Chelsey Blair Kendig 10/10/25 Chelsey Blair Kendig 10/10/25

The Haunted House Tarot

My primary decks for this week were Haunted House Tarot and Tarot Z. But, frankly, Haunted House Tarot has been my primary deck since I got it. I hadn’t really experienced the pull toward a deck that people talk about. I have decks that I love, particularly the one I created, but I get it with this one. It’s not the individual cards, necessarily, although they are gorgeous. It’s an art style that I particularly like, but not one that’s overly unique.

I do feel like I get what Sasha Graham was going for after watching/listening to her guide videos—a playlist made in place of a longer guidebook—but I don’t know if that’s it. I love the Dark Wood, so it could be something about Sasha Graham’s ~vibe~ She tends to create decks with an overall story, and my whole practice revolves around story, so it could be that.

I do have a similar feeling about the Trick or Treat Tarot, but holding off on it for a couple of weeks before October wasn’t nearly as difficult.

Anyone else have a deck like this?

Chelsey Blair Kendig 5/19/25 Chelsey Blair Kendig 5/19/25

My Tarot Ethics Statement

This statement is adapted from the American Tarot Association ethics statement and that of James Ricklef found here

I reserve the right to not read for any client, and will return payment in this situation.

I am not a medical, psychological, legal, or financial expert. I will always refer a client to these services as necessary.

I will not reveal what a client communicates with me unless a life-threatening situation is involved, or if I am otherwise requested by the client or a court of law. .

I do not judge clients based on their origin, age*, religion gender, race, sexuality, or disability. *I ask for parental permission for clients under 16

I will not read for clients who come with ill-will, nor will I attempt to be a crystal ball spying on a third person—e.g., I will not read on what your ex is doing except as relates to your relationship. “What X thinks/feels” is not actually an interesting question. Consider rephrasing it to give yourself agency.

I will present myself falsely. Clients looking for a reader for spiritual questions, past-life readings, or anything to do with “guides” will be advised to seek out another reader—there are many who read this way! I am a tarot novice, and will not represent myself as anything else. Every reading is a step toward furthering my education.

I will be honest with my clients, and keep in mind that the future is mutable. Nothing that shows up in a reading is certain, and it makes no promises if no action is taken. I’m also not the magic mirror, speaking truth and letting the chips fall. I will be as positive as I can, and I will empower my clients to shape the best future possible for themselves.

A client getting a one-on-one reading may end the reading at any time without penalty. They can also request not to pursue investigation of a particular topic.

Chelsey Blair Kendig 4/18/25 Chelsey Blair Kendig 4/18/25

My Vision

I got into tarot in October of 2024, during a really horrible year. Four days in, I tore my cornea. That led to a fungal infection in my one working eye, and it was caused by my eyelids not meeting properly, which required surgery to fix. I wasn’t able to wear any kind of corrective lens for a year, and my glasses only correct me to 20/100. To make matters worse, one of the only lasting effects from the scar in my cornea is that I have to struggle to read text on paper. Even now, with a scleral lens that makes my distance vision the best it’s been in years—20/50—that’s a problem. I can read on my devices, set to white-on-black. And I can see tarot cards.

I actually tried to learn tarot in 2023, after reading Caroline O’Donaghue’s books, but the deck I had was pippish. I’d kickstarted the Raven’s Prophecy because I loved those books, but they don’t overlap like I’d hoped. Some time that year, I pre-ordered the Buffy deck, because obsessed, but I hadn’t opened it. I did so on a whim, and fell down a rabbit hole.

Without my glasses, my nearsightedness made it possible to read the Little Purple Book, and eventually I used the phone camera to OCR it. That’s what I do, now, because I can’t take my lens out while I’m doing readings. Once it became clear that my scleral wasn’t a panacea, even with glasses, I spent a week OCRing all the guidebooks I’d set aside for “once I can see.” They’re not pretty, but if you see a deck in my collection that you physically have and you want the most basic version of the text, I can share. The Every Day Enchantments book was a supreme pain in the ass. I’m incredibly grateful that the Wild Archetypes Oracle book is online, because there’s no way ABBYY would be able to handle the font, much less the text along the edges of each page. at finding a PDF of a guidebook online likely means it’s because the deck is available as a counterfeit, but I cannot tell you how much time having my newest deck pop up on Scrib’d saves me.

Tarot is not a visually-impaired person’s game. If your first thought before reading this might’ve been well, yeah, you have to see the cards, now you can think of me, legally-blind, but perfectly able to see an illustrated card. Where other people line their decks with markers, I’ve had to go through and Sharpie in numbers and suits on decks where the titles don’t stand out well enough—it’s not just a matter of size, because the issue has to do with the way light hits my cornea. What, exactly, I’d love for someone to explain to me. None of my doctors have been able to do so.—Otherwise, I have to examine each card through my phone camera before putting it down. Not great, when I already use my phone to type up readings. I’ll have to do that regardless with the Witch’s Garden Tarot. The linen finish that folks love so much doesn’t hold Sharpie, not even the gold that is going to be there to remind me where I screwed up numbering the Hush Tarot for the rest of my life (alcohol didn’t work. Gonna try acetone.)

