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Tarot
answers
by Alycia de Mesa
April 4, 2005
In our ‘Net-filled world of quick searching, there’s at least one branded site that provides answers from beyond with the click of a mouse. Call it metaphysics for the masses, Tarot.com provides tarot, astrology, numerology, and I Ching readings in one slick website.
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The Tarot itself is a deck of 78, spiritually meaningful cards whose origins go back over 3,000 years to the Near and Far East. A person derives answers to a posed question by randomly picking X-amount of cards from the deck and either interpreting the cards herself or having someone well-versed in the Tarot interpret the meaning of the cards, based on the question posed. The Tarot through its individual cards was designed to teach one about life and its various stages, although in modern times it is often associated with the parlor tricks of psychics and fortunetellers.
Tarot.com, the website, continues the mystical tradition by providing the experience via the Internet, therefore placing direct control in the hands of the user rather than an in-person psychic visit. Based on category themes such as Love, Relationship or Personal Situation, the user picks cards with a click of the mouse and then reads both the meanings of the card positions as well as the meanings of the cards selected in context to the position. Call it a Tarot reading and tutorial in one.
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While the vast majority of metaphysical offerings on the web suffer from aura-curdling design and poorly organized (if not fairly “out there”) content, Tarot.com is a branded business entity developed for the mainstream. CEO Paul O’Brien’s background as a former software-marketing executive is demonstrated throughout the site. The web design is a mix of friendly, feminine-skewed graphic design and ancient symbology. There is even an appropriate verbal identity (Karma Coins, Mystic Mall).
Sales revenue is derived from premium readings as well as gifts from the Mystic Mall, an e-store with features such as daily horoscopes designed to keep seekers coming (frequently) back for more. While a newcomer can browse the site and even try out free sample readings, member registration is required to access other features such as daily horoscopes, and of course premium readings. Refreshingly absent from the site are tacky banner ads and messy co-branded advertising such as on (now iVillage’s) Astrology.com.
Unlike the typical dotcom of yesteryear, the company was launched on a debt-free foundation. (We do not have the psychic ability, however, to predict whether it will remain debt-free.)
The company behind Tarot.com, Visionary Networks based in Portland, Oregon, began producing divination based CD-Rom software titles back in 1989. The company defines divination as “a meditation and intuitive decision-making aid, utilizing timeless psychological archetypes, clearly differentiating it from fortune-telling and psychic hotlines.”
Acquired from a private individual in 2000, the name Tarot.com is highly generic but works well for this esoteric site with mainstream reach. Perhaps due in part to the chaotic decline of the economy and its effects on individuals searching for new meaning, the company has been able to rise out of the dot-com debris since the new millennium. In 2003, the company was named on the list of Fastest Growing 100 Private Companies in Oregon by the Portland Business Journal.
Now how’s that for good fortune?
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Alycia de Mesa is a brand identity consultant and writer with over 10 years experience from Fortune 100 to start-up companies. She is author of Before The Brand, the definitive brand identity handbook, published by McGraw-Hill (under the name Alycia Perry).
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*Due to the constantly changing environment of websites, some reviews may no longer reflect the current website for this brand.
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