Hello
My name is Joseph Stretch. I am a writer, artist and teacher based in the UK. I have a BA degree in English and Creative Writing from Royal Holloway University of London, and an MA in Creative Writing, also from RHUL. As a reader and writer, I have long been drawn to the storytelling qualities of Tarot and the hidden depths of its symbolism.
Stretch Tarot has been one of my hobbies since 2016, but I have ambitions for it to grow into something more. You've met me at an exciting time!
My Story
I can't quite place when I first heard about Tarot, but as a child I was always drawn to magic. Whether that was in stories about witches and wizards, or stage magicians playing card tricks, I was enchanted by the fantasy that there could be unseen forces at play in our world. In my teenage years, I started reading about spirituality and the occult, and that is when my facination with Tarot began.
My first deck was a second hand copy of the Rider Waite Smith (which remains my favourite to this day) and in researching which deck to buy, I was amazed by how many different designs were out there, and the seed was planted that one day I might make my own.
As I set about learning to read the Tarot, I decided to create my own cards as a method to help me engage with and remember their symbolism. It was a huge project, and roughly two transformative years later, I had created The Stretch Tarot and decided to share it with the world. With crowdfunding through Kickstarter, I printed the first edition of the deck and set up this website to distribute it. Stretch Tarot was born.
Now, I am inspired to help others to connect to the Tarot as I have through their own intuition, creativity and art.
My Philosophy
What keeps me coming back to Tarot time and time again are its endless possibilities. The cards can be shuffled and rearranged to uncover new layers of meaning, and they speak to us in a language of mysterious but profound symbolism which can be interpreted in numerous ways. Add to that the sheer quantity of different deck designs and the ideas added by artists over the centuries, the Tarot becomes an inexhaustiable subject.
When I introduced Tarot into my life, it had a considerable impact on the way I view the world, those around me, and myself. The patterns encoded in its structure and imagery are like a blueprint for life which grows more complex and rich the more it is studied.
I believe that the Tarot is a powerful tool for meditation and personal growth which does not require psychic powers to understand, just a little creativity. By living with the cards and engaging with them through journalling, creative writing and art, you will begin to see their full potential.