Beyond the cards: Exploring youth motives and practices in Moscow's tarot culture

This study uncovers why tarot has become an integral—and often surprising—part of everyday life for Moscow's youth. Using a mixed-methods approach combining content analysis of 15,530 YouTube comments with in-depth interviews of 21 young tarot users, we show that tarot's allure stems less from magical beliefs and more from psychological, social, hedonistic, and aesthetic motives. The findings challenge stereotypes of ritualized esotericism: most youth view tarot as entertainment, emotional comfort, and a tool for community-building and self-understanding rather than mystical pursuit. Our analysis highlights online tarot practices’ dominance and identifies a novel aesthetic motive—fascination with ritual atmosphere and visual appeal distinctive to this generation. These insights argue that tarot's vitality in secular urban Russia derives precisely from its de-magicification: stripped of supernatural claims, it functions as a portable meaning-making system meeting psychological, social, and aesthetic needs simultaneously.