Tarot decks have seen waves of popularity, often in relation to technological changes. The first bridges in the 15th century coincided with the rise of printing. In 19th century England, the tarot was swept up in an occult craze who also benefited the rise of correspondence courses and printing at lower cost. Another major wave in the 1970s was made possible by the mass printing of the Rider Waite Smith game by American gaming systems.
The current wave of tarot popularity coincides with two new technologies. The first is print-on-demand services, which allow any visionary artist to create, print, market and distribute their own technologies. The second is the internet, which allows like-minded communities of practitioners to come together and talk about decks. But until recently, there were few ways to read tarot cards without using physical cards, even in the era of Zoom and remote work.
Moonlight, a new online platform for remote tarot readings, developed by Danielle Baskin with chief engineer Caroline Hermans, is the Zoom of the tarot world. Complete with video, audio and interactive tarot cards, it aims to make tarot accessible online by allowing anyone to perform readings for themselves or a group of up to six people. And like Zoom, it has a free and paid version, which for $3 a month adds extra features like in-game search and filtering and the ability to write on the desktop surface. Baskin pointed out to me that they will test different business models, although the basic functionality remains free.
I’ve been using the platform for a few months now as an early beta tester, and I’ve found performing remote readings intuitive, simple, and comfortable. My applicant and I can pick up and handle the cards, as if we were together in person. While some of the tactile magic of manipulating physical cards can’t be recreated in digital form, the platform counters that with beautiful visualizations.
Rather than taking us down the strange valley of skeuomorphism, Moonlight embraces digital affordances. The maps are simply illustrated and the “painting” can be any range of backgrounds, such as a night sky, crystal formation, or just black. The most eye-catching feature is how the cards are shuffled. Custom illustration by Julius Tarng makes them spin and swirl in a way that isn’t physically possible but makes for a mesmerizing visual.
The platform strikes a good balance between flexibility and structure. Readers, for example, can choose from five different decks, including classics like Marseille and Rider Waite Smith, as well as fun games like Mushroom Tarot And Gothmancy. They can also set up a fixed spread or layout of the cards with particular meanings – a popular card, for example, features the cards for the past, present, and future. Alternatively, it’s easy to turn off the structure and read as on an empty table.
Although tarot decks are beautiful to hold and look at, their magic comes through in use. Baskin, an experienced technologist and artist, has a demonstrable love for the tarot that shows in the software. The platform allows bridges to live and breathe, then fade away.
“Tarot is all about introspection and enlightening conversations, facilitated between friends and practitioners through visual storytelling and relatable archetypes,” it is written. “It’s super therapeutic.”
