Welcome to Tarot for Scholars!

A tarot deck is a scale model of human experience within the universe. Regardless of your belief system, you can use this versatile tool as a map to navigate your scholarly process. My collaborator Helen Sword and I created the tarot resources on this page to support you in your experiments! ✨

Why Tarot?

Tarot can be an invaluable tool for knowledge creation, and the short clip above touches on why. The clip is from a longer conversation with Helen Sword for her writing community, the WriteSPACE, in December 2024, as we launched our Tarot for Scholars project. Check out the full 60-minute video for a wide-ranging discussion of how tarot’s guidance can shape the substance of scholars’ ideas.

About the Deck

The tarot deck’s language and structure map beautifully onto the scholarly life. A deck traditionally contains 78 cards: 22 Major Arcana depicting universal themes, archetypes, and laws of nature, and 56 Minor Arcana depicting how those concepts manifest in concrete situations and human personalities. For a big-picture look at the deck through a scholarly lens, delve into the 35-minute intro video (A Scholar’s View of Tarot) that Helen and I created for Tarot for Scholars. Above is a short excerpt that highlights what tarot is, where it comes from, and potential uses.

Major Arcana

The 22 Major Arcana cards depict big themes and archetypes that play out in all our lives in unique ways. The deck doesn’t shy away from describing struggles and suffering, and this is key to its power. By telling us the truth about human experience, tarot can help us confront, reframe, and transcend our challenges. In the short clip above, I share interpretations of the card that’s often considered the most difficult in the whole deck (The Tower, card XVI) and offer general insights on interpreting cards that feel scary. Below are links to interpretive guides (each with a video, summary, and writing prompts) for all 22 Majors, housed on an external Substack website, Tarot for Scholars.

Wands

The 14 cards in the suit of Wands depict “fiery” situations and facets of the human personality. The classical element of fire corresponds to all that is warm, bright, and energetic, that which leaps, spread, attracts attention, and transforms what it touches. Fire relates to human creativity, action, and self-expression. Above is an excerpt from the 3 of Wands video, and below are links to interpretive guides for all 14 Wands cards. The guides (each with a video, summary, and writing prompts) are housed on an external Substack website, Tarot for Scholars.

Cups

The 14 cards in the suit of Cups depict “watery” situations and facets of the human personality. The classical element of water corresponds to all that is fluid and connective, cleansing and redemptive, ever changing and ever the same. Water absorbs, dissolves, erodes, and makes new. As a dimension of the human experience, water refers to our emotions and social bonds. Above is an excerpt from the 5 of Cups video, and below are links to interpretive guides for all 14 Cups cards. The guides (each with a video, summary, and writing prompts) are housed on an external Substack website, Tarot for Scholars.

Swords

The 14 cards in the suit of Swords depict “airy” situations and facets of the human personality. The classical element of air corresponds to all that is invisible and structural, that which organizes and defines. Air relates to human thought, reason, strategy, and communication. A very scholarly suit indeed! Above is an excerpt from the 7 of Swords video, and below are links to interpretive guides for all 14 Swords cards. The guides (each with a video, summary, and writing prompts) are housed on an external Substack website, Tarot for Scholars.

Pentacles

The 14 cards in the suit of Pentacles depict “earthy” situations and facets of the human personality. The classical element of earth corresponds to all that is solid and material, whatever we can touch and taste and smell, including our own physical bodies and the natural world. Pentacles, as the earthy suit, relate to human sensory experience and our tangible effects in the world. Above is an excerpt from the Queen of Pentacles video, and below are links to interpretive guides for all 14 Pentacles cards. The guides (each with a video, summary, and writing prompts) are housed on an external Substack website, Tarot for Scholars.

“The way to liberation lies in using and transforming the knowledge and energy bound up in every experience.”

Rachel Pollack, Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom (p. 117)

~ 🗺️ Wishing for more support on your scholarly adventures? Subscribe to The ScholarShape Project below! 🗺️ ~