Skip to main content

BTP70: Tarot for Guidance and Creativity with Susannah Conway

Tarot for Creativity

On this podcast episode, I am super excited to interview author and photographer Susannah Conway to talk about Tarot for guidance and creativity. Susannah is probably best known for her books, This I Know: Notes on Unravelling the Heart and also London Town: A Photographic Tour of the City’s Delights.

Susannah has inspired people like Brené Brown and Danielle LaPorte, as she helps other people to remember their true selves, using creativity as the key to open the door. She is an amazing woman who is maybe best known for her writing and photography, but she is also incredibly passionate about Tarot, and she’s been reading the cards for over 20 years.

In this podcast episode, you’ll learn:

  • How Susannah uses Tarot for guidance, creativity, and inspiration on a daily basis.
  • Susannah’s tips for intuiting into the cards
  • How to integrate Tarot into creative work

Additional Resources

Tarot Decks Mentioned in this Episode

Podcast Transcript

You’re listening to the Biddy Tarot Podcast, and this is Episode 70: Tarot for Guidance and Creativity with Susannah Conway.

Welcome to the Biddy Tarot Podcast, where you’ll learn how to connect more deeply with your intuition and live an empowered and enlightened life, with the Tarot cards as your guide. Listen as Brigit and her guests share their very best tips and strategies to help you read Tarot with confidence. And now, here’s your host Brigit Esselmont.

Tarot for Guidance and Creativity with Susannah Conway

BRIGIT: Hello, and welcome back to the Biddy Tarot Podcast. As always, I am so excited to be talking to you about Tarot. Today I have a really special guest, she is author and photographer Susannah Conway, and today she’s talking with us about Tarot for guidance and creativity. Susannah is probably best known for her books, This I Know: Notes on Unravelling the Heart and also London Town: A Photographic Tour of the City’s Delights.

Susannah has inspired people like Brené Brown and Danielle LaPorte, as she helps other people to remember their true selves, using creativity as the key to open the door. She is an amazing woman who is maybe best known for her writing and photography, but she is also incredibly passionate about Tarot, and she’s been reading the cards for over 20 years.

In the last few years, she’s also created two Tarot courses, “78 Mirrors” and “Daily Guidance.” Susannah and I have a beautiful conversation in this podcast episode, and it’s just so enlightening and refreshing to hear Susannah’s perspectives on how to use Tarot not just in her own life, but how we can also use Tarot in our lives from a really beautiful, creative space. I hope you enjoy this conversation.

Let me get straight into it and welcome Susannah. Well, thank you so much Susannah, for being here. I can’t wait for our conversation today, it’s so good to have you.

SUSANNAH: Thank you for inviting me. It’s an honour.

BRIGIT: Yay, awesome. You’re someone who’s probably best known for your writing and photography, but in recent times you’ve really started to show a connection, I suppose, with Tarot, so tell me a little bit about how that journey with Tarot began for you.

SUSANNAH: It began, probably like it does for a lot of us, when I was a teenager. Many years ago now, I bought my first Tarot deck, which was “The Aquarian Tarot,” when I was 18 or 19. I’d just started art college. I was always into creativity and art and photography, and that’s always been my world. I was, let’s be honest, a bit of a hippie chick, so the Tarot cards and Oracle cards were an instant draw for me. I was always into New Agey things.

I remember I bought the Aquarian, because I am an Aquarius. That seemed like a good fit, because I didn’t really know much about Tarot. I loved the deck, and I remember the little white book that came with it was a bit mysterious and wasn’t as helpful as some of the guidebooks we have now, but I just muddled my way through and used the cards. And of course, I was asking questions like “When is that guy going to call me?” and it was always looking for predictive answers, I hadn’t quite figured out how to use it for more personal development things, but they were creative and artistic and colourful, and they got my mind working in ways that I think were good ways. They got me thinking about things.

BRIGIT: Yeah.

