Tarot's Boom-Bust Cycle Repeats Itself Right on Schedule

Tarot is experiencing a mainstream surge presented as cultural democratization—but this exact pattern happened in the 1970s with the Rider-Waite deck, ending in collapse. Understanding why it repeats reveals what 'mainstreaming' actually means.

Pamela Colman Smith's 1909 Rider-Waite deck became mass-market paperback in 1971, sparking identical boom-bust to today's surge.

Pandemic conditions didn't create tarot interest—they accelerated an existing cycle of supply-demand that ends predictably.

Artistic traditions (Smith, Crowley's intellectual rigor) dissolve when market demand incentivizes commercial accessibility over depth.