secular & sacred

hi there! 💛 call me elle (they/them). i'm a witch, tarot reader with 15+ years of experience, and a novice astrologer. i work from an atheistic/animistic framework and write about sacred tools from a secular lens.

one of my favorite accidentally queer stretches of the tarot is this sequence in the major arcana. 💛 it’s a beautifully resonant depiction of the gender transition journey, although it folds a lot of big moments and intense processes into just a few cards. 💫 each of these cards also work beautifully as a supportive card, but we’ll talk more about supportive cards the week after next, so i won’t dive too deep into that topic today! let’s look at each card individually, then the sequence as a whole:

the cards

🌈 xi justice: justice, ruled by libra, is a card that speaks to balance, alignment, and authenticity. 💫 it asks us to show up to what’s here, what’s present, and speak honestly and truly about what’s happening.

🌈 xii the hanged man: the hanged man, ruled by neptune, is a major pause – it asks us to take a break, rest, and just be present with what’s happening. we’re not being asked to do anything here but dream and imagine.

🌈 xiii death: death, ruled by scorpio, is a great transformative energy, a purgative fire. it asks us to let go of what doesn’t work, embrace what belongs to us, and shed our skins like snakes. 🌈 xiv temperance: temperance, ruled by sagittarius, is a joyful and active energy. the name often gets mistaken for moderation – this is temperance like tempered steel or tempered chocolate, not withholding. it’s an alchemical process where one material is changed into another form.

the sequence

the description of xiv temperance might have clued you into what’s going on here – this is a story about the transgender experience embedded within the hero’s journey that is 0 the fool to xxi the world. 💛

in justice, we’re asked to show up and name what’s real and true. this is often a card of speaking truth to power, and that’s exactly what happens when we acknowledge our transgender feelings. it takes a lot of strength and authenticity to speak it into being, and that’s why this is where we start: it kicks off our journey. on its own, this card is wonderfully supportive when you need that kick in the pants to get real with yourself 💛

the hanged man is like a cocoon. 💛 in the traditional imagery of this card, the figure is quite peaceful dangling there; when you slow down and acknowledge where you are in justice, you give yourself the room and space to grow. this is a card where it doesn’t look like much is happening because it’s all under the surface, but it’s a necessary step on the way. this card is so helpful when you’re straining and fighting against the time it takes to choose your next steps, and to help muster up the energy for what comes next 💫

and that’s really helpful, because next, we come into death, which is a total rebirth – it’s a perfect follow-up to the cocoon energy, but it’s not always pretty or easy. 💫 it may not feel great, but it’s the butterfly bursting from the cocoon; in a cocoon, a larvae is taken apart piece by piece so it can be rebuilt into something more true and real, and that’s exactly what happens during the coming out and social transition process. this is a wonderful energy to draw on any time you’re frustrated at this process, need a reminder that you’ll come out the other side intact but different, or just want some help remembering that death/rebirth or transformation is a process 💛

finally, we come to the temperance card. it’s the both/and of the tarot deck; when you’ve shown up in justice, taken your pause in the hanged man, and then come into death, you’re setting everything aside that doesn’t matter, taking stock of where you are and where you’re going, and walked through the flames to emerge exactly who you always were all along. the important thing to remember here is that note about what temperance actually means: when certain metals are heat-treated, they become tougher and less brittle, and they’re what they were before but also something entirely new. 💛 as with any narrative, it’s a little bit of a lie that there’s a finish line, a point at which you are transitioned, but this card helps celebrate even the littlest of wins. every time you come out, every time you start a new step on your transition, this card is showing up and cheering for you, and you can call on it any time you need that support 💛

hi there, anon! thanks for letting me read for you 💛 i asked spirit for a message about what to leave in the past so you can have room for what's next, and i pulled the knight of wands 💫

court cards show up as aspects of our selves that we're able to embody or call on for support any time we need; i pulled another knight for someone else this morning, and the way i described it to them is that the knights are truly the embodiment of movement. 💫 i also wrote a post that went live this morning about dismantling the binary of the court; seems like spirit is really interested in spreading the good word of the knights today! 💛

if we think about the knights as embodied movement, what we're looking at is kind of a signal of how we can do something that needs done. the knight of wands is a passionate, fiery energy that doesn't take a lot of time to move into action; on top of that, it's an unabashed, unashamed energy that isn't afraid to do what needs done, even when it's not what we think we "should" be doing. 💫 i'm constantly putting "should" into quotes -- there's almost never a time where a "should" means much more than "this is the way someone else said a thing is done," and that's not very useful info usually!

