Tarot and Friendship: Tiffany & Justine
Some tarot snaps I found in my archive with old friends, new friends, work friends, and friends of friends!
I strongly believe that tarot can bring friends together.
You can think you know someone through and through, then pull cards for that person and suddenly discover a whole new facet of their personality. Or you can meet someone through the cards and form a bond that’s pretty unique because it’s forged by magic (!). I’ve become friends with people I read for frequently… And casual friends I’ve known through high school or work have become so much closer to me because they’ve asked me to read for them once or twice.
More than once, I’ve gotten an order for the Practical Magic deck and weeks later, that person will be back in touch with me to order another deck for their best friend. I take it as a huge huge compliment when friends actually bond over my cards (it’s incredibly cool).
tarot cards are tools for self-reflection, but they also serve to connect us with others… something i feel we’re all in need of these days.
During one of my frequent chats with my Future Media Empire friends Macy and Patty, I was linked to this longform piece in Underdog about returning to intimacy with tinyletter.com (read it if you have the time, it’s great!). We loved the write-up so much and when I scrolled down to the bottom I pointed out that the author’s name sounded super familiar. I immediately hopped on my email search and found that Tiffany was someone I occasionally messaged with on my Practical Magic Instagram and she had even ordered the deck!
FUeled by warm fuzzy feelings about connection (and perhaps too much caffeine), i shot tiffany a dm to tell her i loved her piece.
I then went on a ramble talking about how I love the movie “You’ve Got Mail,” and that maybe I could feature her on this blog. And that is how I came to writing this post. I asked Tiffany about how she got started with tarot and she told me it was all because of her friend, Justine, and I thought maybe I could interview them both. So last Tuesday, I hopped on a lunch time Zoom call with these two women about how they both use tarot and how it’s played a role in their friendship.
*You may think I have a plan for my blog posts but I absolutely don’t and I just post whatever comes to mind at the moment :P
Tiff and Justine became first got to know each other five years ago through work (they both work at a hotel!).
PM: Who introduced whom to tarot?
Justine: Ako yung nag-influence kay Tiff sa tarot… since bata ako mahilig ako sa cards. Playing cards, actually. Nagpapanggap ako na marunong ako mag CLOW cards. (I influenced Tiff when it came to tarot. I was into cards—playing cards actually—since I was a kid. I would pretend I knew how to use CLOW cards)
PM: What are CLOW cards? (sorry guys, I really had no clue—sign of my age, lol)
Justine: Maganda ang design! (They have great designs on them!)
PM: When did you start becoming serious with tarot?
Justine: Two years ago—maybe even just one year. I’m still new!
Tiff: Aside from what Justine introduced to me, I didn’t really have any ideas about tarot because that “practice” isn’t really accepted as something “proper” here. It’s not the norm. I, myself, had a closed off idea about tarot. It’s a whole religion thing—narrowing tarot down to something that predicted the future and predicting the future was “bad.”
But with Justine’s advice and because I read up about it, I found out that tarot is really reading energy. It helps you shape decisions you make.
We’re all designed for a path, I believe. But I don’t use cards to tell me something bad’s going to happen in the future. Tarot helps me learn more about how the subconscious affects this or that so I’m able to put some decisions on the back burner instead of acting on default.
PM: Where are you two in your practice now?
Justine: TBH ngayon, bihira na ako mag tarot kasi pare-parehas lang ang lumalabas! And mahirap maging obsessed over the small details. Siguro, I use it kung kailangan lang. Or for quick answers. (To be honest, right now, I hardly use tarot because the same thing keeps coming up. It’s hard to start becoming obsessed over the small details. I probably just use it on a need-to-know basis or for quick answers)
Tiffany: I rarely use it too—same as Justine. Tarot can get obsessive!
I’ve also learned from Justine that when there’s a bias, may nahahalo sa energy and readings come out as subjective.
PM: What about reading for other people or each other?
Tiffany: A core part of our friendship is we help each other change our bad habits. That way, tarot can also be transformative. And you share this kind of energy when you want to help someone heal.
PM: Where do you take tarot with you?
Tiffany: In the office, sometimes others ask questions and the cards reveal a part of themselves they only start to realize right then. We explain why we came up with those messages based on the suits, etc. and they do understand what we try to say.
PM: I’m curious, how did you find out about Practical Magic?
Tiffany: I found out about it through Abbey Sy’s Instagram posts. The artwork (of the deck) is very unique and it’s unusual because it’s very modern and aesthetically based. It’s a new kind of approach you’ve given to tarot. (ed’s note: aw, thanks!)
I’ve also shared it with Justine as well and plan to “surprise” her with it.
Justine: *laughs*
PM: What areas of your life do you find the tarot to be especially useful?
Justine: Relationships, kasi hindi mo alam kung ano yung thoughts ng ibang tao. Mas nakakatulong siya sa akin. With career, ikaw ang in charge and madali siya ma-”predict.” Ibang tao, hindi mo control. (Relationships because you can’t really read someone else’s thoughts. In that respect, it’s been helpful to me. With career, you’re in charge and it’s easy to see where it’s going. But with other people, things can get muddy)
Tiffany: Same. It’s helped me figure out what my best move is or how to approach certain situations.
PM: Any advice to people or friends who want to get into tarot?
Tiffany: The “OG” (Justine) needs to be the one to give advice!
Justine: Be encouraging to the person you’re reading for.
I’ve come across many tarot readers who only point out the “bad” side of things. You need to think of advice that helps the person realize they can get through it.
Tiffany: You’ve got to use your intuition. We have friends who read tarot too and sometimes they just read the “meaning” of the card. Like “King of Swords is …
You need to relate tarot to the situation you’re reading about.
At the same time, empathize with the person. Try to understand the situation.
Don’t hide the truth, too. Say it in a way they’ll understand—it’s not about trying to catch people off guard.
And if you’re getting a reading from someone, you an accept what they say but don’t be afraid to speak up and question the reader. Ask why.
When you start using the tarot to decide everything, that’s when it turns obsessive.
Just practice, read up on it, and don’t abuse it.
I hope you picked up a few tips from this Q&A I did with Tiff and Justine.
Have you gotten into tarot because of friends or have your friends gotten into tarot because of you? I’d love to hear your story in the comments! <3
And I also hope this opens you up to tarot as a way to connect with others.
All collage elements in this blog post are from the Nearness Project Collage Kits.