296. The Cultural Roots of Tarot with Sanyu Estelle

296. The Cultural Roots of Tarot with Sanyu Estelle

Author: Lindsay Mack, founder of Tarot for the Wild Soul August 15, 2025 Duration: 1:07:43

Wow, what a gift to share this conversation with the legendary Sanyu Estelle, aka The Word Witch! Sanyu is writing an incredible book called "The Cultural Origins of Tarot," and needs our help and support to truly be able to dive in and do the extent of research on it that the book deserves! 

Click here to support Sanyu's Indiegogo campaign for the book (which ends on August 18th!) 

PS, if you're listening to this after the deadline to contribute to the campaign, no worries! There are other ways of sending support to Sanyu, and they are linked below in the show notes!


About Sanyu: 

Sanyu Estelle is a Soothsayer, artist and writer who has been published by The New York Times, Row House Publishing, and Red Wheel/Weiser. Her work revolves around the subjects of ontology, sociology, history, and criminology as she explores the intersection of culture, politics, and spirituality. With 11+ years as a professional reader and existential advisor, she is known for giving clients "the reading they need, not (necessarily) the reading they want."

Currently completing her first full-length book, "The Cultural Roots of Tarot" (Red Wheel/Weiser, Fall 2026), Sanyu examines the deck's multicultural origins through rigorous and groundbreaking historical research. Known as "The Word Witch" due to her profound love for etymology and philology, she combines 15+ years of Daoist practice and 10+ years in Ifa tradition with academic grounding to offer perspectives that honor ancestral wisdom, cosmic coherence and that challenge colonial narratives.


******

Transcript can be found on Spotify!


SANYU'S LINKS:

Website: https://www.sanyuestelle.com  

Tarot Research Campaign: https://bit.ly/TarotsRoots  

Instagram/Threads/TikTok/YouTube: @sanyuestelle  


Ways to contribute to Sanyu outside of the Indiegogo campaign:

Venmo: @Sanyu-Estelle

Square: $Sanyu 

PayPal: sanyu@sanyuestelle.com 

Zelle: sennagenda@gmail.com

LINDSAY'S LINKS:

Book an August/September Reading with Lindsay here!

Got Q's for Lindsay to answer on the podcast and beyond? Ask them here: https://www.tarotforthewildsoul.com/ask-lindsay


—

PODCAST EDITOR: Chase Voorhees

PODCAST ART: Rachelle Sartini Garner


Honoring and acknowledging that this podcast episode was recorded on the unceded land of The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, currently called Portland, OR, with the deepest respect to the Kalapuya Tribe, Cowlitz Tribe, and Atfalati Tribe.


Lindsay Mack, founder of Tarot for the Wild Soul, guides this unique audio space where the ancient wisdom of the Tarot meets a deeply grounded, modern heart. Tarot for the Wild Soul with Lindsay Mack moves far beyond fortune-telling, instead using the cards as a mirror for our inner landscapes-a tool for understanding our patterns, healing, and personal growth. Each episode is built on an inclusive, trauma-informed perspective that prioritizes compassion and critical thinking over prediction. You’ll find the conversations here are practical, rooted in common sense, and designed to make the archetypal lessons of the Tarot accessible to everyday life. Listeners join a growing community, evidenced by millions of downloads, for regular deep dives into specific cards, insightful lessons on weaving Tarot into a spiritual practice, and monthly channeled messages that offer reflective nourishment. This podcast serves as a gentle, powerful companion for anyone seeking to explore their own wild soul with more kindness and clarity, using the Tarot as a map rather than a crystal ball.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 50

Tarot for the Wild Soul with Lindsay Mack
Podcast Episodes
326. A (Mini) Reading for the Equinox [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:01
Equinox blessings to you, love! We have a lil mini-reading for the spiral of time from the Equinox today to the Winter Solstice. May it serve you! For the full download, plus a supportive spread for the week ahead, head…
325. Your Week Ahead: See To It [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:25
Welcome to a new week, loves, and with it a new weekly Soul Tarot download! This week, we have a very complex, interesting invitation from the cards we pulled. We're being invited to strongly evaluate some of our deeply…
324. Your Week Ahead: Hold the Big Vision [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:36
Welcome to a new week, loves, and with it a new weekly Soul Tarot download! This week, we're being invited to think about what we're longing to build, nourish, and create -- how can we take the first step to plant the se…
323. Your Week Ahead: Deepening our Trust [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 23:32
Welcome to a new week, loves, and with it a new weekly Soul Tarot download! This week, we are really being invited to focus on our trust: trust in timing, trust in the unfolding of things. It is definitely not a week to…
322. MONTHLY MEDICINE: September is Gifts Within the Fog [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:09
Welcome to a new month, and with it, a new Monthly Medicine! Our theme for September is Gifts Within the Fog. This is a month of deep work, one that will ask for patience, and a willingness to trust in the unfolding of t…
321. A Tarot Reading for the Eclipse [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:42
Big blessings upon you for this huge Lunar Eclipse in Pisces, loves. I have an intuitive download and Soul Tarot reading for you about it on the podcast today ❤️ECLIPSE TAROT SPREAD: Message from Spirit: what's the most…
320: MONTHLY MEDICINE: August is Reclaiming Pleasure [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:41
August is an Eclipse month, and the guidance on what we are being invited to pay attention to is — for once — blissfully clear: pleasure, joy, receiving, delight, and goodness are your birthrights, your earthrights. Recl…
319: MONTHLY MEDICINE: July is Let Support In [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:01:00
July is a strong invitation to stretch out of our comfort zone and ask for more support: support we need, support we desire, support we prefer. Whether it be from neighbors, friends, family, or the spiral/spirit realm, t…
318. Nature as Medicine with Willow Defabaugh [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:04:38
Nature is medicine, and is a deep and wise teacher for each of us, no matter who and where we are, or what stage of our journey we are in. Through our perpetual transitions, metamorphoses, awakenings, and healing process…
317. Lil Updates + A Reading From my Book! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:31
We've got a little hodgepodge episode for ya today, with a little update from Linds post-book tour, what Tarot Anchors held them up on their tour (and which ones are helping them now), as well as a little reading from th…