This week on The Tarot Diagnosis, in honor of my upcoming book Dark Shadow, Golden Shadow, which releases on December 8, 2025, I’m reading a portion of chapter 2 (Roots of the Shadow) right here on the podcast.
In Roots of the Shadow, I dive into the foundations of shadow work through a deeply therapeutic and psychologically grounded lens. I explore how Carl Jung’s original concept of the shadow intersects with Internal Family Systems (IFS), Freud’s ideas of the id, ego, and superego, and even Brené Brown’s research on shame. Throughout this chapter, I explore academic theory, personal reflection, and practical exercises, because shadow work is just as much about theory as it is about application.
You’ll also get to experience one of the tarot spreads from the book, the Psychoanalytic Shadow Spread, designed to help you explore your inner world using tarot as a reflective tool. I walk you through each position in the spread and provide an example interpretation using cards like The High Priestess, Ace of Cups, Nine of Swords, and more.
We also take a deep dive into the Pages of the tarot and how each one can represent developmental moments where your shadow may have started to form. Whether it's being told you're “too emotional,” “too much,” or “not enough,” these early messages get internalized and shadow work gives us the chance to revisit and reclaim those parts of ourselves.
🎧 Listen in, grab your tarot deck and journal, and join me in beginning (or deepening) your own shadow journey.
✨ And don’t forget: Dark Shadow, Golden Shadow is available for pre-order now wherever books are sold. Pre-ordering not only supports my work, it enters you into a giveaway to win a free shadow reading with me. (Just send me proof of purchase and you’ll be entered to win!)
Deck Used: Tarot Vintage
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📚 Pre-order my book Dark Shadow, Golden Shadow for more therapeutic tarot practices!
If you love The Tarot Diagnosis Podcast, please consider leaving a review! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is a super easy and FREE way to support my work. Plus, it helps more people discover the podcast. I appreciate you all so much!
Audio Edited by Anthony DiGiacomo of Deep Resonance Sound
Contact: DeepResonanceSound@gmail.com
Music by Timmoor from Pixabay
What if the real root of evil isn’t money, but power?
This week on The Tarot Diagnosis, I take a deep, psychologically grounded look at the Six of Wands, a card typically associated with success and recognition, and reframe it through the lens of shadow work, power and control, neuroscience, and social dynamics.
Inspired by a spread I pulled during a recent shadow workshop and influenced by current global events, I found myself asking:
What happens when power becomes addictive?
When does celebration become complicit?
How does unchecked power erode empathy, justice, and even our sense of self?
Throughout this episode, we will explore:
Why the shadow side of the Six of Wands reveals themes of envy, domination, and the intoxication of being celebrated
How power alters the brain, impacts empathy, and mimics addiction, which is supported by neuroscience research
What tarot archetypes like The Devil, Queen of Cups Reversed, The Hierophant Reversed, and The Tower teach us about the darker side of social influence and power
How power dynamics appear in relationships, institutions, spirituality, and social media
Why Lane Smith’s concept of "Move Up, Move Up" (from 78 Acts of Liberation) and Mary K. Greer’s caution about the Six of Wands in The Complete Book of Tarot Reversals both invite us into more collective awareness
If you’ve ever struggled with your relationship to power (either craving it, fearing it, or unconsciously abusing it), this episode offers a powerful mirror and invitation. Through therapeutic insight and tarot symbolism, we reflect not only on how power can corrupt, but also how it can be shared, checked, and transformed for good.
Deck Used: Tarot Vintage
Referenced:
78 Acts of Liberation by Lane Smith
The Complete Book of Tarot Reversals by Mary K. Greer
On power and its corrupting effects: the effects of power on human behavior and the limits of accountability systems https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10461512/
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📚 Pre-order my book Dark Shadow, Golden Shadow for more therapeutic tarot practices!
If you love The Tarot Diagnosis Podcast, please consider leaving a review! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is a super easy and FREE way to support my work. Plus, it helps more people discover the podcast. I appreciate you all so much!
Audio Edited by Anthony DiGiacomo of Deep Resonance Sound
Contact: DeepResonanceSound@gmail.com
Music by Timmoor from Pixabay
What does it mean when tarot archetypes are blindfolded or their vision is obscured? In this week’s episode of The Tarot Diagnosis, I explore the often over-looked symbolism of obscured vision in tarot - where sight is blocked, avoided, invited or even denied. Inspired by six cards (Two of Swords, Four of Swords, Eight of Swords, Nine of Swords, Ten of Wands, and Strength), I take a psychological and symbolic deep dive into what it means when our eyes are closed.
Together, we’ll unpack:
Through the lens of psychology and tarot symbolism, we uncover how visual obstruction in the cards can indicate increased internal knowing, emotional overwhelm, or even power dynamics. And how sometimes seeing less allows us to feel and know more.
If you’ve ever pulled the Two of Swords and said, "just open your eyes and deal with it," this reframe might change the way you see the cards forever.
Deck Used: Tarot Vintage
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📚 Pre-order my book Dark Shadow, Golden Shadow for more therapeutic tarot practices!
