In a fortune-telling parlour in Seoul’s upscale Gangnam district, a greyhound named Khan sniffs his way across a spread of tarot cards before quietly resting a paw on one. His owner leans in, waiting. What Khan just “chose” is about to be read like a message from the dog himself.
This isn’t a one-off curiosity. Across South Korea, pet tarot has quietly become a genuine trend — one more sign of just how deeply companion animals have woven themselves into Korean family life.
Reading the Cards, Not Just the Pet
The session belongs to Hwang Soo-kyung, who runs the Ace Sophia fortune-telling parlour. When Khan’s paw landed on a card showing a dog chasing its owner, Hwang read it as anxiety — tied, she believed, to the five puppies the pedigree dog had recently fathered.
For Khan’s owner, Ahn Hye-joo, the reading offered something she felt she couldn’t get anywhere else. She said the feelings surfacing in the reading were the kind that vets and trainers simply wouldn’t catch, since they never show up as an obvious medical or behavioral problem.
Hwang isn’t new to this. She opened her shop back in 2014, but says demand for pet-focused readings has climbed steadily as more owners come to see their animals not just as pets, but as full members of the family — sometimes their only companion at home.
A Deck Built Just for Animals
What makes Hwang’s approach stand out is that she designed an entirely separate tarot deck specifically for animals, after customers kept asking whether she could tap into what their pets were thinking. Her clients aren’t limited to cats and dogs, either — some come in with turtles and other reptiles.
The symbolism carries real weight for her regular clients. A card featuring swords, for instance, can point to physical discomfort, such as joint pain, rather than an emotional state.
Sessions cost 20,000 won, or roughly $14. According to Hwang, no client has ever stopped at just one visit. Once pet parents start getting answers about what’s going on in their animal’s head, she says, it’s hard to walk away.
More Than Just Entertainment
Not every visitor treats this as a novelty. Ryu Su-mi brought in her rescue dog, E-seul, who has been anxious around anyone dressed like a paramedic. For Ryu, the reading felt like a way to reach a part of her dog’s inner life that daily companionship alone hadn’t revealed.
She put it simply: despite looking her dog in the eye every single day, there’s clearly still a lot she’s missing.
What This Says About Korea’s Pet Culture
Pet tarot may sound unconventional, but it fits neatly into a much bigger story. South Korea’s pet economy has grown rapidly as more households — especially single people and couples without children — treat animals as core family members rather than mere pets.
Services like Hwang’s reflect a growing appetite for anything that promises a deeper emotional connection with a companion animal, even outside conventional veterinary or behavioral care. It’s a reminder that as pet ownership evolves globally, the bond between people and their animals is increasingly being explored through unexpected, deeply personal avenues.
Whether or not the cards are truly speaking for the pets, one thing is clear: for many owners in Seoul, the search to understand what’s going on in their companion’s mind is far from over.
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