Meet DIA LUNA | Musician & Tarot Reader

We had the good fortune of connecting with DIA LUNA and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi DIA, what’s the most important lesson your business/career has taught you?
In my journey as an artist, musician, and tarot reader, I have been learning how to have faith in my own process, even when the results of my labor seem very small or far away. It is very tempting, especially in our current cultural landscape, to crave and even expect immediate results from whatever we are doing. However, creating quality art, building quality community or a quality business all take consistent time, effort and love. I think about gardening a lot, because there is a certain awe and protectiveness I feel when I see plants sprout from the soil, as tiny, delicate things that grow into their fullness over time. There is no way to rush the growth process. It happens when it happens in accordance to the environment and the way the plant is cultivated. With that in mind, I try to think about myself and my projects that way- as delicate creatures that need to be watered consistently with love, care, effort, that will eventually bloom in good time.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
For a long time, music ruled my identity and how I expressed myself creatively in the world. I released music under my own moniker, DIA LUNA and other collaborative projects like Nate Mars x Dia Luna, The Duchess and the Fox, and Superhuman Happiness, all in different genres. While I felt comfortable experimenting with different styles in music, I always felt a subtle pressure to define myself only as a musician, or risk being perceived as somehow unserious or uncommitted.

When the pandemic happened and I left NYC to live in LA, the move became an invitation to expand my definitions of myself and deepen some of the other interests I had previously neglected in pursuit of my musical goals. One of these interests was tarot. I had read tarot since I was fifteen, and often read for my friends and family. While tarot can still elicit certain fear and skepticism from some, my years of experience with it gave me faith in its ability to be a beautiful tool for self-discovery and understanding.

At the start of the new year, I was hunting for work, and I was hired to read tarot at a reputable crystal shop. Suddenly I was reading for clients consistently, working with the cards and seeing specific messages and symbols for each client. Not only did I feel inspired by how connected and accurate the readings were, but I came to realize that most of my contemporary heroes shared my multifaceted expressiveness. For example, my favorite astrologer, Rob Brezny, is a published author, an incredible poet and plays in a rock band. Adrienne Maree Brown, known primarily as an author and activist, also releases songs on Spotify, and is adored on Instagram for her exceptional curation of memes. It became clear to me that I could drop my self-imposed limitations and embody more of my talents with less fear. After all, I was in good company. That knowledge gave me the courage to launch my new tarot business, “Birds of Babylon Tarot,” to continue assisting clients as a tarot reader for private sessions and special events.

Interestingly enough, this journey also gave me the opportunity to actively find the parallels between tarot and music. Tarot is a method of communing with the subconscious in a language it understands. This allows me as a reader to help the person in front of me validate their feelings, consider different perspectives, and hopefully make space for greater understanding of their circumstances to occur, which in turn creates greater harmony in the world. Tarot is a bridge between people where experiences can be shared and held with empathy, and where we empower ourselves with meaning. This is also what exceptional music does. Both tarot and music involve telling a story, a parable of sorts, in service of a greater truth, one that can at times elude the confines of written or spoken language alone.

I am excited for this new chapter in my life, where I allow all the gifts I have been given their proper due. Ultimately, we’re not here to play small, or to fit into a narrow box, but to use everything at our disposal to help ourselves and each other to flourish spectacularly.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I really enjoy playing hostess for people coming into the city, particularly East Coast folks who haven’t had a taste yet of the glory LA has to offer. One of my favorite places is the Huntington Library Gardens, particularly the desert plant garden, which is teeming with alien-looking succulents and cacti. Around May the rose garden blooms and the smell is divine!

Since dance has made such a huge impact on me, I always encourage people to check out the free movement classes around the city. There’s Altajam hosted by my friend Jo, in Altadena, and other movement nights like Friday Night Funk at the Pieter Space in Boyle Heights. On the Westside, there’s JP’s Deep Dance class at Soho…it’s always revolving! The community is super supportive and kind, so don’t be afraid to get into it!

For mystical and occult things, I enjoy taking people to The Indigo Collective, which is an airy crystal shop in Pasadena where I read tarot. They have a ton of incredible workshops and even host a “Psychic Faire” on the last Saturday of every month where folks can try different reader’s and healer’s services for a lower price point.

Since I’m a musician, I always keep tabs on the shows going on in town. Lodge Room is a beautiful venue that used to be a Masonic Temple with great sound. Their restaurant, Checker Hall is stunning with delicious food. After shows there, I like popping over to Goldine to socialize and listen to DJs spinning vinyl. Goldiggers in Hollywood is another venue with great programming. If I’m really in the mood to let loose, especially on a weeknight, I’ll go to Shortstop in Echo Park to dance to their DJs.

Hollywood Forever Cemetery is quintessentially LA so I take a lot of visitors there as well. One of my favorite moments from last year was seeing Bomba Estereo play there on Halloween while walking among the incredible Dia de Los Muertos altars families had built for their loved ones. It was like being on a different planet. Even without the events, the grounds are stunning in the daytime. Along those lines, the Griffith Observatory is a must. Every time I go there it gives me the impression that I’ve been transported to Mount Olympus from the Greek myths.

For drinks, you cannot beat the vibe and drinks at Capri in Eagle Rock. So far I haven’t found a better martini on the Eastside. I rang in the New Year there and it was very sweet to see all the locals glammed up and enjoying themselves.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Wow, there are so many folks out there who have inspired me and supported me on my life journey. My whole family and many incredible friends, of course, my collaborator Dani who helps me create and expand! Since I’m still relatively new to LA, I would also like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the people who have helped me grow roots here, including a special group of gals I knew from NYC ( Meredith, Nicole & Tricia), my friend Jessica and her mother, Damaris, my guitarist, Jonathan, and my co-worker Sarah, as well as Jo Cobbett and the Eastside dance community who are so sweet and wonderful. This list is by no means exclusive though, I am truly fortunate to have an expansive network of gifted, loving people around me and I am deeply humbled by that.

Website: www.birdsofbabylontarot.com

Instagram: @birdsofbabylontarot

Other: IG: @birdsofbabylontarot youtube: @birdsofbabylontarot MUSIC: www.dialunamusic.com IG: @dialunamusic

Image Credits
Dani Gros