EFOC 2024: Read The Room Session Connected Wellness House Guests with Ancestral Information

This morning we were transported to the ancestral plane on the Wellness House at ESSENCE Festival 2024 on the Ernest Morial Convention Center. For those connected to our ancestors and spiritual guides, the Read The Room session with psychics and spiritual mediums Thomjana Ferguson and Tiffany Monique enlightened us to delve deeper while allowing our souls to guide us to what we’d like. At the middle of the importance of Tarot readings for Black women is guidance. Ferguson, a New Orleans native, has been practicing Tarot readings since 2018 with the only real purpose of helping Black women connect with themselves and their ancestors to search out answers to probably the most troubling questions in life. “I read Tarot to support my community and provide them with this experience so they can understand their inner selves.” She continued, “Tarot provides an opportunity to reach out to spirit, and at the same time, it provides a space to slow down and let life catch up with life, catch up with life and focus on who we are, and also receive messages from the ancestors that we miss because life is just going by so fast.”

Tarot is a spiritual practice for black people, especially in New Orleans. Ferguson agreed with my remark. “I love that you put it that way, because you often see Tarot presented in the media, you see a European woman or someone non-black reading Tarot. But historically, divination was a religion used in ancient African traditions. So Tarot is another way of reclaiming our history and understanding that divination was our first altar.” She believes that Tarot uses life history because energy can’t be created or destroyed. So the practice of Tarot is a set amount of energy and a number of rules.

Ferguson goals to bring clarity to Wellness House guests through Tarot. “I hope to answer some of the questions that have been on their minds. I hope to lead them to a new walk on a new path that is more in tune with themselves. I want them to feel lighter. I want them to feel at ease. I want them to feel heard and seen. I want them to have a space where they can lower their guard. I want them to realize that spirituality is them, that they don’t have to feel like there’s a barrier. I want them to feel comfortable. I want them to feel safe. That’s the most important thing, to be safe,” she states.

As for Tiffany Monique, she has been practicing Tarot for over 30 years and is the tarot manager and reader at Crescent City Conjure here in New Orleans. She believes probably the most effective way for Black women to learn from Tarot is to mix the practice with their connection to their ancestors. “It’s a great proactive tool. It gives you a snapshot of where you are, where you are in situations, and what challenges you’re trying to overcome. If something is going the way you want it to, you can follow that path and move forward. If you don’t like something or you see something that’s going to get in the way, you can adjust accordingly. So using it as a proactive tool is the quickest and easiest way to see the effectiveness of Tarot.”