SUSANNAH: My second deck was “The Tarot of the Moon Garden,” which I think I got when it had just come out, and that was, again, a classic art school deck. It was colourful and vibrant and mysterious to me, and I just loved them. I loved using the cards and playing with them, and I didn’t really know what I was doing, but just loved them and felt connected to them. This love of Tarot and Oracle has continued ever since. It’s never gone away. When I was working as a journalist, it’s obviously not something I talked about, but in my private life they’ve always been there and in the work that I do now.

I’ve been teaching online for 8 years, but it’s only in the last couple of years that my work’s been evolving towards something, I guess, a bit more spiritual, if we’re going to put a label on it.

BRIGIT: Yeah.

SUSANNAH: It was just so automatic to bring the cards in, because they are a part of my creative practice. When I decided to do the “Daily Guidance” course, which was the first one I did, which covers Tarot and Oracle, I had so much fun making it, and I had so much fun with everyone that took that first session. The next step was an obvious “I’ve got to do a Tarot course,” so that’s where “78 Mirrors” came from.

I feel like I’m with you, Brigit, doing the Tarot revolution. I just want everyone to start using them, because they are such an amazing way to get in touch with yourself. That’s how I use them, and that’s how I teach it. So, yeah I love them, I absolutely adore them.

BRIGIT: Yeah, viva la revolución! I’m curious – when you started bringing Tarot into your work, did you ever feel an awkwardness or doubt about “How will people perceive me if I’m introducing Tarot into what I already do?”

SUSANNAH: Yeah, I do understand that worry. What I did, first of all, was I’d share a card in my monthly newsletter that I send out that I call “Love Letters.” It must have been easily 2 or 3 years ago, I started sharing one a month. I’d share the cards, and I’d share my interpretation, and that was just a little thing that I did each time I sent out an email to my audience.

That has grown in how much I share, how I trusted myself to share more intuitive messages that I was getting from the cards, rather than just typing out what the little book said. That grew and grew, so I guess my people were seeing that this is something that I was doing. Anyone in my private life knows that if they come around for dinner, we’re gonna get the cards out, so that’s a standard thing, but online and in my work, I introduced it gradually. It was never a planned thing. It was just something that evolved and that I felt like doing, but I did wonder how people would take it when I launched “Daily Guidance.” I do remember having a moment of thinking “Wow, I’m really, literally putting my cards on the table here, and showing everyone the stuff that’s important to me.”

And even to this day, if I talk to someone I don’t know and they ask “What do you teach?” and “What sort of stuff are you doing?” and I’ll talk about the journaling, the photography, and the blogging, and that all sounds fine, but then when I mention “Well, actually, I teach a Tarot class,” I then feel I have to back it up with three paragraphs about why Tarot isn’t all the fortune-telling stereotype that’s out there. Actually, it’s much more sophisticated than that. To this day I still have to back it up with my justifications, which I’m getting to a point where I’m getting better at explaining how amazing Tarot is, but it does irritate me that those stereotypes are out there. That does really get on my nerves sometimes, but it just makes me more committed to exploding that myth and showing what they are capable of doing. It’s not just big hoop earrings and a smoky room and a crystal ball. It’s a pretty sophisticated tool, so I’m really into showing and demonstrating how that is.

BRIGIT: Yeah, absolutely. It’s amazing just how many misconceptions exist around Tarot – things that are just so opposite to what, say, you and I know of the Tarot cards. I think the more that we can share about how we use Tarot in real, everyday ways, the better, definitely.

SUSANNAH: Absolutely. I love that there are so many decks coming out now that look really modern. I think the Wild Unknown has been such a radical step forward in the world of Tarot, just because it looks so good. It’s so clean, it’s so clear, it’s a modern interpretation, which is great, because the Rider-Waite Smith is lovely, and it was the beginning of so much in the last century, and we owe so much to the creators of that deck, but it has got a lot of cobwebs hanging over it. It’s such a musty looking deck. I love that we have these new interpretations, because it brings it up to date. It’s just so much more palatable, I think, to new generations that are coming to the cards. That’s not to say that I would ever pooh-pooh the Rider-Waite Smith, because it is the standard now; however, updated imagery, I think, speaks to more people. Every time I come across a deck that is modern in its interpretation, I just get so excited, because I think “Yes! This is the potential that the cards hold!” and I love that. I love all the decks that are coming out now. I think it’s fantastic.

