Turning to a deck of cards for wisdom seems to contradict predominantly Catholic traditions in the Philippines. So, how could alternative belief systems fit into the fabric of daily Filipino life?
Will I ever find my soulmate? Will I get a job offer from my dream company?
These questions about life’s uncertainty ring in our minds yet often go unsaid in polite conversation. Enter Chinggay Labrador, tarot reader and creator of Practical Magic, a tarot practice that brings an unexpectedly grounded twist to the age-old divinatory art.
Labrador has been helping her clients find answers to questions about love, career, and self-development for around a decade. She started reading tarot for herself and her close friends in 2014 and slowly began doing bite-sized readings for strangers. Soon enough, she found herself doing hour-long sessions in coffee shops and restaurants around Metro Manila. She also branched out into creating her own tarot decks, like the Practical Magic Starter Deck.
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Now, Labrador is part of the New Age Renaissance, which boomed during the pandemic as we all grappled with uncertainty. Sun, moon, and rising signs eventually appeared on Instagram bios. For some, burning sage is a daily ritual at home. Tarot readings on TikTok also exploded.
These practices come across as mysterious and even a little dangerous. Turning to the stars or a deck of cards for wisdom seems to contradict traditions in a predominantly Catholic country like the Philippines. So, how could alternative belief systems fit into the fabric of daily Filipino life?
With Practical Magic, Labrador channels her efforts into making tarot approachable through down-to-earth advice. “We get a sneak peek into how we can experience magic in different ways,” she says.
Learning and mastering the cards
Tarot has a reputation for being one of the more inaccessible New Age practices for the general public. In contrast, astrology dominates pop culture, with daily horoscope columns being a mainstay in established publications. Finding your sign is straightforward because we use our birthdates, which are fixed. Those born between Mar. 23 and Apr. 20 are Aries. But finding answers and guidance through cartomancy isn’t as simple.
To use the cards, you need to learn the tarot system. Each deck usually comes with 78 cards. Twenty-two cards belong to the Major Arcana, or “big secrets,” which detail larger, existential themes through the Fool’s journey. The first card is the Fool, traditionally depicted as a young man leaping from a cliff. The succeeding 22 cards outline the man’s journey from beginning to end, which culminates in the World card.
The rest of the 56 cards belong to the Minor Arcana, or “little secrets,” which refer to smaller, earthly happenings. The structure resembles a playing card deck and contains four suites that correspond to different aspects of human life: wands for the spirit, cups for emotions, swords for intellect, and pentacles for the material world.
To find answers through the cards, shuffle the deck, ask a question, and pull one out. The pulled-out card holds some insight. Tarot can also grow in complexity through spreads, where the meaning of a card changes depending on its position. The infinite combinations of cards and spreads mean tarot eschews cookie-cutter answers.
Making sense of it all
Memorizing the cards’s meaning and spread positions is just half of the equation. The tarot reader, who interprets the cards, plays a vital role in cartomancy. “Every time you do a reading, you’re reading for yourself because you’re pulling from the wealth of information you’ve acquired over the years,” reflects Labrador.
Tarot readers such as Madam Adam infuse their work with a blend of theatricality and tough love. Labrador has a refreshing approach that offers specific and immediately actionable guidance based on the cards. She shares weekly card pulls and moon phase readings on Instagram while managing a podcast, Your Weekly Oracle by Practical Magic.
Labrador prefers the pragmatic side of tarot, but she’s still open to the craft’s more mystical aspects. “I always love getting feedback where people say, ‘Oh, you said so-and-so in the reading, and it came true.’” One client asked Labrador about romance. She was seeing someone casually and wanted to learn more about the connection. Labrador drew a Knight and a King, which indicated a choice between two people.
“After our session, she met somebody new,” exclaims Labrador. “It was wild because that wasn’t even on our radar.” Call it what you want—luck or destiny—but it’s hard to deny the influence tarot has over those who consult it.
Everyday Filipino magic
Before the pandemic, Labrador used to read for her clients in public places like restaurants and cafés. In between sessions, a few onlookers would approach her and ask about the tarot. Most were curious and open-minded, but some had a different take.
“I ended up getting prayed over. That was a memorable experience.”
Practicing tarot, astrology, and other New Age interests in the Philippines comes with a lot of confusion and even baggage. Alternative spirituality appears to contradict more established and organized spiritual communities. Given the rising popularity of New Age views, could these two views coexist together?
“If you look back to pre-colonial Philippines, we’ve always been a woo-woo kind of people.” Labrador adds “What’s great about being Filipino is we’ve been able to mix both and have both in our lives.”
In front of churches, street vendors display amulets (anting-anting), love potions (gayuma), and fortune-telling services (manghuhula). Whenever we pass by a mound, we clasp our hands and say “tabi-tabi po” to respect the surrounding spirits. We think butterflies are deceased loved ones visiting us from the afterlife.
Labrador combined Filipino sensibilities with her pragmatic approach to tarot in two decks: the Pinoy Practical Magic Tarot and Tanim: A Filipino Botanical Oracle Deck. The former incorporates Pinoy pop culture references and collages from magazines from the ’70s. The latter is an oracle deck, where Labrador created unique cards in collaboration with artist Cynthia Bauzon-Arre based on Philippine flora.
Tarot as a tool for communication and mindfulness
The cards can’t spin prophecies, but relating personal experiences with universal storytelling could reveal where we are in the present moment. “When you talk about self-discovery, it could feel so nebulous,” confesses Labrador. The noise on social media and our culture’s push for productivity leaves us scattered and confused. “With the tarot, you’re given archetypes in the Fool’s journey. You already have a structure.”
Labrador uses tarot to reflect on the past and engage in the present: “I use it retroactively rather than plan my day according to the card.” Every morning, she pulls one tarot card to gently guide her throughout the day. The following day, she writes down a few sentences about how the card relates to the previous day’s events. This exercise gives her a chance to slow down and plan her next decisions with more intention.
One tarot card deck she designed, the Extraordinary Incantations Tarot/Oracle deck, comes with prompts that make decoding the cards easier. The Two of Cups, a card about fulfilling relationships, simply reads, “I merge with who or what I love.” Illustrator Aya Francisco’s art replaces esotericism with warmth.
Using tarot to improve our self-awareness might even be more beneficial than using it to forecast the future. “You’re able to map out a plan and feel confident enough that if the plan doesn’t work, you know you’re going to be okay,” Labrador explains.
Her client’s romantic exploration could be attributed to a synchronicity between tarot and her life. Or, just maybe, seeing the cards laid out on the table showed her an alternative path and opened her toward a new direction. Readers like Labrador only guide us through different possibilities. Ultimately, the future is in our hands.
The answers are not in the cards but in ourselves
So, will you ever find your soulmate? Will you get that job offer?
Consulting the cards won’t provide a definite answer, but the creativity and intuition needed to make meaning out of chaos can nudge you towards your dreams. Like the shuffling of cards, the future is always in flux. Take it from Labrador: “I’ve been doing this for years and I’m still learning new things about the cards.”
Through Practical Magic, Labrador asks us to redefine our relationship with magic. Magic can involve casting spells, burning sage, and charging crystals. It also lives in little, mundane moments. It doesn’t always have to be grand or spooky. Magic could be embracing detours, giving a stranger a chance, and recognizing a familiar face in a butterfly’s wings.