Tarot today

How two age-old philosophies marry in modern world

I bought my first tarot deck around the same time I discovered Anne Rice’s erotic vampire tales. It was a stealth teenage purchase from a downtown shop perfumed with heady incense and shiny heavymetal flags plastered over the windows.

Even though tarot has a storied, centuries-old history as a tool for self-reflection — not a predictor of the future as some believe — in the era of 1980s satanic panic, any object that even whispered of the occult or dark arts was considered taboo, which naturally made them more enticing to rebellious teens.

I am envious of kids today who can spend their allowances on novelty tarot cards branded with Pokemon characters or Disney villains from parent-approved gift shops. I own several sets myself, including a sassy hot-pink “RuPaul’s Drag Race” deck. But I do wonder if this commerciality, as fun as it is, might be obscuring tarot’s purpose.

Toronto author and tarot instructor Liz Worth reassures me that, although some decks are clearly merchandising cash grabs, I’m not throwing shade by having fun with my favourite queens. She purchased a nostalgic Garbage Pail Kids deck a few months ago, which she said is well researched and easy to read — more of a gauge of its usefulness than the images themselves.

“There have always been a lot of different types of tarot decks out there,” Worth said. “Certain decks that are very popular tend to be seen as the classic or go-to decks and are always in print. But tarot is also an evolving art form and a visual language.”

Originating in 1909, the 78-card Rider Waite tarot deck with its dramatic occultist imagery is still the most popular. The 22 major arcana cards, including images of the High Priestess and the Magician, deal with overarching themes like careers and relationships. The remaining 56 minor arcanas, which are divided into four suits like playing cards, can either support the major arcana or help guide you through more daily quandaries. At its best, tarot serves as a timeout, a chance to think about your life’s direction.

Worth has observed that tarot has gained mainstream popularity over the past 15 years or so, partly because we’re sharing our experiences more online. “Tarot is very Instagrammable,” she said. “Social media has allowed us to express ourselves more easily and to find communities that are openly talking about things that we don’t always feel that we can talk about with our friends or family.”

Some attendees find themselves at Worth’s classes during a crossroads in their lives, seeking a new path. “They’ll say, ‘I used to not believe in this type of thing. But circumstances have changed and maybe I need to open up.’ ”

Tarot returned to Oakville-based journalist Ayeda Husain’s life during the COVID-19 lockdowns in a serendipitous way as she was recovering from surgery after a terrible accident almost crushed her arm.

Husain had given up tarot years ago as she deepened her studies in Sufism, an overarching spiritual practice within Islam that seeks divination through meditation, poetry and chanting. She was concerned that tarot might be incongruent with her path as an in-demand speaker and a senior teacher for Inayatiyya, a global organization based on the universal teachings of musician and mystic Inayat Khan.

One day while convalescing, Husain found her old deck, which had survived many globe-trotting moves. She began shuffling the cards with her working left hand, meditating on the images. “It didn’t seem wrong to me,” she said. “I really enjoyed going deeper and reconnecting with something I looked to many years ago.”

Husain’s recovery gave her time to study each of the 78 cards and relate them to aspects of Sufi philosophy. As she dug into tarot’s history, she discovered that its origins are connected to Islamic Mamluks who, in 1300s Egypt, invented playing cards involving the four suits. Tarot became popular during the Italian Renaissance, when the imagery became Christian-related and medieval in style, later transforming again into the British Rider Waite deck.

“You can see the progression of images over time becoming less exotic, more minimalistic and more Western,” Husain said.

In creating her deck, which comes with a 176-page booklet explaining the philosophy behind each card and is available through Chapters Indigo and Amazon, Husain had a clear vision.

“Visually, tarot has not been very inclusive. And what I’m really proud of is that my tarot cards are of equal gender, race and age representation.”

She enlisted the artistic help of two Pakistani designers, Hassaan Aftab and Momina Khan, whose work she admired online. They split up the design, imbuing each card with a rich golden, turquoise and azure colour palette. Their figures are full of lively energy and, even if you’re not familiar with Sufism, there is a clear visual language throughout.

One of the most important cards is the Fool, which represents adventure and unlimited possibilities. Traditionally, the Fool is represented by a young man but, in Husain’s deck, she is referred to as the Salik, a woman standing at the edge of a cliff looking up to the skies at three birds, her palms uplifted.

“It’s really about surrender and new beginnings,” said Husain. “Tarot is called the journey of the fool and Sufism is very much a journey as well. It’s alchemic: the further you progress, the more you change and learn.”