#788 - Jenna Matlin - The Tarot Book of the Dead

Tarot reader and medium Jenna Matlin joins Grimerica hosts to discuss her book, *The Tarot Book of the Dead*, and how tarot, mediumship, and cultural death rituals shape the way people face mortality. She shares the book's initiatory structure, reflections on grief and end-of-life care, and the historical ideas behind tarot's Death card. Matlin connects renewed interest in death after COVID with the period when tarot emerged in the mid-15th century, after the Black Plague. She describes evidentiary mediumship examples, including a taekwondo uniform and a client's family history with racehorses. Matlin says near-death experience accounts of a life review echoed messages she encountered in mediumship, while noting the process is complex. She distinguishes psychopomp work from mediumship and describes supporting the transition between body and spirit, including end-of-life experiences. Matlin argues that wakes, physical care of the dead, and shared mourning have been diminished in many Western death practices. The book is structured as an initiatory journey through 20 chapters or aeons, beginning with Death and ending with the Empress. She discusses Egyptian concepts of the ib, ka, and ba, Tibetan consciousness transfer, and the sophistication of diverse historical death traditions. Matlin interprets the Rider-Waite-Smith Death card through its figures and links it to the medieval Dance of Death motif. The conversation touches on green burial, grief, the fear of dying alone, and allowing the dying process to unfold. Matlin explains how tarot activities in the book address facing one's death, grief, mediumship, and healing difficult relationships.   Jenna Matlin holds an MS in organizational psychology and a BA in anthropology, with end-of-life doula training through INELDA as well as training in psychedelic integration support. Since 2012, she has maintained a full-time tarot practice, which is known for its highly intuitive and innovative techniques. She has been involved with the Masters of Tarot Conference at the Omega Institute. Her revolutionary approach to tarot mediumship specifically helps clients navigate grief, death, and communication with the dead. Based in Chapel Hill, NC, Jenna teaches internationally and domestically and speaks at conferences. The Tarot Book of the Dead is structured as a chthonic journey, a descent into the Underworld, a trial within the depths, an ascent with wisdom, and a return to the living world forever changed. The struc