My Favorite Tarot Decks for Herbalists & Plant Folk

As an herbalist who reads the tarot (and a tarot reader who talks with plants), I'd thought I'd share with you some of my favorite tarot decks with herbal themes. I’d also thought it also be of interest to folks who are following along with my project of the year - tarot and tea practices for each of the twelve signs of the zodiac.

We are living in abundant times when it comes to tarot decks and many feature botanical imagery, but the connection between tarot and the plant world is nothing new as the cards have long been connected to plant lore, healing, and magick. As an herbalist, I use tarot in my healing practice and as a tool to help folks connect with plant allies. While, the deck that I most often use for myself is the very first deck I ever purchased - my beloved Smith-Waite Tarot that came in the blue box set - is full of botanical imagery and meaning, it's not the only deck I turn to when looking for plant-rich imagery.(1) When I'm in the mood for something a bit different or reading for or with others, the following decks are what I've been turning to in recent years. 

These are certainly not the only plant-themed tarot decks out there and I'm planning on a second part to this post where I also include a few of my favorite oracle decks (in which there are many, many more of them when compared to tarot decks). I've also tried to include a mix of mass market and indie decks, being mindful of the varying budgets of my readers who might be interested in picking up a plant-centered deck of their own.

So let's meet the cards!

The Herbcrafter’s Tarot by Joanna Powell Colbert & Latisha Guthrie

The Herbcrafter's Tarot

Here's the thing. For years and years I wanted a tarot deck that was made for and by herbalists that I could connect to. When I was gifted a copy of The Herbcrafter's Tarot by Joanna Powell Colbert and Latisha Guthrie out of the blue (not by the creators themselves, but a friend of a friend), I felt such expansive joy. Friends, this is a lovely deck and it arrived at a particularly potent turning point in my own practice. My first reading with the deck was at twilight, sitting amongst Roses (Rosa spp.) on the Land I live with and it reads like a dream. In fact, I highly recommend reading with this deck outside if you can, especially the first few times you work with it. 

The art of The Herbcrafter's Tarot is rich and evocative, relying on a relatively uncommon medium for tarot decks (colored pencils), that Colbert is recognizable for (she is the creator of The Gaian Tarot, a diverse and inclusive deck published little over a decade ago). The deck celebrates the mixed heritage of the designers (Celtic and Mexican-American), including renaming the court cards with Spanish names and with the landscapes that appear throughout the deck. The guidebook is lovely, with a number of ways to connect with the cards both through key ideas, longer description, and activities inspired by the plants featured on each.

The Herbcrafter’s Tarot by Joanna Powell Colbert & Latisha Guthrie

The court cards are some of my favorites in the deck. Instead of having human figures throughout the deck, the cards focus on plants and their habitats, including wild places and home spaces like altars and kitchens. It's only on the court cards that we see just the arms or hands of folks - no faces or any other parts of the body - and they are young hands, old crone hands, working and resting hands. They are some of my favorite interpretations of the court cards of any deck I've worked with. While the absence of human figures doing things in most of the cards might feel intimidating to read to some, the cards are so beautifully thought out in their composition that the plants are alive and singing with story. The deck evokes a feeling of being present to the work of herbcrafting in a way that I've not experienced with another deck.

Of the three decks I'll be in this post, The Herbcrafter's Tarot is the most obviously plant-based one and is explicitly made for and by herbalists. This is the deck I've started to bring with me to in-person classes and the one that I find myself just shuffling through because I enjoy the art so much. It's also obviously designed by an herbalist who understands both the practical as well as magickal uses of plant medicine which I really appreciate and is not always a given with cards that feature a lot of botanical imagery. I really can't recommend this deck enough and I hope you get to hold a copy in your hands one day.

The Future Ancestor’s Tarot by Alexa Villanueva

The Future Ancestor Tarot

There's something really special about The Future Ancestor Tarot by Alexa Villanueva of Lexa Luna Studio. The deck was created during 2020 and carries an energy of making space for and exploring grief, as well as what it means to connect with our beloved living ones when they have traveled to the land of the ancestors, and what our own ancestral becoming looks like while we're still living. 

