Tarot for the Hard Work: An Archetypal Journey to Confront Racism and Inspire Collective Healing

by Maria Minnis, Rashunda Tramble (Foreword)

“An important and profoundly edifying book. . . . Perhaps the most important tarot text that will define this decade.” — Benebell Wen, author of Holistic Tarot
 
Tarot for the Hard Work  is a provocative exploration of the twenty-two cards of the Major Arcana that re envisions these archetypes as beacons that illuminate the various ways racism takes root both in ourselves and in the world. Author Maria Minnis, with compassion and wisdom, shows us how these insights can be turned into self-awareness, self-love, and positive social action.
 
“ Tarot for the Hard Work is a tool for passionately demolishing structural oppression. It is a map that we can take with us on a voyage as we discover our personal, subliminal views on race and how we’re impacted. Each card of the Major Arcana serves as a waypoint that challenges us to rethink our views on racial equity.” —Rashunda Tramble, from the foreword
 
Tarot has always been a powerful guide for introspection and inner work, so what better tool to use when we’re ready to do the really hard work? Minnis provides actionable exercises in this tarot workbook, giving readers a unique, personal understanding of what systemic racism is—and what steps we can take to begin to dismantle it. This is a book for anyone who has been overwhelmed, outraged, or frustrated and asked, “But what can I do?” It is a book for anyone ready to look within and do the uncomfortable inner work necessary to demolish everyday racism. This book says tarot can be a tool for action, one that may offer great satisfaction as well as great difficulty, all while pushing you out of your comfort zone.
 
“This book should be on everyone’s bookshelf, not just tarot readers. EVERYONE. In Tarot for the Hard Work, author Maria Minnis helps awaken us to our truest, bravest, most compassionate selves. It’s a luminous work of love. Minnis shines a torch illuminating our path toward justice.” —Amanda Yates Garcia, author of Initiated and host of the Between the Worlds podcast
 
In Tarot for the Hard Work you’ll explore the Major Arcana to uncover how each card highlights both benevolent and shadow aspects of each archetype in relation to the different ways that racism shows up in our lives. With exercises and thought-provoking recommended reading and resources, you will be guided how to use those themes to dismantle internalized racism, racism in your relationships, and racism in your communities. Journal prompts are provided to help you create your own antiracism tool kit. As you move from the Fool to the World card, you’ll discover that everything we do ripples beyond us and that there are practical ways to use tarot energy to change our actions and our world.
 
“Minnis is the real deal. From transformative perspectives on tarot archetypes to clever action items for every kind of reader and activist, Tarot for the Hard Work doesn’t apologize for being exactly what it a brilliant primer and essential guide for utilizing tarot’s truth in personal and collective antiracism work.” —Meg Jones Wall, author of Finding the Fool

Genres: Tarot, Witchcraft, Divination, Anti Racist, Nonfiction, Queer, Race

360 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 8, 2024

Reviews

[Sunny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Respectfully, if you haven’t read this book, you’re not reading me. That is all for now.

[Willow · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am going to preface this review with full honesty. I have not finished Tarot for the Hard Work: an Archetypal Journey to Confront Racism and Inspire Collective Healing by Maria Minnis at the time of writing this review. However, don't let that deter you from reading what I have to say. I decided to write my review before finishing the book for a couple of reasons. First, you all need to pick up the book as quickly as you can, and waiting for me to completely finish it is only going to delay the inevitable. Second, it's going to take me much longer to finish this book than I originally thought because I desire to do the anti-racism work described with fidelity. I have no desire to quickly read and skim the exercises just to get a review out faster. This book and the work therein deserve my time, effort, and action, no matter how long it takes. At the time of this writing, I have officially completed four chapters. I know that doesn't seem like a lot, but I promise it was more than enough to know this is a book everyone needs to get their hands on, whether you practice witchcraft or not. While Tarot for the Hard Work is centered around tarot, the cards are there to support the archetypal journey we must all travel during our anti-racism work; it's not a requirement for the work itself.

