The religion of Tarot

Williams, Jessica (2021) The religion of Tarot. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

[English] PDF - Accepted Version Available under License - The author retains copyright ownership and moral rights in this thesis. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's permission. Download (1MB)

Abstract

While Tarot cards are widely known as a fortune-telling tool, the practice of reading Tarot can also be understood as a spiritual practice. Tarot cards have undergone significant reinterpretations since their origins as a secular parlour game in the fifteenth century. Largely due to the influence of occult and alchemical thinkers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, today Tarot has emerged as a mystical tool for divination, enlightenment, and spiritual self-help. This study seeks to understand the religious dimensions of Tarot for Tarot readers. Drawing upon the five dimensions of religiosity model developed by Rodney Stark and Charles Glock, this thesis reveals the inherent religiosity of Tarot reading for practitioners. However, this thesis also reveals the need for a more nuanced model of religion than that offered by Stark and Glock. The thesis argues that while the Stark and Glock model of religiosity can help reveal some of the spiritual dimensions of Tarot practice, its institutional bias fails to account for other important spiritual dimensions of Tarot religiosity.

Actions (login required)

View Item