Starting with the Ace of Wands…

Jungian Tarot Ace of Wands

As many of you who have followed my Yonic Tarot deck creation process know, my deck is meant to serve as a visual companion guide to my Yonic Theory approach, which outlines women’s psycho-spiritual self-actualization process. Therefore, it is one part therapy, one part “spiritual” guidance, but ultimately it is meant to serve as a pathway to deepen one’s relationship with their inner feminine aspects of the Self - regardless of one’s gender expression.

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I began the process of creating my own tarot deck in April/May 2025, using AI to help guide the “rough draft” of my cards and the elements I wanted to include in my design, which I then printed out, traced, and changed/edited/added my own design elements to once I had a template established.

Thus, in many ways, my deck is a metaphor for how important it is to combine the “Spirit” of the mind, which governs reason, logic, and structure, which are associated with more “masculine” qualities, with the “Soul” of the artistic, intuitive, felt sense of the feminine.

Which is ultimately what I believe the practice of tarot can offer each of us, and is essentially no matter what path towards self-actualization one chooses to follow.

Thus, now that the drawing portion of my tarot deck creation process is complete, as well as the first rough draft of its accompanying guidebook, it is time for me to begin the process of painting and outlining my cards to get them ready for printing so that I can eventually make them available for purchase.

But which card to start with…

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The Ace of Wands

Oddly enough, the Ace of Wands was the very first tarot card I pulled for myself when I began reading tarot back in Fall 2022. Before then, I had received tarot readings and was intrigued by the practice, but I never felt confident in my ability to read for others or understand the symbolism of the cards…

That was until one night, I had a dream in which I found myself lying in a coffin and then subsequently ushered into a juxtaposing room where I saw a man dressed as a magician (an obvious reference for those familiar with this card) shuffling a deck of tarot cards. Thus, once he had finished shuffling the cards, he handed me his deck and told me I needed to acquire my own.

Since I am never one to doubt the wisdom of my dreams or my unconscious, even if I don’t entirely understand their symbolism at first, I took this mandate very seriously and the next day purchased my first tarot deck, which happened to be the Jungian Tarot deck created by Robert Wang, since during this period of my life, I was absorbing all I could on Jung and felt I needed to acquire a more “academic” deck as I navigated my PhD program.

Now, of course, a Jungian interpretation of this dream was that the Magician character was my Animus attempting to get my attention and thus “sparking” me to explore my love for tarot…and that is a valid interpretation.

However, a crucial detail I left out about this dream was that it was first a female figure who greeted me at my coffin, who then ushered me into the other room where the Magician was awaiting me.

In other words, it was the feminine, specifically a dark feminine aspect of myself, that led me to seek out the Magician who would “spark” new life into my subconscious.

Thus, in confronting my own symbolic death through the dark feminine, I was metaphorically “reborn.”

And this would be what Jung refers to as the role of the Anima, since Jung himself often equated the Anima as being the “purveyor of the Self.” Yet, in exploring tarot and my own and other women’s self-actualization process, I have come to understand that while Jung was insightful and his theory helpful for understanding the Self from a masculine perspective… There were a few things he overlooked…

Not to mention that he neglected to acknowledge that it was a woman herself, namely Sabina Spielrein, who ultimately represented his own dark feminine aspects, which would lead him to discover his own self-actualization process.

Spielrein

It is for this reason that I argue that Jung’s theory is just one side of the spectrum, the masculine lived experience in which the Ego and Shadow represent the light and dark aspects of the masculine principle – that which he called the Animus.

But what he failed to consider was that there is also a light and dark aspect of the feminine principle, or his Anima (that which I call in my Yonic Theory approach the Psyche/Soul), and makes up what I refer to as the Aura and Veil functions of the Self for all individuals.

Thus, I argue that Jung’s theory, while again a valid approach to reflect his and men’s personal experience of self-actualization, is only half the story, since it does not consider the feminine experience of self-actualization.

Which is what I came to discover through my tarot practice and the many female clients I worked with...

