In an era where wisdom and information are easily squeezed into a 15-second TikTok clip, spirituality and tarot have become repackaged, rebranded and catapulted to viral stardom. As you swipe through your feed you’ll be able to find an endless stream of ancient teachings, spiritual influencers and tarot readers offering their services—whether it’s love, career, or just a general vibe check. Magic is at your fingertips, waiting for a double tap.
Gen Z as a generation are turning to spirituality for various reasons which are driven by personal and societal factors that reflect their unique experiences. Some of these reasons include a search for meaning, personal healing, mental health, a sense of belonging and the allure that spirituality offers, despite all these reasons it’s clear that spirituality might be much more than a passing trend and just maybe Gen Z are onto something.
So what is driving this spiritual renaissance? Is Gen Z onto something profound? Or is this just another TikTok-related trend that will age like milk?
In a world that is more unpredictable than a season finale cliffhanger, spirituality seems to be thriving. A study revealed that 62% of 18 to 24-year-olds consider themselves “very” or “fairly” spiritual. This rise is a factor of many things which includes this generation’s desire for control, empowerment and personal growth in a world where they feel their choices are taken away from them.
We must also discuss how technology has made spirituality easily accessible for this generation with communities on TikTok that are all about spirituality and the rise of WitchTok- a community that offers spellwork tutorials, astrology breakdowns and tarot readings in real time.
Tarot reader and best-selling author of over ten books, Sasha Graham explained how this generation is engaging with tarot and spirituality differently, especially with the rise in technology and social media: “It was such a hidden and secret thing, you go to bookstores and maybe find a couple of tarot decks and now you walk into a bookstore and it’s like a witch exploded.
“I feel like tarot has become easily accessible to Gen Z and with TikTok where there is witch talk, tarot, astrology and all that stuff. I feel like everyone has a tarot deck.”
And she’s not wrong, What was once a niche practice, tucked away in the back of esoteric shops, has burst into the mainstream and is at the centre of this generation, with social media fueling the fire behind it. Platforms like TikTok, Youtube and Instagram are at the centre of this rise in tarot and spirituality, creating a digital ecosystem filled with tutorials, advice and hashtags like #WitchTok and #TarotReadings that have amassed billions of views.
Gen Z has embraced tarot and spirituality as more than just a mystical tool, it has become a form of self-discovery, mental wellness and empowerment which is deeply woven into how they navigate their lives and how they choose to heal, with mental health being at an all time high this generation is looking for alternative ways to cope and understand themselves and their emotions clearly.
Graham highlights why this generation feels a pull towards tarot and spirituality, especially in a world that it’s a bit messed up: “I think people are scared and disempowered and traditionally when you look at any culture when you feel like you don’t have any power you turn to folk magic, that becomes the power that you have because it’s all about what you can see, smell, feel, taste and energies all around you.”
This generation also seems to be enthralled by tarot and tarot readings, which goes beyond more than just a gone-with-the-wind kind of trend.
She said: “There is so much information coming in for this generation that tarot becomes a place where you can calm down and just focus on something still that’s in front of you. Tarot is like this beautiful, tangible thing that it’s calming.”
In an era of constant overload it’s so easy to miss the important things and tarot and spirituality give you that space for introspection and to tune in to your intuition and the world around you, but it’s also more than just a mindfulness tool. It’s about finding clarity in the chaos. Graham mentioned how beneficial it is to pull a card a day to tap into your intuition and become more grounded in your day-to-day life.
She said: “The beauty of tarot is that it is deeply personal each reading, each spread and each interpretation is unique to the individual.”
That’s why it has such a strong hold on this generation because it’s not about following a rigid belief system but about forging your own path and your own meaning.
We can’t talk about tarot and spirituality without forgetting its impact on mental health because let’s be real this generation is dealing with some real stress. Between the cost of living crisis, and career uncertainty it feels like the walls are slowly closing in, and while therapy is also extremely important and essential for your mental health it doesn’t hurt to use spirituality and tarot as complementary tools to traditional therapy.
I interviewed Sarah Potter, celebrity tarot reader, psychic medium and pro witch who spoke to me about how spiritual practices serve as an alternative and complementary tool to mental health and healing
She said: “I think healing is very multidimensional, it’s very multifaceted. In my opinion people benefit from having a variety of tools in their toolkit. Tarot to me is part of a bigger picture and I think everyone can benefit from tarot. Gen Z knows that things aren’t working, this world is not sustainable, the way people are moving is not sustainable and you want to understand yourselves and tarot is a wonderful way to do that.”
Tarot and spirituality aren’t some magical fix-all, it’s not here to replace therapy, erase all your traumas or solve all your problems overnight, but it can be a powerful way to work alongside your mental health because they force you to sit with your thoughts, ask the hard questions and actually listen to yourself and what you need.
Like Potter said: “No matter what you are healing from, we need to understand ourselves, then we can understand what we need, we understand why we do the things we do and we can help ourselves and find better support.”
Many people have the misconception that tarot predicts your future, however, tarot cards are not crystal balls. Instead, it offers you guidance and a space to untangle your emotions and reflect.
When speaking to Sarah about tarot and therapy she explained: “I can’t imagine tarot replacing therapy because the training is different but I do feel like tarot is a storyteller and so it opens up incredible conversations around mental health.”
And that’s the magic about it. Tarot isn’t about replacing therapy or some kind of cosmic manual, it offers you a different option to heal and see the world differently, which is what this generation needs because not everyone heals the same and what works for someone might no work for others and spirituality offers a third option and a space where you heal at your own terms.
This begs the question: is tarot and spirituality just a trend or so much more? Sceptics might roll their eyes and say it’s another internet-fueled craze, however, the thing with trends is they easily fade whilst tools that help people in their personal lives? They stick around. Tarot and spirituality are so much more than a cool aesthetic, for Sasha and Sarah is something more deeper and profound that seems to resonate deeply in this generation who want to find meaning in the world around them.
When I asked Sarah if she was to pick a tarot card that best embodies the spirit of Gen Z she said: “I think it would be the ten of cups and I say that because it’s a card of community and to me, it represents contentment and emotional satisfaction. Gen Z is communal and understanding about working together for the greater good”
This is why astrology, tarot and spirituality resonate so deeply because it’s so much more than individual fate- it’s about shared experiences in a world that often feels disconnected and chaotic. These practices offer a reminder that people are not alone in their struggles and also offer a sense of belonging for those who’ve been lost for so long.
When I asked Sarah about how she sees the evolution of spirituality and mental health working together she said: “ I think we’re just going to continue to see more and more conversations around mental health and how we can support people’s mental health alongside spiritual and holistic practices.”
The real magic happens when two worlds stop working on parallels and come together. We’re seeing the rise of Gen Z becoming more spiritual and turning to astrology and meditation to deal with the challenges of modern life. You can say we might end up with something revolutionary. And honestly, who wouldn’t want to be part of a movement that is all about community and thriving?
