Pop tarot: Fake or fortune?

I’m sure you’ve seen it, TikTok videos and Instagram reels captioned, “If this video comes up on your for you page, it was meant for you!”, followed by a series of tarot cards laid out, promising you good fortune, perfect grades, and love… but only if you share the video to claim the energy.

The rise of this so-called ‘Pop Tarot’ uses the concept of spirituality to hook the viewer, making them believe that they’ve been given a sign from the universe that this video was made for them. The catch however, is that the more a viewer engages with this type of content on social media, the more it will appear in their algorithm. Then before you know it, you’re getting 30 ‘signs from the universe’ every time you open your social media.

The fact that tarot readers are making the shift to the online world may just be how the craft develops in the future

Arguably, the pop culture takeover on witchcraft and tarot takes away from the genuine art of divination and fortune telling, something which has been around for centuries, only to have its history washed away by social media. However, like everything else, this new era of tarot readings may just be how the art is evolving. Nowadays, so many things rely on social media, such as product promotion, marketing, music, art and many more, so the fact that tarot readers are making the shift to the online world may just be how the craft develops in the future. Whichever it may be, we can assume one thing, it won’t be leaving social media any time soon.

Whether you believe in the practice of divination, or think it should be left behind with the Harry Potter books, creators of these tarot videos seem to be getting enough engagement to be succeeding off this content. Perhaps some readers are merely ‘jumping on the band wagon’ and exploiting a craft that has a genuine spiritual history and connection, only to gain views, popularity and monetisation. Yet, it’s likely that other creators of this nature are genuine readers of tarot that incorporate divination into their everyday lives, and are therefore using social media to expand the audience for this art; ensuring it doesn’t die out. It may be that these original creators want to offer guidance to the collective, giving people the encouragement that they may need to hear. But this may be blurring the line between guidance and fate, giving some people an unrealistic hope that what they need will come to them naturally, without them having to work for it.

The fact remains, while we can question the authenticity and motives of the creators that produce this content, it is difficult to find this information out. A creator can easily say that they are the only truthful tarot reader on the platform and that they have the interest of the collective at heart, but there is no way to prove or disprove this. We can only wait and see if the prediction comes true after watching one of these videos.

Only you can decide whether you believe the readings and spells of the online witches are telling you your fortune, or whether you think it’s merely a scam for people to exploit the art and make a bit of money

Similarly, it is not just social media platforms that are seeing the rise of witchcraft and divination; shopping platforms such as Etsy are even succumbing to the craft, but it’s not views allowing creators to make money this time, it’s people physically paying for it. Searching for ‘witches’ on Etsy brings up a variety of options for people to purchase a ‘custom spell’, a ‘detailed psychic reading’, a ‘soulmate drawing’ or specific spells to conjure love, success, revenge and so much more. These sellers offer lengthy and detailed readings within a matter of hours, without ever having to meet the person they are for. These are largely AI-generated readings that, when reading further down in the item details, the sellers take no responsibility for what may or may not occur, with the products being ‘solely for entertainment purposes’.

At the end of the day, only you can decide whether you believe the readings and spells of the online witches are telling you your fortune, or whether you think it’s merely a scam for people to exploit the art and make a bit of money. But something you can be sure of is that this content will probably be online for years to come, as long as people are buying in.