Tarot Manifesto

Here's a little free-write I made over a year ago:

I wrote that when I started getting serious about my Tarot practice by getting in the habit of a daily draw and committing to the self-study course that had been sitting on my shelf for... a while. (Side bar: I love free writing on a typewriter because arranging the words is more tactile. My favorite poems take a wander across the page, and shift keys on computers are not as amenable to creative shapes as the striking keys on my trusty 1957 Olympia named Marilyn.) Anywho, here's a bit of my history with the Tarot in case you'd like to get to know me and my practice before your reading! I encountered my first Tarot deck (at least, my first deck that was labeled as such--more on that later) The Wanderer's Tarot by Casey Zabala in Seattle sometime in late 2016. I didn't know much about Tarot, and decks weren't as commonly found in bookshops and gift stores at the time. Something about the cards drew me in. I couldn't get them off my mind, so I saved up and went back to purchase my set a month or so later. A few weeks after that, I returned to also acquire the guidebook. From then, I've been hooked.

There's a Tarot superstition that your first deck must either be gifted to you or stolen. I didn't hear about this until long after I had already bonded with my Wanderer's Tarot deck...

However! 1.) I've never been a fan of gatekeeping & I think that Tarot is for everyone! Buy a deck if you want to! Or ask for one for the next gift-giving holiday that you celebrate if you subscribe to that superstition! Go for it!

2.) As I dug into research about the history of Tarot, I learned that playing cards (ya know, the standard 52 card deck that I bet you have a set of nearby) initially appeared as an early form of Tarot; which evolved in Europe, notably Italy and France, around the 14th century. I have a set of playing cards adorned with vintage dancing ladies that were gifted to me inside of a handmade treasure box by my dear, late friend Addie. I had never used the cards, but kept them in their container for years. I now use them exclusively as a Minor-Arcana-only Tarot deck so technically my first deck was in fact gifted! Maybe yours was too?

I also have a set of The Fountain Tarot, which is my current go-to, a classic Rider-Waite set, and a set of The Cosmic Tarot, a gift from my mom that arrived fortuitously on a summer solstice! I also use an Oracle Deck of animals in most readings, because I'm fond of frequent reminders of the "paragon of animals" that also inhabit our planet. I also love writing about fauna, so oftentimes the animal that was drawn is where I begin drafting the poetry about your reading! I switch out my decks based on the type of inquiry, as they each have a unique style of artwork and overall vibe. If you have any questions about Tarot or my personal practice, feel free to reach out! I can be found at samiejo@poetrypullstarot.com!