Does this make me a witch?

Maryn's Guide to Tarot

Getting back on the HUJI train

I’ve been dabbling with tarot cards lately. Ordinarily, that wouldn’t be a big deal, but given my religious background, it’s kind of a huge deal.

I partly credit my piqued interest in it to

Caroline Cala Donofrio

’s newsletter

Between a Rock and a Card Place

, where at the end of her weekly posts, she interprets a tarot card. I was skeptical of tarot at first, but her readings opened my perspective to how powerful the practice can be. I love what she says about it:

“As most modern readers will tell you, the tarot is not about fortunetelling, nor is it about neat, definitive answers. The cards are simply one path to reflection, a way of better knowing ourselves and others through universal themes.”

Tarot is simply a path to reflection! A way of better knowing ourselves and others! Basically, my favorite sort of thing.

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I imagine a lot of folks here are new-ish to the concept of tarot, so here’s a silly little guide to my experience with it.

Maryn’s Guide to Tarot

1. Become secretly intrigued by tarot but speak of it to no one because you grew up with the belief that anything associated with witchcraft and the occult is more or less of the devil

2. Over time, start not to care if people associate tarot with the devil because a lot of that seems to be rooted in misogyny and patriarchy! And tarot seems like a genuinely meaningful spiritual tool

3. Very nervously write about your faith journey and hint subtly that you’re in a new era of spiritual and self-discovery

4. Feel empowered by sharing your story and FINALLY ORDER A TAROT DECK!!!

   1. Realize after ordering that apparently, there’s a superstition that you’re supposed to be gifted your first tarot deck… And say, “Whoops” and move on

5. Get very excited and somewhat impulsively invite some friends who are on similar spiritual journeys to enjoy an afternoon of tarot readings with you

6. Receive the tarot deck in the mail and realize you better figure out how to use it before your upcoming tarot gathering

7. Sheepishly Google “how to do a tarot reading” and follow its steps

   1. Learn about the two types of cards

      1. Major Arcana cards represent overarching themes in your life

      2. Minor Arcana cards represent your daily interactions with the world

   2. Cleanse the energy of the deck (this can be done many ways, such as visualizing a white light filling the cards and you)

   3. Set an intention (i.e. “I am seeking direction about my career and its past, present, and future”)

   4. Intuitively shuffle the cards

   5. Intuitively draw a spread of cards based on your intention (i.e. a spread of three cards for your past, present, and future)

   6. Reveal the spread and find its meaning (with help from Google because you’re learning, but someday you’ll know all the cards’ meanings and be able to craft your own interpretations)

   7. Have your mind BLOWN because your spread is eerily spot on and exactly what you needed and wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, it’s so good to be alive and human and a spiritual being

8. Become slightly obsessed with tarot and start pulling a card each day as part of your morning reflection ritual

9. Prepare to have friends over for the aforementioned tarot reading afternoon

10. Watch in awe as your friends have their own powerful experiences with tarot and feel grateful that such a thing exists to help us find meaning and understand ourselves and each other

11. Continue practicing tarot and honing your intuition and ability to find meaning

12. Share it without shame because MAYBE YOU ARE A WITCH

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My first tarot reading

Here is the first spread I ever pulled! I had my career in mind and pulled a card for my past, present, and future. As a reminder, these cards were pulled by intuition — I didn’t know which cards I was pulling as I pulled them (which is part of what makes the experience so powerful).

OK Tarot by Adam JK

Past: The Wheel of Fortune

The Wheel of Fortune is a Major Arcana card that can represent a critical turning point and the opportunity to take an entirely new direction. Yup. A few years ago, I took a huge chance on myself and my career when I decided to go to grad school and attempt a career switch. My life is completely different now as a result — for the better.

