The New World Tarot of Cristy C. Road
Validate the culture you wish to see in the world - this is something I often say to audiences who come to hear me speak. It’s one thing to criticize the false idols foisted upon us daily by the mainstream media; far more impactful is creating and supporting a vision that reflects oneself and one’s world view.
I first met Cristy C. Road (interview with her here) a few years ago at L.A. Zine Fest, where I was speaking on a panel. Cristy was in the audience. Afterwards, she introduced herself, expressed interest in my work and handed me a copy of her graphic novel, Spit and Passion. I am a sucker for graphic novels so I gobbled it up that same night, slowing down from time to time to marvel at the way her expressive artwork perfectly complimented the text. By the end of the night I was a Cristy fan.
Time passed before I would see Cristy again. In 2014, we both happened to be in Champaign, Illinois. She was staying with a mutual friend, Mimi Thi Nguyen. We hung out together and before long Cristy was treating us to a living room serenade, playing and singing acoustic versions of her rock songs. That night, over a late night supper Cristy started talking about a tarot deck that she had been working on. She asked me if I would like to pose for her and of course, I said yes! I have to confess that I was a little confused when she asked me to get down on the ground and strike some unfamiliar poses, right there in the restaurant. Her imagination was racing much too quickly for me to catch up to her.
A few months ago I saw some of her tarot deck drawings. The illustrations were colorful and vivid. They depicted beautiful, badass women - the type who are not typically portrayed as beautiful: women of different ethnicities, body types and ages. It was a powerful affirmation of a woman’s worth. Then I saw myself.Cristy had drawn me, picking up jewels from the ground. It thrilled me to be included. I wanted to buy decks for my daughters and my friends but the deck was not finished. Doing enough drawings to create an entire deck of cards was requiring time and money.
Cristy is no slacker. Earlier this year I contacted her with a crazy request. I asked if she could illustrate the cover of my book which was going to the printer in two weeks. To my surprise, she said yes. Within days I had sketches to approve and two weeks later a front and back cover for my book.https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/croadcore/the-next-world-tarot