We recently connected with Pamela Steele and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Pamela, thanks for joining us today. Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?

When the tarot came into my life, my inner artist immediately began planning to expand the standard 78-card protocol to include card images that would bring the existing format into our 21st-century society. Twenty years later, the opportunity presented itself and I began working on my first tarot deck. After many trials, tribulations, and false starts, I sold my house and self-published the first edition of the Steele Wizard Tarot. Upon introducing the deck to the community at my first divination event, I was immediately branded a “heretic” by some for having the audacity to change the format. Later, I got many apologies and glowing reviews, but at the time, my belief in what was accomplished brought out the “Mama Bear” who was ready and willing to protect and promote her “offspring” (tarot cards) to any nay-sayers.
I hope after the fact, what I’ve accomplished will continue to bring tarot and other divination arts out of the shadows and into mainstream society for all to receive the authentic guidance their innate inner divinity offers.

Pamela, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

From my earliest memories, I was a seer with an affinity for art and healing. We moved often, on average once a year, so I had no community “roots” which evolved into not understanding most of the people I interacted with. My grandma was my “person” and guided me through those early years assuring me that I would eventually find a way to communicate with others. By my late 20s, we moved to a small rural community in central US where I met a woman who became my life-long best friend. For the first month of our friendship, we had multiple in-depth discussions about spirituality, magic, and art. During a road trip for company supplies, she and I ended up in Fort Worth TX. The supplies were not ready, and since she was from that area, we spent a couple of days exploring. One of the first places she took me was a Bell, Book, and Candle store. Upon entering, there was a glass display case of about 10-12 tarot decks. She gestured at the cards and said, “Pick one.” I looked at her, frowned, and asked, “Why do I need one of those?” She took my face in both of her hands, stared into both of my eyes, and replied, “Because you need a visible means of prophecy so you stop freaking people out.” I chose what is known as the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck. When we got back to our motel room, I laid all of the cards out on my side of the room and remarked, “Where are the rest of them?”
She bolted over and quickly scanned the deck. Then she stated, “They’re all there.”
I argued, “But there’s no card for young women, or absolute truth, or shadow work, or…” That’s when she cut me off and said, “Just read the damned things. You’ll figure it out.”
Over the next few months, I realized that working with tarot gave me insights into human behavior, motivations, and emotions that were not only enlightening but were exactly what I needed. The tarot became my Rosetta Stone to unravel the intricacies of understanding humanity and ultimately, myself.
The Steele Wizard Tarot was my first divination creation. It took 9 months to complete. Although it follows the Rider-Waite-Smith protocol, many if not most find the images much easier to relate to.
It is the Language of the Soul.
Tarot offers those who journey the ability to:
Hold the Keys to Self-Knowledge.
Unlock the Mysteries of your Personal Reality.
Begin the Journey to Self-Discovery, Self-Empowerment, ​& Self-Mastery.
I also created a tarot for beginners, young ones, and those who read for young people titled the “Wizard’s Pets Tarot-the ABCs” There is no nudity or violence, but strictly adheres to the RWS protocol.
My most recent contribution is the Eternal Seeker Oracle. It was inspired by the tarot’s major arcana and like the Steele Wizard, takes the Seeker beyond duality into the realm of pure spirit to help remove the artificial barriers we have built between body, mind, and soul.
The readings I provide offer the clients options and advice to achieve their goals.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

Oh, how times have changed. I had spent years showing art at a variety of SciFi-Fantasy conventions across the US and Canada. I specialized in fantasy and often won awards for Best of Show or Best Cartoon. That all came crashing down when my ex and I separated and he sued me for 50% of my copyrights. Because of the statute of limitations, I had to put that aspect of my art aside for 7 years and focus on other creative endeavors.
Fast forward fifteen years and I began to seriously work on creating a tarot deck. Once that was accomplished, the original publishing company reneged on the contract but I still had to spend a few years and jumped through numerous hoops to reclaim my copyright to the art. By 2004, I had all of my ducks in a row and proceeded to apply to various other publishers. They all told me either the deck wasn’t worth printing or they’d be happy to hold it for a couple of years before deciding. I graciously declined and realized that what some publishers were telling me didn’t ring true for my inner being. I began exploring self-publishing and hit multiple brick walls. It was a monumental quest. Educating myself about copyrights, bar codes, registering with the Library of Congress, printers, card stock, and on the list went. Eventually, I found a playing card company based in Florida that went by the name, “Cards R Us.” After calling their number, a warm male voice answered with, “Hello, thank you for calling Cards R Us. My name is Charles. How can I help you?” I replied with an introduction and asked, “Would your company be interested in printing a tarot card deck?” He immediately said, “We’d be happy to. What’s a tarot card?”
Next came the challenge of getting funding to print. I had multiple offers from others to finance the project, but wasn’t comfortable with the prospects. That’s when the Voice in my head told me to “Put your money where your mouth is.” So, I sold my house, banked the profits, and moved in with a friend so I wasn’t homeless.
In early 2005, I flew to Orlando to attend the International New Age Trade Show and met with Charles to deliver a CD of the deck for printing.
By the time the deck went to print, Charles had read the companion book and had a working knowledge of tarot. He had also expanded his company to include a tarot division and hired a graphic artist to run that department. To date, they have multiple decks produced by multiple artists and a thriving tarot printing business.
They also printed the first and second editions of the Steele Wizard and the edition of the Wizard’s Pets Tarot.
I look back on my decision to sell the acreage I loved and had been home for years to finance what I believed in my soul to be the way forward.
Today, I manage a Tarot Deck Creators (founded in 2011) group on social media to help others avoid the pitfalls I encountered. Times have certainly changed with crowdfunding and print-on-demand options.
But I wouldn’t change a millisecond of a heartbeat to get here and now. The journey was informative and enlightening, and I am very proud of my card “children.”

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The beauty of art is it truly is the Language of the Soul. How many people have stood in front of the “Mona Lisa” or Michaelangelo’s “David” or any of the masterpieces past and present and felt something they cannot put into words? Another view is, how many of us speak the native language of the artist or the creator? I don’t speak Italian, Dutch, French, or Gaelic (to name a few and the few words I know in Spanish don’t count either) but I know exactly how viewing the genius creations of the masters makes both my heart and my soul sing.
This is one of the aspects of tarot and other divination modalities that make them so special. No one has to speak the language of the human, we just need to listen to the language our souls are speaking.
For example, I’m a mom. When my first baby was born over 50 years ago, there was that instant bonding moment where I felt “something” wash over me and every emotion available descended at once. I knew I would crawl to China on broken glass to keep that little one safe, happy, and loved. There are no words to accurately describe what I felt, but there it is. That feeling increased when my second child was born.
That is what great art does to various degrees.
There are no words to describe the experience of being able to create art that spans language, age, and culture. It simply is a Gift that I treasure.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tarotbypamelasteele.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tarot_by_pamela_steele/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pamela.phillips.steele/ https://www.facebook.com/TarotReadingbyPamela/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/SteeleWizard
• Youtube: @tarotbypamelasteele

Image Credits
Red Feather Publishing MBS