Confessions of a Non-Tarot Pagan

It’s practically a given that if you have a pagan nearby, a tarot deck will also be in close proximity. I, myself, have no less than six different decks in my possession at this moment. And that doesn’t count the numerous decks I’ve bought and passed on to others over the years. I have a dirty little secret though: I’m not really a tarot person.

Oh, believe me, I’ve tried. And tried. And tried. I bought my first deck, Karen Vogel and Vicki Noble’s Motherpeace Tarot, in 1986. I appreciated the feminist

vibe and multi-cultural artwork at the time, even though it's considered problematic today. I even used the Empress card as a focal point for the Lamaze breathing I did during my first child’s birth in 1988. This deck was so important to me as a young woman who was feeling her way into “real” adulthood, motherhood, and personhood. That cannot be understated. Still, while the deck was meaningful and important to me, I never got beyond the beginner stage of doing readings, even for myself.

I wondered if maybe a different deck might be better. I tried several others based

on artwork I thought was lovely, which probably read as

“connection” to me. They weren’t better. Then I discovered the Revelations Tarot by Zach Wong. It is a stunning deck. Colorful, well-executed, and just gorgeous. What’s more, the illustrations on the cards very cleverly show the “reversals.” I thought, this is exactly what I need! Reader, it was not what I needed.

The most recent deck I purchased (over a decade ago) is Courtney Davis’ Celtic Tarot. It’s the deck Nicole uses, and she recommended it.

I’ve used it for years now, and I’m pretty comfortable with it. It has lovely illustrations, and the images sort of make sense to me. But, like every other deck before it, it did not reach up off the cards, grab me by the throat, and declare, “Querant, I am the tarot deck you’ve needed all along.”

So what is it with me? First off, I should point out that the whole business of “learning styles” you hear so much about is a bunch of pseudo-science. There is no one learning style a person has that is the way their brain works. People are learners, and we learn in many modalities. That said, I do think people have comfort levels with different media. I love art, both viewing and creating. I’m fairly educated regarding art history and technique. I love art! 100% a supporter of the arts! I just don’t think it connects with me on a visceral level. I imagine I will always do tarot readings with the little booklet of card meanings clutched tightly in my little hands.

The Word Oracle, then, started out as a joke. More than one time during a tarot

reading, I muttered, “Why don’t they just put the meaning on the front of the card?” The idea, however, has stuck with me for almost forty years, since I first used that Motherpeace deck. And that’s how The Word Oracle got its start. It is, at its heart, a tarot deck. The cards follow the same pattern, majors, court cards, and suits. The fronts, however, show word clouds instead of visual art for the querant’s eyes and psyche to focus on for answers and advice to their questions. See what I did there? I put the meaning on the front of the card!

--Beth