Praise for The Joy of Tarot
“This is the perfect book if you’re looking to explore and connect with mysticism and yourself. Fernie presents a beautiful and unique look at tarot. Through their guidance, we can cultivate a better understanding of ourselves and the cards.”
—Lisa Stardust, astrologer and author
“A warm, witty, and deeply empowering guide for the modern seeker. The Joy of Tarot strips away the intimidation, inviting readers of all backgrounds to claim the cards as their own. It is rare to find a teacher who offers this much expert wisdom while making you feel like you’re learning from a best friend.”
—Elliot Adam, bestselling author of Fearless Tarot and Tarot in Love
“A modern guide for anyone who has been searching for the perfect tarot fit but hasn’t found it. With Fernie as your trusted teacher, you may be well on your way to becoming someone’s favorite fortune teller, too.”
—Theresa Reed “The Tarot Lady, ” author of The Cards You’re Dealt: How to Deal When Life Gets Real
“If you want to fall in love with tarot and with yourself as a reader, put yourself in Fernie’s capable and fabulous hands. Between these pages style and substance mingle, creating an alchemical matrix that will transform your readings.”
—Barbara Moore, author of Steampunk Tarot and The Art of Tarot Spreads
“A hands-on guide bursting with love and wisdom, The Joy of Tarot is a true gem among tarot books. Fernie beautifully and thoughtfully breaks down the complexities of tarot, offering practical tips, tools, and insights. A must-read for anyone looking to expand and deepen their tarot practice.”
—Stephanie Buscema, artist of Silver Acorn Tarot
“Fernie fully makes you fall in love with them through their writing and storytelling. Their transparency about their journey creates a feeling of safety for the reader as they dive into a world that can be quite daunting.”
—Anthony Lightz, psychic medium
“Fernie writes with such beautiful personality, which only highlights their vast and profound knowledge of tarot and fortune-telling. This book is full of charm and wit, while giving the reader an in-depth dive into how to start, maintain, and grow their tarot journey.”
—Adam Dalton Blake, designer and illustrator; creator of The Star and the Stud Tarot Deck
“Fernie teaches tarot the way your favorite tía would, overflowing with chisme and soul and the kind of loving regañada you need when you would have known the answer but weren’t listening properly. This book is a beautifully balanced combination of memoir and manual.”
—Mario Elias, artist and author of Beloved Disciples
“Fernie’s warm and inclusive energy radiates throughout this book, which feels more like a cozy chat over tea than a study session.”
—Renee Watt, astrologer and co-creator of the Elvira Tarot
“A great introduction to tarot delivered like a reunion with an old friend, full of the author’s personality and playful love for their craft.”
—Thomas Witholt, author of the Seaborn Kipper and founder of Hermit’s Mirror
“A skillful balance of education and mysticism for those seeking to begin or enhance their tarot practice. Detailed guides, quiz reviews, and guidance for journaling ensures readers will be able to successfully retain the information.”
—Gume Laurel III, author of the International Latino Book Award Winner
The Brujos of Borderland High
About the Author
As a loud and proud non-binary queer Latine fortune teller, Fernie is an education consultant and the sole proprietor of Golden Mirror Fortunes, their tarot and fortune-telling business. They use tarot and magic to help people find their path and ignite their inner glittering flame. Visit them at GoldenMirrorFortunes.com.
Reading the Cards with Daring and Delight
The Joy of Tarot: Reading the Cards with Daring and Delight Copyright © 2026 by Fernie. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, including internet usage, without written permission from Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd., except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner for the purpose of training artificial intelligence technologies or systems.
first edition
First Printing, 2026
Book design by Rebecca Zins
Cover design by Shira Atakpu
Tarot Original 1909 Deck © 2021 with art created by Pamela Colman Smith and Arthur Edward Waite. Used with permission of Lo Scarabeo.
Library of Congress Cataloging-In-Publication Data
Name: Fernie, author.
