#about raev

[raevenlyreads]

What happens when you ask for a reading?

People have been asking: What is it like to get a reading from you, Raev? A lot of you are just as new to being read for as I am to having a shop front, so I wanted to pull back the curtain a little bit and let yall know what the process of requesting a reading is like. Many thanks to my lovely volunteers for allowing me to share snippets of our conversations.

Preliminary Chats

When a querent reaches out for a reading, we start with a little Q&A, as I help guide my querents to the right spread for them. Doesn’t have to be in real time, though the process does tend to go quicker when we’re both available to chat at the same time. Often, these exchanges involve me helping the querent narrow down what it is they want to know, since they usually come to me with a general idea but not much in the way of specifics. For example:

Querent: My question would be "What is the best way for me to love them", what do you recommend? Me: I think it depends on what kind of love you're trying to give. I think this might be an interesting one for me to read the Revealing Prism for, as it will show 1) something about them 2) something about you 3) something you don't know and 4) a truth you can act on Querent: Mm, love in a general sense I guess? Like, what is the best way for me to show this person I hold them in high regard / care for them etc. not particularly romantic or familial just.. love? Hard to articulate And yeah, okay! Revealing Prism it is then Me: Sounds good! What deck would you like? Querent: The shadowscapes one? Me: shadowscapes was a good choice for this one, it's a very patient and gentle deck. Very loving and nurturing. It will really understand the vibe you're going for, I think. Querent: That's what I'm hoping for yeah <3

Into the Queue

Once we have the question narrowed down, and the spread and deck decided upon, the appropriate commission is purchased and the querent is added to my queue. Usually the turn around is within a few days, no more than a week. I like to try to do my reading as close to the prelim chats as possible, so that the connection is still fresh in my mind.

The Reading Itself

I will spend some time with the chosen deck, asking it the question on behalf of the querent (“[Name] is seeking actionable advice on how to show them they love them. “They” will be the external card, [Name] will be the internal card, help me show [Name] what is Hidden and reveal to us they can act on.”). While I ask, I shuffle. With some decks, this involves rifling the deck like common playing cards. With others (like the oversized Nameless One), I will spread the whole thing out on the table and just shuffle it all around flat. Circle spreads get arranged in a circle (go figure :P), and Above and Below gets shuffled then turned face up as I search for the signifier card. Oftentimes, I’ll know it's time to stop shuffling and begin reading when a card jumps out of my hand, or the deck splits itself neatly in two in my grip, or the cards start sticking to themselves. I lay out the reading, sit with them for a bit to absorb the interpretation, then start snapping pictures.

The Final Product

Once I’m done with the reading it's time for the write up. Each card is interpreted individually, and in the case of multi-card spreads, a synthesis of what they all say together is also written up. For single cards, I tend to drop the image and the interpretation right into our chat. For longer reads, I send a link to your own personalized doc with all the pictures and write ups. You can see samples of those in my kofi Gallery or on my tumblr under the tag #raevs sample reads.

Follow Up

This is my favorite part. I always love to hear what my querents think of their readings, how it impacts the way they think about things, how it opens up their perceptions, the clarity my readings bring. It especially delights me when they come back after some time later, telling me about the ways they saw the factors described in my readings coming to life before their eyes. I love hearing from my querents and would love to hear from you, too! Come talk tarot with me and let's see what the cards hold for you.

Ready to commission a reading of your very own? Check out my ko-fi page!

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[raevenlywrites]

For your consideration, some Raeven genders:

Baby Raev. I was like 15. I didnt know at that age that there were genders outside of Male or Female. If I had though, I'd have probably said my gender was Buckles.

A decidedly fem Raev. Off to see Labyrinth I'm theaters for its anniversary showing. Gender: Goblinette Fangirl

Gender affirming button up! Gender is stored in the David Bowie. I would consider this a nonbinary gender, with a definite masc leaning, partially to keep myself from reading as so fem, partially because I just like feeling masc

Super masc at my brother's wedding! Ladies can be on the groom's side, but I was definitely feeling Gender: Groomsman that day!

High femme Raev on my wedding day! The ladiness did not last, but in this particular instance, I wanted a "bride" photo and this is how that felt to me that day.

Me again, mere hours later. Gender: Euphoric/Exhausted Newlywed

Gender: Finally seeing myself in mainstream media. Stevonnie is so, so important to me, and I'm so delighted to have pulled this cosplay nod together

Gender: Raev. 9 times out of 10, my gender is simply Me. I feel like myself, and that's a gender that is so vast and complex, so shifting and encompassing, that Me is the only word that truly fits.

