3 Mini Tarot Deck Reviews for Fellow Water Babes

Hello, yes, my name is Cassandra Snow and I’m a Pisces with a Pisces Moon and a Cancer Rising. Astrologically speaking, that’s a little “YIKES”, I know. I am in fact a big bundle of emotions all the time and I just want everyone to love themselves as much as I love them and when they can’t or don’t I break down a little. That’s neither here nor there though! Being such a water baby also means I feel a deep, intense, spiritual connection with all things water. That ESPECIALLY means I have a connection to oceans, lakes and rivers. I get overwhelmingly sad leaving the beach for the day even if I’m coming right back tomorrow. I spend countless evenings meandering down by the Mississippi just breathing in all of that beautiful magickal air. I can’t get enough.

Until this year, I never really found any tarot decks that reflected this depth and this connection though. I was interested in a couple of Mermaid themed decks but never really connected with any of them. 2019 really has something in the, ahem, water though as decks I never considered and new water-based decks I love flew out of the woodwork to help further boost my love and connection of tarot. I’ve reviewed three of my FAVORITE aquatic decks below. Enjoy, and if one sounds good to you, nab it as soon as you can!

The Mermaid Tarot

I am not someone who buys many mainstream, mass produced tarot decks. From the second I saw the Mermaid Tarot by Leeza Robertson I knew I had to have this one though. First of all, it is BEAUTIFUL. The depth of color and imagery is intense. It actually doesn’t photograph super well because there are so many rich layers of color and...well, layer. This deck is fairly inclusive and showcases suits with water lore from all over which makes it really special. While I think most decks COULD be queerer, this one does not stand out to me as being inaccessible from a queer perspective. I also read beautifully with this one. Of the three, this is the one that I think speaks the most deeply to healing journeys and the fluidity of our needs and desires over time. I would define this deck as a “Must Have” for water fanatics and it’s rare for me to declare something a “Must Have” or “Must See” because everybody is different. You can snag a copy literally anywhere that you buy tarot cards since it is Llewellyn produced.

The Dark Days Tarot

Wren McMurdo was a fellow Little Red Tarot writer and I was always deeply interested in her writing work at the site. I never seriously considered her deck and I don’t actually remember why. A close friend gifted it to me for my birthday this year though and WOW. If you don’t know, this deck is POWERFUL and while not every card features mermaids and oceans, enough do that I wanted to include it here. This deck captures the spirit of the grassroots tarot and witchcraft movement happening all over right now, and the cards that include aquatic imagery are every bit as refreshing as their oceanic inspiration. One really unique thing for those of you who read with reverals: McMurdo’s guidebook (which is exceptional regardless) includes instructions for reading the square cards not only in reverse, but from right to left or right to left since the shape is unique as well. I connected with this deck in a BIG way and use it almost every day. It’s been a widely used deck for a lot of Indie Tarot fans for a long time but I’m officially hopping on the bandwagon. Grab your copy here.

The Visionary Tarot

I saved the best, in my opinion, and least known for last. I stumbled upon images from this black and white beauty on the Indie Deck Review instagram (which you should also follow but only if you like living in constant decklust). I was drawn to how simple and cartoon-y yet not AT ALL childish this deck was. I also loved the Nautical theme. I hadn’t fallen so hard so fast for a deck in a long time so my queerplatonic partner grabbed it for me for Christmas this past year. I always get a little bit nervous because so many decks I have panted over have felt or meant nothing once they got in my hands. This one was practically made for me though, and is one of my top five favorite decks of all time. The simple pictures still leave a LOT of room for BIG interpretations and healing. Every picture is beautiful, and all of them provide the nurturing, healing energy you’d expect from a water themed deck. This stack of tarot cards is no softie though; the Nautical theme (as opposed to a strictly aquatic one) is not afraid to provide some tough love and remind you to get your act together when that’s what you need to hear.

If I had one complaint about the Visionary Tarot, it would be that the card stock is a little flimsy. I haven’t had a problem with it yet and it makes for great shuffling, but I am concerned about the deck’s longevity since I’m not always one to rebuy cards. Even if I was, a lot of indie decks end up not being purchasable over time so it is a concern. The first edition did NOT come with a guidebook but that may be changing.

Artwork by Addie who created this unique beauty is running a Kickstarter that drops on May 1st and includes a golden version (!!!) so head to Insta to follow Artwork by Addie and be In The Know so you can grab yours.

Blessed be y’all!

Reading for Chronic Physical Illness Vs. Mental Illness in the Tarot

One great thing about being my patron is that pretty often I’ll ask my patrons what they want to hear me talk about. As I am very open and public about both both mentally and physically ill, one such patron requested an easy guide for telling the difference between physical and mental illness in the tarot and I thought that was a GREAT idea, so here we are!

I want to offer a huge, giant disclaimer to start with though:

I’m not a doctor, and none of this is meant to be perceived as medical advice. Furthermore, everyone’s journey with the tarot is different. The following advice comes only from MY experiences being sick and working with the tarot.

That being said, I have developed some very quick “go to” ways to see what the cards are talking about when they bring up illness or injury.

One HUGE thing I’ve done is gone through and assigned keywords that correlate to my various illnesses to the cards I think they fit the most. In my personal tarot journal, I have the Four of Cups listed as “depression” and the Five of Wands as “arthritis flareup.” I have enough cards assigned to various illnesses that if I’m asking about my day/week/month/etc. pulling those specific cards gives me a VERY solid head’s up on what to expect that day/week/month/etc. sickness wise.

(As a side note, I STRONGLY recommend making your own tarot keyword list in addition to the one that comes with your deck, my slightly more radical approach to a keyword list, or anything else you might’ve purchased or acquired to help you learn your cards. Developing your own keyword list IS work. It requires looking at your cards individually and in spreads, and sussing them each down to 3 or 4 words or quick phrases each. It’s so, so, so worth it though. It deepens your relationship with your cards and makes your readings moving forward so much more personal. In doing this, you can ABSOLUTELY add in your own illnesses or worries for certain cards.)

If you’re starting from scratch or have a new deck and want to know where you might start looking, I GENERALLY use this guide to guide my health readings. ALWAYS trust your own knowledge and intuition over someone else’s though.

• If a lot of WANDS show up in your reading: wands are fight and fire. When you get to know your deck you’ll see that so often the negative Wands cards indicate internal conflict and turning your anger inwards. For this reason I use Wands to denote autoimmune disorders most often.

• PENTACLES represent Earth. They can also represent the human body itself. For this reason, in a health reading or a general reading where sickness is indicated I usually read these as a physical illness that is debilitating but not permanent. This could be the flu, or a sprain, or anything like that. Pentacles do heal and I think that’s an important difference here.

• Both SWORDS and CUPS can indicate mental illness or trauma reactions if they show up frequently in a reading. Generally I read Swords as chronic mental illness like Depression or Generalized Anxiety Disorder or Bipolar Disorder (which I don’t have but am intimately aware of). There will be ups and downs but you can’t cure these things. You can manage them, but a flareup is still horrendous and will still happen on occasion.

• I tend to read an overflow of CUPS as being more about the emotional side of mental illness. My Avoidant Personality Disorder can be cured. My PTSD can be cured. (I mean they won’t be until I find a new therapist, but theoretically they CAN be cured. They can CERTAINLY become more manageable in a way that chronic mental illness often can not.) I usually find these things then in the Cups which are about both emotions and healing.

• The MAJOR ARCANA are not fun if they come up in a reading about health. On a smaller scale, they represent the health things that come with aging and are therefore inevitable. You’re going to get your mom’s bad eyesight and your dad’s weak knees and you can’t stave it off forever no matter how many carrots you eat. Unfortunately, a lot of times the Majors warn us about big, bad life-changing illnesses. If you do a reading about your health and get a ton of Majors, you might want to hit up your doctor ASAP, especially if they’re negatively aspected.

All of the above are told from the lens of the idea that you’re doing a reading and you know that there are some health problems. This information is only meant to help you isolate the problem so you know where to start working from. If you are healthy and all of your cards in a health reading are positive, don’t sweat it! You’re probably fine! If you have been on a healing journey to manage chronic illness and you feel like things are pretty well under control and you get a bunch of cards about peace regardless of the suit, than that’s great! You’re doing great!

Another great way to check in on your health is to simply create a spread that addresses specific body parts or chronic illnesses.

