If someone told you they could tell your future using a deck of cards, you would be skeptical at best. It seems too good to be true. Seeing what is coming next has been one of humanity’s biggest fantasies. Being told that it is possible to see the future causes feelings of doubt and even malice. Believing in mysticism such as tarot cards opens people up to taunts such as, “You don’t believe in that bullshit, do you?” and “I thought you were smarter than that.”. These sentiments come from a misunderstanding of tarot.
Tarot cards have been around since the 1430s. Though early tarot mystics chose to believe that the captivating deck of cards first arrived in Europe from Egypt, maybe China, or another place Europeans liked to think was inhabited by mystery. In reality, tarot’s roots lie in Italy. The deck gained popularity as a parlor game played during the Renaissance. This game was called carta de trifoni and each card was hand painted with characters meant to symbolize different situations. The cards were used to tell stories and the player who told the best story won the game.
It was not until the 18th century that tarot cards began to take on a divine meaning. A French occultist named Jean-Baptiste Aliette led the tarot mysticism movement, falsely claiming the cards derived from ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and religious practices. In 1789, Aliette published a book on cartomancy along with a new deck of tarot cards to match. This made it easy for everyone to try their hand at the practice of card reading. Despite Aliette’s erroneous beliefs, he is credited with the introduction of one of the most important aspects of tarot card reading: the Major and Minor Arcana.
The Major Arcana is made up of 22 cards, including The Lovers, The Devil, The Sun, and Death. These are the “big cards” whose iconic images have been popularized; their designs commonly seen on trendy tapestries and t-shirts being sold at Urban Outfitters. The Major Arcana cards are important because they are meant to hold the big secrets of the universe used to guide the spirit. The Minor Arcana is made up of four suits: wands, swords, pentacles, and cups. Though you might not be able to find a shirt with any of these cards plastered on it at the mall, they are equally as important as the Major Arcana. This is because they are believed to hold the small secrets of the universe that you can use to guide your everyday life.
In 1909, an occultist named Arthur Waite sought to produce a new tarot deck. Waite was a member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a secret society devoted to the occult, mystic, and paranormal. The new cards featured beautiful illustrations by artist Pamela Colman Smith, a fellow member of the Order of the Golden Dawn. Waite commissioned publisher William Rider to produce the deck and after a year of work, the deck was released in 1910. Over time, these cards received widespread attention because of their attractive designs and symbolism and became tarot as we know it. Waite, and Smith created the deck with magic in mind, strongly believing in the mystical powers of tarot. These beliefs were heavily influenced by the teachings of the Order of the Golden Dawn. Together Waite, Rider, and Smith gave us cards that act as frames for uncovered secrets, heavy with symbolism.
The basic formula for tarot reading is: 1. Ask a question. Some of the most popular are “What does this week look like for me?” “What does my spirit need to know?” and “What’s coming towards me in love?”, of course. But there really is no limit to what you can ask the cards-or rather, the spirit guiding the cards. 2. Shuffle the cards. The cards can be shuffled in any way. While taking the smooth, firm cards in your hands take deep breaths and clear your mind. 3. Draw your cards. You can draw as many or as little as you want, however many it takes for the reading to become clear. The only official thing about tarot reading is the basic meanings of the cards which are the ones that the colorful Rider-Waite-Smith deck have popularized. But even these meanings are wide open to the interpretation of each individual reader.
What started as a fun card game has become one of the most popular fortune telling tools used today. Because of their popularity, tarot cards have become incredibly accessible with thousands of companies printing their own cards with unique designs. You can even print your own personalized deck. Though tarot reading has always been popular, especially in places like San Francisco, there has been a recent resurgence in its popularity among the younger generation. On TikTok, the tag #tarot currently has 4.9 billion views. On Instagram, 11.3 million posts have been tagged with #tarot. There are YouTube channels dedicated to giving full tarot readings to the viewers. If you check the app store, you’ll find it flooded with tarot card reading programs. I personally know ten people who have bought their first deck of tarot cards in this past month.
This surge in popularity happened the same time the world realized the Coronavirus pandemic was here to stay. According to studies conducted in 2020, mental wellness apps and mental health services have increased since the beginning of the pandemic. In a time of such uncertainty it makes sense for people to look for messages of assurance and positivity, even if they’re coming from a colorful deck of cards. Ever since time immemorable, human beings have been looking up at the stars, down at the grass, and into the fire for any signs from the divine, hoping for a glimpse of the future or even just for reassurance that everything is going to be okay. That reassurance is needed now more than ever, so how wrong is it to hear it in the shuffling of cards?
Comments