Rachel Pollack
Rachel Pollack (1945–2023) was one of the most influential voices in the history of tarot. Her landmark work, Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom, reshaped how an entire generation understood the cards, and her legacy as a scholar, novelist, and teacher continues to guide seekers around the world.
Biography
The Unquenchable Fire
Rachel Grace Pollack was born on August 17, 1945, in Brooklyn, New York. Over the course of a remarkable career spanning five decades, she became one of the foremost authorities on the tarot, a celebrated novelist, a groundbreaking comic book writer, and a beloved teacher whose work touched readers on five continents. Her writing wove together mythology, psychology, Kabbalah, and lived experience with a warmth and intellectual generosity that made even the most esoteric subjects feel accessible and alive.
Rachel earned her honours degree in English from New York University and her master’s from Claremont Graduate University. In the early 1970s, she moved to Amsterdam, where she lived for nineteen years and began the weekly tarot classes that would shape her approach to the cards. It was during this period that she wrote Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom (1980), the book that helped launch what scholars call the “Tarot Renaissance.” Simultaneously, she embarked on a science fiction career, publishing novels that blended magic, mythology, and social vision.
Her achievements across genres were extraordinary. The novel Unquenchable Fire won the 1989 Arthur C. Clarke Award, and Godmother Night received the 1997 World Fantasy Award. In the tarot world, she authored more than a dozen essential texts, created the Shining Tribe Tarot, and co-created the Burning Serpent Oracle with Robert M. Place. She was named a Certified Tarot Grand Master by the Tarot Certification Board of America. At DC Comics, she wrote Doom Patrol (1993–1995), introducing Coagula, the first transgender superhero in mainstream American comics.
Rachel taught at the Omega Institute for thirty-two years alongside Mary K. Greer, served as a professor of creative writing at Goddard College, and lectured at major tarot conferences worldwide. She died peacefully on April 7, 2023, at the age of 77, leaving behind a body of work that remains essential reading for anyone drawn to the deeper dimensions of the tarot. Her four classes on Global Spiritual Studies preserve her singular voice and the brilliance of her teaching for future generations.
Specializations
Areas of Expertise
- Tarot History & Philosophy
- Major Arcana Interpretation
- Kabbalistic Tarot
- Mythology & Archetypes
- Oracles, Prophecy & Fate
- Tarot as Spiritual Practice
- Rider-Waite-Smith Symbolism
- Tarot Deck Creation
- Minor Arcana Without Scenes
- Readings in Catastrophic Times
- Tarot & Astrology Connections
- Classical Literature & Tarot
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Lenormand-Based Oracles
- Esoteric & Occult Traditions
- Jungian & Depth Psychology
Approach
Teaching Philosophy
Rachel approached the tarot not as a system of fortune-telling but as a gateway to sacred mysteries. She believed the cards were tools of self-knowledge, their images encoding centuries of wisdom about the human journey. Her teaching drew freely from mythology, psychology, Kabbalah, astrology, and her own deep engagement with world spiritual traditions, weaving these threads into a perspective that was at once scholarly and profoundly personal.
She was a self-described heretic in all matters of faith, preferring to find her own way rather than follow established doctrines. This independence of mind was central to her teaching: rather than prescribing fixed meanings, she encouraged readers to develop their own relationship with the cards, to treat each reading as a creative and spiritual act. She believed that readings themselves were the primary mode for entering the deepest levels of card meanings, not memorization or rote study.
Her classes were renowned for their intellectual richness and emotional warmth. She could move from the Kabbalistic structure hidden in the Tower card to the comedic absurdity of a 17th-century Devil in a single breath, always inviting her students to look deeper, think more playfully, and trust the images in front of them. Whether exploring the Major Arcana as a prophecy of catastrophe and rebirth or asking what would happen if Oedipus had consulted a tarot reader instead of the Oracle at Delphi, Rachel made the cards come alive as living, breathing instruments of transformation.
Bibliography
Published Works
Rachel authored more than forty books across tarot, fiction, and esoteric literature. In addition to her published texts, she created the Shining Tribe Tarot (originally Shining Woman Tarot), a deck drawing on tribal and shamanic imagery rather than traditional European symbolism. She also wrote the companion book for the Vertigo Tarot, created by Dave McKean and Neil Gaiman. Her comic book work at DC Comics included a celebrated run on Doom Patrol (issues 64–87, 1993–1995), where she introduced Coagula, DC’s first transgender superhero.
The Shining Tribe Tarot
Affiliations
Professional Affiliations
Beyond her prolific writing career, Rachel maintained a deep involvement in the tarot community and literary world. She was a regular presence at major tarot conferences, including Readers Studio, the Los Angeles Tarot Symposium, and the Bay Area Tarot Symposium, and she lectured on five continents over the course of her career.
Certified Tarot Grand Master (CTGM) · Tarot Certification Board of America
Rachel was one of a small number of tarot practitioners to hold the title of Certified Tarot Grand Master, the highest level of professional certification awarded by the Tarot Certification Board of America. The honor recognized her extraordinary depth of knowledge, her decades of teaching, and her contributions to the field through both scholarship and practice.
Senior Faculty · Omega Institute for Holistic Studies
32 years of teaching (1991–2023)
Rachel taught at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York, for thirty-two years, often alongside her friend and colleague Mary K. Greer. Their collaborative workshops at Omega became legendary gatherings where students explored tarot through mythology, psychology, ritual, and hands-on practice. The institute honored her as one of its most enduring voices in the field of spirituality and personal growth.
Professor of Creative Writing · Goddard College MFA Program
Faculty member for over a decade
Rachel served as a professor in the Master of Fine Arts creative writing program at Goddard College in Vermont, mentoring a generation of emerging writers. Her teaching there brought together her literary craft, her spiritual sensibility, and her commitment to helping students find their authentic voices. She also taught English at the State University of New York earlier in her academic career.
Learn
Classes by Rachel Pollack
Explore Rachel’s classes on Global Spiritual Studies, each a masterclass in her distinctive approach to the tarot. From navigating catastrophic times with the cards as compass to unraveling the mysteries of prophecy and fate, these recordings preserve the brilliance of one of tarot’s most original minds.
Connect
Remembering Rachel
Rachel Pollack passed away on April 7, 2023, leaving behind one of the richest legacies in the history of tarot. Her official website now serves as a memorial, and her blog remains an archive of her generous, far-ranging thought. Her books continue to be widely read, and her influence on how we understand the cards endures.