Abstract

This thesis examines the use of Tarot cards as a means of healing among individuals in Western divination culture. This research examines how biopolitical discourses affect individual agency when engaging in healing as a form of self-care, it also addresses the ways in which subjects negotiate their own subjectivities in contexts of self-care. I analyze social media discourses about Tarot cards and healing to examine the motivations for using Tarot cards as an alternative route for healing. This research finds that practitioners use Tarot as a means of therapeutic healing similar to talk-therapy. Another finding suggests that, practitioners make use of Tarot in spiritual and secular worldviews. Research findings also provide that practitioners create and reinforce identity through the use of Tarot. Finally, research findings suggest that most participants were able to create a community through the use of Tarot that establishes their own definition of self-care. These findings illuminate the ways in which a divination practice supports self-care and must be reconsidered in contexts of emotional, physical and spiritual wellbeing. I argue for a reconsidering of what it means to be a Tarot practitioner in a Western biomedical context in which methods of care are not always accessible. A better understanding of how Tarot practitioners use Tarot cards as a method of self-care can contribute to a better understanding of alternative methods to healing in a Western biomedical context.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2021

Semester

Summer

Advisor

Reyes-Foster, Beatriz

Degree

Master of Arts (M.A.)

College

College of Sciences

Department

Anthropology

Degree Program

Anthropology

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0009132; DP0026465

URL

https://purls.library.ucf.edu/go/DP0026465

Language

English

Release Date

February 2027

Length of Campus-only Access

5 years

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Campus-only Access)

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