While spirituality has ebbed and flowed in the Zeitgeist, Francisco has an idea of why the cards have such staying power. Antoine Court and Jean-Baptiste Alliette are credited with popularizing tarot readings in Paris in the 1780s. It wasn’t until the 18th century that tarot was used for divination purposes.

Originally a part of the Northern Italian game Tarocchini, the cards began spreading around Europe at the onset of the Italian Wars. Though tarot cards have taken on a mystical meaning in the cultural imagination, they’ve been around in a less spiritual sense since at least the mid-15th century. “I think the cards, because of their symbolism, speak to a lot of the themes that have come up in just being a human and the life’s journey.” “Tarot is one of many different types of tools that you can use to tap into your intuitive side,” he says. Juan Francisco, a psychic medium based in New York who’s been practicing for three years, believes that we all have the ability to be psychic, and tarot is a means of expressing that intuition.

In times marked by uncertainty, many people (including you perhaps?) turn to things like tarot in an attempt to glean insights and guidance - which, by the way, is not a bad idea. The last few years have dealt us a pretty brutal hand to put it lightly.

Playing card io tarot