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What I discovered was that the more I leaned into my own intuitive understanding of the practice of tarot, and my relationship with the cards, their images, and the stories that would come to me when I was reading, the more I came to understand my own lived experience as a woman.

As opposed to just regurgitating and repeating the “high-brow” wisdom of the great (mostly male) occultists like Crowley and Waite, who again, like Jung, are valid in their own approaches…yet still lack the ability to fully understand the feminine perspective in the cards’ wisdom.

This is because their experiences, or their own interpretations of their cards, didn’t speak to me or my lived experiences. Or the women I worked with and interacted with experiences either.

It was as if these individuals’ desire to dissect and intellectualize the cards and their meanings overlooked the symbolism right in front of their noses, which held the truth of the magic of the feminine within.

And while I do think there is merit in this more intellectual approach which embodies elements of what I refer to as the dark masculine, it again fails to acknowledge the fact that one can not access the wisdom of the dark masculine without first surrendering to the feminine, as I had to surrender to my own death or Kundalini awakening in my dream to be able to listen to my dark feminine aspects (i.e. Aura function) to encounter the Magician.

Thus, in my Yonic Tarot deck, as I stated above, I decided to combine the wisdom of these traditional occultists, Jung, and my training as a Counselor Educator/Psychotherapist, while also leaning into my own intuitive wisdom to reflect mine and other women’s experiences.

Thus, making my deck and its creation process inherently feminine by design.

This choice led me not to the hidden occult societies and fraternities of the great “tarot experts”, but instead, to my grandmother’s kitchen table, my Celtic and Eastern European ancestors, and the folk and Indigenous healing practices of women all over the world.

It led me to my roots, back to nature and the Earth, and to the voices of women like Sabina Spielrein, whom history has ignored.

Most of all, it led me to understand how tarot can serve as a guide for women to return to themselves through my Yonic Theory approach, which is why I decided to label my deck the Yonic Tarot™.

So I share all this background and history of my deck and my own self-actualization process to say it is fitting that I am beginning the next phase of this journey in my deck’s creation with the card that “started it all,” the Ace of Wands.

© M. Robichaux, 2026 Ace of Wands for her Yonic Tarot™

And while this next phase will have many steps, as I will need to both paint and outline my remaining 79 cards before they are ready for print (yes, I added two cards). Not to mention revisit my guidebook, which I have just completed the first draft of, I invite you to join me in this process and consider supporting my deck’s creation by donating to my ko-fi account below:

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And while I can’t promise an exact timeline for the “birth” of my deck anytime soon (I’ve learned that my creative process is much more cyclical than linear and thus timelines always seem to become lost on me), it is my hope that by embodying a more feminine approach to my tarot deck creation process, the wisdom of the feminine is what shines through.

For I have learned that the more we surrender to the power of the feminine, the more magical our lives become.

OX

Your Dark Fairy Godmother

If you would like to learn more about Dr. Roby’s courses on her Yonic Theory approach, check out the resources below:

Yonic Theory: The Foundation

goddess-witch spectrum Course

The Yonic Journal

If you would like to donate to her Yonic Tarot deck creation fund, please do so through her ko-fi account:

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Perhaps it is because Beltane, which comes from the Old Irish word “Beltene,” is often translated to mean “bright fire,” and thus historically Celtic people celebrated this holiday with bonfires, the blessing of livestock, protective rituals, and other seasonal celebrations welcoming fertility, growth, and abundance, which serves as a reminder of humans’ connection to nature.

Moreover, this holiday also coincides with modern-day celebrations such as “May Day” which in many European countries is also celebrated on May 1st as their equivalent to “Labour Day” in the States, in which many farming towns will hold festivals to celebrate the coming of the beginning of summer by having children or young women dance around the May Pole thus reminding them on their connection to their pre-Christian or Pagan roots.

In addition to these remnants of the past, modern practicing Pagans and witches often connect this holiday to the rituals of the hieros gamos, or “divine marriage.” Which is sometimes referred to as the “Great Wedding” or the union between the God and Goddess.