I’ve taken in most of my literature via audiobook over the past year. Occasionally, I can stand to use a virtual voice on something non-fiction that isn’t available, but it’s tedious. Not infrequently, tarot books are only available in hardcopy, and the backlog of those I’ve got to squint my way through puts anything that came into my life as late as last October low on the list. I received my annotated copy of Six of Crows the week after the tear happened, and it was only the first of my LitJoy annotated editions that came in over the past year. The Literary Tarot book gets to skip ahead, because it’s not black-on-white. I wanted to use Our Tarot for Women’s History Month, but the book is an actual book, and while I was able to accidentally purchase it independent of the cards, it’s not available as an ebook. “Scanning” something of that length with my phone is too tedious even for me. (I do plan to get a hand-held scanner at some point, for use with more than just tarot, once I’ve paid off two pairs of glasses and the surgeries.)

I’m not complaining, here. (Well, I am complaining about the stupid scar.) Not really. I’m just describing my situation. And maybe hoping that if you create a deck, you’ll think to ensure your titles are legible at a decent contrast. I love, love, love the Unfolding Path Tarot, but even though the letters on the court cards are large, they blend into the background. I hate to encourage scanning LWBs, because it benefits counterfeiters, but again, if you create a deck, having a PDF option is a life-saver. Some creators have been great about sending one to me, but I’ve yet to hear back from even an indie publisher. Especially disappointing when one well-known deck creator advertises that they’ll respond within a day.

A year ago, I couldn’t have imagined I’d be putting this much effort into reading tarot, I wouldn’t have believed you. For obvious reasons, I’m not a hugely visual person. But here we are. And now that I know it’s necessary, scanning in the LWB is a good way to get to know a deck—as long as you’re not doing seven over the course of a weekend. Apple’s text recognition is superior, if you can take the time to copy-and-paste from the photo, and in the case of books with columns, or other structures, it took less time than correcting what the OCR app put out.

There are tarot books that go on about handwriting journals, and readings. I’m so grateful that I discovered it at a time where I can carry all of that in my phone. I love the physicality of the cards, but the physical part of my disability, which we haven’t even gone into, makes me glad I can also have some of my decks on it, too. Tech isn’t everything. As an example, for apps without dark mode I have to invert colors on, and they often invert images, making browsing tarot cards difficult. But it’s bridged a lot of gaps for me, and that’s something I love about tarot. it lets you do things differently. The cards don’t care how you get to the message, as long as you listen to what it says.

Chelsey Blair Kendig 3/31/25 Chelsey Blair Kendig 3/31/25

Disability in the Cards

These are the instances of disability representation in the tarot that I know of. Please comment with additional examples!

Choose Your Own Adventure Tarot:

Emperor - Wheelchair

Queen of Cups - Wheelchair

Seven of Wands - Wheelchair

Cosmic Cycles Tarot:

Strength (Wheelchair user - injury

Nine of Cups (Crutches.- injury)

Cozy Witch Tarot:

Three of Cups (Wheelchair user)

Everyday Enchantment Tarot:

Strength (Wheelchair user + service dog)

King of Wands (blindness)

Eight of Coins (Person with Down syndrome)

Six of Wands (Person with an invisible disability)

Fifth Spirit Tarot:

Page of Cups (Wheelchair user)

Fyodor Pavlov Tarot:

King of Wands (Amputee - prosthetic)

Nine of Wands (possibly amputee - pre-prosthetic)

Knight of Pentacles (Wheelchair user)

Game of Thrones Tarot:

Five of Coins (Blindness)

The Hermit, Five of Swords, Seven of Cups (Paralyzed character)

Grey’s Anatomy Tarot:

Eight of Swords (Amputee)

Modern Love Tarot (OOP):

Six of Wands (Wheelchair user)

Numinous Tarot:

Nine of Candles/Wands (Walker)

Two of Candles/Wands (Crutches)

King/Mystic of Bells (Swords)

Our Tarot

Two of Swords (Blind/Deafness)

Sacred Sisterhood Tarot:

Neuf de Batons/Nine of Wands (Amputee)

Chevalier de Deniers/Knight of Pentacles (Wheelchair user)

Superlunaris Tarot

Five of Pentacles (Person with Visual Impairments Using a Cane)

Six of Wands (Guess. Wheelchair User.)

The Urban Tarot

VIII Justice

Unbridled Spirit Tarot

Three of Cups (Wheelchair user)

Unfolding Path Tarot:

Six of Wands (Wheelchair user)

Chelsey Blair Kendig 3/7/25 Chelsey Blair Kendig 3/7/25

Tie-In Tarot Decks

Tarot Decks Based on Other IP

I know they’re sometimes contentious but I love decks that tie into IPs—books, movies, TV shows—- I think they add depth to my readings and they’re just fun. But a lot of them are fanmade, and you have to chance across them. I’d like to make that easier, and see what’s out there.

Mass Market:

Insight Editions

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

The Labyrinth

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Disney Villains

Good Omens

Game of Thrones

House of Dragons

Stranger Things

Hocus Pocus

Necronomicon