Special Feature: Rhythm & Soul

A foreword I was honored to write

If you’ve been following my writing and publishing endeavors over the past few years, it’s no secret how enthusiastically I’ve been fangirling Stacey Williams-Ng.

In case you’d like to know more about how I feel about her work and how our paths crossed, read my post How it Started… How it’s Going. It’s quite a serendipitous story.

Considering Stacey is one of my favorite artists, I was floored in the best way possible when a couple of weeks ago she asked me to pen a foreword for the book accompanying her new tarot deck Rhythm and Soul.

And so, I thought I would share it with you today.

Foreword

It’s early morning just before dawn, and I wake to write. I start each day with a routine: gratitude, coffee, tarot, music, and writing. This morning, however, I’m especially excited for my tarot ritual because I’ve just received Stacey Williams-Ng’s Rhythm & Soul Tarot.

For divinatory purposes, I like to start every day with a question: What do I need to know about today? And when I’ve procured a new deck, I like to ask: What kind of relationship can I expect while working together? As a novelist, I use the tarot to inspire creative processes, such as plot sequencing and character design. The cards help layer more emotion into my storytelling. Although I’m eager to work with the Rhythm & Soul Tarot while writing my new Southern Gothic book series, this morning I start with getting to know this new tool, so I ask the latter question.

Shuffling the Rhythm & Soul Tarot deck feels like playing a magical instrument, and, to my surprise, as I’m thinking about my question the Eon card jumps out and lands on my writing desk.

Immediately, I notice that I’ve never seen a tarot card by this title. I check the numeral at the top: XX, 20. Judgement, I think to myself, recalling the classic title. I’m being called to action in a new and thrilling way. I jot my own intuitive thoughts into my tarot journal before checking the Rhythm & Soul Tarot book and reading what the author has to say about this card.

The Eon card represents an awakening to something that you may not have been able to see or comprehend before. It is a new dawn in thinking, an opening of your eyes to a whole new world.

While my eyes dance over the words, and my fingertips graze the card’s opulent painting, my blood feels carbonated, like harmonica music buzzing through my bones. In the artwork, I see a person playing a vintage electric guitar. Appearing to be a man, his skin is a warm sepia, and the expression on his face mimics what my belly and bones are experiencing at this very moment: exhilaration. As the musician performs on stage, ultraviolet and neon blue lights swirl around him, illuminating his white suit and wingtip shoes like a rock ‘n roll chiaroscuro.

At the bottom of the page, just after the card’s detailed description, potential message offerings, and reversed interpretation, there’s a recommended song. The “Eon” song is Tutti Frutti, by Dorothy La Bostrie, performed by Little Richard. I punch the song into my phone’s music app and press the play button. Wop bop a loo bop a lop bom bom, and I’m instantly transported back to one of my earliest childhood memories...

It was the summer of 1979, and in my mind’s eye I can see my chubby (and possibly grubby) little finger pressing down on the buttons of my uncle’s 8-track player. I remember a sound erupting and my body jolting, pulling my hand back. Don McLean lamented, “Bye, bye Miss American Pie...” I would turn three that fall, and my parents, uncle, and grandparents all shared a cramped but cozy mid-century ranch-style home a few miles from the Chattahoochee River. You know, way down yonder. On Saturday mornings my Granddaddy would wake the house with Hank Williams, The Platters, The Coasters, Little Richard, and Loretta Lynn. Daddy would work under the hood of his cherry red ‘71 Dodge Super Bee beneath the carport while ZZ Top and AC/DC ripped through the driveway and down the quiet block. In staunch defiance to our dizzying domestic disco, Gran would purse her lips, humming gospel hymns and rebuking that “Devil’s music” while she tended to the household chores.

Two of the greatest influences on both my personality and my creativity have been growing up in the South and the magic of music, so when I learned that one of my favorite artists and deck creators was releasing her Rhythm & Soul Tarot, I sprang for the opportunity to support the project. I’ve worked with the tarot nearly as long as I’ve been a novelist, over a decade, and a few years ago when I set out to write a Southern Gothic novel set on a Depression-era Alabama farm, I knew I wanted to draw inspiration from a deck with images and messaging that would resonate with such niche storytelling. To my delight, I discovered the Southern Gothic Oracle, and I fell in love the way Johnny fell for June: instantly and infinitely. This morning, I feel the same way about the Rhythm & Soul Tarot.

The Rhythm & Soul Tarot is an esoteric jukebox that spins the traditional 78-card tarot deck with classic tunes of the American South—jazz, blues, rock ‘n roll, and country—to deliver enchanted, lyrical arrangements. Although the deck was inspired by the classic Rider-Waite-Smith structure and symbolism, the Rhythm & Soul Tarot illustrations are a visual symphony of their own unique composition. The suits read like musical storybooks: the Jazz (Wands) are a soundtrack for the spirit, the Blues (Cups) are watery hymns for the heart, the Axes (Swords) wield a buzzing ballad for the brain, and the Roots (Pentacles) unearth nostalgic nuggets for the body to savor. And that’s just the Minor Arcana! Before you’ve reached these “lesser secrets” (Ha! Sell that diddle to a fiddle...), you’ve already explored The Fool’s Journey, intuiting profound messages that can carry you through major—and sometimes toilsome—lessons. What’s more, the Rhythm & Soul Tarot includes two additional cards, aptly titled Rhythm and Soul. Should you choose, you might use these cards to imbue your readings with new insight.

Music is a universal language, transcending time and space, age and race. It’s a transmitter of emotion that feeds the soul. From the Mississippi Delta to the Florida Keys, the American South claims musical origins that plunge as deep and mysterious as the Appalachians and as wide and intricate as the land’s diverse, indigenous ancestry. From Lowcountry blues to big city swing to bluegrass strummin’ down in the holler, the Rhythm and Soul Tarot offers robust imagery and poetic sounds to resonate with every eye and ear. Working with the cards feels like handling your own mystical musical instrument, and intuiting their messages is akin to learning all the words and moves piping from a swingin’ ‘n shakin’ juke joint.

Come on in, folks, pour a drink, and sit with the Rhythm and Soul Tarot as Stacey Williams-Ng spins captivating stories about tarot, music, history, nostalgia, and surrendering to the rhythm and soul of language, emotion, and spirit. Do grab a pen, though, because you’re about to be inspired to write the soundtrack of your ever-lovin’ life.

Amanda Hughes is the author of Mystic Storyteller: A Guide for Using the Tarot for Creative Inspiration; pen name A. Lee Hughes, author of Only the Rocks That Float and other works of fiction.

Artwork by Stacey Williams-Ng; branded images belong to the artist.

Preorder this Gorgeous Deck

Preorder your copy of this exquisite deck at this link.

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Photo belongs to Stacey Williams-Ng via her Instagram page.

About the Artist and Author

Stacey is the writer and artist behind The Southern Gothic Oracle, the deck that launched her company, La Panthère Studio. She is a former design instructor and children’s book illustrator, and is a frequent speaker on topics of design and art-making.

La Panthère Studio is a mystical indie publishing house specializing in oracle, tarot and playing cards. Based in Memphis, Tennessee, they create beautiful and magical products while ensuring that all their artists and authors get paid fairly. They strive to create inclusive, thoughtful, and well-written products that readers can enjoy for a lifetime and beyond. Currently, their publishing focus centers around Southern magic, ancestor work, tarot, oracle, and shadow work.

Visit La Panthère Studio here, and follow Stacey on Instagram by clicking the image below.