Good mornings, pornies! I hope you had a wonderful week. ^^ Today I come with an interview I had with a an amazing man I met on Instagram and who has great projects in the making. From a male centered tarot to a horror-movie inspired oracle deck, John Jennison doesn't seems to want to stop any time soon. We talked about his most recent project and future ideas, all of them totally worth checking out!
1. Which came first: Witchcraft or Queer Identity?
Aren't they kinda one and the same? But seriously for me it was Queer Identity. I don't know that most would consider me a witch in the traditional sense. I'm more of a creative that fell into a witches lifestyle and it just fit.
2. How would you describe your path as a Witch?
It was through art and horror. Growing up I always loved scary stories and movies. Anything dealing with the occult I couldn't get enough. Then in my 20's I kinda stepped away from it. When I entered my early 30's I was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called Neuroendocrine Tumors or NET. It was the same cancer Steve Jobs had. It is a slow growing form of cancer and they have a few ways to slow it more. At this point, 10 years later, I have done almost all of them. That said being told you have cancer sets a person's mind spinning for purpose and asking bigger questions. I was never the religious type but have family members who I respect who are. I tried to search that path again but it wasn't for me. When I was a kid I was gifted a deck of tarot cards that I loved but never really got the hang of reading. While going through some stuff I came upon them and started "playing" with them. This time something just clicked and I started to understand the cards more, the structure and the symboles just seemed to come more naturally to me. Since then I have used tarot on my journey for understanding the world around me. I've created a deck of Queer Masculine Centric cards and now I'm completing an oracle of spooky ghosts and haunted objects which I'm excited to share with the world.
3. Do you feel your sexuality has played a role in it?
Yes, being a queer cis male has definatly shown me a different path than the ones of most of my family. There was never really that acceptance one needs from the church and I am not the type to force myself into someone else's mold. The path of the witch isn't as cut and dry and honestly I didn't consider myself a witch until recently.
4. You first worked on the Mystic Male Tarot. How was it like to work on it? What made you create a male-oriented tarot deck?
When I started the project back in 2018 there were few queer centric masculine themed tarot decks. The ones that did exist tended to focus on cis males and left out a lot of the queer masc community that I was a part of or that friends were a part of out. So I wanted to try to create something more inclusive using as many body shapes, ethnicities and ages as I could. Looking at the deck now I think I did a pretty good job of representing the queer masculine world but it can always be better. If I ever revisit it for a 2nd edition I have lots of ideas to make it stronger and more inclusive.
5. In general, do you think there's a difference when it's a man or a woman who uses the cards, either tarot or oracle decks?
I think there is a difference whenever any single person is using the deck. With tarot you bring your own personal experience to each reading. So if a female identifying person is doing the reading she is going to have views on masculine ideals that other females don't. It's less about the gender of the reader and more about the experiences they have had. I wanted to create a deck that could bring out positive vibes to a person who views masculinity as negative. There are positives and negatives to all aspects of living. Gender is a hot button topic and my goal was to include a deck that addressed some of those ideas and issues. Did it work? For me yes and I'm sure it will for some other folks too. But is my deck for everyone? No, and that is ok!
6. This Deck Is Haunted is your second deck, and it's a set of oracle cards, quite dark, which I love! Why an oracle based on haunted objects? How did you come with this idea?
It's funny, I don't think of it as dark but it really is. THIS DECK IS HAUNTED came about because of my love of ghost stories! But the real truth is that it started as a bunch of cards I had scribbled types of ghosts and haunted things on. I would use these cards to pull and see what was "haunting" my life that day. Then one night I was working on a project that I just couldn't connect with. Frustrated, I picked up my iPad and just started making a card based on this oracle I used to kinda clear my head. Next thing I know, 5 hours have passed and I have the bases of 4 of the cards and the deck was born! The next few weeks the cards flew out of me like a man possessed.
7. Do you think darker decks work differently than common ones?
I think decks bring out what the reader needs them to bring out. Like I said I don't see this deck as "dark" persay. I like to find the underlying story element or moral that a ghost story may have and then work from there. I was always fascinated with childhood ghost stories and that is really what this deck is about. It's finding the hidden, feeling those emotions you felt when you were young and you felt like death and dying held big secrets and you were going to be the one to crack the answers.
8. Besides the basic differences between tarot and oracle decks, would you say there are certain readings that work better with this deck than with the Mystic Male Tarot?
Absolutely! This deck is all encompassing and feeds off energy that is all around us and ideas that go passed just masculine divine. Whereas, the MMT focuses on a reader's relationship to the male energy and how to focus what are typically thought of as masculine ideals. THIS DECK IS HAUNTED channels the ghosts around you. Your ancestors, the spirits of the land, the spirits of your youth. These cards ask you to work on your fears and why unknown things affect you in certain ways.
9. Looking back in time, let's say, five years ago, which is your most significant change?
I've lived with cancer for over 10 years, that was my biggest turning point as far as dealing with spirituality. I've done many treatments to keep my cancer and lifestyle balanced. So I think if we were to talk about five years ago it would be changing to another new treatment. Each time I start something new you have two thoughts. Is this the once that cures me? Or is this the one that kills me? These are rough thoughts to process and I think that my way of processing is creating art around those feelings.
10. What are your plans for the future?
This is always a hard question. Right now I just started a new treatment, so in the short term I'm going to kick some cancer ass, finish and print THIS DECK IS HAUNTED cause we got funded but there are still a lot of stretch goals I'd love to see get backed! In the long term I hope to have more announcements about THIS DECK IS HAUNTED, I have a YA dinosaur tarot deck that is in the works for 2021 and I want to spend as much time with the people that I love as I can. At the end of the day it's always about the relationships you build.
11. Which would be your advice for future Witches and Pagans?
Love as hard as you can for as long as you can, cause it may not alway be there but you will be better for the experience! And making things that make you a better person will make the world a better place for everyone to live.
Follow and support John:
Kinky regards, K!
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