The connection between Spirited Away and Tarot begins the moment Chihiro walks through that old stone tunnel at the start of the classic anime film Spirited Away by Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. She does more than enter a spirit world; she steps directly into the Castle of Diamonds, the Tarot realm of work, body, and the living Earth. This exploration of Spirited Away and Tarot will guide you through this profound thematic link, uncovering the hidden arcana woven into every scene and following Chihiro's path as the Page of Diamonds. We will see how her story masterfully teaches us the core principles of the Earth Suit. These principles apply to our daily lives and to our spiritual practice.
Core Lessons from Spirited Away and Tarot
- The spirit bathhouse is a living "Castle of Diamonds" that teaches lessons about work, money, and the physical world.
- Chihiro begins as The Fool and transforms into the Page of Diamonds, learning through hands-on effort and perseverance.
- Characters like Yubaba and No-Face show the shadow side of the Earth Suit, where greed and consumption lead to emptiness.
- The film beautifully connects spiritual loss to environmental damage, as seen with Haku, the forgotten river spirit.
- Major Arcana archetypes appear throughout the story, providing a deeper, symbolic layer to Chihiro's adventure.
Estimated reading time:17 minutes
The Deep Link Between Spirited Away and Tarot
The enduring power of Spirited Away and Tarot lies in their shared language of symbols. Both systems use archetypes to map a soul's journey through challenges and toward wisdom. The film’s spirit world, with its specific rules and eclectic beings, functions as a perfect Tarot spread come to life. Each character Chihiro meets acts as a living card, presenting a lesson she must learn. This structural harmony is why analyzing Spirited Away and Tarot together feels so natural and revealing.
Welcome to the Castle of Diamonds: The Bathhouse as Earth School
The spirit bathhouse is the bustling heart of this world. It is not a quiet temple: it is noisy and demanding. It runs on contracts and strict rules. Spirits arrive filthy and tired from their long journeys, and they must be washed, healed, and sent back out. This requires constant work. Someone must stoke the boiler room fires. Someone must keep the water flowing and cook the food. Others must scrub the floors and carefully count the gold coins. This is pure Diamond energy. It is the energy of work, service, and the tangible results of our labor.
The Ordinary Made Magical
Spirited Away shows us that this castle of everyday life is not boring. It is magical, dangerous, and deeply spiritual. Every bowl of rice, every gold coin, every bath token in the film becomes a small Tarot symbol. Through Chihiro's eyes, we learn to see the sacred in the mundane. The Castle of Diamonds teaches that the way you sweep a floor can be as sacred as the way you say a prayer. Chihiro discovers this truth the hard way. She learns it one bucket of water and one scrubbed tile at a time.
Rules, Contracts, and Karma
The bathhouse operates on a strict system of order. This reflects the Hierophant card's energy. It represents tradition, systems, and the rules everyone must follow. You cannot simply do as you please.: you must get a work contract. You must follow the supervisor's instructions and respect the chain of command. Breaking these rules has consequences. This structure is the skeleton of the Castle of Diamonds. It provides the necessary container for the messy work of learning and growth to safely take place.
The Fool's First Steps: Chihiro's Reluctant Beginning
Chihiro is not a hero when we first meet her. She is a scared and sulky child and does not want to move to a new town. She clings to the back seat of the car. Chihiro desperately wishes everything would stay the same. This is her pure Fool moment in the Tarot. The Fool is the Zero card of the Major Arcana. It represents the soul at the very start of its journey. It is unprepared and nervous. Yet it stands on the edge of something vast and new.
Chihiro - From Sulking Child to The Fool at the Threshold
The Fool does not know what is coming next. But at some point, he must take a step. Chihiro takes that step when she crosses the dry riverbed. She follows her parents toward the strange, empty theme park. Her curiosity outweighs her fear. The tunnel itself is a birth canal. It separates the ordinary world from the spiritual one. When she emerges on the other side, she has already begun her journey.
The Point of No Return and the First Lesson
When night falls, the world changes completely. The lights of the bathhouse blaze to life. Spirits begin to appear. The dry riverbed fills with a powerful, rushing water. The boundary behind her closes. She has passed the point of no return. The spirit world has caught her. This is like a person being caught by a contract they signed without reading the fine print. It is a classic lesson from the shadow side of the Diamond suit. That lesson is greed. She realizes too late that she cannot return the way she came.
The Apprentice of Earth: Embodying the Page of Diamonds
In that moment of no return, Chihiro moves from being the Fool of the Major Arcana into the Page of Diamonds in the Minor Arcana. The Pages are the apprentices of the Tarot. The Page of Diamonds is the initiate of Earth. This is the one who must learn to work, to earn, and to care for the material world with respect. Chihiro's training is a perfect picture of the Diamond suit's early steps.
