Maria Minnis

A guide to reading tarot not only as a tool for personal reflection but also as an invitation to community engagement and social change While many think of tarot as a personal tool for self-reflection, there's a broader, more social history behind these indelible cards of divination--a hidden source of inspiration and power that can speak directly to the collective yearning for change so many of us feel. In 78 Acts of Liberation, tarot reader and activist Lane Smith offers a guide to using the cards with an eye toward collective justice and liberation. Smith invites us to explore power through the lens of tarot--both our own ability to create change and power dynamics in the world. They reveal the little-known history of tarot and the way the deck and readings have changed over time, encouraging us to explore the archetypes in new ways. Each card offers a question for not only individual reflection but also social consideration. Throughout, Smith shares examples from social movements--from the Indigenous Water Protectors to #MeToo--that illustrate how we can put the power of these timeless archetypes into action. The tarot deck offers seventy-eight invitations for reflection and change--not only in our inner world, but beyond--change that can feel joyful, hopeful, freeing, and empowering. As Smith explains, "Truth alone will not set us free. We have to act on it." This guide offers inspiration for action.

A provocative exploration of the 22 Major Arcana that re-envisions these archetypes as beacons that illuminate the various ways racisms takes root both in ourselves and in the world and how these insights can be turned into self-awareness, self-love, and positive social action. Tarot has always been a powerful tool for introspection and inner work. So what better tool to use when we're ready to do the really hard work? Author Maria Minnis takes a radical new look at the Major Arcana in this tarot workbook that provides readers a unique, personal understanding of systemic racism--and what steps we can take to begin to dismantle it. This is a book for anyone that has been overwhelmed or outraged or frustrated and has asked "But what can I do?" It is a book for anyone ready to do the inner work to address what can be done to demolish everyday racism. This book says Tarot can be tool for action, a tool that may offer great satisfaction as well as great difficulty. It is a tool to push you out of your comfort zone. This is Tarot for the hard work. You'll explore the Major Arcana to uncover how each archetype can help cultivate a freer, anti-racist world. The book highlights some of the reversed, shadow aspects of each Major Arcana card in relation to the different ways that racism shows up in our lives. The book will consider the upright, or benevolent, aspects of each card and how readers can use those themes to dismantle internalized racism, racism in our relationships, and racism in our communities. As you move from the Fool to the World card, you'll discover that everything we do ripples beyond us, and that there are practical ways to change our actions and perspectives. You'll find possibilities for liberation work within yourself, your relationships, and your community. This is a book that speaks to both white and BIPOC audiences--for BIPOC, how the shadow aspects and card energy have affected or shown up or manifested in the internal and external life, and for white people, how those same aspects can become an education process to help identify how they've been part of the problem and can be part of the solution. The author addresses the human community as a whole, and how racism affects our relationships to each other, to our communities, and to our institutions. For all readers, this book addresses how the energy can be turned around into self-awareness, self-love, and positive action.