Tarot has been a love of mine since I first discovered magic. Using art to listen to spirits, explore intuition, find inspiration, reflect, and to explore the world as an enchanted place… what’s not to love? Last summer I went to the Tarot – Origins and Afterlives exhibition at the Warburg Institute in London (I’ve got a handwritten blogpost to type up about that still…) and it reminded me of how much fun I used to have painting my own cards in the school library at lunchtime.

And thus the idea of the DIY Tarot Club formed.

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Official Blurb:

Have you ever wanted to make your own tarot deck? Do you want to learn how to read tarot but memorising meanings from a book just leaves you cold? Then join the DIY tarot club and craft your own deck of tarot cards to learn the cards in a creative, playful way.

Humans learn best through play, and making your own deck is a tried and trusted method of learning tarot.

No art skills (nor ai) required!

The DIY tarot club includes a workbook to guide you through the process, and live monthly sessions (with replays) to explore some of the cards and make your own personal cards. We’ll explore the symbolism and stories in the cards, and inspire each other.

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It feels even more important to me as each month goes by and generative ai becomes more ubiquitous because, frankly, the act of making something with your own hands is powerful magic. As adults most of us are already discouraged from making art, from drawing or singing, or dancing, or whatever, because most of us will never be commercially polished, and having a tool that can spit out a shiny image with just a few keystrokes can increase that discouragement – why bother drawing anything when a machine can generate a picture much more efficiently, in any number of styles, to a highly polished commercial level?

Well honestly, for most of us, that’s not the purpose of making art.

To make your own DIY deck of cards is to play, to connect with the symbols and meanings of the tarot in a deeper way, and to find a sense of pride in the process of creating something out of next to nothing.

Of all the artworks, the decks, the pieces of history that were at this exhibition, it was the hand drawn deck of Austin Osman Spare from c1906 that really leapt out at me.

Here is a sample of the cards by a celebrated artist, long lost and rediscovered in the Magic Circle’s Collection only recently. And yes, some of them are more detailed palm-sized paintings, but some of them are just doodled figures and scribbled text.

I have opinions on gen-ai, and more questions about what place it has in an animistic world, but more than that I have a deep knowing that when we make stuff, when we play, we learn, we heal, and we grow. Add into that easily learning a magical tool that sometimes feels super complicated and you’re on to a winning combination.

I know that making things can be challenging, so I’ve designed a process where everyone can finish a usable deck of tarot cards, be supported, and have fun on the way.

Anyway, the DIY Tarot Club will be available to members of the Grove Tier and above on Patreon, our first live session is scheduled for Monday 9th March, and I’ll be dropping more information for members about how you might like to prepare next week.

I’d love to see you there but even if you don’t join us, do me a favour and grab a pen and scrap piece of paper and doodle something today. Just for fun. (And perhaps share this post with a friend if it feels inspiring!)

In delight,

~Halo

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