The place is called Ghost
Gallery, but that doesn’t mean it’s invisible. So I’m not sure why I have
such a hard time finding the space. Still, it takes several laps around the
block before I find the place. It also takes standing directly next to the
front gate while using Google Maps. And then takes one more lap around the
block because I don’t understand Google Maps, apparently. The point is, Ghost
Gallery is a little hard to find, but it is worth the haunt…I mean, hunt. (In
Tarot, the Fool
is the protagonist, and as the protagonist of this story I can tell you that
walking around Capitol Hill trying to find the gallery made me feel like a fool
indeed.)
Ghost Gallery's invisible entrance with suspected ghost
Ghost Gallery’s current show, The Art of the Tarot, is a group show
curated by Ghost Gallery’s curator Laurie
Kearney. The show features work by local and global artists centered around
the theme of the tarot deck and accompanying lore. There’s a bar at the back,
and right up front Emily from Joyride
Tarot is doing tarot readings ($20 for 10 minutes).
The Art of the Tarot is on theme, both for the gallery’s mysterious
name and the recent “witch renaissance” in pop-culture. As a wee baby heathen
in the 90s and 00s, I could only find crystals and tapestries at our mall’s one
weird stoner store Atmosphere, or in
far-flung new age shops. Now they’re ubiquitous dorm décor thanks to norm-core
stores like Urban Outfitters and even
Target stocking them. Witches and
mysticism are “in,” according to Salon
and other media outlets. Calling it “Mysticore” and the “season of the witch,”
trend-spotters have predicted a witchy influence in fashion and style since at
least 2013. Tarot itself saw a huge popularity surge thanks to The Wild Unknown’s tarot deck taking off
(thanks in large part to social media shares).
Some witches and
other mystic-minded folk have seen this increase in witch acceptance (at least
as witch aesthetic acceptance) as a
positive. Big brands carrying pentacles, incense, and tarot cards means greater
access to goods for practitioners, and a de-stigmatization of these symbols as
evil or abnormal. On the flip side, other magickal practitioners see the trend
as an appropriation of symbols, stripped of their deeper meaning and cheapened
for mass-market consumption. (A good editorial read on the community’s divide
and one woman’s experience can be read here.)
Ghost Gallery
does a good job of bridging that gap. The space itself is set back from the
street, and you walk through a gateway and through an enclosed patio to get
there. You’re primed for something different already, gently transitioning from
the street to an art space. It makes it feel like you’re seeking out the
symbols and beliefs the show deals with; it makes you deliberately contemplate
them instead of seeing them on a rack of shirts or whatever in a box store.
Like any art, you can come here and look at the works and go no further than
“Hey, that looks cool” or “I’d never put that over my couch.” You can look at
purely the aesthetics of the images in front of you and that’s completely fine.
But if you want deeper meaning, the space and the patrons allow for that, too.
Many of the artists are here for the opening, standing with their works and
talking to guests. They talk visuals, sure, but a lot of them talk about the
meaning of the Tarot and other magick in their own lives and artwork.
Outside the gallery
Art people
It’s so crowded I
have a hard time telling which people are artists and which people are guests.
I’m overwhelmed by the amount of art in the two rooms, of the paintings and
drawings and jewelry and objects on the walls, shelves, tables, floor. They
works are unified by a theme, sure, but quite different in terms of style and
materials. It’s not an unpleasant jumble, but it’s still a lot to take in. I
wedge myself in a corner by the front to try and get my bearings. Emily of Joyride Tarot is offering 10-minute
readings and I jot my name down on a timeslot to feel a little more grounded in
my purpose here. When I feel overwhelmed by the amount of people I can think to
myself “I have an appointment. I am supposed to be here.”
Jars of witchy things
A visitor tests a pendulum. She and her companion agreed it had good energy and she purchased it.
I’m here for
personal enjoyment, but I’m also here to cover the event for Scream Sirens Magazine. I worry that it
looks weird to lug in my big camera and take photos of the artwork and event,
so I make my way to the counter to introduce myself and make sure it’s really
okay that I’m there. (By the way, this uncertainty of belonging, of feeling in
two camps, could be represented by the Temperance
tarot card. I’m not sure where I come down on the witch symbols as pop culture
fodder debate, and I’m not sure of my role at the event tonight. Drinking from
both cups, this one.) I introduce myself to Kearney, and she makes me feel
welcome immediately. Her excitement is now my excitement, and I photograph as
well as I can in the crowded space. Art event photos are tricky: if the show is
good, people will be looking at the art, meaning you get a lot of photos of
people’s backs. Ghost Gallery has lots of nooks and crannies, though, and even
better: lots of mirrors. I catch people’s better angles in both.
Jewelry hangs in front of a visitor
The patrons are a
good mix: some society-looking art patrons, some grungy artists, some
gothically-attired magick practitioners, and some non-descript folks like me.
The bar at the back of the shop helps them to mix, and so does the tight
quarters: you’re going to bump into someone, you’re going to look at art next
to someone, you’re going to reach for the same pendulum as someone else. I can
start to tell the artists apart from the visitors because mostly they have
their backs to the work, standing in front like proud but protective parents.