Title: The joy of tarot : reading the cards with daring and delight / Fernie.
Description: 1. | Woodbury, Minnesota : Llewellyn, [2026] | Summary: “A joyous and empowering method for tarot readers of all levels for interpreting tarot cards, exploring creative spreads, and gaining a fresh perspective”—Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2026024063 (print) | LCCN 2026024064 (ebook) | ISBN 9780738782959 trade paperback | ISBN 9780738782959 ebook
Subjects: LCSH: Tarot
Classification: LCC BF1879.T2 F485 2026 (print) | LCC BF1879.T2 (ebook)
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2026024063
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2026024064
Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd. does not participate in, endorse, or have any authority or responsibility concerning private business transactions between our authors and the public.
All mail addressed to the author is forwarded but the publisher cannot, unless specifically instructed by the author, give out an address or phone number.
Any internet references contained in this work are current at publication time, but the publisher cannot guarantee that a specific location will continue to be maintained. Please refer to the publisher’s website for links to authors’ websites and other sources.
Llewellyn Publications
A Division of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd. 2143 Wooddale Drive Woodbury, MN 55125-2989 www.llewellyn.com
Printed in the United States of America
GPSR Representation:
UPI-2M PLUS d.o.o., Medulic´eva 20, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia matt.parsons@upi2mbooks.hr
This book is dedicated to all those who feel unloved, unheard, marginalized, and forgotten—to everyone who needs someone to show them grace and compassion. May this book bring you delight, may it help you be daring, may it sprinkle a little bit of glitter and fairy dust, and may it be a place you can call home. You are safe here, and I will take care of you. ¡Los quiero mucho, mis amores!
Contents
The Tarot Spreads and Where to Find Them • x
Foreword by Theresa Reed • xiii
Introduction • 1
Chapter 1: Peering into the World of Tarot • 13
Chapter 2: The Cards • 23
The Major Arcana, 25
The Wands, 71
The Cups, 101
The Swords, 131
The Pentacles, 161
Chapter 3: Give Me a Spread • 191
Chapter 4: Quiz Yourself • 267
Chapter 5: You Better Werk-Book (Plus Some Journal Prompts for Your Nerves) • 295
A Conclusion and an Invitation: ¡Adios, Mis Amores! ¡Los Quiero Mucho! • 317
Acknowledgments • 319
The Tarot Spreads and Where to Find Them
One-Card Spreads
Card of the Day, 195
Fortune, 198
One-Card Answer, 200
Two-Card Spreads
This or That, 202
Do or Don’t, 204
The Vs. Spread 206
Three-Card Spreads
The Fernie Special 208
Past/Present/Future, 211
Situation/Action/Outcome, 214
Reflection, 216
Four-Card Spreads
Should I Stay/Should I Go, 220
Choice One/Choice Two, 223
Five-Card Spreads
Radiating Light, 226
Past/Present/Future/Obstacles/Outcome, 230
Growth Through Action, 233
Leadership Coaching, 237
Five Elements Scrying, 241
Six-Card Spread
Mini Cross, 246
Ten-Card Spread
The Celtic Cross, 252
Twelve-Card Spread
Happy Birthday! 259
FOREWORD
There is a theory that Geminis are always in search of their missing twin. Perhaps that explains why we seem fickle to the rest of the world. It’s true we have a hard time settling down. Why commit to one person when there are so many interesting fish in the proverbial sea? On some level, the worry that something or someone better could be “out there” might be the fuel that keeps the quest active, even when a decision has been made. Maddening!
Like a typical Gemini, I have that restless spirit. In my wild youth, I had many romantic adventures and a trail of broken hearts in my wake. One of my exes called me “frighteningly independent,” while another accused me of taking off when the going gets tough. Both statements are true. However, these weren’t the only reasons why I bailed without so much as a glance backward in the rearview mirror.
