Tarot cards have been around for some time now, most notably the Rider-Waite deck that was created in 1909. But in general, “reading” cards for spiritual guidance is as ancient as the trees. In Black communities, we’ve used anything from playing cards to bones to communicate not just with a higher power, but with our ancestors. Even today, many Black spiritualists offer tarot and oracle readings. However, the vast majority of these decks depict white and lighter-skinned individuals which can make it difficult for some folks to connect with them. This was the case for author-creator-activist Nyasha Williams.

The creator of the Black Tarot, Williams’ work extends beyond the beautiful deck she created. Her dedication to reimagining Black representation through literature and media was the catalyst for her brand, “Working to Change the Narrative.” It’s a brand, but also a mantra that drives both her spiritual and creative life. I had the pleasure of speaking with Williams about the inspiration behind her work, the ancestral power of Black joy and some of her exciting forthcoming projects.

I learned about your work through the Black Tarot deck, what called you to create this deck?

I’m a transracial adoptee. I grew up Christian [and] Christianity has always been a struggle for me. When I was in the church and you’re asked to repeat all these different things [and] I felt like I didn’t know what I was saying, and I’m just repeating what they’re telling me [about] what I’m supposed to be doing. So, I was searching for other spaces, and it wasn’t until my late twenties when I stepped truly into ancestral veneration. And that’s also when I really stepped into identifying as a Black woman, first. I met my husband out in Baltimore. And he was a huge catalyst and amplifier in my decolonization journey.

I feel like I’m twice disconnected because we’re all disconnected as Black people [as] displaced people in this country. But I’m also displaced through being an adoptee and not being with my blood family, too. I think that we always talk about how a lot of our traditional African spiritual practices and traditional African roots are hidden in plain sight, but I didn’t experience [that] with being adopted and not being within a black household. And so, when I did some more soul searching and research, [I learned that] divination tools and divining was very much a part of my family. I’ve been in a maternal reunion for a little bit now with my maternal birth family, and I’ve been deeply asking for connection with my ancestors.

So, I started with just speaking out loud to them and anyone who was in alignment with what I’m trying to do down here with my soul mission, come forth and that opened the gates for the connection to be built, and I started working with divination tools, but I wasn’t seeing exactly what I was looking for. I was also struggling to remember the meanings of tarot [cards]. So, I said, you know what, I need to create my own deck. . . and that’s where Black Tarot came into existence.

I need all black visuals because I don’t see that enough. And then I need visuals that as soon as I pull the card, I need to know what that card means when I pull it up. And it’s definitely centered in my heart towards social justice and activism is very deeply rooted in the deck. I feel like it’s also obviously centered around ancestral connection because that’s what I was working with and that’s what I was going through at the time. Black Tarot is a beautiful piece for starting to build that connection or strengthen that connection.

In the context of your work, what does Black Joy mean to you?

Black joy for me, a lot of it is living out dreams that our ancestors had for us. So, there’s been a lot of prayers, a lot of dreams, a lot of hopes, of healing and just abundance in all of its forms for our community for so many generations and I think Black joy is us getting to rest. I think it’s us getting to play again. I think it’s us getting to come back to our roots, come back to who we were, who we were and I think we’ve been told so many lies about our people and where we come from and all these things. Black joy is bringing about abundance and healing through the generational lines. It’s us coming back into ourselves and being able to move in true liberation, which is something that we all need to work towards building together.

Do you have any tarot or oracle decks by Black creators that you would recommend?

I adore the Hoodoo Tarot and I love Grandma’s Baby. Grandma’s Baby is beautiful. AKAMARA tarot, that brand, they have a lot of different products, and I bought so many beautiful decks from them.

And then my sister and I just recently [created] an Oracle deck. So that’s really exciting. We wrote that together and I’m hoping that it works as a beautiful compliment deck to Black Tarot cause that would be lovely if that all comes through very nicely and people are able to get clarifier cards through the Oracle deck Elemental Alchemist.

How can folks support your work?

If you have kiddos, I have lots of children’s books. So, I would love support in that way. And if you don’t financially have the money, please know you can support by leaving reviews of the books, but also asking your local library. If you go to your library and you request a book that is so supportive of authors and helps us. Even tarot decks, you can literally ask your library to request tarot decks or oracle decks. Any kind of literature is possible. So yeah, that would be really helpful.

I have a beautiful book coming out in December. It’s called “Keep Dreaming, Black Child.” I want black children to keep dreaming. I want them to remember their dreams. I don’t want them to lose them because I think a lot of times as an adult, as we’re growing up, we’re told, oh, that dream is too big, or we’re told that’s not a financially viable job or this or that, that made us lose these beautiful childhood and rich dreams we had. And my goal is that children don’t lose those.

You can purchase the Black Tarot, the Elemental Alchemist Oracle, or her plethora of Black Children’s books on her website.