We've come a long way in queer metaphysical resources in the past 20 years or so. Even allowing that pagan communities have been more welcoming than the wider world there's still been a noticeable increase in literature specifically catering to queer pagans lately. In fact, a critical mass has been reached that it is now reasonable to examine new offerings with a discerning eye. Books like Outside the Charmed Circle by Misha Magdalene and Sacred Gender by Ariana Serpentine set the bar higher and higher, not that there's a competition for a book to be worth reading, but they do show that it's not enough to get to "queer people do ritual, too!" and call it a day. Happily this trend has only seemed to have breached the dam of authors who were just waiting for their chance to get their words out. The latest example is Cassandra Snow's anthology Tarot in Other Words: An Essential Anthology by Leading Queer Tarot Writers which goes the extra, *extra* mile by gathering nine other queer authors and share their collected wisdom on the topic of tarot.
Tarot is a subject worth a deep dive from numerous angles, and bringing a double-handful of insightful authors to the job all at once is a phenomenal idea. Tarot is probably one of the largest sections in your local metaphysical bookstore; 78 cards each loaded with potential meanings leads to a lot of inspection over the years. As in most things, alas, the queer point of view has not been robustly expressed, but this anthology is an excellent step in the right direction. Cassandra Snow already wrote a fascinating book on the subject, Queering the Tarot, and now they've invited friends and colleagues to continue the conversation with them. Asali Earthwork opens the anthology with "The Grieving Fool", in which they pondered what is most universal to the queer experience and (morbidly by their own admission) settled on grief. Picking up that lens, they then examine each of the Major Arcana. Rebecca Sconick chooses instead to focus in more narrowly on the Magician, the Four of Wands, and the Seven of Pentacles as if they were a spread they had designed with the question "what is the right path for coming out" (to be clear this is my take-away, not their stated thesis) and proceeds to interpret this spread, with illuminating results. Charlie Claire Burgess, widely published in their own right, contributed my favorite essay, "A Secret Third Thing: Court Cards as Queer Elements", which tackles the problem of queering some of the most heteronormative cards in the Tarot. The Queen of X? The Knight of Y? The King of Z? These clearly meant specific roles when constructed, but the queer community has been figuring out how to relate to these things for centuries, and Burgess digs in deep.
Those aren't the only worthwhile parts of the anthology, I only mean to give you a taste. If you have intersecting interests in queer perspectives and tarot cards this is a can't miss addition to your library. And one small word to the ... less-queer amongst us. If you haven't ever taken a peek at what's going on in queer paganism, it's definitely worth your time. Just as diverse work environments foster a diversity of perspectives and ideas, bringing this part of the literature into your life will get you thinking about your relationship to the universe (in whatever version your practice see it as) in new ways. To cite just one example, LaSara FireFox's Jailbreaking the Goddess got my coven re-considering how to even invoke "Goddess" and "God".
Tarot in Other Words may be written *by* the queer community, and the primary audience is, naturally, the queer community, but that isn't the only people who should consider reading it.
~review by Wanderer
Author: Cassandra Snow
Weiser Books, 2025
208 pg., $17.95
