Exploring Divination Practices: Tarot and Symbolism
If you want to skip the personal anecdote and get straight to the book list, scroll down ⬇️
It's not unusual for me to walk out my front door and be greeted by a cawcophony. Most days, it's a single crow who flies back and forth, traveling between the oak tree across the street and the power line running along my back fence. Sometimes, it’s two or three of them in communication with each other. Every once in a while, there's an entire murder of crows.
Recently, the entire gang was together, flying erratically from tree to tree, circling around my house. Their conversation was impossible to ignore. I sat on my porch reading my Wild Unknown Tarot by Kim Krans, asking how I could navigate a difficult family situation with grace.
I felt as if the weight of the world rested on my shoulders. As we often do when we feel it's our responsibility to support others through something beyond our control. But, I realized this murder of crows circling and cawing may be sending me a message—I am not alone.
Looking again at my cards, I saw the same message repeated there.
Birds seem to communicate with me often. Sometimes, though, it's plants popping up and pulling me in with their vibrancy and allure.
I love sunflowers, and sunflowers love me. When my eighteen-year-old cat (my familiar and one of the longest relationships I've had in my life) passed away earlier this year, I buried him with sunflowers. My favorite queen in the PCS (Pamela Colman Smith) tarot deck is the Queen of Wands with her sunflower and black cat (my cat was black and my new baby is too). I currently have a bouquet of sunflowers gifted to me by a neighbor who knows how much I love them sitting on my desk. Blankets, photos, and sunflower tchotchkes bloom around my home and garden. Wherever I go, whenever I see them, they smile at me and I smile back at them.
My father recently told me that my grandmother, who loved roses all her life, had specifically asked for only sunflowers to be at her funeral. This is a detail I missed completely. I was eighteen when she passed, and no matter how hard I try, I just don't remember the sunflowers being there. When my father told me this, I told him, "Dad! I don't think you know this about me, but sunflowers are kind of my thing." (He lives in CA, I've lived in FL for 20 years, so it's not easy for him to keep up with all of my obsessions).
I don't remember being as in love with sunflowers—though I've always liked them—until moving to my current neighborhood, which happens to be where my aunt—my grandmother's sister—lived for most of her adult life. The two were forever in competition over who had the more lush garden (and who had the better cooking).
Again, I could go on and on with examples of how much sunflowers are a thing in my life. The point of the story, though, is that when my dad mentioned the sunflowers at my grandmother's funeral, he said, "I'm not sure why sunflowers, since all her life she always loved roses, but that was what she wanted."
My jaw dropped, and it took me a minute to form my words, but what I told him was, "All this time, I think grandma's been saying hi to me through the sunflowers."
Not to mention, she and I both share a love for roses.
And my grandfather loved his tomato garden. Another detail from my childhood locked away in the recesses of memory until a few years ago a volunteer tomato plant sprouted under my lemon tree. When I smelled their fragrant leaves, I was transported back to their backyard as a little girl tending to his tomatoes with him. And just the other day, after this conversation with my dad, I checked my own garden bed to see what had sprouted and prep it to re-plant for this year. Lo and behold, three strong tomato plants are growing there. On their own.
Messages appear to us through nature. Nature sends us these messages through its life—plants, bugs, birds, and animals. When we recognize nature's symbolism, we're in communication with the divine and with our loved ones and our ancestors.
When learning Tarot, there are many lenses through which to view it. Many tarot readers consider themselves Jungian, archetypal readers—this is my school of thought. Others have a natural gift for channeling and may use the cards as visual stimulation, a physical point in our realm where spirits direct their messages. There are also astrological ties, which I incorporate into my practice by combining the study of astrology and chart reading with tarot spreads to find overlapping messages. For some, it's deeply tied to the Kabbalah.
Many don't know that Pamela Colman Smith and Arthur Waite—the artist and author of the iconic deck from which most modern decks are derived—specifically introduced Christian symbolism to make it more relatable. And Christian symbolism is full of nature symbols. The red rose, lamb, and fish for Jesus Christ. The white lily and rose windows for Mary. A winged white dove for the Holy Spirit.
When I was first learning tarot, I read countless books on the history of that deck with meanings for each card. But I also draw from my art history background, my studies in herbalism, my yoga practice and knowledge of the chakra system, and my interactions with nature spirits.
This is a roundabout way of saying that if you're tired of trying to learn Tarot by reading card meanings that are often vague overviews of the meanings based on that author's interpretation, there are many fun ways to learn symbolic languages that will enhance your understanding of what you see when you read.
Because at the end of the day, intuition guides. Say you pull the High Priestess card, but what really catches your eye are the pomegranates and palms on the veil behind her. Those unique symbols may carry a message specific to the spread and the person you're reading for, beyond the classic meaning of the High Priestess card.
Colors, numbers, plants, animals, celestial bodies, and their placement can all have unique significance and may be the reason a certain card appears in a reading.
