Dashboard Tarot

Date

I hate doomscrolling!! I spend a lot of time on Tumblr, but I've grown more and more tired of mindlessly scrolling through so many thoughts, images, infographics, etc... I barely pay any attention to any of them unless they make me mad, or unless they show me something I instantly want to see... and that's super annoying!! Not only that, but it diminishes the spiritual value of ones time and attention span... I'm coming to belive that anything which crosses your path is worth taking the time to look at and think about... even if it is digital. What the algorithm decides to show you means something, so you should pay real close attention to what it proffers. That said, sometimes you get tired, you just want something to do while waiting for your life to pass by, you just open it just because... but here's a new idea: there are only a couple posts worth your time, and those are the top two the algorithm chooses to bestow unto you.

I happened upon this idea, ironically, scrolling mindlesly through tumblr, and happening upon a blog which draws a couple tarot cards, and (I assume) incorrectly interprets them based on the visuals of the cards. This got me thinking, though, about the images we see and how we often don't really see them. As I say, I've been trying to look closer at what comes onto my dashboard, and really comprehend what I'm looking at, or if it's a text post, where the person who wrote it is coming from. This brings us to Dashboard Tarot, a game I came up with to try and give social media and algorithms more spiritual meaning.

Dashboard Tarot: How to Play

For this "game", you'll need a social media page with a feed of some sort containing a multitude of people and perspectives... as I generally use Tumblr, I've named this game "Dashboard Tarot", though if you use Twitter(X) for this it would be "Timeline Tarot", I guess, which kinda has a nice ring to it also. If you're using Twitter, you can use either your "following" or "for you" tab, it doesn't really matter, though if you're someone who aggressively curates your feed, it may be better to use the "for you" tab for a little more variety. I feel this exercise may work especially well if you follow a lot of art or aesthetic blogs, but I only really have myself to compare..

Open up your social media of choice.

Look at only the top two posts of your feed.

Interpreting these posts will require some imagination, but here are some things worth considering when observing the images or texts you find:

The content within the images, if any

The intention behind a post, if any

The colors within an image, if any

The positions of the top and bottom post relative to each other-- this is very important

Personal symbols or mythology represented by or within a post

The context of a post-- where it came from, who made it, and why

When a post was made

Possible repeat themes or imagery between the top and bottom post

If you do this often, over time meanings may be assigned to certain things-- maybe cats are an auspicious symbol, maybe a donation post denotes misfortune... You will find your own mythology in time, but the key to this exercise is making connections between two seemingly random objects-- and finding the divine in the mundane. The point is to get you to stop and think, because society wants you to rush rush rush, but when you rush you become guided only by your emotions and habits, which may sometimes guide you correctly, but many times make you stupid. I think it is always a good idea to stop and think, so maybe this will help you with that..

now, I'm not suggesting this game be the only way you consume social media by any means, but I think it's a neat and different way to engage with posts rather than scrolling and forgetting about them.

Example:

On December 7 around noon I went on Tumblr and rolled these two posts:

1. A text post by jb-blunk "I want it back = I drag its dead weight forward"

2. A painting by Mexican artist Citlali Haro "Cuando te Asomas a Ver en Tus Propias Ruinas (When You Peek Into Your Own Ruins) (2021)" originally posted by weepingwidar

My interpretation: Post 1 is a popular text post I've seen before which conveys the silliness of clinging to a past you've grown out of. Post 2 is more niche, posted by a smaller blog and painted by an artist I hadn't heard of prior to coming across it, but it also seemingly deals with the past... what's interesting is that this second post alludes to a more negative and neglected past, one that one is reluctant to look at, while post 1 suggests you should look forward. This could be conveying that if you look to the past you will find only ruin-- I get a clear message to keep pushing onward and not worry about what has happened in the past.