If you love The Tarot Diagnosis Podcast, please consider leaving a review! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is a super easy and FREE way to support my work. Plus, it helps more people discover the podcast. I appreciate you all so much!
Audio Edited by Anthony DiGiacomo of Deep Resonance Sound
Contact: DeepResonanceSound@gmail.com
Music by Timmoor from Pixabay
This week on The Tarot Diagnosis, we’re exploring one of the most commonly misunderstood behaviors that exist in many of us: people-pleasing. Inspired by real conversations in the therapy room and the archetypal patterns of tarot, I explore people-pleasing through a trauma-informed, psychological, and tarot-based lens.
While people-pleasing is often viewed as a virtue and praised as kindness or empathy, the truth is way more complex. From a clinical perspective, people-pleasing is often rooted in early childhood conditioning, or what therapists might consider as part of the “fawn response,” as well as the development of what psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott refers to as the false self. I shed light on how people-pleasing is actually a survival skill - a way of staying safe by tending to others' needs, moods, and perceptions, often at our own expense.
In this episode, I explore how tarot archetypes reflect the nuance and shadow of this survival style. Drawing from both psychological theory and tarot symbolism, I unpack this behavior pattern as a form of emotional manipulation born from a deep need for control, approval, and connection, which might be difficult for many of us to hear.
I also guide you through a therapeutic, three-card spread designed to help you explore your own patterns of people-pleasing along with what’s underneath it, what it protects, and what it might feel like to step outside of it.
For the collective, I pull…
Card One: What emotion am I attempting to prevent or manage by people-pleasing? → The Tower
Card Two: What would it mean to allow another person to feel disappointed, angry, or uncomfortable without taking responsibility for it? → Two of Cups
Card Three: How can I tell the difference between being kind and giving so much that I lose myself? → Nine of Cups
Deck Used: Tarot Vintage
🌙 Stay Connected With Me
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📚 Pre-order my book Dark Shadow, Golden Shadow for more therapeutic tarot practices!
If you love The Tarot Diagnosis Podcast, please consider leaving a review! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is a super easy and FREE way to support my work. Plus, it helps more people discover the podcast. I appreciate you all so much!
Audio Edited by Anthony DiGiacomo of Deep Resonance Sound
Contact: DeepResonanceSound@gmail.com
Music by Timmoor from Pixabay
This week on The Tarot Diagnosis, we’re getting delightfully nerdy. Inspired by a conversation with a dear friend, I explore tarot through the lens of developmental psychology, focusing specifically on Donald Winnicott’s concept of transitional objects, transitional space, and transitional phenomena.
Traditionally, transitional objects are things like blankets, stuffed animals, or toys that help children move from total dependence to early independence by offering emotional regulation and symbolic comfort. But what happens when we grow up? We don’t stop needing comfort. It turns out our transitional objects just evolve…
Enter tarot.
In this episode, we explore how tarot functions as an transitional object, or what psychologist Mark Brenner refers to as a “sacred keepsake” that helps us self-soothe, regulate, and bridge our inner world with our external world. Drawing from both developmental theory and therapeutic principles, I unpack the psychological richness of the cards as mirrors, containers, and transitional phenomena.
I also guide you through an experiential three-card “Container Spread” designed to help you hold and process what feels too heavy using the archetypes as emotional containers. For the collective, I pull…
Card One – What feels too heavy right now? → Eight of Swords
Card Two – What archetype can hold that heaviness? → Queen of Swords
Card Three – What can I do while this is being held? → Nine of Wands
Deck Used: Pagan Otherworlds
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If you love The Tarot Diagnosis Podcast, please consider leaving a review! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is a super easy and FREE way to support my work. Plus, it helps more people discover the podcast. I appreciate you all so much!
Audio Edited by Anthony DiGiacomo of Deep Resonance Sound
Contact: DeepResonanceSound@gmail.com
Music by Timmoor from Pixabay
After a rejuvenating break in nature, I'm back…and tarot wasted no time in offering a message that couldn’t be ignored. In this reflective episode of The Tarot Diagnosis, I share how three cards - The Devil, The Three of Swords, and The Lovers - kept showing up across multiple decks, pointing to a powerful arc about relational stuck-ness, emotional pain, and the freedom of conscious choice.
We explore how The Devil archetype can represent cognitive distortions like all-or-nothing thinking and overgeneralization, which are those internal thought loops that keep us locked into outdated stories about ourselves or our partners. Then the Three of Swords becomes the bridge of clarity and discomfort when we realize just how much our thoughts have shaped our emotional experience. And The Lovers is where the healing begins: through reality-testing, reframing, and choosing a more balanced story.
I also guide you through a practical, step-by-step therapeutic tarot exercise, using a real-life example I see in couples therapy all the time to show how tarot can help support emotional insight and mental flexibility. We walk through how each card pulled (the reversed Four of Pentacles, Three of Cups, and Four of Wands) helps us better understand our cognitive experience within our relationships.
Decks used: Pamela Coleman-Smith Playing Card Deck, Mindscapes Tarot, Eternal Tarot
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If you love The Tarot Diagnosis Podcast, please consider leaving a review! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is a super easy and FREE way to support my work. Plus, it helps more people discover the podcast. I appreciate you all so much!
