Samara Kasai: There is a part of you that cannot be oppressed

This post is part of a Grief Care series, featuring BIPOC healers across multiple traditions and modalities. Each week will spotlight a different healer, sharing their work, how they’re meeting these deeply challenging times, the grief they’re carrying and how they’re tending to it, and what it means to hold space for their communities at the intersections of healing and justice. Today, I talk with tarot reader and breathwork facilitator Samara Kasai.

“Tarot can help you connect and ask yourself what you need most in a given moment and how to best process the grief that is within you.” - Samara Kasai

How long have you been reading tarot cards?

I’ve been reading tarot cards for three years.

Is tarot something you turn to every day or is it something you rely on when you’re questioning, looking for validation or seeking insight and direction for a particular circumstance?

I look inward every day, whether through tarot, meditation, journaling, oracle cards or other practices. Tarot tends to be a part of my regular self-care routine a few times a week. I also rely on tarot for case-specific circumstances, like if I have a big decision to make or am looking for guidance on how to navigate the unfamiliar. I also use tarot to check in with the spirits that I work with.

If you were to describe how tarot works or why it’s such a powerful tool to someone who’s skeptical or doesn’t know much about it, what would you say?

The spirit world is constantly communicating with us through profound and mundane messages. I believe there is meaning in having a song stuck in our head or feeling a nudge to go a different way to work. Tarot is a powerful tool for receiving that communication, because it’s so explicit and direct. We get words, images, symbols and usually even scenery through which spirit can paint a very clear picture of that which we most need to hear in a given moment. 

You had your own skepticism about tarot readings before you came to appreciate the healing and empowerment they could provide: what was your resistance or doubt rooted in?

My initial resistance to the tarot came from being raised in a household that heavily focused on Christianity, with very little room to explore or validate other ways of connecting to spirit. I remember feeling like there was only one true way to be in relationship with the divine, and not trusting that other ways were valid.

You’ve shared that a reading at a time in your life when you were really struggling (with self-loathing, racism, economic insecurity and more) changed your perspective: What was the transformation or revelation that made you want to delve deeper into tarot?

As I was distancing myself from the church due to revelations about my queerness and the ties between the church and colonialism, I made more space in my life for other forms of spirituality. Around that time, I stumbled upon some tarot YouTubers and started keeping up with their monthly readings. Their readings started speaking directly to me and my life, and I got more and more curious about learning the cards myself. It wasn’t long before I bought my first deck and started pulling cards every day. I was drawn to build a relationship with the cards.

What did you have to unlearn, reframe or claim for yourself to make reading tarot a self-empowering practice — as well as one that empowers others? 

One big thing to overcome was the mainstream portrayal of tarot as something that can tell your future. I’ve found that this is a disempowering way to approach the cards because it deprives us of our free will and agency. Re-framing the tarot as a way to better understand our current reality and our creative potential has gone a long way in my own personal practice and in what I’m able to offer to clients.

Was it challenging initially to find a deck that represented you? 

I did struggle at the beginning to find a deck that did not seem to erase POC/queer imagery. My first deck had purple and gold people, but was still very cis-normative and heteronormative. I recently have found a few decks that subvert the gender norms and depict lots of POC.

Do you have a favorite deck?

I have a few! Right now my favorites are the Modern Witch Tarot and the Next World Tarot.

How can tarot be used as grief medicine? 

Tarot can help you connect and ask yourself what you need most in a given moment and how to best process the grief that is within you. We each have our own way of grieving, and tarot can be an important self-discovery tool for helping you discover your unique path. 

Can you share any examples of when you’ve pulled a card or done a spread while grieving and found that helpful?

I pulled a LOT of cards as the civil rights movement began unfolding over the summer, both for myself and for the Kasai Thrive community. Each reading helped bring clarity on how we could support ourselves and honor our needs during this period of collective grief and unrest. They also provided soothing words of encouragement for those that were feeling hopeless, and nudges to those who could be doing more. I truly gained a lot by being consistently connected to my cards during those months, and I know that the community did as well.

In this time when so many are grieving so much, what are some of the griefs you’ve been holding and tending?

I’ve been grieving the loss of the countless people who are dying of COVID, the loss of nature to the wildfires here in California, the loss of fertility of those being forcibly sterilized by ICE, and of course the loss of innocence that is ever present in the Black community as we continue to be murdered by this corrupt government and by the police. As we approach Trans Day of Remembrance I’m also feeling the grief of the casualties of the gender binary. (Samara will be co-hosting a two-day workshop and ritual, “Embodying Self-Love,” with Citlalli Mendoza in honor of Trans Day of Remembrance on Nov. 21 and 22)

How has your tarot practice enabled you to better cope with and process grief, even when you’re not actively engaging with the cards?

The insight I gain in my tarot practice serves me around the clock as I process grief. If I pull a card that has a bird on it, seeing that bird around will give me solace. If I download a particular message, anything that brings that message to mind will remind me that I am held, I am infinite, and I am moving through my process exactly as I need to.

What does caring for your grief look like?

It’s a lot of self-acceptance. I tend to judge myself for grieving or feel ashamed of my grief. As someone involved in providing community care, it can be easy to forget that my own grief deserves tending as well. So, when I notice myself gaslighting myself or pushing myself to extend beyond my emotional capacity, I come back to self-acceptance and remind myself that the space I create for others is also something I deserve to create for myself. I am also growing into my capacity to be held by others and have identified certain people in my life who I can process with when the idea of holding space for myself seems too daunting. 

What do you wish people would give themselves permission to do when grieving? What do you wish they would trust more?

I wish people would trust their own knowing when it comes to grief. There’s no “appropriate” amount of time to spend grieving, and there’s certainly no right way. It’s okay not to feel the way you expect to feel all the time. I wish people would give themselves permission to view their process as sacred.

Are you seeing any recurring themes, patterns or insights emerge around grief and all the sorrows and struggles of BIPOC individuals in particular this year with readings you’re offering?

It seems like everyone’s process truly is unique to them and depends on whatever else is going on in their life. The only common thread I see is that people need to give themselves more of a break and allow themselves to come apart despite the constant demands of this world.

How would you say tarot has helped to liberate you while still living within systems and structures designed to oppress us?

Tarot helps me connect to the part of me that is infinite and cannot be oppressed. 

What’s the greatest piece of wisdom you would offer from all of your years of reading to help people meet these challenging times?

I think it’s what I said earlier, that there is a part of you that cannot be oppressed. Your soul is infinite and you have an unquantifiable amount of spiritual support available to you at any moment. These times are hard, but you can do hard things. You can persevere. Your soul has survived countless deaths and rebirths. You can make it through this.

BIO

Samara Kasai (they/them) is a tarot reader and breathwork facilitator focused on helping people heal from the oppression in our world. Their mission is to help justice-oriented people find their way to spiritual healing and use that as a foundation for bringing about a more just reality.