Oakville author re-interprets tarot with lens of history and Sufism

Ayeda Husain has multiple identities. To many of us, she is a multi-media journalist and columnist with an enviable body of work. For some others, she is the soft-spoken guide teaching Sufi mysticism across continents and composing Sufi songs. 

However, Husain's latest feat is the first-ever Sufi tarot deck that she has created, combining "mystical Sufi wisdom with classic tarot archetypes recast as Sufi concepts and figures."  

Stay with us to know more about her insights on Sufism and healing and transformation attainable through the latest tarot.

Q: Tell us about your book, The Sufi Tarot, considered the first of its kind, East-meets-West deck and guidebook. 

A: The Sufi Tarot is a guidebook and a 78-card deck in which I re-interpret each card in the context of Sufism, something that has never been done before. My original idea was to have a 200-page book accompanying the deck.

However, Hay House, my publisher and the world's largest self-help publishing company, suggested I condense it into a little guidebook that would fit into the box. They obviously know what sells. Thus this crisp guidebook!

Q: What was your inspiration behind this venture?

A: Let me tell you how I came up with the idea for this book. During the lockdown, I had an accident and crushed my arm. All I could do was meditate! When I started meditating on an old tarot deck I had found on my bookshelf by sheer chance, I realized how much wisdom each card had. And yet the archetypal images troubled me. I felt unrepresented visually by them, despite their Eastern origins.

I learned that tarot originated in Egypt, and the word "tarot" is believed to have come from the Arabic word "turaq", which means "four ways" - literally the four suits in tarot (Pentacles, Cups, Staffs and Swords) which represent the four elements of nature (Earth, Water, Fire and Air.)

I was fascinated to see how tarot originated in Egypt in the 1300s, was picked up by the Italians and taken to Europe in the 1400s, where it took on a whole different flavour in the Renaissance with medieval Christian images replacing the Egyptian Mamluk Sultanate ones. After the Italians came the French and then the English, and by then, tarot had been completely transformed.

I longed to create a deck that would honour the Eastern roots as well as the Western adaptations, one that had equal race, gender and age representation. Thus The Sufi Tarot!

The process involved meditating on each card and then working with two artists in Pakistan over Zoom to create artwork that looked like what I had seen in my meditations.

Q: How did you embark on the path of Sufism?

A: When doing my Double Masters in Journalism and Near Eastern Studies at New York University, I got fascinated by Sufism through academics. I had previous exposure to this mystic religious practice before that through a teacher in Lahore, Pakistan and I wanted to go deeper.

Over time, what was an academic interest became more of a personal faith. After the passing of my teacher, I was led to my present teacher, whose grandfather Hazrat Inayat Khan, the mystic and musician from Baroda (India), brought Sufism to the West in the early 1900s. I was drawn to the Universal Sufism sect of this Sufi school which believes in the oneness and equality of all religions.

Q: Tell us more about Sufi philosophy and how you became a teacher.

A: Sufism refers to the mystical ideologies of Islam and is based on the principle of non-renunciation. As Sufis, we live in the world, balance the inner and the outer, and become productive members of society while retaining a connection with the divine. This core idea of being in the world but not of the world appealed to me.

For the last 19 years, I have been a senior teacher and guide in the Inayatiyya, a global organization dedicated to Universal Sufism. Interestingly, when I led spiritual retreats worldwide, including teaching Sufi meditation to Buddhist monks in Tokyo, I observed how different practices connect to ancient traditions and how much we have in common.

Q: Did Sufism influence your work as a journalist?

A: As a columnist and features editor of a newspaper, I wrote a popular humour column for nine years in Pakistan. Towards the later part of that work, I felt the urge to step back from the chatter when I started going deeper into Sufism. Many popular forms of journalism didn't feel organic to me anymore. 

I have written extensively for prominent publications like Huffington Post, Elephant Journal and many more as I have moved across continents. However, for the past 12 years, I have moved away from writing about topics I'm not emotionally attached to. To be specific, now I write only about mysticism or with a perspective of Sufism. 

Q: Did you get any special feedback after the book was published?

A: While distilling the essence of an ancient tradition and presenting it in a way that would be accessible to newcomers as well as stand up to the toughest of academics was not easy. I am overjoyed by the response it has received.

In just six months, it has gone from "Most Wished For" to "Hot New Release" to "Number one Bestseller" on Amazon in Sufism! I have also received endorsements from world-renowned academics.

But most important for me are the letters from people telling me how much this book and deck are helping them on their spiritual paths.

Q: Do you want to break any myths with this book?

AH: Unlike the common perception, tarot is not about predicting the future. The cards are tools to introspect and understand the inner self, identifying your strengths and weaknesses. Self-knowledge is the key to all healing, whether emotional, physical or spiritual. This guidebook, inspired by traditional tarot and Sufism, can help you to proceed on a path to self-discovery and self-knowledge, especially in times of hardship and challenges.