EFOC 2024: Read The Room session connected wellness house guests to ancestral knowledge

This morning, we were transported to the ancestral plane at the Wellness House at the ESSENCE Festival 2024 at the Ernest Morial Convention Center. For those connected to our ancestors and spirit guides, the Read The Room session with spiritual mediums and psychics Thomjana Ferguson and Tiffany Monique enlightened us to dig deeper while allowing our souls to guide us to what we need. Guidance is at the heart of why tarot card readings are so important to Black women. Ferguson, a New Orleans native, has been practicing tarot readings since 2018 with the sole purpose of helping Black women tap into themselves and their ancestors for life’s most troubling questions. “I read tarot to support my community and to give them this experience to understand their inner selves.” » She continued, “Tarot offers the opportunity to tap into the spirit while also providing the space to slow down and allow life to catch up with life and be centered in who they are, and receive messages from ancestors that they miss because life is moving so fast.”

Tarot is a spiritual practice for Black people, especially in New Orleans. Ferguson agreed with my observation. “I like that you put it that way because often when you see tarot in the media, you see a European woman or someone outside of the Black community reading tarot. But historically, divination has been a religion used in ancient African traditions. So tarot is another way of reclaiming your history and understanding that divination was our first altar.” She believes that tarot uses the story of life because energy can neither be created nor destroyed. So the practice of tarot is a set amount of energy and several principles.

Ferguson wants to bring clarity to Wellness House clients through Tarot. “I hope to answer some of the questions that are bothering them. I hope to put them on a new path, a new path that is more in tune with them. I want them to feel lighter. I want them to feel comfortable. I want them to feel heard and seen. I want them to have a space to let their guard down. I want them to realize that spirituality is them, that they don’t have to feel like there’s this barrier. I want them to be comfortable. I want them to feel safe. That’s the main thing, to be safe,” she says.

Tiffany Monique, who has been practicing Tarot for over 30 years and is the owner of Crescent City Conjure here in New Orleans, believes the most effective way for Black women to benefit from Tarot is to combine the practice with ancestral connection. “It’s a wonderful proactive tool. It gives you a snapshot of where you are, where you’re at in situations, and what challenges you’re trying to overcome. If something is going your way, you can continue on that path and move forward. If it’s something you don’t really like, or you see something that’s going to be a bump in the road, you can adjust accordingly. So using it as a proactive tool is your quickest and easiest way to see the power of Tarot.”