Host Cyndera Quackenbush sits down with artist and tarot reader, and creator of the Visionary Woman Tarot, Kristine Gorman. What unfolds is an intimate, wide-ranging conversation about intuition, healing, grief, and the courage it takes to live and create outside the norm. To see card images and video of this interview (releasing 12/22/25), head over to https://archetypalstories.substack.com/ Kristine shares the soulful origins of the Visionary Woman Tarot, a deck born not from trends or themes, but from decades of lived experience, channeling, and uncompromising honesty. She introduces her unforgettable metaphor of the “healer equation,” a process of humility, self-work, contribution, and learning how to receive. Within this equation is the “rinse cycle” we all must pass through to dismantle conditioning, trauma, and what Kristine candidly calls the fuckery. Listeners are invited behind the scenes of Kristine’s creative process, where each tarot card begins as a full-scale oil painting on wood, guided by intuition, spirit allies, and personal reckoning. Cyndera and Kristine explore how tarot can be both structure and freedom: a grounding tool for intuitive minds, a language for truth-tellers, and a way to build confidence in one’s own inner voice. The episode also honors lineage and community. Christine reflects on her formative relationship with legendary tarot scholar Rachel Pollack, whom she calls her “tarot midwife,” and discusses the importance of knowing whose shoulders we stand on, while still forging our own path. From real women and animal guides woven into the cards, to collaboration over competition in the tarot world, this conversation celebrates inclusivity, mentorship, and shared magic. Woven throughout is a tender acknowledgment of grief and love, as Kristine speaks openly about the loss of her husband of 25 years, and how art and tarot have offered focus, meaning, and survival through profound change. This episode is for anyone drawn to tarot as a living, breathing practice—one that helps us tell the truth, trust ourselves, and transform pain into purpose. You can purchase the Visionary Woman Tarot from your local bookstore or directly from the Publisher, Weiser Books . Kristine Gorman is an overall badass professional tarot reader, artist, and writer, usually wearing overalls. A unique talent, she hosted her own FM radio show for over eight years, throwing tarot cards for folks calling in, which you can find on Apple Podcasts under “The Visionary Woman Tarot Radio Show.” Kristine has presented at many national symposiums and conferences, such as BATS (San Francisco Bay Area Tarot Symposium), NWTS (Northwest Tarot Symposium), TIDE (The International Divination Event), and StaarCon. Kristine continues to paint, write, read for her clients, and collaborate on tarot projects with magical friends. She lives in Lambertville, New Jersey. Follow her on Instagram @visionarywomantarot .
