Romanistan
The authors of Secrets of Romani Fortune Telling present: Romanistan! Do you love rebels? Do you want to live in a place where outcasts shine their brightest? Welcome to Romanistan! We're your friendly neighborhood Gypsies, celebrating Romani identity and outcast culture, and practicing good diplomatic relations with other marginalized communities.
We love the rebels who are living their truth, even if it clashes with tradition. We also love tradition and honoring our roots. This podcast is for everyone who loves and supports Roma & related groups, and anyone who feels like a misfit and wants to uplift others to create a beautiful community.
We feature pioneers in culture, fashion, art, literature, music, activism, cuisine, and everything good. We adore the intersections of gender, sexuality, spirituality, ability, and identity. We cover all topics, from the difficult to the glorious. Let's sit crooked and talk straight.
Hosted by Paulina Stevens and Jezmina Von Thiele. We reclaim the slur Gypsy, but if you aren’t Romani, we prefer you don't use it. xoxo.
P.S. The Romani people are a diasporic ethnic group originally from northwest India, circa the 10th century. Now, Roma live all over the globe, and due to centuries of oppression, slavery, genocide, and other atrocities, Roma are still fighting for basic human rights. We seek to raise awareness of who Roma are, and highlight Romani resilience, creativity, & culture.
Romanistan
Tarot for the week of September 15th, 2025
Big Hermit energy this week. How can we avoid self sabotage in the week ahead? Plus, a personal story from Paulina, all in this weeks tarot forecast!
Thank you for listening to Romanistan podcast.
You can find us on Instagram, TikTok, BlueSky, and Facebook @romanistanpodcast, and on Twitter @romanistanpod. To support us, Join our Patreon for extra content or donate to Ko-fi.com/romanistan, and please rate, review, and subscribe. It helps us so much.
Follow Jez on Instagram @jezmina.vonthiele & Paulina @romaniholistic.
You can get our book Secrets of Romani Fortune Telling, online or wherever books are sold. If you love it, please give us 5 stars on Amazon & Goodreads. Visit https://romanistanpodcast.com for events, educational resources, merch, and more.
Email us at romanistanpodcast@gmail.com for inquiries.
Romanistan is hosted by Jezmina Von Thiele and Paulina Stevens
Conceived of by Paulina Stevens
Edited by Viktor Pachas, Bianca, Dia Luna
With Music by Viktor Pachas
And Artwork by Elijah Vardo
Welcome to Romanistan. We're your friendly neighborhood gypsies. I'm Paulina and I'm Jez, and we are here with you for the week of. This happens to me every single time. For the week of September 15th 2025, we have a tarot reading for you.
Speaker 2:Yay, we know the dates.
Speaker 1:I don't. I, honestly, can barely count over five. It's not that I don't know my numbers, it's that I lose interest.
Speaker 2:No, I never know the dates.
Speaker 1:Listeners, we hope you've been having a good week and that you learned a lot from the devil last week. And here we are with some new cards for love, money and guidance. We have the seven of swords for love.
Speaker 2:Yikes.
Speaker 1:We have the hermit for money and we have the hanged man for overall guidance. So let's let's talk about the seven of swords for love. Paulina, where to start?
Speaker 2:So I feel like I think we've actually had this conversation before, where we were, I don't know, talking about like the nine of swords or something, and I like the worst has been done. But, like, when I think about the seven of swords, I feel like it's more about I don't know like needing to watch your back and I really I hate having to say that in a love, you know like context, but it really makes me feel like it happens all the fucking time. You guys, okay, and I'm very passionate about this.
Speaker 2:Everybody like I know like that. People are just really, really horrible and I don't want to sound like a sour, you know what I mean psychopath but I am but basically be careful.
Speaker 2:You know that you know watch your friends, watch your husband watch watch your neighbors watch everybody like on on a 100 degree, like people negatively either deceiving you, lying to you, especially lovers. It happens a lot. You know, sometimes you might be seeing someone talking to someone like I don't know if you're into monogamy or not, but like if you are, watch your back. That was just something that like came to my mind like I've definitely had a lot of that before. You know, been cheated on a lot and lied to a lot, and it happens. And especially family as well, like betrayal from family just hits on another fucking level like 100. Yeah, like it really hurts, it really sucks. Friends as well, like oh my gosh, friend betrayal. But basically I feel like it's more of like watch your back or something may have already happened. Like you might be talking too much to someone, like sharing, giving too much of your energy and like just take a step back before something like gets out of hand. Like only trust people that you really trust.