Of the three decks featured in this post, The Future Ancestor Tarot has the simplest aesthetic and yet no meaning or depth of interpretation is lost. There are calm gestures, furrowed brows, sweet embraces, and the difficult to name feeling that comes from experiencing profound peace amidst a storm of grief. These cards convey, through their images and energy, the feeling I often experience when sitting in a herbal session or class with someone. I know that this is in part because I purposefully make space for grief to be expressed and explored during these times and so often grief arrives as an honored guest in these moments, and The Future Ancestor Tarot seems to treat grieving with the same reverence. And that's also why it's such a sweet and joyful deck for me - it makes space for the difficult moments, so that we can experience all of our feelings with as little fear as is possible in any given time.

The Future Ancestor’s Tarot by Alexa Villanueva

Then there are the plants on each card which makes these bits of paper and the characters and spirits which inhabit them that much more alive. The renamed court cards feel particularly suited to my own herbal practice and I'm sure will resonate with many of you. The Pages have become the Students, the Knights are Explorers, the Queens are Listeners, and the Kings are Makers. The renamed Queens feel particularly powerful and they are some of my favorite cards, which is not traditionally the case for me with Queen cards in other decks. And speaking of favorites - The Star card is one of the images from the tarot that I love the most and The Star in The Future Ancestor Tarot is so beautiful that it makes my heart break open just a little wider every time I see it.

I think that this deck would sing well to those folks who appreciate a more intuitive than strictly traditional approach to tarot. The images reference the RWS system enough to guide you, but are also so unique and inviting for those who like a more open-ended approach to tarot. Just in life, the plants featured on each card are constant companions that we share space with and every card in this deck feels like there's a secret recipe hidden within them.(2) One of the other reasons I like this deck so much is that it is visually similar to my favorite black and white tarot deck, Thea's Tarot by Ruth West. The Future Ancestor Tarot feels like the soft little sibling or nibling of Thea's Tarot and I hope that comes across as the compliment that it is. The energy of the deck is so inviting and would be wonderful to use with clients in one-on-one sessions or with a whole class of plant-hearted folk. Currently, the deck comes with a little one page guide, but you can also join me in supporting Villanueva as she writes the full guidebook to the deck which I'm looking forward to reading!

The Witches’ Wisdom Tarot by Phyllis Currott & Danielle Barlow

The Witches' Wisdom Tarot

Look, there was little doubt that I wasn't going to love a deck produced in collaboration by Phyllis Currott (I re-read her autobiography over and over again as a young witch) and Danielle Barlow (a Dartmoor based artist who I've been a fan of for years and years). First, I like the deck because it experiments with the RWS system in interesting but meaningful ways, which helps readers to approach familiar systems in new ways. I like fresh takes on old practices and The Witches' Wisdom Tarot does this while still feeling traditional. The deck really shines with Barlow's depictions of plant and animal life which show up on every card and Currot's interpretation of the cards feel full of the wisdom carried by an elder of the Craft without becoming stuffy or rote.  

As an herbalist, I appreciate how much the botanical images correspond with the meanings of each card. Sometimes herbal decks can feel more like flashcards than living oracles, but The Witches' Wisdom Tarot avoids this with Barlow's paintings which reflect her own love and connection with plant and animal life. The Ace of Water (Cups) card, for example, is so beautifully depicted as a lush and watery space, capturing the movement, complexity, and sensitivity of the emotional worlds that the Cups represent in tarot. I just love the life and lushness of The Witches' Wisdom Tarot and the way that it reflects the spirit of interconnectedness between all living beings. 

The Witches’ Wisdom Tarot by Phyllis Currott & Danielle Barlow

If you're a Witch (and especially some variation of Pagan Witch), this might be a deck that speaks the most to you out of the three I've featured today. The Witches' Wisdom Tarot is a world unto its own that draws you in and it's a space that I love to visit. It's a deck that is meant to be journeyed with, displayed on your altar, and included in acts of magick. 

🌿

Do you have a favorite plant-inspired or botanically focused deck to work with? Are you feeling inspired to work with one that I've described above? 

If you're looking for more posts about tarot, including a whole collection of spreads, come this way. I've also written a whole post on incorporating tarot into your healing practice and if you're wanting to learn about the intersections of herbal medicine and the tarot, I explore that in-depth in The Tarot Apothecary.