If I’m worried about an arthritic winter and the emotional fallout of being isolated because it’s Minnesota in winter, than I’ll do a two card spread to see what the cards say. I take those at face value—scrap everything I said above. If I pull a 5 of Pentacles in the one about emotion than the cards ARE confirming that I’m going to feel very lost and alone this winter. You can do as many placements as you want! I’ve also done a head to toe check in using upwards of 10 cards, each representing a part of my body or piece of my health. Don’t be shy in how many cards you use, and you can always use scraps of paper placed beside the cards to remember which body parts or illnesses you were worried about.

Always trust a doctor or therapist over the cards, and always trust your actual intuition in that whole process too. The cards can offer some great insight into what’s wrong and why though. Hopefully this primer helped. Remember though that as you grow on your own journey with your own cards, you might find totally different results than me. That’s rad! Trust that.

In the meantime, happy tarot reading and blessed be y’all!

Cassandra

From My Instagram Highlights: Tarot Tips & Tricks For Beginner's & Those Looking to Shake Up Their Practice

Hello all!

I’ve been trying to really learn Instagram Stories and use it to help boost my tarot client and occult writing reader base and today I posted a story with some basic tarot tips and tricks that I wanted to share here as well. These are meant for TOTAL beginner’s but can absolutely be used for more seasoned readers looking to deepen their relationship with the tarot cards.

Tip #1: Tuning Into Your Intuition
Intuition is just the way your body processes and accesses information. To tune in: close your eyes, get comfy, and take a few deep breathes. Once your breathe is steady and deep, tune into how your gut,heart, and mind feel. Listen to them each for a few moments. Now you should be in tune.

Tip #2: Compare and Contrast

• Look at the story of your tarot deck by looking at how each card changes and shifts from the one before it.

• Pull out all of your aces at once, then your twos, threes, etc. What similarities are there? How are they different?

• Look at decks that aren’t yours! What similarities and differences do you see in the cards?

Note these similarities and differences somewhere. Those notes can and should become a foundation for learning your tarot deck.

Tip #3: Follow Tarot Readers on Instagram! Or Watch Them On YouTube!
Seeing other readers in action is SO important to the learning process. You won’t agree with everybody’s interpretations and that’s okay. The important thing is to see how the cards are talked about and treated by others.

*Please note! It’s fine to have a favorite reader you watch or follow, but try to follow several different readers. The comparison is so important!

If you have questions for me based on this list, never fear! I am here to answer them and I am always thrilled to hear from you. I’m going to try to make my stories tarot and witch-educational on a regular basis and you can follow along here.

Finally, I have a keyword list here that is new and affordable and will help you learn the tarot through a more inclusive, sex-positive, and creative perspective. Use it alongside your Little White Book or disregard it entirely!

Blessed be y’all!

Cassandra Snow

All the Things I'm Dreaming Up For You!

Hey all,

Well we are a week into 2019 and this is my first blog post. I spent New Year’s Day being admitted into the hospital overnight because of ongoing health issues. We still don’t know what’s wrong but we’re going to figure it out. I’m home, I’m with my cats and my extremely beloved roommate, and I’m slowly easing my way into work for the year. Which means I’m off to a slow start but I’m determined to have a fantastic year in all areas of my life no matter what. So as I’m dreaming and scheming and writing I thought you might want to know what to look forward to throughout the year!

For starters, I am working on several pieces about tarot and/or witchcraft aimed at artists, as well as a similar set aimed at multipassionates. I will eventually teach classes on those things this year too but I have quite a year up until the end of March, and my book comes out in May so it will be after that.

I’m also really nervous but excited to bring some original content about chronic illness and mental illness and tarot & spiritual practice. I’m nervous because I don’t ever want you to think that you shouldn’t seek medical care when that’s what you need. I don’t ever want you to think that you can wish, hope, or essential oil your way out of a serious and debilitating illness. What I DO have to offer are tips, tricks, spreads and spells for aiding the rest of your care regimen and boosting your confidence to heal and make those illnesses manageable. I’m taking my time with this and I want it to be right. It may even be ambitious for this year, but certainly I’m in the planning stages.

I am literally always prepping pieces and content about using tarot as a form of healing and empowerment, collectively and individually especially for marginalized people.

In addition to a new workbook or e-zine about one of the topics listed above, I’ll also have a Tarot Keyword List for Creatives, Radicals and Other New Age Misfits coming out in the next several weeks.

Finally, I have been promising the world an essay about my journey out of restrictive (though self-imposed) Christianity and into occultism and alternative spirituality for a long time. This is just a one of essay, and may have follow up pieces with tips and tricks along your own journey. It is coming sometime this year. This journey was so rooted in seemingly unrelated trauma and my own queerness though, and untangling it all in my own brain to make it accessible and readable to you all is something else entirely.

In the meantime, I will also be continuing the work I’m already doing. Queering the Tarot articles are getting released monthly on Patreon along with scores of other goodies. The book comes out in May. My #dailytarot series runs almost daily on Instagram, alongside other tarot content and personal posts.

Thanks for following, and thanks for continuing to support my work.

Blessed be y’all,

Cassandra

Wow this year really might end after all

It is December 3rd which means this ridiculous year is actually coming to a close. I can’t even believe it. I want to believe it I do, but man, this year. It seems like every one step forward I took as a person, my body decided to push me back three. For every step forward we took as a society…well, you know. It’s hard to be a person right now. It’s hard to be a person with empathy, it’s hard to be a person with their own problems, it’s very hard to be a marginalized person.

A new year isn’t going to change that.

I’m not a naive “new age influencer” who wants you to banish your bad thoughts. Just the opposite in fact. As we think about closing 2018, we should lean in to our anger and our grief and our sadness. We should let ourselves feel however we want, need, or just DO feel. We should use this winter to think about all of the things we’ve lost and if we even want to regain them. We will all feel motivated and peppy to make plans at the start of the year. For now, we should let ourselves feel the feelings.

In letting myself grieve and be sad for losing basically a whole year, I have already started to feel better. See, psychologists think that if we let ourselves experience peak emotion, there’s nowhere to go but up. We don’t actually get stuck in the well of sadness or pain, we start seeing the light and finding our way out naturally. Choking things down leads to bigger blow-ups later, so you WANT to let yourself lose it in the moment.

As I am slowly turning a corner, I am starting to be grateful again. November was a better month than most and this is actually a pretty chipper end-of-month recap. I do these monthly when I’m blogging to remind myself of where I’ve been and hold myself accountable to my goals. I also do them because I really love personal blogging and personal checklists, so maybe you do too?

Business News!

• ICYMI: I released this Sex & Tarot E-Zine that I like a great deal. It’s over 20 pages of healing work, thoughts on sex and tarot, and spreads to empower your sex life. I’ve got some grounding exercises should you panic before or during sex, and some personal stories too. It’s just $13.99 and a great way to process your end-of-year dating feels.

• My Patreon is off to a strong start! I do this thing community style so everyone gets the same access to my work. I release something on there weekly. This month that meant the next in my “Queering the Tarot” article series, a patron-only spread to tune directly in to your intuition, a Full Moon reading to help you zero in on your intentions for this moon cycle, and a Tip Sheet to help you assess your own relationship to tarot. In addition to this high quality, heart-all-in work, if you sign up by the end of the year you get a FREE workbook or e-zine in my shop around February! Plus I like, donate to charity and stuff.

• Most exciting: my book has a sampler! Queering the Tarot comes out May 1st and in the meantime, you can read the first couple of sections here. Pre-ordering helps debut authors A LOT so if you wanna see me do more books, help me get there by snagging your copy ASAP!

• I mostly read tarot at Eye of Horus this month, and I’m still there through December and beyond! Check me out if you’re in the Twin Cities!

• It’s obviously the perfect time for a year ahead reading. These need a week plus of prep and write-up time, so if you want yours by end of year, now is the time to snag!

• Finally, gift certificate sales are OPEN—but ONLY through 12/22! Buy your best friend a year ahead reading, your mom a short general e-mail reading, or bring your partner IN for a reading in January. E-mail snow.cassandra@gmail.com and I’ll get you all set up to give the gifts of magick and insight this year.

Other Stuff I Did In November

• Northern Lights Witch took a bunch of us up to her parent’s farm where I actually got to relax, sleep amongst creepy dolls (really!) and enjoy the food and company of her delightful parents and several of our close friends. Also a very cute dog and two very cute cats were there!

• I did an escape room set in a “haunted house” for my good friend Troy’s birthday. That was election night and being trapped in a house unable to check my twitter feed incessantly was actually a huge relief!

• I had the sweetest vegan feasting holiday with the same friends as the puzzle room, including a vegan wellington that my best friend made! It was amazing and divine.

