Rhythm and Soul Tarot

Kassandra Russel
Oct 3
4 min read

Updated: Oct 5

A distinctly American deck published in 2024 created by Stacey Williams-Ng with paintings mirroring Southern culture and music in the 20th century. She lives in Memphis, TN where she was raised and still lives today (owner of Panthere Studio). If you were unaware, Memphis has a rich musical history. It's the home of Sun Records and Graceland (the former home of Rock & Roller Elvis Presley). The Eastern Mississippi Delta is where the Blues originated, New Orleans is the home of Jazz, while Nashville, TN (with The Grand Ole Opry) is still the Country Music capitol of the world. It's a deck of musical alchemy that has a song and performer assigned to each card. The entire 80 card playlist is available on Spotify.

So you might wonder what in the world am I doing with this deck since I'm a Yankee who loves Disco and likes Broadway musicals?? It's because I moved south in 2022. Not to Memphis or Nashville, but to the Appalachian foothills of South Carolina. I have many decks, but none of them specifically reflect the American culture of the South or music that originates here and nowhere else. I wanted a deck that would help me to get to know the background of the folks who were going to be my new Tarot clients. And, I wanted a deck Southern people could relate to and see themselves in.

The RWS uses white European images from Medieval times and I do have other more modern decks that are 'diverse' in an international way shall we say; showcasing many different cultures. But the Rhythm and Soul Tarot is about diversity of music genres in the culture of the American South where these genres originated in the early 20th century. And, it does a very good job of sticking to RWS traditional meanings as well as incorporating TdM numerical meanings.

There has been a fair bit of reimagining and renaming of some of the Major Arcana cards. I love that it's Mahalia Jackson who is Justice; she was a famous Gospel singer who traveled with Martin Luther King Jr. during the Civil Rights years and I remember seeing her performing in the 1960's. The Magician is a Hoodoo Conjure Man, and the High Priestess is a New Orleans Channeler of Voodoo spirits (like the famous Voodoo Queen; Marie Laveau did).

The Empress and The Emperor are always parental archetypes and here in the South they are The Mamaw and the Papaw. Up North we say Grandma & Grandpa. The Hierophant is now The Preacher and he's inviting you to join him down by the River for a ritual of baptism. Judgement is now The Eon which is similar to Aleister Crowley renaming it The Aeon in his Thoth deck. Its still a card of rebirth, new life, paradigm shifts, and the ability to use judgement appropriately. Additional Majors (22 & 23) have been added for the concepts of Rhythm and Soul, of course.

The Minor Arcana suits represent the different musical genres;

Rock & Roll (Axes) for Air
Blues for Water
Jazz for Fire
Country Music (Roots) for Earth

It's take a little practice to get used to the new suits, but they roughly correspond to RWS traditional meanings, so it's not too hard to get the hang of them. The modern images are refreshing, because we don't live in Medieval times anymore.

The Court cards still use Kings, Queens, Knights & Pages. While the Kings are all men and the Queens are all women, the Knights & Pages are half and half. It's an attempt to equalize sex across these cards with 2 male and 2 female characters each. Personally, I think they should have just replaced Knight & Page with Prince & Princess like Thoth, Rohrig and The Enchanted Tarot does.

One convention this deck uses that is totally unique is Porch cards. Stacie explains how almost all houses from shacks to mansions had porches in the South. At the beginning of the 20th Century, no one had air conditioning yet, so in the South porches were used almost like a 2nd living room to catch a breeze and escape the heat. The Porch represents home and home-coming. It can be welcoming or an imposing barrier depending on how you decorate it. Keep in mind this special essence whenever you pull a Porch card.

"... a porch is a place to be yourself, and keep a watchful eye on the world outside your door."

Stacey Williams-Ng is also the creator and illustrator of 2 Oracle decks I like to use with the Rhythm and Soul Tarot. I enjoy using Oracle decks that can support a Tarot reading with a similar artistic look. All of the Oracle and Tarot cards created are from actual paintings by Stacey except for the Ancestral Magick Oracle which she illustrated but didn't create guidebook. It's a Collage Oracle using historical and old family photos for the Ancestors.