ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- Alya is a 27-year-old woman from the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk whose boyfriend is a mobilized soldier participating in Russia's massive invasion of neighboring Ukraine. His long absence and frequent lapses in communication prompted her to study tarot cards, a medieval system supposedly capable of supernatural divination.
"I had wanted to study tarot for a long time, but never got around to it," Alya, who like several of the people interviewed for this story asked that her last name be withheld, said. "But when my boyfriend went off to fight, I began doing readings. It calms me down."
Alya is far from the only one who feels that way, with the Ukraine war approaching its second anniversary and no clear resolution in sight.
According to a Kommersant report in March that cited industry analysts, the number of people enrolling in online courses for "mystic technologies" like tarot cards was 20 times greater in March 2023 than one year earlier.
The Padma online occult school, for instance, purports to offer "magic studies from the beginning," "online courses to develop magical capabilities," and "practical esoterica for beginners and the advanced" in the form of "live lessons and master classes." Four-day online seminars cost about 8,500 rubles ($92). The Elara online mysticism "academy" offers courses in tarot reading, "candle magic," and defenses against "the evil eye and curses."
"Fortune telling and tarot reading is becoming a form of magical calming in these troubling times, a magic pill for resolving problems," said St. Petersburg psychologist Yelena Oster. "One reason that people are so strongly drawn to magic in such times is a desire to find stability in a changing world. Magic creates the sensation of control over the outside world."
Oster added that the absence of reliable independent information channels in Russia has led many people to turn to misleading Internet sources, including those trading in mysticism.
"In this digital age, when the boundary between reality and illusion is being erased, our capacity for critical thinking has been significantly reduced," she said. "In times of crisis, people lose confidence in the future and magic creates the illusion of power over one's fate."
The market for books on religious and occult themes has grown substantially in 2023, while sales of tarot cards on the Ozon online retailer have increased 36 percent over 2022, Izvestia reported last month. More and more fortune tellers and card readers are advertising their services online.
In July, Kommersant reported that demand for "mystical programs" on Russian television was also on the rise. "Television channels have begun rebroadcasting old projects and introducing new ones," the daily reported, quoting experts who connected the trend with a growing public desire to understand "the reasons for everything that is happening."
'I Think I'll Go Again'
Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Yekaterina Bykanova's boyfriend volunteered to fight. He later signed a contract with the notorious Wagner mercenary group.
"I was doing readings constantly," Bykanova, a 23-year-old from Kursk, told RFE/RL. "Thanks to them, I learned everything that was happening to him. Once I read in the cards about some sort of leg wound. At that moment, I hadn't heard from him for a while. About 10 days after that reading, he wrote to me and said everything was OK. A month later he told me that a friend of his had been wounded in the leg."
"He is home now," she added, "but he plans to sign another contract. I don't know how I am going to get through that -- I can't imagine. This is something unfamiliar and terrifying for me. But I have to believe in the best."
Tatyana, a 27-year-old woman from Krasnoyarsk, used tarot cards in a bid to learn whether her mobilized boyfriend was being faithful.
"My boyfriend -- rather, former boyfriend -- is serving in the Kherson area," she said. "I suspected he was being unfaithful after he became secretive and belligerent. A month ago, I decided to go to a mystic to check on him. In the end, my fears were confirmed. I found out what I needed to know. It was awful that I was sitting and waiting for him while he was betraying me -- and not just once."
She said that her boyfriend later confessed -- "apparently he was tired of covering up."
"In the end, we broke up," she said. "The mystic did this, with her knowledge of the magic cards. That helped me find out about the betrayal and about the third party in our relationship. I'm glad I went to the mystic. I think I'll go again and see what awaits me in the future."
Anna, a 31-year-old from St. Petersburg, consulted a psychic from Moscow to learn that her husband was cheating on her with a female soldier.
"I suspected that my husband was cheating on me while he was away at the war and she confirmed it for me," Anna said. "She saw the deception in the cards and described the woman. In the end, my husband confessed. So why shouldn't I believe in magic? But it is OK. He'll come back and we'll get past it."
Margarita Yesenina is a 20-year-old from Pskov. Her husband is a mobilized soldier in Ukraine, and she pays a psychic in Moscow to burn candles for his well-being.
"Two times I paid 1,000 rubles ($11) for a health ritual after a comrade of my husband's was killed," she said. "My husband survived but had a concussion. Now he's protected by a candle. I ordered the same ritual for our children. I believe in this mystic and now I know that all will be well with my family."
'The Circle Of Power'
Russia and other former Soviet countries experienced a similar surge in mysticism during and after the collapse of the Soviet Union. State television carried faith-healing broadcasts featuring psychics such as Anatoly Kashpirovsky, who was one of the most well-known people in Russia during the 1990s and was even elected to the State Duma. Kashpirovsky made an unexpected return to the limelight in Russia in 2009, during the global financial crisis.
As recently as 2017, the Russian Academy of Sciences reported there were about 800,000 faith healers and occult workers in Russia, compared to just 640,000 medical doctors.
In February 2019, a group of self-proclaimed witches conducted a "magic ritual" called "the circle of power" aimed at transferring "mystical energy" to President Vladimir Putin.
"The roots of magical thinking go back deep into the centuries," psychologist Oster told RFE/RL. "In a world full of unexpected events that cannot be managed, rituals, spells, a belief in magical amulets, etc., create the illusion of control."