Present: The Six of Wands

The Six of Wands is a Minor Arcana card that represents achieving an important milestone, receiving public recognition, and self-confidence. I’ve written about my lack of confidence related to career stuff, and how I went to grad school hoping to make a career switch and then graduated into a horrible job market. I’m still working the same job I’ve had since I got my bachelor’s five and a half years ago. And lately, things at work have been looking up! I’ve been able to use what I learned from my master’s to push for change and make meaningful contributions, and I’ve been recognized for my work. I’m feeling more confident at work than I ever have. And it feels really good.

Future: The High Priestess

The High Priestess is a Major Arcana card that represents a signal to tune into your intuition and inner wisdom, or the Divine Feminine. It appears when the connection between yourself and the unseen world is thin. I’ve always been a highly spiritual, sensitive person, but in recent years, I’ve had to reexamine my relationship with spirituality and more or less start anew. Relearning how to connect to my intuition has been a massive theme in my life and THIS CARD KEEPS SHOWING UP FOR ME. It’s wild. It’s not surprising at all to me that this was the message I got from my future career card: to trust my inner, higher self and follow where it leads.

I am a tarot believer.

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I’d love to know…

1. Have you tried tarot? If so, what has been your experience with it?

2. If you haven’t tried tarot, what are your feelings about it? Does it feel scary or out-of-bounds, like it did for me?

3. What practices do you use to reflect, find meaning, and connect to your intuition?

Share below, if you like!

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Other goings-on in Maryn World

• I am truly embracing fall this year. When we lived abroad, I got out of the practice of celebrating fall like an American (shockingly, pumpkin everything isn’t a thing in Paris). This year we’ve been shopping at Trader Joe’s and making the most of it as a many-splendored fall destination. (The spiced cider has been surprisingly good, and not as sweet as their sparkling cider.)

• I’ve been weaning myself off of social media and I’m quite proud! My goal is to stop posting there and to move all my public online sharing to this space. I’ve moved my private online sharing to a Marco Polo Sharecast, which has replaced sharing to my Instagram Close Friends Stories. I don’t know that I’ll be able to leave social media for good anytime soon — there are still so many benefits, especially staying in touch with friends and finding inspiration and community. But I’m trying to take charge of my relationship with it so it doesn’t consume so much of my life and brain space. Baby steps!

• I finally got myself a visual timer to help with my ADHD time blindness and it’s my new little bestie.

• My body is highly sensitive to a lot of things. Sometimes that results in sensory-triggered migraines and nausea, and then there’s nothing I can do but lay in bed in the dark with an ice pack and a pillow over my head. These episodes seem to be happening more often lately which is annoying! I’m really careful about what I allow into my sensory experience (food, smells, light, sounds, clothes, etc) so once again I find myself on a mission to figure out the new culprits in the disturbance of my sensory oasis.

• My birthday is coming up. I’m determined to make it a very good one after last year’s was kind of a dud, thanks to the most stressful grad school project ever. One thing on my birthday list? Trying out semi-permanent tattoos. Maryn is going truly wild now. Watch out, world.

• I’ve spent far too many hours of my life staying up to date with Taylor Swift / Travis Kelce developments. I’m hoping I’ve reached a saturation point because I CAN’T GO ON LIKE THIS.

• After falling in love with

  Jess Pan
  ’s newsletter, I started reading her book, Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come: One Introvert's Year of Saying Yes. And wow, it reminds me so much of the self-discovery journey I’ve been on over the past several years catalyzed by our move abroad. Figuring out how to not be afraid of other humans and believe that people are generally friendly and good and want to connect with you — ah! It’s wild to think how far I’ve come. I’m forever working on how to befriend new people and try new things, but I’m proud of where I am compared to five years ago.

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I’m doing my best to stay aware of what’s going on in Palestine and Israel. One of the most important things we can do is continue demanding a cease-fire. If you’re in the U.S., you can contact your reps here. Everyone can sign Amnesty International’s petition for world leaders here.

Until next time,

Maryn (is here)

A rather vain pose but I promise I tried not-vain poses first and they just didn’t work out