I needed a true intellectual connection, a meeting of like minds, and all the space just in case my wandering heart needed to breathe (or roam). My first husband was a fellow Gemini, but somewhere along the way, he missed the free spirit memo. Instead, he needed certainty, something I’ve never been good at giving. I broke his tender heart into a million shards. While part of me felt awful about it, the Gemini side was already fixated on the future.
A few years later, my cosmic twin arrived in the form of a lanky Virgo death metal musician, a much better fit. We bonded over music, art, and long conversations. Most importantly, our mercurial natures were aligned, with enough space between us so we could fully exhale. It’s been over thirty years—proof to myself that I can commit when it’s right.
This need to connect like two perfect little puzzle pieces isn’t relegated solely to romantic partners. Other relationships come and go, sometimes due to life, other times a lack of genuine intellectual rapport or shared wit. Geminis need mental stimulation, and if it’s not there, the partnership will not last. No offense.
My longest friendships have always been with fellow smart-mouths who enjoy a snarky joke and don’t take life too seriously. And when it comes to peers, the same rules apply.
Many years ago, I had a tarot reading from someone who wasn’t a professional. It knocked my socks all the way off. For one, he was mind-blowingly accurate, down to the finest detail.
FOREWORD
Like me, he was interested in the divination aspect of tarot. The introspection thing has a place, but my heart belonged to fortune-telling, not the self-discovery part.
Because this was life before cell phones, I lost contact with him. Ever since, I’ve been searching for a tarot twin, someone who reads like me and that guy. Tall order? Yes. But lo and behold, my quest was finally answered when I met my new favorite fortune teller, Fernie. We bumped into each other on social media (so modern!) and something clicked immediately. Although the glittery, colorful caftan and megawatt smile certainly caught my eye, that wasn’t it; it was Fernie’s reading style. Instead of shying away from the F word, he embraced fortune-telling. I needed a reading from him, so I jumped at the chance when he offered to read for my birthday.
He cut to the chase, got right down to divination, and gave me a twelve-month forecast that resonated. I referred back to that reading throughout the year, amazed as the predictions unfolded. Best of all, his advice kept me grounded.
During our session, I also learned he was a fellow Gemini. Kismet! Fernie is the yang to my yin, the cookie to my cutter, the missing part to my fortune-telling–loving heart.
You now hold in your hands The Joy of Tarot: Reading the Cards with Daring and Delight, a beautiful book based on his decades of divination wisdom, lovingly explained so you can begin reading tarot with confidence and a side of dazzle. This book isn’t just the same old “here’s the traditional meaning” tarot book. Instead, you get various ways to interpret each card, which helps you determine your own style.
After all, that’s the one thing we Geminis want more than anything: While we desire a twin, we never want a carbon copy. We prefer individuality. While that may sound like a contradiction, that’s another true Gemini trait: the ability to find common ground without conforming.
The Joy of Tarot is a modern guide for anyone who has been searching for the perfect tarot fit but hasn’t found it. With Fernie as your trusted teacher, you may be well on your way to becoming someone’s favorite fortune teller, too.
Theresa Reed, author of The Cards You’re Dealt: How to Deal When Life Gets Real—A Tarot Guidebook
Introduction
Picture it: McAllen, Texas; June 28, 2019. A tall, ravishing creature is setting up a booth in a convention center, the orange background slightly clashing with their purple Jigglypuff T-shirt. Their sister, Paloma, is meticulously placing small gems on a shelf; the purple-clad deity is prancing around, covering a long folding table with a secondhand vintage black velvet curtain repurposed as a tablecloth and decorating it with various mystic-looking knickknacks they found at the same thrift store.
Fernie, as the deity is called, finalizes the scene by placing a few tarot decks, some crystals, and a pricing chart inspired by Sailor Moon’s magical attacks in carefully curated fashion around the booth. With everything done, they hug their sister, smiling a bright, broad smile, and squeal, “We did it!” Paloma hugs them back, rolls her eyes, and retorts with a “What’s this we?” before pushing them away with a smile and a snicker.