Audio Edited by Anthony DiGiacomo of Deep Resonance Sound
Contact: DeepResonanceSound@gmail.com
Music by Timmoor from Pixabay
This week on The Tarot Diagnosis Podcast, I pulled two seemingly contradictory cards (the Knight of Wands and the Seven of Pentacles) and found myself reflecting on the very human tension between urgency and patience. At first glance, these archetypes appear at odds: one races forward, fiery and eager; the other waits, steadies, and tends. But beneath the surface, they share a common root: passion.
In this episode, I explore how both cards express passion differently - one through movement, the other through stillness. I unpack how this polarity often shows up in relationships (think of the couple where one is impulsive and driven, while the other is methodical and calm) and how both partners are often acting from the same place: care, longing, and a desire for connection. The challenge is in learning how to integrate their styles rather than battle over whose rhythm is “right.”
We then zoom out into the lens of neurobiology by pairing the Knight of Wands with dopamine and the Seven of Pentacles with serotonin. Drawing on recent research from Stanford and Columbia, I discuss how these neurotransmitters operate in opposition yet depend on each other: dopamine initiates action and drives momentum, while serotonin regulates patience and long-term reward. Just like tarot, our brains need both. Without dopamine, we never start. Without serotonin, we can’t sustain.
By working with the Knight and the Seven together, we can begin to honor the full spectrum of passion: the spark that ignites, and the soil that nourishes.
Deck used: Tarot Vintage
Studies cited:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39586475/
Pre-order my forthcoming book Dark Shadow, Golden Shadow here and get an exclusive sneak peek!
🎧 Listen now on your favorite podcast platform or YouTube!
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💌 Follow me on Instagram: @thetarotdiagnosis
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If you love The Tarot Diagnosis Podcast, please consider leaving a review! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is a super easy and FREE way to support my work. Plus, it helps more people discover the podcast. I appreciate you all so much!
Audio Edited by Anthony DiGiacomo of Deep Resonance Sound
Contact: DeepResonanceSound@gmail.com
Music by Timmoor from Pixabay
When you think of the Wheel of Fortune, you might focus on the wheel itself - the chaos, the symbols, the turning of fate. But what about the soft, billowy clouds that frame the card?
In this week’s episode of The Tarot Diagnosis, I take a journey into the symbolism of clouds in tarot, exploring how they quietly anchor some of the most profound archetypes in the deck. Far from being just background art, clouds emerge as powerful metaphors for transition, liminality, and the unknown.
Together, we’ll explore:
Why clouds in tarot represent thresholds between the known and the unknown
How their mutability contrasts with the fixed zodiac signs in the Wheel of Fortune
What clouds reveal in cards like the Aces, Four of Cups, and Seven of Cups
How darker, jagged clouds in the Swords suit mirror mental turbulence and grief
The surprising role clouds play in The Lovers, Judgment, The World, and The Tower
From “your head is in the clouds” to having “clouded judgment,” our language reflects how deeply clouds connect to the psyche. In tarot, they remind us that nothing is static, that change is always underway, even when we resist it.
Clouds offer us valuable lessons. Perhaps the most important being to step into the role of mindful observer and to witness shifts without being consumed by them.
If you’ve ever overlooked the clouds in your deck, this episode will help you see them in a whole new way - as mirrors of the human experience, as symbols of impermanence, and as invitations to trust the unfolding process of change.
🔮 Listen now and discover how clouds can shift your perspective on tarot, psychology, and the weather of your own inner world.
Deck Used: Tarot Vintage
🎧 Listen on your favorite podcast platform or YouTube!
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A great way to support my work is by leaving a review! This is a super easy and FREE way to support The Tarot Diagnosis. Plus, it helps more people discover the podcast.
Audio Edited by Anthony DiGiacomo of Deep Resonance Sound
Contact: DeepResonanceSound@gmail.com
Music by Timmoor from Pixabay
This week on The Tarot Diagnosis Podcast, I’m unpacking why “just think positive” advice often backfires and offering a more sustainable approach rooted in both Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and tarot. Together, we’ll explore why lasting change doesn’t start with your thoughts, and why it actually starts with your actions.
I’ll walk you through how trauma wires the brain to anticipate harm, how DBT helps us hold two truths at once, and why micro-moments of safety and agency are the real building blocks of healing. You’ll learn how tarot can be more than just a tool for insight and how it can be a guide for new experiences.
Along the way, we’ll explore:
The problem with the phrase “Change your thoughts, change your life”
Why action leads and thoughts follow when it comes to rewiring your nervous system
How cards like The Fool, Eight of Pentacles, and Page of Cups can guide you into new behaviors
A 3-card “Micro Wins & New Paths” spread to help you notice small glimmers and create change
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💌 Follow me on Instagram: @thetarotdiagnosis
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If you love The Tarot Diagnosis Podcast, please consider leaving a review! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is a super easy and FREE way to support my work. Plus, it helps more people discover the podcast. I appreciate you all so much!