BRIGIT: Which would you say are some of your favourite decks? Obviously the Wild Unknown is up there – any others?

SUSANNAH: I’ve got millions. I’ve got over 140 decks, which is almost slightly embarrassing to admit, but I love them. And I don’t buy shoes; I just buy decks. I can’t help it. My current favourites that I always come back to: Wild Unknown, obviously, the Mary-el Tarot I adore, which is quite a hard-core deck, but so powerful, so beautiful. I really like Stella’s Tarot, for a very sweet and modern interpretation, I really love the Shadowscapes, of course. It’s beautiful. The Rider-Waite Smith clones – I really love the Golden Rider. I think that’s really beautiful how they’ve redrawn it. Most of the decks I have are self-published, so I really like the Holly Simple Tarot and the Spirit Speak Tarot. All of those modern decks just look so cool, and I love the feel of them.

I got a deck a couple of weeks ago which I’m obsessed with, and it’s called the Lioness Oracle Tarot, and I can’t remember the name of the creator, but all the images are made out of collage, and it is so luscious.

BRIGIT: Yeah.

SUSANNAH: I am completely obsessed with it at the moment, so that’s my go-to currently, but the decks I have right by me now on my desk are the Wild Unknown, the Mary-el, and the Lioness. That’s what I have near me, just to keep me safe! Keep me grounded.

BRIGIT: Yes. How are you using Tarot now? Obviously, you're teaching Tarot, but how does it integrate into your personal and professional life?

SUSANNAH: Every morning I draw three cards. It’s pretty rare that I don’t do that, actually, because I work from home – thank goodness. I get up, I meditate (or not, depending on how I feel), I make coffee, and I draw some cards. I draw three cards. I do my morning daily guidance spread, which is loosely that the first card is a reflection of where I am right now, the second card is what could be coming along today (something to meditate on, something to think about), and the third card is daily guidance (again, something to think about). I look at those three cards, and I take what I need from them. Sometimes it’s a springboard into some journaling. I try to journal most days. Again, some days I don’t have anything to say, which is always a good day, but I like to have the cards in front of me, and I’ll sort of riff on what I see in them or what they’ve made me think about.

And then another thing I do quite often is I’ll pick a card for inspiration. I’ll either pick one at random and see what I get, or I’ll actually consciously go through the deck and find the card that I need. For example, if I’m writing all day, if I’m creating, I’ll often draw or find the Empress, and I’ll have her propped up against my laptop. Or maybe the Queen of Wands. She’s always a favourite. I love to have her hanging around, inspiring me. They’re just kind of talismans that I have, a visual talisman. I just kind of feel the energy of the card, and I’m like, “Yes, today I am the Queen of Wands.” I use them in that way.

And then I might do a spread for the full moon or the new moon. It comes and goes, but those three cards in the morning are pretty much a definite thing that happens, and then drawing the cards that I need for inspiration. I just like to have them around.

BRIGIT: Yeah.

SUSANNAH: They’re pictures I have around me, and it feels good. I don’t believe the cards have any magical powers or anything like that. They are just pieces of cardboard with images on them, but it’s what they inspire in me – that’s where the magic comes from. And yes, sometimes I will do a spread and I will just be blown away by how apt the cards are. I mean, that happens all the time, and I can’t explain that bit of magic, but usually I just use the images to help my brain work even better. That’s how I feel it is, really.

BRIGIT: Yeah, it’s almost like it’s holding up a mirror to yourself and then going in that much deeper.

SUSANNAH: Absolutely. That’s why I call my class “78 Mirrors,” because it is like having 78 mirrors in your hand. I think the Tarot is so… I think I’ve said it before. I find it a really sophisticated tool. It’s amazing how whoever originally came up with the deck and the Majors and the Minors, and how they figured that all out – wow!

