Before I tell you all about the exciting, beautiful, heart-wrenchingly important queer tarot project we’re all gonna do together, let me introduce you to a little website I just made!
witchyqueers.com is a simple directory of queer-led or especially queer-friendly resources for folks who love tarot, astrology, herbalism and other wonderful woo-woo pursuits.
There’s not a lot on there right now, but if you know of something that should be there, use the submit form to add it and help make this an awesome resource for all of us witchy queers. Thank you!
Calling all tarot-loving queers!
Wouldn’t it be beautiful if there was a queer tarot deck filled with all of our feelings?
A deck of cards made from the personal stories of LGBTQ people, where each card was explained as part of the individual and/or collective queer experience?
Ten of Cups, via queertarot.com. Photograph © Tiu Makkonen.
Let’s make that happen!
We all have stories to tell. Stories about coming out. Stories about first loves. Stories about discrimination, liberation, escape, self-acceptance, pride, shame, faith, joy, regret, being lost, being found and so much more. Some of those stories are inspiring, others are tragic. Some are light and funny, others carry the weight of lessons learned.
The Queer Tarot Project is a place to share these stories through the medium of tarot.
Because what is tarot but one huge big story? A choose-your-own-adventure and the graphic novel of your life. The universal story of humanity, shuffled and re-told, over, and over. Cycles of Death and rebirth as The Fool. Confronting The Tower, taking comfort in The Star. A never-ending search for The World or the Ten of Cups. Trials and tribulations, projects, realisations and so many feelings and experiences.
Every time we pull a tarot card, we’re rewriting our story. Exploring and articulating our experiences. Getting to know ourselves that little bit better. Learning and growing, celebrating ourselves, learning to love ourselves more.
The High Priestess, via queertarot.com
So dig out your tarot deck (or call up your tarot-loving friend). Shuffle though those cards until you recognise yourself. Choose the one that resonates the most for you. It could be any one of 78 magical cards!
For example…
- The Knight of Wands, representing how you felt when you first came out and hit the scene.
- Two of Swords, showing how you protected yourself when those you loved were not supportive.
- The Seven of Wands, depicting how you stood up for queer visibility on your first Pride march.
- The Ace of Pentacles, when you finally felt you were living in your ‘right’ gender identity.
- The Five of Pentacles, representing how how it feels to be cast out of your home or community.
- The Queen of Cups, symbolising how you celebrate your queerness through your art.
- Or a card that touched you deep that time when you had *that reading*
Long stories, short stories, poetry, prose. It’s up to you how you want to tell your story. The only important thing is that it incorporates the energy, symbolism, ideas or imagery of one tarot card (if you have more than one special card, you can submit more than once.) Triple bonus brownie points if you include a picture!
The Star, via queertarot.com
Going forwards, I have hopes for a physical tarot deck too! This website forms the basis of a big, beautiful storytelling project… and hopefully, a real, published tarot deck. As the website grows and more and more people contribute, I plan to use submissions to put together something really, really special. The stories might become a book, and the artwork shared, a deck of cards.
Honestly, though? I’m not 100% sure where this will go right now. I know that people keep talking about creating a queer tarot deck. I know that I get a whole load of emails from people asking how and when this can happen.
This is where we begin — together.
Add your story here: queertarot.com
Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssss
Beth. Beth. BETH. Thank you. This is amazing. This is a thing I have waited for my entire tarot-using existence, which, by the way started when I was just eight queer years old. I’m so excited to share my story and read the stories of others. My ace of cups card overflow’th.
Hurrah!
You started doing tarot aged eight?? Wowee!
“Witchyqueer” and “Tomcat” would be the best couple T-shirts ever!
This needs to happen.
Maybe a kickstarter to help fund the physical tarot deck? I’d throw as much as I could into it, personally! While I’m cis and straight I’m so tired of the heteronormative (and often misogynistic) decks everywhere.
Totally been thinking the same Kelsey. Thanks for the encouragement!
Yay! It’s always been so hard to explain why I love the Empress so much when I’m not really the ‘sit around in fields of flowers’ type. It is because she epitomizes femme for me! The war paintiness of lipstick and the power of lovin your body. She is the original boss-ass bitch! I say again: yay!
I LOVE this description of The Empress!!
Does it have to be very specific to Rider-Waite? Two of the decks I use most often have different card conventions (one in particular has extra cards). Also usually I find connection based on the graphics on the cards and what they evoke.
Nope, you can use any deck (as long as it’s tarot) – if it’s an extra card, like in the Silicon Dawn tarot for example, you could put a line at the top explaining which deck the card is from?
Thanks for this – I’ll amend the ‘submit’ guidance now to make it clearer.
If you get anyone identifying as The Happy Squirrel I will be so amused.
(context: http://touchstonetarot.com/happysquirrel.html)
I definitely submitted something for the original idea of the project and then was going to submit for what it ultimately became but got caught up in all kinds of school and family things. But it’s such a rad awesome wonderful thing and I am absolutely going to come up with something, at some point. Hold me to that.
Yay! Hope life isn’t too manic Juliet (And I still have yr original submission if you need me to re-send it back!)
Not in print anymore but the collective tarot is uh-mazing!
it is it is it is.
Ugh yes!
The deck I’m dying to get my hands on isn’t explicitly queer, but can be read that way. It’s The Wooden Tarot. I ADORE the High Priestess Card.
http://www.skullgarden.net/art/the-wooden-tarot/
omg my picture is on here!! my day was just made :)
In other queer tarot happenings – http://slowholler.com/
OMG, thank you for sharing this!! What a beautiful project… I’d love to share it here as part of Fool’s Journey!
is this only open for folks who use a more traditional Celtic/Druid/white folk earth magic based deck? For instance my deck I use, uses nothing but animals.
You can submit your story using any tarot card as the vehicle Colin – it doesn’t matter what type of deck you have (or whether you own a tarot deck at all).
I did a whole spread.
Judgement, representing how I thought everyone would judge me if I came out.
Justice, representing how well I was treated by other people after coming out. Because I accept others as they are, others do the same for me.
3 Of Swords, I had my heart broken a few times after coming out.
The Wheel Of Fortune, but I recovered from it once I realized life is what you make it. Every day is a new one.
8 Of Cups, I’m in the process of moving to a better job that is more accepting of queer folk.
Wow, Sharell, thanks for sharing this xx