An exercise in pause and observation. An acknowledgment. An act of self-love derived from curiosity. A point of connection in the vastness. An ascension from the soul.

The Sentient's purpose is to serve as a thoughtful tool for personal sovereignty in self-discovery and transformation.

My relationship with the Tarot has allowed me to develop a unique way of connecting with the invisible and my subconscious knowing, strengthening and sometimes rebuilding trust in myself. This practice has given me that freedom and delight.

The Principles

As mere suggestions:
To open my practice, I say a short prayer-like that opens the door solely to what intends to heal, never harm. The essence of this sentiment can also be achieved through sound, scent, or ambiance, but it is not defined by personal circumstance.

"Loving Energy speaking through the cards, please reveal to me, kindly and sincerely, what my subconscious knowing is ready to reveal."

Through personal experience and what I define as mistakes, I have learned that following these simple golden rules gives the reading a cleaner air:

To honor one's energetic and ethical boundaries.
To have consent when asking for or about others.
To ask, move, and thank with intention.
To trust the pace and space of our bodies to hold new information.
To remember the art of playfulness.
To cultivate curiosity, openness, and honesty with ourselves.

The Creative Process

The aesthetic intention of the cards is to imbue imperfection with heart and identity, to make them feel open and boundless, gentle and well-aware.

Each card is a concept visually simplified, cut by hand, pasted together in layers, adorned, and heightened by nature: leaves and flowers that carry a story.

Some of the cards in the deck are a direct homage to the exceptional work of Pamela Coleman Smith. Others are my interpretation or free-flow.

Making this deck was an exercise in reconnecting with my hands and stepping away from the computer as a creative outlet. I let myself flow in the practice, allowing it a natural, gentle air.

The first version of the cards and guidebook was born in 2018. It would take many more years of lived experience to sharpen my knowledge, intuition, and critical thinking to the point where my visuals and interpretations felt meaningful enough to share. Because every time I asked the cards "when," I'd insistently get the VII of Seeds. So I learned to wait until certain aspects of my life developed, aligned, and signaled that I was ready, that The Sentient was whole.

With this work, I wish that the sacred exchange between the cards and yourself serves to heal and hold you through life's mysteries, wonders, and grief in all their complexity, inspiring your innate clarity, intuition, and sense of compassion.

The Guidebook

These interpretations reflect the relationship I have developed with the cards over the years, from concept to practice. The cards' significance, however, is always personal, and I hope that these words resonate with the reader, awaken their own interpretations, and spark their curiosity to dig deeper. Inspiration and understanding of the cards can arrive from anywhere, and there is so much magic there, too!

I consider the guidebook a living organism. It has come a very long way since the beginning of the project, and I expect it will continue to evolve as my understanding of the cards, language, and my own experience broadens. For this reason, there's a printed version of the guidebook to provide a completely analog experience for the reader, and it also exists in digital form on the website, allowing me the freedom to create subsequent versions that enhance the richness of the content.

The Basics

A tarot deck consists of 78 cards. Twenty-two comprise the Major Arcana, and the remaining 56, the Minor Arcana.

In a few words, the word Arcana holds the secrets to the medicine that resides inside of us. The Major Arcana deals with the monumental, lineage, lifetime, and eternity; in other words, the Macrocosm: Noun—the whole of the universe. The Minor Arcana describes the moments in detail and context, day to day, or the Microcosm: Noun—A smaller system that represents a larger one.

Within the Minor Arcana live four suits. In my deck, I've changed some of the names (more on that below) to: Cups, Swords, Wands, and Seeds. Each suit runs from Ace to X, plus four Insight Cards per suit: The Seeker, The Channel, The Source, and The Sage.

The Naming System

After much deliberation, I changed the traditional card names that didn't feel cohesive with the work I propose.

Major Arcana:

The Fool to The Soul
The Magician to The Creator
The High Priestess to The Enigmatic One
The Emperor to The Sacred Ram
The Empress to The Magnetic One
The Hierophant to The Portal
The Chariot to The Shell
The Wheel of Fortune to The Orbit
The Devil to The Broken One
Judgment to Awakening

Minor Arcana:

Pentacles to Seeds

Court Cards to Insight Cards:

Each personality is described by an adequate adjective, followed by its suit's element.

Page to Seeker
Knight to Channel
Queen to Source
King to Sage

For example, the Page of Cups becomes The Seeker of Water, King of Wands becomes The Sage of Fire, Knight of Pentacles becomes The Channel of Earth, and Queen of Swords becomes The Source of Air.

The Keywords

Each card in The Sentient begins with a one-liner, a description of its numerical attributes, and a set of keywords to quickly grasp its meaning. Most cards have two sets of keywords: one for the light aspects and another for the shadow aspects. Light and shadow keywords can merge depending on the card.

The Elements

The four natural elements and our spirits converge for a holistic understanding of our time on this plane and our relationship with it.

We embody the elements through consciously lived experiences that expand our understanding of ourselves, as we start making connections within our lineage and our patterns of behavior to delineate a path that suits us in our personal evolution.

The order for the elements in my deck goes from beginning at a soul level, to thinking, acting, and finally becoming, thus Cups, Swords, Wands, and Seeds. This sequence is in no way fixed or hierarchical; it is simply what I chose for The Sentient.

—
CUPS

RULED BY WATER: Seeking adaptation

Origin of Experience, Sensation, Feelings, Truth, Memory, Emotions, Empathy, Compassion, Intuition, Inner Language, The Blood, Awareness, Intention, Cellular Information, The Soul.