Recommendations

Tarot Decks: I’m not sure why I waited so long to get a Wooden Tarot but having this animal-rich deck absent of people has been 100% delightful. The deck feels so good even when I’m just holding it in my hands.

Books: Again, not sure why I waited so long given how much I love her other work, but Alison Bechdel’s Are You My Mother hit realllly close to home in a really good, cathartic way. I also read Saga Vol. 9 and cried a lot. If you haven’t started Saga, now is as good a time as any! Finally I flew through Terry Pratchett’s Monstrous Regiment and it’s surprisingly relevant to today but in a way that is fun and relatable and won’t just remind you that you meant to spend today screaming into the abyss.

Movies & TV: Not gonna lie, all I care about from November is the She-Ra reboot.

Music: Cat Power’s Wanderer is what I have wanted and craved from her for so long. She’s back to haunting in this one. It’s wonderful. I’m also re-stuck on Brandi Carlile’s By The Way, I Forgive You album so if you need me I’ll just be over here crying about aging and life alongside it.

Internet: I really loved this piece on Armenian diaspora and writing. Here’s a cuter, lighter piece about drag queens and the children’s books they love. This piece about how white supremacy, fatphobia, and colonialism are linked has been making the rounds for very good reason. Yes and Yes ran this piece that has me a little bit shaken up about my own life and habits. To end on: a really sweet piece about home and tarot.

That’s it for me this month! Please, please feel free to share some of your favorite moments from the month in the comments or on my Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, especially if you have recommendations. (I love recommendations!)

Blessed be y’all!

An Excerpt from my Sex & Tarot E-Zine (On Sale Now!)

Hello Tarot Lovers!

It is under twenty degrees here in Minneapolis, MN all day but I’ve been warming up by staying in my chaise right across from the heating vent while I put the finishing touches on Sex & Tarot: An E-Zine Designed to Help You Have More and Better Sex Through Healing, Self-Awareness, and Tarot Spreads. It is ready to go, in my tarot shop, and on sale for $9.99 this week only!

From Sex & Tarot:

Tarot is traditionally said to be comprised of Four Suits plus the Major Arcana. Each suit represents one of the four natural elements (fire, water, air, earth). Given my history and practice with witchcraft, I actually work with the tarot as if it’s a set of Five suits, with the Major Arcana representing the fifth element, which is spirit. Spirit is written about totally differently though, so we will start with the four Minor Arcana suits, often called the pips.

The Suits & Sex

Wands/Rods/Fire
Wands are the suit of Fire. Fire is passion, excitement and fast movement. Wands are very often sex or sexual attraction itself in its raw and powerful form. Expect a lot of flings, experiments, and partners if you get a ton of Wands in a reading about sex.

Swords/Knives/Air
This suit of logic and action frames the analytical part of our mind as the most important and is excellent at communication as well as logistics. It’s also a suit where we see a lot of trauma and oppression. It stands to reason then that this is a suit of sexual trauma or oppression because of sexual or gender identity. It also stands to reason that even for cisgender straight people, the white heteropatriarchy can REALLLLY screw up our expectations and experiences of sex. That’s all indicated here in the Swords.

When we’re talking about sex in the positive, Swords are sometimes our (occasionally rude) reminder to keep a cool head and not give in to our basest lust. Alternatively, if we’re reading the cards strictly by artwork there’s frequently a lot of bondage in this suit so it could be encouraging us to try new things and get a little kinky. As a suit of communication, Swords also remind us that stating your sexual desires is the first step to getting what you want. Sex writing or therapy as a career option is well-aspected in a number of the Swords cards too.

Pentacles/Discs/Earth
Earth energy is all about stability and growth. It’s also about your actual physical body. Because of that we see sexual desire for the feeling of sex and touch in this suit, or the sensations of sex. We also see how our needs change and grow as relationships and bodies develop with age. Pentacles can often be sex within a committed relationship, but look for the pieces I mentioned first before assuming this is the case.

Sex work is positively indicated in the Pentacles and can guide a sex work career the same way it would guide any other career.

Chalices/Cups/Water
Chalices are normally my favorite group of cards but when they come up in a reading about sex I tend to groan. That’s because they are all about emotions, and that’s not always what I want when it comes to sex. It’s not a bad thing though, obviously. For a lot of people the best sex is riddled with feelings and aspiring towards emotional satisfaction. The Chalices are sex that is primarily about intimacy, not physical sensation. It’s sex when in love, or at least when feeling romantic.

Chalices also deal with emotional healing, so when we’re looking at our journey as a human, especially if we have sexual trauma, a positive Cups card is a solid indicator that we’re on the right track. All of the Chalices/Cups are here to remind us that we are emotional creatures first and we need to be ready and prepared to have the kind of sex we’re considering--even for the most happily non-monogamous and sexually active people among us. Sex still carries weird or surprising emotions sometimes, and this watery suit won’t let us forget that.

Major Arcana/Spirit
The Majors normally indicate fate/coincidence/higher power/Divine energy. If you or the seeker you’re reading for are not super spiritual, a lot of times these cards represent things you have no control over or that the ball is already rolling on. Sometimes the Majors are just the cards that didn’t fit in to the suits but bring important messages to you.

In a reading about sex, the interpretation of the Major Arcana varies dramatically depending on the question or situation. Cards like The Hierophant can show a discomfort with sex thanks to a strict religious upbringing or societal trappings. Cards like The Sun can show the innocent joy of good sex with a good person that perhaps blooms into a lasting relationship. Cards like The Star or The Devil can indicate the spiritual side of sex, namely tantra or ritual sex acts.

Overall, when we’re talking about sex I think the Major Arcana’s goal is to move us from a place of being scared and fearful when we think about, talk about, or even have sex to a place of empowerment and bed-breaking lust when the situation calls for it.

If you want to see where this leads and let the tarot take you on a journey towards your best sexual self, hop over and grab a copy for only $9.99 through the end of the week (which I do define as Sunday). Happy Cyber Monday!

Blessed be, y’all!

Gift Certificate Season is OPEN (But Only Until Dec. 22nd!)

Hello all!

In an act of self-care & for the practice of simple bookkeeping, I don’t actually offer gift certificates year round except in special circumstances. Every holiday season in the past, I have limited the number I sell but that didn’t feel good this year. Instead, I’m selling an UNLIMITED amount but only for a VERY limited time frame—which starts now!

That’s right, my Gift Certificate Season is OPEN for the year as of today but ONLY through Dec. 22nd. No exceptions after that!

Some FAQ about gift certificates:

+ Gift certificates for tarot readings, lessons, and products can come in any amount and I can talk you through what the best amount for your loved one might be.
+ Gift certificates DO NOT EXPIRE and ARE transferable. They are numbered for the holiday season and that's how I keep track. 
+ ALL certificates are usable for ANY Tarot or Magick service or product I offer. 
+ I will happily print them and mail them to you for a marginal fee to cover postage and my ability to get to the post office. The easiest option is to have them e-mailed to you or the recipient. In person pick up is also an option for Twin Cities kids, but I do not deliver.
+ These can NOT be used for my Eye of Horus shifts.

Even if giving or receiving gifts is one of your primary love languages, experiences and acts of self-care are undeniably better than an office full of paperweights or novelty staplers. This holiday season give the gifts of insight, magick & self-care by securing a gift certificate for you and your loved ones. All you have to do is e-mail snow.cassandra@gmail.com with your budget and any questions you have and we’ll get going!

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend, and remember as your shopping weekend kicks off to take some time for self-care for yourself and stop to see a reader, healer, or just sit in a quiet corner and read before you take off each day.

Blessed be y’all!

Why I Write and Teach About Sex & Tarot + Get a FREE Copy of My Upcoming E-Zine/Workbook

The first lesbian I ever saw on TV was Genesis from MTV’s Real World: Boston.

I was roughly “third or fourth grade” years old, and I remember staring at her and realizing for the first time that anyone could be gay. I had the good luck to not be brought up in a homophobic household. All of my parents listened to Melissa Etheridge and the Indigo Girls and I knew that they were lesbians. I don’t think I really knew or understood what that meant though until I saw Genesis. She talked openly about her relationships with women, the occasional bout of sexual fluidity, and she was so different than the other lesbians I had seen. I’d known I liked girls from around that age, but for some reason the amalgam of watching Genesis every week and crushing on my childhood friends allowed me to figure out who I was VERY early in life.

I still didn’t come out of the closet until I was in my 20s though. I had been sexually assaulted multiple times, and had this weird irrational fear that if people knew about that AND knew about my sexual identity, they would think they were linked. Furthermore, I primarily lived in the Bible Belt and while my experiences with church were mostly positive, I knew that being gay was not okay. I knew too, from watching too many people I knew and loved get assaulted that little if any care would be given to me in a time when I desperately needed some healing and empathy.