Begging for Work and Proving Worth
Chihiro arrives weak, clumsy, and utterly afraid. She must literally beg Yubaba for a job and prove she truly wants to work. She is given the most basic, bottom-level task. Chihiro becomes a cleaner and a hauler. She must obey without question, because she is at the very bottom of the ladder. This humble beginning is essential. No one can skip this step in Earth School.
The Pedagogy of Blisters and Repetition
In this castle, lessons are learned on the job. Chihiro learns by repetition, not by theory. She scrubs the same floor until it shines and carries heavy buckets until her muscles ache. Slowly, through this consistent effort, something in her changes. Courage, patience, and practical skill begin to grow inside her. This is how Earth School works. You do not download mastery like a magic spell: you practice, you get blisters, you mess up, and you get up and try again. This is the foundational practice of the Page of Diamonds.
The Rulers of the Realm: A Tale of Two Queens
No castle is complete without a ruler. The powerful and intimidating Yubaba rules the bathhouse. She is a complex blend of Tarot archetypes. She is part Empress reversed, part Emperor, and part Devil. Most clearly, she is the Shadow of the Queen of Diamonds.
Yubaba: The Shadow Queen of Diamonds
Yubaba loves luxury and material wealth. Her office has thick carpets and heavy curtains. She hoards piles of gold in her high tower. She keeps her workers trapped not with locks, but with karmic magic contracts. Her most dangerous and insidious trick is not stealing money. It is stealing names.
In the Tarot, the Devil card often shows a soul being bound by its own attachments and illusions. When Yubaba takes Chihiro's name and turns her into Sen, she does exactly that. She binds Chihiro by making her forget who she truly is. Without her name, Chihiro risks fading away completely.
On a Diamond level, Yubaba is highly competent. The bathhouse does not collapse. The staff know their tasks. Rich clients pour in. The coins keep flowing. She shows what happens when Earth energy is strong but heartless. Business runs efficiently, but the human cost is fear, stress, and a profound lack of freedom.
Zeniba: The Light Queen of Diamonds
Her twin sister, Zeniba, holds the other side of the coin. Zeniba lives simply in a small, quiet cottage at the edge of the spirit world. She spins and weaves. She welcomes guests with genuine warmth, not threats. Instead of stealing names, she gives them back. She helps Chihiro remember her purpose. Instead of hoarding treasure, she shares what she has. She is the Empress and the Queen of Diamonds in her healing form. She is grounded, nurturing, maternal, creative, and deeply generous.
The Choice Every Soul Must Make
Together, Yubaba and Zeniba present two possible paths for the same powerful Diamond archetype. They ask a powerful Tarot question that we can all ask ourselves. What kind of Queen of Diamonds do you want to be in your own life? The one who controls through fear and contracts? Or the one who leads with a grounded and generous heart? Every time you choose how to use your time, your money, and your influence, you are quietly answering this question.
The Wounded Magician and Spiritual Ecology
The Diamond suit is not only about money and jobs. It also includes our physical Earth. It encompasses the land, rivers, mountains, animals, and the living body of the planet itself. Spirited Away makes this connection beautifully clear through the characters of Haku and the great River Spirit.
Haku as Guide and Prisoner
Haku is one of the clearest images of the Magician in the film. He can fly, change shape, cast spells, and move between worlds with ease. Haku is Chihiro's primary guide: he provides her with the tools, the purpose, and the path she needs to survive. He is the first major Tarot guide she meets after crossing the threshold. But there is a deep wound in his story. He has forgotten his own name. He no longer knows who he is.
The River Spirit's Plight: When Earth is Erased
Haku is not just a boy. He is actually a river spirit. He is the soul of the Kohaku River. In the human world, that river was filled in and covered over with buildings and apartments. Once the river disappeared, people stopped speaking its name. Over time, Haku forgot who he was. He retains his power, but he has lost his sense of self. He can help others, but he cannot free himself.
Here, the film masterfully links spiritual loss directly to environmental damage. When we destroy a river, a forest, or a piece of land, we do not just lose a natural resource. We lose its bright, conscious spirit. We erase a living being. On a Tarot level, this is Diamond energy in a state of crisis. The Earth is reduced to mere property. Its spirit is squeezed out by concrete.
Haku's amnesia is the psychic echo of this profound ecological injury. He is a powerful Magician who can guide others but cannot heal or free himself.
