back when i was delusional i was adamant on find for a source to confirm what i knew wasn’t true deep down. i was super into some guy and wanted to know that he felt the same way back. in reality i just needed to release that white boy and do some journaling instead. but i found what i was looking for: some woman online with a soothing voice telling me “he’s so into you! he misses you! you will reach union soon!” “you’re coming into some money, too!”. i would watch these videos every day multiple times a day until i had convinced myself it was real. it’s an epidemic. it’s so easy for some stranger online to shuffle some cards and tell specific (and simultaneously unspecific and ultimately general) lies, especially when they’re trying to appeal to a specific audience. people watch tarot videos in excess when they’re worried about something and feel like they don’t have anywhere else to go. they’re desperate for confirmation, for something to soothe their worries and deepest fears. this is the perfect market to take advantage of if you’re someone with some rocks, a pack of tarot cards, and a ring light. after a few years, i am finally free, but i see some sisters who still are still in this chokehold. this one’s for you.
tiktok user @anniekabannie has a playlist on their page titled TERRIBLE TAROT where they break down some of the worst, misinformed, and misleading tiktoks of people using tarot to manipulate their audience by telling them what they want to hear. ruthless. love it. they inspired this post! they uncovered the fact that these readers all use the same tactics: similar terminology, they contradict themselves heavily, and then they apply the readings to too many people at once. they want their viewers to think that finding their video is a “synchronicity” and not what it actually is: a coincidence. “if you’re a sagittarius, leo, capricorn, cancer, or have the letter a in your name this one is for you!” girl, that’s most of the population. but, to cover their asses, they hit you with a “take what resonates and leave the rest”, so if they’re wrong they don’t have to admit to it and you end up just holding on to what you want to be true. “this video was meant for you!” you’re telling me video it’s “meant” for me just because it’s on my feed? was the last video of some white guys who i’ve never seen before talking about women on their podcast also meant for me? no. sometimes the algorithm thinks she knows me when in reality it doesn’t know shit. computers are crazy and both know everything about us and nothing at all. these people shout at the camera demanding you to stop scrolling with 222s and 444s and star emojis slapped all over the screen. they’ve got incense going in the background, maybe they’re wearing a lot of rings, maybe it’s also an asmr video! whatever they can do to stop you in your tracks, draw your attention, and keep you looking for more. the higher the views, the more money they make, as we know. a lot of these users often split these readings into multiple videos, and then provide personal readings, too. then they go on live and do the same thing for people who will watch everything they make out of desperation. put the cards down, put the sage out, and go get a different hobby.
half of the time these people are so clearly making things up because they don’t know the actual meaning of the cards. now, there are different ways to read tarot cards. there are some readers who know the meanings and go by the book, and there are some who kind of go off of vibes. in my opinion, there’s nothing wrong with going off of vibes if you actually take some time to understand what the cards mean and then let things flow as you go. cards, just like anything else, are subjective, but each have a set foundation all the same. let’s use the tower as an example. the tower doesn’t usually mean “he’s thinking about you all the time. there’s a third party involved (surprise! you like a guy with a girlfriend!) but he actually wants you. you’ll get a text from him in 2-3 months” like these readers would like you to believe. the tower usually means the end of something and beginning of something else. a rebirth of some kind (i’m being very general here). the imagery on most cards is a lightning strike, sometimes the tower is falling. is this an inherently negative card? not necessarily. but context matters! what do the other cards say? these readers usually only have time to pull three or four cards, so where did you get 2-3 months from, queen? tarot doesn’t give you specific timelines like that because, like edward said, the future is subjective. what part of that card said july? quickly!
back in the day i wasn’t using tiktok for these false affirmations. i was on youtube watching 20+ minute videos of women placing four to seven rocks on the screen and having you pick the one that “calls out to you” the loudest. big surprise: i’d pick one, get a message i didn’t want to hear, and then be like “actually this one was the one i initially wanted”. then i’d feel reassured when it was finally the shit i wanted to hear. sick and twisted! hearing some woman whose face i’ve never seen (hands only) was the thing that calmed me for so long. but let’s be real, it wasn’t actually calming me, it just became an urge i had to satiate. i eventually found myself watching them when my anxiety would flare up. the calm is a false result and leads to an artificial sense of relief. it’s almost addiction forming. you get a reading that feels perfect and then you listen to another one that says the same thing but different. so which one was right? let me just watch another one for clarification. okay, yes, that’s what the other lady said, let me watch another one to confirm it. okay, now i’m confused. let me watch another one just to be sure. the serotonin release is potent but temporary. you become addicted to the boost you get because this is a stressful situation to be in. you then become impatient and confused in search of context that isn’t readily available to you because you’re human and don’t get to know everything, especially what someone else is thinking. dianna the psychic can’t read minds with the tarot cards she got on amazon. put the phone down and go outside.
am i saying tarot is all bad? hell no! i read tarot for myself and for my friends. i think tarot is real just like how i think reason and internal self help is real. when you read a spread for someone, it’s all symbolism leading to a bigger and deeper truth. you see something and apply it to your life. i read for my friends knowing their circumstance, and can hone the reading in a bit more. but tarot is also a give and take. you, as the person listening, interpret what’s being told to you. me pulling the ten of pentacles doesn’t mean you’re going to become a millionaire overnight or that you’ll be married by next spring, but it may mean that you’ll reach some type of internal or external fulfillment or success that you feel is worth celebrating or sharing. that can be about anything! the toxicity and inadvertent, or direct malice from these tiktoks and youtube videos come from being given too specific of timelines and results from something that’s created for the general public. it’s dissappointing and only deepens the need to find what is really at play. tarot is personal, it’s intimate, it’s not for the masses to interpret as a collective! tarot is not meant to tell the future and it’s not for people to try and read your mind, or the mind of someone else, just to make you happy. it’s a chance to look at your inner and outer life and see what that little voice inside you is trying to tell you. it’s a tool, not an end all be all prescription or transcript for the future.
but the struggle to find meaning or comfort feels so internal, doesn’t it? you get to go through this alone, which feels great, but makes it harder to discern when enough is enough. going through your feed feels like a comfort you can give yourself that you can access at any time. you don’t have to bother your friends with this issue, begging for advice you’ve already asked about a million times over. you don’t talk to your therapist about it because you don’t want logic at a time like this! you want smoke and mirrors. you want to turn to some stranger who you’d see at some indie coffee shop and think to yourself “i’d trust them” to tell you that everything you’re manifesting is going to happen “sooner than you think”. you listen to a stranger, you meditate, you get some crystals and a deck of your own and hope for the best instead of actually facing the truth: you’re fixating too much on a situation to the point of obsession. if you’re this obsessed with something, or someone, maybe take a step back and try to get a grip. maybe spend time with friends, go to a pottery class, and go give your reflection a kiss instead.