Therefore, sticking with this theme of humans’ connection to nature, union, marriage, and therefore partnership and love…I thought I would take a page from my ancestors and return to nature as my source of inspiration.

For context, I originally wrote this post last Sunday morning, where I once again found myself sitting at the kitchen table of my parents’ home, drinking coffee and staring out their bay window.

This ritual is something I’ve become accustomed to over the past two years since moving back in with my parents, as this trend appears to be growing quite common among elder millennials these days. Therefore, I have taken to watching two cardinals, a male and a female, gather food for their nest, which they have built just behind my parents’ fence, as perhaps a bit of escapism or an attempt to find meaning in all the strangeness that has transpired since my return home.

And so in this post, I wanted to document my observations of these two creatures and what they have taught me about nature, partnership, and, of course, love, not only for myself, but also for my collective millennial peers and humans as well.

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Cardinals

It is important to note that when I first moved back home, for the first 3 months or so I only saw the male cardinal, who I’ll call “Carl,” when looking out my parents’ kitchen window, which wasn’t so shocking to me, since growing up, we would often see male cardinals hanging around my mother’s bird feeder, especially during the winter and fall months.

In fact, it is this association I’ve had with cardinals since childhood, which led me to get a tattoo of a male cardinal on my left ankle shortly after the passing of my paternal Cajun grandmother, Marie, with “OX” in her handwriting, which is how she would sign off all of her Christmas and Birthday cards to her grandchildren.

It was this practice of hers which subsequently inspired me to sign off all of my posts with her same signature move “OX”, because according to my grandmother, the clever woman she was, she said that it never made sense to her to put the traditional “XO” in her signature, because “why would you kiss (i.e. the “X”) a person before hugging them (i.e. the “O”).”

Therefore, she reversed the order of the two to make it more consensual. (Seems like a relevant message we could still use today in our modern world.)

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However, despite my association of red cardinals with my grandmother aside, it wouldn’t be until about 6 months, or the following summer, that I realized the male cardinal (i.e. Carl) was not alone during his visits to our backyard to eat the seeds in my mother’s bird feeder. Since it appeared he was also there to be with his partner, the female cardinal, whom I’ll call “Carrie”.

At first, when I saw the female cardinal (i.e. Carrie), I assumed that both Carl and Carrie were just passing through as separate birds and that they might do what animals do: mate and then move on from one another, as most bird species do.

This hypothesis of mine was also further reinforced by the fact that when I first started to notice the two birds, I would usually see one or the other, Carrie or Carl, but never both together at the same time. That was until later that summer, when I saw Carl feed Carrie for the first time.

Photo taken from https://birdfeederhub.com/facts-about-cardinals/, which is where I pulled most of my information about cardinals for this article.

Thus, there was something about Carl’s act towards Carrie that made me realize these birds were not just “passing through,” but in a partnership or “marriage.” Thus, ever since, I have consistently seen the couple together. Or if they are not together, I can usually find either Carl or Carrie just a short distance away, perhaps in the tree just behind the fence, waiting for the other to return to their nest.

Consequently, observing this pattern has led me to do some research of my own about cardinals and their mating habits…

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Partnership

It should be noted that my primary source for this information came from www.birdfeederhub.com, so I do not claim to be an expert on birds and their mating behaviors.

That said, I was shocked to discover that cardinals are mostly monogamous and typically mate for life or until one of them dies, which, in the wild, the lifespan of a northern cardinal (those indigenous to the southern and eastern United States) is typically around 3 years (though they can live up to 15 -25 years in captivity).

But more than this lifelong commitment to one another, the relationship between male and female cardinals highlights the importance of partnership.

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You see, during the mating season, it is both the male and female cardinals’ job to work together in order to build their nest using twigs, grass, and other material, which they typically build in dense shrubbery or low branches, typically less than 10 feet from the ground.

In other words, they both occupy the “home” space and take an active role in building its foundation.

This process takes about 8-9 days and typically occurs in the late winter/early spring season, as cardinals will typically have only one or two broods (hatchlings) a year, which typically occur around March and May (I.e. the season of Beltane). During that time, the female cardinal will typically lay 2-5 eggs each time, which will hatch roughly 11-13 days after she lays them.

