Interview with Gabriela Herstik, Author, Columnist, Witch

I remember when we guest interviewed you, during the “Inner Witch” book release. It is so exciting to yet again have a chance to speak with you three years later discussing the release of your first tarot deck, Goddess of Love Tarot. Tell us a little bit about this beautiful deck and what inspired you to do it.

Thank you so much! It’s an honor to reconnect with you five years after my first book came out, it’s been a witchy whirlwind and I’m immensely grateful for it all.

My latest project, which was released on 9/26, is the “Goddess of Love Tarot” which was collaged/ illustrated by Julia Popescu (also known as Snakes for Hair.) I was approached by my publisher to create a tarot deck (a dream come true), and I had the idea to make one as a devotional and divinatory tool in honor of the Goddess of Love.

I have been a devotee of the Goddess of Love for a near decade, and a student of the tarot for almost 17 years, and I was inspired to create something that could be used for readings around love, sex, relationships, patterns or shadows in relationship, all guided by the Goddess.

In my personal magickal practice, I use the tarot for divination but also so much more than that.

The tarot is a tool I use for meditation, sex magick, contemplation, talismanically for spells and rituals, as a tool of prayer and devotion, and as a focal point for exploring the Qabalistic Tree of Life.

I wanted to create a tarot deck that also doubled as a ritual object, that people could use as a path to meet the Goddess of Love and Sex, and as a tool for connection and devotion to Her, and a path to embodying and living as the Goddess of Love.

I conceptualized the deck to honor the underworld journey of the Goddess; the court cards are renamed as Maiden, Witch, Queen, and Crone, and each major arcana card features a different Goddess of Love. Some of the major arcana cards are also renamed to reflect the Goddess; The Fool becomes The Void (Shakti), The Emperor becomes The Sovereign (Vesta), and The Hierophant becomes The Hierodule (Tara.)

Beyond that, the wands are represented as roses, and the pentacles as the septagram. Each card in the deck includes a journal question and affirmation to work with to further embody the cards message and meaning, and each of the Major Arcana cards include a ritual to connect with the Goddess featured on it.

I also wanted the booklet to be more than just interpretations, so included is suggestions on how to work with the tarot for meditation, sex magick, and in spells and rituals, and I also include specific love, sex, and relationship tarot spreads.

This deck is guided by Venus, and both Julia and I are devoted to Venus, and it was an honor to create this deck!

You speak a lot of the “Divine Feminine.” Can you provide our readers what the Divine Feminine means to you and how one can harness its energy?

To me, the Divine Feminine or Goddess is both an energy and frequency we all have access to and a Deity we can honor, embody, and worship.

The Divine Feminine/ Goddess is the erotic energy that connects all of creation, that births the world. It is the vibration of intuition, creativity, sensuality, and magick. It is the body, flesh and bones, the erotic, and the artistic expression within each of our souls.

It is non-linear, connected to all living things, best represented through the heart, through love, through the earth.

There is no one definition of the Goddess, but She has been worshipped since the beginning of time, and Her ebbs and flows are felt in the cycles of moon and sun, heaven, earth and underworld.

To connect with the Goddess, slow down and listen to your heart. See what magick is there, what is being asked to make itself known and honored. Take stock of the way Goddess energy is already in your life- how you’re already honoring the ebbs and flows of yourself, how you find beauty and pleasure in your day-to-day life. Notice how you honor your artistic expression, how you listen to your intuition, how you connect to your sexuality. This is where the Goddess is- She is already there.

If you want to invite Her into your life, heart, and magickal practice, create an altar to Her. Place objects that bring you pleasure and that are beautiful to you; tarot cards, icons and statues of the Goddess, roses or flowers, crystals, candles, even sex toys and objects of inspiration can live here. Then spend time each day honoring this space, a focal point of your devotion, practice and heart. Spend a few minutes lighting a candle, saying affirmations, praying, breathing, pulling a card… whatever resonates with you!

Invite the Goddess into your heart and life, and then make an effort to see how She is moving through you and your life.

Sex Magick seems to be a hot topic for many practitioners nowadays. How do you incorporate sexuality and/or the act of sex in your spiritual practice and how can our readers do the same?

Sex Magick is a means of working with erotic energy for transformation. This can mean something as simple as masturbating as you focus on something you want to call in, or it can be a ritual where you connect to your erotic self, working with meditation, movement, masturbation, or self-seduction through glamour, adornment, and acts of self-love.

Sex magick can be worked with to heal, to embody your erotic essence, to manifest or banish, to honor the Goddess, yourself, and whatever else feels aligned with you in mind, body and heart, In my own practice, I work with my sexual energy through prayer and devotion to the Goddess of Love, through kink and bdsm, through power dynamics, through masturbation and sex, through self-adornment, through art and poetry, and through tarot.

Sex isn’t something I separate from my spirituality, and neither are my desires. My sexuality is an expression of the Divine and what I call the Divine Erotic, the living breathing life force of sexuality that creates and sustains the whole universe, which can also be thought of as “Shakti.”

Sexuality and your body, the way you feel when you connect with a lover or Goddess or yourself, the way pleasure feels in your body, and the ability of sex to lead you to altered states of self and mind are all so important. They are not opposed to the esoteric, to spirit, but another side of the same coin.

Is Tarot for everyone? If so, what are some practical tips you have for those just starting out? Also, where can we purchase the Goddess of Love Tarot deck?

Tarot is for anyone who feels a draw to it!

My tip for those starting out are to begin connecting to the deck by looking through each card, taking note of the ones that resonate with you. From there, you may wish to begin pulling a tarot card each morning to guide you through your day. Then you can journal or reflect in the evening how this card showed up for you through your day.

I also love meditating with the tarot- you can project yourself into the card like it’s a scene from a movie, looking around to see what’s going on.

Or you can visualize bringing the card into your heart to embody its energy. This is an especially potent practice to do if you want to intentionally choose a card to work with, instead of just pulling one to see what energy is present. So if you want to embody the Queen of Cups energy, you can meditate on that as a way to connect to it.

You can also create an altar to a tarot card you want to honor and work with.

One card readings and three card readings are another good way to begin establishing a relationship with the cards, as is keeping a tarot journal for reflections and interpretations.

The Goddess of Love Tarot is available everywhere you buy your tarot decks.

Photography Credit: @alexyael