About us
made by people who read tarot
Pulp is a tarot journal kept by people who love tarot: readers, students of its history and plain enthusiasts. We want to keep its heritage alive, pass it on, and make tarot a simple, clear practice for anyone.
Why we started
We were tired of looking for a good tarot app and a good place to read about tarot, and not finding one. More and more tarot online is generated by AI: readings written by a chatbot, cards drawn by an image model. It blurs what tarot is and where it comes from.
So we made our own. Our mission is to keep tarot's heritage alive as an everyday practice and a tool for reflection, the way it has served people for generations, and to pass it on. This site is where you can learn the 78 cards, their history and the people behind them in the wiki. Pulp for iPhone, which we also make ourselves, is where you pull a card, lay a spread and keep every reading as a page.
What we hold to
- Tarot as a practice
We read the cards ourselves, most days. Pulp is made for the same thing: a card in the morning, a spread for a real question, a page to come back to.
- The heritage, kept whole
Tarot has six centuries behind it. We work from the historical decks and the books of the people who shaped them, and every wiki article names its sources.
- Plain words
A card should be understood on first reading. We write meanings the way you would say them to a friend across the table.
- Written by people
Every meaning on the site and in the app is written and checked by people who read tarot. No AI readings, now or later.
Support us
Pulp is not sponsored. Nobody pays us to write about a deck or to put a banner on a page. If you like what we do, download the app and use it; a Premium subscription helps most of all. Every download and every subscription goes back into new decks, spreads and articles.
Questions
Does Pulp use AI?
No, and it never will. There are no AI readings in Pulp: every card meaning is written by people who read tarot. There are no AI images either. The decks are original historical decks in the public domain, the Rider–Waite–Smith, the Tarot de Marseille and the Sola Busca, and all three are available in the app.
Who is behind Pulp?
A small team of tarot readers and enthusiasts. We make the site and the app ourselves, from the card texts to the design.
How can I support Pulp?
Pulp has no sponsors and no investors. Downloading the app, telling a friend about it, or taking a Pulp Premium subscription is what keeps the project going and pays for new decks, spreads and wiki articles.
Image rights
The card pictures come from three historical decks, all in the public domain: the Rider–Waite–Smith deck drawn by Pamela Colman Smith (London, 1909), the Tarot de Marseille printed by Lequart (Paris, about 1890) and the Sola Busca deck (Venice, 1491, now at the Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan). The engravings and photographs in the wiki are public domain too; each one names its source under the picture.
You don't need a licence or our permission to reuse them. A credit such as "Pamela Colman Smith, 1909, via Pulp" is welcome. Our texts, page design, logo and the app are ours: please don't copy them.
Write to us
Found a mistake, or a source we should read? Write to hi@left-hand.studio or find us on Instagram.