Paloma takes a look at everything and then hands Fernie a long white sign. Fernie takes it, incredulity and excitement and joy and love and all sorts of other glittery emotions filling them to the brim, and holds it up; Paloma senses the moment and captures it with her phone. That sign read Golden Mirror Fortunes, and that day was the birth of your favorite fortune teller.
That fortune-telling deity with the bright smile is now writing to you, my dear reader, to help you find the joy of tarot, to help you find your intuition and voice, and to help you make your world—and hopefully the world at large—a more daring and delightful place. It’s a tall order for a book but one that I think we can tackle together, corazón.
First things first, mis amores—allow me to introduce myself! My name is Fernando Javier Cosmas Olivarez Salinas Jr., but please call me Fernie. I grew up in a small town on the southern border of Texas, where magic mingled with the mundane and where I could feel the spirits of the world alive in every breeze, whisper of leaves, and glorious sunset.
May 2019: your favorite fortune teller is born!
Fernie, fabulous in 2025!
According to some of the small-town stories of where I grew up, I came to magic through heritage, though I don’t think it necessary or the only way to do so. There are some apocryphal rumors that my great-grandfather and his son, my great-uncle, were both curanderos, or folk healers, and that people would come to them with their problems, seeking advice or herbs or spells to help them along in their lives. I never really knew them, and the veracity of their existence is vigorously debated amongst my family, but all of us knew that our family was slightly more intuitive and in touch with the spirits than others.
I remember the day my own intuition began to shine its light. I was sitting outside on my grandma’s driveway with my mom and two of her sisters in the middle of a south Texas summer, with a big citronella candle burning in the middle of us. As I was only about five, I wasn’t super interested in the chisme they were sharing about our neighbors and the various slights they’d inflicted upon each other, so in my boredom I began to stare at the flame and let my mind wander. Their voices began to fade, and I remember my mom saying, “Mijito, don’t stare too hard or you’ll get lost,” but my grandma dismissed her warning and encouraged me to continue.
I didn’t get lost in some void, thankfully, but something did shift. Even though I was still just a young child, my family began to trust my intuition implicitly. They knew I was touched by enchantment and wanted me to help guide them. From then on, my grandma and her daughters would reach out to me when they had strange dreams, asking me to interpret them, or teach me about teas and herbs and their various uses. Even after all these years, I still make sure to always have a box of manzanilla tea in my cupboard, for there’s no better cure for what ails someone than a warm cup of chamomile tea and some gentle platica, which is the loving conversation witches are known to use to great effect.
From there, it was actually quite a short journey to becoming a fortune teller. Those childhood experiences with magic helped me see that my calling in life was to help make the world a better place through this gift—and to have a little fun along the way, too. I remember listening to my friends’ dreams over breakfast in high school or telling them to take peppermint tea to help a nervous stomach before the big game. My mom would tell me all about the different properties of the herbs, flowers, and trees around our neighborhood, saying which one was good for headaches or menstrual cramps or bothersome people. In college, game nights led me to using playing cards to help classmates answer the questions that I still get today: Does he like me? What job should I take? Am I on the right path? A friend and I would take walks around the park, looking for signs in the air to note when a test might go well or a crush might make themselves known. This gift continued to give me great joy, and I reveled in the ability to provide guidance and cheer to the people I loved most. It seemed more a little thing
I could do for others rather than something special and grand, and I was content to keep it that way. However, as with most things, necessity proved to be the chispa I needed to spur me to greater action.
