Alice Grist is an award-winning author and tarot expert, honored as Best Mind, Body, and Spirit Author in 2023 by Kindred Spirit Magazine. With over three decades of experience, she has written two acclaimed tarot guidebooks and created two popular tarot decks. A seasoned speaker and consultant, Alice’s deep spiritual insights have earned her a global clientele and a respected place in the world of tarot and spirituality. MysticMag has the opportunity to chat.
Alice, how did your journey with tarot begin, and what drew you to it initially?
My father was a Church of England vicar who became a Wiccan. As a teen I’d hang out with him, my stepmother and their goddess group. We would use the cards, meditate and work with energy healing. It was a beautiful and empowering introduction. As I got older I started to pursue my own spiritual path, but always with tarot as a part of that. The cards started out as an intrigue in spirit and supernatural and have over time become a reflection of the divine and a deep dive into personal growth, evolution and the ways in which that shifts over the decades.
With over three decades of experience, how has your approach to tarot reading evolved over the years?
My relationship with tarot is constantly shifting. It is certain that the more I work with them the deeper I go. They have led me through so many life events consistently providing uncanny truth and raw clarity. The cards are not limited by a few paragraphs of “meaning” the more you work with them the fatter those meanings become, taking the reader deep into themselves and onward to the next era of themselves.
How do you believe the symbolism and archetypes in tarot cards can facilitate deep psychological and spiritual transformation in an individual?
The archetypes in particular provide access to our own knowledge, experiences and capabilities. They help us delve past the shallows of modern life and find parts of our essence asking for exploration or resurrection. The symbolism is a beautiful thing to guide us through the human condition, and carry us toward wider spiritual truths. I work with all these things on a gritty, mundane daily level. When we find the tarot speaking to our everyday life then the world shifts in brilliant ways.
What inspired you to create your own tarot decks and write tarot guidebooks, and how do they differ from other decks and books available?
The continual conversation with the cards is magic. I love exploring them over and over and finding new ways to interpret and understand them. So the books and cards allow for that conversation to continue.
How do you integrate your extensive knowledge of spirituality and healing into your tarot readings to provide deeper insights for your clients?
I hold space for whatever comes up. It’s all in me, and so as I read, it aligns and I trust the words, intuitions and responses that arise, knowing I’ve held space for this with all my work over decades.
What advice would you give to someone new to tarot who is interested in exploring it as a tool for personal growth and spiritual development?
Get a deck and start pulling a card a day, keep it simple. Give yourself permission to relate the cards to your life. Experiment with listening to your intuition.
If you would like to find out more about Alice Grist, please visit https://www.alicegrist.co.uk/
