circumstances and the world around you go through seismic shifts. As they say: don’t look back, you aren’t going that way.

The ideal circumstances are a myth

Here I have the Empress reversed and an interesting sychronicity occurs. Earlier today I was revisiting older blog posts I’d written about creativity and came across this one from eleven years ago (!). To sum it up, the post is called ‘Creating When You Feel Like Crap’ and at that time, I drew the Empress to represent what hinders my creativity. I wrote:

“At first glance, it didn’t seem to add up. The lush, comfortable Empress as a hinderance? But then it clicked – of course. I am hindered by waiting for Empress-like conditions before I do my creative work. I’m waiting until all of the circumstances line up & everything feels magically conducive. I’ve fallen into the trap of thinking I can’t be creative unless I have the ideal circumstances.”

Babes, you’re still falling into that trap eleven years later so you had to draw this card again to remind yourself. Life is chaos. Would it be ideal to have a vast swathe of uninterrupted time to focus only on creative pursuits? Would it be wonderful to have no other demands placed upon you? Would it be great if your house was clean and you had no pending errands before you sit down to create? Sure! But is that realistic? For most of us, no.

Don’t wait for the ideal circumstances. Just do something, even something small, now.

Notice the ways you’re already creating

This is particularly relevant to me as one of the new projects I’m heading into is a BIG ONE. One which will likely take years to complete. I have to remind myself there’s value in the small things too. And I have to remind myself that although I feel I’ve been fallow, I actually have already been creative in small ways.

The card that inspired this is the Five of Cups. Y’know, the person looking at the knocked over cups, not seeing the standing cups that remain. It can be easy to see all that we haven’t done yet. The many hours of work and play and re-work and edits and blank slates that lay between us and a finished project.

But I think that really, emerging into creativity is more about existing in a certain way. Sure, completing things is awesome and that’s a fine goal. But that doesn’t have to be your goal today. Your goal today can just be to express yourself in an interesting way, even if that way has nothing to do with your typical form of art.

As in: I’m a writer, a tarot practitioner and a deck creator. Those are where most of my bigger projects align. But I also like exploring other forms of creativity. Those can feed me for my ‘main’ projects but they are also just fun on their own merit.

So, lately I’ve been cross stitching. It’s a small thing, but I enjoy it. I’ve also, at the ripe old age of almost 40, had an interest in putting together fun outfits lately. Neither of these are directly related to my “main” modes of creativity, but they are joyful and valuable to me.

cross stitch WIP + outfit for a music fest

As you re-emerge into bigger creative acts, don’t overlook the seemingly small and subtle ways you are creative each and every day.

I had no plan for how these guidelines would take shape when I sat down to write this. I just turned to my cards and let it flow, and I have to say: it was pretty much just what I needed to hear. Tarot strikes again.

Thanks for being here, and wishing you all the freedom of expression in your own creative play 🤸