After twenty years of being an amateur fortune teller, I finally purchased my first tarot deck. I’d always been afraid of getting one, thinking that somehow the purchase of something so occult was a line that shouldn’t be crossed, yet as soon as I opened the deck, the world around me seemed to just click more firmly into place. The pictures entranced me, whispering secrets into my soul and tickling my mind with beautiful mysteries ready to be solved. The deck was giant-sized, letting the pictures whisper all the more loudly; these cards are now the same ones I use every morning for my Card of the Day ritual. This deck has been with me through so much—cheating boyfriends, career woes and changes, celebrating milestones, supporting my friends—that by now I’m sure it’s achieved relic status, yet it persists in being used and reused, a testament to the enduring powers of tarot.
One of the things that also helped Golden Mirror Fortunes be born was my other career as an educator—first as a teacher, and then eventually as a school principal. I got to see the vast expanse of the human experience firsthand, either child-sized or writ large for adults, and saw just how much wisdom people could glean if they just understood their lives better. Being an educator and fortune teller aren’t so different; in both careers I listen, figure out what people need, and then give it to them in the way they can understand best. I’m grateful for my experiences as a teacher and principal because I think it made me a great fortune teller, and I think being a fortune teller made me a much better educator.
Around the same time I got my first deck (and while I was still a teacher), I was in the middle of a relationship with my first-ever boyfriend. We broke up after a few years; the love fizzled out, as is often the case in early relationships. The dissolution of our relationship was devastating, both emotionally but especially monetarily: I’d made some poor financial decisions during our relationship and now the consequences had come to call.
In thinking about what I could do, my options were limited. I was an assistant principal at the time, and the thought of working at a coffee shop or a retail store and seeing my students or their parents didn’t sit well with me. I looked to my trusty tarot cards and started shuffling while thinking, “How can I support myself financially during this time?” and the realization dawned on me before the first card was even laid down. Ay, Fernie, I thought, you could be a fortune teller!
I looked for the best telephone psychic networks, interviewed with one or two, and then got hired within a couple of weeks. This foray into professional reading taught me a lot about how to treat people with sensitivity, how to manage my time and my clients’ time, and how to
be empathetic to people’s plights when I had no other connection to them other than them calling me in their hour of need. I loved knowing that there were clients that would wait until my hours were posted to set up some time to chat with me, such as the lady who really just wanted someone to reassure her that her life wasn’t in total shambles or the guy who would only spend two minutes, rushing through his question so he could get some mystical advice on which financial decision was best. It was nice and fulfilling, and I felt good using my talents helping these people.
A few years into being a telephone psychic, I found myself entrenched in another notgreat relationship. While the previous one had been characterized by love but poor finances, this one had a decidedly different tone. While there was still love, the passion that we felt for each other quickly turned into abuse, with me as the victim; the fire in his heart turned destructive, isolating, and ultimately very toxic and harmful. When I finally was able to break free of this awful relationship, I was unmoored and adrift in a stormy sea.
Thankfully, in the twilight of our relationship, I had started an Instagram account for my tarot practice and named it Golden Mirror Fortunes. The name was born from its disparate parts: Golden, as my favorite color is gold, because what can be better than gold? Mirror because not only am I vain, but also because I envisioned myself as being a reflection of the world and using fortune-telling to help people see themselves and their paths. And Fortunes because I wanted to help people with all sorts of fortunes—from tarot to astrology to herbs to anything else people might need to make their lives more fortunate.
Much like the proverbial phoenix, your favorite fortune teller was born from the fiery funeral pyre of a disastrous relationship. The pain of the end of this relationship, coupled with the lessons learned from the first relationship, helped me see that I could take what I’d been through and forge it into wisdom that could strengthen other people. It made me realize how fortunate I was to no longer be in those situations, and then to want to help others find their own good fortune.
That same June in 2019 brings us all the way back to our time at the Pride celebration market, where the Jigglypuff T-shirt and gym shorts helped us kick off what has been one of the greatest joys in my life. Golden Mirror Fortunes and naming myself your favorite fortune teller (which hopefully I’m starting to earn!) are the sum total of my entire life, from the balmy evenings staring into candles to psychic phone calls to being a school principal helping students and families do better to listening carefully to clients crying about all the ways that life can be tough to celebrating with these same clients when life gets better—as it so often does.
