My first tarot deck was the Alchemical Deck, which I don't think is in print anymore. But my best friend had one and she'd read my cards so many times that it just worked for me. But I bought it for myself, and I don't keep it wrapped, though I do keep it in a box, just for practical purposes. And I don't tend to let other folks touch it unless we're doing a reading together, which is another one of those weird rules. And that first desk you bought for yourself? It's the deck I bought for my son for his first deck, and I didn't even bother to tell him any of the rules because, seriously, why? They only make sense if they help you put yourself in the right frame of mind to channel something bigger than yourself through the cards, to be the "oracular vessel" if we're going to be super vocabulary-precious about it. They don't have any value or meaning in and of themselves.
I do think to offer yourself to other people as an oracle is serious business and you should take it seriously, treat the cards and the process with some respect. But what that looks like is entirely individual.
Thanks for this interview. It was lovely to be a fly on your wall.
I hope that anyone who has the pleasure of introducing Meg at an event will begin with the phrase "highly celebrated, always appreciated, never maligned" because that is GOLD. Reading this interview had me smiling, laughing, and nodding in agreement. I share the same ascendant and Moon as Meg and related to much of what she said about working in spurts - reminded me of what AliceSparklyKat wrote about Gemini risings & their Scorpio 6H/Taurus 12H.
Finding you both & hearing your personal history(ies) with religion and how you moved away from that oppressive environment toward more nurturing, safe spiritual practices helps me better understand my own experiences growing up in an evangelical Christian religion. You're both pouring out the shot of courage I need to share my own stories. Thank you, Jeanna and Meg, for that gift.
My mind is in pieces all over my living room after reading this. My dad was a Lutheran pastor but he left and we converted to Anglican, but then converted to Catholic, but then my dad came out and my parents divorced. And all of this happened before I was 12. Catholicism/Christianity eventually left me broken and empty so, in my mid 30s, I quit and went full blown, Richard-Dawkins-obsessed Atheist. But that also left me empty and I craved connection to the universe. About this time I stumbled into Tarot/Astrology/Wicca. I’m a proper Capricorn sun, Virgo moon/rising/stellium, which makes me feel like I have to know the rules perfectly to break the rules (the “deck gift” struggle was real!!) So my path was a little rocky and this interview made me feel SEEN. In short, basically I always feel like an esoteric phony. And yet I can’t stop seagoat climbing/swimming. As of this recent New Moon in Aquarius, I’ve found myself smack dab in the middle of a Tarot project here on Substack where I’m using the major arcana story arc to write/draw a comic about a melancholy skeleton with a secret. I’m unauthorized to do this, but Tarot told me I can and for the first time in my 43 years of trying and failing to find my “thing,” I’ve finally found my thing, despite not being an expert in Tarot nor comics.
TL;DR: this glorious interview is another signal from the Beyond (in which I’ve grown to believe again) that the breadcrumbs are real and I need to keep snacking. I’m overwhelmed with gratitude that the U delivered you both to my little world. I simply cannot wait to read your book, Meg.
My first tarot deck was the Alchemical Deck, which I don't think is in print anymore. But my best friend had one and she'd read my cards so many times that it just worked for me. But I bought it for myself, and I don't keep it wrapped, though I do keep it in a box, just for practical purposes. And I don't tend to let other folks touch it unless we're doing a reading together, which is another one of those weird rules. And that first desk you bought for yourself? It's the deck I bought for my son for his first deck, and I didn't even bother to tell him any of the rules because, seriously, why? They only make sense if they help you put yourself in the right frame of mind to channel something bigger than yourself through the cards, to be the "oracular vessel" if we're going to be super vocabulary-precious about it. They don't have any value or meaning in and of themselves.
I do think to offer yourself to other people as an oracle is serious business and you should take it seriously, treat the cards and the process with some respect. But what that looks like is entirely individual.
Thanks for this interview. It was lovely to be a fly on your wall.
I hope that anyone who has the pleasure of introducing Meg at an event will begin with the phrase "highly celebrated, always appreciated, never maligned" because that is GOLD. Reading this interview had me smiling, laughing, and nodding in agreement. I share the same ascendant and Moon as Meg and related to much of what she said about working in spurts - reminded me of what AliceSparklyKat wrote about Gemini risings & their Scorpio 6H/Taurus 12H.
Finding you both & hearing your personal history(ies) with religion and how you moved away from that oppressive environment toward more nurturing, safe spiritual practices helps me better understand my own experiences growing up in an evangelical Christian religion. You're both pouring out the shot of courage I need to share my own stories. Thank you, Jeanna and Meg, for that gift.
My mind is in pieces all over my living room after reading this. My dad was a Lutheran pastor but he left and we converted to Anglican, but then converted to Catholic, but then my dad came out and my parents divorced. And all of this happened before I was 12. Catholicism/Christianity eventually left me broken and empty so, in my mid 30s, I quit and went full blown, Richard-Dawkins-obsessed Atheist. But that also left me empty and I craved connection to the universe. About this time I stumbled into Tarot/Astrology/Wicca. I’m a proper Capricorn sun, Virgo moon/rising/stellium, which makes me feel like I have to know the rules perfectly to break the rules (the “deck gift” struggle was real!!) So my path was a little rocky and this interview made me feel SEEN. In short, basically I always feel like an esoteric phony. And yet I can’t stop seagoat climbing/swimming. As of this recent New Moon in Aquarius, I’ve found myself smack dab in the middle of a Tarot project here on Substack where I’m using the major arcana story arc to write/draw a comic about a melancholy skeleton with a secret. I’m unauthorized to do this, but Tarot told me I can and for the first time in my 43 years of trying and failing to find my “thing,” I’ve finally found my thing, despite not being an expert in Tarot nor comics.
TL;DR: this glorious interview is another signal from the Beyond (in which I’ve grown to believe again) that the breadcrumbs are real and I need to keep snacking. I’m overwhelmed with gratitude that the U delivered you both to my little world. I simply cannot wait to read your book, Meg.