Hey everyone! I wanted to share my thoughts on The High Priestess card. One of my favorites in the deck. To me, she embodies mystery, intuition, and inner wisdom. The imagery often shows her seated between the pillars, symbolizing balance and duality, with a moon at her feet, highlighting her connection to the subconscious and the unseen.

What I love most about this card is how it encourages trusting your intuition and looking inward for answers. In readings, The High Priestess often signals that the answers aren’t outside of us, they’re within. It’s a reminder to slow down, listen to your gut, and pay attention to subtle signs and feelings.

The symbolism of the moon, the scroll, and the veil behind her always feels so powerful. It’s like she’s guarding sacred knowledge that only those willing to look inward can access. I find that when she appears, it’s a nudge to meditate more deeply or explore my subconscious thoughts.

Overall, I see The High Priestess as a gentle but profound guide. Calling us to trust our inner voice and embrace mystery rather than fear it. She’s a reminder that sometimes, the best answers come from within.

Because he’s based in New York, our entire journey of education and training has been conducted online. Distance didn’t make it any less challenging; if anything, you have to focus twice as hard when you're learning an oral tradition through a screen. For a long time, people have asked me about the history of this craft, how a basket is built, and what it actually takes to communicate with the other side. This is how I explain it.

A Universal Language Written in Calcium

Before you look at my basket, you have to understand the miles on this practice. Long before osteomancy (the formal word for bone reading) ever touched the Americas, people all over the planet were looking at skeletal remains to figure out the path ahead. It is one of humanity's oldest ways of talking to the divine, and it popped up independently across almost every continent.

In ancient China, diviners read the heat-cracked lines on ox shoulder blades. Across the Eurasian steppes, nomadic warriors cast the ankle bones of sheep to predict the outcomes of battles. In the British Isles, Celtic seers threw small animal bones and twigs to read the seasons. And across the African continent, casting systems using bones, shells, and seeds have been the literal mouthpiece of the spirits and ancestors for thousands of years.

But why bones? Why did entirely different cultures across thousands of years all land on skeletal remains as their spiritual telephone line?

Historically, it comes down to three things: permanence, sacrifice, and ancestral memory.

Flesh rots and disappears, but bones survive longer. To the ancients, the skeleton was the ultimate symbol of what endures—the core architecture of life that outlasts death. Because bones outlived the individual, they were viewed as the literal anchors of the ancestors. Furthermore, in early hunting and agrarian societies, animal bones were the leftovers of sustenance and sacred sacrifice. By casting the bones of an animal that gave its life to feed the tribe, or an animal that possessed a specific primal spirit (like a predator's tooth or a swift bird's wing), diviners were tapping directly into the spiritual essence, life force, and residual energy left behind in the calcium

Bone reading is a universal human instinct. Think of it like martial arts—every culture discovered how to punch and kick, but they all built different styles based on their terrain.

The Bloodline and the Basket

There is a massive misconception out there that you need to be dragged into a secret room and initiated into a formal society just to touch the bones. Let’s clear that up right now. In the style I was taught, initiation isn’t the key—"lineage, education, and hard training are."

For my Baba, it’s about inheritance and sweat equity. You need that ancestral green light, the DNA connection, or the spiritual lineage passed down from someone who actually knows the terrain. But having the lineage just means you have the map; you still have to learn how to drive.

Even with Baba miles away, the training was relentless. It took hours upon hours of digital sessions, holding pieces up to the camera, studying how the layouts fell on the cloth, understanding the weight of the spirits we are dealing with, and training my mind to listen. There are no shortcuts. It's a craft of education and discipline, not just a title.

The Starter Set: Bones and Curios as the Pillars of Life

I didn't start out throwing a massive basket of fifty distinct items. You’d confuse yourself, and frankly, you haven't earned their stories yet. I started exactly where my Baba told me to start: with a foundation set of essential pieces that map out the concrete pillars of the human experience. Each lineage has a distinct foundation set.

This means your initial tools are spiritually and historically calibrated to the specific ancestral agreements and currents of your house. It acts like an encrypted spiritual fingerprint—ensuring that only those who put in the actual training know how the pieces truly talk to one another, and ensuring the spirits of that specific line instantly recognize the worker on the cloth.

When I look at my specific lineage's framework, the actual animal bones carry the heaviest structure, while the surrounding curios provide the context:

* Foundation, Labor & Action (Pig Feet Toe Bones / Chicken Wing Bones): These skeletal remains are the literal backbone of a man's material life. The pig toes show your physical footing, stability, and the pure sweat equity you pour into building your world. The chicken wing bones show your momentum, reach, ambition, and whether your current projects are taking flight or running on fumes.

* Desire, Destiny & Choices (Chicken Wish Bone / A Dice): The chicken wish bone carries heavy folklore about a fork in the road—the diverging paths of a critical choice. When it lands near a die (the ultimate symbol of chance, risk, and unpredictable fate), they tell you if you are actively pulling your destiny toward you, or if you’re gambling with a situation where the odds are stacked heavily against you.

* Currents, Health & Flow (Fish Bone or Rib / Small Clear Quartz): A fish bone or rib represents your inner framework and hidden structure. Because fish navigate deep, unseen waters, it speaks to physical health conditions or emotional currents running underneath a problem. A small clear quartz crystal acts as the battery here, magnifying and bringing intense clarity to whatever inner truths those bones are exposing.

* Ancestral Spaces & Guideposts (Light and Dark Cowries / Skull Beads): This is where the spiritual court speaks. Light, open cowries connect directly to West African foundations like Ifá; landing open-face up means the ancestors are giving you a clear green light. Dark or large cowries introduce gravity, marking hidden shadows or protection from unseen eyes. Skull beads anchor the death work, showing whether your spiritual guides are backing your play or demanding your attention because you're slipping up.

