Meet the Coastal Crow (and Raven) Tarot
The Coastal Crow Tarot carries the same intuitive energy that made the Crow Tarot a trusted companion, but with a softer, more reflective voice. Inspired by life by the sea, each card feels like sea glass in your hand; familiar yet transformed, its edges rounded by time and tide.
Every card in the Coastal Crow Tarot begins with a visit to the water; whether it’s Jackson Beach, Lime Kiln Park, or one of the quiet stretches of shoreline on San Juan Island. I walk these coasts with my camera (phone) in hand, capturing the light, textures, and moods this island offers. Each image begins as a moment of awe. The sea and the sky woven together into something both wild and still.
The scenery you see in the Coastal Crow Tarot—the driftwood, seaweed, shells, and stones, starts with a picture I’ve taken here on the island. I use those photos as building blocks in a digital collage, layering and shaping them until the story of each card emerges. It’s a very hands-on process, created entirely by me, not by AI.
The tree for the the Six of Cups was taken from a picture at San Juan Island County Park at the location where the Owens Sisters' house from Practical Magic was constructed.
The wall on that card came from Lime Kiln Park.
The Guidebook: The Coastal Crow (and Raven) Tarot includes a detailed printed guidebook.
Like the tide each card brings in an energy that washes upon your shore as well as a power that pulls or draws back an energy. Something that it asks that you release to to the sea. Here is a sample entry for the Death card.
13. Death
What the ocean brings in: Closure, space for something new
What the tide pulls out: Fear of letting go, clinging to something no longer viable
The image for Death came from one of my walks along the shore. I found a bird tangled in seaweed, lifeless but peaceful as the wind brushed over it. Sand flies created a cloud above it, and I knew when the tide returned, it would lift the remains and carry them back to the sea. It was a stark yet beautiful reminder that death is not outside of nature; it is a natural part of it. When the tide comes in, it brings release and renewal. Death marks the close of a cycle and the clearing of what no longer serves. This is the energy of pruning and simplification, of surrendering what has reached its natural conclusion so that something new can take form. It's not a punishment, but a return to balance: the sea reclaiming what it's time to transform.
As the tide recedes, it draws away fear and attachment, the desperate clinging to what has already gone still. Resisting endings only delays the inevitable and magnifies the pain. Death asks for honesty about what is finished and the grace to let it be. Each withdrawal of the tide leaves space for something new to wash in, if we allow it. This card teaches that closure is not destruction; it's the first condition for growth. Let the old chapter sink gently below the waves. What remains will be lighter, more transparent, and ready for renewal. The sea will always return, different each time, but constant in its rhythm, and so will you.
