Shop’s only spiritual Christmas item was … teen tarot cards?

By Jason Williams
Williams is a researcher, writer and founder of the Taxpayers Association of Oregon

With all the wars going on right now, I was in the mood to share “Peace on Earth” this Christmas season.

So I went to World Market to look for inspirational Christmas items like “Peace on Earth”, angels, nativity scenes or just stars.  I aimed to look for these items amongst the greeting cards, Christmas items, foods and advent calendars.  I couldn’t find anything.

There were indeed rows of advent calendars but no advent with the calendar.

I did spot in the Christmas gift section the teen sensation Netflix TV series, Stranger Things, and their spin-off products such as Tarot cards (photo above).

Selling tarot cards follows their previous product of selling Official Stranger Things Ouji Boards

This is a board game where kids can communicate with the dead.  At least ages 14+ can.

Did the Netflix creators not watch their very own show?   The characters in the show did indeed communicate with a hell-like spirit world and they were nearly killed.  Maybe it is a metaphor for how Netflix producers view our kids.

This is not a plea for stores to sell more spiritual items, because stores only sell what people buy, and if people want more they should start buying more.

Instead, the shopping event made me reflect on the type of messages we adults are passing on to our youngest generation.

Interestingly, surveys show that GenZ is more spiritually interested than Millennials.   They are more open and asking more questions.   Is our response to hand them a board game to talk to dead people (instead of living ones)?   Or to take a risky bet on the game of chance as from a card game — similar to what people do in Reno?

If GenZ is asking more questions, we should be offering more insights and shared experiences in return.

Christmas and Hanukah are a great time to share such things.

— Postscript.  I did eventually find something inspirational and uplifting. I went online and discovered these tiny chocolate angels with golden wings that are popular in Germany.  They were the perfect artistic touch to include in my “Peace on Earth” Christmas cards.