To conclude for today, below I'll share some of my favorite resources that I either have on my shelves or have used. I've checked out some from the library; others may be web references or other tarot readers or astrologers. These resources explore the many ways the universe can communicate with us and what people across cultures have often said these symbols mean.
Divination Practices
🎴Cartomancy: The practice of fortune-telling or divination using a deck of cards. This includes tarot reading, as well as other systems like playing card divination or oracle cards.
Top books I recommend are:
Holistic Tarot: An Integrative Approach to Using Tarot for Personal Growth by Benebel Wen
Tarot Deciphered: Decoding Esoteric Symbolism in Modern Tarot by T. Susan Chang (Author) M. M. Meleen (Author)
The Heroine's Journey: Woman's Quest for Wholeness by Maureen Murdock (Author) Christine Downing (Foreword by)
The Hero's Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work by Joseph Campbell (Author) Phil Cousineau (Editor)
Or, see my entire list of recommended books on my Bookshop
🖐️ Chiromancy: Also known as palmistry, this is the practice of fortune-telling through the study of the palm. It involves analyzing the lines, shapes, and formations on a person's hands to gain insight into their character and future.
The best book I’ve found so far:
The Art and Science of Hand Reading: Classical Methods for Self-Discovery Through Palmistry by
Ellen Goldberg (Author) Dorian Bergen (Author)
🐦⬛ Ornithomancy or Augury: The practice of reading omens from the actions, songs, or flight patterns of birds. This ancient form of divination was practiced in many cultures, including Ancient Rome and Greece. In Rome, augury was one of the main forms of state-sanctioned divination.
Melissa Alvarez’s books have birds as well as bugs and mammals:
Llewellyn's Little Book of Spirit Animals by
Melissa Alvarez (Author)
Animal Frequency: What Are Your Power Animal Spirit Guides Trying to Tell You? Identify, Attune, and Connect to the Energy of Animals by
Melissa Alvarez (Author)
The Hidden Meaning of Birds--A Spiritual Field Guide: Explore the Symbology and Significance of These Divine Winged Messengers by
Arin Murphy-Hiscock (Author)
Ornithography: An Illustrated Guide to Bird Lore & Symbolism Volume 2 by Jessica Roux (Author)
✨ Astrology: The study of the movements and relative positions of celestial bodies, interpreted as having an influence on human affairs and terrestrial events. It involves analyzing birth charts and planetary transits to gain insight into personality traits and life events.
The Only Astrology Book You'll Ever Need (Twenty-First-Century) by
Joanna Martine Woolfolk (Author)
The Stars Within You: A Modern Guide to Astrology by
Juliana McCarthy (Author) Alejandro Cardenas (Illustrator)
Moonology: Working with the Magic of Lunar Cycles by
Yasmin Boland (Author)
Types of Symbolism
🎨 Color Symbolism: The use of color to represent ideas and qualities. Different cultures may attribute various meanings to colors. For example, in Western cultures, white often symbolizes purity, while in some Eastern cultures, it's associated with mourning.
The Encyclopedia of Secret Signs and Symbols
Adele Nozedar (Author)
The Continuum Encyclopedia of Symbols
by Udo Becker
💯 Numerology: The belief in the divine or mystical relationship between a number and one or more coinciding events. It's often associated with the paranormal, alongside astrology and similar divinatory arts.
The Encyclopedia of Secret Signs and Symbols
Adele Nozedar (Author)
🌹 Floriography and Botanical: The language of flowers. In Victorian times, specific flowers were used to convey coded messages, allowing individuals to express feelings which otherwise could not be spoken.
Floriography: An Illustrated Guide to the Victorian Language of Flowers Volume 1
Jessica Roux (Author)
The Mythology of Plants: Botanical Lore from Ancient Greece and Rome
Annette Giesecke (Author)
Kew: The Witch's Garden: Plants in Folklore, Magic and Traditional Medicine
Sandra Lawrence (Author)
🐈⬛ Nature Symbols: The use of natural elements (animals, plants, weather phenomena) as symbols in various cultures and belief systems. For instance, the owl might symbolize wisdom in one culture and death in another.
See Melissa Alvarez’s books above
The Book of Symbols. Reflections on Archetypal Images
Archive For Research in Archetyp (aras) (Author)
Celtic Tree Magic: Ogham Lore and Druid Mysteries
Danu Forest (Author)
Other resources that complement those listed above:
https://www.wortsandcunning.com/ - astroherbalism and tarot
https://www.sorormysticapodcast.com/ - podcast with an astrologer and tarot reader who dive into archetypal symbolism
https://carterhaughschool.com/ - folklorists who discuss the symbolism in folklore and fairytales - think about Rapunzel, Briar Rose, and how other fairytales often have plants and animals prevalently featured to play a symbolic role.
As always, if you made it this far down the page with me, I love you for that! Until next time...