Audio Edited by Anthony DiGiacomo of Deep Resonance Sound
Contact: DeepResonanceSound@gmail.com
Music by Timmoor from Pixabay
[TW: Discussion of death, grief, suicide.] This week on The Tarot Diagnosis, I sit down with the Five of Cups and a whole host of other cards, but not in the way we usually expect. Instead of offering a clinical take or a tidy metaphor, this episode is more of a free-flowing love letter to the messiness of grief: the kind that arrives with dreams, dead batteries, wildflower fields, and the unshakable ache of remembering (those will all make sense once you listen, I promise).
Inspired by a recent pull of the Five of Cups (which you may have seen on Instagram), I reflect on decades of lived experience with loss - starting with my Uncle Barry and a stopped clock, winding through stories of my TT, childhood concoctions, and the ghosts of the selves we never got to be. This isn’t just an exploration of death-related grief, but of all the quiet, complicated, and cumulative forms grief can take: missed opportunities, dissolved friendships, the unspoken distance between people, the lives we didn’t live, but could have.
You’ll hear me pull and process cards live that include the Ten of Swords, Six of Cups, Ten of Wands, Queen of Cups, and Ace of Cups - each offering insight into how we might tend to, hold, and honor our grief. I talk about the importance of remaining in relationship with what we’ve lost, the burden of carrying grief alone, and the healing power of shared memories, rituals, and emotional openness.
This episode is for anyone who has ever carried the weight of grief, a memory that won’t fade, or a part of themselves that got left behind. Whether you’re mourning a person, an identity, or a path not taken, may this conversation offer you a moment of softness and proof that your pain and experience is real and valid.
Deck used: Tarot Vintage
Referenced: "Grief is a form of learning" - Mary Frances O'Connor Watch her TedX here.
Recommended Reading:
The Grieving Brain by Mary Frances O'Connor
Grief is Love by Maris Renee Lee
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If you love The Tarot Diagnosis Podcast, please consider leaving a review! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is a super easy and FREE way to support my work. Plus, it helps more people discover the podcast. I appreciate you all so much!
Audio Edited by Anthony DiGiacomo of Deep Resonance Sound
Contact: DeepResonanceSound@gmail.com
Music by Timmoor from Pixabay
This week on The Tarot Diagnosis, I had every intention of doing a neat little compare-and-contrast between the Five and Seven of Swords. But in true Swords fashion, what began as a tidy intellectual exploration turned into something much more raw, spiraling, and unexpectedly revealing.
In this episode, I invite you into a descent through the second half of the Suit of Swords: from the Five through the Ten. What emerges is a psychological narrative about the cost of self-protection, the seduction of avoidance, and the long-term consequences of abandoning ourself.
We begin at the Five of Swords with its hollow victories and relational fallout, and journey through the Six’s dissociative escape fantasies, the self-deception and silent bleeding of the Seven, the imprisonment of the Eight, and the mental reckoning of the Nine. Finally, we arrive at the Ten of Swords, which proves it’s not only a card of collapse, but one of catharsis and clarity.
There’s a throughline here about the ways we try to outrun pain and how we carry our wounds into new landscapes, call avoidance healing, and sometimes end up wounding ourselves in an attempt to feel safe. But there’s also a glimmer of hope because in the darkest point of our sword's spiral, we can meet our truth, and maybe, forge a new path.
So grab your deck, pull out the Five through Ten of Swords, and join me for this reflective and emotionally potent archetypal journey.
Deck referenced: Dreamkeeper’s Tarot
Want to find out all of the ways you can connect with me live this month? Join us inside The Symposium!
If you love The Tarot Diagnosis Podcast, please consider leaving a review! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This helps more people discover the show and is a great way to support my work <3
Don't forget to subscribe to our email list to get all kinds of free mental health and tarot goodies on our website, as well as access to our private membership community The Symposium! www.TheTarotDiagnosis.com
Follow The Tarot Diagnosis on Instagram @TheTarotDiagnosis
Audio Edited by Anthony DiGiacomo of Deep Resonance Sound
Contact: DeepResonanceSound@gmail.com
Music by Timmoor from Pixabay
This week on The Tarot Diagnosis Podcast, I’m unpacking the emotional aftermath of the Summer Solstice Summit and diving deep into one of the most powerful psychological and tarot-based concepts I explored there - the Golden Shadow, which I expand on as a type of abandoned archetype.
I begin by reflecting on the special magick that unfolded during the Summer Solstice Summit and how a weekend meant for learning and connection blossomed into something collectively sacred and transformative. From heartfelt comments in the chat box, to “aha!” moments during presentations, it became clear that this space wasn’t just about tarot, it was about holding space for each other and ourselves.
***Skip to 9:57 to avoid hearing me gush about the Summer Solstice Summit.***
That leads into the theme of this episode: the golden shadow as the abandoned archetype. Using both therapeutic insight and Jungian psychology, I examine how the golden shadow holds our disowned potential… all of that creativity, boldness, and joy that have been buried under years of social conditioning and shame. I draw from Robert Bly’s “bag of shadows” as a metaphor and infuse some developmental psychology, as I reflect on how our shadow forms across the lifespan.
Plus, you get to hear me talk about how the Tower is one hell of an epic, abandoned archetypal golden shadow. Tune in to hear my thoughts on how this often feared card is actually beautiful and admirable.
