Behind the Scenes: Tarot and Religion

I guess it’s time.

I’ve done my fair share of social media doom scrolling and void screaming over the years. Oddly enough, social media can also be a source of inspiration. Especially if you can pull back and look at big picture trends within your individual feed (not the big platform-wide trending topics.)

Lately I’ve been seeing all the usual tensions between Easter and those of us raised in evangelical fundamentalism who get a little twitchy this time of year. Plus there is a presidential election this Fall here in the U.S. The very real dangers of Christion Nationalistism are (finally!) being recognized. I’ve added what I can on the side of church-state separation. One person called me a “bafflingly atheist Tarot reader.” Well, I am an atheist and I am a Tarot reader. I’ve been planning to write a post like this to un-baffle things a little bit.

Unsurprisingly, I follow a lot of Tarot readers on Threads and Instagram. We are in the business of provoking thoughts so when @pixiecurio (creator of the brilliant Light Seer’s Tarot deck! www.chris-anne.myshopify.com) outright asked for our thoughts about religion and spirituality, I knew it was time for this particular behind the scenes peek.

The root problem, as I see it, is when we use religion and spirituality interchangeably or think of them as being essentially the same thing.

They are not.

No matter how thin a coin may be, it still has two distinct and opposite sides. Both religion and spirituality deal with the intangible mysteries of human life. In that sense, they are part of the same coin, but they approach life’s mysteries in distinct and vastly different ways.

Spirituality is internal and moves from the inside out. Spirituality is our individual, direct experience of life’s mysteries and can be expressed but not taught. A spiritual teacher can lead you to the doorway, but only you can cross the threshold into direct experience and direct understanding. This internal experience directs external behaviors.

Religion is external and moves from the outside in. Religion is a group consensus about life’s intangible mysteries and is taught from one generation to another. The external behavior strives to direct the internal experience.

Rather than two sides of the same coin, I find it more helpful to think of religion and spirituality as two circles of a Venn diagram.

For some people, their group, cultural, external religion is also an expression of their sincere, individual, internal spirituality. In that case, their circles overlap a great deal. For others, like me, the circles don’t touch at all.

Tarot falls 100% within the circle of spirituality and not at all within the circle of religion. Tarot doesn’t touch religion unless there is already some degree of overlap in your individual, personal religion-spirituality Venn diagram.

The original Tarot images emerged in sixteenth century Europe where religious and cultural diversity was less common. The original Tarot decks are rife with Christian images and symbols because at that time, Catholicism was culturally and politically dominant. Their circles had a lot of overlap.

Here, now, the circles need not touch and are still perfectly valid. In 21st century America an atheist Tarot reader is both possible and understandable.

Centuries of use and practice have shown that Tarot is a tool for our spirituality – it is a mechanism that enables our individual understanding and experience. Tarot doesn’t tell you what to think or do. Tarot shows a world of possibilities, options, and guidance. Tarot only serves to enrich our internal understanding.

Tarot is a means of spiritual experience from the inside out, not a means to impose dogma from the outside in. Tarot does not make concrete predictions or impose anything from the outside.

Like Taoism and Buddhism, Tarot concerns itself with living human experience and doesn’t say anything one way or the other about any particular god or gods. Tarot works well with any religion, especially with modern, diverse (and sometimes abstract) Tarot decks.

In 30 years of reading Tarot and Oracle cards, both privately and publicly, I’ve never received the slightest hint of a message for or against any religion. There is never a sense of ‘this is the ultimate truth for everyone.’ Tarot is always individual. Tarot is always well within the realm of the spiritual.

If religion comes up in a private individual reading at all, it is emotional chicken soup. Sometimes the cards will remind the individual to take comfort in their chosen religious practices whatever they are.

With every passing year, religion has become increasingly radioactive as a public topic. I actively avoid religion and politics in my public collective energy Tarot readings. I want my work to be inclusive and compassionate – to the best of my ability I will not allow toxic energies into this blog, this website or any of my readings, even if it comes in the guise of religion.

Religion in the mainstream despises Tarot. Religion despises atheists.

Spirituality embraces both with open arms. There is nothing baffling about that at all.