I am a sucker for decks that come with built in lore. My favorite example of this is the Ghosts and Spirits Tarot by Lisa Hunt. This deck, similarly, comes packed with cards that feature many various yokai from Japanese lore. Yokai, for those that do not know, is the Japanese term that covers a large variety of spirits and monsters from lore.

In tarot, the Six of Wands is a beacon of victory, recognition, and progress after adversity. It carries the energy of triumph, not as a random stroke of luck, but as the result of focused effort and unwavering determination. This card serves as a reminder that success is not just external—it is deeply tied to your internal alignment, sense of purpose, and ability to find your center even in challenging times.

I love writing and love using the tarot to guide the way. For November, I want to show you how I use the tarot in writing by posting short snippets of a never written work based on an idea I had a while ago.

The Ace of Swords often is said to represent truth, mental clarity, inspiration, new ideas, breakthroughs, success, and those aha! moments. Like all four Aces in the tarot, these are moments that can be fleeting and thus moments of opportunity ripe for the picking.

Released in August 2021, the Tarot Vintage is a Lo Scarabeo deck that takes the RWS images and has them on linen cards stock with this tea stained parchment aged looking design. The deck reads like all other RWS decks and yet has a captivating air around it.

But that isn't all the Hanged Man is good at. I struggled with this card for a long time, hitting a mental wall whenever he would come up, it got incredibly frustrating incredibly quickly. This is a great card for those whose minds are slightly left of center. Those that find themselves outside the neurotypical spheres that much of society inhabits. The Hanged Man is not looking at the same map you are in the exact same way you are. Instead, this upside down figure sees multiple strings he could pull, roads he could wander down. 

For many, when this card appears they shrink away from the pain that this card communicates. Traditionally, this card is an indicator of heartbreak, loss, suffering, and emotional trauma.

For many people, whether you are part of one generation or another, the tarot is a solace. It acts as a guide, a thing that allows us to center ourselves, and provide us with doorways through which we can help ourselves to become unstuck. In modern times, eyes are riveted to the news as black and brown bodies continue to pile up while racism, bigotry, and ignorance hold the reins in more than one country. 

As I first laid the cards out, I was immediately taken in by the richness of each image, and found that I could read intuitively with it quite well, as well as with the book meanings, because all the requisite symbolism was present.  The kit comes with a full color book though the meanings are somewhat cut and dry. I would have loved to see something done with the book to help bolster this otherworldly, utterly magical deck. 

I brought with me the Wild Unknown Tarot and as we went over the cards, sorting them out, I noticed the Emperor and the Empress. In the cards they are depicted as trees with a moon featured in each. 

Balance is something we all strive for but how to go about getting it? Some people try each day to balance work and pleasure, so that they get equal amounts—only to find that that balance becomes harder to maintain every day.

The After Tarot is a unique spin on the snapshot images of tarot cards and what takes place immediately following the moment previously captured. This deck aims to shed further insight onto a set of cards that have been capturing hearts and minds of all ages since their inception in 1912. 

A figure stands on an unsteady surface, balancing precariously. In their hands they hold two swords in the shape of an 'X' across their chest. In some card decks they have their eyes closed, in others they are blindfolded. This is the Two of Swords. 

The Lovers is a card that can cause many querents to rejoice. This card certainly means love is in the air for them. But it can also mean a lot of work is on the horizon. Think about it, a lot of long, committed relationships take time to grow. They take effort to maintain and we as a society are fascinated by those who manage to stay together for decades on end; often asking them: "How did you do it?"

The Tower is often heralded as a card that signifies downfall, either of our ideas or practices, all the way up to things on a macro scale. Of course, this is often accomplished via disaster, chaos, and disruption. But does that have to be all?

First, and foremost, the cards exist on a plane of consciousness like our own. Not only do the cards reflect-at any given moment-the thoughts and attitudes of the person interpreting them, but they also change as both points of view and situations shift. For example, you may do a reading on a job prospect one day and divine that this job is totally yours. Imagine your dismay if you receive a phone call later say that they filled the position. Bummer, for sure. Grabbing the cards again you ask what happened, and the cards tell you that they hired someone from within the company. This could have been a last minute applicant or their goal all along-either way you're looking at a situation that can and did change. 

When I was about seventeen, several years after beginning my journey with tarot, I had my first experience that I consider truly supernatural with the cards. I was reading a friend at a coffee shop and as we discussed the cards, I could not come up with an explanation for the Queen of Cups.  In particular, I was absolutely fumbling when it came to who this person was. She was getting frustrated with me, too, I could tell. I had a moment then, as we both stared at this card where I felt like someone was trying to get my attention. I looked up and in my mind I saw this woman gesturing frantically to herself. She would point to my client, as she stood behind her, and then herself and shake her head. She then began to mimic a child growing up-using her hand to make them grow taller and taller. 

Melanie Marquis and Scott Murphy have brought us a superb deck that quickly became my working deck for the foreseeable future. Modern Spellcaster's Tarot is a deck built for those that use tarot in their daily magical practices, visual meditations, or simply as a affirmation to focus on during the day.