All of this is on top of a few sexual run ins with boys, and later, men that weren’t terrible only led me to a big pile of confusion about who I was AND even more confusion about what sex was or wasn’t. When I started using tarot in Freshman year of college to come to terms with my assaults and come into my own as a human, I knew that my relationships with sex and with tarot would be forever connected.

Fast forward to my 30s.

I’ve had a lot of therapy, but I also have a terrifying and painful sexual dysfunction. My clients are constantly getting terrible messages from a sexphobic world that also idealizes sex and it’s all very confusing. Everyone I know has sexual hang-ups and only a handful of people that I know are consistently and regularly having the sex that they deserve. This might be because of confidence, those societal messages, sexual dysfunction, not knowing who they are, not knowing their own body, or a hundred other reasons.

Yet I’ve had really great sex. I’ve had partners who treated me like royalty and strangers who made me go wild for one night only. So in spite of the myriad of reasons listed above, I know that sex is and can be absolutely stunning and worthwhile. I’m not qualified to be a sex therapist or a gynecologist. I don’t want to be, quite frankly.

What I do know and have always known though, is all of the beautiful and strength-supplying ways tarot can be used as a tool for ownership and transformation. That is why I write and teach about Sex & Tarot: because I want everyone to be able to use this powerful and accessible tool to have better sex. As I develop a new workbook and/or e-zine on the topic of Sex & Tarot I am super interested in what you need and want to know from the cards. I’m obviously including some Tarot 101 info on how and where to even find sex, healing, and fun in the tarot, but I want to help you even more!

That’s where you come in!

Anyone who takes time to answer the question:

“What would you want to learn about in an e-zine or workbook about Sex & Tarot”

will get a FREE copy of it when I’m done! No strings attached, seeking your input only. (Though, if you wanted to @ me on the various social media platforms and tell the world how much you love the workbook once you have it, that’d be amazing.)

How can you offer your input? EASY! Comments are on on this blog, so that’s probably the easiest/quickest way. If you follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram there are posts up looking for input there too. Finally, if you want to be anonymous but ensure you get a copy of the finished product, e-mailing snow.cassandra@gmail.com is the way to go.

In the meantime,

Blessed Be and Happy Tarot-Ing.

Cassandra Snow

Return of the Blog + A Radical Patreon Launch

Dearest Readers,

As you may know, I bonked my head pretty badly all the way back in January and had to put this blog, my work in theatre, and a number of other things on hold. As I’ve recovered, I’ve learned a lot about myself and the process of making art and writing and being a witch in the real world.

I’ve learned that sometimes your physical health has to come first. I know as much as I blog about mental and physical illness it may seem weird that I didn’t know that. I knew it on some intellectual level, but I was still running myself ragged and just adding time and energy consuming body-care tasks to my ever growing list of things to do. That’s not prioritizing your health. I get it now.

I’ve learned that I absolutely love theatre and that sometimes you need time to take a breathe and see a bunch of shows, read a lot of blogs, and think about your craft and what you want from it before you dive in and try to get all fiesty and creative.

I’ve learned that being a witch means it’s okay and even profound to learn to harness “darker energies” and to ask for selfish things (like personal healing from a traumatic brain injury or you know, whatever). I have always felt a call to dead people and underworld energies that I was so afraid to call my own. I’m not afraid anymore.

I’ve learned that I hate organizing anything that isn’t art. Like. Hate it. I want there to be voices and spaces for emerging tarot readers and witches, but I don’t need to kill myself to create that. I have lots to give and offer without taking on a role that no longer suits me (and perhaps never did).

I’ve learned to expect the unexpected when it comes to who is there for me and who isn’t. People I thought were my soul mate friends disappeared, and people I was on the fence about keeping in my life have come through in more ways than I could ever list here. I have no anger or bitterness in my heart for those that aren’t here now but I have learned to trust my gods that there will always be people in my corner, even if they aren’t the people I expected. I think that was supposed to be my lesson for literal years, but now it has finally hit home.

I think maybe I’ve actually learned how to prioritize. Which has unexpectedly helped everything from my work load to my eating disorder. This is never a perfect art though, so I really hope I don’t shoot myself in the foot by speaking to it!

I’ve learned that my lifestyle before this injury was completely unsustainable. I was working too, too much without ever really getting anything of value done. I was terrified of spending money to delegate out, in large part because I don’t have any. I was terrified to work less because what would I even DO? How would I even fill that time? I was terrified to go easy on myself because my identity is so wrapped up in “art, witch, Type A” that I was afraid of a total loss of identity. I needed to learn this maybe most of all. I was exhausted for literal years before this, even as I stuck to my guns on sleeping eight hours a night and drinking a whole lot of water. Honestly, even as I get back to myself, I still feel exhausted when I think about jumping into any semblance of my old life.

Which brings me to the point of this whole post. I’m starting a Patreon soon, and I’m really, really excited about it. It’s community style so even at the $1 level you will get full benefits. This will allow me to donate to causes I care about and people in my community who really need it. It will also allow me to work on the work I am best at and most passionate about. Hopefully I will soar past my first goal and be able to buy some decent recording and editing equipment so I can bring you podcasts and video content about tarot, the occult, art and my queer, chronically ill life as it pertains to all of the above.

As part of this Patreon, I am emphasizing my work to make tarot accessible-not only in content by exploring what the tarot has to say to marginalized people or others who have trouble relating to it, but even in price and the ability to learn easily and cheaply. That means a return to this blog in addition to Patron only writing. This blog and creating theatre work have been the two things I’ve missed the most this year. My theatre life is making a slow, scheduled return that I’m sure you’ll hear all about in coming months.

The blog I am thrilled to bring back as well. I’ve had almost whole year to dream up spells, funny stories, and tarot spreads and knowledge for you. I’ve had almost a whole year to miss you all so much and am so eager to come back.

Thank you so much for rejoining me on this journey. I will absolutely post when my Patreon goes live—and I’ll be posting pretty regularly from now on.

In the meantime, Blessed Be!

My Pride Wish For Your Brave Heart

"Learning to read tarot cards was a transformative experience that fell into my lap when I was struggling with my sexual identity, recovering from sexual assault, and living with a roommate whose manipulations I hadn’t even begun to comprehend. Tarot provided an outside eye, fresh insight, and a look into the future I was headed towards." 

This is what I wrote for The Column on September 2nd of 2014 as I lept, like the tarot's Fool into my Queering the Tarot journey. On March 31st, 2015, Little Red Tarot picked up this ongoing series. From there my humble little posts about reading tarot for queer seekers blossomed into things I never imagined. It has been an outlet, an escape, a processing tool, an education, and a way to connect with world wide community.

It has also been picked up by Weiser/Red Wheel to be published as a book next year. That fact is a miracle that is as much a testament to manifesting and prayer as it is to anything else. Very quickly into the Queering the Tarot article series I remembered how important writing used to be to me, and in spite of the fact that I have a theatre company & tarot career I'm never giving up on I became determined to succeed as a writer too. I started doing some arts journalism at The Column. I started this blog. I started storytelling. In so many ways, I came alive again. Most notably, I got a short, shocking e-mail from my now-editor at Weiser. "Do you have any interest into turning your Queer tarot series into a book?" she asked simply.  

I cried that night, and I wasn't sure why. I shook with fear that this was fake, some kind of set up by a scammer. Once I was sure this was real, I was sure that they would get my manuscript and drop the project. I was so worried something would happen. Hell, we still have half a year to go and I'm still worried something bad will happen. But then I remember that sitting on the shore of Lake Superior during one of our seasonal getaways, I looked at my queerplatonic partner one night in late 2015 and said "I don't know. Maybe I'm crazy. I really feel like this queer tarot series is going to change my life though." They vehemently agreed. Empowered by their faith in me, I made a wish under the Duluth stars for my secret book dreams to come true. 

I am telling you this story on the Monday of Pride week, because I fully believe that my dream is coming true because I sat on a lake and wished upon stars for it. (I also worked my ass off, making sure each post was better than the last and promoting the pieces like hell. Dreams alone get us nowhere, but that's a different post for a different day.) It's easy to lose hope in an ugly, ugly world like ours. It's easy to hate and to become callous and hard. So my wish this Pride week for you and your loved ones is that you take a moment to be in a place you love, with a person you love, and make a wish.