Completely divinely inspired, because even now it’s amazing how it reflects so many different parts of us – the shadow and the light – and that’s what I appreciate the most. I’ve got a lot of Oracle decks, and they’re lovely, and most of them are very positive. That’s great, and I have those around as well, but I appreciate the Tarot more, because it will reflect me on my crappier days as well as my good days, and I need that. It’s not always rainbows in my world, and I love that the Tarot… That’s when it feels like an ally, because it will reflect that back to me, and that feels really supportive. It’s not just saying, “Hey, everything is going to be OK!” It’s actually saying, “No, I know today is not feeling great. Here’s what we can do about it.” It’s really helpful. I’ve been through some pretty crappy things in my time, and the cards have always been there, and they help me connect back to myself. I mean, that’s amazing to me, so I love it.

BRIGIT: Yeah, it’s almost like bringing you back to your source of truth, in a way.

SUSANNAH: Yeah.

BRIGIT: It’s interesting. I’ve had many experiences where I go to do a reading for someone, and they say, “Oh, don’t tell me anything bad!” I say, “OK…”

SUSANNAH: I know, I know! But the problem there is that that’s where you're giving your power to the cards.

BRIGIT: Yes, yes.

SUSANNAH: And that doesn’t work. That’s, again, where the stereotypes are coming in. “Oh my God! If I draw the Death card, someone is going to die!” “No, no, actually, that’s not how it works.” And maybe one day in your entire life, there will be the coincidence of your pet will die, you know? Maybe that would happen, but actually in my nearly 44 years of living, that’s never happened.

Actually, if you can try to really remember that the cards are metaphors, they contain symbols and archetypes and ideas, and that’s what they’re reflecting back. For example, if I draw the Death card, I’m like, “Oh, bring it on!” There is a cycle that’s ending here, and I will welcome that so much. Yes, they’ve got these old-fashioned names, like the Devil and Death.

Actually, why don’t we just change those names to reflect more accurately the modern-day interpretation of what these cards are? I mean, I think that would be a powerful thing to do, and I love it, actually, when modern decks do that, when “Death” becomes “Transformation,” and the “Devil” could be “Temptation.” I mean, if I draw the Devil card, again, I’m usually thinking, “Awesome! I need that,” because I’m probably being far too serious and taking something to heart way too much, and actually what I need to do is just go out and let my hair down. That’s my letting my hair down card, the Devil, for me, personally.

I think that’s where it’s nice to have your own associations with the cards. That’s why I like to… Well, it’s not “like to.” I only read the cards for myself. I never do readings for anyone else, because I can’t possibly know what’s going on for you, so I can give you my interpretations of the cards, but I personally think it’s more powerful to help someone interpret them themselves.

If I have friends coming over… People have said to me, “Can you read my cards?” I’ll say, “No, I can’t, but I will help you read them yourself.” I’ll get the cards out, and I’ll help them choose a spread, and they look through the guidebook, and they figure out what that means for them. Because I don’t use the cards in a fortune-telling, interpretive way, or prescriptive way, “What is it reflecting back at you? How are you feeling about that?” It’s kind of tapping into that stuff.

BRIGIT: It’s interesting –

SUSANNAH: That’s I don’t… Carry on, sorry.

BRIGIT: I was reflecting on… For myself, I have stopped doing readings for others in a professional capacity in the last 12 months. On the surface, I thought it was more about putting my time where I can have the biggest impact, but I think underneath all of that a lot of it is to do with this idea of wanting to help people help themselves.

SUSANNAH: Yes.

BRIGIT: You know, when you take that role on as being the Tarot reader for somebody else, sometimes the client’s power gets deflected to you. I don’t know, I find that quite uncomfortable. I would much prefer to reflect that power back into the client and say, “Hey, you can actually use these messages to change what’s going on for you, and if you internalise what you're seeing in the cards and you learn how to interpret that, then the power for manifestation and creation and so on is so much bigger than if I’m just here telling you the answers as a reader.”

SUSANNAH: Yes, 100,000%. Yes, I completely agree with that. I think it’s actually really disempowering to get someone else to tell you what they mean. But again, just my personal opinion. I mean, I’ve had quite a few readings with people, and they’ve all been lovely and sometimes quite valuable, but the most powerful readings I’ve ever had are the ones I’ve done myself.

