Afro Goddess Tarot Arcanas
Not normally into pretty packaging, but would you look at this?!
You got to have the luscious red bag, the box that looks like a rose sunrise, the **guidebook** the not too big at just shy of 3” x 5”, the silky matte, edges the color of raw gold.
I have a confession to make: I nearly missed the magic of this deck.
Before we get to it, I have to pause.
This packaging is showing off. There, I said it. I mean, can you leave something for any other deck? You got to have the luscious red bag, the box that looks like a rose sunrise, the **guidebook** the not too big at just shy of 3” x 5”, the silky matte, edges the color of raw gold. And the backs… the backs of these cards get me every time. Take the deck in your hand, let your fingertips brush across the slightly raised texture, then tilt it, so the gloss and the matte play in the light just so… Bam! The outline of the Motherland shines in the center. I find myself just holding the thing instead of getting to it. By the time I reach the cards themselves, the setting is well and truly set.
Story time:
There's a place I get my hair cut. I am an African American woman, so when I say I wear my hair natural, it changes where and who can cut my hair. It's neither cheap nor fast, and I believe that how it feels while getting it done can impact my mental and spiritual well-being. So when a big event comes up, I know where to go.
When you walk in the door, the bell chimes and you get the first waft of incense. Neo soul or reggae music is playing, folks draped in Pan-african colors and ankhs speak with unfiltered cadences that sound like home.
The vibe is that of peace, intention, and Black community. Laughter rings out from the barbers in the loft. You can wrap all of this ambiance in your braids, locs, and twists to carry around with you to enhance your power.
I bet she smells good.
Like cocobutter, incense, and magic.
This deck is like that.
It feels like the first time I walked onto a historically Black college campus. I saw a part of society deemed minority, normalized. Showcased. A full-color scale of a diverse people, living all 78 cards of a life deck, not solely defined by color and contrasting culture.
I almost missed it because this kind of normal was hard won for me and seems to be taking greater and greater hold. Representation goes beyond a food dish and skin color. I'm so glad Andrea Furtick spoke this deck into being where others can experience it too. This is what can happen when someone is painting and speaking their truth from within a community. It's like getting to know someone at home on a Sunday afternoon and then another time decked out in their finest formals. By the time you get to see them deep in their comfort and shining like a diamond, well then… now you’re getting to really know them.
While there are cards I'd be interested in seeing revisited in later editions, the strong ones sing. I was a little put off by the not quite cartoon feel to the art, but then, I nearly missed it again.
There is a softness, a realness, an innocence, that Black folks aren't often allowed to show in unsegregated spaces.
The men are muscular and smiling, starry eyes unflinching and without a hardness made to defend and challenge. The women vary, thick, slim, curvy, busty, full-figured. The humans depicted are shown gentle, firm, wielding power and authority, and vulnerable. You know, real people. I would hazard to guess we are all these things and it's important to have specific examples. I don’t often see myself in decks and I like the non-caricature regularity this artist has captured.
Afro Goddess Tarot Arcanas is an easy to read RWS derivative, though there's are a few tweaks worth noting.
The weeping Justice got me in the feels, though it leaves true justice in the hands of the Hierophant since, sadly, it doesn't seem to be meted out in this card. Or maybe resolutions are found wherever the individual confronts where they've fallen short, or where the collective joins together and resolves to find a way forward.
The Two is a lovely depiction of stepping into the reality of the saying the world is your oyster. The Three has already taken steps down the path that stretches ahead.
Look at the 5 of wands as 5 different people in shade and expression, moving together into one road. Check out the varying thickness of the 4 and 6. Somehow, I made it all the way to this gorgeous 10 of wands who can balance her basket and still hold up her skirts, before I noticed their eyes, stars dancing in the light of each person's eyes. And the expressions tell you what you need to know. I always stare at the gaze of the Daughter of Wands for a long while. She’s curious, thoughtful, slightly cautious, but willing. I see a lot of myself in her.
There's a noticeable softness in the grip of the 4 of Pentacles. The 5 as well, choosing the prosperity on the other side of the closed gate as it literally is greener rather than the Tiny Tim style poverty and stained glass windows. The reflection and slight worry of the 7 has relaxed into basking in the fruits of labor. I wonder has the giver of the 6 returned home to her garden and is reveling in the prosperity that allows her to give so freely? The Pentacles court subtly uses hair length to speak of their suit's vitality, fertility and material wealth. Of course short hair doesn't mean a lack of anything (but the time it takes to dry it), but I appreciate subtlety.