The Stink Spirit's Healing: A Full Tarot Spread
This same teaching appears in the famous stink spirit scene. A huge, sludge-covered spirit arrives at the bathhouse. It drips garbage and foul mud. Everyone is disgusted. They treat him as a low, troublesome client. But Chihiro, in true Page of Diamonds fashion, does not turn away. She honors the contract. She holds her nose and does the work.
As she bathes him, she feels something hard stuck in his side. With the staff's help, she pulls it out. It is an old bicycle, tangled with ropes and all kinds of human trash. Once this thorn is removed, a mountain of garbage pours out of the spirit's body. Underneath all that pollution, he reveals himself as a mighty and graceful River Spirit.
This one scene holds an entire spread of Diamond and Major Arcana lessons. The filthy, smelly form is like the Five of Diamonds. This card can symbolize poverty, sickness, exile, and the weight of hardship. The staff's initial reluctance mirrors the shadow of the Seven of Diamonds. This can show poor judgment and a refusal to see the value in a difficult task.
The hard, physical work of cleaning and pulling is the essence of the Eight of Diamonds. This card represents skill, effort, repetition, and resilience. The final rain of treasure and gratitude is the Ten of Diamonds. This is the ultimate symbol of abundance that arrives after dedicated, hard labor. The healing process itself carries the serene energy of Temperance.
This Major Arcana card is about right action, cleansing, and finding the perfect balance between different elements.
The Shadow of Greed: No-Face's Descent and Redemption
Then there is No-Face. He is the quiet, masked spirit who becomes one of the most haunting figures in the story. He is the archetypal Shadow of the Suit of Diamonds walking on two legs.
Loneliness and the Hunger to Belong
At first, No-Face stands outside in the rain. He looks lonely, lost, and invisible. This is Five of Diamonds energy again. It is the energy of isolation and feeling left out in the cold. He deeply wants to be let in. When Chihiro shows him a simple act of human kindness by letting him inside, she gives him what he truly craves: a connection.
The Golden Monster: Reflecting the Bathhouse's Shadow
But when he enters the bathhouse, everything changes. He discovers that by producing unlimited gold, he can get anything he wants. He starts consuming. First, it is food, then it is even other workers. He becomes a walking symbol of bottomless greed and spiritual emptiness. He uses gold to try to buy attention, love, and fulfillment. But it is a black hole that one can never fill. The bathhouse itself is already soaked in this energy of greed and hunger. The workers are tired and underpaid. Yubaba is obsessed with gold. Like the Moon card, No-Face mirrors and amplifies the energy around him. Surrounded by greed, he becomes greed itself. The more he consumes, the bigger and more monstrous he grows. Yet he is never satisfied. Inside, he remains completely empty.
The Medicine of Simple Kindness
Chihiro does something radically different from everyone else. She refuses his gold. Instead, she offers him the bitter herbal cake. This was a gift meant for her own journey. It acts like spiritual medicine. It forces him to vomit up all the things he has swallowed.
He purges the food, the workers, the excess, and the greed. He shrinks back to his small, lonely self. After this purification, Chihiro leads him away. She takes him from the noisy, greedy bathhouse to Zeniba's quiet, simple cottage. There, No-Face finally settles down. He helps with spinning and housework. He eats simple food. No one wants his gold. No one fears him.
He finally finds a place where his energy can be calm, and he can belong. In Tarot language, No-Face moves from a kind of reversed King of Diamonds, powerful but utterly hollow, back to a Page-like state. He becomes a student again, learning the value of honest work and real connection.
The Honored Guests: Major Arcana Walk-On Roles
Although the bathhouse belongs mostly to the Earth suit, the figures of the Major Arcana walk through it like honored guests. Each one adds another layer of symbolic understanding and complexity to the Castle of Diamonds.
The Major Arcana of the Journey's Start (Cards 0-X)
The Fool is Chihiro at the tunnel, stepping into the unknown. The Magician is Haku, the river-dragon boy who knows the rules and the spells. The High Priestess is the hidden spirit world itself, full of secrets behind every door. The Empress, Zeniba, is in her cottage, offering warmth and a safe place to rest. The Emperor is Yubaba, ruling the bathhouse with contracts and a heavy hand.
The Hierophant is the bathhouse rules and traditions everyone must follow. The Lovers is Chihiro's choice to stay loyal to Haku and her parents. This is commitment, not fantasy. The Chariot is the train sliding over the flooded landscape. It is willpower moving forward.
Justice is the lesson that pollution and greed have consequences. Right action brings balance. The Hermit is Kamaji in the boiler room. He keeps the fires burning and offers wisdom from the shadows. The Wheel of Fortune is the great turning point of life. Change is constant. Your power lies in staying honest while everything moves.
