i consider myself a student of the tarot. i own perhaps 30 different tarot decks, and i’ve spent countless hours studying them, along with tarot theory. i never performed any serious “readings”, and really don’t believe that a tarot reading can predict the future. however, i have always been facinated by the tarot, and very much enjoy the artwork and archetypes that the tarot offers.

i’ve even put together my own deck, which links to a fragment of my old website.

in wikipedia’s tarot cards in popular culture, italo calvino described the tarot as a “machine for telling stories”, and that’s one way i view the tarot, and find it particularly accurate from my own perspective and usages.

i came across a thread on the aeclectic tarot forums entitled transgender decks, and there’s even a link to an unpublished trans tarot deck (the site loads slowly so be patient). that deck doesn’t really work for me, but it motivated me to think about what a trans deck would look like, and how it might offer a different insight into the tarot, and subsequently, into beyond what a standard deck might offer.

while tarot decks can tell a story, and every trans person definately has a story, i’m wondering if the archetypical “transition” story might be the focus of a tarot deck, and what that might provide above and beyond any other deck. further, i wonder if a transition deck would be counter productive to trans people.

there have been several gay decks, and several feminist/lesbian decks, and these decks do offer additional aspects beyond the conventional (if there is such a thing) decks. i’ll be thinking about what a trans deck might look like, and what it might offer.