Tarot reader releases oracle cards inspired by Hindu epics

CHENNAI: How do the mind and the universe come together for a purpose beyond our knowledge? Do we realise the powers that the subconscious mind holds? Unravelling wisdom from classic Hindu epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata, 36-year-old psychologist, hypnotherapist, healer and divination expert, Pankhuri Agarwal created a deck of oracle cards called Wisdom from the Hind.

The set has beautiful illustrations done by Rahul Das and has a guidebook for beginners to read and interpret cards from. The colourful 50-card deck has 25 female cards and 25 male cards with incidents from Ramayana and Mahabharata illustrated on the cards. The book offers a synopsis of the story, questions that one can explore, actions to take and messages for the reader.

How did a psychologist-hypnotherapist end up reading cards for 18 years of her life? Speaking to DT Next, she says, “In college, I happened to meet a tarot reader who introduced me to divination cards. I was so intrigued by it and picked it up as a party trick. I was a sceptic for a long time until I finally realised the value of it and the power it holds.”

She says she got insights on issues both personal and professional through these cards and decided to learn them properly. “When I started taking tarot seriously it taught itself to me. Every new thing I learnt and discovered in life, there was a direct correlation to tarot,” she adds.

Having lived in Chennai all her life, she moved to London with her family 8 years ago. She set up her hypnotherapy clinic and offered reiki healing, cleansing, and tarot reading to her clients that asked for it or required an outlet to vent their trauma. “I don’t force these things on anyone. As a hypnotherapist, I let them know that there are also other methods to approach their issues. When they know they can get additional help in the form of either tarot or healing they choose it,” she says.

Her journey with cards ended after a 13-year run because her meditation told her that it was time she stopped. Wanting to still do something in the field of tarot, she decided to create her own set of cards. She began working on it in 2019 and started extensively researching the ancient Hindu scriptures.

“I wanted to write powerful cards for women and completed three cards. I got in touch with Rahul Das, whom I had known since a child, for the illustrations. He agreed and we started working. I have no godfather and no experience with publishing and so it was all new for me. Rahul told me it would take years to hear from a publisher. As fate would have it, within two days of my submission, the publishing house agreed to publish it,” she recalls.

She says she initially wanted the deck to have 25 cards but ended up having another 25 due to logistic requirements. With the cards finally out after a long wait she looks forward to how people perceive them.

Talking about her upcoming 92-card set, Swagatam, which is set to release in March worldwide she says, “The writing session was very intense because I finished the deck in a week and the illustrator Aishwarya Ravichandran matched my pace. I’m really excited for it to be out.”

Wisdom from the Epics of Hind is available for purchase on all e-commerce platforms.