Nonbinary November Tarot Challenge is back!
Edited and with some new editions - I’m bringing the Nonbinary November Tarot Challenge back this year!
I really loved doing what I could of it last year and I wanted to do it again. If you join us, use the #NonbinaryNovemberTarotChallenge tag.
While the challenge is designed with trans folks in mind, cis folks are welcome and encouraged to join! Thinking critically about your own relationship to gender is interesting and fruitful for all of us.
I will also be posting reminders on here and on Instagram with the prompt for that day. The prompts are already scheduled for my challenge group on Facebook. Full disclosure - Facebook is still giving me a lot of trouble with being able to run that group and we don’t have a lot of folks yet but if you like getting your notifications on Facebook instead, be sure to turn on notifications so you see every time I post prompts. So without further ado - here’s this year’s prompts:
Week 1 – Intro
November 1 – Your Relationship to Gender
Shuffle your deck. Draw three cards and interpret them as your current relationship to gender. Where is there conflict? Where is there revelry?
November 2 – The Two Genders
Shuffle your deck. Turn your deck over and look for the Fool. The card on the left of the Fool represents your relationship to femininity and the card on the right represents your relationship to masculinity.
November 3 – The Spectrum
This one will take a bit of room so try to find a place you can spread out. Select a signifying card for yourself. Shuffle your deck. Turn the deck over and find where your signifying card is in relation to the two cards that were on either side of the Fool in yesterday’s spread. Is it between them? Closer to one than the other? Is it not between them at all? How far away in the deck is it from them? Interpret the relationship between the three cards as where you fall between or outside of the binary and/or your relationship to the binary.
Week 2 – Self
November 4 – Important Aspects
Shuffle your deck and draw three cards. Interpret these as three aspects of your gender to focus on for the rest of the spreads this week. Where is there conflict? Where is there liberation?
November 5 – Presence and Presentation
Select a signifier for your gender as you currently know it to be and select another to represent how you present your gender to the world. Shuffle the deck and look for the signifiers. The cards on the left side of both cards represent the relationship between the two, whether that’s distance, synchronicity or something else. The cards on the right side of both cards is how you could bring the internal and the external more into line if you so choose.
November 6 – It’s Not All Rainbows
Shuffle your deck. Find the Moon. The cards on either side speak to what about your gender still makes you uncomfortable.
November 7 - Pride
Shuffle your deck. Find the Sun. The cards on either side speak to how to take more pride in your gender.
November 8 - Attraction
Shuffle your deck and draw three cards. These are three qualities others find attractive about you and your gender.
November 9 - Childhood
Shuffle your deck and find the Six of Cups. The card to the left is what baggage you still need to unpack and the one on the right is how to heal it; this is in relation to gender.
November 10 – Personality
Draw two cards to represent your personality. Draw two cards to represent your gender. Where is there conflict? Where is there synergy?
Week 3 - Society
November 11 – Breaking the Binary
Shuffle your deck and draw three cards to answer the following questions: In what ways to do you adhere to the binary? In what ways do you break it? How has it shaped you?
November 12 – Constraints
Shuffle your deck. Turn it over and search for the Eight of Swords. The card to the left is how society’s expectations limit you. The card on the right is how you begin to break free.
November 13 – Femininity
Shuffle your deck. Turn it over and search for the Empress. The card to the left is what about society’s ideas about femininity constrains you. The card on the right is what about femininity empowers you.
November 14 – Masculinity
Shuffle your deck. Turn it over and search for the Emperor. The card to the left is what about society’s ideas about masculinity constrains you. The card on the right is what about masculinity empowers you.
November 15 – Romance and Gender
Shuffle your deck. Turn it over and search for the Lovers. The card to the left is how your relationships have influenced how you present your gender and the card to the right is how your gender presentation has influenced your relationships.
November 16 – Challenging Stereotypes
Select a gendered card, preferably one where the gender of the card gives you difficulty when it shows up in readings. Lay that card down then shuffle your deck without it. Draw a card for each of the following questions: What about how this card challenges me is tied to my past? What about how this card challenges me is tied to my personality? What about how this card challenges me is tied to society? Bonus: Select an extra card for each to speak to how to overcome those challenges.
November 17 – The Light, the Self, and the Shadow
Shuffle and draw one card for each of the following questions: What forces make me pressure me to hide my full self/full gender? What do I know my full self/full gender to be? What parts of myself/my gender have I pushed away?
Week 4 - Solidarity
November 18 - Celebrate
Shuffle your deck. Turn it over and search for the Three of Cups. The card on the left speaks to how to celebrate yourself. The card on the right speaks to how to celebrate your community.
November 19 – Heal
Shuffle your deck. Draw one card for each of the following questions: What needs healed in my community? How can I help heal it? What should my next step be?
November 20 – Strengths
Shuffle your deck. Turn it over and search for the Strength card. The cards on either side speak to how you strengthen your community.
November 21 – Gratitude
Shuffle your deck and draw three cards. These cards represent what your community gives you.
November 22 – Give
Shuffle your deck. Turn it over and search for the Six of Pentacles. The card on the left is what you can give back to your community. The card on the right is how to begin to give it.
November 23 – Bracing for Change
Shuffle your deck. Turn it over and search for the Wheel of Fortune. The card on the left represents the challenges your community will soon face. The card on the right is how to help your community prepare for it.
November 24 – Safety
Shuffle your deck. Turn it over and look for the Emperor. The card on the left is how you can help keep your community safe and the card on the right is how the community keeps you safe.
Week 5
November 25 – Gender and Spirituality
Shuffle your deck. Draw a card for each of the following questions: How does my gender positively influence my approach to spirituality? How does my gender negatively influence my approach to spirituality? How does my spirituality influence my approach to gender?
November 26 - Tradition
Shuffle your deck. Turn it over and search for the Hierophant. The cards to either side speak to how older ideas about religion are influencing your gender.
November 27 – Spiritual Healing
Shuffle your deck. Draw three cards. These cards speak to how you can begin to heal what was brought up in yesterday’s spread.
November 28 – The Future
Shuffle your deck. Turn it over and search for the Star. The cards on either side speak to how to take what you’ve discovered during this challenge and apply it going forward.
November 29 – Affirmation
Shuffle your deck. Draw 3 cards. Turn each one into a positive affirmation (a positive “I AM…” statement) to use going forward.
November 30 – Message
This prompt encourages you to open yourself to receiving a message from the universe, your ancestors, a guide, or a deity. If that doesn’t work for you, feel free to close with a free style reading on the takeaways from this challenge. If it does, pull one card for each of the following questions: what do they want to tell you? What do they want you to know about you gender? What do they want you to do going forward?