Wherever your tarot journeys take you, may you experience revelation and the sort of reconciliation that occurs when we're able to sit with ourselves and realize that we're sitting in a vast web of life - all of us just singing our spirits home.

This post was made possible through patron support.
❤︎ Thanks, friends. ❤︎

---

Notes

(1) The set is called The Original Rider Waite Tarot Pack and is still available today. There are so many versions of the RWS deck out there these days, but this remains my favorite version because it's the one I grew up with. The Smith-Waite Tarot Centennial Deck is a close second and I actually carry the tin version of this deck with me wherever I go.

(2) And yes, I'm thinking I might try and summon them from the liminal space that they live in and create a book of 78 tea recipes for my own enjoyment…

You Only Need to Know One Tarot Spread

I try and be honest about my mistakes as a tarot reader (and as an herbalist for that matter) but here’s a tip from the successful endeavors archives - I think every tarot reader, especially when starting out, should commit to learning one type of spread really well.

Using one type of spread consistently over an extended period of time (a year and a day is a or thirteen cycles of the moon are both magickal time frames). This doesn’t mean you don’t use other types of spreads, but that you use on spread predominantly.

Learn how to use one spread for a variety of questions. I know some card slingers create new spreads for each new question that comes their way or has different types of spreads for different themes (such as a spread for romantic inquiries versus one for career questions). There is definite merits to both of these styles. But when learning tarot or re-connecting with your practice, I encourage you to choose one spread for almost all if not all of your questions.

By using one spread you are creating a magickal map that is just familiar enough to help you navigate the unfamiliar (i.e. the answer to your questions). 

Being familiar enough with a spread that you don’t have to reference a guide book to cast it. With this skill you’ll be able to improvise around the depth of each position. So, for example, one card in your spread of choice might represent “the past” and over time with different inquiries the past may represent everything from actual events that have happened previously to how a problem may have appeared to you previously or past mindsets.

View fullsize

The Herbcrafter’s Tarot by Latisha Guthrie + Joanna Powell Colbert

The spread I started learning with was the Celtic Cross Spread which is a tarot spread from the western esoteric tradition developed thought to be developed by Florence Farr a magician, feminist, and seer of the Order of the Golden Dawn. It’s a tricky spread, not only because there are many different versions and suggested ways of interpreting the card positions, but also because there are quite a few cards being read at once. Yet, it remains one of my favorite spreads to read with because it feels so familiar. A common mistake some tarot readers make is using too many spreads that they are unfamiliar with. What ends up happening is that you are not only reading the cards but learning the dynamics of a spread all at once. And that’s a lot for anyone to contemplate at once. 

The other spread that I use a lot is the pentagram spread which has a card for each of the five elements of earth, air, fire, water, and spirit. From this spread, I’ve developed all sorts of variations over the years, including the spread that follows. What I hope to illustrate with The Elemental Guardian Spread is how one spread can be read many ways starting with the simple and queerly-forward to the more complex.

While this spread can be used with any deck, I was inspired to create it after getting to play with The Herbcrafter’s Tarot co-created by herbalist and bruja Latisha Guthrie and artist Joanna Powell Colbert (of Gaian Tarot fame). Being not very up on following all the up and coming decks as I’ve been spending less time on the internets (sharing lots about that in Magick Mail), I saw this deck and purchased it on a whim just before it was released because I saw a card that featured dyeing with plants and I’m just that easy to please some days… The way that the deck is set-up (there are no humxn figures shown, only arms and hands of diverse shades, ages, and sizes doing herbcrafty things in the court cards) inspired this spread. If you want a full review of the deck check out Benebell Wen’s enthusiastic endorsement of what is fast becoming one of my favorite decks, too.

The spread consists of five foundation cards - four Elemental Guardians and a central card that is the Heart of the Matter. For the first two ways of casting the spread, the variation lies in how you choose the cards. The final way placing the cards incorporates four additional cards to the mix, building on the original spread foundation. And if all this talk of elements and tarot and herbalism has got you excited join me in The Tarot Apothecary.

View fullsize

Background image by Annie Spratt

The Elemental Guardians Spread

I’ve listed my tradition’s interpretation of the elements, but feel free to apply your own elemental interpretations.

