About Joanna

I’m Joanna Powell Colbert.

I’m a sacred artist, initiatory soul guide, creator of tarot decks, teacher, writer, retreat host. I open the gateway and hold space for people to step through to the next phase of their soul’s journey.

Aldermarsh bridge windyI come in the lineage of nature-based soul-rooted practices, Goddess spirituality, historical and contemporary tarot wisdom, plant spirit magic, sacred art-making, Circle Way council work, and archetypal / mythic knowings of the four directions and the eight-fold sacred wheel of life, death, and rebirth.

At my back stand the ancestors of my Welsh, Scottish, Irish, English, and Italian bloodlines, as well as those of Appalachia and the Ozarks. I call too on the ancestors of my heart, my holy helpers, the spirits of the land and sea where I live today, and the California coastline of my girlhood as well as my beloved human mentors and guides.

I’m not afraid to descend to the depths and emerge again with questions dripping in mystery.

I host retreats and teach ­courses and workshops on earth-­centered spirituality, the Sacred Feminine, seasonal practices, creative witchery, and using the tarot as a tool for inner guidance and self-­exploration.

I created the Gaian Tarot and the Pentimento Tarot, and co-created the Herbcrafter’s Tarot.

I walk with Heron

I find deep nourishment in the ideas presented in Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer and Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds by adrienne maree brown, as well as a perennial favorite, Storycatcher: Making Sense of Our Lives through the Power and Practice of Story by Christina Baldwin.

My politics are not separate from my spirituality; they rise from a common root. I cannot disentangle the two. I am not interested in a spirituality that bypasses social and environmental justice. Every day I learn more about how to ally and how to be a better ancestor.

I live on the edge of woods and lake near the shores of the Salish Sea in Bellingham, Washington, on the ancestral lands of the Coast Salish Lummi (Lhaq’temish) People and Nooksack (Nuxwsa’7aq) People. I am still deeply connected to the small island across the bay where I lived for twenty years and created three tarot decks.

Gaian Tarot cards

I am grandmother to a cherished granddaughter, and am rooting into my elder years. I am dedicated to the Ocean Mother in all Her guises. I’m a Capricorn Sun, Taurus Moon, and Taurus Rising. I use the pronouns she / her / hers.

Heron, Red-Winged Blackbird, Hummingbird, Wild Rose, Sweetgrass, Lavender, Thyme, Cottonwood, Cattail, and Cedar are my constant companions.

I invite you to take a walk with me through the woods, by the shore, through a field of lavender. I’ll call the circle. I’ll toss the cards for you. I will listen deeply as you speak your truth.

Let me teach you to make offerings and greet the four directions and the sacred center. Let me show you how to track the moon through her phases across the night sky. Let me help you decode the symbols of your dreams, the sacred imagery of the cards, and the wild wonders of the natural world. Let me show you the mystery hidden within a cottonwood twig, where “broken pieces reveal the stars of hope.” Let me remind you that the sacred Wheel of life, death, and renewal is always in motion. 

Come, step across the threshold into the rest of your life.