What’s up, swimmers? We’re now swimming in the deep waters of Pisces season. which is going to bring us to the end of another spin of the zodiacal wheel.
It’s a time of culminations, transitions, and dreaming. Pisces also rules the 12th House of the unconscious and unseen, which can be a gorgeous, imaginative, Neptunian ride, but can also be highly confronting as you delve deep or buried treasure shit surfaces. I hope that your toolkit includes naps, bubble baths or steaming hot showers, your birth chart, and whatever allows you to disassociate without escapism, ya feel?
I’ve also noticed an uptick in folks talking about boundaries and boundary setting.
Beth Porter of Earth & Ether said this week that, “Pisces season is likely to bring up where your boundaries are a bit too fluid and that need more structure as well as the spaces in which you could allow a little more “gray area” in your thinking.” And in their latest newsletter, Nick Kepley of In Search of Tarot explored boundaries from a nonbinary perspective, musing on how boundaries “creates [their] own third place.”
Boundaries as a concept are introduced in the 6, which we experienced as a collective during 2022, and all of this juicy examination seems like a continuation of this work through the lens of 7, which we’re cycling through now in 2023.
Enter Sam Valentine, who I feel is constantly modeling the practice of discerning between private, personal, and public—which I shared about in my 7 year newsletter—and who’s pushing their own sense of boundaries this year as they commit to creating structure around their already incredible, campy and accessible tarot offerings!
I reject the “love & light” & “positivity only” culture that can be pervasive in wellness™ & healing™ spaces, as well as the mere idea of reverence.
- Sam Valentine
Sam Valentine doesn't like to self-identify, but when she does, it’s as an aesthete, tarot reader, & curator of vibes. (But seriously, just peep their absolutely delicious instagram…)
As they share on their new website, Sam reads tarot primarily for fun and enjoyment, and they align their work with the literal term Tarot Reader in that they “read” the cards in the specific context of the reading as it occurs, leaving space for not-knowing, and holding no set expectations about what the cards might "mean."
A tarot reader & creative on the side, Sam spends most of her time on her day job as a community Archivist.
As someone with a Gemini stellium, I take absolutely everything & nothing seriously.
- Sam Valentine
It’s been so neat to see the themes that have emerged from these conversations, and I really do see this chat as a gorgeous continuation of themes that Meg Jones Wall and I dished on in the last episode: coming to the tarot from somewhat non-spiritual directions, freedom from tradition, and personal meaning-making when working with the cards.
Sam is also a great friend of mine, and I’m endlessly grateful that she said yes to having this (public) conversation with me! Not to spoil the end of the chat before you even get to listen, but the reasons they shared that they might not be right for the “seeking space” is exactly the reason that I knew they’d be perfect for it. I’m so excited for you to fall madly in love with them.
Some of my favorite moments from this conversation include:
"Tarot is a place that's enjoyable for me. It's fun for me, [it] is a game to me in some ways (that I'm playing with myself), and I don't want to come to that with any expectations... or rules. I'm really bad at following rules in games anyway..."
"That has been a theme of my life: the idea of what is and isn't shareable; and I think I've come to a way of understanding where that line is for myself that's based in what I actually want and desire for myself... where as previously... it has come from a place of fear."
[on tarot & social media] "What is 'community' around magical tools like [tarot]? Who is the 'we' in the 'tarot community?' I do feel that I have found community in [that space], but I don't know that we're all sharing an amorphous community."
But there really are so many potent permission slips within. (Not that you need them, bestie…) Let me know which moments stood out to you!
If you’d like to connect with Sam, there are many different ways to do so!
Share this post