On Lurking Cards

responding to: https://www.reddit.com/r/tarot/s/WNFCXAPLZU

that's an interesting thought. I can't remember the last time I pulled the 9 of Wands or Wheel of Fortune. likewise the Hermit has just started showing up after a long absence.

on a reading by reading basis, I sometimes am made to think about cards that are absent based on the ones that are present. eg. if I get a reading with three Aces, it's natural for my mind to consider the missing fourth. same thing with certain sets within the majors--the three virtues, the Sun, Moon, and Star, that kind of thing.

part of this is surely the Baader—Meinhof phenomenon. Not unlike Rorschach cards, the Tarot holds up a mirror to thought processes which are usually partly self aware and partly obscure. noticing a persistently absent card is extra complicated because it's the kind of thing that doesn't draw attention to itself (except for the largest of readings you're going to have 60+ absent cards at any given time, double that if you count reversals) but once you are attuned to the absence you're going to notice and think about it both when it's there and when it's not.

we should definitely have a name for these cards. stalker cards are cards that show up again and again, perhaps "lurker card" or "absentee card" could designate the opposite.