My initials are Q.T.N I'm a pisces sun Scorpio moon and Aquarius rising

hi there, qtn! thanks for letting me read for you again! i love repeat querents; i feel like i get a little stronger of a grasp on the messages very time! 💫 i'm so glad that the previous reading was helpful, and i hope this one will be, too! i asked spirit what message they have for you as we move out of gemini season and i pulled i the magician, reversed 💛

Remember to drink water 💜

-🌻

hi there! 💛 thanks for the reminder -- i'm not even halfway through the bottle i try to finish by this time, so it was much needed and i took a huge drink, thank you!

and thanks for letting me read for you! i asked spirit for a message about what you have left unfinished in gemini season and i pulled the ix of swords, reversed.

as is obvious from my blog url, this is my absolute favorite card in the deck 💫 i always say that it's a reminder that the dark night of the soul will eventually end; it's a card that shows up for me when i'm at my weakest, neediest, and most hurt, and reminds me to tend to myself, practice self-care, and yes, drink water 💛

hey there, juno! thanks for such a kind word 💛 i'd love to read for you again! i asked spirit for a message about what to let go of this gemini season to make room for the things coming your way in cancer season and i pulled the knight of swords 💫

as per usual, i read court cards like aspects of our selves that we can call on and embody at any time; i just posted a lil write up of how we can undo the binary of the court cards, and in that post, i described the knights as "movement embodied." they're usually coming forward to speak to how we go through the world -- are we steady, planning, focused? bursting through obstacles? in the knight of swords, we're being called to give ourselves permission to do more than we thought was possible. 💛 they're the part of us that's oriented toward truly aligned action; when we act in harmony with our thoughts and values, we really step into our knight of swords energy.

hi, natalia! 💛 thanks for letting me read for you! i asked spirit for a message about any unfinished business you can get rid of before we start our next cycle in cancer season and i pulled ii the high priestess 💫

the high priestess is a beautiful archetype that speaks to the practice of deep, inner knowledge and listening to our own wisdom and intuition. it's ruled by the moon and carries all that dreamy, piscean energy with it; it's not a card that asks you to take much action, but to tune inward and pay attention to your feelings and sensations so that you can sort through them. i'm deep in my yoga teacher training so i keep thinking of yoga sutra 1.3, which very roughly says "the seer abides in itself" -- meaning, we are not the subject but the witness; this is a very high priestess energy! it reminds us that we are not the sensations and feelings and thoughts that come our way, but simply the witness to those things, and the path to self-realization is being able to separate ourselves from those sensations.

i’m constantly driving this point home, but i’ll say it again: the court cards aren’t about other people. they all represent some aspect of you, some part of your self that you have access to, and can embody or call on for support any time. 💫 it’s already a very queer undertaking – understanding that you’re not just a page, or a queen, but you have all of these energies already within you, regardless of how you associate them with masculinity or femininity. 💛 i’m going to dive deeper into this topic in this post – we’ll start with how you can understand each of these energies more holistically, then talk about how to divorce gender norms from these archetypes.

what the court cards do, and don’t, represent

i’m a huge proponent for a secular, healing-centric take on the tarot. in my lineage, tarot is about you – not how others feel or think or interact with you, but how you show up in the world, what you feel, the things you think but can’t surface to the front of your mind. 💫 and like i talked about in my first post in this series, queering the tarot is an ongoing project that requires us to open up our imagination and be open to the possibility that we’re changing our minds on how these energies work. 💛

the court cards are a major part of this – they’re not showing up to tell you some tall, dark handsome is coming into your life. they’re asking you to honor the part of yourself that’s represented by the fiery, active movement of the knight, or the compassionate, nurturing part that shows up with the queens. 💛 the court cards aren’t easy to wrap our heads around, though, so i’m going to give you a cheat sheet in the next section that gives you a shortcut to understanding these energies.

the energies of the court cards

tarot isn’t quite plug-and-play, but a blend of energies; sixes tend to speak to exchange, but that’s modulated by the suit of the minor arcana it’s within, right? it’s the same with the court cards. i’m going to run down what’s typically showing up with each of the members of the court so we can start to understand where the gendered assumptions come into play and start to untangle those from the ungendered archetypes. 💛

🌈 pages: pages are an unconditioned, vulnerable archetype. they’re playful, dreamy, and imaginative; they haven’t been burdened by social programming, so they don’t think in “shoulds” or “musts,” only in “can” and “may.” when a page shows up, it’s usually inviting you to root down into that energy and get curious instead of judgemental or thinking things should or must be a certain way, and instead ask why.

🌈 knights: knights are like movement embodied – they speak to how we move around in the world, how we engage with others, how we show up when it’s time to take action. they usually show up for us when we need to know how to do something.

🌈 queens: the queens are great figures of creation – magic, alchemy, and transformation all live within these cards. they show up when we know things must change, but don’t know how to do it. they’re here to show us how to partner with our intuition, get to know ourselves, and interact with the world. if pages answer the “why” and knights answer the “how,” queens are about the “what.” they’re great partners in identifying our needs and desires.

