Three Tarot Essays

Cardinal Fire: deity, divination, world-yielding

I want to share three essays with you. They encompass three aspects of Tarot: divination, symbolism and psychology, and creativity.

‘The Querent’ – Alexander Chee

The first is by the writer Alexander Chee, whose essay ‘The Querent’ is about grieving a parent, and coming out as queer, but it is also about the occult power of the Tarot, and the huge responsibility of reading for others.

When my roommate and I saw those seven cards repeating in his second reading it was a shock. To be clear, he picked the cards by hand. They were new, so they weren’t marked in ways that might reveal them. It seemed at the least improbable, but also, like a snarl. As if whatever it was that I’d naively asked for guidance had decided to mock our test even as it met the test. I put the cards away because they scared me with how, when I asked them a question, something had answered. But I couldn’t forget it. When I finally took them out again, it was because I wanted to speak to whatever that was again.

The second is by Jessica Dore whose Offerings weave together storytelling, folklore, psychology, and Tarot. This one is particularly special about the World card and the strange comfort of fairy tale logic.

‘Offering – the World’ –  Jessica Dore

We live inside incredibly compelling and dominant stories which we want to believe are simple and linear with a beginning, middle and end. But none of us are free from those sparkling moments. Those ruptures, in which the mask of a neat narrative slips to expose a much more complicated reality. Those moments can be terrifying, but they can also be life-giving and world-yielding, a chance to see that we aren’t only what we thought ourselves to be.

Finally, I want to share this piece that I co-wrote with a writer who I met through the AWP writer-to-writer programme. I was lucky enough to be mentored by Xu Xi who helped me transition into writing non-fiction. The following year I was able to go back as a mentor, and I was paired with Kirin Khan, an incredible writer who became a friend (for extra joy, you can read Kirin’s interview with Alexander Chee here).

‘Rain-Sown Wheat’ – Kirin Khan and Laura Joyce

The bridge between deity and humanity isn’t so special, we call it dying

I learned so much from Kirin, and I am honoured to share this piece we wrote together one winter, pulling cards daily. M Forajter, a brilliant editor, and cosmic poet, gave us a home for this piece.