Northwoods Witch: A Village Witchery Podcast

A brief history of Tarot! From origins, to dispelled myths, come check out where Tarot comes from! Follow the links and resources below to get started on your own deeper history of Tarot journey.
EDIT: I no longer podcast, so I am not recording new information, but as my learning has grown regarding the History of Tarot I want to share that on to you.
"Tarot’s cultural roots are centered in Romani history and practices in Cartomancy which was and is a survival based trade for many vitsas. Cartomancy is the interpretation of playing cards through divination. Playing cards are the origin of the tarot, as we see in the minor arcana in the playing cards we know today. The Major Arcana came later through tarot’s journey into mainstream culture and integration into mystical and magical practices through colonialism, appropriation, and forced assimilation. We encourage folks who are creating businesses, events, and practices centered in the tarot to acknowledge the history of this practice."
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uodWydDaEpc_YJ2F7sikk0ChT2R8Vbg4ucBvpM5wf7Q/edit
Webpages

Mary K Greer “Origins of Cartomancy”, “Pamela Coleman Smith”

Tom Waters The TarotL Information Sheet, The Evolution of the Tarot

Simon Wintle The History of Playing Cards

Robert Chambers “The Folklore of Playing Cards”

trionfi.com “The Oldest Tarot Cards”
Aeclectic Tarot Forum

Books
(Full disclosure, I did not read these- but they came recommended or cited from multiple sources I did read, so I'm passing them along to you. A couple are clearly out of print and very expensive; but that's interesting too! )

Greer, Mary K.
Pamela Coleman Smith: The Untold Story
2018
ISBN 157281912X

Place, Robert
Tarot: History, Symbolism, and Divination
2005
ISBN 1585423491

Huson, Paul
Mystical Origins of the Tarot
2004
ISBN 0892811900

Decker, Ronald, Thierry Depaulis, & Michael Dummett
Wicked Pack of Cards
1996
ISBN 0715627139 or ISBN 0312162944

Bob O'Neill
Tarot Symbolism
1986
ISBN 0895369362
Dummett, Micheal
The Game of Tarot
1980
ISBN 0715610147

Welcome! I'm Carolyn aka Northwoods Witch, I'm so excited that you're here! Having gotten my podcasting feet wet in 2021, I'm back with a new commitment in 2022: a new episode once a month, on the first of the month. Let's do this!
Who am I? What's this all about? Let me tell you!

It’s “Life, The Universe, and Everything” Northwoods Witch style: an inspiring soliloquy of beliefs and practices with *most* tangents paying out in the end. None of these thoughts are exclusively mine; I’m inspired by the essays and Insta feeds of great thinkers, activists, and spiritual leaders. But I hope you find some value—some resonance or inspiration—in this expression of belief! What shapes your worldview? Are you ready to hold hands with me and step out of the box? Because I can’t claim to fully live up or in to the values espoused in this episode—but I am a wholly incurable optimist and I think that together we can.
I am currently raising donations for the Gaagige-Mikwendaagoziwag “They Are Remembered Forever” Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two Spirit (MMIWg2S) People Reward Fund. Please support if you are able by visiting paypal.com/paypalme/mmip2sfund
“This Indigenous-led and grassroots fund has been established to fill a really important gap to help us address injustices, and allowing law enforcement agencies to solve these violent crimes against Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people, while bringing justice and healing to our region” Alicia Kozlowski, [Duluth] Community Relations Officer said. “This is not only an Indigenous issue. This is a community issue. This is a human issue. We don't want to be invisible anymore because that's how we disappear.”

I accepted an invitation to join the launch of Wisdom, a new social audio app which is kind of like a mash-up of Twitch and a radio talk show. I tried it out for a couple of weeks, and while I decided not to pursue it because I wan't getting the engagement I had hoped to, I found the experience super rewarding. Also I made a lot of content just talking to the folks who stayed to listen to me (of whom there were enough to make me feel like at least I accomplished something being there, thanks y'all!)
So, here is the fist talk I shared on the Wisdom app, unedited for your listening pleasure ;) all about Tarot.
In it I share my thealogy of how Tarot works, the makeup of a deck, and sundry thoughts on how Tarot is powerful tool in our lives.
I have seven (7!) of these talks—let me know if you liked this and want to hear the rest!

Podcast listener Laura (👋🏻) asked me, "How do you talk to your kids about your spirituality?", and here are my thoughts!
This episode focuses on The Wheel of the Year: what it is, and how I use it with my kiddos. I also take a number of tangents around my philosophies of parenting and the history of pagan mythology so..... come on in for this ride around my Witchy Worldview!
Hey y'all,
How do you talk to your kids about religion and spirituality? I've got more stuff to say about this, and would love for you to share what you are up to too!
Wouldn't it be a bit of a thrill to chat about this in real life? So..... I am hosting talks on a brand new app called Wisdom where we could do just that!! Is that something you’d be into?
EDIT: well friends, I completely mispronounced the (longer, more challenging name I don’t use personally but still...) name for the Pagan holiday around August 1, Lughnasadh. It’s pronounced “Loo-NAH-sah”. As Daniel Tiger sang to me just this morning: 🎵 “It’s ok to make a mistake; just try to fix it, and learn from it too” 🎵