Golden Mirror Fortunes was born of my ancestors, my friends, my experiences, my exes, my family, all of it. My fortune-telling practice celebrates queerness, honors the beauty of life, and strives to help make the community we live in even better. To do this, I celebrate and listen to the trailblazers who helped make this path possible. It is through the icons who have preceded me that I am able to stand before you and know who I am because they helped me see myself in ways I didn’t think I ever would.
I remember the first time I slipped into a custom couture caftan, made by a local seamstress, and luxuriated in how absolutely beautiful I felt. I felt like I was stepping into the robes of my idol Walter Mercado and could hear his immortal words “Con mucho, mucho amor” echo in my mind. Putting on my first pair of heels and flicking open a huge fan made me feel like RuPaul, towering over the world like some goddess of love and beauty. I could hear her telling me “Good luck, and don’t fuck it up!” every time I’d step into a market or a television studio or when I was writing an article for one of those impossibly fabulous magazines. The glitter on my face and covering my body, the exuberant dancing and performing, and the love of life was born of admiration for the disco divas of the past, especially Diana Ross and Donna Summer. These ladies helped me recognize that I am powerful in my otherness and that coming out as the Boss gave me the strength to be “hot stuff” and reminded me to “work hard for the money.”
We have little enough of pride and joy in queerness in our society, and if I can don a caftan, some jewelry, and some glitter and celebrate that queerness even more loudly, I shall. I’ll call myself a fortune teller because what I’m doing goes beyond just pulling cards or looking at the stars or brewing a potion—it goes to the heart of witchcraft, meaning that it is at once being both wise and helpful. Being a fortune teller means that I am sitting in front of you, with you, beside you, by you, in order to help make your fortune better by whatever means necessary. It means that I’m going to tell you the hard truths (but with a bit of honey and flowers because that’s just me). It means I’m going to point you in the right direction. It also means that I’m going to treat what we’re doing with reverence but also with a little bit of unseriousness because really, life isn’t always so serious.
Who I am today has been created by all my experiences, yes, but is also an amalgamation of these gorgeous predecessors who blazed a path so that I may follow in my own sequined gown. With that kind of history, I know that my ability to tell fortunes meant that I’d been called to help others who were in tight spots, even sometimes just by being undeniably visible so that others may see themselves reflected back. I call myself your favorite fortune teller not because I believe that I already am, but to remind myself that I have to earn it—that I should
always strive to be someone you can turn to, both to honor your story and guide you to better fortune. What could be more golden than that?
Being a fortune teller, to me, means that I’m always going to be learning. I recognize that there are a million ways to read the seventyeight cards of the tarot and that the stars have secrets we don’t even have the language to decode. I understand that the world around us is filled with wonders and that I need to be open and ready to listen and learn from them. Being a fortune teller means that in order to improve your fortune, I have to be ready to accept that I can and will be wrong and that together we can figure out what’s right.
I do want you to know that being a fortune teller has saved my life, both figuratively and actually quite literally; reading tarot has gotten me out of some very dark times. Being a fortune teller has also given me the joy of helping others, whether it’s in giving them solace when times are tough, the regañada they need when they’re misbehaving, or the advice that might make life a little bit better (if they listen). Fortune-telling has also helped me recognize the power in my queerness and in my magic. It has helped me understand my history and my ancestors and the people I stand with now a little bit better. It has also inspired me to be more daring and even more delightful in my approach to life.
When I think of fortune-telling, I think of the outcast, the person on the sidelines who observes, the long and storied history of queer people who were just outside of the bonfire’s light but who stood by to help. Called many things by many cultures, these were the shamans, wise ones, and medicine people, the people who were meant to see beyond the mundane and into the divine. As a queer person who was both born into and then made their way into a magical tradition, I’d like to think that I am standing with these people, especially the many non-binary and gender-agnostic folx for whom this mantle was one of pride and joy.
