Spirit Within Tarot

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Spirit Within Tarot [/caption]

My dear friend and tarot mentor showed me this deck recently and while so much inside me rebelled against it, there was something I was powerfully drawn to.

On the back of the box of the Spirit Within Tarot by Steven Bright, it says, “The card silhouettes transcend age, gender, and ethnicity…” Well, if by “transcending” you mean thin, rich, pretty white people represent everyone, then...hmm. I mean, to my mind, that’s the kind of statement that upholds white supremacy and capitalism. And what’s the value in “transcending” age, gender, and ethnicity? I think you have to be operating from a particular social position to uphold that as something valuable.

I think if Bright were serious about it, he would have included Black hairstyles, big bodies, old bodies, queer bodies in these silhouettes. Thus, I feel conflicted about this deck, because as much as I recoil at the class privilege and white centering and pretty privilege that I see on every card in this deck, there is nevertheless SOMETHING in them that I find deeply compelling, and I think that’s a testament to Bright’s artistry and deep knowledge of tarot.

I haven’t been posting much lately. I’ve been working with the Hermit archetype and I guess it’s real because I haven’t much felt like sharing my inner world on social media. I think that’s a good thing. Between the riotous beauty of late Spring and continued social isolation and going within—it’s not really been possible for me to present my thoughts in a digestible format.

COVID has closed so many doors I never even knew were doors (hugging, gathering in the zendo, dinner at a restaurant with friends) and is also opening doors I never knew were there. How to hold the horror and possibilities? My spiritual practice, putting my hands in the Earth, listening to Spring, dear friends, and rediscovering playfulness are a few things that are helping me at the moment.

What is helping you hold it all right now?