The Tarot Podcast with T. Susan Chang

Multimedia artist Kat Black joins me to share the backstory of a tarot community favorite, the Golden Tarot (first published in 2003). Long before today’s indie deck culture existed, fans launched the Golden Tarot into print, making its blend of International Gothic style and readable scenic minors an instant favorite for readers and collectors alike.

As always, there’s a patron reading! using the deck, at the end of the episode. We also have a few more readings, offered as Patreon bonus content for the week.  If you’d like to submit a question for a reading on the Tarot Podcast, sign up as a paid member! (https://patreon.com/thetarotpodcast). You’ll find out when readings are happening on Patreon or Discord and be able to share your question then!

Kat Black has been an artist and performer for over twenty years using a wide variety of media. She exhibited as a painter before moving into digital art forms. Her main art forms are currently video projection, interactive installation and digital collage. Her first commercial tarot deck, Golden Tarot, was released in 2004 using early graphics software to collage together elements of European artwork from the International Gothic era.

Kat was born and currently resides in Australia, although she has also lived in the US and the UK. In collaboration with her partner Jasper Cook, she creates video projection and public art as VJzoo.

 

Links for this episode:

The Golden Tarot website: https://www.goldentarot.com

Purchase the Golden Tarot from U.S. Games
https://www.usgamesinc.com/golden_tarot.html

Purchase the Touchstone Tarot from U.S. Games
https://www.usgamesinc.com/touchstone-tarot.html

Kat’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@KatBlackTarot

Simone Martini’s Christ Discovered in the Temple, appearing in the Golden Tarot’s 4 of Cups: https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/artifact/christ-discovered-temple

Kat’s professional website: https://vjzoo.com

YouTube version of the episode (where you can see images of the cards): https://youtu.be/Na5yQh58sWo

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Become a Tarot Podcast member! patreon.com/thetarotpodcast

Shop for Tarot Podcast MERCH! & cool stuff made by your host! etsy.com/shop/tarotista

Sign up for readings and explore books and classes!
thetarotpodcast.com

Continue your tarot journey with The Living Tarot book and/or The Living Tarot online class (discount for class available if you purchase the book!)

Tarot IRL is back! in a slightly more streamlined format. (You can still read the full text of examples in the video version in YouTube, if you wish.)

In this episode, we examine how the gritty, resolute 9 of Wands shows up in the lives of ordinary folks. If it could speak, this card would say, What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger! Our wounded warrior, the Lord of Strength, has seen his share. Your stories showcase his resilience...and his scars.

When you draw the 9 of Wands, look out for the following themes:

Burnout

Recovery from illness

Long drives

Resilience/fixing things

Trees/Forests

Heat

Miscellaneous synchronistic phenomena!

For decan basics and examples, see episode 39 (Decan Basics) and 40 (Decan Deep Dive) with Mary Greer.

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✨ Take the Tarot IRL poll! Vote on which IRL cards – Wands courts or numeric Cups – should come after the 10 of Wands!: 

✨To share your stories about the 10 of Wands for the next Tarot in Real Life segment - please join as a Patreon supporter of the Tarot Podcast! You can also write in to the show at thetarotpodcast.com/about, using the contact form at the bottom of the page.

More resources:

36 Secrets: A Decanic Journey through the Minor Arcana of the Tarot (Amazon link if you must!)

Shop for cool stuff made by your host! 

Dreaming the Decans webinar (yours free with Soothsayer-level membership!)

Become a Tarot Podcast member!

Sign up for readings and explore books and classes! https://tsusanchang.com

Continue your tarot journey with The Living Tarot book and/or The Living Tarot online class (discount for class available if you purchase the book!)

😊 And...don't forget to like, rate, subscribe, and share!! 😊

This week my psychic friend, the author Mat Auryn, returns to the show to talk about a perennially interesting topic for tarot readers, which is: the difference between intuition and projection. When you’re doing a reading for someone else, how do you know if what you’re interpreting is true, useful information, or just something from your own bag of tricks?

You might want to revisit Episode 26, where Mat and I talked about whether you need to be psychic to read tarot. And we also have some fantastic bonus content this week you’ll want to check out—the video from the last part of my conversation with Mat, where we discuss psychic hygiene and how to keep yourself clean and clear when you’re exposing yourself to other people’s psychic energies. That’s at https://patreon.com/thetarotpodcast.

One quick note: I apologize for my side of the audio. My software accessed the wrong mic when we were recording  and I’ve tried to clean it up some. But it’s not quite the same quality you’re used to. Mat, however, sounds great!

