The card soul of self-reflection

Tarot – an ancient phenomenon from Italy, revived as a trendy self-care tool.

“Tarot reading is a form of divination which means communicating with spirits,” said Hannah Montello, Smudge Metaphysical Boutique & Botanica employee. “People use tarot to talk to their spirit guides or ancestors and ask questions for guidance. The Romani people created it, then it spread through Italy and the rest of Europe.”

According to Montello, Tarot can be a practice used for self-reflection and mindfulness.

“Tarot helps put you in a very reflective or questionable state,” said Montello. “It makes you ask yourself hard questions that can make you go through some things you don’t want to. We all have things we need to work on, so tarot helps us be mindful of how we go about our day or how we deal with issues.”

Montello recommended the Rider-Waite deck to beginner tarot users.

“Rider-Waite is the first commercially printed tarot deck,” said Montello. “Traditionally, families would pass down their decks and do their own artwork, but the Rider-Waite deck is the first one that’s been printed over and over out of Italy.”

Montello said she thinks tarot reading has become popular during the pandemic because many people were left to spend a lot of time with themselves.

“When you’re alone in a time like that, you kind of have to force yourself to be alone in your thoughts and think through things,” said Montello. “Self-reflection is never easy, so tarot allows us to make that an easier journey. I think that’s why people turned to it.”

Jordan Kennedy, a tarot card user, said she first saw tarot readings on TikTok and became very interested.

“It was something very different from what I had seen before,” said Kennedy.

According to Kennedy, tarot has benefited her self-care.

“I like that it can give me a new perspective on certain things that I’m dealing with,” said Kennedy. “It helps me analyze my thoughts and emotions better. I use tarot readings to delve deeper into how I feel about situations. It reminds me to look at how the other person might feel in a situation.”

Kennedy said she mainly uses tarot as a way of self-reflection.

“It gives me time to reflect and think before I respond,” said Kennedy. “I feel like it’s important for me to think before I speak or act. That, to me, is a form of self-care that has eased my anxiety.”

Montello described tarot as a “beneficial and beautiful practice.”

“There are other forms of divination out there too, like tea leaf reading, rune casting, bone throwing and many more things,” said Montello. “If tarot is not for you, then there could be something else that works for you.”