In this episode, I also walk you through a tarot spread to help you meet your own golden shadow and discover your abandoned archetype. Through three card pulls, we explore how to identify repressed potential, recognize what’s blocking it, and find ways to integrate it back into our life. I end up pulling the Magician, Six of Wands, and the World.
Whether you attended the summit or are just tuning in, I hope this conversation invites you to look at your shadow not only as a place of wounds, but as a container of all of your endless potential and authenticity!
Deck used: Pamela Coleman Smith’s Playing Card Deck
Tarot Spread from the Episode:
The unacknowledged potential of an abandoned archetype
An obstacle preventing me from embracing this potential
A way I can reclaim and integrate this hidden potential into my life
🎧 Listen now on your favorite podcast platform or YouTube!
Want to find out all of the ways you can connect with me live this month? Join us inside The Symposium!
If you love The Tarot Diagnosis Podcast, please consider leaving a review! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This helps more people discover the show and is a great way to support my work <3
Don't forget to subscribe to our email list to get all kinds of free mental health and tarot goodies on our website, as well as access to our private membership community The Symposium! www.TheTarotDiagnosis.com
Follow The Tarot Diagnosis on Instagram @TheTarotDiagnosis
Audio Edited by Anthony DiGiacomo of Deep Resonance Sound
Contact: DeepResonanceSound@gmail.com
Music by Timmoor from Pixabay
This week on The Tarot Diagnosis Podcast, I’m diving into the nuanced and often-confused archetypes of Judgment and Justice (especially for newer readers). Plus, these are two major arcana cards that are especially relevant given the state of the world. Fun fact: this episode was inspired by a listener request, and I went full nerd-mode by pulling out lots of books I thought had unique perspectives on these archetypes in order to dig into these cards from psychological, therapeutic, and archetypal lenses.
After a brief life update about my recent trip back to Florida, I shift gears into the cards. Using frameworks like Internal Family Systems (IFS), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and Jungian psychology, I explore how Justice and Judgement invite us into a deeper state of reckoning with both awareness and action.
I discuss how Judgment functions as an inner awakening, a self-led moment of reflection, integration, and individuation. It’s less about condemnation and more about liberation, calling us to rise above our limitations. On the other hand, Justice shows up as the embodiment of accountability, action, and agency, while encouraging us to take what we’ve learned and apply it with wise decision-making.
I also pull a couple of cards live to help me explore how these archetypes are similar and different. And what shows up? The Emperor and Queen of Pentacles. The result is a thoughtful (and real-time) interpretation that I hope inspires you to engage your own deck as a thinking tool.
Further Reading:
Tarot for Change by Jessica Dore
Tarot for Life by Paul Quinn
78 Acts of Liberation by Lane Smith
Radical Tarot by Charlie Claire Burgess
Tarot as a Way of Life by Karen Hamaker-Zondag
Tarot for the Hard Work by Maria Minnis
Holistic Tarot by Benebel Wen
🎧 Listen now on your favorite podcast platform or YouTube!
Want to find out all of the ways you can connect with me live this month? Join us inside The Symposium!
If you love The Tarot Diagnosis Podcast, please consider leaving a review! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This helps more people discover the show and is a great way to support my work <3
Don't forget to subscribe to the email list to get all kinds of free mental health and tarot goodies on our website, as well as access to our private membership community The Symposium! www.TheTarotDiagnosis.com
Follow The Tarot Diagnosis on Instagram @TheTarotDiagnosis
Audio Edited by Anthony DiGiacomo of Deep Resonance Sound
Contact: DeepResonanceSound@gmail.com
Music by Timmoor from Pixabay
This week on The Tarot Diagnosis Podcast, I’m sitting down with the Two of Cups, but not in the romanticized way we often think about with this card. Sure, this card speaks to connection, mutual care, and being seen, but in this episode, I’m more interested in what is hiding underneath all that sweet relational imagery. Inspired by a lively (and opinionated!) book club discussion inside The Symposium, I revisit Jessica Dore’s take in Tarot for Change, where she explores the Two of Cups as a mirror - one that reflects not just the other person, but all of our unconscious projections, unmet needs, and early attachment wiring. Spoiler alert: we had a lot to say about her interpretation.
I also spend time honoring Paul Quinn’s more relational lens from Tarot for Life, and some attachment theory to explore how this card hits differently when you're someone with a dismissive-avoidant style. We talk about the storylines we pick, as Esther Perel says, when we pick a partner - and how intimacy can feel like a high-stakes negotiation when we’re secretly wondering if our cup will be too heavy for someone else to hold.
There’s a big through-line in this discussion around how intimacy and autonomy often feel like opposing forces, but they don’t have to be. Eventually, I explore the Devil and Temperance cards (because of course I do) as well as ALL of the cups as a progression of this dynamic. And we end with a beautiful appearance from the Page of Cups, who offers us a gentle reminder that curiosity can be the antidote to defensiveness.
This episode is for anyone who’s ever felt the ache of wanting to be close to someone, but fearing what it might cost them. We talk childhood attachment wounds, projections, survival strategies, and how tarot can be a tool for navigating all of it…with softness, insight, and just the right amount of therapeutic nerdiness.