[raevenlyreads]

Why you should commission me as a tarot reader specifically

I'm queer as hell, so therefore my interpretations will be queer as well

Same with being neurodivergent of only god knows what flavor

I say things in my interpretations like "not yet, Ferb"

I have many many lovely decks to choose from

srsly your reading may or may not read like an absolute shitpost depending on the vibe of our pre-reading chats

oh, did I mention you get pre-reading chats? So you're not just like going in blind? I will help you figure out a) what your question even actually is actually and 2) what spread is best for what you want to know

Vague-an (that's vaguely pagan) so I'll probably say things like "oh yeah big Aquarius energy there" but I won't say things like "divine feminine"

oh yeah also I dabble in astrology so i'll say things like "big aquarius energy there"

did I mention the neurodivergent and queer? this reading will not be normative in the slightest

dork ass nerd so you can commission spreads from me like the Tri-Force of Ways You're Awesome or a sakkri from the Kiesha'ra books

So yeah. Come check my ko-fi out. Even if its just to look at some pretty decks for a minute

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[raevenlyreads]

My Tarot Story

I was first drawn to Stephanie Law’s Shadowscapes deck as a way to dip my toe into tarot. I’d been working with runes throughout most of high school, and was ready to set myself free from the “tarot cards are a gateway to Hell” nonsense that is so common in the conservative Christian South I grew up in. I was determined not to be afraid anymore, and the Shadowscapes’ warm, soft artstyle was welcoming and alluring—and it came with a guidebook, which I felt I desperately needed.

At first, I challenged myself to do “dry” readings, where I would look at a spread and try to interpret them without the book. Then, like a kid flipping to the back of the book when doing their math homework, I would feverishly search the guidebook—only to find that not only were my interpretations correct, they were more specific and targeted than the more open-ended “answers” in the guide. This process made it clear to me pretty immediately that a good deck that you vibe with will tell you everything you need to know in the card itself. I forged ahead, feeling more confident with every draw.

I looked longingly at several other decks over the years, but none of them pulled me in the way the Shadowscapes did. There was always something just sort of Goldilocks about the whole search: this deck is too plain, this deck is too busy, this deck is too literal, this deck is too abstract. I played with some of my wife’s decks (she has a stunning collection too, full of shapeshifters and faeries and oracle cards - all fascinating, but none quite for me), but nothing spoke to me like the Shadowscapes. Pretty to look at, but “empty” for me. I didn’t know how to connect with them like I could with the familiar watercolor world of Shadowscapes.

I kept searching, reading books and listening to podcasts and following Tumblrs and doing my own journaling, slowly building up a background of formalized knowledge to support my intuitive reading.

I finally picked up Masa Kazuki’s Silhouettes deck at the suggestion of a mentor. I was shocked to find it so argumentative! This deck has opinions! This deck wants to be rifled and marked up and creased and broken in. Where I’d previously treated my Shadowscapes almost like a delicate artifact, the Silhouettes demanded to be an everyday workhorse. I started doing silly readings with it on Tumblr, pulling cards for friends’ fictional characters—anything to give this deck something to do. It was then that I started really considering reading for other people, genuinely and seriously, not just as a game. Silhouettes taught me that cards are to be used; a pretty deck that sits in the box does no one any good.

My old fears and hesitancy with divination were gone. I began doing shadow work with my decks, exploring my deeper psyche with my familiar friend, Shadowscapes, and using what I learned from there to branch out into astrology. That primed me to work with my next two decks, both by the fabulous Xia Hunt. I opened negotiations with her diva of a deck, The Children of Litha. This one fought me, and still does to this day on occasion. If Silhouettes is a workhorse, then Litha is a show cat, pampered and doing nothing for anyone’s pleasure but her own. Litha demands attention, Litha demands time. Until I put in the work of learning all her tricks and quirks, my efforts would all just sort of …slide off. I put her away for a long time, but as I continued my dive into astrology and shadow work, Litha opened up to me, and our partnership blossomed.