 

Mat Auryn is an influential author and teacher in occultism and witchcraft. His books Psychic Witch, Mastering Magick, and The Psychic Art of Tarot offer practical insights into psychic and magickal practices. He also co-authored Pisces Witch with Ivo Dominguez, Jr. Mat’s work draws from various spiritual and magickal traditions he’s studied and trained in, aiming to synthesize them in accessible and practical ways. Beyond writing, Mat worked for many years as a professional psychic and tarot reader in Salem, Massachusetts, as well as his own private practice. He is on the faculty at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY, and co-hosts THE CIRCLE IS podCAST with actress Rachel True. Residing in California’s Bay Area, he co-owns Datura Trading Co. and Modern Witch University. You can find out more information about Mat on his website at www.Auryn.com

 

Check out Episode 26: Do I Need to be Psychic to Read Tarot?

Read Mat’s best-selling Psychic Witch

Check out The Psychic Art of Tarot

THE CIRCLE IS podCAST with Mat Auryn & Rachel True

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Become a Tarot Podcast member! patreon.com/thetarotpodcast

Shop for Tarot Podcast MERCH! & cool stuff made by your host! etsy.com/shop/tarotista

Sign up for readings and explore books and classes!
thetarotpodcast.com

Continue your tarot journey with The Living Tarot book and/or The Living Tarot online class (discount for class available if you purchase the book!)

The grand finale! of our series on decans + tarot, just in time for Spring Equinox on March 20th. Here are my answers to ALL your burning questions: What is a decan walk? Why do we do them? And – most important of all: How do I start my own?

Includes loads of examples from current practitioners of the modern decan walk – including your host! Let me know how you’re walking this year! (Write me via the contact form at thetarotpodcast.com).

 

Must-have Decan Resources!

2026-27 decan ingress chart

Pick up the Tarot Podcast official Decan Notebook!

Join the Tarot Podcast as a Soothsayer-level patron for my “Dreaming the Decans” webinar and a free decan notebook on your 1-month anniversary!

Patreon bonus post on decanic dignity for paid Patreon members

36 Secrets: A Decanic Journey through the Minor Arcana of the Tarot
(Amazon link if you must!)

Tarot Correspondences: Ancient Secrets for Everyday Readers 

Dreaming the Decans book (also in paperback)

Dreaming the Decans webinar (yours free with Soothsayer-level membership!)

End credits music: “Time Trades,” by Jeffrey Lewis

It’s week 2 of our three-week series on decans!  Mary Greer and I are back to explore the ins and outs of decanic influence on four specific cards: the 4 of Cups, the 5 of Wands, the 6 of Swords, and the 9 of Pentacles. Join us as we unpack the Lords of Luxury, Strife, Science, and Gain—revealing their astrological, Kabbalistic, elemental, and numerological layers.

This week, we also have a Patreon bonus video where Mary and I discuss decanic dignity! and how it stacks up in a few special cards. For access, you can sign up at patreon.com/thetarotpodcast.

If you’d like to look closer at the visuals and graphics we discuss in the episode, there are three ways to do that:

the episode page on Podbean, our podcast-hosting service

The episode page on Patreon

the video version on YouTube

Also: stay tuned for next week’s solo show, whose topic will be <drumroll>… How to Do a Decan Walk!

 

Mary K. Greer is an independent scholar, writer, teacher, and professional tarot consultant, known for her innovative teaching techniques. With over 56 years tarot experience, she is the author of 12 books on tarot and on magic, has a master’s degree in English literature, and taught tarot in colleges and universities for 12 years.

If you’d like to study with Mary in-person, you can register for her yearly Omega Institute workshops in July:

Tarot Magic: July 17-19, a weekend with Barbara Moore, Nancy Antenucci, Charles Harrington, and Mary. https://www.eomega.org/workshops/tarot-magic

Wisdom of the Tarot - a July 19-24 five-day intensive with Mary, deck creator Ellen Lorenzi-Prince, and Carolyn Cushing.  https://www.eomega.org/workshops/wisdom-of-the-tarot

Also relevant to this episode:

Pick up the Tarot Podcast Official Decan Notebook!

Join the Tarot Podcast as a Soothsayer-level patron for my “dreaming the Decans” webinar and a free decan notebook on your 1-month anniversary!

36 Secrets: A Decanic Journey through the Minor Arcana of the Tarot  (Amazon link if you must!)

Tarot for Your Self: A Workbook for the Inward Journey

Tarot Correspondences: Ancient Secrets for Everyday Readers 

4 Stories: An Elemental Approach to the Tarot (2025)
(Amazon link if you must!)

patreon.com/thetarotpodcast

Shop for Tarot Podcast MERCH! & cool stuff made by your host! etsy.com/shop/tarotista

Find trusted tarot readers and explore books and classes!
thetarotpodcast.com

Continue your tarot journey with The Living Tarot book and/or The Living Tarot online class  (discount for class available if you purchase the book!)

😊 And...don't forget to like, rate, subscribe, and share!! 😊