Then, I hope like hell you can wish it into being over time. If you let me know your wish, I'll light a candle and make that wish too, to honor my queerplatonic partner who sat beside me and helped me wish my dream into being. 

MY wish for YOU this Pride is the ability and the gift of wishing itself. You deserve that much, at least. Especially now.

Some Exercises To Break Down The Court Cards

From The Slow Holler Tarot

I recently put out an open call on social media asking what tarot learners were struggling with. The number one answer is, of course, The Court Cards. If you're SUPER new to tarot, the Court Cards are the cards labeled Pages, Knights, Queens, or Kings. They might be rewritten in your deck, but they most likely have a title and a suit (hence the Architect of Vessels above).

The Court Cards are very often taught or explained as people. Even a lot of otherwise really, really good tarot books can lead you astray here as you try to understand why your spread is giving you random, useless information about a dark haired man with bad intentions when that man is absolutely nowhere in your life. To add to the confusion, the Courts are often needlessly (and kind of hilariously) gendered, and can often equate material wealth with achievement & worth in a way I’m very, very uncomfortable with. 

From The Next World Tarot

All of that being said, I love the court cards. They encourage me to bust my butt or take a break--both messages I hate but frequently need. They don’t usually represent 16 different people most of the time. Instead, they represent 16 different energies or aspects of YOU. The court cards coming up are most likely the energies or aspects within yourself that you need to call on and bring into being right now. Pairing each card with a well-known celebrity may not help you crack the card, understand it, or remember it in the heat of the moment. Instead, I've got some suggestions outlined below for how to connect with these cards in a way that stays true to both the card and your own experiences and journey. 

• If you are Pagan and work with deities, try pairing each court card with a deity that you could call on to inspire you or work with you regarding the energy of the card.

• If you are Pagan and do not work with deities, pairing each court card with a mythological creature or spiritual entity (like a type of faery, a spirit or ghost you’ve worked with, or an animal guide) that you could call on now to inspire or aid that card’s energy allows for a similar clarity as the diety exercise.

• If you are not Pagan, or are but want an alternative exploration, think about times in your life when the energy of this card was easy for you to take on. So one card might be the version of you that started a business that failed, and a different court card might be the version of you that started a successful business. One card could be a version of you that cried over a “B” in high school, and one could be a version of you that cut that college class all the time to have sex with your suitemate. Lock in those actual, living versions of yourself as your "go to" for how to interpret this card.

If this blog post helped you unlock your understanding of the Court Cards, I've got a whole E-Zine for sale chock full of tips and tricks to help New Age Misfits learn tarot in a personalized but true-to-your-deck's-intentions way. You can grab a copy here for just $13.99.

If you're looking for free resources, Siobhan at Radical Tarot has some great thoughts about the Courts here.

Blessed be, y'all!

Where I Am Now: January 2018

Hello all!

If you missed the social media announcements, you probably still figured out that I gave/am giving the blog a little hiatus. Some of it was because I really am not happy with the quality of work I was putting out. I really love the Multi-Passionate Diaries and I really love when I get personal about tarot and spirituality (IE my Reclaiming Hestia post). It's important to me to share links that say things I wish I'd said or are just neat, and important to keep myself accountable with end of month check ins. Everything else I just felt meh about. No inspiration, no drive to complete anything. So I am still on a little bit of a hiatus, but wanted to do a beginning of the year/big news/where to find me check in since there is a lot of buzz happening in my hive.

For starters...I got a book deal!

I'm so ecstatic to turn my Queering the Tarot series into a book, but that does mean things like blogging take a bit of a backburner. I suspect I will be much more present on my own blog once my draft is turned in. I have LOVED finishing up this series and working through re-writes. My book won't be out until early 2019, and I will certainly keep you posted about specific dates and other important info. In the meantime, you can always catch the latest article in the series here or here. 

I also just agreed to be the in house reader at my friend and client Dominique's website about managing bipolar disorder, Take Your Pills! I'll be doing a monthly reading to help you anticipate and handle any mental health quandries that come up throughout the year. There will be a mini interview and bio about me going up in the next couple of weeks, and then right around the first of every month, the reading will drop. I'm sooooo excited to give this series to those who need it. As someone with a laundry list of mental illnesses, this is an area I'm very well-versed in reading cards for and about, and I'm thrilled to share that side of my work with you all. Furthermore, Dominique's writing about self-care and her honesty about her own bipolar disorder are groundbreaking, and I'm THRILLED to be part of it.

That's my BIG news but there's some other cool stuff going on too. As you can see, I updated this website to show off some of the teaching and coaching adventures I've been getting into, as well as encourage other businesses, organizations, and individuals to bring me in to teach tarot or small business/solo entrepreneur/freelance skills. If you want to catch classes already slated, you can head down to The Future tonight for a Sex & Tarot class at 7 or sign up for Tarot 101 for Creatives in February. I LOVE these classes and I love this space, so 10/10 would recommend. You can also catch rare short readings from me at this beautiful, healing event (for queer women and non-binary people only) on the 20th. I adore reading for GirlPond events, and Northern Lights Witch will be reading also if you want ALL the queer readings. 

I am, of course, still reading tarot cards and witching it up all over the Twin Cities. I have in-person appointments available if you e-mail me or go through this website's contact form, or e-mail readings available here. I'm excited to start another year reading at The Eye of Horus too, where you can make even in-person appointments online. I'm also doing some really fulfilling arts journalism over at The Column still. I was so excited to talk about Bi-Lesque, a burlesque show of all bi+ performers most recently, and you'll see a piece about the Minneapolis Art Shanty Project soon too. 

My theatre company is working hard too--our March mainstage play is about trans identity and mental illness and how they overlap. I'm "just" producing and so happy to see my genderqueer business partner work with an all trans and genderqueer cast for this. To raise money for it, Sober Queer History is happening at Steamship Coffee in Minneapolis on January 28th, so if you love queer art, come on down. If you want to support queer art but don't live here or that date doesn't work, check out our GiveMN which allows your donation to be tax deductible. 

Things I'm still looking for this year:

• A regular tarot or witchcraft column at a major publication (online or in print).
• More teaching opportunities!
• Storytelling, other big writing gigs, and miscellaneous arts, writing, and witchy gigs. 
• Cheap adventures! (Or enough money to do regular adventures!) 
• Obviously more Gadfly Theatre donors and audience.

If you've got any idea or thoughts about any of that or have a gig to offer, let me know. I set a lot of big intentions for the year PLUS I already know I have a book getting ready for publication so I'm in for an exciting year and a half no matter what. I'd love to amplify that with more of the work that makes my heart sing though, so here's my open call to speak with me about any appropriate opportunities.

Before I go, here's some quick recommendations of things I've read/seen/gotten into lately:

• Books: My Favorite Thing is Monsters by Emily Ferris. Modern Tarot by Michelle Tea. We Are Never Meeting in Real Life by Samantha Irby. 
• Movies: The Shape of Water. Ladybird (Yes, I'm among the millions who loved it). Coco. And of course The Last Jedi. This is actually one of my favorite Star Wars movies of all times. 
• Decks: My Next World Tarot by Christy C. Road is one of the only things in the world I really, truly care about at this moment in time. 
• Miscellaneous: I got a SodaStream for secular Christmas and honestly it's such a game changer. I like putting lemonade (which is usually WAY too sweet AND too sour for me) into it with just a small splash of simple syrup. I'm obsessed. It's one of the only other things I care about in the world, truly. Other things that have delighted me lately include the card game Bears Vs. Babies and watching House Hunters International on Hulu and daydreaming about other lives I could live if I really wanted to. 

That's basically it, y'all! This is where I've been and what I've been working on. I'm so grateful you all came along with me in 2017, and am even happier to have a great 2018 full of whimsy, witchcraft, and art with you. To keep up while the blog is on semi-hiatus, check out my Instagram for (almost) daily promotional readings, my Facebook or Twitter for real time updates on where to find me, and my newsletter which sometimes has exclusive offerings and free monthly readings. To support this blog or any of the other tarot or writing I do for free, here's my PayPal.me link.

Until next time then, Blessed be!

Hot Class Alert! Including a MUCH Requested Tarot 101!

Hello tarot lovers and other witches,

Today is basically a dumpster fire. I do have some good news for those looking to learn tarot or advance their own study though: I've got THREE marvelous classes coming to Eye of Horus in Minneapolis, MN over the next three months. They are:

Tarot 101 for Creatives walks you through how to learn and bond over a new deck via your understanding of the images, colors, and symbols decorating them. I'll give you a basic framework and then walk you through exercises to go deeper. October 21st at 1 PM. Nab your seats here. 