* Pathways, Direction & Strategy (Keys / Long Pointy Shells / Twigs): Keys are essential crossroads tools showing if a road is open or locked down tight. Long pointy shells act as arrows directing the energy, pointing out exactly where a situation is aiming, while a tree twig ties that direction back to your family tree and growth.

Why the Basket Holds More Than Just Bones

A common question I get is: If it’s called bone reading, why are there coins, keys, and stones in the basket?

To understand that, you have to look at the history and cultural background of how this craft survived. When West African casting traditions crossed the Atlantic, our ancestors couldn't just openly carry their sacred items. They had to adapt. In the development of Hoodoo and diaspora folk magic, readers used a concept called magical substitution and material sympathy. They looked at the natural and manufactured world around them and selected items that inherently possessed the "spirit" or function of what they needed to represent.

Non-bone curios aren't just fillers; they are the adjectives, adverbs, and punctuation that give the skeletal pieces their meaning. For example: copper pennies symbolize everyday wealth, financial stress, and paying the spirits for safe passage; broken china indicates domestic upheaval, fractured homes, or sudden family drama; and a small red stone like volcanic rock adds elemental fire, raw aggression, or explosive conflict to the layout. 

The Wild Hunt: How the Collection Grows

Once you actually start practicing, the bones start calling to you. You don't just buy a complete set online and call it a day. As my Baba always reminded me, once you start working, the collection of natural curios grows organically.

The system is designed to adapt. Once the spirits recognize you're listening, you start noticing small pieces you feel naturally drawn to—things like extra teeth, nuts, unique shells, or distinctive bones you find. Like in my case, I have monkey tooth, a buckeye nut, a cat’s eye shell, a raccoon penis bone, and even a human finger bone I discovered in a local graveyard added in my set. 

I’ll be walking in the woods and find a unique piece of lightning-struck wood that screams raw power. A specific stone, root, or a rusted coffin nail will practically jump into my pocket. Over time, that neat little starter set transforms into a rugged, sprawling ecosystem of curios. Each new piece adds a new layer to the language.

The Power of the Crossroads Style

What makes the style I carry so distinct is that it operates as a masterclass in synthesis. Instead of sticking to just one regional style, my practice sits directly at the crossroads of three powerful currents that my Baba mastered:

* Hoodoo: Gives me that practical, down-to-earth rootwork grit. It's about solving everyday problems, protection, and honoring the ancestors of the soil using whatever nature provides.

* Ifa-Isese: Infuses my system with deep cosmic order, respect for ancestral destiny, and the ancient structures of West African divination.

* Santa Muerte: Brings the ultimate truth. The Skinny Lady doesn't lie, and she doesn't mince words. She reminds me that life is fleeting, so the advice from the bones better be sharp and actionable.

When these three forces converge in my hands, the readings stop being vague predictions and start becoming strategic blueprints for life.

Respecting the Craft

At the end of the day, shaking that leather cup or pouch is a heavy responsibility. I'm asking the dead, the spirits, and the cosmos to speak through a pile of curios dropped onto a cloth.

It’s a gentleman’s game of respect, discipline, and constant learning. Whether your teacher is sitting across the table from you or guiding you from a screen states away, the standard doesn't change. I keep my pieces clean, I feed my spirits, and I never stop studying the way the bones fall. Because the moment you think you know everything they have to say is the exact moment they’ll throw you a curveball.

• Major Arcana (22 cards): Represent significant life themes, spiritual lessons, and archetypes (e.g., The Fool, The Magician, The World).
• Minor Arcana (56 cards): Reflect everyday situations and experiences, divided into four suits—Cups, Pentacles, Swords, and Wands—each representing different aspects of life such as emotions, finances, intellect, and creativity.

1. Set Your Intention: Before shuffling, focus on a question or area of your life you seek guidance in.
2. Shuffle and Draw: Mix the cards thoroughly while maintaining your intention.
3. Select a Spread: Draw cards in a pattern that suits your question or purpose.
4. Interpret the Cards: Look at the imagery, symbols, and positions within the spread. Use your intuition alongside traditional meanings.
5. Reflect and Journal: Take notes on your insights and how they relate to your question or situation. Tarot is a tool for self-awareness and growth.

• Intuitive Reading: Go beyond book meanings and trust your gut feelings and impressions. Focus on the imagery, colors, and symbols to uncover deeper messages.
• Astrological and Numerological Associations: Many cards have connections to planets, zodiac signs, and numbers, which can deepen your understanding and refine your readings.
• Creating Your Own Spreads: Design spreads tailored to specific questions or themes, enhancing your connection with the cards.
• Meditation with Tarot: Use individual cards for meditation to explore their symbolism and personal significance.
• Combining Tarot with Other Divination Tools: Integrate tarot with runes, pendulums, or astrology for richer insights.

• Past, Present, Future: Reveals the progression of events or energies.
• Mind, Body, Spirit: Provides a holistic view of your internal state.
• Situation, Action, Outcome: Guides you on what to focus on and possible results.

• Celtic Cross: A 10-card spread that provides a comprehensive overview of a situation, covering influences, obstacles, and potential outcomes.
• One-Card Draw: Perfect for daily guidance or quick answers; simply draw one card and reflect on its message.
• Relationship Spread: Usually 5-7 cards to explore dynamics, feelings, and potential futures between two people.
• Year Ahead Spread: A popular spread where each card represents a month or aspect of the upcoming year.

• Always connect the cards’ meanings to your question or situation.
• Trust your intuition to guide your interpretation, especially when card meanings seem ambiguous.
• Keep practicing with different spreads to find what resonates most with you.