Is Tarot Magical?

Tarot has long been associated with the occult, the realm of witchcraft and paganism, mysticism, and magic.

So, is tarot actually magical tool?

I preface this discussion by saying that I am not here to step on anyone’s beliefs, faiths, spiritual practices, or any other kinds of ways of living. The views expressed in this article are my opinions based on my experiences. Like all people, I carry contradictory labels. I am an optimistic, intuitive, skeptic and scientific rationalist, open to practically any idea, even magic, if it feels right. This article is my subjective viewpoint and I’m not trying to change anyone’s mind or anything else.

I believe…

Tarot is what you make it. Tarot is what you want it to be.

A tarot deck comprises 78 pieces of card decorated with pretty pictures. Most decks we use have been mass produced in industrial printing facilities. 

Doesn’t sound magical or mystical, does it?

Over the centuries, the cards have been ascribed meanings, and those meanings have become fixed, with different readers and deck designers adding their own nuances.

Those 78 meanings and their combinations encapsulate human experience in a general sense. Most of us have gone through or will go through something that any arrangements of cards will speak to. Sometimes that can require some interpretive thinking.

“The benefits of the Tarot as an analytical system may outweigh its oracular use, as it allows the querent to distance him or herself from a situation, make a direct evaluation, and take charge of his or her own destiny.”

Anna-Marie Ferguson A Keeper Of Words: Legend, The Arthurian Tarot.

Tarot cards have no magic powers in themselves.

It’s the meanings we ascribe to them, and how we use those meanings to prompt our thinking and explore our emotions that gives tarot cards their power.

That said, in my many years reading the tarot I’ve had countless moments when I look at the cards I’ve drawn and marvel how appropriate each card is in a read.

Sometimes I keep on pulling the same cards no matter how thoroughly I shuffled that deck. And that happens across different decks too, so it’s not like a well used deck might bring up the same cards thanks to some physical thing like a bit of sticky grime that might have accumulated in the decades of use, or a slightly creased card that might make itself more prominent.

There are some cards I rarely, if ever draw.

These coincidences just happen.

That’s when the cards feel like magic.

For example, when I was considering starting Tarot Writers, I was already had a full plate of writing and family commitments and the rest of life stuff. Another project was the last thing I needed. But I felt drawn to put my work with tarot into some kind of discussion and learning resource for others. 

I started dabbling in a few ideas and pondering how it might look. Then wondered, I love tarot and love working with tarot, but do I really want to dedicate a huge chunk of my life and work to teaching tarot for writers? I was meant to be focussing my efforts on more profitable writing niches. I’d done the data crunching on tarot – it will not make me rich! Do I want to add tarot to my brand? So I want to “come out” as a tarot reader so publicly? Note, I don’t actually keep tarot life a secret, I just don’t discuss it with the general people in my life. If it comes up as a topic – however that might be, I never run from it, but I like to keep it personal (or I did before I wrote books and blogs about it, I guess!)

So I drew three cards and called them past, present, the answer.

Past was the reversed Queen of Shields (the name for pentacles in the Legend deck I used). A card about mistrust and an unhealthy preoccupation with money, and inner conflicts about work and home balance.

Future was Queen of Spears (wands), a card that speaks of spiritual and intellectual strength, pursuing aspirations and guiding others.

And the answer was the Knight of Cups, a romantic card that speaks of courage and idealism, action towards passions, and permission to be lead by imagination, emotion, and intuition. 

This was from a fully shuffled deck and here was my life spelled out in three cards.

So you can thank that Knight of Cups for making Tarot Writers a reality. 

Maybe it’s a case of positive reinforcement. I really wanted to do this project against advice to the contrary. But why those cards? Why not an answer card that suggested focus or more pragmatic action?

Maybe because of magic?

Overall, while I keep firm to my belief that the cards are tools we use to prompt our thinking, sometimes it seems like there is an unseen hand guiding those specific cards to our spreads.

It’s up to you to decide whether that’s magic.