And yes, when I was 19 years old and sitting on my bedroom floor and drawing the cards, saying, “Is he going to come back to me?” Yeah, I didn’t get a particularly good reading, obviously, because I was so invested in wanting a “Yes, he will” answer. I’ve read things before where people are saying, “You shouldn’t read the cards yourself, and I completely disagree with that. If you are trying to find answers like “Yes, he’s going to come back,” or those sort of definitive answers, then yes, you’re going to be biased in what you see in the cards, but if you're looking for clues on how to navigate something… I don’t use the cards to make a decision, but I use them to help me figure out how I feel about a decision, for example. It’s all about uncovering those layers within you.

This is how I read the cards… It’s kind of this three-step process that obviously wasn’t particularly conscious, but when I was thinking about it earlier, I was thinking, “Yeah, that’s what I do.” I look at the card, and I look at what I see. Literally, “What do I see in this picture?” Then I think about “What am I hearing? When I put that card down, what did I hear in my head?” “Oh yeah, that’s about something.” And then I will finally remember what I already know about that card.

For example, before we got on the call, I drew a card for our conversation, because that’s what you do.

BRIGIT: As you do.

SUSANNAH: So I’ve got my beautiful Lioness Oracle Tarot (which, again, I’m obsessed with it), and I drew the Eight of Wands. I know lots of things about the Eight of Wands, but actually what I did was I looked at the actual card in my hand, and it’s this woman holding what looks like a strange, little guitar. She’s surrounded by all these planets, like Saturn and Earth and all the different planets you can imagine. I was just thinking, “We’re connecting worlds here! I’m speaking to Brigit, and she’s on the other side of the world, so that’s quite literal, but we are bridging all of that, and we’re connecting our worlds,” and that’s what I got from that card, and it wasn’t the traditional meanings of the Eight of Wands; it was “This is what I’m seeing in front of me.” That’s how I do it with the cards, really. The last thing I think about is “What does that card mean traditionally?” or “What’s the agreed-upon meaning of that card?” Usually, that’s pretty much in tune with what I’m seeing, but most of the time, I go first with “What do I see? What are my eyes seeing, and what am I hearing?” and then I’ll think about what I know.

BRIGIT: Yeah, and then the neat thing is that you’ll pick up that card in a completely different context – reading, situation, what-have-you – and it will take on a completely different meaning, and that’s perfect. That’s exactly what they need to be.

SUSANNAH: I know! The cards are so cool!

BRIGIT: Yeah.

SUSANNAH: But it’s true. They’re so versatile. I don’t know how they do it. It’s magic! It’s hoo-doo magic, let’s be honest! No, it’s not really, but it’s so practical. I love that they’re so practical sometimes and that they’re in your hand. I think we all want to connect to our intuition more, but how nice to be able to do it with an actual, tangible tool that you have in front of you?

BRIGIT: Yes.

SUSANNAH: That’s really empowering.

BRIGIT: Yes. I really believe that ultimately we’re all intuitive beings. We could connect with that intuition on a really deep level without the Tarot, but for someone like me, I’m so literal I need something in front of me. I need something real, something that I can see that will then trigger my intuition into gear. For me, it’s a perfect tool to help me get into that space, and I think for many people it’s that entry point. We need something real and physical and tangible in front of us to then click into gear with our intuition.

SUSANNAH: Absolutely. I think also, as human beings, we’re really visual, so having those visual cues in front of us is so helpful as well. Hopefully the majority of us are born with our eyes open, and we see things and we file these images away inside our heads, so when we… It’s like the Rorschach test, the inkblot test, where you're looking at this splattering of ink, and what do you see? What occurs to you when you see it? I think we have all of these stored images in our heads. The Tarot helps unlock so much. We have these incredible memory banks of imagery, so it’s no wonder the Tarot can be so powerful when used as a tool, because we’re using what we’re really capable of doing, and that’s using imagery and finding meaning within it. I think we’re actually all better at it than we realise, and that’s why I love it when people find a Tarot deck they love and they connect to, because it’s almost a soul connection, because it’s linking to something inside them. Do you know what I mean?

BRIGIT: Yes.

SUSANNAH: I think it’s beautiful, yeah.

