Queer Tarot 101: Tarot, Identity, and Collective Care

Co-hosted by UNSW Community of Practice for Inclusive Research with Queer and Trans people, and people with innate variations of sex characteristics (Intersex) (CoPQTI) and the Australian Alternative Sino-Queer Collective (AASC).

How might tarot help us reflect on identity, belonging, and the communities we create? What can spirituality offer as a practice of care, reflection, and imagination?

Tarot has long been more than a tool for divination. Across many queer communities, it has become a practice of storytelling, reflection, and imagining different ways of living together. Tarot invites us to pause, notice patterns, ask meaningful questions, and explore how we relate to ourselves, one another, and the communities we build.

The session will begin with an introduction to tarot and its connections to queerness, identity, and collective care. Together, we will explore how tarot can be used as a tool for reflection, creativity, and community-building. The discussion will conclude with a live collective tarot reading, inviting participants to reflect on questions about belonging, community, care, and the futures we hope to build together.

In the second half of the workshop, participants will be invited to join a DIY crystal bracelet-making session. This hands-on activity offers an opportunity to explore the symbolism and meanings associated with different crystals, reflect on personal intentions and spirituality, and create a bracelet to take home as a personal reminder of the themes that resonated throughout the workshop. No prior knowledge of tarot or crystals is required—participants are encouraged to engage with these practices in whatever way feels meaningful to them.