—
SWORDS

RULED BY AIR: Seeking freedom

To Think, Cognition, Ideation, Meaning-making, Words, Breath, Time, Energy, Concepts, Coherence, Logic, The Breath, The Story, Imagination, Meditation, Communication, Nervous System, The Mind.

—
WANDS

RULED BY FIRE: Seeking transformation

To Act, Mobilization, Activation, Certainty, Light, Bravery, Sexual Energy, To Conjure, To Impress, Desire, Will, Motivation, Behavior, Validation, Inspiration, Stimulation, Identity, To Shine, The Self.

—
SEEDS

RULED BY EARTH: Seeking stability

To Become, Embodiment, Manifestation, The Place, Matter, Sense of Belonging, Abundance, To Achieve, The Present Moment, Boundaries, Purpose, Goals, Roles, Self-value, The Body.

The Insight Cards

These are double-element cards: One element applies to the identity itself, the other to the suit it belongs to. I added short affirmations that I've found moving in my practice to guide each card's intention.

—
The Seekers
Embodied Earth

To ground, to connect
The Seekers are on a reflective evolutionary journey, taking root, receiving it all

CUPS / Earth & Water
SEEKER OF WATER
I welcome myself
SWORDS / Earth & Air
SEEKER OF AIR
I meet myself
WANDS / Earth & Fire
SEEKER OF FIRE
I sit with myself
SEEDS / Double Earth
SEEKER OF EARTH
I tend to myself

—
The Channels
Embodied Air

To apply, to play
The Channels are on a reactive but meditative evolutionary journey, applying it all

CUPS / Air & Water
CHANNEL OF WATER
I love myself
SWORDS / Double Air
CHANNEL OF AIR
I free myself
WANDS / Air & Fire
CHANNEL OF FIRE
I perceive myself
SEEDS / Air & Earth
CHANNEL OF EARTH
I reconnect with myself

—
The Sources
Embodied Water

To flow, to teach
The Sources are in intentional osmosis between the inner and outer worlds

CUPS / Double Water
SOURCE OF WATER
I witness myself
SWORDS / Water & Air
SOURCE OF AIR
I remember myself
WANDS / Water & Fire
SOURCE OF FIRE
I envision myself
SEEDS / Water & Earth
SOURCE OF EARTH
I complete myself

—
The Sages
Embodied Fire

To master, to create
The Sages are invoking and embodying healing through active higher consciousness

CUPS / Fire & Water
SAGE OF WATER
I hold myself
SWORDS / Fire & Air
SAGE OF AIR
I affirm myself
WANDS / Double Fire
SAGE OF FIRE
I build myself
SEEDS / Fire & Earth
SAGE OF EARTH
I belong to myself

The Shadows & Reversals

Shadow aspects are not necessarily the card's reversal; they can be, but they mostly show us a sharper lesson, calling our attention a little louder or accentuating a particular concept we're having trouble with but are yearning to understand.

In my practice, I find it more universal to consider the card's shadow aspects rather than its reversal. That is because, depending on the card and context, its shadow can appear right-side up as well.

When the card does, in fact, come up reversed and feels contractive, my suggestion for connection is first to interpret the upright meaning to pinpoint where it might feel reversed within us. Because sometimes, the reversed aspect of a card can actually imply a softening of its density.

On that note, some readers don't even consider reversals; that's up to each of us to decide. Sometimes I read them reversed, and sometimes it doesn't feel imperative to do so. All is valid in this mystifying practice we gift ourselves!

The Numeric Cosmology

I decided to focus on giving meaning to the cards' numerical attributes as states of becoming rather than adopting astrological correspondences I'm not well-versed in. The numbers span from 0 to 10, encompassing both the Major and Minor Arcana. The Insight Cards, however, are not fixed positions; they represent modes of engagement that move through any numerical state depending on context and depth of consciousness.

0 — THE ESSENCE

The wonder and the power of the unknown.

1 — THE INTEGRATION

An all-encompassing state: a central point where life begins.

2 — THE DUALITY

Denotes the purest form of contradiction: opposing, yet malleable.

3 — THE FOUNDATION

A sacred trifurcation that lays a stable foundation for growth.

4 — THE BALANCE

A balanced state that requires presence and continual recalibration.

5 — THE EVOLUTION

Needing, avoiding, and perceiving our evolution all at once.

6 — THE SPECTRUM

An emerging mosaic of diversity, adversity, and choice.

7 — THE RESISTANCE

Endurance coupled with confusion, wanting to be held from a place of acceptance.

8 — THE EXPANSION

A cellular journey: death, rebirth, and the proliferation of new patterns.

9 — THE PORTAL

Conciliating imbalance in the quest for balance: the portal’s initial glimpse.

10 — THE CYCLE

Gaining a sense of completion to prepare for the next iteration of experience.

Learning Resources

For an impeccably well-guided, soul-centered understanding of the Tarot, I recommend Lindsay Mack. For a self-therapy session with a philosophical approach, I recommend Jessica Dore. Both their books are life-changing.

More lovely books: The Spirit of Herbs: A Guide to the Herbal Tarot by Michael Tierra and Candis Cantin, Tarot Beyond the Basics by Anthony Louis, Discovering Yourself through the Tarot: A Jungian Guide to Archetypes and Personality by Rose Gwain, Meditations on the Tarot: A Journey into Christian Hermeticism, written anonymously and published posthumously, 78 Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack, and Past Life & Karmic Tarot by Edain McCoy, The Body is a Doorway by Sophie Strand, Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer.

SENTIENT - GUIDEBOOK INTRODUCTION