Speaker 1:Basically yeah, this is one of those cards that it's like yeah, we should really talk about the big meaning of it, which is be careful, don Don't share too much, keep an eye on the people around you. There's another way that this card can show up too. So if you are not experiencing betrayal and we hope that you are not, and betrayals could be big and small too right, they can be peccadilloes, like the little sins. They can be big ass sins, but also self betrayal is a part of this card. So if no one around you is being sketchy and I think that this card is a great reminder that if it feels off, it is off and just follow up on that feeling and you can, even if you don't have a great reason for just having that sinking pit in your stomach, which is different than overthinking something or like being anxious about something, but that like deep knowing feeling. You have to listen to that and sometimes you know you might have that for folks who are dating and going on lots of first dates, you might already have that very well honed where the person doesn't even really have to speak for more than five minutes and you're just like, like and that's a no and you're right next.
Speaker 1:So this is kind of leading me into self-betrayal, where it's like when you are not trusting your gut and you're like, oh, but let me just give them a chance, or oh, I don't know, maybe I'm being too hard or whatever this math be right now, guys, yeah, in my head, you gotta listen to your gut, and this can also be around self-sabotage and love. Are you doing anything that is cuckoo bananas, even if you aren't doing your best? Are you acting wild? Are you doing anything that is making it hard to connect with people or hard to trust people or build trust with people? Are you sabotaging? And so I think that this can be an interesting card to sit with. Don't get too freaked out this week. Don't feel like this means that everyone around you is, you know, pulling a Julius Caesar party for you, but it's just like, yeah, trust your gut, be aware, if something feels off, look into it and get out of your own way. We have the Hermit for money, which is an interesting pairing. What do you think about that?
Speaker 2:I really do feel like it is very interesting. What did we have last week for money?
Speaker 1:It kind of makes. We had the Eight of Cups, which is not that different from the Hermit. Yeah, it's like there's a theme of space 100% Stepping away.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it totally feels the same. I feel like, basically, it's like having to do the same thing, like withdraw from the world in order to go into your shell and like do some real deep soul searching, like you have to take a step back in order to take a step inside your own mind. And I really feel like it definitely resonates so much with the last one, where now it's like okay, you sacrifice the things that no longer resonate with you, but like now what? And so maybe you're just sitting there kind of like lost, like okay, like you know, I quit the shitty job, but like where do I go now? Or what do I do? And I feel like this is now the chance for you to reach inside and, yeah, just like, touch some grass literally.
Speaker 2:I know that's just like that sometimes lame advice, but it really is the best advice. Be in nature a little bit, be in your own mind. It's okay to like access the anti-social part of you. If you're not always 100 anti-social. If you are, that's great. Yeah, that's kind of how I feel about it, you know, but don't let yourself get too isolated. Yeah, take some time. What do you think? The hermit?
Speaker 1:can be such a good encouragement for people who want to branch out on their own and be entrepreneurs, consultants. If you want to do something a little on the side that's really just for you, or your own self-led work, I think that can. It can make you think about how you can be more independent at work and what that looks like for you. It can also be for sometimes working from home. If you've been wanting to make that transition, maybe this is a week for you to do that or ask about that, and so I would say this is a good week for solo enterprises, and I totally agree with what you said about like looking inward for what to do next around money and career, and maybe you need a little peace and solitude and meditation for that.
Speaker 1:I also enjoy how the hermit is holding up the lantern, which represents enlightenment, and the idea is that when you are taking this time for spiritual solitude, you find enlightenment, and the hermit is someone who operates outside of society, so it's possible that you might have good luck with endeavors that are a little like off the beaten path, a little outside of the system, but it also might suggest that you need to do something that feels spiritually fulfilling, because the hermit is in the cave. You know, if we're thinking about hermits over the centuries, what hermits have been up to? Lots of things. Sometimes it's in the woods just doing it up hermit style. Other times it's like illuminating a manuscript or working on something sacred, and so this might also be about sacred work for you, and sometimes we have the opportunity to let our sacred work also be financially supportive for us, and you don't have to monetize everything you do, but maybe you can monetize something that's meaningful to you this week.
