The Wild Hunt (https://wildhunt.org/author/lauren)
Lauren is a writer and visual artist in Oakland, California. She’s a graduate of Hiram College’s Creative Writing program and has written for The Toast, Strange Horizons, The Racket, Xtra Magazine, Catapult, and Autostraddle. She’s the winner of the Summer of Love essay contest in the Daily Californian, the Vachel Lindsay poetry prize, and is the author of the forthcoming deck of spells with Simon Element.
“My very first experience was in asking the cards about a novel I was writing at the time and it wasn’t going anywhere,” says Chelsey Pippin Mizzi in an interview with Lauren Parker. “Up until that point, so much of my writing had been informed by visuals. And then suddenly there were these three pocket-sized pictures that were inviting me to consider creative ideas.”
My “For You Page,” or FYP, on TikTok had recommended a filter that generates a tarot card featuring the sunglasses-wearing mascot for Cheetos snacks, Chester Cheetah. I smashed the filter button so hard that I cracked a nail.
Lauren Parker reviews the new Tarot for You and Me guidebook and deck by Gary D’Andre and Jess Vosseteig, available at the end of the month from Simon Element.
The food was bad, the magic was bad, and both were written by people who had all of this knowledge they forgot to put down on the page. But making food felt like the easier version of reading the grimoires. Troubleshooting instructions, handwriting alterations, and crossing out some steps altogether made me more confident in both the kitchen and the sacred circle.
I watch Mhara Starling explore Ikea with a hilarious and exuberant wonder. The Witch of Southern Light jokes about the “cursed candy” accusation from Christians. It’s delightful and unserious. “I hope some of these people get comedy writing jobs.”