Tarot
My senior design capstone is focusing on tarot cards and their benefits for both skeptics and believers alike. For my research I focused on the question how can tarot improve peoples lives and I found an answer in the Barnum effect. The Barnum effect is the phenomenon of the mind reading a general statement and thinking it applies specifically to the person reading. My theory is that because each card has meaning in tarot, having cards laid out will cause the subconscious to infer meaning from them that directly applies to the problems that person is facing and help them solve those issues themselves. This theory was supported by my ethnography of two oracle deck users saying that reading the cards helps center them and figure out what’s bothering them often. I am now in the process of designing a deck and small guide. Each card uses an illustration that includes an anatomical and a botanical element. I’ve researched flower meanings to coincide with the meanings of each card. The illustrations are created using photoshop and my Wacom tablet.