Speaker 2:You do have to monetize everything you do. If you live in America, though, I mean I do.
Speaker 1:That's what I do. I'm trying to give healthy advice, but yeah.
Speaker 2:We don't have time for that right now.
Speaker 1:Fair point Monetize everything you do this week forever. Then we have the hanged man as the overall uh guidance man.
Speaker 2:They hang men whenever this comes up. It's like don't spend time and money on things you think are gonna make you happy and then they don't. And yeah, like that's my take on it, and like the money falling out of the pockets. It's like the money represents everything, like it's the time, the energy. Don't take the disrespect from yourself, though. Your time is extremely valuable, and I feel like connection is valuable, human connection is valuable, conversations are valuable, and our work, our purpose, just all the beauty in the world.
Speaker 2:And I feel like the hangman can be about just having to sacrifice some things in order to gain some new, better things, and we can't sacrifice that much. Like we don't have a lot to give up. If you're like us, you know what I mean, you know what I'm saying Like we don't have everything to give up and to sacrifice, and so just kind of like reach in and like do a little self inventory check and like where can I put more energy into myself? Or wear this, or where can I like stop spending? To spending is a problem for me, or wear this, or where can I like stop spending too? Spending is a problem for me, and especially when you don't have it to spend. Like, how am I spending money when it's not even there? Like what is this?
Speaker 1:And so right.
Speaker 2:I also feel like it's a little bit about, in general, preparing for the future. Think about the future you and like, like. What can you do to not like take out of those pockets? You know what I mean, whether that be emotionally, physically, financially, whatever. But what do you think?
Speaker 1:that is so smart. I don't know if we've ever talked about the hanged man before and you have a different take on it than I do, and I love it, and I also think it relates so well to the hermit, because the hermit is outside of the system. It's not materialistic at all. This is a week to keep your eyes on your loved ones. Lay low, don't spend money, just be careful. Everyone not like anything bad's gonna happen, but yeah, it's like it's a good time to just like be um cautious with your money, your time, your love, everything and maybe be protective of it. That's so smart. I also think of the hanged man as a card of spiritual surrender, where it's like when you've done everything that you can, you just have to really trust that things are going to work out.
Speaker 1:The hanged man can be in limbo and in some illustrations it looks like he's tied himself up or they've tied themselves up. Other ones it looks like they're there, but the expression is serene and you don't know who's been tied. But the idea is that you have done everything you can. You kind of have to give it over to a higher power. If you don't believe in a higher power, that's totally fine. You can give it up to like Kermit the Frog or your wise self or whatever you want, but the idea is just that it's not all resting on your shoulders once you've done everything, and I think that's why some people find the idea of a higher power comforting. It's like there's forces that we can work with. I think you don't have to, you know, be spiritual to be into tarot. You can look at it as a kind of Jungian concept, but even in recovery programs they kind of have you give something up to the higher power. God can, in AA, can be God, or it can stand for group of drunks, as my friend told me once.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so the hanged man might just be like have some faith and surrender to the process right now, and especially if this week is bringing up kind of sticky things for you, you do have to surrender and just believe it's gonna be okay, things are gonna get better. We have bumps in the road. Hang in there Like this is your sign not to give up and to just be tender right now. Be kind to yourself. And I also like how the hanged man often encourages us to give up bad habits or cycles or make changes that are a little hard, but they're worth the payoff.
Speaker 1:Like you were saying, investing in your future self around money that can also be another ways to like. You know, this is a good week, maybe to quit smoking or do something that you feel like is important for yourself or your well-being. That's not easy to do, but so worth it, because the hanged man kind of reminds me of a chrysalis, like there's a butterfly transformation happening and you know caterpillars are cute and butterflies are beautiful. By far the most interesting part is the chrysalis when you're melting around your own heart and it's mushy and disgusting and overwhelming, but that's definitely the coolest part. So if you feel like you're there, that's good.
Speaker 2:I really like that. I do feel mushy Me too. I don't know why, but I kind of want to share this little story just because I feel like it.