I will always strive to be your favorite fortune teller because I want to make sure that I am working so hard and so diligently to earn that title. I know it isn’t easily given, and I don’t think I’d want it if it were. I want to earn it. With patience, discipline, and the ability to embrace rather than force, I know I shall become your favorite fortune teller, and I hope you’ll become mine, too. Remember, mi amor, that you can be whatever you want. Fortune-telling is just a way to help you figure that out.
This book was conceived as a sort of textbook and instructional for folx who are interested in deepening their tarot study. Whether you’re new to tarot or an old hand at spreads, I want for you to feel like you are learning something new and have the tools to really dig deep into the mystical and magical world of tarot. This means that this book is practical, insightful, and also very real. We have sample readings, quizzes, and some ideas to get you started on a journal and a workbook—all to give you whatever it is you might need wherever you are on your journey.
Shape this book into the thing that you need most, corazón; it’s meant to be yours!
Before we make our way deeper into the book, I want to help orient you to what is contained within this gorgeous little treasure chest you have in your hands. We’ve started with some introductions to me, your favorite fortune teller, and in a bit we’ll talk a bit about the history and structure of tarot. From there we’ll explore each tarot card, providing you with the loving guidance and knowledge you’ll need along the way on your tarot journey. Next, you’ll find yourself immersed in some tarot card spreads (ways to arrange the cards) to help you read for yourself and others. Then there are some training quizzes (along with answer keys) to help you build some tarot muscles. Finally, we end with some ideas for you to take and make into your own personal workbooks and journals. As a former schoolteacher and principal, I couldn’t very well write a book without giving you some homework, now could I?
I promise, though, that there shall be no harsh grading and only a few regañadas thrown in—you’re getting off much more easily than any of my students ever did! Just like the Fool in the major arcana, I want to encourage you to take your journey as it comes and let it begin and end and continue as your heart and spirit dictate. Tarot will be here for you when you’re ready; I certainly will be here too, mi amor.
With this book, mi amor, you are being sprinkled with glitter, showered with love, and bathed in radiant light. You are going to experience the joy of tarot along with me, and we’re going to be daring and full of delight together. We will reflect on all of the things that make tarot such a powerful tool for selfhealing, helping the world be a better place, and giving guidance to those who may be lost. I am so excited to be here with you, corazón!
Fortune-Telling, Fate, and Predicting the Future
When I read tarot, I am trying to see my clients’ future and help them along the path toward the outcomes they are desiring; that means sometimes also seeing the past and how it has led to the present or looking into the present moment to ascertain which paths may issue forth from certain choices they make or sometimes just seeing the patterns that have popped up over time and how they are currently being expressed.
I hold very closely to my heart The Wheel of Time series’ most famous aphorism: “The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills.” This means, basically, that things are going to sometimes happen in the way they are meant to happen, which is great for fortune-telling because I can see those patterns as they happen or before they do and give guidance to folx as to how to set themselves on the path they need to go on. This also means that there are things that just are, and no amount of fortune-telling or magic or wishing can change it.
I also firmly believe that we are creatures of free will, and therefore, if we do not like the outcome, we should look for ways to change the path. Maybe you won’t get that promotion at your current job . . . but is there another job out there for you? Maybe this crush just isn’t going to call you . . . so let’s see what you can do to find a new beau!
I don’t believe in spiritual bypassing or toxic positivity; sometimes things might suck, and that’s okay—my job is to help gird your loins for those troubling times. As your favorite fortune teller, I shall of course put some glitter and sparkle and maybe even a little sugar onto the message, but I’m not going to lie to you, nor should you lie to yourself or others. Knowing
that things might be awful gives us the chance to prepare and maybe change the outcomes; don’t try to make a shortcut through what you need to go through.
