Alycia Fridkin holds the Wheel of Fortune tarot card, which features the Tetragrammaton of G-d’s name interspersed between the letters T, A, R, O. (photo from Alycia Fridkin)
I love tarot. I love how you can receive insight anywhere, anytime using only what G-d gave you and a deck of cards. It’s a perfect spiritual practice for Jews who have been wandering spiritually. Not everyone knows enough Hebrew to read our sacred texts, and not everyone feels connected through our traditional prayers or going to the synagogue. But many are yearning for deep connection. New ways of practising spirituality are needed.
Tarot has drawn me closer to Judaism, Jewish people, G-d and myself. I have come back to the cards repeatedly for guidance, with my Jewish self leading the way. I am on a journey towards loving the Torah again, and tarot is helping me get there.
For those who don’t know, tarot is a form of divination originating in Italy in the mid-15th century. It relies on using one’s intuition to channel wisdom from the divine, using a deck of cards with meaningful images, numerology and symbols. Although tarot is not traditionally used in Jewish contexts, using intuition as a spiritual practice is not new to Judaism. It goes back to our roots, which were pagan in nature. Our women ancestors played important roles in the times of the Temple, using their intuitive wisdom as priestesses and healers. Tarot invites us to return to our spiritual roots that were lost, and to search for meaning within our own bodies and spirits.
I use tarot every day to connect with G-d and to feel a sacred connection to my Jewish spiritual self. In my view, tarot is a spiritual tool, just like Torah, to help us connect with the divine. Reading tarot guides me in life. It feels sacred, and there is ritual around the reading. In both tarot and Torah reading, we create a sacred space, look at the same text over and over again in different ways, and draw on our own experience to arrive at new interpretations, applying the meaning to our lives in the here and now.
Without knowing anything about tarot, you can look at the original images created by Pamela Coleman-Smith on the traditional Rider-Waite Tarot deck and see the Jewish significance of the cards. When I saw the holy Tetragrammaton of G-d’s name inscribed on the chest of the angel in Temperance, one of the 22 Major Arcana cards, I felt the Jewish connection immediately. It is also a significant synergy that the scroll in the lap of the High Priestess reads “TORA,” letters which are also found on the Wheel of Fortune but rearranged to read TARO, interwoven with the four Hebrew letters of G-d’s name. In the Minor Arcana, the Ten of Pentacles contains 10 circles with five-pointed stars in the centre, depicted in shape of the 10 sefirot, the sacred geometry also known as the Tree of Life in kabbalah.
My curiosity with tarot began as a teenager. I somehow acquired a small deck but didn’t know how to read it. As an adult, the cards found their way to me again, and perhaps it was not a coincidence that I was gifted with a tarot deck just after I turned 40, the age that Judaism traditionally says we are spiritually mature enough for the mystical teachings of kabbalah.
I learned to read tarot through my own study, using books, podcasts and courses. Even though some talked about the kabbalist correspondences on the cards, I never learned how tarot could be used as a way of connecting with my Jewish spirituality.
Since then, I have been exploring tarot as a tool for Jewish spiritual practice in several ways. I read for myself, I read for others, and I use the cards for Jewish rituals, such as setting intentions when lighting candles for Shabbat.
I read tarot professionally under the name Azra Silverstein, a decision I made out of fear of the stigma associated with tarot. I chose the name because of its connection to my own Hebrew name, but also because of its Jewish feel. It makes a difference knowing when a reader is Jewish, and clients have often sought me out because of this.
I was reading at a spiritual fair once and a young man saw me listed as a Jewish tarot reader. He sat down at my table and asked me, “What makes a tarot reading Jewish?” I gave him the short answer, “You and me!” It’s because of the people who are involved. When you read tarot, you use your intuition, which means using the whole of yourself to glean insight from within and the world around you. So, if you are Jewish, you will read with a Jewish lens. It’s inherent.
The longer answer is, there are many ways to make a reading Jewish. One way is to open with a blessing. When I am reading for a Jewish client who has never had a reading before, I will often recite Shehechiyanu, the traditional blessing for doing something for the first time. In my opening meditation before a tarot reading I sometimes use the word Shechinah, instead of a more secular reference to the universe. I’ve witnessed Jewish clients drop into a sacred vibration when such references are made. I can feel the powerful impact of our ancestry in the reading ritual.
I also have done readings for Jewish people where I weave in Jewish concepts, make connections to Jewish holidays or take into account the broader context surrounding Jews today. Tarot readings can support people navigating antisemitism or conflicts related to being Jewish, and they can also provide guidance for one’s Jewish spiritual development.
If you are curious about how tarot can deepen your own spiritual practice, I invite you to pick up a deck and start reading for yourself. For those who want more formal training, you may be interested in my Jewish tarot course, which teaches how to read the cards using Jewish and secular methods, as well as how to use tarot for Jewish ritual. For Passover, I created a Haggadah (which is available online) that uses tarot to engage with various parts of the seder. For more information, please visit my website, azrasilverstein.com.
Dr. Alycia Fridkin, PhD, is also known as Azra Silverstein, the Jewitch Tarot Reader. Get in touch at azrasilverstein.com or email her at [email protected].