Books referenced:
Tarot for Change by Jessica Dore
Tarot for Life by Paul Quinn
Esther Perel
Join me in unpacking what it really means to offer your cup, and what it takes to believe someone might actually want to hold it.
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👥 Join The Symposium — my tarot & psychology membership community
If you love The Tarot Diagnosis Podcast, please consider leaving a review! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is a super easy and FREE way to support my work. Plus, it helps more people discover the podcast. I appreciate you all so much!
Audio Edited by Anthony DiGiacomo of Deep Resonance Sound
Contact: DeepResonanceSound@gmail.com
Music by Timmoor from Pixabay
This week on The Tarot Diagnosis Podcast, I invite you to step away from your Eight of Pentacles bench of productivity and join me on the stone slab with the Four of Swords - a card I kept circling back to while creating a workshop on the architecture of stability. After pulling the Eight of Pentacles (yet again) I realized this card that’s been following me around for two months now was in desperate need for a session on the couch. So, I paired these two cards and asked: Why does pressing pause feel so threatening? And what happens when relentless mastery meets restorative stillness?
I also brought the Eight of Wands into the mix because I know we have all experienced a sense of urgency when it comes to creating, checking off a to-do list, or simply just by existing.
In this episode I touch on:
Why rest feels unsafe. First we look at the knight in the Four of Swords with three blades suspended overhead and one tucked beneath him. I talk about how many of us lie down “at the ready,” never fully releasing vigilance. Polyvagal Theory helps us name that jumpy nervous-system state and identify the ventral vagal calm we’re craving.
How hustle culture rewires worth. Drawing on Juliet Schor’s research and Devon Price’s Laziness Does Not Exist, we trace the way late-stage capitalism elevates exhaustion to a status symbol, turning the Eight of Pentacles into a bit of a warning sign.
The shame spiral of speed. Brené Brown’s work on perfectionism meets the Eight of Wands, highlighting our belief that value = how much we accomplish and how fast we deliver. Spoiler: that metric is unsustainable.
A values check-in. I share a quick exercise I use with clients comparing an “ideal day” with a so-called “lazy day” to expose how easily we mislabel restoration as failure.
Practical invitations. From booking bodywork to choosing a new setting (nature, a quiet room, etc.), I offer ways to step outside the urgent grind and let your nervous system soften into safety.
The takeaway: the Four of Swords isn’t laziness; it’s necessary maintenance. And until our Eight of Pentacles selves learn to lay down the hammer (even briefly) true stability will stay out of reach.
Reference material and further reading:
Devon Price, PhD — Laziness Does Not ExistBook page (Simon & Schuster): https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Laziness-Does-Not-Exist/Devon-Price/9781797120591 Simon & SchusterAuthor hub / articles: https://devonprice.medium.com/ Medium
Juliet Schor, PhD — The Overworked AmericanBook page (Amazon): https://www.amazon.com/Overworked-American-Juliet-Schor/dp/046505434X AmazonFaculty bio (Boston College): https://www.bc.edu/bc-web/schools/morrissey/departments/sociology/people/faculty-directory/juliet-schor.html Boston College
Brené Brown, PhD, LMSW — The Gifts of ImperfectionBook page: https://brenebrown.com/book/the-gifts-of-imperfection/ Brené BrownOfficial site: https://brenebrown.com
Stephen W. Porges, PhD — The Polyvagal Theory Book page (W.W. Norton): https://www.amazon.com/Polyvagal-Theory-Neurophysiological-Communication-Self-regulation/dp/0393707008 Amazon Official site: https://www.stephenporges.com/
🎧 Listen now on your favorite podcast platform or YouTube!
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If you love The Tarot Diagnosis Podcast, please consider leaving a review! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This helps more people discover the show and is a great way to support my work <3
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Audio Edited by Anthony DiGiacomo of Deep Resonance Sound
Contact: DeepResonanceSound@gmail.com
Music by Timmoor from Pixabay
This week on The Tarot Diagnosis Podcast, I have a timely and tender conversation with my friend and favorite financial educator Mimi Cirbusova to explore what it means to find stability when the world feels like it’s crumbling. Whether it’s rising rent, global uncertainty, or emotional exhaustion, we’re all navigating something right now. This episode is an invitation to pause, reflect, and reimagine what stability looks like for you.
Mimi walks us through her Money Mountain framework, and together we explore how tarot (especially the Fours) can help us ground ourselves, soften financial shame, and build emotional resilience in real, accessible ways.
✨ In This Conversation, We Explore:
Why “stability” looks different than it used to and how to meet yourself where you are
How the nervous system and financial anxiety are deeply connected
The symbolic (and somatic) energy of the Four of Swords
The tension between the Four of Pentacles and Four of Wands (survival vs. joy)
Reframing saving, spending, and celebrating through a trauma-informed lens
How tarot can soothe money shame and create space for gentler decision-making
Why community is essential for both emotional and financial well-being
🔮 Cards We Explore Together:
Four of Swords
Four of Pentacles
Four of Wands
Four of Cups
King of Wands
Two of Pentacles
The Tower, The Star, The Sun, and the Wheel of Fortune
🧘 Final Reflections: If you're feeling the weight of the world, I hope this episode reminds you that you’re not alone. Stability isn’t about having it all figured out. It’s about giving yourself permission to rest, connect, and redefine what support means for you today. Let’s pull some cards, take a breath, and remember that we don’t have to do this alone.
