Tarot and lawsuits? Yup, it can happen.

When do tarot readers have to be careful about what they say? This is one example to learn from.

Have you been following the story of tarot reader Ashley Guillard, who, via social media, accused an American professor of murder?

Any diviner who makes public predictions should be paying attention to this. In 2022, Guillard took it upon herself to “solve” the murders of four University of Idaho students through her tarot readings, which she broadcast on TikTok. Guillard falsely accused Rebecca Scofield of the crimes. Guillard’s posts went viral, which led to further speculation and harassment for Scofield.

Despite receiving cease and desist orders from Scofield’s attorney, Guillard doubled down on her predictions, convinced she was correct.

Scofield sued. In 2026, Guillard lost the case and has been ordered to pay $10 million in damages.

Web-sleuthing, where ordinary people try to solve crimes and share about it online, has become increasingly popular over the years. And sometimes, it crosses over into the tarot world. I’ve had the occasional student ask me about it, intrigued by what they are seeing online.

Tarot sleuthing gives the impression that tarot can solve crimes, but can it really? It certainly didn’t in this case.

Unfortunately, divination isn’t a reliable diagnostic tool. I’ve written about the perils of using divination and intuition to solve crimes before. (Check out that post here.)

And there are laws in place to protect innocent people from being falsely accused of crimes they didn’t commit. Trials exist for a reason, and without evidence and proper legal protocols, anyone who goes online and publishes false accusations is susceptible to a lawsuit.

Slander and defamation are serious offences. There are consequences if you ruin someone’s reputation or livelihood.

While there are examples of police departments employing psychics to assist with some crimes, diviners of any kind need to be extremely careful when it comes accusing anyone of a crime – especially if you are taking it upon yourself to publish that information.

Tarot can be accurate, sure, but it has to be used wisely, and with humility: There is always room for human error. It’s easy for readings to spiral into speculation, fantasy, and egomania, which are all easily fed by eager internet audiences.

Treading into legal matters without knowledge of how crime reporting works is not something I recommend, especially without having studied defamation, slander, and libel laws.

While a reader might feel justified in accusing someone of wrongdoing, the reality is that you can do a lot of harm in the process, including to yourself.

Tarot readers who are new to this world, and who are freshly discovering tarot influencers online, should be very careful about who they take influence from, and what they emulate.

Until next time,

Liz

Categories: : tarot business, tarot ethics