The art is as
eclectic as the people: big paintings, little drawings, jewelry made of bones
and metal and crystals and wire that’s formed into tiny vaginas. The wall
behind the register is dominated by large, colorful paintings
by An-Magrith Erlandsen (Seattle). Tarot decks by several artists are scattered
on tables, and I’m particularly charmed by the sweet “Mini
Rabbit” tarot decks by Nakisha Vanderhoeven (Seattle). I think my brother
would like the strong graphical qualities of Peter Benedetti’s “Divine
Will” tarot deck (New York). I buy “The
Heirophant” by Dark Days Tarot and a small protection charm from the
Gallery (Seattle). A full list of participating artists is available on the event page, and
many of the works are available for purchase via Ghost
Gallery’s online shop.
Art and visitors leading back to the second room
A guest and jewelry reflected; Emily of Joyride Tarot reads in the back
A protection amulet
The female divine
is highly regarded in this show. I count at least four works that deal with The
Empress card (my favorite is by Stasia Burrington),
and several that show the High Priestess (I love the detail in the drawing
by Dark Days Tarot). The moon, the stars, the earth, and other symbols are also
represented by female characters. The number of male or female symbols a tarot
deck features can greatly vary based on the deck. Often, the inclusion is less about the gender or
anatomy, and more about the type of energy that card or deck represents. Anatomy
or not, I like seeing such strong female representations in the art here,
especially in a business run by a strong woman.
It’s my turn for
a tarot reading. Emily has a quiet
energy, and sits in a plush chair with her back to a red drape. She starts slow
and quiet, but gets more animated the more we talk. She asks what my question
is, and I tell her that I want to know what to do to get to the next level with
my career. I recently graduated from a master’s program, and I’m desperately
looking for a job in my field that a) seems fulfilling and b) pays a damn. I’ve
applied to dozens of jobs without even a call back, and I feel really blocked
about it. Emily writes my name and a few notes in her journal. She asks if she
can say a blessing, and I close my eyes and touch my hands to the table while
she asks for this reading to help me with my questions.
Emily and a guest during a reading
Emily spreads the
deck (Alchemical
Deck, by Robert M. Place) in a long line away from her and asks me to pick
two cards. I run my hands across the deck, pulling two. I always hope I’m going
to feel a jolt of electricity or a certain “rightness” that this is the card I
should pick, but it never happens. Still, the cards I’ve pulled that way in the
past seemed relevant to me, and it’s the same tonight. The first card I draw is
the Hanged
Man. In this deck, the card shows a man is tied by his foot to a beam by a
long snake. He dangles toward the ground as coins spill from his hands. That
card represents what I’ve done so far to get to where I am. My second card is
the Six
of Vessels, which looks much more optimistic. A woman pours liquid from one
vessel into 5 others. Flowers bloom from one of the pots, and more grow in the
background. This card represents what I should nurture to get where I want to
go. Emily talks about the money and effort I’ve used in the past to obtain my
degree, the struggle of school and job hunting and how it’s represented by the
Hanged Man. Now it’s time to contemplate, to be deliberate in my actions, to
water what is needed. She tells me she feels lush energy when she pictures my
goals, but I need to look at the process step by step. I need to fill one cup
at a time, move one step at a time, to get to where I want to be. All of this
makes total sense. Whatever your
beliefs, I think the advice Emily gives me with the help of the cards is really
logical: this cost time and money but wasn’t random, so keep taking calculated
steps toward your goal. I can do that.
I speak with
Emily later by email to know more about her process with tarot. She’s read
since high school, studying with Jan Wallace, who is also a poet. Emily’s tarot
process is firmly bound with poetry, too: she says “Tarot and poetry were never
separable for me […] I've developed my own approach to reading and healing work
over time.” At the gallery opening, Emily had a book open on a table inviting visitors
to leave their own poem. I write haiku poems, and mine reads: Is it fate in the cards?/
Or is it in these hands that/ Hold those small wishes?
I ask about her
thoughts on the recent trendiness of witches and mysticism, and her answer is something
that I think will further shape my own thoughts on the topic. I think sometimes
we can worry that when newcomers find “our” thing, that there’s a finite amount
of whatever that is, or that their presence will cheapen our own association.
Emily’s answer is much gentler, very welcoming. She says, “There are many
layers to working with tarot cards, and I think even going to tarot cards at
first for a kind of risqué identity is related to people´s longing to
understand themselves, to belong, to find joy, and to ameliorate their own
suffering.” Put that way, it shouldn’t really matter to me why someone is on
the same road as I am: I’m just glad they’re making the journey, too.
The moon outside of Ghost Gallery. The Moon tarot card signifies consciousness unfolding.
***
The Art of the Tarot
is on display through Sunday, October 9, 2016 at Ghost Gallery: 504 E. Denney
Way at Summit/Olive.
My
interpretations for cards throughout this post come from the classic Raider-Waite
tarot deck. There are myriad decks, and each may have nuances when it comes to
reading those cards. I was never a big Lisa Frank fan but I’m crushing on this Lisa
Frank tarot deck just the same.