Queering the Tarot is coming back to the Eye of Horus and will happen on November 18th at 1 PM. This is my absolute favorite class to teach, so come learn about how to tell if your Queen likes other Queens, what the Hanged Man might really be doing there, and how the Hermit fits in. Purchase a seat in class right here, friends. 

Sex and Tarot is the sauciest of the three (obviously) and goes through all the bad, mixed up, sex-shaming messages we get from society and how we can use tarot to overcome it all and own our own sexuality again. We also talk about bondage and I'll teach a spread for more or better sex. That's on December 9th. Snag a seat! 

That's what I've got today, y'all! Come learn and chat with me. Can't wait. Blessed be.

A Staircase to Nowhere + A VERY Cute Lab Puppy (September Check In)

Autumn along the Mississippi River. <3 

Happy October Everybody!

This is my absolute favorite month of the year, as it is for many witches, and I am ecstatic that fall weather has finally fallen upon my large mid-sized city. I went for a walk along the river starring crunchy leaves yesterday, and I comfortably drank a hot coffee outside today. Bliss.

It is incredibly strange to be writing a “September in review” post when I actually can't talk about a lot of what's going on in my life yet, but rest assured, in the upcoming months I will have beautiful news to share! In the meantime, I have a big announcement post about a series of classes I'm doing at Eye of Horus hitting next week. I can also let all you Pagan art lovers know that my next theatre project includes you! It's a queer, feminist retelling of the Holly King & Oak King myths. We go up in December. Head over to Gadfly's website for more! Other than that...welll...here's the abbreviated info on what I can share about how my September went!

• Tarot Life: My Sex & Tarot class wasn't such a big hit on a Saturday night, but I did get to spend an evening at The Future helping a tarot lover unblock her energy where cards were concerned. I still taught her some spreads on improving her sex life, so it was all around a successful evening. I have been working hard on “fall semester” classes coming up. You can still catch me on Instagram with a nearly daily tarot reading to cut through the muck of your day too. I read for LOTS of really beautiful people this month, especially at the Eye of Horus, where I'm still slinging cards Sundays & Wednesdays.

• Theatre Life: In addition to gearing up for & casting the aforementioned The Crown of the Holly Queen by Eli Effinger-Weintraub, I produced one of my favorite Drunk Queer History events to date. Lisa Marie Brimmer is a beautiful, wonderful soul & storyteller who was more than happy to get on the far end of tipsy and teach us about ball culture, growing up in the Wisconsin Dells, and Bayard Rustin. This was one of my favorite theatre months in recent history. I deeply loved everything I was working on and feel sufficiently amped up about the rest of the year too.

• Writer Life: I wrote some stuff I really love this month, namely this piece on Reclaiming Hestia and this review of local play Ex-Gays. I'm going to be completely honest though. This was a really hard month for someone with Avoidant Personality Disorder to be a writer. I had countless pitches rejected and to be perfectly honest I'm used to shooting and scoring where writing is concerned. I feel really defeated in this moment. I have to remind myself that I have a steady writing gig and big things are on the horizon though, because all of that is true and I am so blessed. Stay tuned for more on that, and know this: it is all worth it. I absolutely love everything I do, even when it feels really, really hard.

Keep reading if you want this photo to make sense

• Non-Work Life: What a fun month otherwise! Since my Two Harbors trip last month I've been intentionally making space for fun and for peace. The outcome has been unbelievable. I planned one hell of a birthday for my favorite person in the world. This was also the month where I decided a fun Instagram game was “How much fast food can I eat on the beach?” and it's been a blast. I generally eat healthy but when I have a craving for junk food, I purposely end up on the beach. I honestly crack myself up about it. My queerplatonic partner and I love empty playgrounds almost as much as beaches and riverfronts, so we ended up at a few of those goofing off. I saw some really awestriking art this month, including two shows by Patrick's Cabaret that took my breathe away. If you are in the Twin Cities, really, really check something out by them if you haven't. I'll end this section on this: Target has the weirdest line of masks this Halloween season. They look and feel like very low budget Furry masks and I am kind of living for it. We acquired this Unicorn one as part of the QPP's birthday, but honestly, the whole line is hilarious and absurd. Go check it out.

Recommendations: I finally read AJ Jacobs The Year of Living Biblically and Allie Brosh's Hyperbole and a Half. I was so surprised by how compassionate and spiritual TYOLB turned out to be. HAAH was what I expected, but what I expected was absolute hilarity. I couldn't stop laughing, and as a mentally ill person a lot of that came from what I related to. I also recommend late night walks with your favorite people, the new It (such good scare moments!) and helping your best friend paint their restaurant. All of these things filled me with immense joy this month. Finally, while everyone is talking about it, I cannot recommend The Good Place enough for sit-com lovers. I've always loved Kristin Bell and Ted Danson, but this “What is good? What is heaven? Oh wait, what is hell?” is brilliant and dark in ways I didn't expect.

I promised you a very cute puppy. This is Vanna. She came to my apartment to meet cats and be in an apartment. She is a service dog in training that a friend is fostering. I. Love. Her.

That's a wrap on September! Hope you are all enjoying the bona fide sweater weather & scary movies we've been waiting for all year.

Blessed be, y'all.

Multipassion Diaries: The Incredibly Boring Secrets To My Success

In which I take pictures on the river on a day off. 

I am writing this blog at 3:37 PM. By 3:37 PM today I have already seen actors auditioning for my December play, queued up social media for my tarot and theatre business, and pitched three articles. I've e-mailed clients, and now I'm writing this. I'm also seeing a show tonight that I'll wake up in the morning and review. On paper, I pass as fairly productive and successful. Yet I stay relatively chill, which causes a lot of people to ask me how I manage three careers so easily. To which I respond: I don't manage them easily. Ha! I'm stressed out all the time! I have like four different anxiety disorders! Only two are work related but still!

I digress. Easily or not, I do manage those careers and have fun in between. So I do understand why people ask me how I do it or what my secret is. Unfortunately though, when most people ask me that they seem to be looking for magick and wisdom, some miracle or pearl they can hold to. My answers are...um...not the most satisfactory.

• I sleep as close to eight hours a night as my body will let me.

• I don't let myself get distracted during a work session by fun social media or my cats wanting attention, but I do take breaks to nurture those things. I cut my work day down by over 90 minutes a day when I stopped checking Facebook every ten minutes. That's 90 minutes of good cat cuddling time I was wasting every day, y'all.

• I take my meds and drink lots of water.

• I do something for every career every day.

• I also do something fun and something for self-care that isn't just “food and meds” every single day. Every. Single. Day.

• I eat when I'm hungry.

• I keep my apartment fairly orderly for focus reasons.

• I keep a paper planner with to-do lists at my side when working. It's old-fashioned and boring. It also works.

• I take days off. Wild and innovative, I know. But this stack of comic books isn't going to read itself, and what am I supposed to do—NOT go to the beach when it's super nice out?! Psssh.

I can't believe I was losing 90 mins a day with these guys to Facebook. Which, hilariously, is also featured in this photo.

Look, the reality is I don't have kids. I do lose entire days to sickness, but still manage to get a bare minimum done on those days. Not everyone can do that. I also have an incredibly supportive group of friends and family. They are all also part dreamer, part doer who own restaurants, run Reiki businesses, and make lots of of art--so they get it. All of that means that in the grand scheme of things, I'm incredibly blessed in flexible time and having support. My life is probably not manageable with kids, and it certainly was not manageable before I was on proper meds for my 9,000 chronic illnesses. Certainly I have had bad family relationships and incredibly toxic social groups, and you know what? I didn't realize it then but my careers suffered greatly in those times. By sheer stroke of luck, my circumstances allow my careers to flourish and that's the harsh reality of success sometimes. Don't beat yourself up if things take you longer because of other dreams you had, mistakes you made, lack of support in your life, or really anything else.

Regardless of those extenuating factors though, the way I manage multiple careers is by taking care of myself first, my loved ones second, and my careers third. It's not easy and anyone slinging you expensive, magickal surefire tracks to success online is probably lying to you. The path to loving your life, including and especially your work life, isn't easy but it is doable. (Please note: Placing career third doesn't mean you don't do stuff. I work anywhere from a six to a fourteen hour day most days, with my average being around a standard “eight.” Taking care of career third means taking care of it.)

To summarize: If you're juggling multiple careers and a whole life outside of that, how do you ensure success? Allow for it to happen over time. Don't rush. Oh, and take care of yourself first, your loved ones second, and your careers third. You'll get where you need to go.

An Abbreviated Post-August Check In

Hello friends, witches & tarot lovers!