Speaker 2:I was at the street fair that I always go to like every week and I ended up like just stopping and listening to some music.
Speaker 2:I was with my partner and we were just like listening to music with this one like guy playing on the street, and then by the time he was playing like the whole street for his clothes, everything had closed and I was just thinking like OK, this was like just such a great way to spend the night. And then, as we were leaving, pulling out of the parking lot, so I have to rewind again a little bit, have to rewind again a little bit. There was a guy that had got jumped like right in front of me in this library parking lot, like where everyone parks to get to the street for at another night on the street for like a couple months ago, and it was really, really sad and I was like I don't even know if he wants me to call the cops because like what, if he doesn't want to see the cops, like you know what I mean like I don't even know, especially these days with ice and all that nonsense, totally exactly.
Speaker 2:And so I was just like I saw these two people like beat the absolute shit out of him and it was like really sad and traumatizing. Yeah, so I'm always like have like a low-key, like weird little memory whenever I pull into that library, into that library. So now, walking back, and like I get into the car and as I'm pulling out, there's a huge group of people like running and yelling. And then I hear like like boom, boom, boom, boom and so like I am for sure, like you know, someone shot a gun, and like we live near a military base and like I'm just like super scared and like freaking out and my heart is like racing, racing and I'm just like driving the car.
Speaker 2:Now there's cops all over, by the way, like I don't even know what's going on. There's cops everywhere and I don't know what had happened. I think I like ran a stop sign or something, like I was so scared. And then my boyfriend was like like what are you doing? And then I'm like you didn't hear those gunshots and see all the people running and he was just like like he's like they were just like playing, running, like chasing each other or something. And I'm like what? And he's like, yeah, I was watching and I'm like all the cops and the gunshots and he's like the cops were just around because of the fair and all those, all of that.
Speaker 2:He's like I think it was like one of those really old, like cars or something, and I'm like, oh my god this is like crazy that I'm panicking so much and I don't know why I had to share that, but like it just makes me think about like my perspective of everything is just so skewed, you know, like I'm always preparing for the worst and like sometimes don't go overboard with it, like that's all I have to tell people is like I, when I because when I say things like yeah, like prepare for your future, so blah, blah, blah Like don't be absolutely crazy about it, but like think about it ah, yeah, you know and that story also makes me want to share some tenderness for you where it's like, yeah, it makes sense why you were freaked out, because you're traumatized, like you saw something so upsetting there and your, your body is on high alert every time you go to that place.
Speaker 1:So like, of course, you're, like you know, ready for it. And yeah, the hanged man is an interesting card because it's also about perspective. Like the person is hanging upside down. You're seeing things from a new perspective and I think, be gentle with yourselves everyone. If you do freak out, we're right there with you, it's okay. You can come back from it and see things in a new perspective and maybe you won't freak out next time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh, crazy, crazy. Well, we love you guys so much and thank you so much for listening to us. And, um, you guys are also my therapist. One-sided therapy.
Speaker 1:Yes, we love you so much and check out our book Secrets of Romani Fortune Telling, if you haven't already. Give us a five-star review on Amazon and or Goodreads. For good karma, we do give out blessings to everyone who gives us five stars, and you can rate us on this podcast too. Wherever you're listening to podcasts Immediate good karma, basically.
Speaker 2:Yes, thank you. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1:All right, have a great week everyone. Thanks for being here, bye, bye.
Speaker 2:Thank you for listening to Romanistan Podcast.
Speaker 1:You can find us on Instagramiktok blue sky and facebook at romanistan podcast and on twitter at romanistan pod to support us, join our patreon for extra content or donate to our coffee fundraiser, ko-ficom backslash romanistan, and please rate, review and subscribe. It helps us so much.
Speaker 2:Follow Jez on Instagram at jasminavantila and Paulina at Romani Holistic. You can get our book Secrets of Romani Fortune Telling online or wherever books are sold. Visit romanistempodcastcom for events, educational resources, merch and more. Email us at romanistanpodcast at gmailcom for inquiries.
Speaker 1:Romanistan is hosted by Jasmina Vantila and Paulina Stevens, conceived of by Paulina Stevens, edited by Victor, bianca and Dia Luna, with music by Victor and artwork by Elijah Vardo.