Tarot is a lot like Pokémon. The first known records detailing tarot confirm it began as a simple card game that eventually evolved into a popular form of cartomancy, or divination using a deck of cards. It’s so popular, in fact, that almost everyone knows about tarot in some capacity. Significantly fewer people know about tarot’s murky origins and history, how to use the cards for divination, or even the names of all the cards in the deck. But tarot and its set of trump cards, the Major Arcana, are well-known enough to be a part of popular awareness. Most people can even name a Major Arcana card or two, like The Fool or Death.

Pokémon also began as a simple game, but has grown into the largest multimedia franchise in the world. Everyone knows the series, even if they can’t name a Pokémon outside of Pikachu or Charizard—and it’s impressive that they can name any Pokémon at all.^⁠ Also similar to tarot is that we can’t hope to know everything about Pokémon‘s creation, even if we can pinpoint February 27, 1996 as the day it was brought into the world. The release date doesn’t account for the time spent developing the games and what changes they underwent during that time. It also doesn’t account for any time prior to the development that was spent formulating ideas about the games.^⁠1 

Besides the original creators’ intents, the way fans interacted with and interpreted the franchise’s different facets also helped direct Pokémon’s evolution into what it is today. For example, increasing interest in VGC competitions has continued to raise Pokémon’s viability as an esport. At the same time, challenge runs have carved out their own corner of the fanbase to the point where almost every player knows what a “Nuzlocke” is even if they’ve never participated in one. This is also how tarot has become what it is today. Despite its mundane origins, many people became enchanted by the playing cards’ imagery and began using them for cartomancy. This became popular enough to shift the trajectory of tarot’s usage and turn it into a deck of cards almost exclusively used for divination. 

The cards of a tarot deck depict characters and stories that can be read independently or in sequence with each other: the Major Arcana depicts the mentors The Fool (the “poster”^⁠2 card of the set) meets along his journey to enlightenment. Each suit of the Minor Arcana depicts its own narrative that progresses through the element the suit represents. When you draw multiple cards at a time, the stories become intertwined, like an analogue random prompt generator. From here, the card reader can interpret the cards using all manner of techniques. No two readers will come up with the same meaning for the same card or group of cards.

No two decks will approach the “classic” card meanings the same way, either. Each tarot deck offers its own takes on the original card depictions, just like how Pokémon spin-off games and other media such as the anime have their own representations of the world established in the mainline games. The uniqueness of each tarot deck is further enhanced by the individuality that stems from each readers’ personal interpretations. Tarot is the ultimate game of literary and artistic analysis. 

I’m a firm believer that everything has deeper meaning, from the “childrens’ media” that is so commonly disregarded due to its target audience, to our hobbies and interests, even those we’ve only engaged with for short periods of time. I’ve found that, much like the hexagonal loop of Unova, life tends to be very cyclical: things we enjoyed in our youths tend to make reappearances in small or even big ways later. I used to read tarot cards in middle school and high school, and my interest in them rather than, say, runes or pendulums, may have been tied to my interest in trading card games.^⁠3 I set tarot reading aside starting in college, but in 2024, I found my childhood decks while organizing my things. 

Rather than staying focused on organizing, I got distracted by my cards (of course). After refreshing my memory, I realized that reading tarot wasn’t much different from how I “read” the symbolism and deeper meanings in stories, whether they be in books, movies, or even video games (such as in my deep, deep dive into Pokémon Black and White). It would certainly be fascinating to scrutinize how my interests in literary analysis, video games, card games, and tarot originated and influenced each other. But I opted instead to combine these passions into the Pokémon World Journeys Tarot. 

In this series, I will illustrate my own Pokémon-themed tarot deck and write commentary for each card, both for the original illustration as well as for the card I created. Trainers and Pokémon alike will appear based on how they relate to the original meanings of each card, in addition to the personal associations I have for them. In the end, the series will be part guide to tarot, part celebration of Pokémon in the form of tarot cards. I’ll use a combination of intuition and card draws to determine the order I work on the cards, so they won’t be completed in order from Major Arcana to Minor Arcana. I will also create some tarot spreads for you to use with your own tarot decks. I hope you’re looking forward to this journey into the world of both Pokémon and tarot as much as I am!

¹ I’m sure we’ve all had an idea or two that spent a lot of time circulating inside our heads before we began to put it onto metaphorical or literal paper.

² While some may say The Fool is the “first” card of the Major Arcana in terms of sequencing—and that wouldn’t be incorrect—I feel it isn’t entirely accurate, as The Fool isn’t number “1” but instead number “0.” Make no mistake, we will explore the significance of zero when we get to the section on The Fool.

³ I was one of the few people in my social circles who actually knew how to play the Pokémon TCG, and I would go on to become a certified Yu-Gi-Oh! judge for a short while.

New to tarot? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions for a general primer!

Edited by bobandbill and mercurybro. Illustrations by Rivvon.