Card 1. The Guardian of Air speaks to and represents the realm of East, communication, ideas, inspiration, the impact of new technologies and social media in our lives, our mental health, our studies, and the ways that we perceive and comprehend our experiences.

Card 2. The Guardian of Water speaks to and represents the realm of the West, dreams, visions, our lineage both behind us (ancestors) and before us (descendants), and the ways we feel and empathize with our experiences.

Card 3. The Guardian of Fire speaks to and represents the realm of the South (northern hemisphere) or North (southern hemisphere), passions and desires, ecstasy, our creative health, and the ways we transform and express our experiences.

Card 4. The Guardian of Earth speaks to and represents the realm of the North (northern hemisphere) or South (southern hemisphere), prosperity and success, our personal legacy, inheritances including cultural traditions and epigenetics, our physical health, and the ways we physically process and energetically digest our experiences.

Card 5. The Heart of the Matter summarizes the energy of the spread and helps you to find the language to understand what is happening to you and what you might carry forward with all that you have learned. Sometimes it can be a holy reminder of something you have forgotten or need to pay more attention to. Other times it is a love letter. Often it’s a mix of everything I’ve just described.

View fullsize

The Herbcrafter’s Tarot by Latisha Guthrie + Joanna Powell Colbert

First Variation - Choosing Your Heart

Set up your deck by finding all of the Court Cards and sorting them by suit (i.e. place the King, Queen, Knight, and Page of Wands in one pile and the King, Queen, Knight, and Page of Cups in another pile and so on). The first cards you will cast are the positions of the Elemental Guardians and you’ll be pulling these from their corresponding Court Card piles. For example, pull the first card for The Guardian of Air from one of the four Sword Court Cards. Proceed in the same manner for the following three Elemental Guardian cards.

The fifth and final card is pulled one of three ways. You can either pull it from the rest of the deck sans the Court Cards, just the rest of the Minor Arcana or just the Major Arcana. If you’re working on a big life issue, I suggest pulling from the Major Arcana. Or not. Follow your intuition when making your choices. 

The Second Variation - Elemental Balance

The second variation for this spread changes the way that the Elemental Guardian cards are chosen. Instead of choosing an Elemental Guardian card only from its corresponding elemental Court Cards (i.e. choosing the Air Elemental Guardian card only from the Suit of Swords), you’ll choose each Elemental Guardian card from all sixteen Court Cards.

This variation means that you can find conversations happening between the elements. Let’s say that you pull a Page of Cups as your Fire Elemental Guardian - this could indicate that the fiery parts of your life need to be tempered by water. The Page of Cups suggests approaching your emotions with a student’s state of mind and to get curious about what you’re feeling - something which can be difficult when we’re feeling fired up or hot-headed.

What I like about the second variation is that it reflects the reality that there is no strict division between elemental energies in our life but instead all of the elements flow and dance and crash together. If you are someone who incorporates elemental balance into your magickal and/or spiritual practice, this is a fun variation to try.

View fullsize

The Herbcrafter’s Tarot by Latisha Guthrie + Joanna Powell Colbert

Third Variation - Drawing In Shadows

The third variation adds four extra Shadow cards to the mix. Proceed with casting the spread using any of the variations as described, but beside each of the Elemental Guardians, cast a Shadow card from the rest of the deck. While the Guardian cards describe your gifts and strengths, your shadow card for each element highlights a challenging aspect of that elemental area of your life.

Let’s say that you pull the Seven of Pentacles as your Shadow card for Earth. As a Shadow card, the Seven of Pentacles can show indecision about what do to with your hard won harvest and difficulty coming up with a long-term vision for what you’re trying to accomplish. Sometimes the Seven of Pentacles shows up as a card warning that you’re falling into the trap of imposter syndrome - especially when it is inverted. If you pulled the Knight of Pentacles as your Guardian of Earth the cards could be suggesting that you need to take time to connect with a truer version of who you are and what you’re capable of. 

“Through the wisdom of {the Elemental Guardian message} I understand/acknowledge/release/embrace {shadow card lesson}.”

Taking our previous example you might construct the following interpretive sentence:

Through the wisdom of seeking a true vision of myself I release the belief that I am somehow not enough.

