By Kelsey Brown / Photo by Mike Fiske

Apr. 19, 2022 – Link to article

Three to four times a day, Sutton Crawford pulls Tarot cards. From a 78-card deck, she interprets images of archetypes and moments, relating them to the human condition for clients. Despite the cards’ roots dating back to the mid-15th century, Crawford says people relate to them regardless of their background, experience and identity. 

“Every single time I sit down with somebody, something beautiful happens,” Crawford said. “Whether it’s painful, or joyous. It’s this reminder that magick is real.” 

The newfound interest in Tarot for many seems to be linked to the rise in interest in self-healing. Though the cards’ original meanings still hold true, modern interpretations relate the cards more to human psychological states rather than the occult. Some cards are simple to decipher, like the Three of Swords—three daggers in a heart, representing pain or heartbreak. Others, like the Eight of Swords, convey more complex emotions. 

Crawford, who is a professional Tarot reader in New York, understands why so many people have been drawn to Tarot in such uncertain times. Tarot’s ability to be in touch with something divine instills a sense of power, Crawford says. 

“It’s a therapeutic tool to understand our inner workings,” said Crawford, who has been reading Tarot cards for a decade. “Technically speaking, it’s a system for divination. But in a more modern sense, I truly think it is a helpful tool to allow us to see things that we wouldn’t necessarily have seen before, through these figures and moments.” 

The once esoteric, obscure practice has become extremely popular on TikTok. #WitchTok and #TarotTiktok are flooded with 30-second Tarot card pulls, promising to have messages from the divine specifically for the viewer. 

For Crawford, scrolling through the hashtags can be funny. 

“Is the message: Someone from your past is going to show up?” Crawford said. “Because that’s what they all say.” 

Avory Grays, a 24-year-old Tarot reader from Sacramento, describes much of the spiritual side of social media as toxic. She warns of the oversimplification of spiritual practices, urging people to look beyond a brief snippet before taking up their own practices. 

Though people have told Grays that she’d be successful on TikTok, she says she doesn’t want to contribute to it, noting that it’s not always safe for people’s mental health, as people can become overly dependent on the cards. 

“This Tarot reader in Wisconsin, reading for thousands and thousands of people, is not going to exactly know your situation,” Grays said. “Listen to what your intuition is telling you, what your eyes are telling you. Not what this pick-a-card [reading] is.” 

Though Crawford does pull cards on TikTok and says there are good readers on TikTok, she also warns of the danger of everyone being able to do it. People assume because a person has a large following, that they’re knowledgeable and responsible with the cards, which Crawford says isn’t always the case. 

The deck of cards has been mystified and misused throughout history. Crawford mentioned that many people’s hesitancy towards Tarot comes from a history of deceitful money-hungry mediums with false messages preying on fear. 

But Crawford also notes that there are people who “take advantage of beautiful things throughout everything.” In media, Tarot has been painted as a dark force, or related to satanism. People fear hearing bad news about their future. There is a Devil card, but it represents oppression and entrapment. You have free will, Crawford says, it’s not a crystal ball. 

“You have to be tender with these tools because they work,” Crawford said. “If you are not taking it as seriously as you should be, it’s a dangerous game. You can be manipulative, or you can be taking advantage of people.” 

For Aaliyah Favroth, a second-year psychology major at Cal State Long Beach, the TikTok trend is what inspired her to get her own deck. Though her friend had previously exposed her to Tarot, Favroth said she “didn’t start practicing [herself] until [she] saw everybody else was doing it too.” 

Favroth sees the sudden interest in Tarot as part of the aesthetic of the “It Girl.” Favroth says the aesthetic allows people to fit into a spiritual stereotype without actually holding any of their own practices or having a real understanding of it. 

Favroth, who has been reading cards for about nine months, says reading Tarot cards helps her anxiety. She can be unsure of how she’s feeling, and pulling cards helps her understand her emotions. 

“It always feels nice, even if it doesn’t come out with the cards that I wanted,” Favroth said. “It comes out with what I needed, and it’s very helpful.” 

Both Grays and Crawford began their professional Tarot reading businesses during the pandemic, seeing the need for it after witnessing the toll the pandemic was taking on people. Crawford calls the pandemic a global ‘Hanged Man,’ referring to the 12th card of the Major Arcana featuring a person hung upside down by their foot. 

By hanging upside down, Crawford says, they’re forced to stop and look at things from a different perspective, even though it may be an uncomfortable position. The Hanged Man symbolizes the enlightenment we’re all trying to gain from going through unprecedented times. 

In such uncertain times, Tarot brings space for self reflection. 

“A lot of us are much more divinely special that we realize,” Grays said. “Our magic is needed now more than ever.”