Mercury Retrograde has not been friendly to my apartment's electronic devices today so here's a quick update on where I've been AND an important September announcement!

Also, here's an arbitrary picture of Sir Didymus and Sebastian. Just because. 

Tarot life brought me TWO amazing classes, one on "Queering the Tarot" at The Future and a BRAND NEW course on "Sex & Tarot" at none other than The Smitten Kitten. My big announcement? DO NOT DESPAIR if you missed the first "Sex & Tarot"--it's happening again THIS month on September 16th at The Future. Sign up here--my queering class filled up quite nicely and I don't want you to miss this one too. PLUS if that date DOES NOT work for you, I'll be teaching not one, not two, but THREE classes at my beloved Eye of Horus this fall & winter. One for 101 newbies, a Queering the Tarot, and a Sex & Tarot. Check it out! 

Theatre life was a lot of prep for this month & my December show. Nothing thrilling to report about the work I've already done, but uh, you're not gonna wanna miss Drunk Queer HIstory on the 26th. Grab your tickets NOW! 

Writer life was my safe space this month. I got to review and feature a lot of cool events here, and I'm still going strong over here. I'm sitting on some potential big news, and getting a lot of storytelling pieces done in my free time (so if you like stories about illegal boat hopping or lizard rectums, hit me up). 

From Two Harbors, MN. Over Iona's Beach. 

Non-work life took a hit for most of the month as a re-designed my Queering syllabus, created a Sex & Tarot syllabus, and stayed super, blissfully busy with tarot clients & behind the scenes theatre work. However, I insisted on taking my queerplatonic partner up to Duluth & Two Harbors MN last week and I am so unbelievably relieved to have ended such a busy month this way. We spent 2.5 days eating at some of our favorite restaurants, sitting on beaches, climbing up to cliffs and (literally) crying on said cliffs about how beautiful it all was. We also sipped tea until 3 AM with a darling college friend and got see Northern Lights Witch who gifted us a trip to Vikre Distillery for fancy cocktails.

I also spent a day earlier in August watching bad horror movies, eating Chinese food, and gifted one of my favorite people a fake llama head to decorate her wall with because birthdays are my favorite. 

That's it for me this month! Follow my multipassionate adventures in real time on my Instagram, or "like" my tarot page on Facebook for up to date info on where I'll be.

Blessed be, y'all!

My Pisces Soul Is Awake Now...

Hello friends & tarot lovers,

Back in February I made a promise to myself and set an intention to get back in touch with my Pisces soul. I knew it was still in there, lurking, occasionally forcing up hiccups of emotion but never really screaming to the surface. I am always me to an extent, but too much emotion wasted on the wrong people had buried this most essential part of me and after time to heal and breathe...I missed that me. I missed feeling sensual in my sheets in the morning because it was morning and I was there. I missed feeling truly connected with friends and partners when we snuggled or held each other. I missed being able to cry, sob, and freak out when I was upset. I missed feeling truly happy, joyful, connected during late night conversations or when witnessing brilliant art. 

So I made a water altar, and I've been loyal to it. I've forced myself to start journaling a certain amount of pages every 2-3 days (and they can't be business notes). I've tried to take a deep breathe and really be IN the moment when the time calls for it. I'm a better tarot reader than I was. I'm a more emotional, clingy, weird friend and family member than I was but no one has complained (quite the opposite, in fact). I have ideas for storytelling and personal stories to pitch to various outlets. I have so many ideas for the next show I'm directing. 

And yet...I wasn't prepared for the feelings of overwhelm and sadness that come with bad situations. My empathy guard falling has made me a better friend but I am kind of a mess some days. I know it's time now to strive for balance. What originally made me feel good and inspired and like ME again has made me have several days over the past few weeks of unfocused, scattered energy, irritability, and deep feelings of loss even when no real loss has occurred. Pisces me is here and restored and feelin' stuff. But I have to be able to work and function. 

I didn't take neuroatypicality into account when I set my intention. I didn't expect my Pisces soul floating to the surface to inspire my PTSD and anxiety to have their way with me. This was a magickal error on my part, having missed something I tell clients all the time: make your intentions crystal clear with no room for error. I like being sad, crying, and overanalyzing what went wrong in real time when something is wrong. I don't like a normal day completely knocking me off my feet. I don't like the outrage I felt at a slightly frustrating day yesterday. I don't like feeling completely isolated because the people I love aren't available right at the very moment I thought company might be nice, but I do so love my renewed and deepened love of those relationships.

As usual when at a loss, I turned to the tarot for guidance and answers:

The Slow Holler Tarot essentially confirms everything I just said, but like I tell clients: if this is not new information, it allows you to focus and cut out anything not mentioned here. So if I take the card's advice on enacting my vision more clearly, the problems with empathy and isolation will fall away on their own. My whole spread promises water stuff is good, heart stuff is great. I should be loving and celebrating and rejoicing in my rediscovered Pisces energy. The dissenting card is this Visionary of Knives--a stark and necessry reminder that I am all of the things a Pisces is...but I am also grounded, ambitious, and rooted by a deep need to create something big and bold for my community. Finding balance is about remembering my goals and placing them on the same pedestal as I do my heart and its needs. I love this top row. It is affirming it and just seeing it helps me blend the things I'm going through into something viable. This deck can be verbose and challenging when that is what I need. It can also be succint and affirming when all I need is permission.

It is the outgoing message though that surprised me and that I write all of this to deliver to you: Growth is slow, and takes time. It might hurt in the meantime. It will probably cause a hundred different areas of your life to throb and glow at once. This time will pass, and it will have been worth it. Keep growing.

Blessed be y'all!

Happy August, Kittens!

An example Lammas/Lughnasadh altar

Hey All!

Just a friendly witchcraft reminder: today/tomorrow (it varies per person who celebrates) is Lughnasadh or Lammas, the first of three harvest festivals this year. This sabbat is best used for: showing gratitude for the intentions you set for the year that ARE harvesting, and cutting/breaking old bad habits. With that in mind, I'm especially grateful for my adventures and shenanigans this year, an increased client docket + writing gig docket, an upcoming Gadfly event at one of my fave venues in town, and the two classes I'm teaching this month. What do I want to cut out or break? IMPOSTER SYNDROME. It's been 32 years. It's time to end that shit. I do cool things all the time, and the years I lost where due to PTSD and untreated chronic illness so why am I beating myself up for not hitting my stride at 25?! I've been trying to manifest confidence without ridding myself of the reasons it's blocked, so what a great way to focus my energy this Lammas!

In truth it still feels like it has been a rough year. That is a different post for a different day. Today, as we enter Lammas though, I am grateful for you, your support, and my life in general.

Now, here's where a solid work ethic, a deep lust for life and need for adventure, and witchcraft took me in July (and what they brought back to me!)

Me & my cards at Minnehaha Falls. Photo cred to Taylor Dobson.

TAROT LIFE

• I'm still SO excited in gearing up for my Queering the Tarot class at The Future and my Sex & Tarot class at The Smitten Kitten. Solidifying and prepping for that has been a big chunk of my July but it's so, so worth it.

• I saw a necessary and wonderful spike in e-mail readings in July. I'd love to keep that going, so I'll just politely leave this link here.

• I'm still at the Eye of Horus from 11:30-6 on Sundays and 3-9 on Wednesdays. I've been so happy (and busy) the past couple of months, so I'm strongly suggesting appointments if that's where you prefer to see me. If you prefer coming through just my business, that's great too! I'm reading Thurs-Saturday & Monday 1-6 P.M.

STUFF I WROTE

• The big scary thing was that I once again edited my storytelling piece about getting my period at a fancy, sterile-clean dinner party and performed it at The Big Fat Comedy Hour at Lush! This is one of my favorite shows and venues so I was terrified. I let my Avoidant Personality Disorder “win” a lot, and I'm glad I told it to shove it for this gig.

• New Queering the Tarot stuff as per usual! Here and here.

• I stepped back into my Multi-Passion Diary this month, talking about endings instead of beginnings. A lot of the focus of that Diary is what I'm working on NOW, what's happening NOW, and that's great. Closing an art gallery somewhat unexpectedly left me fairly introspective though.

THEATRE LIFE

• I was a little tired from closing the gallery, so I mostly just answered e-mail and stuff...but in reality that means Gadfly is SO SO close to announcing our fall shows (and maybe already did if you're on our newsletter. Muahaha.)

• I've also been doing this Queer Improv Jam at Huge Theater. It's such a welcoming group of people to play with. I love it so, so much. I definitely recommend a jam in your area or this one if you're queer and in the Twin Cities. No experience necessary, only participation. 