Each chapter centers on a tarot card, starting with The Fool (0) and ending with The World (21), and its relation to your anti-racism journey. Each chapter is structured the same way: introduction to the card, its "embodied keywords", how it appears in liberation work, "correspondences for inspiration", how it can show up as both balanced and imbalanced in our lives, self-identifiers, affirmations, magical practices to conjure the card, exercises, goal setting, reflection, and building a toolkit. Each chapter requires the reader to deep dive into their life and practice as it relates to anti-racism and collective liberation. Minnis encourages her readers to have a journal on hand to document their journey, and that is exactly what I have done. Because of the amount of work and reflection, chapters can take days, if not weeks, to fully and faithfully work through. It's not because they are long, but because the work requires your attention and time. The reflection alone often takes me a day or two to fully mull over, not to mention the time spent on the tasks and exercises suggested in each chapter. This is true shadow work being done that doesn't just benefit yourself, but the whole community.

Exercises and magical tasks range from evaluating your racial biases to starting community refrigerators. Other tasks involved watching videos, reading articles and books, or even mustering up the courage to leave a partner who refuses to engage in this work with you. The first four chapters alone have inspired me to take some pretty monumental steps forward on my journey. Minnis definitely called me out in chapter 3, The High Priestess. The High Priestess is my soul card, aka my soul's purpose. According to Minnis, those who embody the High Priestess "disseminate knowledge through language, action, and energy, all in the name of collective healing." I mean...what else am I doing with this blog if not trying to heal the witch wound while helping others decolonize their practice? In liberation work "their power may be quiet, some may say passive. But make no mistake, the High Priestess is undoubtedly an active participant in their world." Sometimes I don't always post about world events or actions everyone can take but trust that I am always working behind the scenes for collective liberation, an end to systemic racism and oppression, and the end of genocide. "The High Priestess is the witness, not the hero. They're the oracle, not the prophecy." But where do I feel called out? The High Priestess is imbalanced when they need grounding, underutilizes key talents, and ignores intuition. My anxiety, especially my desire to avoid confrontation, often stops me from doing what I know I should be doing, and that isn't okay. It's a privilege to be able to walk away, scroll to the next video, or delete a comment and move on with my life. I am not burdened by the color of my skin, but for the majority of the world, that isn't the case. I must leverage my privilege for collective liberation, and that starts with speaking up and out, lifting marginalized voices, and listening instead of leading.

If you have continued to follow me on my blog through the years, you know decolonization/desettling, dismantling oppression, and collective liberation are extremely important aspects of my magical practice. I do not take this work lightly and hope that those of you who have stuck around for the last 10 years feel the same way. If you do, Tarot for the Hard Work: an Archetypal Journey to Confront Racism and Inspire Collective Healing by Maria Minnis is a book you need to order right now. I promise it's a thousand percent worth the price tag. I hope that more books like this one will continue to be published. We are not free until we are all free.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspiring. Inspired. Practical workbook, writing prompts, and rumination on how to see and use tarot to dig into capitalism, white supremacy, and the plagues of racism and patriarchy in society. Sounds ambitious? Yep.

Tarot for The Hard Work is written in easy, beautiful prose with action items, activities, and resources to help all of us move forward into a kinder, equitable,and sustainable world.

Ready to do the hard work? This book makes it fun and digestible to dig in deep. I love how Minnis uses tarot as a tool for course correction, as inspiration, and as agents for Justice and peace.

[E.]

I evaluated this for suggesting it at the library.

[Amanda- LateNightReader]

JUST won this in a giveaway. While I am of the belief that if people stopped talking about race, because it shouldn't matter. I was brought up not to see color, just like most of my elder millennials. BUT, I am curious to see how this tarot work book turned out. I laughed when I saw it, to be honest. Another woke joke. But my curiosity got the best of me. So I am looking forward to receiving this book
I've read tarot for years. And I am sure I will find something in here that will be... helpful in my journey.

But once I get this book, I will update my review. I just wanted to pre review and see how it turns out. Lol.

Thanks for allowing the opportunity to win this. I am grateful.

[Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick impressions: Overall, this is a great book. It can be a bit intense at times, as social justice work can be, but it is well worth reading.

(A detailed review with additional reading notes available on my blog.)

[Jaclyn Cherie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been a Tarot Reader longer than I have not.

At 14 years old, my Mom gifted me my first deck: The Sacred Rose Tarot.

It changed my life and Tarot continues to be an ally, friend, guide and mentor.