🌈 kings: the kings are embodied, wise actors. they’re a culmination of all of the work we’ve done so far: after figuring out all the logistics, they simply do. the kings show up when we need a role model for this active energy, and represent all the ways we have these abilities within us.

hopefully you can see that none of these energies are, inherently, gendered. 💛 tarot is a human project and humans are all tangled up and bogged down in gender roles, so when we see a playful or nurturing card, we tend to assume there’s an inherent femininity, and when we see an active or leadership energy, we think it’s masculine. that is not ever the case, nor does it mean these energies are exclusive to one subset of the population or another. the manliest man in the world still has the queen of cups within him; a nonbinary person isn’t excluded from any one of these energies. 💛

my chosen name is celeste, i use they/he pronouns, i'm nonbinary, and i'm a leo sun, aries moon, and scorpio rising : )

hi, celeste! you're the second scorpio rising nb to slip into my inbox recently -- i'm starting to see a pattern between the three of us 💛 thanks for letting me read for you! i rephrased your question a lil bit and asked spirit for guidance on your spiritual journey and developing your abilities, and i pulled the queen of cups 💫

i always read court cards as aspects of our selves that we're able to tap into and embody at any time; one of my teachers, lindsay mack, has always described the queens as carrying messages to us about our intuition, which is very closely aligned with your question. 💛 the queen of cups speaks to our abilities to be, and know, many things at once; it also directs us to keep our eyes on our own paper, so to speak. the queen of cups isn't concerned with what other people are doing, but is focused on understanding themself, by turning inward and tuning into their inner messages. this is one way we train and hone our intuition -- by paying attention to the signals we're receiving internally, and then working to parse through which ones are true and which ones are false. it's a practice of assessing what we know to be true and ascertaining how that comes through for us.

welcome to pride month! 💛 i know, i’ve said it a thousand times, pride month is only one month and we’re here the rest of the year – but damn if i don’t love a good theme. 💫 this month, i’m going to be publishing a series of posts that relate to the queer + trans experience within the tarot; as each post goes live, i’ll update this post with a link 💛

a primer on queering tarot

the tarot – like any other spiritual tool – is inherently colored by the human makers of the tool. i don’t try to pretend that these archetypes are inherently agender or queer; we’re working together, as a culture, on recontextualizing everything all the time and tarot is no exception. tarot’s for you, it’s for me, and if it’s for us, that means we get to work with it in whatever way is most expansive, promotive, and helpful. 💛

part of this means we’re all tasked with the project of unraveling harmful ideologies humans have wound up into the cards. as with any human project, there’s inevitably going to be things that become outdated or that we grow out of – that’s where we come in. 💛 we can look at all of these topics below and throw up our hands and say the tarot isn’t already that way, but we can also look at these topics and decide to make them a reality. 💫

links 💫

happy pride month!! 💛 the tarot has been one of the most beautiful and encouraging supports i've reached for in my life around my sexuality and gender. i don't care how corporatized they try to make it, i'll always love pride month with all my heart and soul. 💫 this is a time to focus on the beauty and joy of being queer and trans: the way nature holds us, loves us, supports us; the way we show up in the world despite all odds; the way we belong. this month, i've channeled three messages from spirit to cheer you on 💛

my free readings are open and unpaused! 💛 if you feel inclined to submit a request, please take a quick look at my guidelines! (the gist is that i do not provide predictive readings, so i might delete or rephrase your question if it doesn't fit my guidelines). if you want something more in-depth, feel free to take a peek at my paid reading options 💛

ICYMI 💫

back in april, i posted a series of astrology 101 posts -- if you start from the beginning, it will break down how to read your (or anyone else's!) birth chart step-by-step 💛 you can find all of the posts here in the masterpost!

upcoming 💫

june: this month i'll be posting all about how to queer the tarot, queer and trans narratives in the tarot, and other pride-related topics! 💛

cancer season: cancer season is coming up quick! 💫 all posts are queued and ready to go – they’ll briefly interrupt the queer tarot series, but it will pick back up after litha 💛

july: we’re hitting one of my favorite topics next month: astro+tarot! there will be a cycle of posts dropping throughout the month about the various places astrology and tarot collide, lots of reference post lists, but also some posts about what these connections actually mean 💛

hi there, h! thanks for letting me read for you! 💛 i asked spirit for a message for you and i pulled ix of cups. 💫

this is a card with a lot of depth; nines speak to moments where we're pulled internal to witness and pause, and the cups speak to our intuition and emotions. the ix of cups is also connected to pisces and it's a very celebratory energy, one of achievement and climbing. at the same time, it's rooted within a feeling of satiation, so in some ways it can feel a little stagnant, like when you finally reach a point you were really looking forward to, only to realize, "damn, that's it?"

