Tarot Meets Taylor Swift: Discover the Taylor Arcana

Tarot is a gnostic and artistic practise used by figures as diverse as Sylvia Plath and Aleister Crowley to inspire and divine. A dear friend of mine works on literary witchcraft, and we are both Swifties; I was inspired by her to make a deck of Taylor Swift tarot, and honestly, it’s pretty sick. Like surrealism, tarot cards take the magic of the subconscious and help us to direct it outwards – the magic is in the interpretation. Tay Tarot has an extra layer: elements of imagery, music, colours and lore from Taylor Swift’s discography sit alongside the lyrics that are the theme of our card, and we can look to the music and its surrounding aesthetics to psychoanalyse ourselves… or just build a playlist by physically shuffling a deck.

This project took so long that Taylor released an album and two re-recordings as I was progressing and I found myself going back to the drawing board, but also freshly inspired by the freshness of her new album, whilst awed by its consistency to her career-long voice. As they were at the printer’s, the new Eras tour with TTPD set dropped, and we’re still waiting for debut and rep TV, so the cards may find themselves refined in the future (I was holding space for both but couldn’t wait any more). I think that in itself is a powerful thing: taking a person’s life as an inspiration means that there is always a fresh take and a new element that could be added. It’s a reminder to us to continue drafting, yet release art into the world and allow it to be received in its current state. I do wish that I could have included something from the shows we went to, but that came after this deck; I wish I could have included more of Swift’s discography, as many of her most iconic songs are missing, but like in translation where you often must choose between cadence or meaning, in this case I chose fan favourites and to hew closely to more traditional interpretations; personally, I would do the same again, but others might do differently, and that’s no less valid of a choice.

I would encourage anybody interested in tarot, however mildly, to make their own deck – it’s a great way to come to understand the practice and history better, as well as to just look at and enjoy art. I now have a better understanding of some aspects of symbolism, and have really connected with my theme on a level deeper than I had before (and I was pretty deep in the Swiftverse already…). I’d also encourage any Swifties to have a jolly old time shuffling the Tay Tarot, by themselves or together (though there are currently only two decks in existence, and I am loath to share, as I don’t want to reduce the impact of this gift I gave my friend).

Step one: what is tarot?

Begin any project with the simple question ‘what am I doing?’

Tarot dates back to medieval Italy, so there are a number of different styles of deck and interpretations that developed over the centuries. I looked at all of them to learn their commonalities and deviances – in the names of the cards, their numbering, and the implications of the images.

Tay Tarot is based on a combination of Aleister Crowley, Tarot de Marseille, and – what I believe is the most common tarot deck – the Rider-Waite. There are also aspects of numerology in Swiftie lore, though, and I was careful that the Swiftie married with or overrode the elements of other esoterica.

Step two: what are the cards?

Once the major arcana and suits I was using were decided, I began to do a lot of reading. What does each card represent? What does each suit correspond to?

At this point I was making a long list of what each card should represent, the vibe it should have, and the common images and interpretations tarot readers have for the cards. There are 78 cards and 5 suits in a tarot deck, and I went through each of them with a needle to weave in a unique, yet grounded in traditional cartomancy, meaning. These became both the guide for the next part and included in the deck as my ‘reading clues’:

Step three: lyrics and images

At this stage, the cards found themselves suffused with Swiftie energy. Whilst each suit has its associated albums, the songs on the cards were lyrics that spoke to the card itself, and in some cases the song and image are connected but in others they are moments a lifetime apart connected by a thread of emotion.

“Nine [of swords] is the worst card. Is there grief you can let go of? Is there a darkness over your mind? Be suspicious, take care of yourself and your loved ones, act cautiously.”

This card shows Taylor at the 2009 VMAs, the night Kanye decided to insert himself into her career. It references the moment of pain without directly showing it. The lyric is not from any of her songs associated with that event, but instead references another ‘worst moment’, directly exploring the difficulty of experiencing such an event and the many spheres – relationship, career – that can find themselves punctured.

“Two [of wands] shows you that you know your direction and now is the time to plan. Think about where you want to end up and how you might get there.”