💡 More from Mimi:
🎧 Listen to the Meadow Sweet Money podcast
🌐 Visit meadowsweetmoney.com
📰 Subscribe to her Substack for new + full moon reflections 💞 Join her Patreon for tarot-infused financial accountability
🌙 Stay Connected With Me:
💌 Follow me on Instagram: @thetarotdiagnosis
🧠 Sign up for my newsletter at thetarotdiagnosis.com
👥 Join The Symposium — my tarot & psychology membership community
If you love The Tarot Diagnosis Podcast, please consider leaving a review! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is a super easy and FREE way to support my work. Plus, it helps more people discover the podcast. I appreciate you all so much!
Audio Edited by Anthony DiGiacomo of Deep Resonance Sound
Contact: DeepResonanceSound@gmail.com
Music by Timmoor from Pixabay
This week on The Tarot Diagnosis Podcast, I’m stepping back into my music-journalist roots (yes, I share a tidbit of my personal lore in this episode haha) and I’m leaning hard on my therapist brain to do something I’ve been dying to do: a Jungian-tarot psychoanalysis of Sleep Token’s new single, “Damocles.”
Beyond dissecting the song itself, this episode journeys into the artist’s mind and unpacks the relentless push to outdo one’s last creation, highlighting the unique ache of making art under capitalism.
In this episode, I look at how a seemingly stripped-down metal track can crack open huge psychological themes of coping with fame, creative and emotional burnout, cognitive dissonance, and the inevitable collapse of any persona. Drawing on Jung’s ideas of the Persona and Shadow, I unpack Vessel’s lyrics line by line, explore the myth of Damocles, and show how the song mirrors key tarot archetypes like The Tower, The Moon, Seven of Wands, and The Emperor (but specifically The Emperor from the Somnia Tarot with that anvil-over-the-throne vibe).
Along the way, you’ll hear:
Why the song’s minimal arrangement is a clever metaphor for longing to return to simplicity amid skyrocketing success
How anonymity and adoration create cognitive dissonance and create emotional whiplash
The inner critic’s cameo: “I know these chords are boring, but I can’t always be killing the game”
A tarot-infused reading of the lyrics that reveal a map from persona collapse to individuation and integration
Even if Sleep Token never hits your playlist, you’ll still love hearing a therapist psychoanalyze a song and weave its themes through universal tarot archetypes.
So grab your deck, hit play on “Damocles,” and join me for a deep dive where metal meets myth and tarot meets therapy.
Want to find out all of the ways you can connect with me live this month? Join us inside The Symposium!
If you love The Tarot Diagnosis Podcast, please consider leaving a review! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This helps more people discover the show and is a great way to support my work <3
Don't forget to subscribe to our email list to get all kinds of free mental health and tarot goodies on our website, as well as access to our private membership community The Symposium! www.TheTarotDiagnosis.com
Follow The Tarot Diagnosis on Instagram @TheTarotDiagnosis
Audio Edited by Anthony DiGiacomo of Deep Resonance Sound
Contact: DeepResonanceSound@gmail.com
Music by Timmoor from Pixabay
This week on The Tarot Diagnosis Podcast, I’m continuing my monthly Tarot Therapy series by exploring a topic I’ve been wanting to discuss for ages: How tarot and witchcraft function as Psychodrama.
Specifically, I explore how tarot and witchcraft can be understood and practiced through the lens of psychodrama, a powerful therapeutic method developed by Dr. Jacob Moreno. Psychodrama is essentially theater for the psyche. It’s an embodied way of working with emotion, memory, and healing through role play, creativity, and storytelling.
If you’ve ever lit a candle for someone you love, pulled a tarot card that made your stomach drop, or cried while drawing a protection sigil - then you’ve already engaged in psychodrama.
In this episode, I share why I believe tarot and magick aren’t just symbolic or ritualistic, but active, expressive healing tools. I talk about how tarot spreads become psyche-inspired stages, how tarot becomes characters, and how we can use these practices to externalize our inner world in ways that go beyond talk therapy.
I also walk you through a guided psychodrama-inspired tarot practice using a technique called the soliloquy - a beautiful, embodied way to give voice to something you’ve been holding inside.
✨ In this episode, I talk about:
What psychodrama is and how it relates to tarot and ritual
Why embodiment and symbolism matter for emotional healing
How to turn your tarot spread into a living story
A guided soliloquy-style tarot activity to help you release what’s been unspoken
Want to find out all of the ways you can connect with me live this month? Join us inside The Symposium!