Part of the power of shadow work is learning how to name and speak aloud those names of the hidden parts of yourself. This is one of the reasons why tarot, with its centuries of meaning, graphic illuminations of mystery, and seventy-eight mirrors of sub/consciousness, is such a great tool for shadow work - it helps us to name the unnamable. 

Go out and name your unnamable, witchfolk and plant hearts. Cast your cards a thousands time and wear a pattern into the altar of your heart. Know your shadows and speak your stories.

You Are Indispensable (and why that matters)

I think we need to spend more time recognizing how we’re indispensable to one another.

I know that I talk a lot about the sacred interconnectedness between plant, people, and creature, but when we say that something is indispensable there is a new level of necessity that appears. We can be interconnected, but to be indispensable is to fall in love with our interconnectedness. 

Having posted recently about creating an indispensable herb list right around the same time that a continuing and powerful resurgence of the #BlackLivesMatter movement swept across the US, I wanted to offer a spread that helped us to recognize the indispensable in our lives (Curious about your role as a healer, card reader or magick-maker in #BlackLivesMatter? Come this way). Because if we recognize that our plant kindred are indispensable, we’ll stop destroying our common home planet. If we recognize that Black lives are indispensable, we’ll stop the senseless, grinding violence against our Black kindred. If we realize that we are indispensable as individuals, we’ll begin to love ourselves more honestly and unhesitantly. 

Now a tarot spread certainly isn’t going to change the world. But those who are casting cards will. 

You can use The Indispensable Interview spread to talk with a plant, animal, God/dess, ancestor or living person to help you figure out and communicate the indispensable and necessary relationship you have with them. If you are reading with another person, I suggest working with two decks (or three or more if you’re working with more than one person). Each person involved pulls a card for each question. So if there are three folks casting this spread together, person 1 would pull a card for their relationship with person 2 and another card for person 3, with person 2 and 3 doing the same. Take time to cast this spread, pour yourself some tea, pull out a journal to write in, and allow yourself to settle into the story that’ll emerge. Additionally, you can use this spread to understand your relationship to a cause or movement such as #BlackLivesMatter or a local community cause.

design by author | background image by matthew wiebe

1. Why are you indispensable to me? Get intimate in your knowledge of the other. Sometimes this card comes up a bit challenging, sometimes it is just a mushy love note, and often it is a bit of both.

2. Why am I indispensable to you? You need to know and love your indispensableness in the lives of others and this card will help you do just that.

3. What can we expect to experience together? A bit of a pick into the future with this card. Emphasis is on the experiencing more so than the doing.

4. How can I best share our wisdom in the world? This is a big question. We can become stewards and caretakers and seed-casters of the wisdom that others share with us, but we must learn to do it responsibly, effectively, and with accountability. This card will help you to discover how to do just that. I carry, for example, the wisdom of my herbal teachers and I am responsible for how I share and use the wisdom they have revealed to me to others.

I would love to know your experiences with The Indispensable Interview and ways that you tweaked the spread to fit your needs - comment below to share! If you're looking for more tarot spreads, I have a whole lot more.

My hope for you is that you may know how truly indispensable you are.

May the world around you reflects this truth back to you every moment of every day.

House of the Heart Tarot Spread

Last month, I wrote about 5 magickal ways to engage plants everyday and one of those ways that I mentioned was through casting cards. I've also recently created three new tea blends (you can get the recipes for free as a member of Magick Mail) and one was a heart-opening brew that sparked the idea for the following tarot spread. So it only seemed right to create a spread working with the plants in one of my new favorite teas.

The House of the Heart tarot spread serves the same purpose as the brew: to blossom the heart, induce wonder, and assist us in opening up to the possibility that there is a sacred home for each one of us. For this spread, I worked with each plant ally to come up with a sacred question to be asked. I recommend giving yourself plenty of time to allow this spread to unfold. Let emotions arise. Sing your songs. Eat good food. Take a healing bath. Call to the plants and thank the spirits of the cards for their guidance. Hold your hand over your heart and say YES.

background image by Alex Blăjan

The House of the Heart Tarot Spread

Before casting your cards, I invite you to hold your hands and deck over your heart and say:

Listen, heart, I know you're there
I feel you, I know you
Listen, Heart, I know you're there
I say yes to all your wisdom
Listen, Heart, I know you're there
Yes, yes, yes!

