Reviews tagging 'Cultural appropriation'

Red Tarot: A Decolonial Guide to Divinatory Literacy by Christopher Marmolejo

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srivalli's review

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informative reflective slow-paced

3.75

 3.7 Stars

One Liner: That’s a lot to process!

Red Tarot is an advanced-level thesis that attempts to decolonize tarot symbolism and meanings. It caters to the BIPOC and the queer community to guide them to find themselves and their roots in their culture and divination. Being an #OwnVoices work, it has many personal insights and experiences shared by the author. 

My Thoughts:

Firstly, this book is not a casual read. It is not for beginners. I put myself somewhere around the intermediary level, and this was still a bit hard to understand. 

There’s an abundance of information, too much at times, which feels overwhelming to read at a stretch. I’ve been reading a few pages per day for more than two months, and still, I can’t say I got it all. Serious readers should buy a physical copy for easy reference. 

Moreover, this is rooted in American history, which means I cannot always relate to it (though I’m a pagan by birth). If you belong to the same land, you are likely to find a deeper connection. 

That said, some of the interpretations are beautiful. Though it draws from the RWS (Raider Waite Smith), I found myself visualizing the cards from the Light Seers Tarot Deck. There is certainly a connection between the two, which could help me as I learn more. 

There isn’t a single illustration in the book. Having at least a rough sketch for each card would have helped a lot more.  

The book doesn’t interpret the cards in the ‘standard’ order. It is grouped into Aces, twos, and on, with the major and minor arcana bundled under the subheads. This is an interesting approach as it also creates a link between different cards (the Magician and Wheel; Empress and Queens; Justice, Hanged One, and Judgment, etc.) 

Many quotes are included in the book, with a clear bibliography at the end divided into neat sections. That’s helpful and efficient. 

Sharing some of the many quotes I marked: 

The Magician is the astrologer and the Wheel of Fortune is the astrology, both images of each other. 

The High Priestess shows us how we shape ourselves.

If Justice reflects our blindness, then the Hanged One offers the sacrifice of self that restores sight.

While the Empress births us into body, Death brings us back to Spirit. Birth and death are but two sides of the same veil.

If you could look at the rings of a tree without cutting it down you would be looking at the World card.

They (The Fool) are a dangerously free character, just as they are honest about the danger they face, on the verge of tragedy and comedy at the same time. 

To summarize, Red Tarot is what would best be termed as an in-depth academic read with a liberal dose of personal experience and history. It is not a book for a quick reference. 

Thank you, NetGalley and North Atlantic Books, for eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book. 

#NetGalley #RedTarot 

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