BRIGIT: And often it’s just one little penny needs to drop for a person, and it might even be as simple as someone saying, “You’ve got it. You can do this. All you need to do is just read the picture.”

SUSANNAH: Yes!

BRIGIT: And they’ll say, “Oh my goodness! I’ve just spent the last two years trying to memorise cards, and now you're saying just trust, and I am, and this is amazing,” and it all just comes together. It’s beautiful.

SUSANNAH: Oh my God, yeah. Well, the whole memorising keywords – let’s just all forget about doing that, because that’s not going to help. Obviously, I’ve never done that, and I don’t teach that, but I can understand how some people actually need something like that. That feels quite solid, and you can trust that. Years ago, I was all about “I’ve got to get the interpretation all right.” It was like an exam, and the cards are in front of you, and you’re thinking, “Well, I was having this thought about these cards, but what does it really mean, because I can’t possibly know? What does the book say?” I think you can get really attached to “What does the book say?” and I think it takes a while to trust that you can actually read them yourself without the book. It does take time.

BRIGIT: Yeah.

SUSANNAH: And I quite like how I’ve come all the way around now, where I don’t use any books, but once in a while I do have a few guidebooks that I really love and value, and actually sometimes it’s quite nice to look up a card and go, “I wonder what so-and-so said about this card.” Then you're obviously supposed to do that, because you find the sentence that unlocks what’s most helpful in that moment. It’s nice to kind of have them as a backup to see how other people have interpreted cards, but I personally think you should always go with your first inkling, because you do know. It’s not an exam. Actually make it more fun.

BRIGIT: Yeah.

SUSANNAH: Forget about memorising anything. Just go with the cards that are in front of you in the moment, and always try to forget everything that you know about them, so you can look at them again with fresh eyes.

BRIGIT: Yeah. You know, I think it comes a lot back to where your source of power is. If you believe that your source of power is outside of you and that you need to look to experts to tell you what to do, this goes way beyond just learning Tarot and this is how you live your life. You can put your power in other people and have them tell you what to do, or you can bring your power back in to you and learn how to trust your own intuition and trust what’s already within you. I think the Tarot is one of those tools that just helps bring that power back into yourself so that there’s this trust again, instead of relying on other people all of the time.

SUSANNAH: Yes.

BRIGIT: Really nice, deep process that goes on at the same time.

SUSANNAH: That was really beautifully insightful, yes. I 100% agree with that, yeah. Trust yourself.

BRIGIT: Yeah.

SUSANNAH: But you're right. I mean, I think we’re so conditioned to trust the outside, aren’t we?

BRIGIT: Yes.

SUSANNAH: You have to go to school, and you have to do what your boss says, and how can we possibly know anything, because the man knows all the answers? The church knows all the answers. Whoever the bigger power is. And it’s just not true. I mean, it’s not true. Yes, I trust my doctor to know how to remove the thing out of my body that shouldn’t be there. I don’t that, but that’s as far as it goes for me. I know what’s right for me, and I have things that I do, like journaling, like the cards, like meditation, that help me connect back into that. I mean, it’s like anything – the more you do it, the easier it becomes. And the more you trust yourself, it just takes a bit of practice, but I do think you need that initial desire to detach from the outside and come back inside, you know? It’s warmer inside. It’s better inside.

BRIGIT: Come back home!

SUSANNAH: Yeah! It’s back home to yourself. Yeah, absolutely.

BRIGIT: Just I’m curious – with the Tarot, have you integrated it with your creative work? For example, in your writing or in your photography, have you had any photographic projects that you’ve used the Tarot to create? How do those mesh together?

SUSANNAH: I haven’t with photography, no. And you just saying that, I’m thinking, “Oh, I really want to do that. That sounds great.” No, I haven’t. The only time when I was shooting my last book, which was a book all about London, I spent about six months photographing the city, and I didn’t use the cards for that, but you know I drew cards every morning. I mean, that never goes away. So no, not with photography, although I’d love to photograph a Tarot deck. But anyway, that’s for another time. But I do use the cards, like I said before, as my little talismans around me, and I love to have my daily draw out, and then I’ll actually select a few cards consciously. It’s almost like I just want to put my hand on them and feel the power, you know? That’s what it feels like. “OK, just give me more inspiration.”

