Three years ago, I accidentally replaced Pinterest with Tarot. I thought I was picking up a random hobby. Instead, it changed the way I design, think, observe emotion, and tell stories. I remembered my teen years where I’d spend hours watching other YouTubers and tarot readers’ content, just flowing with their energy. I was mesmerised by how strangers behind a screen could make me feel deeply understood. I couldn’t tell if it was intuition, performance, or some kind of magic.
So when the opportunity presented itself in front of me as a Udemy beginners course, I thought I should put my curiosity to rest and actually learn what happens. What’s the worst that could happen? In the next 40 hours of the course, I gave into the process. With all the constant work hustle, I had forgotten what it felt like to pick up a new hobby. The anticipation of what I’d learn about myself and discovering a new born passion. Slowly, something unexpected happened. I started having fun. I connected with my younger self again. Two weeks later, I was a certified Tarot reader.
As I honed the skill, the process of connecting spiritually to the cards and deeply to the people whom I read for became electrifying. I started having vulnerable conversations with my friends on such intimate topics that they normally wouldn’t open up to other people about. All within one session. I started seeing more value in the cards. That’s what my course taught me- see the cards and try to pursue the story the cards are telling you. Build a narrative and then interpret the cards. I was told to observe repetitive colours, patterns and elements of the cards to better judge what the story is. I intuitively started to imagine the cards as worlds of their own. Like independent stage design of a theatre play. Maybe that was my creative mind coming into play (pun intended).
What fascinated me most was learning that tarot wasn’t originally created for spiritual practice at all. Early decks were used for gaming centuries before their current meanings were assigned to them, which means interpretation is part of the art form itself. Two readers can pull the same card and tell completely different stories, much like two designers can approach the same brief and create entirely different emotional worlds.
As a rule of practising tarot and getting better at it, it’s suggested that we do readings everyday with ourselves by pulling out one card. I started noticing how beautifully the cards were illustrated. I tried to focus on the colours and themes and that led me to observe just like how each card has a message of its own, it also has a design principle of its own. The design guidance is within the context of its storytelling. And that’s when it hit me. What if I seek design inspiration from the messages the cards give me?
So I started building narratives around this idea and that gave birth to my series Rituals & Render, where I pull one card and derive a theme, mood and story related to it. It’s given me a stronger hold on what my intention is with each design that I produce. Tarot made me pause before designing and ask:
What am I trying to say?
What is the emotional world of this piece?
What should someone feel after experiencing it?
Those questions changed the way I approach design entirely.
Tarot inspired me to design with a feeling and not just design according to the brief. It made me trust my intuition and gut even more. Earlier, I couldn’t explain why a design choice felt correct, it just did. I never had enough words to attach with my instinct telling me that this design would JUST work. But the more I connected with my thoughts, the more I was able to verbalise and categorise my brain clutter. I realised for me, creativity and spirituality go hand in hand. Tarot is more about building rituals around it. We’re taught to light a candle, , practise deep breathing and guided meditation to reflect and be more in sync with the messages the cards tell us. I guess that’s what works for a hyper functioning mind. The more I treated creativity like ritual instead of output, the better my work became.
With love,
Niharika Mavuri
Founder of Very Melanin