That said, I have pretty much read every book on Tarot that there is to read. I love to see how other Readers and Practitioners interpret and see things. I enjoy learning different spreads, and ways to work with the cards.

Tip: if you haven't used the cards in Ritual work and/or Spellcraft you're missing out.

IYKYK...

Tarot is a Science but unlike other similar systems, there are a lot of variables regarding the cards. Science gets weird when you add variables. 🦠

I mean, have you ever met a deck that was the same? Felt the same, spoke the same?

No. Because they're all different.

Just like Readers.

We may all have the same cards but our relationship with them is going to be subjective. It's very personal. It's very intimate. I think that's why Tarot scares a lot of folks.

I like to be scared, though. Fear makes me brave and GREAT things happen when you're brave.

That's why decolonization and liberation are active parts of my practice, life, relationships and more. Liberation work scares me and most people who look like me because we see how ugly our past is. I scare most people who look like me because I call them out.

I'm always looking for new ways to be called out myself and welp...

'Tarot for the Hard Work: An Archetypal Journey to Confront Racism and Inspire Collective Healing' by Maria Minnis is a quintessential book for any and all Tarot Readers. Full stop.

This book, as it says in the title, is very confronting. Especially as a wh*te person.

I am a huge advocate for Shadow Work and this book is the epitome of what Shadow Work *actually* means.

I. LOVED. IT.

It's a journey through the 22 Major Arcana as seen through the lens of a Black Woman and it has revolutionized how I see and work with Tarot and the messages they provide.

Do not buy this book if you don't want to do the work.

This isn't a passive read. It encourages engagement through reflective questions, healing, and so much more.

This book is rich.

And, I feel rich for owning and reading it.

Minnis presents Tarot in an entirely new and fresh approach. She holds your hand but also does not. And I mean that as a compliment!

You can feel her respect and admiration for the cards through her words. These pages are full of wisdom.

I was left speechless more than once.
I was called out more than once.
I felt every emotion under the Sun.

There is no other book like this one, that alone makes this Magick.

This book is very much alive.

It will match your energy while transforming you. You've been warned.

I cannot recommend this enough.

READ IT.

Then, put the lessons into practice.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tarot for the Hard Work is structured around the tarot’s major arcana, which are here framed as a trajectory – a journey. For each card, there is a description, keywords (and the invitation to fill in your own), consideration of the card in the context of liberation work specifically, a brief section on correspondences (again with the invitation to fill in your own), balanced and imbalanced manifestations of the card, traits associated with the card, suggested affirmations, and practices. Additionally, each card has its own focus tied to antiracist work – for instance, Justice is “understanding capitalism’s racist foundations” and Temperance “amplifying creative resistance” – and suggested exercises that range from reading or engaging with particular resources, identifying strategies, redistributing resources, and so on.

Tarot for the Hard Work is both an excellent anti-racism text and an excellent tarot text. It invites thoughtful, rigorous, and sustained engagement – through reflection, journalling, and DOING the work of antiracism while ongoingly building an activist toolkit and body of knowledge – and as such is not a quick read. I would argue this is not a book to be read once, but a resource to return to again and again. A generous bibliography is provided to support further learning.

Five stars. This book is excellent and I recommend it without reservation. In terms of suggested audience, I do think that having at least some prior familiarity with tarot would be an asset. The book has blanks to fill in but I'd suggest a separate notebook so as to have enough room for the exercises.

Content warnings: discussions of injustices and oppressions including but not limited to racism, sexism, cissexism, heterosexism, police brutality, violence, murder, death

[Rebo Hassell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed looking at the major arcana through the social justice lens presented in this book. It is indeed inspiring.

I wouldn't recommend reading the book straight through. Rather, if you are resonating with a particular figure, look it up in the book and see if parts of Minnis's descriptions continue to resonate with you, and how might that inspire you to up your social justice game. For example, my card for 2024 is the Sun, and in general, I related highly to the Empress.

The contents of this book could potentially be valuable to incorporate into a tarot reading for someone else who is also getting a strong message or presence of a particular card in the major arcana.

[Mitchell Stern · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellently connected the archetypes of the tarot to antiracist work.

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I win this book in a giveaway- thank you. I have used the Tarot for years, it found the detailed description of each card very useful.