Yet the partnership between these two birds doesn’t end there.

Unbeknownst to me, I discovered that unlike other species of birds who usually migrate after giving birth to their young, cardinals are permanent residents (i.e. they do not migrate) thus once the baby cardinals have left their nest, it is typically the male cardinal who takes charge of the young baby birds until their iconic red coloring sets in (which takes about a year), teaching them how to eat and take care of themselves. Thus, while the male cardinal is preoccupied with raising their young, their female partner will subsequently go off to focus on building a new nest for their next brood, since cardinals do not typically reuse the nests they built, even when they remain in the same general area.

Talk about a hands-on father…

Moreover, it is well known that male cardinals, in particular, are very territorial; I have witnessed my male cardinal friend, Carl, exhibit this behavior when fending off other birds (such as Blue Jays) and even some very large squirrels while feeding or caring for his young.

Thus, while it appears it is the female cardinal’s job to take care of the couple’s next home, and therefore the physical “hearth” of the domestic space, as she builds her nest to incubate her eggs. It is equally the male cardinal’s duty to protect not only the female and her nest from any predators, but also to take an active hand in raising their young with fierce conviction.

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Yet it is also important to note that the female cardinal herself is not “passive” as I have watched Carrie go out to collect food or items for her nest while Carl protectively watches over her. In other words, their dynamic centers on the concept of partnership, going back to the male cardinal feeding the female cardinals as part of their mating ritual.

Photo taken from my kitchen table view.

This act in and of itself shows the male cardinal’s ability to not only provide for his partner, but to protect and nurture her as well, by being humble enough to place her needs above his own. Conversely, the female cardinal has to accept this gesture from the male cardinal in order for the mating ritual to work. Thus, allowing herself to be vulnerable to accept his protection and trusting that he will take care of her while she takes an active role in building their nest and laying her eggs for their offspring.

Thus, in many ways, the male cardinal’s actions reflect the concept of “courtly love,” in which the masculine must humble himself in the presence of the feminine or “the lady” to win her favor.

Thus, unlike what we are usually told about the animal kingdom and male species mating rituals, this act isn’t done through the male cardinal asserting his “dominant” or alpha-male behavior over the female cardinal. (Though he can definitely access that “protective” aspect of himself when he needs to.) Instead, they must meet as equals, recognizing the strengths each brings to the table and how they can work together to create a home.

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Love

As I mentioned at the start of this post, as a single millennial woman living at home with her parents, it is hard for me not to think about love and partnership. Especially as I enter my mid-thirties.

Like most millennial men and women, I don’t think I was given good examples of what to look for in a healthy partnership – starting with my early media exposure.

Growing up like most millennials, I remember being exposed early on to “reality” dating shows, like Flavor of Love, The Bachelor/Bachelorette, Rock of Love, and I Love New York. This pattern has only continued, as we now have a whole host of newer reality romance TV shows, like Love Island, Perfect Match, and Love is Blind, which is now filmed in several countries, including Japan, Poland, Sweden, Argentina, Brazil, the UK, and, of course, the original US version.

But the hallmark theme across all these shows and couples (who rarely make it to the altar – let alone stay together) is that they center the “main character” or individual the film crew has chosen as their hero/heroine and their own storytelling, rather than viewing the couple as a unit or partnership.

And perhaps the most obvious example of this storytelling comes from the Bachelor/Bachelorette show format in which one lucky guy or girl is the object of desire for 20 or so individuals.

Thus, what usually happens in these shows is that the bachelor or bachelorette is forced to narrow their choice to two individuals who end up representing two extreme versions of an archetype.

For example, does anyone remember the first season of VH1’s show Flavor of Love starring Flavor Flav, in which Nicole “Hoopz” Alexander and Tiffany “New York” Pollard were pitted against one another?

Hoopz (left) and New York (right)

Aside from perhaps the obvious fact that Flavor Flav gave each of the ladies nicknames as a way of centering his own perception of them (i.e., effectively turning them into objects as opposed to humans), the final two women of the first season also represent the extreme categories women often find themselves in when competing for men’s attention.

