NAIDOC Week Tarot Reading: Wisdom from Whale, Spider, Moth + Blak Lyrics

Jul 9
3 min read

With lyrics from Blak artists woven into each message

This week’s reading is offered in honour of NAIDOC, using the Spirit Song Tarot. It’s a deck we’ve just introduced to our collection, and this time it spoke clearly. The three animals that appeared — Whale, Spider, and Moth — are all found on this land, which stood out given that not all the animals in this deck are. Each one holds cultural and ecological significance, and we wanted to acknowledge that presence without speaking over it.

✨ Pick a Card

A forest scene with dappled light and three tarot cards laid out at the bottom. Text at the top reads:
"A reading for reflection – NAIDOC Week
This week, we slow down. NAIDOC Week invites reflection on story, culture, and on the strength carried by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
This reading isn’t here to speak for those voices, it’s here to hold space alongside them.
An invitation to reflect.
Pick a card: One speaks to what’s been carried. One to what’s being woven. One to what softens and lets you heal."
Card 1 features a whale. Card 2, a spider. Card 3, a moth.

Each card is paired with a lyric from a Blak artist. The messages are our own, but the lyrics helped shape how we delivered them. We followed the feeling, the fire, the grief, the clarity and let each line guide the tone of the reading.

Below, you’ll find the expanded messages, a journaling prompt for each one, and a final note about where support is going this week.

Card One: The World – Whale

“Can’t stop me now, you can’t bring me down I’m on cloud 9, and I’m not coming down.” — Baker Boy, Cloud 9 listen here

A gentle ocean wave meets sand beneath a tarot card showing a whale.
Text beside it reads:
"The World – Fulfilment + Celebration
The World reflects completion. The quiet, steady arrival… the end of a cycle.
The Whale invites you to recognise the fullness of your journey. Lessons gathered, growth earned, and wholeness reclaimed.
Pause here and celebrate the distance you’ve travelled. Trust the ground beneath you and the space opening ahead."
At the bottom, a quote: “I honour where I stand.”

This card marks a turning point. A sense of wholeness after effort, a moment where things come full circle. Even if the outside world hasn’t acknowledged the shift, you can feel it. You’ve grown, moved forward, found something steady.

Whale carries the energy of depth and continuity. It sings of connection across time, of strength held quietly beneath the surface.

Baker Boy’s lyric matches this perfectly. There is power in standing tall in your joy. You don’t need to explain it or wait for permission. You’ve earned your place.

Reflection prompt:

What part of my journey am I ready to honour?

Card Two: Nine of Crystals – Spider

“Yeah, I’m still here boy I ain’t going nowhere sis Ima stay in the game and do my thang Until you meet my kids.” — Barkaa, Preach listen here

A spider card rests against a background of a glistening spiderweb.
Text reads:
"Nine of Crystals – Security + Abundance
The Nine of Crystals (Pentacles) speaks to foundations you’ve built, quiet strength beneath you, and resources within reach.
The Spider reminds you that security often grows from small, steady choices.
Your abundance need not shout. It holds you in quiet security. Let yourself feel the support you’ve woven."
At the bottom: “What I’ve built sustains me.”

Spider spins with intention. This card honours the slow, deliberate act of creating a life that holds you. You’re not rushing toward someone else’s version of success. You’re choosing to stay, to shape, to craft something solid beneath your own feet.

There’s wealth in the quiet. In each small thread. The Nine of Crystals reminds you that self-made security isn’t about isolation, it’s about trust in your own design. You’ve earned the right to take up space. To stay. To keep going.

Barkaa’s lyric feels like a backbone to this moment. It’s not defiance for show, it’s commitment to the future.

Reflection prompt:

What am I choosing to stay with, even when it’s hard? What kind of legacy am I leaving behind?

Card Three: Three of Feathers – Moth

"Tell me that I’m damaged If my wounds can’t fit your truth Then I’m leavin’ it abandoned.” — Miiesha, damaged listen here

A sunrise or sunset over a quiet lake with a winding path. The card shows a luminous moth.
Text reads:
"Three of Feathers – Release + Recovery
The Three of Feathers (Swords) invites release.
The Moth shows a moment to lay down what weighs heavy and to untangle grief, hurt, and lingering ache.
Recovery follows in its own time, arriving softly. It doesn’t demand urgency. It begins with space and quiet breath."
Quote: “I release what weighs me down.”

Moth reminds us that healing often happens in the shadows. The soft unravelling of what we’ve held in silence. This card opens space for release. Not to erase the hurt, but to ease the weight of carrying it alone.

You don’t have to make your wounds understandable to anyone else. Some truths live in the body, in the breath, in the quiet decisions we make to move forward. The Three of Feathers invites a quiet return to yourself, a loosening of what no longer belongs.

Miiesha’s lyric echoes that quiet strength. When someone else’s version of truth can’t hold your pain, you get to let it go. There’s power in leaving behind what won’t meet you.

Reflection prompt:

What part of my healing no longer needs outside approval? What grief is ready to be acknowledged and then released?

A forest waterfall and calm stream with text overlays.
"NAIDOC Week invites reflection and action.
Our Reclaimed Shelf supports Sisters Inside year-round, an organisation advocating for criminalised women and gender diverse people, disproportionately First Nations women.
This NAIDOC week, 15% of every order is donated to Sisters Inside."
Bold text at the bottom: “ALWAYS WAS, ALWAYS WILL BE.”

These cards hold memory, tension, and choice. A moment to pause, to listen more closely, to notice what patterns you’re weaving or leaving behind.

Each song was chosen because the words carry weight. These artists speak from lived experience, and their voices sit alongside the cards with power and clarity. Baker Boy, Barkaa, Miiesha — their lyrics offer something to sit with, something to feel.

If a card stayed with you, give it space. Write. Move. Let it linger.

This week, all tarot readings include an extra card from the Aboriginal Ancestral Wisdom Oracle.

Explore readings or view the archive.

With care,

Cat @LettersFromTheCards

Cards from the Spirit Song Tarot by Paulina Cassidy. Lyrics featured from Baker Boy, Barkaa, and Miiesha. Links to their songs are included above.