TABI's Tarot World

It used to be that any kind of spiritual exploration could only take place, socially and practically, within the bounds of an established religion. In order to follow a proscribed path, you have to accept the whole thing, and faith becomes less about wanting to believe and more about doing what you're told. But the times, they are a-changin. Our options and horizons are broadening, and our guest f...

After the ecstasy, the laundry. Once the Samhain ritual is completed and the spell for good health is done, back we go to everyday life. But witchcraft isn’t something we only put on for special occasions. In episode 29 of TABI’s Tarot World podcast, your hosts Victoria and Gwen speak to author, deck creator, artist, educator, practising witch and let’s face it, general polymath Monica Bodirsky ab...

Tarot and Magic go hand in hand. What else are we doing, when we work with the cards to look beyond what we see with our eyes? In Appalachian Folk Magic especially, the bridge to the Beyond is deeply rooted in the physicality of our bodies and the earth, and in Episode 28 of TABI's Tarot World, your hosts Victoria and Gwen talk to Appalachian witch, folklorist, author, and artist Byron Ballard abo...

Court cards are just that little bit extra. The Pages, Knights, Queens, and Kings lead a double life — simultaneously like and utterly different from the Majors, and looking askance, or is it with covetous eyes at the Minors? It's no wonder they give a lot of tarot readers pause. But fear not. Our guest for episode 27 of TABI's Tarot World, author, Tarot reader, and tutor Alison Cross talks to you...

In episode 26 of TABI's Tarot World, your hosts Victoria and Gwen talk to accomplished author, tarot reader, and deck creator Liz Dean about the intuition that leads to healing in a Tarot reading. How does it work? Especially when we're first starting out as Tarot readers and we're grappling with that most stubborn of obstacles, our own self-doubt. So let's start there: how do we overcome imposter...

In the west, we grow up with an abundance of myths, legends, poems, and novels about male characters — stories that express the experience of, and provide a path for becoming a man. But what about becoming a woman? Where are the adventures, the footprints to follow through a feminine life — where are our guides? Your hosts Victoria and Gwen have found one. In episode 25 of TABI's Tarot World, we t...

What are the Colour Scales that are used to illustrate Tarot decks? In fact, what are colours? If you look behind the palette chosen by the creator of a tarot deck, is there something there — something more remarkable even than beauty? Maybe a little ... Magick? In episode 24 of TABI's Tarot World, your hosts Victoria and Gwen talk to Heather Jones — professional artist and graphic designer, Qabal...

In our first twenty-two episodes, TABI's Tarot World explored the imagery in each of the Major Arcana. It was an amazing journey through so much magickal meaning, and we thank all of our guests for joining us to establish a solid ground of wisdom and understanding.  Now we're ready to apply the magick and bring it all to life. For Episode 23 of TABI's Tarot World, your hosts Victoria and Gwen talk...

In episode 22 of TABI's Tarot World, our  podcast's namesake, your hosts Victoria and Gwen talk to Jason Cosmos about the twenty-second Trump, The World or The Universe. Old god Saturn is front and centre as the planetary ruler of the card — in the Hebrew letter Tav associated with The World's path on the Tree of Life, and also as the boundary maker inextricably married to the birth and new beginn...

Welcome to the new world! We are getting there, at least ... and for episode 21 of TABI's Tarot World, Jan Tetteroo — Druid, Spiritual Coach, and Tarot reader — joins your hosts Victoria and Gwen to look at how it's happening. We start with the Zombie apocalypse and look at how we get from there to what comes after ... because Crowley wasn't about the ending, or even the levelling-up, but an immed...

After the cool darkness of The Moon,  The Sun shines bright and warm. We step out of the shadows and into the light ... which can be blinding. Not everyone likes the heat; we don't all wants a turn in the spotlight, and Jen Sankey, practising witch, author, deck creator, and crystal healer, joins Victoria and Gwen for episode 20 of TABI's Tarot World podcast to explore how The Sun's light can affe...

When we enter The Moon's lunar landscape of mists and shadows, it can be frightening. It's a whole Other world, and we're maybe not sure how to go forward. Kenn Payne, deck creator and Hekatean devotee, joins Victoria and Gwen for episode 19 of TABI's Tarot World podcast to help us find our footing. We discuss how The Moon asks us to look directly at illusion, persona, and hidden truths, and disti...

In episode 18 of TABI's Tarot World, Victoria and Gwen are joined by Jennifer Garner — TABI mentor, Free Reader, and former TABI Chair — to talk about The stunning Star. We start off with a bit of fangirling about TABI and our wealth of Zooms, our training courses, and the Members' Conference — all unique to TABI and free for members. It's a fantastic way to join and keep in touch with your Tarot...