Since this show first aired in 2006, my 14-year-old brain distinctly remembers the rhetoric and how it became seared into my mind. On one end of the spectrum, we had “Hoopz,” who was the chill, “cool” girl. She was painted as sweet, down-to-earth, “drama-free,” and could play basketball and hang with the Flav’s boys without being too girly or high-maintenance.

Thus, she fit the “Goddess” archetype of the goddess-witch spectrum, which I have defined in my yonic theory approach, which you can learn more about through my website.

goddess-witch spectrum Course

Conversely, New York represented the “Witch” archetype as she was possessive of Flav and struggled to get along with the other girls (i.e., the famous “Pumpkin” spit scene). Moreover, for whatever reason, she was not only highly sexualized by the producers of Flav’s show, but her weight also became a highly debated topic, just to further emphasize how “wild” and “out of control” she was.

Now, of course, anyone can look at that photo of Alexander and Pollard and recognize that both of these women were beautiful in their own right, so it was never about looks or weight at all. Instead, it was clever marketing and storytelling. Done by the producers of the show to make one woman look like the “Witch” and the other the “Goddess,” to center Flav’s perception of them.

Which is a motif we’ve seen before and is even referenced in my Lover’s card for my Yonic Tarot, which to support the creation of, consider purchasing a full subscription to see the image below.

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The Devil card in Tarot is often associated with addiction, restriction, oppression, lust, and what Carl Jung refers to as the “shadow self.”

Yet people often forget that in its light aspect, the Devil card, which I call the Daemon card in my Yonic Tarot™ deck, is also associated with self-mastery and integration of one’s dark or unconscious aspects/desires. As this card is associated with the Zodiac sign Capricorn, which is all about mastery of oneself in the physical realm.

In one of my favorite Tarot spreads, the Celtic Cross, there is a position that symbolizes one’s fears and hopes, as these are often two sides of the same coin. Just as the Devil can represent one’s shadows or restrictions as well as one’s path to salvation.

To learn more about my Yonic Tarot™ deck creation process, consider subscribing or making a donation to my Tarot deck creation fund through my ko-fi account:

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In my own life, I have felt the temptation of the “Devil” or, should I say, my shadow self, as I have reflected on my past relationship dynamics and my own “addictive” tendencies.

Thus, the truth about the Devil/Daemon card is that this dark masculine aspect exists within all of us, no matter what gender we choose to identify with, which I refer to in my Yonic Theory™ as the Daemon function.

Yet it is important to note that the origins of the word daemon, which would eventually become our modern word “demon,” is a very interesting backstory in and of itself…

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A photo of my 9-year-old self on my First Communion (like the “good” Catholic girl I was raised to be) with my grandmother, Marie.

While perhaps this may be a bit of an over-exaggeration. In truth, the practice of alchemy, which has been associated with the philosopher’s stone, ouroboros, and even Carl Jung’s notion of the transcendent function, is not so different in my experience from the art of making gumbo.

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What Makes a Good Gumbo

For me, a good gumbo must have two things: Okra and what Cajuns and Creoles in Louisiana call the “Holy Trinity.”

The Holy Trinity is a bit misleading because it is actually a mix of equal parts onion, bell pepper, and celery. Similar to the French mirepoix, which inspired this vegetable melody featured in many Cajun and Creole cuisines.

This is because Louisiana was largely under French rule for most of its history, aside from a brief period during which time it was owned by the Spanish, prior to its absorption into the United States. Therefore as more and more French settlers migrated from France to Louisiana they began to “blend” with the Afro-Caribbean and Indigenous peoples in the surrounding areas of New Orleans creating the “Creoles.” Thus this merging and blending of cultures and traditions created new forms of cuisine as a result of the use of local resources available to them.

Which brings me to the second ingredient, okra.

To me, gumbo is not gumbo without okra, because the word for gumbo itself is said to have derived from the African word for okra. Therefore, if one wants to properly make gumbo, they need both okra and the Holy Trinity to make it.