This card is a more complex interpretation: I didn’t want to use Swift’s romantic relationships, as I feared joining the pantheon of people who define her that way, but it feels churlish to not include such major parts of her public and private life. This jacket by Kristin Juszczyk directly references Travis Kelce, but in a way that is controlled and orchestrated by Taylor, showing how she uses her career and outfits to manifest even relationship success and signal her allegiances to her fans, taking control even when she is ‘voiceless’ in paparazzi moments. The lyric from Clara Bow is reframed by the card, which chooses to take the voice of the nameless, faceless record execs discussing Taylor herself and turn it around to reference Swift’s control over her career and awareness of her public image and desires.

At this stage the cards also went through a process of refinement: I counted how many songs were from each album, how many were vault tracks, made sure songs that aren’t my own favourites got their representations. Key people like Jack Antonoff found themselves represented, but also behind-the-scenes key players like songwriter Liz Rose. Fan-favourite images like Taylor’s spelling bee t-shirt and ‘he lets her be bejewelled’ are placed among tours, red carpets, and music videos. I had a list of songs, lyrics, or images that were so iconic they had to be included, but mostly this was just a process of listening to a LOT of Taylor Swift, looking through a lot of pictures of Taylor Swift, and combining the two to create the meaning the card was meant to have. Some images and lyrics came together, others got one or the other and took months to find a match; in the end, though, I am sure each card is both a representation of Taylor Swift lore, career, fandom, and also an appropriate representation of the tarot card’s meaning. This deck works for Swifties who don’t know tarot and also tarot readers who don’t know Swift. It is designed to work as either images, individual lyrics, whole songs, or traditional interpretations, but I will work best when all elements of those are combined in your reading.

Step four: design

This was both the easiest and the longest part of creating the deck. Whilst it took me months to read the history and lore of tarot, that didn’t feel as long because I was learning (and, remember the aim of these was to be a gift to somebody who knows their magic – I really took the learning seriously). Design, though, was frustrating and time-consuming, because I knew how I needed the cards to look without having the skill to enact it. I fastidiously ensured each line was the correct length, each image was correctly placed.

The cards were made on Canva, using some of their premium functions (not least high-quality print-ready PDFs). Each suit was copied from the other suits to make them match, with the numbers and names consistent (though with mild differences for the Major Arcana).

The font is the folklore font, the one Swifties always use for anything Taylor. The colours may not gel together perfectly but they represent the albums, and that was too important an element to lose.

The back cover changed several times, and is the most standard element of the cards. The ones I printed are different to the ones I made in case they are ever printed again, patterned off the Eras tour merch because I honestly didn’t know what to put.

After printing?

These cards are something I made and am incredibly proud of. They took a lot of time, would speak to a lot of people, and deserve a life of their own. I have kept the print-ready PDFs as well as printed myself a copy, and I often do a simple ‘past-present-future’ reading. I haven’t asked my friend what she thinks, as it’s part of my ‘gifting philosophy‘ to never check in on a gift, but I really do hope she uses them, even if just as an artwork.

There is no understating the impact of Taylor Swift: on SEO, sales, local economies, or in our own lives. She is multi-faceted, like all of us, and this project tried to take on the many mirrorball faces, public and private, and create something applicable to our own lives and reflect seventy-eight different moods, possibilities, and highlights of a two-decade career. It could never be everything… but it could be made of memories to break our fall.

* images I don’t own are redacted because I have no intention of paying another copyright troll because of this blog.

On This Topic:

• I cannot, for legal reasons, sell the Tay Tarot. If you can think of a way for me to legally part with them and not get a cease and desist from the Taylor Swift team, I’ll look into it.
• Exploring the temptation to keep tinkering, and its benefits or detriments to your work.
• Read Dorka’s work here. I’ve seen her teach and read her papers, you won’t regret joining one of her workshops or engaging with her studies… also, she’s super nice.

To-Do:

• Pack for library trip
• Check emails
• Explore reading cloud

Today’s Culture:

• A book by somebody who clearly studied tarot even more closely than I did for this project.
• Around this time I also got another friend a fortune-telling gift – the tea leaf reading cup and saucer! We should get together and have a witchy party.
• I swapped my giant notebook for a journal that I can carry around better – it’s this book, except blank inside.