When are you happy to see The Tower? If you're ready to hold your feet to the fire, then join Victoria and Gwen in welcoming guests Clair and Heather to episode 17 of TABI's Tarot World podcast, where we discuss what might be the most visually, viscerally destructive card in the Tarot. It's ruled by Mars after all, and most versions depict a tower being destroyed -- the walls come tumbling down --...

What are we all doing down here anyway? Are we here to indulge our senses with wine and song and sexy woodland creatures? Or are we meant to suffer? It might surprise you to hear our guest for episode 16, author, deck creator, and closeted astrologer Leeza Robertson, explain why she thinks The Devil is the most spiritual card in the deck, and how it offers us a uniquely powerful path to joy and li...

In episode 15 of TABI's Tarot World, Astrologer, Hebrew scholar, and I Ching practitioner Mick Frankel joins Victoria and Gwen to talk about the alchemical wonder that is Temperance/Art. The Marseille, RWS, and Thoth interpretations all show some kind of exchange, but what's really going on here? And what does it mean in readings, whether practical or spiritual? Mick talks us through all the ingre...

In episode 14 of TABI's Tarot World, Victoria and Gwen talk to TABI Free Reader and Mentor Helen about Hollywood's most misrepresented card, Death. Is he the really the bad guy? Maybe he's just misunderstood. The Child of the Great Transformers (not those Transformers) is also, as you'd expect, the Lord of the Gates of Death, but hang on ... Those titles mean this is a liminal space, in between th...

Welcome to the watery world of the Hanged Man, the second of the four Elemental trumps, where everything stops whether we like it or not, our expectations are turned on their head, and the question might just turn out to be the answer. In episode 13 of TABI's Tarot World, Victoria and Gwen are joined by Heather Jones, owner of Numinous Press and creator of The Great Workbook, for a discussion abou...

In episode 12 of TABI's Tarot World, Victoria and Gwen are joined by Holistic Therapist and Cartomancer Margo Benson for a balanced discussion of Justice/Adjustment. There's a whirlwind of activity going on behind that calm, still façade; initial perceptions of Justice as a stone-cold reckoning expand geometrically into the interconnectedness of everything. The wheels of Justice grind slowly but v...

In this bonus year-end episode of TABI's Tarot World, your hosts Victoria and Gwen are joined by TABI members Helen, Cadence, Eala, and Al for a wish-list extravaganza of our favourite decks published in 2024! Here is a list of the decks and where you can find them: Telos Tarot of 777 by Mel Meleen The Awakening Tarot by Monica Bodirsky The Legend of Sleepy Hollow Tarot by Nick Lawyer Starlore...

In episode 11 of TABI's Tarot World, Victoria and Gwen talk to Al about the various incarnations of the Wheel of Fortune. Al tells us about the goddess Fortuna and how the historical Tarot illustration in the Visconti Sforza was adapted to bring new meaning to the card in the Marseille. We take a deep dive into what's going on in the Marseille Wheel — the platform, the crank, the sword, and the fi...

In episode 10 of TABI's Tarot World, Victoria and Gwen talk to Mary DuPlessis about the Tarot's lone wolf, The Hermit. Or is he? He's not doing all this internal work so he can sit by himself on the mountain top, you know. We chat about The Hermit as guide and compare him in this aspect to the Hierophant, and look at how his placement on the Tree of Life might be expressed in the card itself. The...

In episode 9 of TABI's Tarot World, Occult Projects' peaceful weirdo Helen Diamond joins Victoria and Gwen to wrestle with Strength and its Crowley counterpart, Lust. How different are they? Are they two different cards entirely, or two sides of the same coin? We start with numbers and ask why Strength is 8 in some decks and 11 in others, which leads us to consider the progression of the Majors —...

In episode 8 of TABI's Tarot World, Victoria and Gwen talk to deck creator, author, and professional joy seeker Arwen Lynch-Poe about the The Chariot. It's a card whose image is deceptively straightforward — there is a lot of symbolism here, in both the RWS and the Thoth. We start with a discussion of the mysterious moons on the Charioteer's shoulders, how they might relate to the divination of bl...

For episode 7 of TABI's Tarot World, Victoria and Gwen talk to Tarot counselor Diva DeFaria about the beautiful moving target that is The Lovers. It's a card with so many possibilities. Is it about romantic love? Choice and free will? Balance and union? Maybe a bit of all of these, but how? We chat about the Garden of Eden imagery in the RWS and the alchemical roots of the Thoth version, and look...