Picture of my most recent batch of gumbo during the past winter “freeze”.

When the Cajuns came to Louisiana through their own diaspora as a result of the Le Grand Dérangement during the Seven Years War, they also merged with many of Creole and Indigenous individuals within the swamplands (I.e. bayous) of Louisiana. Thus once again merging their cultural customs and traditions.

Thus, even before the process of cooking begins, gumbo teaches us a lot about life and alchemy. About how two very separate cultures (French and African) can merge together to create something new. As is true with many Louisiana-based dishes I saw my grandmother make, such as jambalaya, which is said to be influenced by the Spanish paella, and also features the Holy Trinity.

Therefore, cooking gumbo or jambalaya has always symbolized to me a connection to one’s past, roots, and heritage, and bringing together resources to create something new. Much like the Tarot card, the Three of Pentacles

© M. Robichaux, 2026 draft of 3 of Pentacles for her Yonic Tarot™

In this image, we see a grandmother, her granddaughter, and a female “spirit” figure. (Perhaps the grandmother’s mother or another female relative.) Thus, there are 3 generations of women present. Or a maiden, a mother, and a crone.

Furthermore, to honor gumbo’s Afro-Caribbean origins, I decided to depict these women as Black or African American, which will be reflected in the final image of my design once I have added color to my cards.

Moreover, we see the Holy Trinity depicted in the bottom-right corner, symbolizing the “part” each of these vegetables plays in working together to create the gumbo, as well as the transmission of intergenerational wisdom.

Finally, in the middle of the image, where the 3 pentacles sit, we have the gumbo pot, or in this case, a cauldron, which is not only a direct reference to alchemy but to the womb or yoni itself.

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The Alchemy of Gumbo

According to feminist scholar Barbara Walker (1983) cauldron’s have long symbolized women’s connection to their wombs, which I discuss in my latest journal article on my concept called the Yonic Principle™

To access this article or the Yonic Journal™ visit the link below:

The Yonic Journal

Therefore, it is in the “womb” (i.e., cauldron) that opposing forces mix and merge with one another, breaking down to form something new.

Thus, if we compare the process of cooking gumbo to alchemy, it follows a similar pattern…

Feminist scholar and mythologist Sharon Blackie (2022) noted that Carl Jung was fascinated by the practice of alchemy throughout his life, which he applied to his understanding of individuation. Those three stages of alchemy Jung identified are nigredo, albedo, and rubedo.

In the first stage of nigredo, contents within the unconscious, or a gumbo pot, are “blacked.” In other words, they are “cooked down” so that they can soften and merge together. Much like how one must make a roux, by “browning” (AKA: cooking down) the flour and fat mixture to create the base for the gumbo.

In the second stage, albedo, fire and heat is used to transform the ingredients as the Holy Trinity is added to the pot. Thus, there is a breakdown of the ingredients’ old structure so that they can merge with the other ingredients. This means that instead of remaining separate from the roux, all the contents merge to create something new, leading to the third and final stage: rubedo.

This process is all done within the context of the gumbo pot, or cauldron, which reflects what I refer to as the Yonic Principle™. Thus, the womb is the vehicle through which this transformation occurs, much like the merging of opposites within a human womb might lead to the birth of a child if a woman chooses to become pregnant and carry that life to term. Or within the realm of psychology, the merging of one’s conscious and unconscious aspects to provide a symbolic “rebirth” of the Self.

Therefore, I argue, that much like the notion of the Holy Grail in many Arthurian legends, the grail or cauldron, or in this case, the gumbo pot, all symbolize the same thing – the healing powers of the feminine or the Yonic Principle™.

Therefore, as I said above, it appears that I did learn a great deal about the meaning of life at 6 years old from watching my grandmother make gumbo – only I didn’t have the words to describe what I knew at the time.

Or rather, this form of wisdom, which is inherently rooted in the feminine, wasn’t justified by the “knowledge” I was being taught to absorb through my educational training and Western male-dominated Spiritual traditions.