The Major Arcana of Trials and Triumph (Cards XI-XXI)
Strength is Chihiro facing down No-Face and walking across a narrow pipe. She confronts her fears with kindness. The Hanged Man is her parents suspended in pig form. Life is on pause while the soul learns. Death is the end of little Chihiro. She dies into Sen, the worker. Temperance is the gentle balancing of worlds and the healing of the River Spirit. The Devil is Yubaba's contracts and No-Face's greed. These are unhealthy bonds. The Tower is the chaos when Haku crashes and No-Face rampages. The Star is the hope on the peaceful train ride. The Moon is the illusion and dreamlike rules of the spirit realm. The Sun is the bright joy when the curse lifts. Judgement is the final test with the pigs. Chihiro must trust her inner knowing. The World is her walk back through the tunnel. She returns to her world wiser and whole.
Beyond the Traditional Tarot Deck: The Hidden Arcana in Action
In the Hidden Arcana Tarot system, three extra elements appear in the film. They are the Spiritrix, the Almuten Fulguris, and the Adept. Spirited Away offers a beautiful way to feel them in motion.
The Spiritrix: Haku as the Living Bridge
The Spiritrix is the bridge card. She stands at the threshold between worlds and helps translate symbols, dreams, and synchronicities into practical guidance. She reminds us that we are rooted in soil yet born of stars. The Spiritrix is the gatekeeper who says, I will walk with you.
In the film, Haku wears this role perfectly. He appears when Chihiro is close to fading away and tells her what to do so she will not disappear. He leads her to safety and shows her how to get a contract. Haku explains the rules she cannot see. He is dual-natured. He is boy and dragon, river and sky, Earth and Heaven. Haku is a spirit of the place and a celestial being at the same time. He moves her across thresholds from fear to courage, from confusion to purpose. If you laid the Spiritrix card over his heart, it would fit perfectly.
The Almuten Figuris: The Lightning Flash of Truth
The Almuten Figuris is different. Its name suggests a hidden ruler and a sudden flash of lightning. It represents the secret pattern that guides the story. It is the moment of clarity that changes everything at once. The Almuten Figuris has a bit of Tower energy, the lightning that breaks old structures.
The Almuten Figuris also has a bit of Judgement, the awakening to a higher truth. In the film, this is Chihiro at the exact moment she remembers. She rides on Haku's back through the sky. Memories rise up in her. She recalls falling into a river as a little girl and being carried safely by the water. She saw the name Kohaku River on a stone.
Suddenly, she knows. Haku is that river. His true name is Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi. That flash of remembrance is pure Almuten Figuris. It is lightning in the chart. It reveals the real sovereign of the situation. That sovereign is love, memory, and truth, not fear and greed. With one sentence, the entire energy pattern of the tale shifts.
The Final Transformation: Chihiro as The Adept
When she speaks his name out loud, several things happen at once. Yubaba's spell over Haku cracks, and his stolen name is restored to him. The contract that bound him begins to dissolve. In that moment, Chihiro fully steps out of being a passive child. She becomes a co-creator of the story. According to the Hidden Arcana Tarot, her journey as the Fool ends. Chihiro is transformed into a reborn person through experience and work. She reclaims her true name as a wiser, stronger individual and becomes the archetype of The Adept. The Adept represents the soul who has learned the basics. They now work with conscious skill. This card shows focused practice, discipline, and quiet mastery. It is about turning knowledge into wisdom through steady action and devotion in daily life. It is the archetype of the mature soul.
Carrying the Castle of Diamonds With You: A Tarot for Daily Life
You do not need a magic train or a river dragon to visit the Castle of Diamonds. You already live there. This is the silent, profound secret the film reveals. The real fortune never lies in the gold in the vault or the coins in your pocket. It is the soul you shape through your actions.
Every act of honest work matters. Each brave decision to face a challenge matters. Every bit of care you show for the Earth and for others matters. Each small step you take toward remembering who you really are matters. The profound connection between Spirited Away and Tarot teaches us that these lessons are not locked in a spirit world. The wisdom of the Castle of Diamonds Tarot is found in our daily work and relationships.
The Hidden Arcana are hidden in plain sight around us. Chihiro, the Page of Diamonds, shows us that true growth comes from practice and perseverance, not from magic. The Earth suit ultimately teaches us that our physical world is the most sacred classroom our spirit will ever have.
About the Authors
Liane and Christopher Buck are the creators of the Tao of Tarot, whose first book and card set is The Hidden Arcana Tarot. They are also the founders of OMTimes Magazine, Humanity Healing Network, and the charities Humanity Healing International and Cathedral of the Soul. Read more on their Bio Page.
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