Secrets of Romani Fortune-Telling: Divining with Cards, Palmistry, Tea Leaves, and More

In Secrets of Romani Fortune-Telling, Paulina Stevens and Jezmina Von Thiele share the knowledge and personal experiences of being raised to be fortune-tellers. They share divination methods, tools, and techniques that have been created, adapted, or popularized by the Roma, including card reading, palmistry, dream divination, and tea-leaf and coffee reading. They share exercises to strengthen your intuition and discover your natural gifts, and explain how divination helps with shadow work, blockages, and self-awareness.

＂Readers will gain a solid grounding in Romani divination practices and Romani spirituality. While much of our culture remains closed to outsiders, Jezmina and Paulina continue their mission of building bridges between the Romani and other cultures and helping others appreciate our beautiful, diverse traditions. Lachi buti, phenja! (Good work, sisters!)＂
--Caren Gussoff Sumption, author of So Quick Bright Things Come to Confusion and Three Songs for Roxy

Fortune-telling is both a job and a spiritual practice. The authors, cohosts of the Romanistan podcast, introduce the history of the Romani people and their infamous relationship to fortune-telling. Secrets of Romani Fortune-Telling features additional resources, enabling readers to further explore Romani culture and spiritual practices.

Jezmina Von Thiele (they/she) is a writer, educator, performer, and fortune-teller in their mixed Sinti Romani tradition. Their poetry, fiction, and nonfiction has been published in Prairie Schooner, The Kenyon Review Online, Narrative Magazine, and elsewhere under the name Jessica Reidy. Jezmina reads tarot, palms, and tea leaves online as well as in person at Deadwicks Ethereal Emporium in Portsmouth, NH. They also teach classes and workshops on divination, spiritual wellness, and the creative arts. Jezmina often tells fortunes and performs poetry with The Poetry Brothel, Boston’s premiere immersive literary event. Jezmina is also cohost of Romanistan, a podcast celebrating Romani culture, and owner and operator of the online vintage Etsy shop, Evil Eye Edit. Jezmina is based in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Paulina Stevens grew up in an insular Romani-American family, destined to leave school, marry young, and become a fortune-teller. By age seventeen, her fate was sealed--until she decided to leave it all behind. Paulina is the subject of the podcast Foretold. Hosted by Los Angeles Times reporter Faith Pinho, the podcast follows Paulina as she navigates the consequences of her decision to leave her community and redefine her identity. The cohost of Romanistan, a podcast celebrating Romani culture, Paulina is based in Los Angeles.