The Digital Tarot Phenomenon: Monetizing Spirituality

Has this ever happened to you? You’re scrolling your “For You” feed and a video appears. No hashtags. The reader has a deck of cards in front of them. Then they say the magic words, “If you’re seeing this video on this specific date, this message was meant for you.” They pull one card, it’s the Nine of Pentacles, all my hard work is finally paying off. Three of Cups, celebration is on it’s way, success. Good news at last. Then I check the comment section. Wow, we all feel this way. Jilted. Exhausted. Overworked. Underpaid. And meant for something more. And ready for something more. There’s really no time to go rooting around in my own shadowy self, doing the real work, no, I work enough. So for now, this will do just fine.

I love these videos. I love the YouTube accounts that offer this type of insight. Grifters aside, there’s some kernel of well intended guidance in this type of content. What was once an intimate reading between a tarot reader and a seeker of knowledge, set at a velveted table in a dimly candlelit room, is now a platformed message. A message that is not only “unique” but highly relatable. A reading for the masses.

In this space, the algorithm operates like a tool for divinity. Of magic. It isn’t because you can pay money to boost videos. It isn’t because TikTok will coach you through the type of content you should create to make the most revenue. No, the message found me because it was mine to receive.

At best, it makes me feel better. I get to soften the edges of my ego wounds and carry about my day. At worst, it’s ethically suspect. In the same ways that marketing and algorithms across all platforms monetize our emotional reactions, feeling good is still as highly profitable as ever.

In a deluge of constant rage bait, the reassurance and the empathy these videos provide do strike a chord. It would be a lie to say these videos don’t offer me a sense of relief. Even if small and fleeting. Who doesn’t like hearing good news? Perhaps these videos are less like the traditional tarot readings of the past and more like fortune cookies sent out with each Chinese takeout order. Is it highly unlikely that one of these fortunes could come true? Oh definitely. But are there times when I really hope they do? Yes. Yes, absolutely.

In a wider context, I’d say this phenomena speaks to a shift in societal expectations for spirituality. I’d say the youth have grown disaffected with organized religion and are seeking truth and comfort elsewhere. But it’s worth remembering what incentivizes creators and influencers. We are being farmed for our emotional reactions and our attention constantly. Most tarot readers tap into a “collective conscious” and these are the messages they are compelled to share.

The real problem is that the most efficient way to share info is through platforms that seek to monetize it. Even if it’s info shared for info’s sake, to educate or inform can never truly be an altruistic endeavor so long as it exists on the internet. The powers that be made it so. It’s a truth to contend with even on the more niche, more comforting, more positive parts of the internet. There’s very little left, if anything at all, that isn’t completely tainted by late-stage capitalism. It’s sort of twisted relief to think: “Finally, my positive reaction is worth something.” Even if that something is exploited for profit.

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