The Tarot Podcast with T. Susan Chang

In today’s episode, we plunge into the world of the image with artomancer Laetitia Barbier! 

When we enter into a tarot reading, we look at the pictures on the cards in a particular way. And when we enter a gallery or museum, we look at the paintings hanging on the walls in another way. How are these two ways of looking different? Do they need to be? Can looking at art teach you to read tarot? Or to put it the other way: Can readin...

In this episode, we examine how the 6 of Wands shows up in the lives of ordinary humans like you and me.

With our first 6, the suit of Wands finds its purpose in life and starts to shine with the glow of empowerment! which is why it’s called the Lord of Victory.  When you draw it, look out for the following themes:

• Pride/Accomplishments
• Favorable Health Outcomes
• Good News/Generous Acts
• Fame/Recognition/Winning
• Horses! or Going...

It’s in everybody’s stereotype of the fortune-teller – the dimly lit boudoir, the crystal ball, the embroidered cushions, and on the storefront, a great big sign that says, “PSYCHIC.” But do you really need to be psychic to read the cards? And what does it mean to be psychic, anyway?

In this week’s episode, we look for answers with one of today’s leading voices in all things psychic: Mat Auryn, author of Psychic Witch, The Psychic ...

“Oh no!  Some of my cards ended up upside down! What does that mean?!”

In this week’s Try This at Home! segment, we’re having a look at one of the most common matters of debate among tarot readers: how to interpret reversed cards. There are many schools of thought on how to handle reversals, so I’ve put together a brief guide so you can choose what makes sense to you.

If you’ve enjoyed this summary and would love more answers to al...

Interpreting dreams and interpreting tarot have a lot in common, so in this episode the hosts of This Jungian Life and I join forces to interpret a dream—one that contains actual tarot imagery! 

The dream took place in 2020, but it’s not a pandemic dream. It’s personal dream, but also timeless and universal, and a great example of how tarot and dream symbol systems can interact with one another.

If you’d like to learn some practica...

There is no shortage of spooky, surreal, spine-tingly decks on the shelves of the world’s metaphysical shops: the joyous Santa Muerte Tarot, the Zombie Tarot, the Welcome to Night Vale Tarot and countless others. But in this week’s 5 Questions episode, we spend some time with what is in my opinion one of the great “stick season” decks of all time: the Deviant Moon Tarot.

The look of the deck is singular, springing from creator Patr...

In this episode, we examine how the 5 of Wands shows up in the lives of ordinary humans like you and me.

As we progress through the suit of wands, the 5 of Wands heats things up with a restless, roiling, fractious energy that just gets under your skin. When you draw it, look out for the following themes:

• Emotional strife
• Striving and challenges
• Sports/playing around
• Debates or differences of opinion
• Counting to 5
• Literal and v...

In today’s “Ask an Expert” episode, we bring back the legendary (and hilarious!) Lon Milo DuQuette to explore the Thoth deck—probably the second most influential tarot deck in the English-speaking world. This rather dark, very beautiful deck created by Aleister Crowley and Lady Frieda Harris has had a lasting global influence - especially for those who are magically inclined.

While the Thoth deck’s influence on modern tarot iconogr...

In today’s “Ask an Expert” episode, we bring back the one and only Mary K. Greer to answer a very important question for all of us who love the cards, and that is: What is the Rider Waite Smith Tarot?

Even if you don’t own a Rider Waite Smith deck, you’ve almost certainly seen one. When you Google any tarot card, it’s likely the first image that will come up in your search is going to be the Rider Waite Smith image. How did the RWS...

In this week’s Try This at Home! segment, we are diving straight to the heart of the most personal subject tarot cards and tarot readers ever see:  relationships.  We’ll explore what we can and can’t find out, what’s a healthy way to go about asking about that crush, and what you can do once you find out.

I don’t need cards to tell me that you’re going to be trying the Relationship Spread really soon.  When you do, let me know how ...

There are countless points of intersection between the art of tarot and the practice of Jungian psychology. In this week’s show we welcome two of the hosts of the podcast This Jungian Life, which is essential listening for anyone who is interested in the psychological dimension of dreams, myths and archetypes, and how they play out in our ordinary lives.

Deborah Stewart is a Jungian analyst and Gestalt therapist based in Cape Cod a...

n this week’s 5 Questions episode, we’re speaking with the inimitable Benebell Wen about her Spirit Keeper’s Tarot, which came out in three different editions (the First edition, the Vitruvian edition, and the Revelation editions) between 2018 and 2021. The “SKT” has become an integral part of many readers’ practices, and I thought it would be fascinating to get a closer look at the inner workings of this rich and complex deck an...

In this episode, we examine how the 4 of Wands shows up in the lives of ordinary humans like you and me.

The 4 of Wands often gladdens the hearts of those who encounter it, even though its gifts can be fleeting. When you draw it, look out for the following themes:

• Couples & weddings
• Birthdays, parties, festivals
• Temporary structures, safe spaces, refuges
• Respite and recovery
• Counting to 4
• Venusian things!

To share yo...

In our episode on“Will I Ever...?” we confronted the human longing for prediction.  In this companion episode, “Should I...?”, we confront the human longing for advice. Our guest is once again Theresa Reed, aka “The Tarot Lady,” dispenser of advice to countless seekers—and the Old Farmer’s Almanac! Should you ask your cards whether you should do something?  We’ll find out together!

Theresa Reed, aka “The Tarot Lady”) has been a Tar...

In this week’s Try This at Home! segment, we explore a life-changing approach to learning the cards: TAROT BACKWARDS. Memorizing meanings won’t make you a tarot reader.  Instead, learn how to see tarot in the world around you so that you come to know the cards by heart.

Let me know what amazing connections you make in your own Tarot Backwards practice! — on the Tarot Podcast Discord server (if you’re a Patreon member - to sign up a...

In this week’s 5 Questions episode, we’re speaking with Lettie Jane Rennekamp, the creator of the Many Queens Tarot, a stunning, proudly queer, black-and-white deck. It was originally a Kickstarter deck; the mass market version was published by Andrews McMeel at the end of 2024.

Lettie Jane is an illustrator and artist based in Portland, Oregon by way of Kentucky. Her illustrations are bold and tender at the same time, depicting mo...

In this episode, we examine how the 3 of Wands shows up in the lives of actual living, breathing human beings like you and me!

The 3 of Wands is a quieter, more cryptic card than its predecessors in the suit. Join me to learn how to unpack its gifts and master its lessons. When you draw it, look for synchronicities in the following sectors:

• Leadership and efforts to excel
• Altruism and good intentions
• Waiting and watching
• Sense...

Hang on to your hats, folks! In this episode we begin to approach the core paradox that haunts all of us who concern ourselves with divination: Fate vs. Free Will.

My guest is Theresa Reed, aka “The Tarot Lady”.  One of her favorite catchphrases is “The cards tell a story, but you write the ending.” - which makes her the perfect expert to talk about the question that begins ”Will I ever...?”

We’ve all asked this question, because w...

In today’s “Ask an Expert” episode with tarot legend Mary K. Greer, we ask: Do the compelling human stories revealed in tarot have the same power, when the storyteller is an artificial intelligence? Can the brilliant mimicry of AI evoke real emotions and maybe even real healing in us? Is there truth to be found when we look at the diviner’s dance of chaos and meaning in the mirror of AI?

In short, can AI read tarot??? 

Stay tuned...