The New Year is one of the most popular times to try a new hobby. People across the world dedicate January to their ambitions. Playing an instrument, starting a sport or learning a language are all common resolutions. But what if, for the New Year, you want to take putting the future first to a whole new level?
Enter: Tarot.
Tarot originated as an 15th century Italian card game, with 22 extra cards to a traditional four suit deck. Though card games including these cards (the Major Arcana) can obviously still be played, has now developed into a common form of cartomancy. The earliest evidence of a tarot deck used for divination purposes came from a 1750’s manuscript that was published anonymously, where meanings were assigned to the cards from the Italian Tarocco Bolognese. The first occult tarot deck was produced in 1789 by the French occultist Etteilla (known as Jean-Baptiste Alliette).
The Major Arcana is made up of 22 cards, housing some of the poster children for movie tarot, such as The Devil or Death (which is 100 times less scary than you’re imagining, trust me). Cards are numbered in the Roman Numerals from I to XXI, excluding The Fool, often the first card you will see upon opening a brand new deck, which is the only unnumbered card, that will either be labelled as card 0 or card XXII, but it is most commonly labelled card 0.
The Minor Arcana is definitely more recognisable, as it follows a similar pattern to modern playing cards. Four suits, going from ace through to ten as well as the court cards: page, knight, queen and king. The four suits in a tarot deck are Swords, Wands, Cups and Pentacles. Each suit can be used to represent a certain aspect. For example, the suit of cups is heavily linked to emotions.
There are unfortunately a lot of misconceptions surrounding tarot, with two of the most popular being about what you can’t do. I’m here to tell you that you can absolutely buy your own tarot deck and you can absolutely read for yourself. I’ve been reading tarot for over a year, almost two years now, my first deck was on sale at The Works, and I almost always read for myself. You don’t have to practice witchcraft to read tarot either, but if ever you need advice, looking at witchcraft blogs or subreddits can provide you with in depth information.
Tarot is fundamentally a tool, hence why I think it will do you wonders in 2026. You won’t be able to predict everything, nor will you be able to get it perfect, or know every specific, but that isn’t what it’s about. The future isn’t always set in stone, but knowing what or who to keep an eye out for could give you some peace of mind. I like to start off the new year doing a 12 card spread, to represent the year to come. Going into the new year with this information brings me a level of cleansed energy into the new year so high that I can only hope tarot can bring to you tenfold!
The best time to try something new is yesterday, and with the right shipping time, you could get started with this new hobby tomorrow! What are you waiting for?