A still from Freeform's "The Bold Type," recommended below.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• My favorite writer is probably Catherynne Valente, and I acquired and gobbled up her Refrigerator Monologues so fast. It combined the prose and general brilliance of Valente with underrated and de-powered female characters from comic books. It's a quick read and holy wowza, it's a good one if you're into comics or fighting tropes like, at all.

• I really thought I would hate the board game Secret Hitler. I don't know why. I love board games. I love secrets. I love dark humor in my fight against fascism. Luckily those things won out--it's really fun if you're a board game person.

• I have The Bold Type fever--it's on Freeform or Hulu, and I'm completely hooked! If you love magazine industry, girl squads, or good old-fashioned relationship and career drama, this one's great. Part of the reason I love Supergirl so much is because it's an optimistic antidote to everything "edgy" right now, and as of now The Bold Type falls into that too.

Beautiful new secret spot near my house that I discovered with my sister.

OTHER SHENANIGANS

• I've always known one of my best friends in Minneapolis has a pool for use at his apartment building, but I don't think I really UNDERSTOOD how beautiful that makes summer until the past couple of weeks.

• Nothing makes you appreciate the large mid-sized city you navigate every day like having someone come from out of town. My siblings are my favorite people on the planet other than my queerplatonic partner. Hands down. Some people identify as a mom or a dad or a loner. I am, and have always been, and will probably always be a Big Sis. Still, life is life and I don't get to see them nearly as often as I'd like. So the best nights of my 18 year old sister and I's week long adventure were her curled up on my couch geeking out about Harry Potter and bonding over deeper stuff with me. Yet the kid got me up hiking, sight seeing, going to the beach, shopping, and eating out every day and I was exhausted by the end but wouldn't trade a second of it. We also went to Milkjam and ordered the “All of Them” so that was pretty great too.

• TINY GOAT ADVENTURE. A farmer's market in Minneapolis had baby goats we could snuggle, so I called up squad and we snuggled SO MANY BABY GOATS. FOR SO LONG. It was the best evening.

Yeah, like I would talk about tiny goats and not show you one.

That's it for me this month friends! I hope your July was sunny and wonderful, and I hope your August is even better. I've got an action packed one that includes press credentials for a major theatre festival, the birthday of one of my dearest friends, another dog-sitting adventure, annoucing half of a theatre season, finishing my next e-book (come hell or high water!), teaching two classes, and a trip to Duluth to sit in or near the lake and actually breathe. I'm hoping and praying it also includes ordering this tarot deck and seeing Stevie Nicks in concert, but we'll see how things play out. Send good vibes for me though, and you'll get lotsa great Instagram pics of both! 

Blessed be y'all!

Better Late Than Never!

Hello all,

I am back for this blog's monthly Link Roundup; admittedly I'm about a week late but it's for a very good reason. My 18 year old sister came into visit from Ohio! She is the cutest, sweetest little human and I cut my workload down to "need this money now" work. I missed doing my other stuff though, so next time I'll get it all queued up before I have a visitor. 

Out adventuring with my Sister. Had to show her my river :)

Before we dive in, TWO quick announcements! People are getting excited about both of the workshops I'm doing in August which is getting me all kinds of excited (but also nervous). The first is a revamp and remount of my Queering the Tarot workshop at The Future on August 17th. The other JUST officially announces is a brand-new (but still totally in my wheelhouse) Sex & Tarot course at The Smitten Kitten! Luckily for you, Queering the Tarot is sliding scale starting at just $15, and Sex & Tarot is FREE to you! Which means you could potentially take two radical tarot classes that weekend for just $15, and that actually seems like a pretty sweet deal to me!

Now, on to radical things OTHER people are writing and doing! 

Politics & Resistance

• If you want a quick breakdown on what's going on with that BS Department of Justice statement that LGB people aren't covered under Title VII, Autostraddle has you covered.
• There's some pretty important legislation being discussed about the non-profit sector too. It's easy to be overwhelmed right now, so this was easy to miss. 
• A Lithub personal essay/book review about being torn between queer and Southern identity, plus the books he covers sound like important reads too.
• Why IS Hyperfemininity Expected of Fat Girls? This one practically garnered applause from me.
• I should probably just have a permalink list somewhere to all of Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha's writing, and her Bitch articles have been on point lately. I especially loved "A Modest Proposal For a Fair Trade Emotional Labor Economy (Centered By Disabled, Femme of Color, Working Class/Poor Genius)". 
• On Black Lives Matter, Queer Identity, and Appalachia. 
• Lisa Frank Body Positivity is not as cool as it sounds. This is a good read though.
• Prison Reform is one of the most important issues to me that never gets talked about. The way our society dehumanizes and traumatizes inmates, many of whom are in for minor crimes or no real reason at all, physically makes me ill. This piece talks about the juvenile system and why it's reform is a necessary queer issue. 

Tarot & Witchery

• This has been shared around a bit in metaphysical circles, but just in case you missed it: "Astrology of the Stonewall Riots" is as cool as it sounds. 
• Asali Earthwork regularly blows me away with her writing and witchery. This month I bookmarked both her review of The Personal Space Tarot and this so-necessary piece about mental health and witchcraft. The review is a really great example of a review and discusses tarot and the deck in depth. The personal piece spoke to me so deeply and is every bit as brave and beautiful as the title suggests. As a bonus, head over to her shop and snag some tea because it is delicious.
• Dior is making Motherpeace Tarot inspired clothes now, and Vogue has the scoop! I completely nerded out when I saw this. 
• "See the cripple dance" is ALWAYS one of my favorite Little Red Tarot columns, but this one on the Seven of Cups hit really deeply for this PTSD-trodden, chronically ill queer.
• Also from Little Red: a super easy, informative guide to snagging the best crystals for spiritual fatigue.
• I'm never going to stop posting about representation in the spiritual community and why it matters. I'm also never gonna stop linking back to radical writers of color highlighting the issues better than I ever could. 

Writing & Business

• I love peering into people's personal work processes, and Benebell Wen's look at promotional tactics, what worked, and what didn't was great insight with useful information AND things that won't work for everyone but were still fun to read.
• In Minneapolis everyone has a Prince AND a Bob Dylan story; in any case Seth Godin went somewhere I didn't quite expect with this one. 
• This really applies to all types of writing and made me laugh a lot. Here's "How Not To Write A Play."
• Y'all know by now how much I adore Theresa Reed, especially her "Soul Propietor" series. This one on how you want to feel in your business is especially good. 
• A cute cartoon about job and gig hunting that everyone should see. It'll take you four seconds but it's good!
• I talk about "Money Dates" a lot and how they've changed my life and both of my businesses, but it never occurred to me to share this primer from Bari Tessler herself with you. So...here you go!

A picture of Sir Didymus to break up the monotony of text. 

Theatre & Art

• "A Collective Call Against Critical Bias" is a wonderful start to important conversations about arts criticism and where we drawn the line, and features goodies like: "As female artists and academics…we have dedicated our careers…to dismantling discriminatory structures and practices in theater, and the criticism this year is so blatantly prejudicial that we felt compelled to collectively author an editorial that both documents the problem and puts it in an historical context."
• There's a new series at the Twin Cities Arts Reader entitled "The Curmudgeon" about all the ways arts organizations are NOT actually helping the press help them. It sounds heady but it's actually really easy to access information about how to market shows better. 
• I was so happy and surprised when I saw my friend Shannon on one of my favorite blogs today. Shannon runs Uprising Theatre Company, is a fantastic writer in his own right, and oh yeah, is a transgender Priest! 
• Sometimes the title does the talking for us, like in "The Necessity of Diverse Voices in Theatre Regarding Disability and Difference."

All The Other Things I Love and Thought You Might Too

• I was obsessed with Poison Ivy as a child. No, not the Batman character I'm still in love with, the other one. The movie starring Drew Barrymore. I guess I wasn't alone and this revisit from Dazed was written wonderfully. 
• Andi Grace gets real at Little Red Tarot about what she's been through lately, and tells us what she's learned living in a van about boundaries and letting go. This one was truly beautiful.
• One of my biggest flaws is that I'm a jealous friend. I will love you deeply and unconditionally. I will want nothing but the best for you. I will also be unbelievably jealous and feel incredibly stupid voicing that to you. So I was relieved to find an actual good article addressing this jealousy and it's roots.
• An oldie but a goodie came back up in my feed the other day--an absolutely side-splitting teardown of Goodnight Moon. 

That's it for me y'all! Blessed be.