Firstly, tarot cards without context are rarely positive or negative. We apply and project those meanings on to them during the course of a reading. This author loves to label cards as inherently positive or negative which truly limits the multi-dimensionality of all these rich cards. Sad news. After ongoing issues with my (now ex-) hosting company, I have lost the entire contents of the Little Red Tarot archive.

How do we bring the practice of queering the tarot into our everyday practice? Begin by questioning what you think you know about tarot. Let it guide you towards more complex meanings. Stop trying to nail everything down. I still start this off by saying I was biased before reading this book. I had heard enough bad things about it that I had zero interest in it. But when enough people told me it was a valuable read despite those bad things, I decided to give it a shot. (Spoilers: it's awful.) Queering tarot asks us to do more than reimagine, it requires us to create new meanings for the cards. To live radically with the 78 cards, we must first find what is radical within their archetypes. Why can't the Six of Wands just represent confidence? The desire to shine? Why bring up the trauma of adversity over and over and over again?

Giving Readings

The High Priestess is all about feeling our truth, and there are few, if any, things more awakening than sex. https://thebookishtype.co.uk/products/queering-the-tarot-by-cassandra-snow?variant=32020379631701¤cy=GBP&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&utm_campaign=gs-2021-08-07&utm_source=google&utm_medium=smart_campaign While I know the author originally wrote all these as blog posts and just compiled them together, I wish they put more effort into editing. It really does seem slapped together as "good enough". There isn't really flow from one card to the next, and there is an insane amount of repetition. Issues I've not seen in other tarot books I've read. It makes the quality of this book feel more amateur. A re-release of the iconic 2020 Christmas episode. We delve into the chaotic gay Christmas classic with my darling sister Emily, scholar of all things Whoville. Christine Baranski if you're out there... I love you.

Of course, this is also a fantastic book for tarot readers who are themselves LGBTQQIP2SAA, especially newer readers who are struggling to connect with the cis- and heteronormativity of mainstream interpretations. Snow takes the cards' conventional meanings and their own experiences and shows us that this magical tool absolutely is "for us." But not all queers are living in their shadow all of the time. We need to amplify queer joy as much as anything else. Pamela Colman Smith's queerness and gender nonconformity flesh out this concept of tarot. We see the androgynous Fool, the genderless/all-gendered angels, we see ourselves.

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Finally, Cups represents the element of Water which is associated with emotions. The Cups are often linked with romantic relationships, but can also refer to any emotional relationship, as well as the process of healing. The fluidity inherent in water, as Snow points out, lends well to queer folks, creating a pretty queer suit. Giving Readings The Minor Arcana is broken into four suits. The Wands represent the element Fire. As Snow describes in Queering the Tarot: Laura F On Work and Class in “The Haunting of Bly Manor” " This was an excellent article. So much going on here that most would miss and helped me see the show…" Weighing in as a queer, nonbinary professional tarot reader with over 20 years of experience, some parts of this book really rubbed me the wrong way.

Don't feel obligated to read this book just because of what it promises--queer representation. It does not deliver. If the four suits represent the four elements Earth, Air, Fire, and Water, the Major Arcana is the Spirit. When one of these cards shows up in a reading, they typically reference a life lesson or journey. For instance, the first card, the Fool represents new beginnings and a fresh perspective of someone without cynicism. It may appear before you embark on a freelance project you’re extremely passionate about and determined to make work. It signifies major, often risky new beginnings that are in line with what our soul wants. As it’s the first card, the entire sequence of the Major Arcana is often referred to as the Fool’s journey. Snow queers the Fool by pointing out how often queer folks start over, such as coming out, finding queer family, supportive relationships, and so on. These queer experiences may not first come to mind when considering the Fool, but upon reflection make perfect sense. From the Fool to the World, a card of completeness and the final card of the Major Arcana, Snow offers a fresh queer perspective. The Minor Arcana I also can't help but mention that the artwork chosen for this book feels tone-deaf to it's subject matter. The Justice card, for example, features a police officer. The Lovers card is of a thin feminine woman with a fit masculine man (Yes queer relationships can look like that, but we're not exactly starved for that imagery and the book missed a huge opportunity in offering something else.) I think the author means well and is clearly writing from their own experience. The book makes it clear that intersectionality is crucial when it comes to reading for others in the queer community (it is) and does a decent enough job trying to deconstruct the influence of white supremacy and capitalism within the tarot system. Start with The Fool when queering the tarot, because they have queer meaning and queer place. Is The Fool the beginning of the Major Arcana or the end? The answer is unknown and unknowable as zero itself. The answer is not meant for anyone to know.

What is the Tarot?

What’s your favorite book on tarot? Is there a book that was formative in your tarot reading journey? Let us know in the comments! Our conversation also included discussing interpretations for marginalized folk, gender, pronouns, advice for straight tarot readers who read for an LGBTQQIP2SA+ client, and more. Cassandra is a bright light blazing trails in tarot. You are going to learn a lot in this episode and I think her book belongs on every tarot reader’s shelf! Cassandra Snow’s long-running and much-loved series on the Little Red Tarot community blog has been published in book form! When we allow a loosening of meaning, truth can shine through. Personal transformation can then enter. Queers know well that there is more than one way to tell the truth. Living the Tarot

Pope Joan, an apocryphal medieval religious leader, is one example. Some say it's Pope Joan on the High Priestess. Others say that Pope Joan wasn’t real.Cassandra Snow (they/them/she/her) is a professional tarot card reader & teacher, writer, and theatre-maker in Minneapolis, MN. Cassandra believes tarot is a powerful tool for insight that leads to healing that leads to liberation & empowerment. Their tarot practice centers around the empowerment of queer seekers, overcoming personal trauma, practical step by step business or creative plans and spiritual guidance. While I empathize people saying that despite not liking the book, they still think it's important, I question how important it can be if it's done so poorly. For a book that markets itself about being inclusionary and about the queer community as a whole, to write a book where the focus is almost entirely about your own personal views/experiences, and how we should change our style to fit those specific views/experiences, that feels...well, exclusionary. And kind of bigoted, tbh. I can appreciate the idea of this book, but I cannot find myself recommending it. I've found more queer readings and understanding of tarot in non-queer focused books. This one felt often close-minded, ignorant, or extremely biased. (And the Swords section was just...I have no words. We are not therapists, and to associate swords with mental illness is insane to me.)