Reading the tarot gives us a slant toward optimism, however, and teaches us lessons that will ultimately help us be our best selves; don’t give in to fatalism and think that things are going to always be one way or another. Celebrate, have fun, love and laugh and cherish, take care of those around you; I want for you to desire to be daring and delighted. Ultimately, though, I know that fate and our free will weave an intricate pattern that no one can truly see all the way through. The tarot helps us see as much into that pattern as we can and then figure out how best to live within it and change what can be and accept what can’t.
My job as your favorite fortune teller is to make sure that you’re taken care of, corazón. Your job is to live your best life with daring and delight.
Ways of Reading
There are many paths to find the joy of tarot, and there are many ways to use this book. Maybe you desire to be a professional fortune teller like me, and so together we’ll stand, helping others find their grand fates and getting paid to do so. Or maybe you’ll be a daring and delightful amateur tarot reader, reading cards for those around you, or even just be that friend who happens to know tarot and takes the cards out every now and then when someone needs advice. You might even have picked up this book on a whim and really aren’t sure what you’re going to do—feel free to disregard what I’m saying here and head straight into the learning. You can choose to use this book and these teachings however you like, mi amor. I promise it’ll be okay.
For me, reading the cards—either as a professional or an amateur—is something that should be treated with reverence, dignity, and respect. People come to us in their hours of need, when they’re at their most vulnerable, and give us access to their insecurities, doubts, and worries. These people, these darling humans, need for us as their readers to shower them with love and grace. Even if we can’t quite find the ability to love the person in front of us, the tradition and the history of tarot implore us to honor the cards if nothing else.
This book is designed to help you find the joy of tarot, regardless of whether reading cards is going to be your next business venture or just a fun way to spend a Saturday night with your friends. If you’ll allow this book to do so, you’ll find the secrets of your own heart and how to heal the secrets of others’ hearts. As I’ve gotten older and older, I realize that I can be both the Empress and the High Priestess, your mother and your guide, so I’ve written this book to help everyone find ways to listen to their intuition a little more closely, and my heart goes out to you at every stage of your tarot journey. I’ve loved making this my life’s work, and I hope you find the joy of tarot in your life as well, mi amor.
Peering into the World of Tarot
When I first got into fortune-telling, I thought it was going to be like what I had seen in the movies: dark rooms and whispered secrets and perhaps a pretty turban on my head. In fact, however, tarot has a long history that is quite different from that supposed reality. Scholars are pretty clear that tarot arose from playing-card games, but there is still some debate as to how it began to be used as a divination tool. I’ll share with you what I’ve learned over the years studying the history of tarot and encourage you to continue down the rabbit hole of tarot’s history as you deem best!
Scholars mostly agree that tarot cards first appeared around the 1400s and are derived from a game called tarocchi or trionfi that was played originally in Italy and eventually traveled to most of Europe. These decks usually contained the suits and court cards we still use today (wands, cups, pentacles, and swords; pages, knights, queens, and kings) but were used to play card games rather than for divination.
Tarot cards began to be used as divination tools around the mid-1700s. Whether they consulted the soothsayers throwing bones or the oracles reading smoke, people have always wanted to know what’s going to happen next, and tarot cards proved to be a nice way of doing so in their parlors, no bones about it. The popular Rider-Waite-Smith tarot was first published in 1909 and is the deck with the illustrations most of us are familiar with. There are two other decks that also have a long history and are still used as the basis for a lot of modern decks: the Thoth deck, written and designed by Aleister Crowley and illustrated by Lady Frieda Harris, and the Marseilles deck, an old French deck that usually forgoes illustrations for the numbered cards and leaves them for the court and trump cards.
Regardless of the deck you’re using, all tarot decks have a few things in common. The names might change depending on the deck, and sometimes the image might look dramatically different, but we can generally read cards in the same way because of this shared structure. Let’s explore the language of tarot and these common aspects, mis amores!