But, I mean, if you came into my home, my home is kind of like a Tarot deck. There are things and pictures… It’s like living in an altar. There’s a lot of magical stuff around me that makes me feel good. All my books are arranged by colour. I have my decks around me. I have my perfume oils and pens and journals. Everything around me is inspiring, and I live on my own. I’m lucky enough to live on my own, so I can do that, and it’s in the same way with having the cards out and having my cards for the day out. They inspire me, and they catch my eye, and if I want some direct inspiration… See, it’s all subliminal. I’m sitting there holding the Empress going “Give me inspiration!” It doesn’t work that way, but you know she’s sat near my computer and she’s catching my eye, so I do things like that, because I just find it really helpful. It’s just all the goodness in the background. I like to think I’m just absorbing it by osmosis somehow when it’s around me.

BRIGIT: Yeah.

SUSANNAH: Yeah, I use the cards by osmosis in that way. I think that’s quite a good way of putting it.

BRIGIT: Yeah, perfect.

SUSANNAH: They just look beautiful. They are so beautiful. That’s why, if anyone listening to this is hungry to buy their first deck, just go with the one that makes you happy. Don’t go with the one you think you should buy. Go with the one with pictures that get you excited, and you think, “God, I could look at this all day.” That’s the deck you want to buy. It doesn’t matter if you made it, or if it’s fashionable or not. None of that matters. It’s all about the one that you want to look at and you want to sit having a coffee and just go through the cards, because you find them so beautiful. Buy that deck and get to know it.

BRIGIT: Yeah, that’s good advice. Very good. There are a lot of people worried about which is the right deck. “I’ve got to reach out for the right one.”

SUSANNAH: I know, I know.

BRIGIT: Guess what – it’s what feels good for you. That’s the important thing.

SUSANNAH: We’ve still got the myth floating around somewhere that you can’t buy your first Tarot deck, and it’s got to be gifted to you.

BRIGIT: Oh, I know.

SUSANNAH: I mean, that’s hilarious. That just makes me laugh. I actually laugh out loud, because – blimey, you're going to be waiting a long time then! If I had to wait for my first Tarot deck, I never would have got one. No, no, no, no. Much more powerful to buy your own deck, of course, and choose the one that you love.

BRIGIT: Yep.

SUSANNAH: All the myths just… I mean, we need to stamp those out somehow, because it’s so silly. It’s probably not going to happen in our lifetime, let’s be honest. Tarot has been around way longer than we have. God, I just watched something on TV the other night, and they had Tarot cards, and it was all mystical. Oh God! I get it, but I’m all for the modern version of the Tarot as a beautiful tool for personal development. It is powerful. I respect the past and where it’s come from. How lucky are we that it was invented? But, like anything, times move on, and it’s lovely that we have it now, that we use in ways that are beneficial to us now. I’m much more interested in that. So yeah, please buy your own decks, and make friends with the Death card, because it’s actually quite a positive card!

BRIGIT: It is.

SUSANNAH: Let go of the fears. The cards don’t have the power over you. You have the power. They’re just pieces of cardboard, so use them accordingly.

BRIGIT: Yep. Absolutely. Oh, beautiful. I’m just loving our conversation. What’s coming up next for you? Are you running the “78 Mirrors” program again this year?

SUSANNAH: Yes.

BRIGIT: When is that coming up?

SUSANNAH: I run all my courses twice a year on a rotation, so there’s always something happening each month. My next one is coming up. I’ve got “Daily Guidance” starting on the 1st of May. That’s my introduction to Tarot and Oracle. It’s a three-week course which is really fun and really practical. And then the actual Tarot-only course “78 Mirrors” starts on June 26th. That’s a six-week course, and we go deep – but again, my way of looking at the cards. It’s not about learning how to read for others. It’s learning how to read for yourself and getting really up close and personal with each card in the deck. We start with the Minors, because I think the Majors get a lot of airtime, and a lot of them you can kind of figure out yourself, but the Minors are where a lot of people stumble, so we start there. We do it by number, which is I think is really helpful, rather than doing it by suit. We look at all the Aces together and what is the energy of the Ace and stuff like that. June 26th that starts, so that will be fun.

