Tarot cards provide the magical foundation for Arcana Academy, drawing on centuries of real-world history and symbolism. Though now primarily associated with divination, tarot originated in 15th-century Italy when specially illustrated cards were added to the typical four-suit deck. The tarot deck has evolved into the modern iteration that contains 78 cards divided into the Major Arcana (22 cards), representing significant life events and archetypes, and the Minor Arcana (56 cards), which explores daily challenges through four suits. Wands typically refer to business and careers, Cups involve love, Swords indicate conflict and struggle, and Coins involve wealth and comfort. Transformed from a game into a mode of fortune telling in France in the late 1700s, the cards are now typically shuffled before a few are selected as a spread that reveals key aspects of the questioner’s life. The meaning of each image changes depending on its position in the spread, as well as whether it is upside down.

In Arcana Academy, author Elise Kova transforms this symbolic framework into a tangible magic system. Characters capable of channeling power by “inking” cards, Arcanists, bring the cards’ archetypal meanings to life. For example, when Prince Kaelis uses the Nine of Swords, a card traditionally associated with anxiety and nightmares, it conjures “nine skewers of light and shadow that painlessly impale [Clara’s] hand” to magically compel the truth (8). Furthermore, certain individuals embody the Major Arcana and have additional capabilities, like Clara—who, as the Wheel of Fortune, can shift fate—or Silas—who, as the Chariot, can teleport. By grounding her fantasy in the rich, established symbolism of tarot, Kova creates a magic system that feels both novel and deeply resonant with historical occult traditions.