A Dallas Tarot Reader on Its Recent Popularity, and How to Pick a Beautiful Deck of Your Own

To attend a session with Megan Benanti, you’ll visit a picturesque North Dallas neighborhood, enter through a gate into a glass-walled back house surrounded by soothing wind chimes and a beautifully landscaped Texas backyard. There’s green tea, cool music quietly playing, and a friendly Corgi circling your feet. All in all, the setup is a far cry from tarot reading scenes of the movies, where moody rooms with mysterious gurus warn of upcoming fortune or tragedy.

Benanti is well aware of tarot’s perception. She’s been professionally reading cards for 20 years after studying the writings of Eden Gray and taking courses on intuitive reading. She’s done her work during Dallas events hosted at The Joule Hotel, Park House, and La Duni. But she’s also observed how that perception is shifting (many now think of tarot as a method of self-reflection rather than divination), particularly after the pandemic lit a fire under tarot’s growing popularity.

“It’s been on the rise, but I think when the pandemic hit, people suddenly had downtime, and the anxiety levels are so high,” Benanti says. “People don’t know how to relax and turn that off, so they started looking for ways to do that, and this sort of explosion of spirituality has come out of that. Even in just the last 12 months, people are more aware and open to tarot.”

A session with Benanti won’t tell you exactly when you’ll meet a soulmate or offer any other definitive answers. (“At the end of the day, you want to be able to create your own fate,” she says.) Cards are pulled to represent a client’s past, present, and future (most readers I’ve met believe there are no “bad cards”), with the idea that all information gleaned could be useful to their own self-reflection and growth. “Sometimes there are challenging things in there, but it should always be to help them,” Benanti adds.

How to Work With Your Own Tarot Deck

With so many looking to try their hand at tarot, and thousands of decks by artists now available to buy online, Benanti offers her thoughts on finding your own. The most important tip: You’ll likely be spending a lot of time with it, so choose a deck that speaks to you.

For someone dealing with anxiety, Benanti recommends checking out The Moon Child Tarot. “It’s beautiful, and reads really touchy feely,” she adds.

If someone is looking for a more contemporary looking deck, Benanti points to The Light Seers Tarot or The Iluminati deck.

Benanti had her own tarot reading before buying her first deck, which she believes can be helpful. “I found that every time I had a reading, it was very uplifting and positive experience,” she says. “But I also know that just diving in and asking questions is a beautiful way to know yourself more deeply.”

Question prompts for tarot beginners (avoid ones with “yes” or “no” answers):

What can I do today/month/week to work on my divine life path?

How can I fulfill my divine purpose this today/month/week?

What will help me fill my heart today?

Where should I look for spiritual guidance right now?

What blocks do I need to let go of to help myself on my journey to peace?

Where should I look for a spiritual retreat?

Stick with simple questions that start with who, what, why, when, and where —although when can be tricky.

For more on Megan Benanti, head to tarotdallas.com.