If you love The Tarot Diagnosis Podcast, please consider leaving a review! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This helps more people discover the show and is a great way to support my work <3
Don't forget to subscribe to our email list to get all kinds of free mental health and tarot goodies on our website, as well as access to our private membership community The Symposium! www.TheTarotDiagnosis.com
Follow The Tarot Diagnosis on Instagram @TheTarotDiagnosis
Audio Edited by Anthony DiGiacomo of Deep Resonance Sound
Contact: DeepResonanceSound@gmail.com
Music by Timmoor from Pixabay
This week on The Tarot Diagnosis Podcast I’m exploring a delicate identity that many people carry without ever naming: the wounded caretaker. Inspired by a social media trend that says, “I probably just needed a hug, so I became a therapist,” this episode takes a deep dive into the lifelong emotional patterns that develop when we’re asked to care for others before we’re ready…and before we've been cared for ourselves.
In this episode, I unpack the concept of parentification - when a child is placed in the role of caretaker, whether emotionally or physically, and what that does to their developing sense of self. Through the archetype of the Queen of Pentacles, we examine how this card (often celebrated for her nurturing energy) can also hold shadow traits of burnout, over-functioning, and self-neglect. I explore how tarot archetypes like the Ten of Wands, Page of Cups, Six of Pentacles, The Devil, and The Star offer a rich map for understanding the cycle of exhaustion, grief, and hidden hopes of those who were taught to meet everyone else’s needs and neglect their own.
I also bring in psychological research and frameworks like Internal Family Systems (IFS) and attachment theory to illustrate how the identity of the helper often masks a quiet desperation to be held, seen, and nurtured. This episode is dedicated to those of you who have always been the “strong one,” the “go-to” person, or the “emotional rock” and who might be quietly wondering: But when will someone take care of me?
And just a quick note before we dive in: the phrase “we’re all wounded healers” is often attributed to Carl Jung, who did explore the idea that healing often stems from our own pain. That said, the exact quote has been credited to several different folks over time. The first time I heard it was back in 2009, when I was taking classes to become a certified domestic violence counselor, and honestly, it was one of the most validating phrases I had ever heard. It gave me permission to keep moving forward in the healing profession, knowing that I didn’t need to be fully healed to help others. That nuance really sits at the heart of today’s conversation.
✨ If you’ve ever felt resentful after giving too much, struggled to ask for help, or found your sense of worth tangled up in how useful you are to others, this episode will speak directly to that wound. I also offer journal prompts, card pulls, and strategies to help you begin the healing process…so you can learn to care for yourself with the same devotion you've shown others.
💔 Remember, you’re not selfish for having needs. You’re human. And it’s time to include yourself in the circle of care.
Deck Used: Joie de Vivre
Study Referenced: Hooper, Lisa. (2008). Defining and Understanding Parentification: Implications for All Counselors. Alabama Counseling Association Journal. 34. 34-43.
Want to find out all of the ways you can connect with me live this month? Join us inside The Symposium!
If you love The Tarot Diagnosis Podcast, please consider leaving a review! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This helps more people discover the show and is a great way to support my work <3
Have a topic you’d like to hear about? We’re always interested in hearing your suggestions! Click here to submit a topic!
Don't forget to subscribe to our email list to get all kinds of free mental health and tarot goodies on our website, as well as access to our private membership community The Symposium! www.TheTarotDiagnosis.com
Follow The Tarot Diagnosis on Instagram @TheTarotDiagnosis
Audio Edited by Anthony DiGiacomo of Deep Resonance Sound
Contact: DeepResonanceSound@gmail.com
Music by Timmoor from Pixabay
This week on The Tarot Diagnosis Podcast, I’m discussing a tender and often overlooked habit many of us carry: over-explaining. In this episode, I explore the psychological roots of this behavior through the lens of the Page of Swords, an archetype that is curious, alert, and sometimes altered by experiences of gaslighting or a lack of conflict resolution.
We’ll unpack how early experiences with unresolved conflict or emotional invalidation can lead us to constantly seek clarity, not just for understanding and being understood, but also for safety. I explore how the Page of Swords becomes the internal part of us that can't rest until everything has been said just right, and how that habit, while protective, can also be exhausting.
From there, we journey through the Swords court to see how our communication style evolves over time: from the anxious explaining of the Page, to the defensive urgency of the Knight, the discerning clarity of the Queen, and finally the peaceful detachment of the King. Each archetype offers insight into how we can move from over-explaining to grounded self-trust.
If you’ve ever sent a “just to clarify…” text, stayed up all night replaying a conversation (hello Nine of Swords), or struggled with the need to be understood perfectly, this episode is for you. I also share practical strategies and tarot prompts to support your healing, self-reflection, and emotional regulation.
✨ Tune in for a heartfelt, validating, and empowering exploration of communication, trauma responses, and the healing journey from the Page to King of Swords.
🎧 Listen now on your favorite podcast platform!
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Have a topic you’d like to hear about? We’re always interested in hearing your suggestions! Click here to submit a topic!
Don't forget to subscribe to our email list to get all kinds of free mental health and tarot goodies on our website, as well as access to our private membership community The Symposium! www.TheTarotDiagnosis.com
Follow The Tarot Diagnosis on Instagram @TheTarotDiagnosis
Audio Edited by Anthony DiGiacomo of Deep Resonance Sound
Contact: DeepResonanceSound@gmail.com
Music by Timmoor from Pixabay