Another Kind of Tarot Trend

Sometimes I notice, when doing many readings over the course of a few days or a week, that some clients share a similar theme in their reading, or a similar frustration in their lives.

Sometimes this can be explained by national and global events. For instance, I’ve done more readings about job loss and home foreclosure since 2008 then I ever did in the years before.

Sometimes this can be explained by seasonal cycles. We share common experiences at certain times of the year.

Sometimes this can be explained by a proximity of clients to one another. If I happen to read for all the partners in a particular law firm over the course of a week, they will all have some things in common that come up in their readings..

Then I think about astrology. Could the similarity in clients’ issues and readings be related to something astrological, like a retrograde?  I’m sure that sometimes this is exactly the case.

Maybe sometimes it’s cultural, too. Best-selling books, along with popular movies and fads, can find their way into readings.

But even beyond these explanations, there are times it feels that many people are going through the same thing at the same time for no clear reason.

There might be a week when a quarter of my readings include a focus on expanding creativity. Another week many of the people I speak with might be having issues remodeling their homes.

There are many kinds of “tarot trends.” “Tarot Trends” is even the name of this, my personal blog!

 I use the term “trends” to describe the distribution of cards in a spread, that is, the number of each suit represented, the repetition of images, themes, colors or numbers, and so forth.

There are also trends amongst tarot readers; decks, books and reading styles that fall in and out of favor.

There are trends within tarot deck publication. The addition of an “Unknown Card,” or the “Happy Squirrel” card, for instance.

We also have personal trends with the cards. I call these “frequent cards.” These are the individual cards that will show up in our readings for ourselves, and when other read for us. Usually, once a change occurs the frequent card will stop appearing.  We always thereafter associate that particular card with the specific things that occurred during that time.

That so many sorts of trends occur in tarot divination is part of the argument for the veracity of tarot. That so many trends occur in tarot creation and study is a testament to tarot’s widespread popularity, and our cultural fascination with it.

What can we say about the trends amongst the readings we do where there is nothing to tie the readings together except the time period in which they were done?

I like to think that tarot is a tool the Universe uses to talk to us. Sometimes the Universe speaks to us as individuals. Sometimes the Universe speaks to us in groups.