Paul Thomas is the creator of the YouTube channel Dove & Serpent Tarot, where he shares daily tarot readings and reflections on symbolism, intuition, and personal transformation with a global audience.

His journey into tarot and the esoteric arts began early in life. Growing up in a difficult and often isolating environment, Paul developed a deep curiosity about consciousness and the unseen dimensions of reality. As a child he experienced vivid dreams and visions that felt prophetic, along with moments that he describes as encounters with spiritual presences. These early experiences sparked a lifelong search to understand the deeper structure of existence.

At the age of fifteen, after a turbulent period involving bullying, violence, and legal trouble, Paul was moved into the care of his grandmother. The change removed him from much of the chaos of his earlier environment but left him with long stretches of solitude. During those years he began immersing himself in spiritual and philosophical traditions.

One of the first books that profoundly influenced him was Magick in Theory and Practice by Aleister Crowley. From that starting point his studies expanded into tarot, Qabalah, Hermetic philosophy, Vedanta, astrology, and other symbolic systems that attempt to describe the hidden patterns of reality. Tarot quickly became a central practice, and he began performing readings for himself as a way to explore the symbolic language of the cards and the deeper movements of the psyche.

Nature also became an important teacher during this time. Paul often traveled alone to Santa Cruz, California, where he would meditate beside the Pacific Ocean. The ocean’s vastness and constant motion became a powerful symbol in his life, reflecting the depth and mystery of the inner world he was exploring.

In early adulthood, like many people searching for direction, Paul worked a wide variety of jobs. Over the years he held positions in office work, truck driving, furniture moving, and mail delivery. Although life moved forward in practical ways, the deeper spiritual questions that had guided him since youth never disappeared.

In 2010, around the time of his Saturn return, Paul experienced sudden liver failure that nearly ended his life. The crisis led to a liver transplant and a profound near-death experience. Surviving that ordeal became the defining turning point of his life. The experience brought him back to the spiritual path he had once set aside and renewed his commitment to studying the symbolic traditions that had shaped his early years.

More than a decade later, another unexpected turning point appeared.

In 2022 Paul and his wife were living in the basement of a rented home with their young daughter while he worked remotely for a data-entry company. During this time he had returned to practicing tarot regularly and began offering readings for strangers on Reddit simply as a way to refine his craft.

When his wife suddenly lost her income, the family found themselves struggling to make ends meet. In response, Paul made a simple decision: instead of keeping his tarot practice private, he would begin sharing the readings publicly on YouTube.

The early videos were recorded in the basement of the house they were renting. At first the channel was simply an experiment—perhaps it might earn a little money to help pay the rent.

Then one video began to move.

A Taurus reading titled “The Fight of Your Life Is Coming!” was the first video to pass one thousand views. Soon the numbers continued to climb, and it became clear that people were resonating with the readings.

That moment marked the quiet beginning of what would become Dove & Serpent Tarot, a channel that has grown into a global community drawn together by the symbolic language of tarot and the search for meaning behind life’s patterns.

Today Paul continues to explore tarot not only as a tool of intuition but as a symbolic system that reflects the deeper psychological and spiritual journey of human life.