BRIGIT: Beautiful.

SUSANNAH: I love the courses. I’m proud of them.

BRIGIT: Yeah! It’s good.

SUSANNAH: I’m trying to get it out there. Tarot is your friend, everyone!

BRIGIT: Yes! Do it, do it. Where can people find out more about you and the courses that you're offering?

SUSANNAH: Everything is on my website SusannahConway.com. All the stuff and the links to all my social media is there. I hang out on Instagram, although I don’t share daily cards, but I do share monthly cards in my newsletter, which you can also sign up for on my website. So yeah, a little bit of insight into how I read the cards and look at them, and I do draw the cards for everyone on my mailing list. It’s a bit of fun.

BRIGIT: Yeah.

SUSANNAH: But also, usually unfailingly insightful. I’m not quite sure how that works, because I always draw the card, and I get so many people emailing me back saying, “Oh my God! That’s exactly what I needed to hear.”

BRIGIT: Yes! I find that, too. We do the weekly Tarot card, and I find that uncanny. I will do it advance, because I’m quite efficient and organised. At the time, I’m just popping them out and writing them up and so on, and then it comes to the actual week, and I think, “Oh my goodness! Really? Is this the card?” Our community says, “Oh my goodness! Yes! Absolutely this thing is happening. I’m really feeling that energy.” It’s quite amazing that happens on a collective, universal level, which is really interesting.

SUSANNAH: I know. It’s almost like the cards are sort of the focus of the energy, and we’re just the ones looking at them, going, “This is what I see. This is what it feels like. Here, I will share that with you.” And how many people resonate with that always blows me away.

BRIGIT: Yeah.

SUSANNAH: It’s like, “Wow, OK!” Is there a universal thing going on there? We are all connected, so I suppose it makes sense that so many would feel it, but still! There is magic in the cards. I can’t deny it. It’s practical magic, but still. It is there. They’re special.

BRIGIT: Yeah, absolutely. Fabulous. Well, we’ll make sure that we post all of the links to your website and your courses in the show notes, which you will find at BiddyTarot.com/btp70. Susannah, it’s been an absolute joy to have a chat with you today, and just to get a bit more insight into how you're working with the Tarot, and doing it on such a… I want to say ordinary, normal level, but also an amazing magical level as well, all mixed together.

SUSANNAH: I know! Ordinary magic – bring it on! Thank you, honey. It’s been an absolute pleasure. I could talk about this all day. I love it.

BRIGIT: Me, too. Fabulous. All right. Thank you so much.

There you have it. I hope you enjoyed this conversation with Susannah as much as I did. It was just a beautiful conversation, and it’s amazing just how much is in alignment and in resonance, and perhaps you feel the same, too, as you listen to Susannah talk about her relationship with the Tarot cards.

Now, if you’re keen to get started with Tarot or deepen your connection with the Tarot cards even more, then make sure that you sign up for my free Tarot workbook, 5 Simple Steps to Read Tarot with Confidence. If you’re looking for some inspiration around using Tarot for creativity and guidance as well, then you're going to love this free workbook. You’ll find it over at BiddyTarot.com/5ss.

You can also grab the show notes for today’s episode, and you’ll find that over at BiddyTarot.com/btp70. I hope you have a wonderful week ahead, and who knows? You might be really inspired this week now to get your Tarot cards and do some really fun, creative work with your cards, and really go deep into gaining guidance from your cards.

Enough from me! Have a great week, and I will chat with you again very, very soon. Bye for now.

CATEGORIES

Sign Up For Our Weekly Newsletter

Add your name & email below to receive the Biddy Tarot newsletter!

Not sure what to manifest?

How To Manifest When You Don’t Know What You Want

Get clarity and take action with this 3-minute quiz

Take the Quiz

Not sure what to manifest?

How To Manifest When You Don’t Know What You Want

Get clarity and
take action with
this 3-minute quiz

Get the Practice