In truth, I think many mystics and male theorists like Carl Jung, while brilliant, spend their whole lives trying to uncover what women intuitively know. Namely, that alchemy, psychology, mysticism, the “divine” or whatever we choose to define it as, is not so different from nature itself. That it all circles back to the womb, and the merging of the opposites – the masculine and the feminine, or the conscious and the unconscious.

These opposing forces bump into one another, clash, merge, “make love,” and create something new. Something that has roots in both worlds, and yet at the same time, is unique on its own.

Just like gumbo.

Only this alchemy isn’t happening at fancy lecture halls or secret occult societies. It is happening right in the kitchens of our grandmothers. Created by the hands of the women who shaped us, who carried a piece of us when our mothers were being first formed in their wombs.

And I don’t about you, but that seems pretty damn magical to me…and perhaps we might consider that to be the purest form of alchemy.

OX

Your Dark Fairy Godmother

To learn more about the author’s Yonic Theory™ or her concept of the Yonic Principle™ purchase the article through her Yonic Journal or listen to her podcast episode on this topic below:

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Reference

Blackie, S. (2022). Hagitude: Reimagining the second half of life. New World Library.

Walker, B. G. (1983). The woman's encyclopedia of myths and secrets. Harper & Row

I’ve often heard many tarot readers refer to the 7 of Swords as a card of “deceit” or “trickery”. Thus, their interpretation of this card tends to be quite negative, as if the boogeyman or Rougarou is lurking in the shadows, coming to get you…

The Rougarou, a werewolf-like beast who, in Cajun folklore, haunts the Louisiana swamps looking to eat naughty children who do not observe the Catholic tradition of Lent or disobey their parents. Image taken from the Terrebonne Parish Library (https://mytpl.org/project/rougarou-the-swamp-werewolf/)

In some interpretations, the figure in the 7 of Swords is an outside person, a friend or lover turned foe, or someone who wishes to harm you by thwarting some goal or accomplishment you’re after. Other times, it references dishonesty. Whether that is someone being dishonest with you, or on a deeper level, the ways in which you have been dishonest with yourself.

Thus, this card is often used by Tarot Readers as a way to engage in “shadow work” and uncover one’s own sources of trickery within. As our inner world is often reflected in our external interactions with others. Or as the “Mother” of all Drag Queens, RuPaul says:

Yet, while I believe there is much merit in interpreting the 7 of Swords in this way, I have come to have a different understanding of this card in its “light” or “positive” aspects, which I believe is worthy of some much-needed attention.

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The similarities between these two cards are striking. The skeleton or man on the white horse wears a similar suit of armor in both cards. Their gaze is forward-focused to the right, and they both seem to be unaffected by whatever else in the foreground of the image, as if nothing can stop their pursuit.

For Death, it marches on, no matter if the figures that stand in its way are a fallen king, a pope-like figure, a woman, or even a child. While the knight does not face the same obstacles as the skeleton on the death card, the wings on his shoes and helmet remind me of Eros/Cupid and how, much like death, love comes for us all.

Yet why would Smith choose to depict these cards in such a similar fashion?

What meaning was she trying to help us uncover, since Waite was the one who gave her full artistic license over the cards’ images?

From what I have come to understand, in studying Pamela Coleman Smith’s images is that I doubt very much that this was “just a coincidence.” In the Rider-Waite-Smith, many symbols/images repeat themselves over and over again. (For example, the red feather in the Fool’s cap, which can be seen in both the Sun card and the Nine of Cups.) Therefore, given Smith’s desire to reuse symbols, I cannot help but to think that there was a deliberate reason she chose to make these two cards so similar…

Which is why I have done the same in designing my own cards for my own tarot deck. The Yonic Tarot™.

If you would like to support the creation of my Yonic Tarot™ deck you can donate here:

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But before diving into my cards and my inspiration behind them. Let us first explore the meaning of the Death and Knight of Cups and how they are related.

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“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.”

- Albert Camus, Return to Tipasa

Image of Camus

Albert Camus was a French philosopher and a key figure associated with the absurdism movement. Thus, he was no stranger to thoughts of death or asking …

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