1. Hawthorn Berry (Crataegus monogyna) asks, "What do you need to feel safe to open your heart?"

2. Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) asks, "What do you need to move freely in love?"

3. Damiana (Turnera diffusa) asks, "What is your pleasure?"

4. Elder Flower (Sambucus nigra) asks, "What is the magick of your love?"

5. Rose (Rosa damascena) asks, "What is the house of your heart made of?"

I would love to hear about your experiences with the spread in the comments below! Or share your stories with the hashtag #HouseoftheHeart on instagram. 

My heart journey is carrying me on a wild pursuit of wisdom with plant kindred and tarot spirits as I create my newest ecourse - The Tarot Apothecary! Keep track of the journey, including more plant-infused card-castings, by joining my free and fun Magick Mail.

I wish you love on all your heart journeys!

The Triangulation Tarot Spread

When I read tarot cards, whether in-person or for my awesome Tarot Stella or Solstice Star clients, I often feel like I am not so much interpreting the cards as I am eavesdropping on their conversation between one another. For me, the tarot deck is a living book of wisdom that is constantly moving and shifting parts, telling new stories, and uncovering old paths. Some cards are more talkative than others, but when they are cast in a spread they begin to talk amongst themselves about the question presented to them. 

"The pain of this heartbreak is real and cannot be ignored any longer, no matter how many times we are told to 'get over it,'" says the Three of Swords.

"I know," nods the Eight of Swords, "it has led to us to being trapped by our own thoughts and ensorcelled by our feelings. Everything feels darkened now, hopeless and unsteady."

"But the fire of love is not gone," the Three of Wands gestures to a vast landscape of possibility. "It has simply moved. Elsewhere and unseen at the moment, but not truly lost."

In my class on card casting and creating custom spreads, we talk about the importance of the question. The question helps to set up the space for the conversation that the cards can have. Sometimes when we get confusing cards in our spread that seem to make little sense given our question, it's not that the cards are wrong or our ability to interpret them is lacking (though, sometimes the cards are cleverer than us and it is important to continue to cultivate a student's mind throughout your work with divination), but that the question did not allow for the answer to come through. 

There is also the actual structure of the spread to consider when seeking information and insight. If you imagine, for example, each card in your spread to be a chair at the dinner table, what cards do you want to be close enough to each other so that they are able to talk without yelling from one end of the table to the other? In other words, what are the conversations you wish you could be having in order to gain further insight and how can you bring this to play in your spread.

It was in the spirit of experimentation and trying to recreate the complexity of conversations between multiple parties (whether the inquiry is along the lines of a she said / they said question or a question from our conscious mind to our subconscious mind or having a chat with our future self), I came up with the idea of a spread of moving pieces or The Triangulation Spread. While I very much enjoy simple spreads, there is plenty of space in my practice for stretching my divinatory muscles with a more complex piece of casting that I'm about to describe with the Triangulation Spread. Yet, what is fun about the spread is that it can be as simple or complex as you like and you can decide that as you go along as opposed to ahead of time giving the reader greater flexibility in gleaning knowledge from the cards.

The basic structure of the Triangulation Spread is three triangles of three cards each, with each triangle representing one segment or aspect of the inquiry. For the following sample reading, the querent is seeking insight into how to turn their interests - which are many and varied - into a career. The question is:

How can I focus my creative passion into a sustainable career?

All cards shown in this post are from the World Spirit Tarot.

Since our querent has many passions, the first triangle is one of self with a focus on the querent's strengths in order to help them figure out what passions may be best turned into a career path. The first triangle is the foundation stone of the spread - these cards will not move but will still interact with the other cards pulled which will be explained as we go along. For their triangle of self, the querent pulled the the Sibyl (or Queen) of Swords, the Two of Wands, and the Ten of Wands (inverted).  I've given some brief interpretations as a full interpretation of this spread would be a long post indeed! The Sibyl of Swords crowns the triangle and speaks to the querent's underlying theme of storytelling in all that they do as well as a maturity to their craft . The Two of Wands both represents the querent's ability to help others find hope and possibility through telling their stories and re-membering (literally, putting back together) who they are as well the possibilities ahead of the querent in regards to turning their passion into a career. The inverted Ten of Wands recognizes the querent's overwhelm at having so many interests, which has left them feeling stuck and burdened, but since it is inverted the energy is diluted and there is a recognition that the querent is focusing their creative fire (as represented by the wands) as opposed to being completely overrun by it. The Ten of Wands is a reminder for the querent to continue to understand their own story and to own it as part of their work of discovering the path ahead of them.

