Tarot Cards in American Culture 

Danica Childs

Prof. Clasby

English 170:06 SWW

8 April 2024

A Brief Overview of Tarot Cards and their Impact in American Culture

Walking down the street on a beautiful summer day in Naples, Italy in the fifteenth century you might pass a group of children playing a card game known as tarocchi or tarocchini. Before tarot cards made their way to the United States, cards in general had an extensive history beginning  with playing cards in the Islamic world to the south and east of Europe where they eventually made their way over through trade of other goods. Playing cards were popular amongst Muslim cultures in Egypt and Turkey in the twelfth century where they eventually made their way to Italy in the fourteenth century and then eventually into eastern and southern France, Switzerland, and Germany. The four suits of the playing cards we are familiar with today in America, the spades, clubs, hearts, and diamonds, are a French variation of what was originally polo sticks, swords, cups and coins. The French variation of these cards came about during the Renaissance era, which focused on the political, economic, and most importantly artistic rebirth. In the fifteenth century northern Italy developed a new game from playing cards known as tarocchi, which consisted of a new set of distinct cards. Italians made the game consist of twenty-two cards which was then later added to the fifty-six cards. Throughout the following centuries in Italy tarot decks were made by various different artists like Bonifacio Bembo and Giordano Berti, the cards in these decks were artistically, historically, and religiously representative which was the tarot cards main purpose in Italy. Through trade and immigration to the United States tarot cards made their way over the north Atlantic ocean. It became increasingly more popular amongst Americans because of the amount of death occurring from the nineteenth to twentieth century and its categorization with objects like the ouija board.  In America tarot cards are seen as a fortune-telling tool or to give insight to whoever is receiving the reading on their past, present, or future. From then on tarot has become a popular object in America but also widely scrutinized due to media representation and religious opinions. 

By studying tarot cards in twenty-first century America one may conclude tarot cards are a symbol of the occult or even a symbol of evil, however this is not an accurate depiction of tarot cards and their use. The misrepresentation of tarot cards matter because it can lead to misunderstandings and stereotypes of different cultures and practices. 

In order to begin to unravel my thesis I’m going to first discuss how tarot cards are associated with the supernatural conflicts with Christian beliefs of them by speaking about a well-known Protestant Christian leader, Billy Graham, and his view on them as well as Pat Robertson’s view. 

Tarot cards are often associated with the supernatural leading opposing religions to have a negative view on them calling them evil. Christianity often conflicts with the usage of tarot cards because of its association with the occult and wiccans, seeing the cards as a portal to communicate with demonic energies. Protestant Christian leader, Billy Graham, would answer people’s questions for people of the faith or with interest. In response to someone asking about tarot cards “For one thing, playing this game could make your son think that things like astrology, tarot cards, palm readings, Ouija boards and similar activities are simply harmless pastimes. But they’re not because they bring a person into contact with occult spiritual forces that are absolutely opposed to God.”(Maille, 76). Graham relates tarot cards directly to the occult as well as evil forces that go against God’s word, assuming tarot cards have the power to sway one’s belief and almost like it would turn them to the dark or evil side. Although tarot cards are never explicitly mentioned in the Bible many people like Lisa Lorraine Baker believe tarot cards to be a trap set by the devil to lure people away from the word of God. She quotes Leviticus 19:31 that states “Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.”(Baker). When reading this we can understand when it is preached not to use tarot cards it is because tarot cards are often associated with mediums and taroists. In Christianity it is understood God leads his believers and has a set future for them, to follow something or someone else would be considered a sin. Oftentimes in Christianity we see those preaching the religion warning against tarot cards because they believe giving attention or power to this object takes away from the faith one has in God.

Tarot cards are connected to the occult and/or evil considerably in American TV shows and movies ranging from the 1960s until current day. Media often displays tarot cards alongside ouija boards, witches/wiccans, and the supernatural. The cards are often used to prompt feelings of anxiety or dread in the viewer, giving them a negative connotation. The earliest usage of a tarot deck in media was in an episode of Lawman premiered in 1961 titled “Tarot”. The hanged man card is shown predicting the future of all the characters which start to be proven true but one of the characters is fated to die which also comes true at the end of the episode. Representations like this of tarot cards leave the viewer with the association of death with tarot cards making them fearful or weary of the cards like they are something evil and not to mess with them. The movie Tombstone a western from 1993 provides another important example of the evil reputation of tarot cards when the main character’s wife, Allie Earp, has a deck of cards and overturns three. The three cards revealed quickly were “Death”, “the Devil”, and “the Tower” representing death, evil, and chaos/confusion. The film does a good job at proving this destiny by immediately having chaos erupt; lightning strikes, a gunman walks in, a character is badly injured, and another is killed in a saloon. In this case the cards represent chaos and evil rather than the occult but a scene like this will leave a reader questioning if danger and chaos are the end result of the usage of tarot cards. Similarly in an upcoming film due to come out this May, titled Tarot, a group of friends use a cursed tarot card deck to predict their futures and mysteriously start dying off in ways related to their predicted futures. In the media tarot cards are almost always represented as evil, cursed, or occult objects inciting fear, dread and anxiety and encouraging people to stay away from them because of this. 

Social economics plays an important role in the increase in tarot cards in American culture as well, which also led to their inclusion in modern media. Tarot cards have been present in American culture since before the twentieth century during the Spiritualist Movement and even more so after the American Civil War. Their widespread usage increased around the end of the Civil War and around other wars like the Great War and the First World War because people wanted to receive their fortune in order to give themselves and others hope. In the end of the nineteenth century it was also popular to receive public readings and seances either to learn about their future or to communicate with deceased loved ones killed at war. Early representations of tarot cards did not lead people to believe they were evil or harmful to their faith, it gave hope and peace to those suffering from loss and chaos. In the twentieth century when tarot cards became popular once again the young entrepreneur Stuart Kaplan visited the Nuremberg Toy Fair and bought five thousand tarot decks from A. G. Muller & Cie of Neuhausen, Switzerland to sell when he returned to America. After his return he sold a hundred decks to Brentano’s bookstore in New York City which was located in the same area where Dark Shadows, a TV show, was being produced. The cards were soon purchased and used as part of the show which led to an increase in Americans buying them. 

Works Cited

Baker, Lisa  Loraine. “Does the Bible Condemn Using Tarot Cards? – Topical Studies.” Bible Study Tools, 1 May 2023, www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/topical-studies/does-the-bible-condemn-using-tarot-cards.html. 

Gad, Dr.Irene. Tarot and Individuation . Nicolas-Hays, Inc., 1994. 

Husband, Tim. “Before Fortune-Telling: The History and Structure of Tarot Cards.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 8 Apr. 2016, www.metmuseum.org/articles/tarot. 

Maille, Patrick. The Cards: The Evolution and Power of Tarot. University Press of Mississippi, 2022. 

Mitchell, Robbie. “Historic Mysteries – Unexplained Mysteries, Archaeology, and Cool History.” 

Morgan D. Divination, Material Culture, and Chance. Material Religion. 2016;12(4):502-504. doi:10.1080/17432200.2016.1227637

Spiritualism in the 19th Century, www.austintexas.gov/sites/default/files/files/Parks/OHenry/spiritualism.pdf. Accessed 26 Apr. 2024.