My cosmically mystical life...
Magic is in words and music, not spells and potions, says tarot reader Ilayda from Real Vibes Tarot
You describe yourself as a tarot reader “for those who believe in magic and those who don’t” and you’re not a fortune teller – so can you tell me how you use the tarot?
“I guess the first thing to say is that for me, tarot is less about thinking the future is fixed and using the cards to tell you what that looks like, and more about holding up a mirror, to show people reflections of themselves and their lives and help clients create stories or maps to navigate this messy clusterfuck that we call life.
“I use the cards to provide prompts for clients to shine a light on their hopes, dreams and all that kind of shit. Basically, it’s showing people how they think, feel and act can help change their circumstances and help them be aware that tweaking these things can feel like creating a bit of magic in their lives.”
From a non-magical perspective, how can you explain that ‘tarot is always right’?
“That’s funny – I say that’s funny because I do believe in magic, and I do think that consulting the tarot is an act of magic because I believe that the changes that can occur in people’s lives from uncovering truths about themselves in a reading is a form of magic or alchemy. But that answer may not appeal to sceptics!
“I don’t go looking for hard answers from the cards so I don’t believe there is a right or wrong answer. It’s a little bit like art, is there a wrong way to interpret a picture in a gallery or a show at a theatre? You may walk away having got a slightly different gist to others, but that’s probably because of your background, or the day you’ve had or whether you’re wearing itchy underpants or whatever. It doesn’t mean that what you took away from it is wrong, and I think the same applies to using the tarot. If we are working together to interpret a spread, how can we be getting that wrong? It’s true in that moment. So with that logic, the cards are always right.
What do you think about tarot being mainstream right now, why do you think it’s so popular?
“I love that tarot is really popular now. It’s an incredible tool for self-reflection and also societal change potentially too. I think things like social media help things spread quicker, but we’re basically living in really uncertain times, whether that’s political fuckenings happening with arseholes in power, or the cost of living crisis or the impending horrific effects of climate change, I think people have not unreasonable levels of fear and doubt. One one level, I think people naturally reach for tools like the tarot for answers, like how spiritualism blew up in the Victorian era as a result of the industrial revolution, when the population would have been through immense changes and upheavals.”
Do you believe in magic in any sense of the word?
“Yes, of course. I believe that love is magic. I believe that laughter is magic. We know that the solar system and the universe exists, but why? The mystery of that question, the why, and all its’ possible answers to me, is something to do with magic. It’s also magic when we use our thoughts and influence to change ourselves and the world. I think that magic is probably spicy psychology, but I believe in it. Do I believe that I can convene with spirits? No, I don’t believe that, personally. I’ve had no experience of it. I think that my level of disbelief, or questioning about the way that language around magic is used stops me going… doolally.
“I think that’s why my style of tarot reading appeals to those people who are not necessarily ready to, I don’t know, have an orgy with spirits or whatever!”
Have you ever had an experience you can’t explain?
“I don’t think so. Pretty much every weird encounter has had some rock-solid explanation behind it. I want so badly to have an experience I can’t explain!”
Do you have any superstitions?
“I’m Turkish, and because of that I have picked up some secular superstitions from my ancestors. So even stuff that could sound relatively woo, a lot of my family subscribe to but with a healthy amount of cynicism.
“The big one for me is that I have evil eyes in my house and I have been wearing some form of evil eye pendant on my person basically since birth, because in Turkey, the baby is born and they immediately pin an evil eye on to them to protect them. I used to get teased about it at school, and now fucking fashion brands are popping out the evil eye left right and centre!
Any last words that you would like to share about your life as a non-mystic tarot reader? (lol)
“(Laughs) It’s funny because it’s not that I see myself as “unmystical”, but that I see the mystical in the mundane. To be alive and conscious feels mystical to me. I do spend a good portion of my time thinking about the mysteries of life and the cosmos and how mind-blowingly amazing is it that we have the capacity to play, and make art and hug people we love. I have such reverence to things like that, it feels as mystical to me as having conversations with spirits or jars full of spell ingredients.”
IG: @RealVibesTarot