The next three cards make up the triangle of chrysalis which gives specific insight to help the querent begin to transform their passion into a career. The three cards of the triangle of chrysalis are the Seven of Pentacles, the Five of Pentacles, and the Hanged Man which overlay the last three cards of the triangle of self.  First, we look at the conversations happening between the Sibyl of Swords and the Seven of Pentacles (it's time to actually harvest what you've grown with all of the hard work you've already put in - you're not starting from ground zero even if it feels like it at the moment), the Two of Wands and the Five of Pentacles (it is difficult to help others find possibility and hope if the querent has a limited vision of possibilities about their own success and feel that they are in a permanent state of scarcity), and the Ten of Wands and the Hanged Man (the Hanged Man recommends that the querent transforms the feeling of stagnant stuckness to focused stillness in order to understand that they have all the tools they need for the task ahead even though it requires them to sacrifice self-limiting beliefs and practices).

Once the initial conversations have been listened to, move the cards clockwise the next position. So the Hanged Man sits with the Sibyl of Swords, the Seven of Pentacles states talking with the Two of Wands, and the Five of Pentacles strikes up a conversation with the Ten of Wands. Further insights can be gleaned now with the same cards in different positions. The Five of Pentacles, for example, reveals that part of the overwhelm experienced through the Ten of Wands is trying to figure out what passion will be most profitable which feels limiting and confusing to the querent. The cards are moved one final time to complete the circuit and have their third conversation, and then they are moved back to their original position before the final three cards of the last triangle is cast. 

The third triangle is one of action, recommending next steps for the querent to take on to create a sustainable career from their storytelling passion. The three cards pulled were the Seer (or Page) of Pentacles, the Three of Wands, and the Six of Wands. The Seer of Pentacles, especially in this deck, has a powerful air energy moving through it (see the creatures flying out of the tree above the head of the sitting person) and speaks to the Sibyl of Swords' ability to help guide folks through their reflective journey to finding their own stories and becoming grounded in their truth. The Seer of Pentacles serves as an affirmation that the path of the storyteller will not only be a prosperous and sustainable one for the querent (since Pentacles are a suit of security, abundance, and long-term planning), but the card also illustrates the type of work environment that the querent can create in order to be successful. The Seer of Pentacles is also speaking with the Seven of Pentacles and, in fact, represents the harvest illustrated in the Seven of Pentacles. The Three of Wands is a great continuation of the conversation started by the Two of Wands and continued with the Five of Pentacles - it shows what the cultivation of hope and the exploration of the querent's money and success story can do when it comes to expanding their prospects. The Six of Wands shows the transformation of the figure in the Ten of Wands into the Hanged Man and finally returning home again to community that wants and needs their skills and insights. The Six of Wands reminds the querent that they have a vast support network that they need to tap into when it comes to promoting themselves and developing their business. Again, as with the triangle of chrysalis, these last three cards move around the spread conversing with new cards, gleaning more insight into steps to take for the path ahead. You can move the cards in the triangle of chrysalis again, too, if you like. Imagine the conversation that could be had between the Sibyl of Swords, the Five of Pentacles, and the Six of Wands about clearing out a scarcity complex as part of the work of bringing together community.

What I like about the moving parts of the Triangulation Spread is the fact that it reflects the complexity of the shifting parts of our lives. Moving the cards around can be helpful when a querent feels stuck in one place and has no clue how they're supposed to get to a hopeful card that has shown up later in the spread. The act of physically moving these cards together (which is a play on traditional spellwork in which components of the spell are moved closer and closer together to attract a certain outcome) can be such a simple act but still provide a surprising amount of revelation. As you can imagine, there are many ways to ask questions and shift cards within the context of a Triangulation Spread - I hope you have fun experimenting and share your experiences in the comments below or by using the hashtag #TriangulationSpread in your various feeds (I'm on instagram most often if you're looking to chat). Need more tarot in your life? Come this way!

Have fun triangulating!

All cards shown in this post are from the World Spirit Tarot.