When Dogs Read Tarot

What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

WHEN MY DOG TESS WAS A PUP she bit four Tarot cards from my Smith Waite deck, which had fallen on the office floor when I was unpacking boxes. I had to pull the Four of Wands from her teeth. It’s still torn.

THE DECK HAD TO GO, but I kept the cards. And three years later, I have to admit Tess gave me an accurate, simple, if rather dog-like reading.

The Four of Wands suggested a family reunion. True (she was there and stole a packet of butter from the table, running off with it into the garden).

Tess also bit into The Lovers (a boyfriend who she quite liked, came along) and a couple of Pentacles cards (money, being her business, because it meant more bones and a better class of dog food). If there is one truth about Tarot, it is that the cards accurately reflect the state of mind (not to mention the intelligence) of the reader. The cards are a mirror. And they can reflect a dog.

THE DOGS IN THE SMITH WAITE TAROT are well-known. The most famous dog appears in The Fool card. It belonged to Ellen Terry, with whom Pamela Colman Smith stayed in 1909, when she was creating her deck.

Oracles and Tarot Cards

Since then, dog-themed oracle decks have appeared on the market. The original and the best is still Pamela’s classic pack, though, inspired and commissioned by Arthur E. Waite.

Just as the reader (even a dog) reflects the Tarot, so do oracles and rival, illustrated Tarot decks, reflect their artists.

What you see, is what you get. If you want to see your world through the eyes of a dog, ask the dog to paw a card from spread on the rug, or encourage your puppy to chew on a card.

Similarly, if you want to see your world through the eyes of a modern photographer, male, in his twenties, living in the U.S. - that is exactly the kind of oracle you will choose.

Tarot is Alchemy

Tarot is alchemy, or chemistry. In the mix is the creator of the cards. His or her vision (or their shared vision) gives you the primary ingredient.

I like Pamela Colman Smith in the mix because she was a Suffragette and a charity donor. She also had great friends, ranging from Yeats to G.K. Chesterton. The Golden Dawn, where she met Arthur E. Waite, was Britain’s most glittering secret society. She knew Bram Stoker. As mentioned, she knew Ellen Terry.

Beyond the creator of the cards, there is you (the reader) and perhaps a third person, if you are reading for a friend or client. The unique vision of Pamela (Pixie) Colman Smith, that great feminist and bohemian, is in every picture.

Tarot Twice a Month

If you are curious about the alchemy of Tarot, you can join Alicia Fulton, host of The Astrology Show on Substack and X-Twitter, together with me, twice a month. You are the fifth ingredient and the main ingredient, in what are alchemical readings of your New Moon and Full Moon experience, based on your decan. We may bring our dogs.

(Images: Picryl/Tiana Den/Dreamstime.)