This delightful dialogue with Kara Simons introduces her new book You Belong Here: A Story of Otherworldly Help in Finding My Place, which will launch its Kickstarter campaign on May 7th. Kara recounts her journey of breaking away from a restrictive and damaging belief system rooted in Mormon theology. Her experience of being torn away from deep family connections at a young age paved her path toward a direct connection with the other world. She found guidance from the forces and animals of nature, which lead to the creation of her Prairie Majesty Oracle and  ..read more

For the Archetypal Tarot Podcast’s special Women’s History Month edition of the podcast, we’re featuring the art and interview of Rachel Phillips! Though her work doesn’t (yet) appear in the form of tarot decks or grimoires, Rachel’s creations tap into the communicative powers of photo manipulation and the magic that such manipulation has on our own reflections of time, ancestry and the journey of women as both the viewer and viewed. Rounding out the end of last year, Cyndera had the chance to go and visit Rachel’s exhibition Holding Time, Tracing Light held at San Francisco State University’s ..read more

Archetypal Tarot is thrilled to release this latest podcast with guest Dr. Giavanni Washington about her new oracle deck, The Black Goddess Within. It was inspiring to meet a woman who has followed her ancestral wisdom and is blazing a powerful path of healing through conversation and connection through the imagery and words of her oracle. This deck, for Every Body, features photographs of real woman embodying the goddesses of Africa in its many territories and elements (beautifully bedecked by illustrator Marla Warner). Meet stunning mermaids in the deck along with warriors, healers and ..read more

The Chinese 5 Elements Oracle is a deck to accompany you in the adventure that is and will be 2024, and also in the new cycle we find ourselves according to Chinese Metaphysics. 2024 launches “the Age of 9” which is the last cycle of the 180-year great cycle of the Nine Periods. It is said to bring back a rise in Yin Energy, ruled by the Fire trigram Li which is associated with spirituality and middle aged women (never been so excited to turn 40 this year!!) The Lunar New Year itself will welcome the Wood Dragon. We met with Vicki Iskandar, creator of The Chinese Five Elements Oracle, in this ..read more

If you were to walk a Tarot path and see each familiar card, Major and Minor, with a recognizable human face, you will have stumbled onto the Unfolding Path universe! In this interview, Athene and Cyndera discuss spiritual belief and creation as well as how she makes the tarot images tangible and relatable in an intuitive way. Athene shares her journey with us, which in turn becomes a tool that can welcome communication with the beyond to inform our own paths. The imagery included in this deck features animals, plants, and a cast of modern and diverse people—all with a mystical touch. Each sui ..read more

This newly released oracle deck was created by artist Carrie Paris and writer Tina Hardt. The Beloved Dead invites us into conversation with ancestor archetypes and spirit guides. Pictures of the past from both known and unknown sources help to shed light on unconscious patterns unfolding in our daily lives. This rich conversation between Tina and Cyndera unveils how this Oracle deck came to be (it started with a picture!) and how the collaboration between Tina and Carrie blossomed (it started with a card reading!). Amongst these stories, Tina delves into the structure of this 81-car ..read more

Co-Creator of The Archetypal Podcast, Julienne Givot, returns for this very special podcast and interview with Perdita Finn! Perdita, Julienne and Cyndera discuss the deep meaning and magic inherent in having a daily connection with ancestors, and all friends, beyond the grave. Perdita Finn's father, a doctor, used to arrive home in the middle of the night and find his three-year-old daughter sitting in the dark in front of a broken figurine from some lost Nativity scene of the Virgin Mary. Not only was their family not religious but Perdita would not even see the inside of a church for anothe ..read more

Join Cyndera Quackenbush in this special recording as she interviews Kate Farrell about the patterns and archetypes of the Heroine’s Journey and how it unfolds throughout the movie Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig. ** WARNING - THIS RECORDING INCLUDES SPOILERS FOR THE FILM BARBIE This interview covers the differences between the more commonly known “Hero’s Journey” popularized by Joseph Campbell. With parallels to ancient myth, the world’s first writing, and fairy tales, the heroine’s journey has the power to reach and validate women in their real-world lives. A deeper explorati ..read more

This podcast celebrates the beautiful blooming of the Rosebud Tarot, now available from Weiser Books! Cyndera interviews artist Amanda Lee Stilwell and writer/diviner Diana Rose Harper. This deck depicts the glories of roses in their many forms along with vintage photographs collaged with sensuous altar imagery. Each card interpretation is introduced with an individualized poem that opens and expands the image translation (this podcast features Diana reading her poem from “The Star”). Tarot titles and suits are creatively re-imagined, busting old tarot restrictions to make both a queer and BIP ..read more

This is the story of Cyndera's dad, the Archetypal Tarot's host and creator of the Story Through Stone Reflection Card deck. The billion year-old stones that her father Jim Quackenbush found within the Mojave desert contain rare naturally-occurring imagery that inspired not only the cards but a new process of card readings.  This is an origin story. This is a family story. This is a story from the earth herself.  To see additional imagery and video surrounding this podcast, please head over to Cyndera's substack archetypalstories.substack.com or to her website storythroughstone.org ..read more