When Xia announced Litha’s cousin deck, The Nameless One, on Kickstarter, I knew I had to have it. Its inky black cards drew me in like a scrying bowl, and its sigils seemed to lift off the page like moons. I was already a huge fan of Xia’s work by that time, and so was happy to back it and wait - and waaaait. This project was delayed due to both Covid related logistics troubles, and because—as Xia continued to work on this project—its guidebook became a massive tome of a grimoire, rich with details about the symbolism used in each card. My astrology foundations came in way handy as The Nameless One’s court cards are all masks of the zodiac. I adore working with this deck because I learn something new every time, and will probably continue to do so all my life. It reads like the alethiometer from His Dark Materials, with layers and layers that go all the way down into its inky depths.

By this point, I was pretty keen to branch into new forms of card divination, and—during the long, long, loooong wait for the Nameless—the Magpie’s Lenormand also launched on Kickstarter. Since a lenormand deck is not a tarot deck and, as a corvid lover, I couldn’t pass up such gorgeous magpies, this seemed like a natural next step. Much to my delight, I discovered that a lenormand deck is meant to be read more like a story, where the cards themselves are less important than how the entire spread fits together. The writer in me was delighted: this was exactly what I would do when I drew story cards for my Tumblr friends! How fun to discover a deck that does this on purpose. Rozenn’s unique art style of using bleach on ink creates a hypnotic swirl of blooming paths for the eye to wander, and the color palette is like nothing else. It’s rich, royal blue edges are such a treat to just sit and play with while I settle myself into the headspace to read.

And of course, I didn’t stop there. Xia’s third deck, The Children of Ostara is now in production (and you know yours truly backed it immediately). Also on the way is a Xia collaboration with Wyrmwood, a more classic set of playing cards with her own distinct art style. I can’t wait to get my hands on that one and see how reading with that style deck goes. Should be fun!

Until then, I’m delighted to be writing the next chapter of my tarot story with all of you. Many of you already know me from Tumblr (and if not, you’ve probably seen a post or two of mine screenshotted in the wild - check the icon!), and those that don’t, come say hi! I love answering questions and talking about tarot- or astrology, or fandom, or astrology and fandom, as seen in my “What is Tom Locke’s natal chart?” adventure when re-reading LJ Smith’s Forbidden Game.

Thank you all for joining me on this adventure. I can’t wait to see what the future holds.

My Tarot Story | Raevenly Writes

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[raevenlyreads]

Which Tarot suit do you vibe most with?

Mmmm, I think I gotta go with wands. The firey suit of passion and creativity, ya know? Plus my first deck, the Shadowscapes, really heavily features foxes in that suit and foxes rock

[raevenlyreads]

Do you have a favorite tarot spread?

I am a creature of immediacy, so my "favorites" of anything is always whatever I've been working on most recently XD My current spread projects are a series of nerdy ones, and my favorite of that lot has got to be the Ahnleh

As yall know, Hawksong was hugely influential to me as a kid, and so I was always lowkey obsessed with the Ahnleh, described in the books as a charm that dancers wore around their necks. When I stumbled across an actual image of the glyph the author had made, I knew I had to play with it. In the past, I've made this image into a sculpey coin I wore all the time (along with a tiny Millennium Puzzle from Yugi-oh), painted it on my dance slippers I wore to perform with my belly dance troupe, and most recently, spent several hours wrestling into a usable tarot spread to "spin sakkris" with. Yes, this makes me a huge dork and I don't care - in fact, I'm rather proud of it. Teen me would be delighted as well :P

Functionally, the spread reads a moment of decision, detailing past influences that impact the present, forces that bind you and liberate you, and a likely future outcome.

Want to commission a reading from me? check out my ko-fi page

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[raevenlyreads]

July recap and look ahead for August

I WROTE A BOOK!

Well, I wrote the first draft of a book. But still! This is huge! It is currently out with betas who are working through it solo. There’s still a long, long way to go til it’s published, but in the meantime, I will probably be sharing hints and teasers from that as I work with my betas to refine the spreads within. Other things to look forward to:

I’m working up some extremely nerdy spreads based on some of my favorite books and video games, I just gotta nail down some formatting

I've got plans for some write ups about my first time reading a Lenormand Grand Tableaux (many installments. This spread uses the entire deck. There’s so much)

More details about my tarot book and how to get in on my beta run of a community read-a-long I'll be taking folks through as part of the polishing process

Watch my ko-fi page for more!

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[raevenlywrites]

Tomorrow is Genderfluid Information Day! (thanks to @genderfluid-focus for the banner!) Feel free to ask me any questions and I'll do my best to answer :)