My name is Ty (26, NB, Leo sun, Sag moon, Scorpio rising)

I am a neurodivergent artist, diagnosed with autism as a child and more recently with ADHD, I have been struggling to tune into my creative 'spark' for a long time but I feel that the intense love for creativity is missing from my life.

If you have the time for one of your free readings to help me find some guidance on this situation, it would be most appreciated.

hi there, fellow scorpio rising nb! 💛 thank you for letting me read for you! this is such a lovely question for the tarot and one of my favorite ways to use it. i asked spirit for a reading on this topic for you, and i pulled the king of swords and viii of wands 💫

the court cards are all aspects of our selves, available for us to embody or call on for support any time we need a little oomph of the card's energy in our lives. 💛 the king of swords is a capable, skilled energy that knows how to engage with our thoughts and inner lives to parse through what's real and what isn't. it's also a ferociously independent, free-thinking energy! it knows how to let go of any feeling of 'should' and focus instead on what feels right to us.

on the other hand, the viii of wands is a completely counterintuitive card for this scenario -- it's a swift, quick-moving energy that speaks to our experience of ease over effort. 💫 all of the eights in tarot speak to transformation, and this card speaks to that feeling we gain when we do something so many times we can do it by physical sense memory alone.

counterintuitive cards are usually the most fun to pull, tbh. they usually suggest that even though we're perceiving the situation in a certain way, there's something else accessible to us that we're not noticing; in this case, i think that spirit is nudging you to look at what you do have available to you, rather than focusing on that feeling of losing your 'spark.' in this case, i think spirit is encouraging you to look at the things that light you up and feel like no effort at all; is there a certain thing around creativity (a medium, a practice, a goal) that you're ignoring in favor of another one because it feels like you 'should' be focusing on the latter even though the former is more true to you? the king of swords is a wonderfully supportive energy for this practice of figuring out where you're letting 'shoulds' get in the way; they know how to really ignore that and allow themself to get more comfortable with the non-conventional. 💫

hi there! thanks for letting me read for you 💛 i wasn't sure whether you were wanting a card for gemini season or a general reading, and when i asked spirit for a reading for you, i pulled vii the chariot 💫 when i pull a card for a major period of time (like my card for the year or for my solar return), i sometimes seek out specifically a major arcana card, so i'm going to read this as your card for gemini season!

vii the chariot is all about chapters closing. it finishes off our first line of the tarot and graduates us on to bigger and better things. major arcana cards aren't speedy or immediately identifiable in our lives, though -- they're like the weather, unfolding as the backdrop of a season of our lives. when the chariot shows up, it's usually encouraging you to find the things you've outgrown. imagine a hermit crab growing too large for its shell, and that's the energy of the chariot, which is ruled by cancer 💫

i took a peek at a sagittarius rising chart and gemini is in your seventh house, so this is the time of year where extra light is shone on your partnerships -- your friends, loved ones, but also business or academic partnerships, etc. this is a great time to carefully examine for yourself which relationships suit you, which ones you've outgrown, and which ones you'd like to invite in next 💛

hi there, vb! 💛 thanks for letting me read for you. i asked spirit for a general message from your guides and i pulled xii the hanged man and x of swords, reversed 💫

when major cards show up, they're usually speaking to something bigger than our daily lives, something that's playing out in the background and unfolding around us. minor cards like the x of swords, on the other hand, are granular, nitty-gritty detail; i compare major vs minor to season vs weather. when it's winter, it's winter, whether it's snowing or not, right?

so your first card, the hanged man, tends to speak to large periods of pausing and waiting. it suggests an experience that's very frustrating in the moment, but ultimately serves us in the long run; i liken it to a cocoon, a time of unseen movement and change, that does eventually end but feels interminable during the process. on the other hand, the x of swords usually shows up as a reminder that overthinking does us no good, and can lead to mental exhaustion and burnout if we let it get the best of us. 💛 based on what you shared, this sounds like a very timely message from spirit!

what i'm sensing is that spirit is inviting you to pause -- really pause, not just wait a bit and then get back to trying to figure out your next step. i say it like it's easy, but it's actually so fucking hard! when a major arcana card shows up, it usually means this is a long-term process, and they're generally trying to teach you something; i think the hanged man is showing up to try to help you learn how to really disengage from the worrying and considering next steps, and allow yourself to just be present with where you are and what you're doing, trusting that things are going to work out in the end. 💫 it's interesting, too, that x of swords is showing up reversed. luckily for you, reversals can speak to an ending coming soon! i hope that's the case, because i know how exhausting and demoralizing a hanged man season can be; if it's not, though, the x of swords is a great card to remember that it's okay to just veg out, let go of trying to figure things out, and that it's actually necessary to do so.