One of the most taboo hobbies I’ve dabbled in was tarot cards. The seemingly harmless card deck has been frowned upon due to its fortune-telling properties and occultist imagery. I am not an avid reader even though I do have my own deck, but I use it for a reason.
A friend introduced me to the tarot when we were freshmen, and I started reading in my sophomore year. The deck I still use was gifted to me on my birthday. But I watched celebrity card readings on YouTube and thought it was simply a fun hobby to do when I was bored. For the most part, it took me away from my phone. I never saw the cards as a fortune-telling device. Honestly, they have no power. I noticed that the “objective” readings my friend did were largely influenced by her own biases, as much as she claimed they were not. So I only use the cards as a framing device for friends who are in situations they don’t have a full understanding of. I also rarely read on myself because my personal bias will, obviously, be more apparent.
Actually, I lied. I’ve known about the tarot cards from The Secret Language of Birthdays book, which ascribes one card of the Major Arcana to each day of the month, and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, where the powers in the third arc are named after the 22 Major Arcana cards. The card meanings fascinated me along with the artwork. I like seeing different artists’ interpretations of the Rider-Waite system, whether be through artwork or photography. Other systems exist as well, but I prefer Rider Waite since that’s the one most popular culture is familiar with.
In the bookish space, I found that a lot of people like tarot reading. So why am I still hesitant to talk about it? There are a few reasons. Tarot gets a bad rap because of horror flicks like Tarot (2024), shrouding the hobby in demonic forces and bad luck. Religious entities also believe that tarot and other divination tools bring you closer to the demonic realm. This is not true at all because it’s just a card deck. Without someone holding and shuffling the cards, the Tarot is nothing but large pieces of cardstock. And if you actually look at the original artwork for the Rider-Waite tarot specifically, you will notice that there is an awful lot of biblical imagery. The Hierophant, The Lovers, The Tower, and Judgement in the Major Arcana all pull from images of the Christian Bible. Moreover, the tarot has been around for a very long time as, get this, a card game!
Indeed, tarot gets its name from tarocchi, a 15th century card game originating from Italy. It was only several centuries after that the cards became associated with divination after English and French occultists got their hands on the decks and began ascribing meanings to each card. Many faithful, including my friend, use the decks as a way to connect better with their deity. I’m not going to say whether this is the correct way to use the deck because everyone uses it for their own purposes. I just believe we should give the cards more grace than just “they’re evil.”
I only read tarot when people ask me to nowadays. Because yes, it is fun, but there are also downsides. One, you have to memorize or familiarize yourself with SEVENTY-EIGHT MEANINGS! That is a lot and especially if you’re in school. You’re bound to forget. Oh, and let’s not fail to mention that everyone has a slightly altered interpretation of each card, so good luck trying to find a concrete meaning for ALL of the cards! Another and more serious issue is dependency. I don’t believe in cards or astrology dictating whom you should marry or how you dress or the workout routine you do or anything like that. It’s fun to learn that you and your partner are compatible on an astrological level, but I worry about those who rely too much on it. Just as one can become overdependent on drugs, tarot addiction is real. Propagating nonsense like tarot is an evil thing only worsens the likelihood of an addiction developing because it gives the tarot way more power than it actually holds: zero. If tarot should continue to grow in popularity and not remain a taboo hobby, we need to present it as a tool, not something with cosmic power. The cards only have as much power as the dealer, after all.
I’m just thankful that I live in a world where open discourse like this can take place.
This was written by our contributing writer, Lauren DeSantis.
Image Source: Unsplash, petr sidorov
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